Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust sequential working memory recall in heterogeneous cognitive networks

Psychiatric disorders are often caused by partial heterogeneous disinhibition in cognitive networks, controlling sequential and spatial working memory (SWM). Such dynamic connectivity changes suggest that the normal relationship between the neuronal components within the network deteriorates. As a result, competitive network dynamics is qualitatively altered. This dynamics defines the robust recall of the sequential information from memory and, thus, the SWM capacity. To understand pathological and non-pathological bifurcations of the sequential memory dynamics, here we investigate the model of recurrent inhibitory-excitatory networks with heterogeneous inhibition. We consider the ensemble of units with all-to-all inhibitory connections, in which the connection strengths are monotonically distributed at some interval. Based on computer experiments and studying the Lyapunov exponents, we observed and analyzed the new phenomenon—clustered sequential dynamics. The results are interpreted in the context of the winnerless competition principle. Accordingly, clustered sequential dynamics is represented in the phase space of the model by two weakly interacting quasi-attractors. One of them is similar to the sequential heteroclinic chain—the regular image of SWM, while the other is a quasi-chaotic attractor. Coexistence of these quasi-attractors means that the recall of the normal information sequence is intermittently interrupted by episodes with chaotic dynamics. We indicate potential dynamic ways for augmenting damaged working memory and other cognitive functions.
Predictive and Comprehensible Rule Discovery Using a Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm

We present a multi-objective genetic algorithm for mining highly predictive and comprehensible classification rules from large databases. We emphasize predictive accuracy and comprehensibility of the rules. However, accuracy and comprehensibility of the rules often conflict with each other. This makes it an optimization problem that is very difficult to solve efficiently. We have proposed a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm called improved niched Pareto genetic algorithm (INPGA) for this purpose. We have compared the rule generation by INPGA with that by simple genetic algorithm (SGA) and basic niched Pareto genetic algorithm (NPGA). The experimental result confirms that our rule generation has a clear edge over SGA and NPGA.
Mechanism of Therapeutic Effectiveness of Cefixime against Typhoid Fever

ABSTRACT β-Lactams have been considered ineffective against organisms growing inside mammalian cells because of their poor penetration into cells. However, cefixime has been shown to be clinically effective against typhoid fever. The probable mechanism of therapeutic effectiveness of cefixime against typhoid fever was investigated usingSalmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium instead of S. enterica serovar Typhi both in a cellular and in a mouse infection model. Cefixime was able to inhibit the growth of serovar Typhimurium inhabiting monocyte-derived THP-1 cells. Elongation of serovar Typhimurium in THP-1 cells was observed microscopically. Apparent morphological changes of serovar Typhimurium in THP-1 cells were also observed by electron microscopy. The concentration of cefixime inside THP-1 cells was almost half (46 to 48%) of the concentration outside the cells when serovar Typhimurium coexisted in the solution. The length of time after oral dosing (8 mg/kg) that cefixime was present—calculated from levels in serum—at a concentration above the MIC at which 90% of the serovar Typhi organisms inside human cells were inhibited was presumed to be more than 12 h. Cefixime also showed excellent activity in the mouse systemic and oral infection models based on infections caused by serovar Typhimurium. It is concluded that a fair amount of cefixime can enter mammalian cells and inhibit the growth of bacteria inside cells when the bacteria are sensitive enough to cefixime, as are serovars Typhimurium and Typhi.
Runoff Effect Evaluation of LID through SWMM in Typical Mountainous, Low-Lying Urban Areas: A Case Study in China

Urban flooding occurs frequently in many regions of China. To reduce the losses caused by urban flooding, sponge city (SPC) and low-impact development (LID) have been carried out in many Chinese cities. However, urban flooding is influenced by various factors, such as climate, land cover characteristics and nearby river networks, so it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of LID measures. In this study, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was adopted to simulate historical urban storm processes in the mountainous Fragrance Hills region of Beijing, China. Subsequently, numerical simulations were performed to evaluate how various LID measures (concave greenbelt, permeable pavement, bio-retention, vegetative swales, and comprehensive measures) influenced urban runoff reduction. The results showed that the LID measures are effective in controlling the surface runoff of the storm events with return periods shorter than five years, in particular, for one-year events. Furthermore, the effectiveness on traffic congestion mitigation of several LID measures (concave greenbelt, vegetative swales, and comprehensive measures) was evaluated. However, the effective return periods of storm events are shorter than two years if the effectiveness on traffic congestion relief is considered. In all evaluated aspects, comprehensive measures and concave greenbelts are the most effective, and vegetative swale is the least effective. This indicated that LID measures are less effective for removing ponding from most storm events in a mountainous, low-lying and backward pipeline infrastructure region with pressures from interval flooding and urban waterlogging. The engineering measures including water conservancy projects and pipeline infrastructure construction combined with the non-engineering measures were suggested to effectively control severe urban storms.
Peer assessment of journal quality in clinical neurology.

OBJECTIVE To explore journal quality as perceived by clinicians and researchers in clinical neurology. METHODS A survey was conducted from August 2003 to January 2004. Ratings for 41 selected clinical neurology journals were obtained from 254 members of the World Federation of Neurology (1,500 solicited; response rate 17%). Participants provided demographic information and rated each journal on a 5-point Likert scale. Average ratings for all journals were compared with the ISI's journal impact factors. Ratings for each journal were also compared across geographic regions and respondent publication productivity. RESULTS The top 5 journals were rated much more highly than the others, with mean ratings greater than 4. Mean journal ratings were highly correlated with journal impact factors (r = 0.67). Most of the top 10 journal ratings were consistent across the subgroups of geographic regions and journal paper productivity. However, significant differences among the different geographical regions and respondent productivity groups were also found for a few journals. CONCLUSIONS The results provide valuable insight on how neurological experts perceive journals in clinical neurology. These results will likely aid researchers and clinicians in identifying potentially desirable research outlets and indicate journal status for editors. Likewise, biomedical librarians may use these results for serials collection development.
Coordination Between Nitric Oxide and Superoxide Anion Radical During Progressive Exercise in Elite Soccer Players

Background: Exercise increases production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) via several mechanisms. Inter alia, increased blood flow during exercise exposes endothelial cells to shear stress, resulting in increased nitric oxide (NO) production. Increased oxygen consumption or hypoxia during exercise induces increased production of superoxide anion radical (O2-). Objective: This study investigates the effects of maximal progressive treadmill exercise test on time-course of peripheral blood NO and O2- production, as well as the effect of long-term training on NO bioavailability. Methods: Blood samples of 19 elite soccer players were gathered immediately before the test, during last 10 sec of every test stage, and during active recovery phases. Results: Significant increase (p<0.05) in NO production (estimated through nitrites (NO2-)), found between stage I (5.69 ± 1.32 nmol/ml) and basal values (5.36 ± 1.25 nmol/ml), was followed by the decrease in stage II (4.21 ± 0.42 nmol/ml) and production lower than basal to the end of the test. Significant increase (p<0.05) in O2- values was found between stage I (4.18 ± 0.77 nmol/ml) and resting values (4.01 ± 0.69 nmol/ml), and at stages V (4.24 ± 0.85 nmol/ml) and 1st phase of recovery (4.39 ± 0.92 nmol/ml). Conclusion: The regression lines of NO2- and O2- crossed at the level of anaerobic threshold, suggesting that anaerobic threshold could be of a crucial importance not only in the anaerobic and aerobic metabolism but in mechanisms of signal transductions as well. Long-term exercise increases NO bioavailability, and there is positive correlation between NO bioavailability and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max).
Subgenomic RNA sequence of human astrovirus supports classification of Astroviridae as a new family of RNA viruses

We report the sequence of the subgenomic RNA of human astrovirus serotype 2. This 2,484-nucleotide RNA contains a single open reading frame, which encodes a protein with a predicted molecular mass of 88 kDa. We propose that this protein is the 90-kDa capsid precursor observed in infected cells. The deduced protein sequence does not contain conserved amino acid patterns reported for the capsid proteins of picornaviruses or caliciviruses, consistent with the classification of astroviruses as a new family of RNA viruses, designated Astroviridae.
A Chlamydomonas outer arm dynein mutant with a truncated beta heavy chain

A new allele of the Chlamydomonas oda4 flagellar mutant (oda4-s7) possessing abnormal outer dynein arms was isolated. Unlike the previously described oda4 axoneme lacking all three (alpha, beta, and gamma) outer-arm dynein heavy chains, the oda4-s7 axoneme contains the alpha and gamma heavy chains and a novel peptide with a molecular mass of approximately 160 kD. The peptide reacts with a mAb (18 beta B) that recognizes an epitope on the NH2-terminal part of the beta heavy chain. These observations indicate that this mutant has a truncated beta heavy chain, and that the NH2-terminal part of the beta heavy chain is important for the stable assembly of the outer arms. In averaged electron microscopic images of outer arms from cross sections of axonemes, the mutant outer arm lacks its mid-portion, producing a forked appearance. Together with our previous finding that the mutant oda11 lacks the alpha heavy chain and the outermost portion of the arm (Sakakibara, H., D. R. Mitchell, and R. Kamiya. 1991. J. Cell Biol. 113:615-622), this result defines the approximate locations of the three outer arm heavy chains in the axonemal cross section. The swimming velocity of oda4-s7 is 65 +/- 8 microns/s, close to that of oda4 which lacks the entire outer arm (62 +/- 8 microns/s) but significantly lower than the velocities of wild type (194 +/- 23 microns/s) and oda11 (119 +/- 17 microns/s). Thus, the lack of the beta heavy chain impairs outer-arm function more seriously than does the lack of the alpha heavy chain, suggesting that the alpha and beta chains play different roles in outer arm function.
Successful use of the Heartrail III catheter as a stent delivery catheter following failure of conventional techniques

The Terumo “five in six” system involves insertion of an extra length, 5 Fr Terumo guide catheter (Heartrail, Terumo) into a standard 6 Fr guide catheter so that the tip protrudes beyond the 6 Fr guide. This system increases backup support and has been used successfully to advance balloon catheters across chronic total occlusions. We describe the use of this system to facilitate extra deep intubation, enabling distal stent delivery beyond proximal points of obstruction that had been unsuccessful using more conventional techniques. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A multistep, GTP-driven mechanism controlling the dynamic cycling of nucleostemin

Nucleostemin (NS) was identified as a stem cell– and cancer cell–enriched nucleolar protein that controls the proliferation of these cells. Here, we report the mechanism that regulates its dynamic shuttling between the nucleolus and nucleoplasm. The nucleolar residence of nucleostemin involves a transient and a long-term binding by the basic and GTP-binding domains, and a dissociation mechanism mediated by the COOH-terminal region. This cycle is propelled by the GTP binding state of nucleostemin. We propose that a rapid nucleostemin cycle is designed to translate extra- and intra-cellular signals into the amount of nucleostemin in the nucleolus in a bidirectional and fast manner.
Anesthesia and Cognitive Performance in Children: No Evidence for a Causal Relationship

Abstract Recent findings of an association between anesthesia administration in the first three years of life and later learning disabilities have created concerns that anesthesia has neurotoxic effects on synaptogenesis, causing later learning problems. An alternative hypothesis is that those children who are likely to undergo surgery early in life have significant medical problems that are associated with a vulnerability to learning disabilities. These two hypotheses were evaluated in a monozygotic concordant–discordant twin design. Data on anesthesia administration and learning abilities and disabilities were available for 1,143 monozygotic twin pairs (56% female) from the Netherlands Twin Registry. Parents of the twins reported on anesthesia use before age 3 and again between ages 3 and 12 years. Near age 12, educational achievement and cognitive problems were assessed with standardized tests and teacher ratings. Results showed that twins who were exposed to anesthesia before age 3 had significantly lower educational achievement scores and significantly more cognitive problems than twins not exposed to anesthesia. However, there was one important exception: the unexposed co-twin from discordant pairs did not differ from their exposed co-twin. Thus, there is no evidence for a causal relationship between anesthesia administration and later learning-related outcomes in this sample. Rather, there is evidence for early anesthesia being a marker of an individual's vulnerability for later learning problems, regardless of their exposure to anesthesia.
Host Responses to Malassezia spp. in the Mammalian Skin

The skin of mammalian organisms is home for a myriad of microbes. Many of these commensals are thought to have beneficial effects on the host by critically contributing to immune homeostasis. Consequently, dysbiosis can have detrimental effects for the host that may manifest with inflammatory diseases at the barrier tissue. Besides bacteria, fungi make an important contribution to the microbiota and among these, the yeast Malassezia widely dominates in most areas of the skin in healthy individuals. There is accumulating evidence that Malassezia spp. are involved in a variety of skin disorders in humans ranging from non- or mildly inflammatory conditions such as dandruff and pityriasis versicolor to more severe inflammatory skin diseases like seborrheic eczema and atopic dermatitis. In addition, Malassezia is strongly linked to the development of dermatitis and otitis externa in dogs. However, the association of Malassezia spp. with such diseases remains poorly characterized. Until now, studies on the fungus–host interaction remain sparse and they are mostly limited to experiments with isolated host cells in vitro. They suggest a multifaceted crosstalk of Malassezia spp. with the skin by direct activation of the host via conserved pattern recognition receptors and indirectly via the release of fungus-derived metabolites that can modulate the function of hematopoietic and/or non-hematopoietic cells in the barrier tissue. In this review, we discuss our current understanding of the host response to Malassezia spp. in the mammalian skin.
Review and Unification of Methods for Computing Derivatives of Multidisciplinary Computational Models

This paper presents a review of all existing discrete methods for computing the derivatives of computational models within a unified mathematical framework. This framework hinges on a new equation, the unifying chain rule, from which all the methods can be derived. The computation of derivatives is described as a two-step process: the evaluation of the partial derivatives and the computation of the total derivatives, which are dependent on the partial derivatives. Finite differences, the complex-step method, and symbolic differentiation are discussed as options for computing the partial derivatives. It is shown that these are building blocks with which the total derivatives can be assembled using algorithmic differentiation, the direct and adjoint methods, and coupled analytic methods for multidisciplinary systems. Each of these methods is presented and applied to a common numerical example to demonstrate and compare the various approaches. The paper ends with a discussion of current challenges and possib.
Simultaneous assay for oxidative metabolism and adhesion of human neutrophils: evidence for correlations and dissociations of the two responses

An assay method for the simultaneous evaluation of the oxidative metabolism and adherence of human neutrophils is described, together with certain specific applications. Incubations were performed in serum‐coated microtiter plates, where oxidative metabolism was measured as O−2 release and, after washing out the nonadherent cells, the adhesion was measured as activity of acid phosphatase. Three agonists tested in this system –‐ opsonized zymosan, concanavalin A, and N‐formyl‐methionyl‐leucyl‐phenylalanine –‐ induced both activation of O−2 release and cell adhesion, but the two functions had time course and dose dependence patterns that varied depending on the stimulant. Particularly with concanavalin A, O−2 release and adhesion response were markedly dissociated; this lectin at low doses increased neutrophil adherence without triggering any O−2 production, whereas at high doses it increased both O−2 production and adherence. Anti‐integrin monoclonal antibodies did not affect adhesion induced by low‐dose concanavalin A but inhibited the adhesion induced by the other tested agonists. Adhesion and O−2 production were also found to be differentially affected by the NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenylene iodonium, the sulfhydryl reagent N‐ethylmaleimide and the A2 agonist adenosine, indicating that these neutrophil responses have various transductional pathways that also depend on the type of stimulus.
Autotaxin-Lysophosphatidic Acid Pathway in Intraocular Pressure Regulation and Glaucoma Subtypes.

Purpose To compare the levels of autotaxin (ATX), lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) in the aqueous humor (AH) of healthy control subjects with those of patients with different subtypes of glaucoma, and also to investigate the relationship of the ATX-LPA pathway with IOP and subtype of glaucoma. Methods This study included 164 eyes of 164 consecutive cases of cataract and glaucoma surgery (37 healthy, 31 normal tension glaucoma, 49 primary open angle glaucoma, 28 secondary open angle glaucoma, and 19 exfoliation glaucoma). Aqueous levels of LPA, LPC, and ATX were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and a two-site immunoenzymetric assay. The association between aqueous levels of ATX/LPA/LPC and IOP elevation in different glaucoma subtypes was investigated. The diagnostic values of indices of the ATX-LPA pathway were compared using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results Notable increases in ATX/LPA/LPC levels in glaucoma patients were observed. The ATX-LPA pathway was significantly related to IOP elevation and the subtype of glaucoma, especially in SOAG and XFG patients, and the area under the curve was significant for discriminating glaucoma eyes from healthy eyes. Conclusions Bioactive ATX/LPA/LPC concentrations were present in aqueous humor, and higher ATX and LPA concentrations were significantly correlated with IOP in all study subjects. Furthermore, the ATX-LPA pathway was significantly related to glaucoma subtype. These results reveal the potentially important role of the ATX-LPA pathway for IOP regulation in healthy subjects and glaucoma patients.
Perception of biological motion from size-invariant body representations

The visual recognition of action is one of the socially most important and computationally demanding capacities of the human visual system. It combines visual shape recognition with complex non-rigid motion perception. Action presented as a point-light animation is a striking visual experience for anyone who sees it for the first time. Information about the shape and posture of the human body is sparse in point-light animations, but it is essential for action recognition. In the posturo-temporal filter model of biological motion perception posture information is picked up by visual neurons tuned to the form of the human body before body motion is calculated. We tested whether point-light stimuli are processed through posture recognition of the human body form by using a typical feature of form recognition, namely size invariance. We constructed a point-light stimulus that can only be perceived through a size-invariant mechanism. This stimulus changes rapidly in size from one image to the next. It thus disrupts continuity of early visuo-spatial properties but maintains continuity of the body posture representation. Despite this massive manipulation at the visuo-spatial level, size-changing point-light figures are spontaneously recognized by naive observers, and support discrimination of human body motion.
Reasoning about partial goal satisfaction for requirements and design engineering

Exploring alternative options is at the heart of the requirements and design processes. Different alternatives contribute to different degrees of achievement of non-functional goals about system safety, security, performance, usability, and so forth. Such goals in general cannot be satisfied in an absolute, clear-cut sense. Various qualitative and quantitative frameworks have been proposed to support the assessment of alternatives for design decision making. In general they lead to limited conclusions due to the lack of accuracy and measurability of goal formulations and the lack of impact propagation rules along goal contribution links. The paper presents techniques for specifying partial degrees of goal satisfaction and for quantifying the impact of alternative system designs on the degree of goal satisfaction. The approach consists in enriching goal refinement models with a probabilistic layer for reasoning about partial satisfaction. Within such models, non-functional goals are specified in a precise, probabilistic way; their specification is interpreted in terms of application-specific measures; impact of alternative goal refinements is evaluated in terms of refinement equations over random variables involved in the system's functional goals. A systematic method is presented for guiding the elaboration of such models. The latter can then be used to assess the impact of alternative decisions on the degree of goal satisfaction or to derive quantitative, fine-grained requirements on the software to achieve the higher-level goals.