Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Several studies with significant C1 attention effects survive critical analysis

ABSTRACT In a discussion paper (Slotnick, this issue), I conducted a selective review of spatial attention studies to compare experimental parameters and determine whether particular stimulus, task, or analysis conditions were more likely to produce significant attentional modulation of the event-related potential (ERP) C1 component. It was concluded that to maximize C1 attention effects, stimuli should be in the upper visual field, there should be distractors, conditions should be high perceptual or attentional load, there should be exogenous cuing, and effects should be measured at midline parietal-occipital electrodes POz, Pz, and CPz. Commentaries were received by Fu (this issue), Qu and Ding (this issue), Zani and Proverbio (this issue), Pitts and Hillyard (this issue), Di Russo (this issue), and Mohr and Kelly (this issue). Comments included additional ideas to amplify C1 attention effects, support for some conclusions, and challenges to some conclusions. The challenges led to a more in depth analysis of many issues pertaining to C1 attention effects including optimal electrode and stimulus locations, null V1 source localization attention effects, whether all significant C1 attention effects can be discounted, and the number of studies with null versus significant C1 attention effects. Analysis of the studies that survived critical analysis, which included several that observed significant C1 attention effects, led to the same conclusions as Slotnick (this issue). Lines of future research include replicating studies that have observed C1 attention effects using identical experimental parameters and systematically manipulating parameters to determine the impact of each parameter on C1 spatial attention effects.
Hazard Identification : Screening Swedish B . subterraneus Queens from the Source Population , and Native Bees from the Putative Reintroduction Site for Parasites

Reintroductions can play a key role in the conservation of endangered species. Parasites may impact reintroductions, both positively and negatively, but few case studies of how to manage parasites during reintroductions exist. Bumblebees are in decline at regional and global scales, and reintroductions can be used to re-establish extinct local populations. Here we report on how the risks associated with parasites are being managed in an ongoing reintroduction of the short-haired bumblebee, Bombus subterraneus, to the UK. Disease risk analysis was conducted and disease risk management plans constructed to design a capture-quarantinerelease system that minimised the impacts on both the bumblebees and on their natural parasites. Given that bumblebee parasites are (i) generalists, (ii) geographically ubiquitous, and (iii) show evidence of local adaptation, the disease risk management plan was designed to limit the co-introduction of parasites from the source population in Sweden to the destination site in the UK. Results suggest that this process at best eliminated, or at least severely curtailed the co-introduction of parasites, and ongoing updates of the plan enabled minimization of impacts on natural host-parasite dynamics in the Swedish source population. This study suggests that methods designed for reintroductions of vertebrate species can be successfully applied to invertebrates. Future reintroductions of invertebrates where the parasite fauna is less well known should take advantage of next-generation barcoding and multiple survey years prior to the start of reintroductions, to develop comprehensive disease risk management plans.
The Time-Varying Relations Between Risk Factors and Smoking Before and After a Quit Attempt

Introduction Intensive longitudinal data (ILD) collected with ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) can provide a rich resource for understanding the relations between risk factors and smoking in the time surrounding a cessation attempt. Methods Participants (N = 142) were smokers seeking treatment at a safety-net hospital smoking cessation clinic who were randomly assigned to receive standard clinic care (ie, counseling and cessation medications) or standard care plus small financial incentives for biochemically confirmed smoking abstinence. Participants completed EMAs via study provided smartphones several times per day for 14 days (1 week prequit through 1 week postquit). EMAs assessed current contextual factors including environmental (eg, easy access to cigarettes, being around others smoking), cognitive (eg, urge to smoke, stress, coping expectancies, cessation motivation, cessation self-efficacy, restlessness), behavioral (ie, recent smoking and alcohol consumption), and affective variables. Temporal relations between risk factors and smoking were assessed using a logistic time-varying effect model. Results Participants were primarily female (57.8%) and Black (71.8%), with an annual household income of <$20000 per year (71.8%), who smoked 17.6 cigarettes per day (SD = 8.8). Individuals assigned to the financial incentives group had decreased odds of smoking compared with those assigned to usual care beginning 3 days before the quit attempt and continuing throughout the first week postquit. Environmental, cognitive, affective, and behavioral variables had complex time-varying impacts on smoking before and after the scheduled quit attempt. Conclusions Knowledge of time-varying effects may facilitate the development of interventions that target specific psychosocial and behavioral variables at critical moments in the weeks surrounding a quit attempt. Implications Previous research has examined time-varying relations between smoking and negative affect, urge to smoke, smoking dependence, and certain smoking cessation therapies. We extend this work using ILD of unexplored variables in a socioeconomically disadvantaged sample of smokers seeking cessation treatment. These findings could be used to inform ecological momentary interventions that deliver treatment resources (eg, video- or text-based content) to individuals based upon critical variables surrounding their attempt.
Factors influencing izod impact properties of thermoplastics measured with the autographic impact test

The standardization of notched Izod impact test data to normalized values of foot pounds per inch of notch is based on the assumption of a 1:1 increase in breaking strength with increasing notch width. This assumed relation is not supported by experimental tests on commercial thermoplastics. As notch width was increased from 1/8 to 1/4 to 3/8 to 1/2 in. , nine of ten thermoplastics tested showed a decrease in normalized impact strength. Each material appears to show a characteristic loss in breaking strengths as the notch width increases. A technique developed for calibration of pendulum impact testers has been used to examine the variation of impact breaking strength in relation to the total kinetic energy of the hammer. Experimental tests show practically no change in impact strengths up to values that take 2/3 of the available hammer energy. Experimental work on the comparison of the impulse transferred by the hammer during breaking with impulse curves photographed by the Autographic Impact test show very good agreement for catastrophic breaks and fair agreement for plastic type breaks. The reduction in recorded impulse is attributed to the degrading of the sample during the plastic portion of the breaking cycle. The peak force of thermoplastics as measured by the Autographic Impact test increases as the temperature decreases from 100°C. or above to 0°C. Over the same temperature range flexural tests on small cantilever samples of these thermoplastics show the same thermal dependence for the flexural yield or permanent distortion stress. Plots of the impact peak forces and flexural yield stress at corresponding temperatures give a linear correlation. Each thermoplastic material exhibits a unique relation for this correlation between impact yielding and flexural yielding. This correlation between the impact and flexural tests over the range of temperatures is the first known experimental indication of a direct relation between impact properties and standard physical tests.
Patterns of serologic markers of hepatitis B virus infection and the risk of transmission among pregnant women in southwestern Nigeria

ABSTRACT Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health concern in developing countries that has a high morbidity and mortality rate. Vertical transmission of HBV from mother to child has been identified as a major factor leading to chronicity with attendant liver conditions, especially in poor socioeconomic settings. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of serological HBV markers among pregnant women in Ibadan southwestern Nigeria and to determine the implications for perinatal HBV transmission. This study revealed the presence of varied HBV serological patterns of infection or immunity among pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria, and thus the risk of mother to child transmission.
Improving RAPTOR tokamak plasma profile simulations neutral beam injection module and automated model parameter optimization

The q-profile, also known in literature as the safety factor profile, is an important quantity because it determines the stability as well as the performance of a fusion plasma. A strong degree of control over this q-profile makes the operation of a tokamak fusion reactor more stable (avoidance of plasma instabilities) and efficient (optimal q-profile shape). Control of the q-profile can be achieved through either open-loop (feedforward) control or closed-loop (feedback) control, or a combination of both. For the development and testing of both types of control a fast controloriented transport code which can simulate the evolution of the safety factor profile in time is crucial. The RAPTOR (RApid Plasma Transport simulatOR) code was developed with this aim in mind. The performance of the open-loop and closed-loop control system strongly depends on the quality of the RAPTOR predictions. During this research the predictions of RAPTOR were improved by adding a fast Neutral Beam Injection module (NBI) and by developing a generic method to estimate the model parameters in RAPTOR. The NBI system is an important external heating and current drive actuator to alter the q-profile of a fusion plasma. It is used at many existing tokamaks and will be an important actuator for ITER. The developed fast Neutral Beam Injection module, based on a pencil beam approach, produces results similar to more complete beam codes for an ITER-like scenario. In RAPTOR an ad-hoc model is used, instead of a first principle physics model, to describe the electron heat diffusivity χe in view of computational speed. The structure of the ad-hoc model is given by the physics knowledge, and only the unknown physics of χe, which is more complicated and less well understood, is captured in its model parameters. During this research on the one hand the ad-hoc model was extended in order to better describe physical phenomena such as the sawtooth instability and the degradation of transport due to higher temperature. On the other hand a generic parameter identification method was developed to estimate RAPTOR’s model parameters. For the TCV tokamak in Lausanne it was shown that the developed method is capable of finding the model parameters such that the RAPTOR predictions agree within twenty percent with measurements. As a result of the work presented in this thesis, the RAPTOR code is now equipped with a NBI module that allows RAPTOR to simulate a multitude of tokamaks including ITER. Benchmarks of this fast NBI module for an ITER-like scenario showed good agreement with large scale NBI codes, while running significantly faster. Furthermore the extension of the transport model and a newly developed model-parameter estimation routine now results in a better description of the physics and allows for a less ad-hoc and more automated method to implement RAPTOR on a variety of tokamaks.
Male Partner Participation in Antenatal Clinic Services is Associated With Improved HIV-Free Survival Among Infants in Nairobi, Kenya: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objective:This prospective study investigated the relationship between male antenatal clinic (ANC) involvement and infant HIV-free survival. Methods:From 2009 to 2013, HIV-infected pregnant women were enrolled from 6 ANCs in Nairobi, Kenya and followed with their infants until 6 weeks postpartum. Male partners were encouraged to attend antenatally through invitation letters. Men who failed to attend had questionnaires sent for self-completion postnatally. Multivariate regression was used to identify correlates of male attendance. The role of male involvement in infant outcomes of HIV infection, mortality, and HIV-free survival was examined. Results:Among 830 enrolled women, 519 (62.5%) consented to male participation and 136 (26.2%) men attended the ANC. For the 383 (73.8%) women whose partners failed to attend, 63 (16.4%) were surveyed through outreach. In multivariate analysis, male report of previous HIV testing was associated with maternal ANC attendance (adjusted odds ratio = 3.7; 95% CI: 1.5 to 8.9, P = 0.003). Thirty-five (6.6%) of 501 infants acquired HIV or died by 6 weeks of life. HIV-free survival was significantly greater among infants born to women with partner attendance (97.7%) than those without (91.3%) (P = 0.01). Infants lacking male ANC engagement had an approximately 4-fold higher risk of death or infection compared with those born to women with partner attendance (HR = 3.95, 95% CI: 1.21 to 12.89, P = 0.023). Adjusting for antiretroviral use, the risk of death or infection remained significantly greater for infants born to mothers without male participation (adjusted hazards ratio = 3.79, 95% CI: 1.15 to 12.42, P = 0.028). Conclusions:Male ANC attendance was associated with improved infant HIV-free survival. Promotion of male HIV testing and engagement in ANC/prevention of mother-to-child transmission services may improve infant outcomes.
Functionalized nanomaterials: their use as contrast agents in bioimaging: mono- and multimodal approaches

Abstract The successful development of nanomaterials illustrates the considerable interest in the development of new molecular probes for medical diagnosis and imaging. Substantial progress was made in the synthesis protocol and characterization of these materials, whereas toxicological issues are sometimes incomplete. Nanoparticle-based contrast agents (CAs) tend to become efficient tools for enhancing medical diagnostics and surgery for a wide range of imaging modalities. The multimodal nanoparticles (NPs) are much more efficient than the conventional molecular-scale CAs. They provide new abilities for in vivo detection and enhanced targeting efficiencies through longer circulation times, designed clearance pathways, and multiple binding capacities. Properly protected, they can safely be used for the fabrication of various functional systems with targeting properties, reduced toxicity, and proper removal from the body. This review mainly describes the advances in the development of mono- to multimodal NPs and their in vitro and in vivo relevant biomedical applications ranging from imaging and tracking to cancer treatment. Besides the specific applications for classical imaging (magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, computed tomography, ultrasound, and photoacoustic imaging), the less common imaging techniques such as terahertz molecular imaging (THMI) or ion beam analysis (IBA) are mentioned. The perspectives on the multimodal theranostic NPs and their potential for clinical advances are also mentioned.
Establishing Corneal Cross-Linking With Riboflavin and UV-A in the Mouse Cornea In Vivo: Biomechanical Analysis.

PURPOSE To establish corneal cross-linking (CXL) with riboflavin and UV-A in in the mouse cornea in vivo and to develop tools to measure the biomechanical changes observed. METHODS A total of 55 male C57BL/6 wild-type mice (aged 5 weeks) were divided into 14 groups. Standard CXL parameters were adapted to the anatomy of the mouse cornea, and riboflavin concentration (0.1%-0.5%) and fluence series (0.09-5.4 J/cm²) were performed on the assumption of the endothelial damage thresholds. Untreated and riboflavin only corneas were used as controls. Animals were killed at 30 minutes and at 1 month after CXL. Corneas were harvested. Two-dimensional (2D) biomechanical testing was performed using a customized corneal holder in a commercially available stress-strain extensometer/indenter. Both elastic and viscoelastic analyses were performed. Statistical inference was performed using t-tests and specific mathematical models fitted to the experimental stress-strain and stress-relaxation data. Adjusted P values by the method of Benjamini and Hochberg are reported. RESULTS For all CXL treatment groups, stress-relaxation showed significant differences (P < 0.0001) after 120 seconds of constant strain application, with cross-linked corneas maintaining a higher stress (441 ± 40 kPa) when compared with controls (337 ± 39 kPa). Stress-strain analysis confirmed these findings but was less sensitive to CXL-induced changes: at 0.5% of strain, cross-linked corneas remained at higher stress (778 ± 111 kPa) when compared with controls (659 ± 121 kPa). CONCLUSIONS Cross-linking was induced in the mouse cornea in vivo, and its biomechanical effect successfully measured. This could create opportunities to study molecular pathways of CXL in transgenic mice.
Single depth image super-resolution and denoising based on sparse graphs via structure tensor

The existing single depth image super-resolution (SR) methods suppose that the image to be interpolated is noise free. However, the supposition is invalid in practice because noise will be inevitably introduced in the depth image acquisition process. In this paper, we address the problem of image denoising and SR jointly based on designing sparse graphs that are useful for describing the geometric structures of data domains. In our method, we first cluster similar patches in a noisy depth image and compute an average patch. Different from the majority of the graph Fourier transform (GFT) that assumed an underlying 4-connected graph structure with vertical and horizontal edges only, we select more general sparse graph structures and edges weights based on the difference of the blocks' structure tensors. For the average patch, a graph template with edges orthogonal to the principal gradient is designed. Finally, the graph based transform (GBT) dictionary is learned from the derived correlation graph for signal representation. As shown in our experimental results, the proposed method obtains a lot of improvement in performance.
An efficient intra coding algorithm based on statistical learning for screen content coding

Screen content has different characteristics compared with natural content captured by cameras. To achieve more efficient compression, some new coding tools have been developed in the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Screen Content Coding (SCC) Extension, which also increase the computational complexity of encoder. In this paper, complexity analysis are first conducted to explore the distribution of complexities. Then, two classification trees, including early coding units (CU) partition tree (EPT) and CU content classification tree (CCT), are designed based on statistical characteristics and coding information. EPT is used to decide whether the CU skip the mode decision process of current depth level and CCT is used to classify the blocks into either natural blocks or screen blocks. Natural blocks will skip screen coding modes and screen blocks skip normal intra modes. Experimental results show the proposed algorithm can save 49% encoding time with 2.7% BD-rate increase on average for All Intra configuration under the SCC common test condition.
Opinions of general practitioners about psychotherapy and their relationships with mental health professionals in the management of major depression: A qualitative survey

Background French general practitioners (GPs) refer their patients with major depression to psychiatrists or for psychotherapy at particularly low rates. Objectives This qualitative study aims to explore general practitioners' (GP) opinions about psychotherapy, their relationships with mental health professionals, their perceptions of their role and that of psychiatrists in treating depression, and the relations between these factors and the GPs' strategies for managing depression. Methods In 2011, in-depth interviews based on a semi-structured interview guide were conducted with 32 GPs practicing in southeastern France. Verbatim transcripts were examined by analyzing their thematic content. Results We identified three profiles of physicians according to their opinions and practices about treatment strategies for depression: pro-pharmacological treatment, pro-psychotherapy and those with mixed practices. Most participants considered their relationships with psychiatrists unsatisfactory, would like more and better collaboration with them and shared the same concept of management in general practice. This concept was based both on the values and principles of practice shared by GPs and on their strong differentiation of their management practices from those of psychiatrists, Conclusion Several attitudes and values common to GPs might contribute to their low rate of referrals for psychotherapy in France: strong occupational identity, substantial variations in GPs' attitudes and practices regarding depression treatment strategies, representations sometimes unfavorable toward psychiatrists. Actions to develop a common culture and improve cooperation between GPs and psychiatrists are essential. They include systems of collaborative care and the development of interdisciplinary training common to GPs and psychiatrists practicing in the same area.
Calcium-Dependent Enhancement by Extracellular Acidity of the Cytotoxicity of Mitochondrial Inhibitors against Melanoma

Extracellular acidity is a hallmark of cancers and is independent of hypoxia. Because acidity potentiates malignant phenotypes, therapeutic strategies that enhance the targeting of oncogenic mechanisms in an acidic microenvironment should be effective. We report here that drugs which abrogate mitochondrial respiration show enhanced cytotoxicity against melanoma cells in a normoxic but acidic extracellular pH, independent from P53 mutations, BRAF (V600E) mutations, and/or resistance against BRAF inhibitors. Conversely, the cytotoxicity against melanoma cells of mitochondrial inhibitors is impaired by a neutral or alkaline extracellular pH, and in vivo systemic alkalinization with NaHCO3 enhanced subcutaneous tumor growth and lung metastasis of B16F10 cells in mice treated with the mitochondrial inhibitor phenformin. Intracellular calcium (Ca2+) was significantly increased in melanoma cells treated with mitochondrial inhibitors at an acidic extracellular pH and an intracellular Ca2+ chelator, BAPTA/AM, inhibited cytoplasmic Ca2+ as well as melanoma cell death. Surprisingly, ROS scavengers synergized with increased apoptosis in cells treated with mitochondrial inhibitors, suggesting that ROS contributes to cell survival in this context. Notably, the cytotoxic enhancement of mitochondrial inhibitors by acidity was distinct from PGC1alpha-driven mitochondrial addiction, from therapy-induced senescence, and from slow, JARID1B-high–associated cell cycling, all of which have been shown to promote vulnerability to mitochondrial inhibition. These data indicate that extracellular pH profoundly modulates the cytotoxicity of mitochondrial inhibitors against cancer cells. Mol Cancer Ther; 16(5); 936–47. ©2017 AACR.