Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single trial prediction of self-paced reaching directions from EEG signals

Early detection of movement intention could possibly minimize the delays in the activation of neuroprosthetic devices. As yet, single trial analysis using non-invasive approaches for understanding such movement preparation remains a challenging task. We studied the feasibility of predicting movement directions in self-paced upper limb center-out reaching tasks, i.e., spontaneous movements executed without an external cue that can better reflect natural motor behavior in humans. We reported results of non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) recorded from mild stroke patients and able-bodied participants. Previous studies have shown that low frequency EEG oscillations are modulated by the intent to move and therefore, can be decoded prior to the movement execution. Motivated by these results, we investigated whether slow cortical potentials (SCPs) preceding movement onset can be used to classify reaching directions and evaluated the performance using 5-fold cross-validation. For able-bodied subjects, we obtained an average decoding accuracy of 76% (chance level of 25%) at 62.5 ms before onset using the amplitude of on-going SCPs with above chance level performances between 875 to 437.5 ms prior to onset. The decoding accuracy for the stroke patients was on average 47% with their paretic arms. Comparison of the decoding accuracy across different frequency ranges (i.e., SCPs, delta, theta, alpha, and gamma) yielded the best accuracy using SCPs filtered between 0.1 to 1 Hz. Across all the subjects, including stroke subjects, the best selected features were obtained mostly from the fronto-parietal regions, hence consistent with previous neurophysiological studies on arm reaching tasks. In summary, we concluded that SCPs allow the possibility of single trial decoding of reaching directions at least 312.5 ms before onset of reach.
Hydrodynamic Interactions of Relativistic Extragalactic Jets with Dense Clouds

We have studied three-dimensional hydrodynamic interactions of relativistic extragalactic jets with two-phase ambient media. These jets propagate through a denser homogeneous gas and then impact clouds with densities 100 to 1000 times higher than the initial beam density. The deflection angle of the jet is influenced more by the density contrast of the cloud than by the beam Mach number of the jet. A relativistic jet with low relativistic beam Mach number can eventually be slightly bent after it crosses the dense cloud; however, we have not seen permanently bent structures in the interaction of a high relativistic beam Mach number jet with a cloud. The relativistic jet impacts on dense clouds do not necessarily destroy the clouds completely, and much of the cloud body can survive as a coherent blob. This enhancement of cloud durability is partly due to the geometric influence of the off-axis collisions we consider and also arises from the lower rate of cloud fragmentation through the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for relativistic jets. To compare our simulations with observed extragalactic radio jets, we have computed the approximate surface distributions of synchrotron emission at different viewing angles. These surface intensity maps show that relativistic jets interacting with clouds can produce synchrotron emission knots similar to structures observed in many VLBI-scale radio sources. We find that the synchrotron emission increases steeply at the moment of impact and the emission peaks right before the jet passes through the cloud.
Maltreatment in the Father-child Relationship: An Exploration of Problematic Relational Dynamics

Despite the high prevalence of father-perpetrated maltreatment, relatively little empirical attention has been given to men who abuse and neglect their children (Dubowitz, 2006, 2009; Haskett, Marziano, & Dover, 1996). To further our understanding, the current dissertation explored father-child relational dynamics that underlie risk for child maltreatment. In the first study, data from a sample of 121 maltreating fathers were used to discern differential patterns of parenting dynamics using both theoretical and statistical approaches to classification. It was hypothesized that fathers would show problems predominantly in one of five areas: emotional unavailability; negative attribution, harshness, and rejection; developmentally inappropriate interaction; poor psychological boundaries; and exposure of a child to hostile inter-parental relations. Contrary to expectation, little support was obtained for the predominant problem hypothesis. Although methodological limitations may play a role, results indicated that men were more clearly differentiated by the degree of severity evidenced across their problematic parent-child interactions, than by differences in the specific pattern of problems they experienced. An interesting finding from Study 1 was that increasingly severe relational problems were associated with a misprioritization of parent and child needs. Study 2 further explored this dynamic by revising and re-evaluating a self-report measure of men’s ability to balance needs in the father-child relationship. Data from two samples (93 community fathers and 85
Ligand-Induced Regulation and Localization of Cannabinoid CB1 and Dopamine D2L Receptor Heterodimers

The cannabinoid CB1 (CB1) and dopamine D2 (D2) receptors are coexpressed in the basal ganglia, an area of the brain involved in such processes as cognition, motor function, and emotional control. Several lines of evidence suggest that CB1 and D2 receptors may oligomerize, providing a unique pharmacology in vitro and in vivo. However, limited information exists on the regulation of CB1 and D2 receptor dimers. We used a novel technique, multicolor bimolecular fluorescence complementation (MBiFC) to examine the subcellular localization of CB1-D2L heterodimers as well as D2L-D2L homodimers in a neuronal cell model, Cath. a differentiated cells. MBiFC was then used to explore the effects of persistent ligand treatment on receptor dimerization at the plasma membrane and intracellularly. Persistent (20-h) agonist treatment resulted in increased formation of CB1-D2L heterodimers relative to the D2L-D2L homodimers. The effects of the D2 agonist quinpirole were restricted to the intracellular compartment and may reflect increased D2L receptor expression. In contrast, treatment with the CB1 receptor agonist (2)-cis-3-[2-hydroxy-4-(1,1-dimethylheptyl)phenyl]-trans-4-(3-hydroxypropyl) cyclohexanol (CP55, 940) produced increases in both membrane and intracellular CB1-D2L heterodimers independently of alterations in CB1 receptor expression. The effects of CB1 receptor activation were attenuated by the CB1 antagonist 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-(4-iodophenyl)-4-methyl-N-4-morpholinyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (AM281) and were both time- and dose-dependent. The effects of CB1 activation were examined further by combining MBiFC with a constitutively active CB1 receptor mutant, CB1T210I. These studies demonstrated that the expression of CB1T210I increased intracellular CB1-D2L heterodimer formation. In summary, agonist-induced modulation of CB1-D2L oligomerization may have physiological implications in diseases such as Parkinson's disease and drug abuse.
An empirical study to remove noise from single-trial MRCP for movement intention detection

In recent years, movement related cortical potentials (MRCP), a type of slow cortical potentials, have been used for motor intention detection for triggering external devices in close loop rehabilitation paradigm. One of the main issues with these slow frequency MRCP signals is to separate them from the background brain activity or their poor signal to noise ratio. For this reason, different filter bank for denoising are reported in the literature. In this paper, we use a signal adaptive, time-frequency based empirical method known as empirical mode decomposition to decompose the MRCP signal into its constituent frequency components called intrinsic mode function (IMF). By doing so, we can separate the slow frequency MRCP signal occupying the last few IMFs, from the high frequency noise present in the first few IMFs. By removing the first few IMFs, we obtain a cleaned MRCP signal that can be used for the detection of movement intention with much higher accuracies and less latency. Template matching approach of matched filters was used to detect the presence of signal and the results show that four different types of movement intentions can be detected using this denoising approach with an average latency of 0.70 s±0.1 before the actual movement onset. These results are much better than average latency of 0.07 s ± 0.1 reported previously in the literature on the same dataset.
Coaching millennial leaders: Life stage versus the times we live in

This paper presents the findings of a study focused on the experience of coaches when coaching millennial leaders (where millennials are those people born 1980-1999). Following a hermeneutic phenomenological approach using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), four coaches were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Findings relate to the life stage of the coach compared to their millennial client, which resulted in coaches often playing the role of mentor; or to 'the times we live in', with millennial clients interacting with the world differently from their coaches, which affected coaches' ways of working and work-life balance expectations.
Occurrence of blood parasites and intensity of infection in Prunella modularis in the montane and subalpine zone in the Slovak Carpathians

The objective of this study was to obtain primary information on the occurrence of blood parasites and intensity of infection in the Dunnock Prunella modularis in the montane region of Slovakia. Altogether 109 birds were examined during the years 2006–2010. The occurrence of Haemoproteus sp. , Leucocytozoon fringillinarum and Trypanosoma sp. was documented. Blood parasite prevalences of 45% by microscopic examination and 55% by PCR diagnostics were found. The prevalence of Leucocytozoon sp. was found to be dependent on host sex with males showing a significantly higher intensity of infection with Leucocytozoon. Adult birds showed significantly higher infection prevalence than subadults. The prevalences of both Leucocytozoon sp. and Haemoproteus sp. were significantly dependent on bird age. The intensity of infection with Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon was positively correlated and higher intensity of infection was confirmed in adult birds then in subadults birds. The prevalence of blood parasites in our samples was significantly higher in comparison to most other studies from different countries of Europe conducted at lower altitudes, indicating that the montane zone is especially favourable for the transmission of Leucocytozoon and Haemoproteus species.
Circulatory miR-34a as an RNA-based, noninvasive biomarker for brain aging

MicroRNAs in blood samples have been identified as an important class of biomarkers, which can reflect physiological changes from cancer to brain dysfunction. In this report we identify concordant increases in levels of expression of miR-34a in brain and two components of mouse blood samples, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma, from 2 day old neonates through young adulthood and mid-life to old age at 25 months. Levels of this microRNA's prime target, silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), in brain and the two blood-derived specimens decrease with age inversely to miR-34a, starting as early as 4 months old, when appreciable tissue aging has not yet begun. Our results suggest that: 1. Increased miR-34a and the reciprocal decrease of its target, SIRT1, in blood specimens are the accessible biomarkers for age-dependent changes in brain; and 2. these changes are predictors of impending decline in brain function, as early as in young adult mice.
The lack of selection bias in a snowball sampled case-control study on drug abuse.

BACKGROUND Friend controls in matched case-control studies can be a potential source of bias based on the assumption that friends are more likely to share exposure factors. This study evaluates the role of selection bias in a case-control study that used the snowball sampling method based on friendship for the selection of cases and controls. METHODS The cases selected fro the study were drug abusers located in the community. Exposure was defined by the presence of at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Psychiatric and drug abuse/dependence diagnoses were made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R) criteria. Cases and controls were matched on sex, age and friendship. The measurement of selection bias was made through the comparison of the proportion of exposed controls selected by exposed cases (p1) with the proportion of exposed controls selected by unexposed cases (p2). If p1 = p2 then, selection bias should not occur. RESULTS The observed distribution of the 185 matched pairs having at least one psychiatric disorder showed a p1 value of 0.52 and a p2 value of 0.51, indicating no selection bias in this study. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the idea that the use of friend controls can produce a valid basis for a case-control study.
Media, politics, and climate change: the ASA Task Force report and beyond

ABSTRACT This review essay focuses on the American Sociological Association (ASA) Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change final report, Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives. We take the report as a jumping off point to provide an overview of research on climate change in the media sphere and in the political sphere. The political sphere and the media sphere are key sites for the politics of climate change, where the meaning of the causes and consequences of climate change, as well as policy responses for mitigation and adaptation, are contested and negotiated among policy makers, corporate interests, environmental scientists, environmental movements and counter-movements. While there are substantial bodies of research on climate change within both the political and media spheres, less research specifically addresses how the social dynamics of one of these spheres shapes social interaction in the other sphere. Insights into the relationships between these spheres are suggested by the ASA Task Force report, but this area is under examined in current research. As such, we argue that there is a need for more research that bridges policy-oriented and media-oriented perspectives on climate change.
Does Acupuncture Improve Motor Recovery After Stroke?: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background and Purpose— Acupuncture may be a promising treatment for poststroke paralysis. We conducted a meta-analysis, assessing the efficacy of acupuncture with and without stroke rehabilitation. Methods— We identified randomized trials comparing acupuncture with no acupuncture within 6 months of stroke by searching MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Chinese medical literature databases. Two reviewers independently extracted data on study characteristics, patient characteristics, and impairment and disability outcomes. The outcome measures were internationally recognized or nationally approved. The fixed- and random-effects models were used to combine effect size and odds ratio across studies. Results— Fourteen trials with 1213 patients met all the inclusion criteria. For the comparison of acupuncture with no acupuncture in addition to stroke rehabilitation, the pooled random-effects estimates of the change in motor impairment and disability were 0.06 (95% CI, −0.12 to 0.24) and 0.49 (95% CI, 0.03 to 0.96), respectively, with heterogeneity in disability measures (P =0.05, &khgr;2 test). For the comparison of real with sham acupuncture, the pooled random-effects estimate of the change in disability was 0.07 (95% CI, −0.34 to 0.48). For the comparison of acupuncture with no acupuncture without stroke rehabilitation, the pooled random-effects estimate of the change in motor impairment was 0.46 (95% CI, −0.20 to 1.12), and the pooled random-effects odds ratio for disability was 12.5 (95% CI, 4.3 to 36.2), with no statistically significant heterogeneity (P =0.97 and P =0.12, respectively, &khgr;2 test), but the study quality was poor. Conclusions— This meta-analysis suggests that with stroke rehabilitation, acupuncture has no additional effect on motor recovery but has a small positive effect on disability, which may be due to a true placebo effect and varied study quality. The efficacy of acupuncture without stroke rehabilitation remains uncertain, mainly because of the poor quality of such studies.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in mainland China dissected

This paper provides a review of a recently published series of studies that give a detailed and comprehensive documentation of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in mainland China, which severely struck the country in the spring of 2003. The epidemic spanned a large geographical extent but clustered in two areas: first in Guangdong Province, and about 3 months later in Beijing with its surrounding areas. Reanalysis of all available epidemiological data resulted in a total of 5327 probable cases of SARS, of whom 343 died. The resulting case fatality ratio (CFR) of 6.4% was less than half of that in other SARS-affected countries or areas, and this difference could only partly be explained by younger age of patients and higher number of community acquired infections. Analysis of the impact of interventions demonstrated that strong political commitment and a centrally coordinated response was the most important factor to control SARS in mainland China, whereas the most stringent control measures were all initiated when the epidemic was already dying down. The long-term economic consequence of the epidemic was limited, much consumption was merely postponed, but for Beijing irrecoverable losses to the tourist sector were considerable. An important finding from a cohort study was that many former SARS patients currently suffer from avascular osteonecrosis, as a consequence of the treatment with corticosteroids during their infection. The SARS epidemic provided valuable information and lessons relevant in controlling outbreaks of newly emerging infectious diseases, and has led to fundamental reforms of the Chinese health system. In particular, a comprehensive nationwide internet-based disease reporting system was established.
Using a Treebank for Finding Opposites

We present an automatic method for extraction of pairs of opposites (e.g. hotcold, top-bottom, buy-sell) by means of dependency patterns that are learned from a 450 million word treebank containing texts from Dutch newspapers. Using small sets of seed pairs, we identify the best patterns for finding new pairs of opposites. Treebanks are useful for generating dependency patterns expressing relations between words that occur far away from each other, something which is more difficult with textual patterns. Furthermore, textual patterns tend to find opposites expressed by the most frequent part-of-speech (PoS) category, viz. nouns ([17]). We examine whether dependency patterns can also be used for finding pairs of opposites of less frequent PoS classes: adjectives and verbs. We successfully employ dependency patterns for extracting opposites but find that the best acquired patterns are too general and extract a lot of noise. We conclude that while syntactic information helps to identify opposites for less frequently co-occurring PoS categories, more data, e.g. available from the Web, should be used to improve the results.
Decoding neuronal firing and modelling neural networks

Biological neural networks are large systems of complex elements interacting through a complex array of connexions. Individual neurons express a large number of active conductances (Connors et al. 1982; Adams & Gavin, 1986; Llinás, 1988; McCormick, 1990; Hille, 1992) and exhibit a wide variety of dynamic behaviours on time scales ranging from milliseconds to many minutes (Llinás, 1988; Harris-Warrick & Marder, 1991; Churchland & Sejnowski, 1992; Turrigiano et al. 1994).
Cohomology of Number Fields and Analytic Pro-p-Groups

In this work, we are interested in the tame version of the Fontaine–Mazur conjecture. By viewing the pro-p-proup GS as a quotient of a Galois extension ramified at p and S, we obtain a connection between the conjecture studied here and a question of Galois structure. Moreover, following a recent work of A. Schmidt, we give some evidence of links between this conjecture, the étale cohomology and the computation of the cohomological dimension of the pro-p-groups GS that appear. 2000 Math. Subj. Class. 11R37, 11R23.
Synthesis, characterization, and stability of iron (III) complex ions possessing phenanthroline-based ligands.

It has previously been demonstrated that phenanthroline-based ligands used to make gold metallotherapuetics have the ability to exhibit cytotoxicity when not coordinated to the metal center. In an effort to help assess the mechanism by which these ligands may cause tumor cell death, iron binding and removal experiments have been considered. The close linkage between cell proliferation and intracellular iron concentrations suggest that iron deprivation strategies may be a mechanism involved in inhibiting tumor cell growth. With the creation of iron (III) phen complexes, the iron binding abilities of three polypyridal ligands [1,10-phenanthroline (phen), 2,9-dimethyl-1, 10-phenanthroline (methylphen), and 2,9-di-sec-butyl-1, 10-phenanthroline ( sec-butylphen)] can be tested via a competition reaction with a known iron chelator. Therefore, iron (III) complexes possessing all three ligands were synthesized. Initial mass spectrometric and infrared absorption data indicate that iron (III) tetrachloride complex ions with protonated phen ligands (RphenH+) were formed: [phenH][FeCl4], [methylphenH][FeCl4], [ sec-butylphenH][FeCl4]. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to monitor the stability of the complex ions, and it was found that the sec-butylpheniron complex was more stable than the phen and methylphen analogues. This was based on the observation that free ligand was observed immediately upon the addition of EDTA to the [phenH][FeCl4] and [methylphenH] [FeCl4] complex ions.
In-Network-Processing: Distributed Consensus-Based Linear Estimation

In a cooperative broadcast scenario, a group of nodes in a network aims to reconstruct a common message. In this paper, we present a new algorithm for distributed consensus-based estimation in such scenarios. Possible applications comprise mobile communication systems and sensor networks. Starting with a least squares estimation problem, the algorithm is developed using techniques from optimization theory. The required communication effort for parallel implementation in a resource-constrained network is estimated and compared to existing approaches. We show that the proposed algorithm requires fewer iterations and a reduced communication overhead per iteration while keeping the estimation accuracy. A modification of the algorithm based on an approximation is presented, which reduces the communication effort even further. All results are corroborated by computer simulations considering different system parameters.