Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Let's Publish Fewer Papers

Brian A. Nosek and Yoav Bar-Anan’s (this issue) scientific utopia is quite appealing. The narrative of Hari Seldon’s productive morning, which concludes the article, depicts many of the ideals at the core of science. Ideas are celebrated, arguments are pursued to increase collective knowledge, and clarity of thought is rewarded in all corners of the academic community. Indeed, there is not much to dislike about this vision of the future (though one might quibble with the lack of nonacademic conversation in Seldon’s life). Like many utopian narratives, Seldon’s life is also tidy to the point of austerity. Reviewers are thoughtful even when disagreeable, discourse is sensible and productive, and insight is seemingly encumbered only by the speed of light. The ugly detritus of imperfect science has been eliminated by the procedural and incentivebased efficiencies of modern life. This future sounds amazing. But maybe it is not as amazing as it sounds. Nosek and Bar-Anan outline a series of inefficiencies in current scientific communication and then lay out their utopian solution. The existence of those inefficiencies is inarguable, as is the sensibleness of many of Nosek and Bar-Anan’s proposed solutions. For example, we agree that there is no longer a need for page limits, long lags between acceptance and publication, and prohibitive journal subscription fees. Separating research production from for-profit publishing houses seems like a goal well worth the adjustment costs. But we worry that certain features of Hari Seldon’s world will lead to more ugly detritus and less pristine knowledge. In particular, we focus on two concerns. When all findings are made available, (a) it is harder to discriminate the true findings from the false findings, and (b) there will be more false findings.
Assessment of electrocardiograms with pretraining and shallow networks

Objective: Clinical Decision Support Systems normally resort to annotated signals for the automatic assessment of ECG signals. In this paper we put forward a new method for the assessment of normal/abnormal heart function from raw ECG signals (i.e. signals without annotation) based on shallow neural networks with pretraining. Methodology: this paper resorts to a prospective clinical study that took place at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain. This study took place in 2010-2012 and recruited 1390 patients. For each patient we recorded a 12-lead ECG and diagnosis was conducted by the Cardiology service at the same hospital. Two datasets were produced, the first contained the automatically annotated version of all input signals and the second contained the raw signals obtained from the ECG. Results: The new method was tested through cross-validation with a cohort of 200 test patients. Performance was compared for both annotated and raw datasets. For the annotated dataset and a shallow network with pretraining we obtained an accuracy of 0.8639, a sensitivity of 0.9560 and specificity of 0.7143. The raw dataset yielded an accuracy of 0.8426, a sensitivity of 0.8977 and a specificity of 0.7785. Conclusion: Shallow networks with pretraining automatically obtain a representation of the input data without resorting to any annotation and thus simplify the process of assessing normality of ECG signals. Despite the fact that sensitivity has decreased, accuracy is not much lower than that obtained with standard methods. Specificity is improved with the new method. These results open up a promising line of research for the automatic assessment of ECG signals.
Reproducing Russian NER Baseline Quality without Additional Data

Baseline solutions for the named entity recognition task in Russian language were published a few years ago. These solutions rely heavily on the addition data, like databases, and different kinds of preprocessing. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to reproduce the quality of existing database-based solution by character-aware neural net trained on corpus itself only.
Functional outcomes after different types of knee arthroplasty: kneeling ability versus descending stairs.

BACKGROUND Most patients do not kneel following knee replacement and many are of an age when it is not necessary. However, inability to kneel after knee surgery is a frequent cause of dissatisfaction and it is of paramount importance to patients from the East. There are very few studies of this function after knee replacement and none comparing different types of replacement. MATERIAL/METHODS This study analyzes the kneeling and stair-descending abilities of patients following unicompartmental replacement (UKR), patellofemoral replacement (PFR), and total knee replacement (TKR). Data were prospectively collected on 253 knees (239 patients) that had undergone various arthroplastic procedures for osteoarthritis of the knee. Al1 patients completed the Oxford Knee Score Questionnaire preoperatively and 1 and 2 years postoperatively; thus grading their kneeling ability into 1 of 5 categories. RESULTS Only 3% of patients could kneel pre-operatively, while 20% could manage stairs with ease. Post-operatively, 17% of patients could kneel, while 75% could manage stairs with little or no difficulty. CONCLUSIONS Many patients remained unable to kneel after one year in all groups. Those who had undergone UKR appeared to perform better than those with TKR or PFR. None of the forms of arthroplasty used resulted in good kneeling ability, though arthroplasty improved this function. On the other hand, stair-descending ability showed a far better improvement. Further work is needed to clarify why patients are unable to kneel, but many factors are involved.
Enhancing emotional competences in the context of unemployment. a longitudinal analysis of the effects on well-being and employability

De nombreuses etudes ont montre que l'intelligence emotionnelle (IE) permet de predire differents comportements cognitifs emotionnels et sociaux (Di Fabio, Palazzeschi, Asulin-Peretz et Gati, 2013; Fugate, Kinicki & Ashfort, 2004; Joseph & Newman, 2010; Salovey et Mayer, 1990; Van Rooy & Viswesvaran, 2004) le bien-etre psychologique et physique ainsi que la sante mentale (Martins, Ramalho & Morin, 2010; Schutte, Malouff, Thorsteinsson, Bhullar & Rooke, 2007). En outre, les recherches etudiant les effets des formations en Competences Emotionnelles (CE) montrent que ces dernieres permettent d’ameliorer certaines dimensions cognitives, emotionnelles et comportementales liees a la sante (Schutte, Malouff & Thorsteinsson, 2013). Notre recherche examine si (a) les CE peuvent etre developpee chez les adultes chomeurs, (b) si ces effets de formation sont moderes par la duree du chomage et (c) si les changements en CE contribuent aux changements de bien-etre physique et psychologique (etude 1). Nous faisons par ailleurs l’hypothese que les perspectives d'employabilite des chomeurs adultes peuvent etre ameliorees apres la formation (etude 2). La recherche d'emploi est testee, comme un possible facteur determinant des effets de l'intervention, de meme que nous examinons si les changements en CE sont associes aux des ressources et des strategies d'adaptation (etude 3). Les resultats montrent un impact differentiel de la formation en fonction de la duree du chomage et de la recherche d'emploi. En outre, le changement dans la CE predit de facon significative des changements dans le stress percu, les plaintes somatiques, la sante mentale, les deux dimensions de l'humeur, la satisfaction avec la vie, l'optimisme, la qualite des relations sociales ainsi que les strategies d'adaptation orientees vers les problemes. En outre, l'intervention a eu des effets positifs sur l'employabilite percue, l’employabilite reelle et l'auto-efficacite entrepreneuriale. Les resultats sont discutes au regard du potentiel de developpement des CE et de l'efficacite de l'intervention en CE pour les chomeurs.
An investigation of the role of auditory cortex in sound localization using muscimol‐releasing Elvax

Lesion studies suggest that primary auditory cortex (A1) is required for accurate sound localization by carnivores and primates. In order to elucidate further its role in spatial hearing, we examined the behavioural consequences of reversibly inactivating ferret A1 over long periods, using Elvax implants releasing the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol. Sub‐dural polymer placements were shown to deliver relatively constant levels of muscimol to underlying cortex for >5 months. The measured diffusion of muscimol beneath and around the implant was limited to 1 mm. Cortical silencing was assessed electrophysiologically in both auditory and visual cortices. This exhibited rapid onset and was reversed within a few hours of implant removal. Inactivation of cortical neurons extended to all layers for implants lasting up to 6 weeks and throughout at least layers I–IV for longer placements, whereas thalamic activity in layer IV appeared to be unaffected. Blockade of cortical neurons in the deeper layers was restricted to ≤ 500 µm from the edge of the implant, but was usually more widespread in the superficial layers. In contrast, drug‐free Elvax implants had little discernible effect on the responses of the underlying cortical neurons. Bilateral implants of muscimol–Elvax over A1 produced significant deficits in the localization of brief sounds in horizontal space and particularly a reduced ability to discriminate between anterior and posterior sound sources. The performance of these ferrets gradually improved over the period in which the Elvax was in place and attained that of control animals following its removal. Although similar in nature, these deficits were less pronounced than those caused by cortical lesions and suggest a specific role for A1 in resolving the spatial ambiguities inherent in auditory localization cues.
Island Biogeography Theory and Conservation Practice

The application of island biogeography theory to conservation practice is premature. Theoretically and empirically, a major conclusion of such applications—that refuges should always consist of the largest possible single area—can be incorrect under a variety of biologically feasible conditions. The cost and irreversibility of large-scale conservation programs demand a prudent approach to the application of an insufficiently validated theory.
ON SIMULTANEOUS LINEAR EXTENSIONS OF PARTIAL (PSEUDO)METRICS

We consider the question of simultaneous extension of (pseudo)metrics defined on nonempty closed subsets of a compact metrizable space. The main result is a counterpart of the result due to Kunzi and Shapiro for the case of extension operators of partial continuous functions and includes, as a special case, Banakh's theorem on linear regular operators extending (pseudo)metrics.
All-Trans Retinoic Acid Induces Proliferation, Survival, and Migration in A549 Lung Cancer Cells by Activating the ERK Signaling Pathway through a Transcription-Independent Mechanism

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been used as an antineoplastic because of its ability to promote proliferation, inhibition, and differentiation, primarily in leukemia; however, in other types of cancer, such as lung cancer, treatment with ATRA is restricted because not all the patients experience the same results. The ERK signaling pathway is dysregulated in cancer cells, including lung cancer, and this dysregulation promotes proliferation and cell invasion. In this study, we demonstrate that treatment with ATRA can activate the ERK signaling pathway by a transcription-independent mechanism through a signaling cascade that involves RARα and PI3K, promoting growth, survival, and migration in lung cancer cells. Until now, this mechanism was unknown in lung cancer cells. The inhibition of the ERK signaling pathway restores the beneficial effects of ATRA, reduces proliferation, increases apoptosis, and blocks the cell migration process in lung cancer cells. In conclusion, our results suggest that the combination of ATRA with ERK inhibitor in clinical trials for lung cancer is warranted.
Knockdown of genes in the Toll pathway reveals new lethal RNA interference targets for insect pest control

RNA interference (RNAi) is a promising alternative strategy for ecologically friendly pest management. However, the identification of RNAi candidate genes is challenging owing to the absence of laboratory strains and the seasonality of most pest species. Tribolium castaneum is a well‐established model, with a strong and robust RNAi response, which can be used as a high‐throughput screening platform to identify potential RNAi target genes. Recently, the cactus gene was identified as a sensitive RNAi target for pest control. To explore whether the spectrum of promising RNAi targets can be expanded beyond those found by random large‐scale screening, to encompass others identified using targeted knowledge‐based approaches, we constructed a Cactus interaction network. We tested nine genes in this network and found that the delivery of double‐stranded RNA corresponding to fusilli and cactin showed lethal effects. The silencing of cactin resulted in 100% lethality at every developmental stage from the larva to the adult. The knockdown of pelle, Dorsal‐related immunity factor and short gastrulation reduced or even prevented egg hatching in the next generation. The combination of such targets with lethal and parental RNAi effects can now be tested against different pest species in field studies.
Scaling up of wave pipelines

Wave pipelining is a technique of arranging synchronous logic circuits in a pipeline fashion based on delay balancing that allows clocking rate higher than that of well-known regular pipelining. In order to scale up wave-pipelined circuits in the trend of VLSI development toward tighter integration, firstly we investigate scale-dependent characteristics of those circuits with simple structure. It is shown that larger scale is more favorable in view of pipeline degree and vector-execution time. Secondly we explore multifunctional wave pipelines with considerable scales and complicated structures. A fully wave-pipelined structure is recommended to multifunctional circuits regarding software overheads and areas. Thirdly, we show the standard cell synthesis of a fully wave-pipelined scalar processing unit to demonstrate the practicality of wave pipelining multifunctional random logic circuits. By using 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS technology, a scalar processing unit is implemented in a 2.3-mm/spl times/2.3-mm chip whose clock speed is estimated to be 1 GHz from circuit level simulation.
Multiple tubular dysfunction induced by mixed Chinese herbal medicines containing cadmium.

Traditional Chinese herbal medicine remains very popular in Taiwan. Here, Western medicine is readily available at affordable price, yet many local population choose Chinese herbal medicine as an alternative or complementary source of health-care even at a higher cost. The preference of Chinese herbal medicine comes from the generalized belief that herbs are natural, more gentle, and less toxic than synthetic Western medicine. Incidents of herbal poisoning are rare, mild, and obviously underestimated in literature [1]. Recently, Professor Vanherweghem and colleagues [2] reported rapidly progressive interstitial renal fibrosis in nine young women who had followed a slimming regimen including Chinese herbs. The report raised concern about nephrotoxicity of a cocktail of Chinese herbs. Several components were suspected to respond to the interstitial fibrosis, although no one was certain [3]. In addition, any herbal products can be contaminated during production and processing, especially by heavy metals or mycotoxin [3]. We report on a young woman who took a cocktail of Chinese herbs contaminated by cadmium and developed a unique syndrome of multiple renal tubular dysfunction not fully explained by cadmium-induced tubulopathy [4].
From Value to Ethos on Ifaluk Atoll

The concepts chosen and their definitions draw mainly upon three sources: Values and Value-Orientations in the Theory of Action by Clyde Kluckhohn and others;l A Clinical Study of Sentiments by Henry A. Murray and Christiana D. Morgan;2 and Culture and Ethos of Kaska Society by John J. Honigmann.3 The concepts of value, sentiment, dynamic system, and ethos are here fitted together. The process involves a few shifts, at least in emphasis, which may distort the concepts as viewed by the authors cited. These differences, how-
Divergent Regulation of Ryanodine Receptor 2 Calcium Release Channels by Arrhythmogenic Human Calmodulin Missense Mutants

Rationale: Calmodulin (CaM) mutations are associated with an autosomal dominant syndrome of ventricular arrhythmia and sudden death that can present with divergent clinical features of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) or long QT syndrome (LQTS). CaM binds to and inhibits ryanodine receptor (RyR2) Ca release channels in the heart, but whether arrhythmogenic CaM mutants alter RyR2 function is not known. Objective: To gain mechanistic insight into how human CaM mutations affect RyR2 Ca channels. Methods and Results: We studied recombinant CaM mutants associated with CPVT (N54I and N98S) or LQTS (D96V, D130G, and F142L). As a group, all LQTS-associated CaM mutants (LQTS-CaMs) exhibited reduced Ca affinity, whereas CPVT-associated CaM mutants (CPVT-CaMs) had either normal or modestly lower Ca affinity. In permeabilized ventricular myocytes, CPVT-CaMs at a physiological intracellular concentration (100 nmol/L) promoted significantly higher spontaneous Ca wave and spark activity, a typical cellular phenotype of CPVT. Compared with wild-type CaM, CPVT-CaMs caused greater RyR2 single-channel open probability and showed enhanced binding affinity to RyR2. Even a 1:8 mixture of CPVT-CaM:wild-type-CaM activated Ca waves, demonstrating functional dominance. In contrast, LQTS-CaMs did not promote Ca waves and exhibited either normal regulation of RyR2 single channels (D96V) or lower RyR2-binding affinity (D130G and F142L). None of the CaM mutants altered Ca/CaM binding to CaM-kinase II. Conclusions: A small proportion of CPVT-CaM is sufficient to evoke arrhythmogenic Ca disturbances, whereas LQTS-CaMs do not. Our findings explain the clinical presentation and autosomal dominant inheritance of CPVT-CaM mutations and suggest that RyR2 interactions are unlikely to explain arrhythmogenicity of LQTS-CaM mutations.
When Mr. Right Becomes Mr. Wrong: Women’s Postdivorce Name Choice

ABSTRACT Divorced women (N = 185) who had changed to their husband’s name responded to a survey about their postdivorce name choice, which included demographic questions, Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction in General Scale. Resumers were younger and had more education than women maintainers. Resumers were married for fewer years and had fewer children at the time of divorce. Gender attitudes were not related to postdivorce name choice. Bivariate results provided some support for the hypothesis that name choice would be related to well-being measures. Maintainers reported significantly higher levels of autonomy and competence, but there was no difference in relatedness and self-esteem. Further analysis showed these relationships were moderated by age. Higher levels of autonomy and competence were seen in maintainers, but only among younger women. Possible explanations and the need for further research are discussed.
Impact of Viral Factors on Very Early In Vivo Replication Profiles in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVagm-Infected African Green Monkeys

ABSTRACT To better understand which factors govern the levels of viral loads in early lentiviral infections of primates, we developed a model that allows distinguishing between the influences of host and viral factors on viremia. Herein we report that two species of African green monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus and C. pygerythrus) infected with their respective wild-type simian immunodeficiency virus SIVagm viruses (SIVagm.sab92018 and SIVagm.ver644) consistently showed reproducible differences in viremia during primary infection but not at later stages of infection. Cross-infections of SIVagm.sab92018 and SIVagm.ver644 into, respectively, C. pygerythrus and C. sabaeus revealed that the dynamics of viral replication during primary infection were dependent on the viral strain used for the infection but not on the host. Hence, the kinetics of SIVagm.sab92018 and SIVagm.ver644 were similar in both sabaeus and vervet animals, indicating that the difference in viremia levels between the two groups during the early phase of infection was not associated with the host. Coreceptor usage for these two strains showed a larger coreceptor repertoire for SIVagm.sab92018, which is able to efficiently use CXCR4 in addition to CCR5, than for SIVagm.ver644, which showed a classical CCR5 coreceptor usage pattern. These differences could not be explained by different charges of the V3 loop for SIVagm.sab92018 and for SIVagm.ver644. In conclusion, our study showed that the extent of virus replication during the primary infection is primarily dependent on viral determinants.
Computer-Based De Novo Designs of Tripeptides as Novel Neuraminidase Inhibitors

The latest influenza A (H1N1) pandemic attracted worldwide attention and called for the urgent development of novel antiviral drugs. Here, seven tripeptides are designed and explored as neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors on the structural basis of known inhibitors. Their interactions with NA are studied and compared with each other, using flexible docking and molecular dynamics simulations. The various composed tripeptides have respective binding specificities and their interaction energies with NA decrease in the order of FRI > FRV > FRT > FHV > FRS > FRG > YRV (letters corresponding to amino acid code). The Arg and Phe portions of the tripeptides play important roles during the binding process: Arg has strong electrostatic interactions with the key residues Asp151, Glu119, Glu227 and Glu277, whereas Phe fits well in the hydrophobic cave within the NA active site. Owing to the introduction of hydrophobic property, the interaction energies of FRV and FRI are larger; in particular, FRI demonstrates the best binding quality and shows potential as a lead compound. In addition, the influence of the chemical states of the terminal amino acids are clarified: it is revealed that the charged states of the N-terminus (NH3+) and C-terminus (COO−) are crucial for the tripeptide inhibitory activities and longer peptides may not be appropriate. In addition, the medium inhibiting activity by acetylation of the N-terminus indicates the possible chemical modifications of FRI. Experimental efforts are expected in order to actualize the tripeptides as potent NA inhibitors in the near future.