Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cortical inhibition, pH and cell excitability in epilepsy: what are optimal targets for antiepileptic interventions?

Abstract Epilepsy is characterised by the propensity of the brain to generate spontaneous recurrent bursts of excessive neuronal activity, seizures. GABA‐mediated inhibition is critical for restraining neuronal excitation in the brain, and therefore potentiation of GABAergic neurotransmission is commonly used to prevent seizures. However, data obtained in animal models of epilepsy and from human epileptic tissue suggest that GABA‐mediated signalling contributes to interictal and ictal activity. Prolonged activation of GABAA receptors during epileptiform bursts may even initiate a shift in GABAergic neurotransmission from inhibitory to excitatory and so have a proconvulsant action. Direct targeting of the membrane mechanisms that reduce spiking in glutamatergic neurons may better control neuronal excitability in epileptic tissue. Manipulation of brain pH may be a promising approach and recent advances in gene therapy and optogenetics seem likely to provide further routes to effective therapeutic intervention.
Detection of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-dna Adducts in White Blood Cells of Foundry Workers1

Iron foundry workers, exposed to high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), silica, and metal fumes and dusts, are at elevated risk of lung cancer. Benzo(a)pyrene and a number of structurally related PAHs are metabolically activated to diol epoxides (e.g.,
Wasserstein GAN

We introduce a new algorithm named WGAN, an alternative to traditional GAN training. In this new model, we show that we can improve the stability of learning, get rid of problems like mode collapse, and provide meaningful learning curves useful for debugging and hyperparameter searches. Furthermore, we show that the corresponding optimization problem is sound, and provide extensive theoretical work highlighting the deep connections to other distances between distributions.
Design of low area-overhead ring oscillator PUF with large challenge space

Exorbitantly high resource-overhead is an important limiting factor for designing a Ring Oscillator Physically Unclonable Function (ROPUF) with large challenge-space. This work presents a design approach for large ROPUF with much lesser resource than that required for classical ROPUF design. It exploits small ROPUFs as design building blocks. Quality of the proposed scheme has been validated by the design of 60-bit ROPUF on Altera FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that is physically infeasible according to previously proposed direct design principles. The hardware resource required for the 60-bit proposed ROPUF design is lesser than that for 10-bit classic ROPUF. In addition, implementation of 60-bit proposed ROPUF shows 47% uniqueness and 91 % reliability on average.
SAGE II measurements of stratospheric aerosol properties at non-volcanic levels

Since 2000, stratospheric aerosol levels have been relatively stable and at the lowest levels observed in the historical record. Given the challenges of making satellite measurements of aerosol properties at these levels, we have performed a study of the sensitivity of the product to the major components of the processing algorithm used in the production of SAGE II aerosol extinction measurements and the retrieval process that produces the operational surface area density (SAD) product. We find that the aerosol extinction measurements, particularly at 1020 nm, remain robust and reliable at the observed aerosol levels. On the other hand, during background periods, the SAD operational product has an uncertainty of at least a factor of 2 due to the lack of sensitivity to particles with radii less than 100 nm.
MobileScope: a programming language with objective mobility

We present a new programming language, MobileScope, developed for the description of component-based distributed applications with extended support for mobility. The language and its underlying runtime system, Comet, support mobility in two flavors: physical mobility of components and virtual mobility of channels. Primarily, physical locations of components may be changed at runtime. We adopt an objective view that allows such moves to be triggered from outside the components. Moreover, the runtime systems support both weak and strong migration. We also introduce a virtual form of mobility for resource management. In MobileScope, resources are explicitly bound through channels on which components are connected dynamically. Resource bindings are thus changeable at runtime. We argue that the combination of these two mobility flavors, we name objective mobility, eases the development of applications with mobile users or devices, among other innovative mobile applications.
Co- transplantation of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells with Schwann Cells Evokes Mechanical Allodynia in the Contusion Model of Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

Objective: Several studies have shown that, although transplantation of neural stem cells into the contusion model of spinal cord injury (SCI) promotes locomotor function and improves functional recovery, it induces a painful response, Allodynia. Different studies indicate that bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and Schwann cells (SCs) can improve locomotor recovery when transplanted into the injured rat spinal cord. Since these cells are commonly used in cell therapy, we investigated whether co-transplantation of these cells leads to the development of Allodynia. Materials and Methods: In this experimental research, the contusion model of SCI was induced by laminectomy at the T8-T9 level of the spinal cord in adult female wistar rats (n=40) weighting (250-300g) using the New York University Device. BMSCs and SCs were cultured and prelabeled with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI) respectively. The rats were divided into five groups of 8 including: a control group (laminectomy only), three experimental groups (BMSC, SC and Co-transplant) and a sham group. The experimental groups received BMSCs, SCs, and BMSCs and SCs respectively by intraspinal injection 7 days after injury and the sham group received serum only. Locomotion was assessed using Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) test and Allodynia by the withdrawal threshold test using Von Frey Filaments at 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56 days after SCI. The statistical comparisons between groups were carried out by using repeated measures analysis of variances (ANOVA). Results: Significant differences were observed in BBB scores in the Co- transplant group compared to the BMSC and SC groups (p< 0.05). There were also significant differences in the withdrawal threshold means between animals in the sham group and the BMSC, SC and the Co-transplant groups (p<0.05). BBB scores and withdrawal threshold means showed that co-transplation improved functioning but greater Allodynia compared to the other experimental groups. Conclusion: The present study has shown that, although transplantation of BMSCs, SCs and a combination of these cells into the injured rat spinal cord can improve functional recovery, it leads to the development of mechanical Allodynia. This finding indicates that strategies to reduce Allodynia in cell transplantation studies are required.
Human capital and growth in cross-country regressions

Summary The determinants of economic growth and investment are analysed in a panel of about 100 countries observed from 1960 to 1995. The data reveal a pattern of conditional con\-ergence in the sense that the growth rate of per capita GDP is inversely related to the starting level of per capita GDP, holding fixed measures of government policies and institutions and the character of the national population. For given values of these variables, growth is positively related to the starting level of average years of adult-male school attainment at secondary and higher levels. Growth is insignificantly related to years of female school attainment at these levels or to years of primary attainment by either sex. The strong secondary and higher-schooling effect suggests a paramount role for the diffusion of technolog). The weak female-schooling effect suggests that women's human capital is not well exploited in the labour markets of many countries. Data on students' scores on internationally comparable examinations are used to measure schooling quality. Scores on science tests have a particularly strong positive relation with economic growth. If science scores are held fixed, then results on reading examinations are insignificantly related to growth. (The results on mathematics scores could not be reliably disentangled from those of science scores.) Given education quality, as represented by the test scores, schooling quantity-measured by average years of attainment of adult males at the secondary and higher levels-is still positively and significantly related to subsequent growth. Results on test scores also hold if the estimation is by instrumental variables, where the instrument list includes variables that have significant explanatory power for test scores-prior values of total years of schooling in the adult population (a proxy for parents' education), pupil-teacher ratios, and school dropout rates.
The Motivators and Benefits of Sharing Knowledge to a KMS Repository in an Omani Organization

Knowledge is a powerful resource that enables individuals and organizations to achieve several benefits such as improved learning and decisionmaking. Repository knowledge management system (KMS) assists organizations to efficiently capture their knowledge for later reuse. However, the breadth and depth of a knowledge management system depends on the magnitude of knowledge contributed to the system. This paper aimed to empirically investigate the motivators of knowledge sharing behavior and the individual benefits of such behavior in a culture where knowledge is perceived as power and private. Based on 104 employees in a major private petroleum organization in Oman and the partial least square analysis methodology, the results suggested that knowledge contributors were motivated by the system technical characteristics and the organizational-culture dimensions such as management support and rewards policy. Information technology service quality and peers trustworthiness were not significant motivators for sharing knowledge.
Fast amplification of QMA

Given a verifier circuit for a problem in QMA, we show how to exponentially amplifythe gap between its acceptance probabilities in the 'yes' and 'no' cases, with a methodthat is quadratically faster than the procedure given by Marriott and Watrous [1]. Ourconstruction is natively quantum, based on the analogy of a product of two reflections anda quantum walk. Second, in some special cases we show how to amplify the acceptanceprobability for good witnesses to 1, making a step towards the proof that QMA withone-sided error (QMA1) is equal to QMA. Finally, we simplify the filter-state method tosearch for QMA witnesses by Poulin and Wocjan [2].
Multiple Routes from Occipital to Temporal Cortices during Reading

Contemporary models of the neural system that supports reading propose that activity in a ventral occipitotemporal area (vOT) drives activity in higher-order language areas, for example, those in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and anterior superior temporal sulcus (aSTS). We used fMRI with dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate evidence for other routes from visual cortex to the left temporal lobe language areas. First we identified activations in posterior inferior occipital (iO) and vOT areas that were more activated for silent reading than listening to words and sentences; and in pSTS and aSTS areas that were commonly activated for reading relative to false-fonts and listening to words relative to reversed words. Second, in three different DCM analyses, we tested whether visual processing of words modulates activity from the following: (1) iO→vOT, iO→pSTS, both, or neither; (2) vOT→pSTS, iO→pSTS, both or neither; and (3) pSTS→aSTS, vOT→aSTS, both, or neither. We found that reading words increased connectivity (1) from iO to both pSTS and vOT; (2) to pSTS from both iO and vOT; and (3) to aSTS from both vOT and pSTS. These results highlight three potential processing streams in the occipitotemporal cortex: iO→pSTS→aSTS; iO→vOT→aSTS; and iO→vOT→pSTS→aSTS. We discuss these results in terms of cognitive models of reading and propose that efficient reading relies on the integrity of all these pathways.
Associations between Traffic Noise, Particulate Air Pollution, Hypertension, and Isolated Systolic Hypertension in Adults: The KORA Study

Background: Studies on the association between traffic noise and cardiovascular diseases have rarely considered air pollution as a covariate in the analyses. Isolated systolic hypertension has not yet been in the focus of epidemiological noise research. Methods: The association between traffic noise (road and rail) and the prevalence of hypertension was assessed in two study populations with a total of 4,166 participants 25–74 years of age. Traffic noise (weighted day–night average noise level; LDN) at the facade of the dwellings was derived from noise maps. Annual average PM2.5 mass concentrations at residential addresses were estimated by land-use regression. Hypertension was assessed by blood pressure readings, self-reported doctor-diagnosed hypertension, and antihypertensive drug intake. Results: In the Greater Augsburg, Germany, study population, traffic noise and air pollution were not associated with hypertension. In the City of Augsburg population (n = 1,893), where the exposure assessment was more detailed, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for a 10-dB(A) increase in noise was 1.16 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.35), and 1.11 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.30) after additional adjustment for PM2.5. The adjusted OR for a 1-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was 1.15 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.30), and 1.11 (95% CI: 0.98, 1.27) after additional adjustment for noise. For isolated systolic hypertension, the fully adjusted OR for noise was 1.43 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.86) and for PM2.5 was 1.08 (95% CI: 0.87, 1.34). Conclusions: Traffic noise and PM2.5 were both associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension. Mutually adjusted associations with hypertension were positive but no longer statistically significant. Citation: Babisch W, Wolf K, Petz M, Heinrich J, Cyrys J, Peters A. 2014. Associations between traffic noise, particulate air pollution, hypertension, and isolated systolic hypertension in adults: the KORA Study. Environ Health Perspect 122:492–498; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1306981
Covariant Anomalies, Horizons and Hawking Radiation

Hawking radiation is obtained from anomalies resulting from a breaking of diffeomorphism symmetry near the event horizon of a black hole. Such anomalies, manifested as a nonconservation of the energy–momentum tensor, occur in two different forms — covariant and consistent. The crucial role of covariant anomalies near the horizon is revealed, since this is the only input required to obtain the Hawking flux, thereby highlighting the universality of this effect. A brief description of the application of this method to obtain thermodynamic entities like entropy or temperature is provided.
Backward planning: Effects of planning direction on predictions of task completion time

People frequently underestimate the time needed to complete tasks and we examined a strategy – known as backward planning – that may counteract this optimistic bias. Backward planning involves starting a plan at the end goal and then working through required steps in reverse-chronological order, and is commonly advocated by practitioners as a tool for developing realistic plans and projections. We conducted four experiments to test effects on completion time predictions and related cognitive processes. Participants planned for a task in one of three directions (backward, forward, or unspecified) and predicted when it would be finished. As hypothesized, predicted completion times were longer (Studies 1–4) and thus less biased (Study 4) in the backward condition than in the forward and unspecified conditions. Process measures suggested that backward planning may increase attention to situational factors that delay progress (e.g., obstacles, interruptions, competing demands), elicit novel planning insights, and alter the conceptualization of time.
Associations Between Marital Conflict and Adolescent Conflict Appraisals, Stress Physiology, and Mental Health

The goal of the current study was to examine conflict appraisals and diurnal cortisol production as mediators of the robust association between marital conflict and adolescent adjustment problems. Parents reported their marital conflict and were observed engaging in a marital conflict discussion; they also reported adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Adolescents (n = 105, 52% female, 10–17 years of age) appraised their parents’ marital conflict and reported their internalizing and externalizing behaviors. After the laboratory visit, adolescents provided four saliva samples on each of 2 consecutive days to assess diurnal cortisol production. More-negative marital conflict predicted more self-blame for parental conflict, which in turn predicted less robust decreases in cortisol across the day. Further, this flattened cortisol production pattern mediated the relationship between greater self-blame for parental conflict and adolescents’ elevated internalizing behaviors. Feeling responsible for parental conflict appears to be particularly damaging in terms of physiological regulation and adjustment, and may therefore be a particularly useful intervention target.
piRNAs from Pig Testis Provide Evidence for a Conserved Role of the Piwi Pathway in Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation in Mammals

Piwi-interacting (pi-) RNAs guide germline-expressed Piwi proteins in order to suppress the activity of transposable elements (TEs). But notably, the majority of pachytene piRNAs in mammalian testes is not related to TEs. This raises the question of whether the Piwi/piRNA pathway exerts functions beyond TE silencing. Although gene-derived piRNAs were described many times, a possible gene-regulatory function was doubted due to the absence of antisense piRNAs. Here we sequenced and analyzed piRNAs expressed in the adult testis of the pig, as this taxon possesses the full set of mammalian Piwi paralogs while their spermatozoa are marked by an extreme fitness due to selective breeding. We provide an exhaustive characterization of porcine piRNAs and genomic piRNA clusters. Moreover, we reveal that both sense and antisense piRNAs derive from protein-coding genes, while exhibiting features that clearly show that they originate from the Piwi/piRNA-mediated post-transcriptional silencing pathway, commonly referred to as ping-pong cycle. We further show that the majority of identified piRNA clusters in the porcine genome spans exonic sequences of protein-coding genes or pseudogenes, which reveals a mechanism by which primary antisense piRNAs directed against mRNA can be generated. Our data provide evidence that spliced mRNAs, derived from such loci, are not only targeted by piRNAs but are also subject to ping-pong cycle processing. Finally, we demonstrate that homologous genes are targeted and processed by piRNAs in pig, mouse and human. Altogether, this strongly suggests a conserved role for the mammalian Piwi/piRNA pathway in post-transcriptional regulation of protein-coding genes, which did not receive much attention so far.
A noise-robust system for NIST 2012 speaker recognition evaluation

Abstract : The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 2012 speaker recognition evaluation posed several new challenges including noisy data, varying test-sample length and number of enrollment samples, and a new metric. Target speakers were known during system development and could be used for model training and score normalization. For the evaluation, SRI International (SRI) submitted a system consisting of six subsystems that use different low- and high-level features, some specifically designed for noise robustness, fused at the score and iVector levels. This paper presents SRI s submission along with a careful analysis of the approaches that provided gains for this challenging evaluation including a multiclass voice-activity detection system, the use of noisy data in system training, and the fusion of subsystems using acoustic characterization metadata.
Negative affect impairs associative memory but not item memory

The formation of associations between items and their context has been proposed to rely on mechanisms distinct from those supporting memory for a single item. Although emotional experiences can profoundly affect memory, our understanding of how it interacts with different aspects of memory remains unclear. We performed three experiments to examine the effects of emotion on memory for items and their associations. By presenting neutral and negative items with background contexts, Experiment 1 demonstrated that item memory was facilitated by emotional affect, whereas memory for an associated context was reduced. In Experiment 2, arousal was manipulated independently of the memoranda, by a threat of shock, whereby encoding trials occurred under conditions of threat or safety. Memory for context was equally impaired by the presence of negative affect, whether induced by threat of shock or a negative item, relative to retrieval of the context of a neutral item in safety. In Experiment 3, participants were presented with neutral and negative items as paired associates, including all combinations of neutral and negative items. The results showed both above effects: compared to a neutral item, memory for the associate of a negative item (a second item here, context in Experiments 1 and 2) is impaired, whereas retrieval of the item itself is enhanced. Our findings suggest that negative affect impairs associative memory while recognition of a negative item is enhanced. They support dual-processing models in which negative affect or stress impairs hippocampal-dependent associative memory while the storage of negative sensory/perceptual representations is spared or even strengthened.