Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Virtual Reality based tools for the rehabilitation of cognitive and executive functions: the V-STORE

Cognitive rehabilitation is represented by the application of a lot of procedures in order to enhance development of skills and strategies necessary to overcome cognitive deficits. Computer-based tools can be fruitfully used in the assessment and rehabilitation of cognitive and executive functions. In particular Virtual Reality could play a key role in the rehabilitation of psychological functions due to a creation of synthetic environments where it is possible to carry on tasks very similar to the ones experienced in real contexts. After an analysis of the main characteristics and open issues of the PC and VR based cognitive rehabilitation, the major aim of this paper is to describe: a) the rationale for the use of Virtual Reality in this field and b) some VR tools (V-Store, V-Tol, V-Wcst) used with a particular category of dysfunction, the Dysexecutive Syndrome, typical of the patients with frontal lobe injuries and other neurological diseases. In particular the description of V-Store is provided.
Regulation of Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein-Induced Cascade of Events Governing Cell-Cell Fusion

ABSTRACT Receptor-dependent herpes simplex virus (HSV)-induced cell-cell fusion requires glycoproteins gD, gH/gL, and gB. Our current model posits that during fusion, receptor-activated conformational changes in gD activate gH/gL, which subsequently triggers the transformation of the prefusion form of gB into a fusogenic state. To examine the role of each glycoprotein in receptor-dependent cell-cell fusion, we took advantage of our discovery that fusion by wild-type herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) glycoproteins occurs twice as fast as that achieved by HSV-1 glycoproteins. By sequentially swapping each glycoprotein between the two serotypes, we established that fusion speed was governed by gH/gL, with gH being the main contributor. While the mutant forms of gB fuse at distinct rates that are dictated by their molecular structure, these restrictions can be overcome by gH/gL of HSV-2 (gH2/gL2), thereby enhancing their activity. We also found that deregulated forms of gD of HSV-1 (gD1) and gH2/gL2 can alter the fusogenic potential of gB, promoting cell fusion in the absence of a cellular receptor, and that deregulated forms of gB can drive the fusion machinery to even higher levels. Low pH enhanced fusion by affecting the structure of both gB and gH/gL mutants. Together, our data highlight the complexity of the fusion machinery, the impact of the activation state of each glycoprotein on the fusion process, and the critical role of gH/gL in regulating HSV-induced fusion. IMPORTANCE Cell-cell fusion mediated by HSV glycoproteins requires gD, gH/gL, gB, and a gD receptor. Here, we show that fusion by wild-type HSV-2 glycoproteins occurs twice as fast as that achieved by HSV-1 glycoproteins. By sequentially swapping each glycoprotein between the two serotypes, we found that the fusion process was controlled by gH/gL. Restrictions imposed on the gB structure by mutations could be overcome by gH2/gL2, enhancing the activity of the mutants. Under low-pH conditions or when using deregulated forms of gD1 and gH2/gL2, the fusogenic potential of gB could only be increased in the absence of receptor, underlining the exquisite regulation that occurs in the presence of receptor. Our data highlight the complexity of the fusion machinery, the impact of the activation state of each glycoprotein on the fusion process, and the critical role of gH/gL in regulating HSV-induced fusion.
A DCT-Based Total JND Profile for Spatiotemporal and Foveated Masking Effects

In image and video processing fields, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)-based just-noticeable difference (JND) profiles have effectively been utilized to remove perceptual redundancies in pictures for compression. In this paper, we solve two problems that are often intrinsic to the conventional DCT-based JND profiles: 1) no foveated masking (FM) JND model has been incorporated in modeling the DCT-based JND profiles and 2) the conventional temporal masking (TM) JND models assume that all moving objects in frames can be well tracked by the eyes and that they are projected on the fovea regions of the eyes, which is not a realistic assumption and may result in poor estimation of JND values for untracked moving objects (or image regions). To solve these two problems, we first propose a generalized JND model for joint effects between TM and FM effects. With this model, called the temporal–foveated masking (TFM) JND model, JND thresholds for any tracked/untracked and moving/still image regions can be elaborately estimated. Finally, the TFM-JND model is incorporated into a total DCT-based JND profile with a spatial contrast sensitivity function, luminance masking, and contrast masking JND models. In addition, we propose a JND adjustment method for our total JND profile to avoid overestimation of JND values for image blocks of fixed sizes with various image characteristics. To validate the effectiveness of the total JND profile, an experiment involving a subjective distortion-visibility assessment has been conducted. The experiment results show that the proposed total DCT-based JND profile yields significant performance improvement with much higher capability of distortion concealment (average 5.6-dB lower PSNR) compared with state-of-the-art JND profiles. The MATLAB source code of the proposed total DCT-based JND profile is publicly available online at https://sites.google. com/site/sunghobaecv/jnd.
Spaceflight engages heat shock protein and other molecular chaperone genes in tissue culture cells of Arabidopsis thaliana.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Gravity has been a major force throughout the evolution of terrestrial organisms, and plants have developed exquisitely sensitive, regulated tropisms and growth patterns that are based on the gravity vector. The nullified gravity during spaceflight allows direct assessment of gravity roles. The microgravity environments provided by the Space Shuttle and International Space Station have made it possible to seek novel insights into gravity perception at the organismal, tissue, and cellular levels. Cell cultures of Arabidopsis thaliana perceive and respond to spaceflight, even though they lack the specialized cell structures normally associated with gravity perception in intact plants; in particular, genes for a specific subset of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and factors (HSFs) are induced. Here we ask if similar changes in HSP gene expression occur during nonspaceflight changes in gravity stimulation. METHODS Quantitative RT-qPCR was used to evaluate mRNA levels for Hsp17.6A and Hsp101 in cell cultures exposed to four conditions: spaceflight (mission STS-131), hypergravity (centrifugation at 3 g or 16 g), sustained two-dimensional clinorotation, and transient milligravity achieved on parabolic flights. KEY RESULTS We showed that HSP genes were induced in cells only in response to sustained clinorotation. Transient microgravity intervals in parabolic flight and various hypergravity conditions failed to induce HSP genes. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that nondifferentiated cells do indeed sense their gravity environment and HSP genes are induced only in response to prolonged microgravity or simulated microgravity conditions. We hypothesize that HSP induction upon microgravity indicates a role for HSP-related proteins in maintaining cytoskeletal architecture and cell shape signaling.
A Measure of Robustness to Misspecification

Researchers often report estimates and standard errors for the object of interest (such as a treatment effect) based on a single specification of a statistical model. We propose a systematic approach to assessing sensitivity to specification. We construct estimates of the object of interest for each of a large set of models. Our proposed robustness measure is the standard deviation of the point estimates over the set of models. Each member of the set is generated by splitting the sample into two subsamples based on covariate values, constructing separate parameter estimates for each subsample, and then combining the results.
Long-term balancing selection in LAD1 maintains a missense trans-species polymorphism in humans, chimpanzees and bonobos

Balancing selection maintains advantageous genetic and phenotypic diversity in populations. When selection acts for long evolutionary periods selected polymorphisms may survive species splits and segregate in present-day populations of different species. Here, we investigate the role of long-term balancing selection in the evolution of protein-coding sequences in the Homo-Pan clade. We sequenced the exome of 20 humans, 20 chimpanzees and 20 bonobos and detected eight coding trans-species polymorphisms (trSNPs) that are shared among the three species and have segregated for approximately 14 million years of independent evolution. While the majority of these trSNPs were found in three genes of the MHC cluster, we also uncovered one coding trSNP (rs12088790) in the gene LAD1. All these trSNPs show clustering of sequences by allele rather than by species and also exhibit other signatures of long-term balancing selection, such as segregating at intermediate frequency and lying in a locus with high genetic diversity. Here we focus on the trSNP in LAD1, a gene that encodes for Ladinin-1, a collagenous anchoring filament protein of basement membrane that is responsible for maintaining cohesion at the dermal-epidermal junction; the gene is also an autoantigen responsible for linear IgA disease. This trSNP results in a missense change (Leucine257Proline) and, besides altering the protein sequence, is associated with changes in gene expression of LAD1.
Integrative Proteomics and Tissue Microarray Profiling Indicate the Association between Overexpressed Serum Proteins and Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Clinically, the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can be improved by the early detection and risk screening among population. To meet this need, here we describe the application of extensive peptide level fractionation coupled with label free quantitative proteomics for the discovery of potential serum biomarkers for lung cancer, and the usage of Tissue microarray analysis (TMA) and Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) assays for the following up validations in the verification phase. Using these state-of-art, currently available clinical proteomic approaches, in the discovery phase we confidently identified 647 serum proteins, and 101 proteins showed a statistically significant association with NSCLC in our 18 discovery samples. This serum proteomic dataset allowed us to discern the differential patterns and abnormal biological processes in the lung cancer blood. Of these proteins, Alpha-1B-glycoprotein (A1BG) and Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein (LRG1), two plasma glycoproteins with previously unknown function were selected as examples for which TMA and MRM verification were performed in a large sample set consisting about 100 patients. We revealed that A1BG and LRG1 were overexpressed in both the blood level and tumor sections, which can be referred to separate lung cancer patients from healthy cases.
The role of pre-play learning in understanding and eliminating the preference reversal phenomenon

The preference reversal phenomenon is an iconic empirical puzzle in decision theory: inconsistent preference rankings for and pricing of a low-payoff, high-probability lottery and a high-payoff, low-probability lottery. The preference reversal phenomenon has long challenged standard economic theory. We test whether pre-play learning removes preference reversals. Pre-play learning denotes ex-ante lottery learning, where subjects observe playing lotteries before making decisions. In our experiment, we find that, with pre-play learning, subjects indicate minimum willingness to sell prices for lotteries consistent with their choices, suggesting that pre-play learning removes preference reversals.
Coalition Governments and Sovereign Debt Crises

This article examines the domestic politics of sovereign debt crises. I focus on two alternative mechanisms that aggregate the preferences of domestic actors over debt repayment: single-party versus multiparty coalition governments. I uncover a very strong empirical regularity using cross-national data from 48 developing countries between 1971 and 1997. Countries that are governed by a coalition of parties are less likely to reschedule their debts than those under single-party governments. The effect of multiparty coalitions on sovereign defaults is quantitatively large and roughly of the same order of magnitude as liquidity factors such as debt burden and debt service. These results are robust to numerous specifications and samples.
Use of plants for toxicity assessment of estuarine ecosystems

Estuarine ecosystems are being rapidly degraded by environmental toxicants from municipal and industrial wastes, agricultural runoff, recreational boating, shipping, and coastal development, ranking them as the most anthropogenically degraded habitat types on earth. Toxicity tests are used to establish links between adverse ecological effects and the toxicity of environmental chemicals. However, most toxicity tests used for regulating the release of chemicals into the environment have used animals as test species, with the erroneous assumption that toxicant levels protective of fish or invertebrates are also protective of plants. Most plant toxicity tests have used terrestrial crop plants, whereas the few aquatic test species used have been primarily freshwater algae. Even though estuarine and marine vascular plants are highly vulnerable to environmental chemicals, phytotoxicity studies using native coastal plants have been limited, and no such studies are required for testing by regulating agencies. The relevance of toxicity tests of estuarine sediments and of wastes entering the estuary should depend on the use of estuarine and marine plant species. This review summarizes toxicity testing of marine plants used in biomonitoring, phytotoxicity, biotransformations of toxicants, bioaccumulation, and phytoremediation. Challenges to marine plant testing are discussed and include developing standard test protocols, identifying species with minimal salinity and toxicant interaction, defining and choosing a suitable sediment for sediment‐bound toxicant testing, selecting endpoints with low variability, producing viable seeds, and culturing test plants. Progress in acquiring a suitable database is being made, but at a rate that is inadequate to create the sound, scientific foundation needed for safeguarding our estuarine ecosystems in the near future.
On Efficient Meta-Level Features for Effective Text Classification

This paper addresses the problem of automatically learning to classify texts by exploiting information derived from meta-level features (i.e., features derived from the original bag-of-words representation). We propose new meta-level features derived from the class distribution, the entropy and the within-class cohesion observed in the k nearest neighbors of a given test document x, as well as from the distribution of distances of x to these neighbors. The set of proposed features is capable of transforming the original feature space into a new one, potentially smaller and more informed. Experiments performed with several standard datasets demonstrate that the effectiveness of the proposed meta-level features is not only much superior than the traditional bag-of-word representation but also superior to other state-of-art meta-level features previously proposed in the literature. Moreover, the proposed meta-features can be computed about three times faster than the existing meta-level ones, making our proposal much more scalable. We also demonstrate that the combination of our meta features and the original set of features produce significant improvements when compared to each feature set used in isolation.
Parallel Processing of Whole Words and Morphemes in Visual Word Recognition

Models of morphological processing make different predictions about whether morphologically complex written words are initially decomposed and recognized on the basis of their morphemic subunits or whether they can directly be accessed as whole words and at what point semantics begin to influence morphological processing. In this study, we used unprimed and masked primed lexical decision to compare truly suffixed (darkest) and pseudosuffixed words (glossary) with within-boundary (d ra kest/g ol ssary) to across-boundary (dar ek st/glos as ry) letter transpositions. Significant transposed-letter similarity effects were found independently of the morphological position of the letter transposition, demonstrating that, in English, morphologically complex whole-word representations can be directly accessed at initial word processing stages. In a third masked primed lexical decision experiment, the same materials were used in the context of stem target priming, and it was found that truly suffixed primes facilitate the recognition of their stem-target (darkest–DARK) to the same extent as pseudosuffixed primes (glossary–GLOSS), which is consistent with theories of early morpho-orthographic decomposition. Taken together, our findings provide evidence for both whole-word access and morphological decomposition at initial stages of visual word recognition and are discussed in the context of a hybrid account.
PERSONALITY TRAITS AND THEIR EFFECT ON BRAND COMMITMENT: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

The proliferation of new brands, increased use of sales promotions, the explosion of alternative forms of distribution and a reduction in advertising impact, make maintaining brand commitment, increasingly difficult. This study empirically examines the roles of personality traits on brand commitment. More specifically, this study investigates the effects of personality traits of preference for consistency (PFC), resistance to change, agreeableness, introversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness on consumers’ brand commitment. Based on our study, the elemental trait of conscientiousness was found to be positively related to preference for consistency but no significant relationship was found between preference for consistency and resistance to change, however a significant relationship was found between resistance to change and brand commitment. Hence, it is suggested that in order to maximize returns, it is necessary to have brand-committed customers.
An enquiry into the role of evidence in influencing the reconfiguration of stroke services in London

This thesis explores how changes in health service delivery are conceived of and pursued by different stakeholders. The thesis focuses on the importance of evidence to inform change. The London stroke service reconfiguration (2008-2011) is used as a case study to explore the interplay between evidence and the management of large-scale strategic change in health care. 45 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders involved in the reconfiguration at both macroand micro-levels through a pan-London case study with an embedded study at one London hospital affected by the reconfiguration. Observations of clinical meetings and analysis of official documentation was also performed. The study uses an ‘analytics of government’ (Dean, 2010) approach which is derived from Foucault’s (2007) work on ‘governmentality’ to interpretively explore the role of evidence in the reconfiguration process. This approach highlights the specific ways in which London’s stroke services were ‘problematised’ and explores the application of knowledge and techniques of power to address these issues. The discourse of evidence based health care is shown to be important in depoliticising potentially controversial strategic decisions. The advantages of conceptualising health service reconfigurations in ‘biopolitical’ terms are discussed. The impacts the reconfiguration had upon the relations between managers and professionals are analysed alongside a discussion around the interplay of disciplinary power and governmentality in the implementation of evidence based health care.
Unequal protection of JPEG2000 code-streams in wireless channels

The rapid growth of wireless communication has resulted in a demand for robust transmission of compressed images over wireless channels. The challenge of robust transmission is to protect the compressed image data against loss in such a way as to maximize the received image quality. The paper addresses this problem; investigating unequal error protection of JPEG2000 compressed imagery. More particularly, the results reported in this paper provide guidance concerning the selection of JPEG2000 coding parameters and appropriate combinations of RS (Reed-Solomon) codes, for typical wireless bit error rates in the range 10/sup -4/ to 10/sup -3/.
[Diagnostic hysteroscopy indications and results in Complexo Hospitalario Universitario De Ourense].

BACKGROUND Diagnostic hysteroscopy is an endoscopic technique that allows the evaluation of the endocervical canal and uterine cavity. OBJECTIVE To evaluate indications, complications and referral to operative hysteroscopy. To analyze the correlation between sonographic display, hysteroscopy findings and histological diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective and descriptive study of 904 patients who underwent diagnostic hysteroscopy between January 1, 2008 and June 30, 2012. RESULTS The most frequent indication was sonographic detection of endometrial polyps (75% were premenopausal and 71.2% postmenopausal). The complication rate associated with the test was 11.4%. The reduction experimented in operative hysteroscopies was from 31.2% in 2008 to 12.2% between January and June 2012. When a polyp or a myoma was detected by sonography, diagnostic hysteroscopy showed them in 64.4% y 62.5% of the cases, respectively. The correlation between hysteroscopic findings and histopathologic diagnosis was 77.7% for normal endometrium, 77.9% for polyps, 17.8% for hyperplasic appearance and 100% for carcinoma suspicion. CONCLUSIONS Diagnostic hysteroscopy is a safe technique that allows small interventions avoiding operative hysteroscopies. There is a good relation between hysteroscopic visual inspection and anatomopathologic diagnosis, but biopsy should be taken except if normal endometrium is visualized.
Clustering of eating disorder symptoms in a general population female twin sample: a latent class analysis

ABSTRACT Background Previous studies have reported that the current DSM-IV eating disorder (ED) criteria do not adequately describe ED symptomatology. The objective of the current study was to examine the clustering of ED symptoms in a general population sample using latent class analysis (LCA). Method ED symptoms from 3723 female young adult twins (mean age 22) were analyzed using LCA, and resulting classes were compared on external validators reflecting ED and other co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses, substance use disorders (SUDs), and suicidality. Results The optimal solution consisted of five latent classes characterized as: (1) Unaffected; (2) Low Weight Gain; (3) Weight Concerned; (4) Dieters; and (5) ED. Members of the ED class had significantly higher prevalence of co-morbid psychiatric disorders, SUDs, and suicidality than the Unaffected and Low Weight Gain classes, and elevated rates of suicidality and major depression compared to the Weight Concerned and Dieter classes, which differed from each other primarily in terms of current body mass index (BMI). Dieter class members were more likely to be overweight and obese and less likely to be underweight than Weight Concerned class members. The majority of women with an ED diagnosis were assigned to the ED class, and few differences were found between ED class members with and without an ED diagnosis. Conclusions The results add to the evidence that many women with significant ED psychopathology are not being identified by the DSM-IV ED categories.