Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating Axonal Damage in Multiple Sclerosis by Diffusion Tensor Spectroscopy

Sensitive and specific in vivo measures of axonal damage, an important determinant of clinical status in multiple sclerosis (MS), might greatly benefit prognostication and therapy assessment. Diffusion tensor spectroscopy (DTS) combines features of diffusion tensor imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, allowing measurement of the diffusion properties of intracellular, cell-type-specific metabolites. As such, it may be sensitive to disruption of tissue microstructure within neurons. In this cross-sectional pilot study, diffusion of the neuronal metabolite N-acetylaspartate (NAA) was measured in the human normal-appearing corpus callosum on a 7 tesla MRI scanner, comparing 15 MS patients and 14 healthy controls. We found that NAA parallel diffusivity is lower in MS (p = 0.030) and inversely correlated with both water parallel diffusivity (p = 0.020) and clinical severity (p = 0.015). Interpreted in the context of previous experiments, our findings provide preliminary evidence that DTS can distinguish axonopathy from other processes such as inflammation, edema, demyelination, and gliosis. By detecting reduced diffusion of NAA parallel to axons in white matter, DTS may thus be capable of distinguishing axonal disruption in MS in the setting of increased parallel diffusion of water, which is commonly observed in MS but pathologically nonspecific.
Network pharmacology dissection of multiscale mechanisms of herbal medicines in stage IV gastric adenocarcinoma treatment

AbstractIncreasing evidence has shown that Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) has efficient therapeutic effects for advanced gastric adenocarcinoma, while the therapeutic mechanisms underlying this treatment remain unclear.In this study, the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression analysis were used to evaluate the survival benefit of CHM treatment, and correlation analysis was applied to identify the most effective components in the formulas. A network pharmacological approach was developed to decipher the potential therapeutic mechanisms of CHM.CHM treatment was an independent protective factor. The hazard ratio was 0.364 (95% CI 0.245–0.540; P < 0.001). The median survival time was 18 months for patients who received CHM treatment, while for patients without CHM treatment was decreased to 9 months (P < 0.001). Thirteen out of the total 204 herbs were significantly correlated with favorable survival outcomes (P < 0.05), likely representing the most effective components in these formulas. Bioinformatics analyses suggested that the simultaneous manipulation of multiple targets in proliferation pathways (such as epidermal growth factor receptor, fibroblast growth factor receptor 2, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and insulin like growth factor 2) and the process of cancer metastasis (collagen families, fibronectin 1 and matrix metalloproteinases families) might largely account for the mechanisms of the 13 herbs against gastric adenocarcinoma.A network pharmacology method was introduced to decipher the underlying mechanisms of CHM, which provides a good foundation for herbal research based on clinical data.
Fourier Volume Rendering on the GPU Using a Split-Stream-FFT

The Fourier volume rendering technique operates in the frequency domain and creates line integral projections of a 3D scalar field. These projections can be efficiently generated in ) log O( 2 N N time by utilizing the Fourier Slice-Projection theorem. However, until now, the mathematical difficulty of the Fast Fourier Transform prevented acceleration by graphics hardware and therefore limited a wider use of this visualization technique in state-of-theart applications. In this paper we describe how to utilize current commodity graphics hardware to perform Fourier volume rendering directly on the GPU. We present a novel implementation of the Fast Fourier Transform: This Split-Stream-FFT maps the recursive structure of the FFT to the GPU in an efficient way. Additionally, highquality resampling within the frequency domain is discussed. Our implementation visualizes large volumetric data set in interactive frame rates on a mid-range computer system.
A Two-Stage Unsupervised Learning Algorithm Reproduces Multisensory Enhancement in a Neural Network Model of the Corticotectal System

Multisensory enhancement (MSE) is the augmentation of the response to sensory stimulation of one modality by stimulation of a different modality. It has been described for multisensory neurons in the deep superior colliculus (DSC) of mammals, which function to detect, and direct orienting movements toward, the sources of stimulation (targets). MSE would seem to improve the ability of DSC neurons to detect targets, but many mammalian DSC neurons are unimodal. MSE requires descending input to DSC from certain regions of parietal cortex. Paradoxically, the descending projections necessary for MSE originate from unimodal cortical neurons. MSE, and the puzzling findings associated with it, can be simulated using a model of the corticotectal system. In the model, a network of DSC units receives primary sensory input that can be augmented by modulatory cortical input. Connection weights from primary and modulatory inputs are trained in stages one (Hebb) and two (Hebb-anti-Hebb), respectively, of an unsupervised two-stage algorithm. Two-stage training causes DSC units to extract information concerning simulated targets from their inputs. It also causes the DSC to develop a mixture of unimodal and multisensory units. The percentage of DSC multisensory units is determined by the proportion of cross-modal targets and by primary input ambiguity. Multisensory DSC units develop MSE, which depends on unimodal modulatory connections. Removal of the modulatory influence greatly reduces MSE but has little effect on DSC unit responses to stimuli of a single modality. The correspondence between model and data suggests that two-stage training captures important features of self-organization in the real corticotectal system.
Cultural concepts employed in child discipline within rural Yorùbá households: the Ayetoro-Oke African community

Social scientists have long been concerned about social control, not only of adults, but also of children. In recent years, however, concerns have escalated globally, particularly regarding the lack of integration of indigenous knowledge about many aspects of children’s upbringing. The present research addresses knowledge gaps around aspects of the Yorùbá culture employed in rural African communities to ensure child discipline, and consequently social control among all members. Employing a descriptive case study research design, we describe the cultural concepts employed as instruments of child discipline within households in the Ayetoro-Oke community of Oyo state. Using 6 focus group discussions involving 45 persons across the community, we identify and describe 7 cultural elements employed in child training within the households in the rural community, ranging from “Ijiya” (punishment) to “Orin” (songs). The article concludes shaming is a key element upon which such cultural concepts are built and guides child discipline among the people of Ayetoro-Oke. It also notes differences between traditional discipline and western child-rearing practices may lead to potential conflict in attempting to integrate the indigenous with the modern. It concludes by suggesting the use of indigenous knowledge in developing parts of societal life is warranted, and based on the findings, recommends areas requiring future research.
Familiarity matters: A review on prioritized processing of personally familiar faces

ABSTRACT In this review, we synthesize the existing literature investigating personally familiar face processing and highlight the remarkable, enhanced processing efficiency resulting from real-life experience. Highly learned identity-specific visual and semantic information associated with personally familiar face representations facilitates detection, recognition of identity and social cues, and activation of person knowledge. These optimizations afford qualitatively different processing of personally familiar as compared to unfamiliar faces, which manifests on both the behavioural and neural level.
Asset-Based Poverty in Rural Tajikistan: Who Climbs out and Who Falls in?

Tajikistan? s rural sector has witnessed substantial development since the country began to emerge from civil conflict in 1999. Gross agricultural output increased 64 per cent from 1999 to 2003, and there were significant developments in the agricultural reform agenda. This paper uses the panel component of two surveys conducted in Tajikistan at a one-year interval (2003 and 2004) to explore the major determinants of the transition out of/into poverty of rural households. Poverty status is measured in the asset space, thus indicating structural rather than transitory poverty movements. The empirical analysis reveals several interesting findings that are also important from a policy perspective: first, cotton farming seems to have no positive impact on poverty levels, nor on mobility out of poverty. Second, the rate of increase in the share of private farming at the district level had little impact on poverty levels and poverty mobility. Third, there is strong evidence of geographic poverty mobility traps in Tajikistan. Higher levels of poverty in a district appear to reduce significantly the chance of a household shedding poverty. Living in a region with overall slow economic growth is also found to undermine the odds of exiting poverty and to increase the risk of falling into poverty. Finally, several key household-level factors, such as the share of adults, education level, health status and participation in wage employment, also emerge as significant predictors of poverty mobility.
Mechanosensitivity before and after hysterectomy: a prospective study on the prediction of acute and chronic postoperative pain.

BACKGROUND The incidence of chronic pain after hysterectomy is reported to be up to 30%, but the relative role of different pathogenic factors has not been defined. This study aimed to assess the predictive value of preoperative abdominal and vaginal mechanosensitivity for the subsequent development of acute and chronic pain after hysterectomy. METHODS Ninety women undergoing hysterectomy for benign conditions were studied. Experimental testing was carried out on the day before hysterectomy, on the first postoperative day, and after 4 months. Abdominal testing included brush-evoked allodynia, pinprick hyperalgesia, wind-up-like pain, and pressure pain thresholds. Vaginal testing included pressure pain thresholds. The intensity of pelvic pain was recorded on a numerical rating scale before hysterectomy, daily in the first postoperative week, and after 4 months. RESULTS The incidence of pelvic pain was 51% before hysterectomy and 17% after 4 months. Before hysterectomy, brush-evoked allodynia and pinprick hyperalgesia were more frequent in women with pelvic pain (P=0.04 and 0.02, respectively), with abdominal and vaginal pressure pain thresholds being lower in those with preoperative pelvic pain (P=0.04 and <0.01, respectively). Preoperative brush-evoked allodynia, pinprick hyperalgesia, and vaginal pressure pain threshold were associated with the intensity of acute postoperative pain (P=0.04, <0.01, and <0.01, respectively). Preoperative brush-evoked allodynia was also associated with pelvic pain after 4 months (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Preoperative pain sensitization as reflected by cutaneous and vaginal hypersensitivity is associated with acute pain after hysterectomy, but less so with persistent pain.
Application-Layer Traffic Analysis of a Peer-to-Peer System

Characterizing traffic behavior helps to optimize the network architecture for improved performance. Using a modified LimeWire servent (for both the server and client) and a variance-time plot for traffic characterization, the authors analyze the Gnutella protocol's traffic shape and find that the messages exhibit a self-similar shape. This result shows network designers that they need to consider the self-similar traffic shape in their set-up - for instance, by introducing appropriate buffer sizes.
Spatial Distribution of Underweight, Overweight and Obesity among Women and Children: Results from the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey

While undernutrition and infectious diseases are still persistent in developing countries, overweight, obesity, and associated comorbidities have become more prevalent. Uganda, a developing sub-Saharan African country, is currently experiencing the public health paradox of undernutrition and overnutrition. We utilized the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to examine risk factors and hot spots for underweight, overweight, and obesity among adult females (N = 2,420) and their children (N = 1,099) using ordinary least squares and multinomial logit regression and the ArcGIS Getis-Ord Gi* statistic. Overweight and obese women were significantly more likely to have overweight children, and overweight was correlated with being in the highest wealth class (OR = 2.94, 95% CI = 1.99–4.35), and residing in an urban (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.34–2.29) but not a conflict prone (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.29–0.78) area. Underweight clustered significantly in the Northern and Northeastern regions, while overweight females and children clustered in the Southeast. We demonstrate that the DHS can be used to assess geographic clustering and burden of disease, thereby allowing for targeted programs and policies. Further, we pinpoint specific regions and population groups in Uganda for targeted preventive measures and treatment to reduce the burden of overweight and chronic diseases in Uganda.
Disability status, stereotype content, and employment opportunities in sport and fitness organizations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of disability status among job applicants on stereotype attributions and personnel decisions. The authors also consider the possible moderating role of application qualifications. Design/methodology/approach Participants (N=247) took part in an experiment in which they evaluated job applications for a personal trainer position. Findings Applicants who had a disability were rated as warmer than their able-bodied peers, but ratings of competence did not vary based on the disability status. This was the case across levels of qualifications. The relationships between competence and work outcomes (person-organization fit and hiring recommendations) were stronger than those between warmth and these outcomes; however, the relationships were qualified by a significant competence-by-warmth interaction. As the competence increased, so did the ratings of the person-organization fit, but this relationship was stronger for persons rated as warm. Originality/value Persons with disabilities in the sport and fitness context face unique stereotypes, relative to their peers in other settings. These stereotypes influence their evaluation as job applicants.
Image Inpainting Using Sparsity of the Transform Domain

In this paper, we propose a new image inpainting method based on the property that much of the image information in the transform domain is sparse. We add a redundancy to the original image by mapping the transform coefficients with small amplitudes to zero and the resultant sparsity pattern is used as the side information in the recovery stage. If the side information is not available, the receiver has to estimate the sparsity pattern. At the end, the recovery is done by consecutive projecting between two spatial and transform sets. Experimental results show that our method works well for both structural and texture images and outperforms other techniques in objective and subjective performance measures.
The Effects of an Intensive Postsecondary Transition Program on College Readiness for Adult Learners

Postsecondary transition programs have emerged to prepare adult learners to enter college with either limited or no remediation work needed in developmental education. This article examines the results of a pilot study, in which participants (ages 20 years and older who held GED® credentials or high school degrees) received accelerated instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, learning framework, and college knowledge. These transition programs, which took place at five sites in Texas, used a short-term (10 weeks or fewer) but intensive (at least 120 contact hours) cohort intervention model. Of the 20 pairs of pre- and postprogram assessments, which evaluated student achievement gains in reading, writing, and, mathematics, 18 resulted in statistically significant increases. However, many participants who realized achievement gains did not reach the college readiness benchmarks (as measured by the assessment instrument) in all three subject areas. However, evidence suggests that these students are better prepared academically than before the program.
Model Fit and Comparisons for the Measure of Adolescent Coping Strategies (MACS): Fiji, Iceland, and Australia

A two-dimensional theory of adolescent coping with cross-cultural and cross-Human Development Index Categories (HDI) application was tested: the Measure of Adolescent Coping Strategies (MACS). The MACS was answered by 809 adolescents of diverse origins from different parts of Fiji and compared with findings from Australia and Iceland. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results showed the MACS to have a reliable factorial and dimensional structure in Fiji. Differences between girls and boys were similar in Fiji, Australia, and Iceland. Stoicism/distraction was identical for boys and girls in all countries. There were no differences comparing mother tongue (Fijian and Hindi). The two-dimensional theory of adolescent coping was supported.
Optimal Windows of Statin Use for Immediate Infarct Limitation: 5′-Nucleotidase as Another Downstream Molecule of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase

Background—Although statins are reported to have a cardioprotective effect, their immediate direct influence on ischemia-reperfusion injury and the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. We investigated these issues an in vivo canine model. Methods and Results—Dogs were subjected to coronary occlusion (90 minutes) and reperfusion (6 hours) immediately after injection of pravastatin (0.2, 2, or 10 mg/kg), pitavastatin (0.01, 0.1, or 0.5 mg/kg), or cerivastatin (0.5, 5, or 50 μg/kg). Then myocardial phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and 5′-nucleotidase activities were measured, as well as infarct size. After 15 minutes of reperfusion, pravastatin caused dose-dependent activation of Akt and ecto-5′-nucleotidase in the ischemic zone, and the effect was significant at higher doses. Pitavastatin also significantly increased these activities, and its optimal dose was within the clinical range, whereas cerivastatin caused activation at the lowest dose tested. In all cases, both Akt and ecto-5′-nucleotidase showed activation in parallel, and this activation was completely abolished by wortmannin, a PI3-K inhibitor. The magnitude of the infarct-limiting effect paralleled the increase in Akt and ecto-5′-nucleotidase activity and was blunted by administration of wortmannin, α,β-methyleneadenosine-5′-diphosphate, or 8-sulfophenyltheophylline during reperfusion. Both collateral flow and the area at risk were comparable for all groups. Conclusions—Activation of ecto-5′-nucleotidase after ischemia by PI3-K activation may be crucial for immediate infarct-size limitation by statins. There seems to be an optimal dose for each statin that is independent of its clinical cholesterol-lowering effect.
Before They Were Ties: Predicting the Value of Brand-New Connections

Complementing and extending prior studies on the value of existing work relationships, this study examines whether we can predict the value of brand-new ties before people ever meet. We examine this question by developing three sets of hypotheses reflecting the three main perspectives in the social networks literature: the resource (actor), dyadic (tie), and structural (network) perspective. To test our hypotheses, we asked executives to reach out for advice from someone they had never met and to complete a survey of their various thoughts about the other person both before and after making a connection. We find support for all three perspectives after a connection has been made; however, before tie formation, we find evidence only for the structural perspective. Our results suggest that the lack of reliable information about strangers obscures which brand-new ties will turn out to be more valuable but that surrounding network structures remain a reliable predictor of value, even for brand-new ties.
Interface elasticity e ff ects in polymer-fi lled nanoporous metals

A continuum formulation for electroactive composites made from nanoporous gold and ionconducting polymer is proposed. A novel extension of surface elasticity theory is developed to account for the high surface-to-volume ratio of nanoporous gold, and to capture the chemoelectromechanical coupling that occurs on the interface between the metal and the polymer. This continuum formulation accounts for the fully non-linear behaviour exhibited by the composite. The balance of linear momentum, Gauß's flux theorem and a relation for the transport of charge carriers are introduced in the bulk material as well as on the interface to describe the nonlinear multiphysics and highly coupled response of the actuator. The resulting system of nonlinear equations is solved using the finite element method. A series of numerical examples is presented to elucidate the theory.
On the Reflexive Prioritisation of Locations in Visual Space

The efficiency of human visual information processing is supported by numerous attentional resources. These resources ensure that behaviourally relevant information within visual scenes is selected for detailed processing, while behaviourally irrelevant information is ignored. One of these attentional resources—reflexive visuospatial attention—operates by prioritising locations in visual space in response to the appearance of salient stimuli. The purpose of the present dissertation was to examine how this type of attention contributes to the efficiency of visual processing by asking: How is processing altered for information presented at the location of attention? To develop some initial evidence of the stage of processing affected by reflexive visuospatial attention, Chapters 1 to 6 assessed whether this attentional resource is related to four other stimulus-driven effects that are each associated with a specific stage of visual processing: identity processing, object filtering, visual working memory (VWM), and response generation. Based on the observation that only the stimulus-driven effects on VWM are related to reflexive visuospatial attention (i.e., only those effects were contingent on attentional control settings), a VWM model of reflexive visuospatial attention was proposed in Chapter 7, and tested in Chapters 8 to 11. According to this model, reflexive visuospatial attention alters visual processing by triggering VWM to update. Thus, the effect of reflexive visuospatial attention is to speed the encoding of attended information into VWM. As a result, this information is more likely than unattended information to bias our behaviour, in particular those behaviours that depend on VWM. Further, by biasing VWM, reflexive visuospatial attention can interact with other attentional resources that have also been associated with VWM. In this way, these attentional resources can coordinate in optimising the process of selection, thus, contributing to the efficiency of the human visual system. %%%%PhD