Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Redundancy and Synergy of Neuronal Ensembles in Motor Cortex

We examined the ability of neuronal ensembles from rat motor cortex to predict behavioral performance during a reaction time task. We found that neurons that were the best individual predictors of task performance were not necessarily the neurons that contributed the most predictive information to an ensemble of neurons. To understand this result, we applied a framework for quantifying statistical relationships between neurons (Schneidman et al., 2003) to all possible combinations of neurons within our ensembles. We found that almost all neurons (96%) contributed redundant predictive information to the ensembles. This redundancy resulted in the maintenance of predictive information despite the removal of many neurons from each ensemble. Moreover, the balance of synergistic and redundant interactions depended on the number of neurons in the ensemble. Small ensembles could exhibit synergistic interactions (e.g., 23 ± 9% of ensembles with two neurons were synergistic). In contrast, larger ensembles exhibited mostly redundant interactions (e.g., 99 ± 0.1% of ensembles with eight neurons were redundant). We discuss these results with regard to constraints on interpreting neuronal ensemble data and with respect to motor cortex involvement in reaction time performance.
The Boston FICSIT Study: The Effects of Resistance Training and Nutritional Supplementation on Physical Frailty in the Oldest Old

Research indicates that lower extremity muscle weakness in the elderly is consistently related to impaired mobility and fall risk. Reversible components of the muscle weakness of aging include underuse syndromes and undernutrition, both of which are prevalent in nursing home populations. The Boston FICSIT study is a nursing home‐based intervention to improve muscle strength through progressive resistance training of the lower extremities and/or multi‐nutrient supplementation in chronically institutionalized subjects aged 70–100. Baseline measurements of falls, medical status, psychological variables, functional status, nutritional intake and status, body composition, muscle mass and morphology, muscle function, and gait and balance are taken. The nursing home residents are then randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups for 10 weeks: (1) high intensity progressive resistance training of the hip and knee extensors 3 days per week; (2) multi‐nutrient supplementation with a 360‐kcal high carbohydrate, low fat liquid supplement every day; (3) a combination of groups (1) and (2); and (4) a control group. Both non‐supplemented groups receive a liquid placebo every day, and both non‐exercising groups attend three sessions of “leisure activities” every week in order to control for the attentional aspects of the exercise and nutritional interventions. At the end of the 10‐week period, all baseline measurements are re‐assessed.
Macronutrient intake and type 2 diabetes risk in middle-aged Australian women. Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health

Abstract Objective To investigate the association between macronutrient intake and type 2 diabetes risk in middle-aged Australian women. Design A prospective cohort study, with 6 years (2002–2007) of follow up. Dietary intake was assessed with a validated FFQ. Relative risks with 95 % confidence intervals were used to examine risk associations. Setting Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, Australia. Subjects Australian women (n 8370) from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health aged 45–50 years and free of type 2 diabetes at baseline. Results After 6 years of follow-up, 311 women developed type 2 diabetes. After adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle and other dietary risk factors, MUFA, total n-3 PUFA, α-linolenic acid and total n-6 PUFA intakes were positively associated with the incidence of type 2 diabetes. The relative risks for type 2 diabetes for the highest compared with the lowest quintiles were 1·64 (95 % CI 1·06, 2·54), P = 0·04 for MUFA; 1·55 (95 % CI 1·03, 2·32), P = 0·01 for n-3 PUFA; 1·84 (95 % CI 1·25, 2·71), P < 0·01 for α-linolenic acid; and 1·60 (95 % CI 1·03, 2·48), P = 0·04 for n-6 PUFA. Other dietary macronutrients were not significantly associated with diabetes risk. Conclusions The data indicate that consumption of MUFA, n-3 PUFA and n-6 PUFA may influence the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in women.
Using social theory in information systems research: a reflexive account

Much recent work in the tradition of interpretive Information Systems research has used social theories such as Giddens' (1984) Structuration Theory or Callon and Latour's (1981) Actor Network Theory. However, most work either focuses on theoretical foundational concerns surrounding conceptualisations within either theory or provides empirical case descriptions that were constructed and/or analysed using either theory. Little attention has been paid to the question of how to use either theory in practice, i.e. how to use the theoretical conceptualisations to guide the research process and to generate accounts and substantive theory. This is partly due to the ambivalence of the theories themselves regarding this question but also because researchers avoid the whole question. In this paper we return to the core concepts of the two theories as well as a few writings of our fellow management researchers, in particular researchers on Information Systems, in search of implementation guidance. We argue that social theory is a useful meta-theory that can guide a research endeavour to appropriate research methods and provide a solid foundation of assumptions regarding human action for the generated substantive theories. Based on the empirical work comprising of two in-depth case studies, we offer a reflexive account of our own experiences in operationalising the theories and we detail the role of social theory in shaping the stance, guiding the choice of method, analysing qualitative data and generating substantive theory. In so doing we synthesize a set of implementation guidelines for other researchers and discuss the role of social theory throughout the research process.
Unsupervised neural and Bayesian models for zero-resource speech processing

In settings where only unlabelled speech data is available, zero-resource speech technology needs to be developed without transcriptions, pronunciation dictionaries, or language modelling text. There are two central problems in zero-resource speech processing: (i) finding frame-level feature representations which make it easier to discriminate between linguistic units (phones or words), and (ii) segmenting and clustering unlabelled speech into meaningful units. In this thesis, we argue that a combination of top-down and bottom-up modelling is advantageous in tackling these two problems. To address the problem of frame-level representation learning, we present the correspondence autoencoder (cAE), a neural network trained with weak top-down supervision from an unsupervised term discovery system. By combining this top-down supervision with unsupervised bottom-up initialization, the cAE yields much more discriminative features than previous approaches. We then present our unsupervised segmental Bayesian model that segments and clusters unlabelled speech into hypothesized words. By imposing a consistent top-down segmentation while also using bottom-up knowledge from detected syllable boundaries, our system outperforms several others on multi-speaker conversational English and Xitsonga speech data. Finally, we show that the clusters discovered by the segmental Bayesian model can be made less speaker- and gender-specific by using features from the cAE instead of traditional acoustic features. In summary, the different models and systems presented in this thesis show that both top-down and bottom-up modelling can improve representation learning, segmentation and clustering of unlabelled speech data.
Which Route of Tranexamic Acid Administration is More Effective to Reduce Blood Loss Following Total Knee Arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND The most appropriate route of tranexamic acid administration is controversial. In the current study, we compared the efficacy of intravenous (IV) and topical intra-articular tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss and transfusion rate in patients who underwent primary total knee arthroplasty. METHODS One hundred twenty 120 patients were scheduled to undergo primary total knee arthroplasty. Patients were randomly allocated to three equal groups: IV tranexamic acid (500 mg), topical tranexamic acid (3 g in 100 mL normal saline) and the control. In the topical group, half of the volume was used to irrigate the joint and the other half was injected intra-articularly. The volume of blood loss, hemoglobin (Hb) level at 24 hours postoperative, and rate of transfusion was compared between groups. RESULTS The blood loss and Hb level were significantly greater and lower in the control group, respectively (P=0.031). Also, the rate of transfusion was significantly greater in the control group (P=0.013). However, IV and topical groups did not differ significantly in terms of measured variables. No patient experienced a thromboembolic event in our study. CONCLUSION Tranexamic acid is a useful antifibrinolytic drug to reduce postoperative blood loss, Hb drop, and rate of blood transfusion in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. The route of tranexamic acid administration did not affect the efficacy and safety.
Thoracic radiation therapy alone compared with combined chemoradiotherapy for locally unresectable non-small cell lung cancer: A randomized, phase III trial

OBJECTIVE To compare the survival of patients with medically inoperable or unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer treated with thoracic radiotherapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy. DESIGN Randomized, prospective phase III trial. SETTING Multi-institutional cooperative oncology group. PATIENTS A total of 121 patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 7 (5.8%) were ineligible. All patients were ambulatory and had measurable or evaluable disease. Before they were randomized, patients were stratified by ECOG performance score, histologic type, maximum tumor diameter, and NCCTG institution. INTERVENTIONS Radiotherapy consisted of a total of 5000 cGy in 5 weeks with a 1000 cGy boost in 5 fractions to a small tumor field. Combined modality therapy was MACC which is intravenous methotrexate, intravenous doxorubicin, intravenous cyclophosphamide, and oral lomustine (CCNU), on day 1 and 28. Chemotherapy was followed by identical thoracic radiotherapy 4 weeks after the second cycle of chemotherapy. Four weeks after thoracic radiotherapy was completed, patients received another two cycles of identical chemotherapy. Patients who had progression of disease after chest irradiation only were treated with MACC chemotherapy. MAIN RESULTS Major clinical responses were observed in 31 of 56 (55%; 95% Cl, 42% to 68%) patients treated with combination therapy and 37 of 58 (64%; Cl, 51% to 76%) treated with radiation only (P greater than 0.2). The median time to progression was 192 days with radiotherapy only compared with 199 days for combined modality therapy (P greater than 0.2). The median survival time was 313 days compared with 317 days, respectively (P greater than 0.2). The 1-, 2-, and 5-year survival rates after thoracic radiation only were 45% (Cl, 32% to 58%), 16% (Cl, 6% to 25%), and 7%. With chemoradiotherapy, the survival rates were 46% (Cl, 33% to 60%), 21% (Cl, 11% to 32%), and 5%, respectively. Myelosuppression was significantly greater for the combined modality therapy arm (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION Chemotherapy with MACC, in combination with thoracic radiotherapy, did not result in significant survival advantage compared with radiation alone (P greater than 0.2) in patients with medically inoperable or unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer.
Effects of Computer-Based Cooperative Learning Method on Students' Attitudes Towards English Grammar in Secondary Schools in Njoro Sub- County, Kenya

This study was conducted to find out the effects of Computer-Based Cooperative Learning Method (CBCLM) on students’ Attitude in English Grammar. Solomon Four Non-Equivqlent Control Group Design under Quasi experimental research was employed for the study. The population comprised of all form two students in coeducational schools in Njoro Sub-County. A sample of 176 students was selected through purposive sampling technique. Two groups were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups respectively. Computer-Based Cooperative Learning Module was used by the teachers in the experimental group while those in the control group used the Conventional Teaching Methods. Student Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) was used to collect data. The instrument was validated and pilot tested. SAQ had a reliability coeffcient of 0.96. Data was analysed using ANOVA. The findings of the study indicate that there was a significant statistical difference in students’ attitude towards English Grammar when CBCLM was used. The researchers recommended the use of CBCLM to improve students’ attitude towards English Grammar. Keywsords: Computer-based cooperative learning, conventional teaching methods, students’ attitudes, english grammar
The expression of nuclear lamin A and C epitopes is regulated by the developmental stage of the cytoplasm in mouse oocytes or embryos.

The cytoplasmic regulation of changes of nuclear lamin antigens was examined by transferring 16-cell stage blastomeres into mouse oocytes. Sixteen-cell stage blastomeres were transferred to either pronuclear eggs, enucleated pronuclear eggs or metaphase II oocytes, which were subsequently activated. Pronuclei react with a monoclonal antibody to A/C lamins (J9), whereas nuclei from 16-cell stage blastomeres do not react with J9. However, after transfer of 16-cell stage nuclei to activated metaphase II oocytes, the transferred nuclei acquire the antigen. This is in contrast to 16-cell nuclei that were transferred to intact or enucleated pronuclear eggs; i.e., the nuclei only faintly acquired the A/C epitope. These results suggest that the developmental stage of the cytoplasm regulates the exposure of nuclear lamina epitopes, perhaps by limiting the supply of lamin A/C in the oocyte or because nuclear lamina assembly can only occur at the telophase transition. Furthermore, it appears that there is some exchange of the A/C epitope between (pro)nuclei within the same cell but that the majority of the A/C lamin epitope can be removed from a cell with (pro)nuclear removal.
The Long-term Impact of Birth Order on Health and Educational Attainment

This study uses population register data to examine the relationship between birth order and educational attainment in Sweden, and demonstrates that while the causal effect of birth order on educational attainment is negative, later born children actually perform better. The explanation for this finding is due to educational expansion in Sweden in the 20th century, which outweighs the negative causal effect of birth order. This is particularly true for women due to the fact that the rate of increasing educational enrolment has been greater for women than for men. These results also show that later borns in large families particularly benefit from educational expansion due to the longer average birth interval between the first and last child in large families. The difference between the negative causal effect and actual experience of birth order is likely to be contributing to the confusion regarding birth order effects in the literature.
The Ciliogenic Transcription Factor RFX3 Regulates Early Midline Distribution of Guidepost Neurons Required for Corpus Callosum Development

The corpus callosum (CC) is the major commissure that bridges the cerebral hemispheres. Agenesis of the CC is associated with human ciliopathies, but the origin of this default is unclear. Regulatory Factor X3 (RFX3) is a transcription factor involved in the control of ciliogenesis, and Rfx3–deficient mice show several hallmarks of ciliopathies including left–right asymmetry defects and hydrocephalus. Here we show that Rfx3–deficient mice suffer from CC agenesis associated with a marked disorganisation of guidepost neurons required for axon pathfinding across the midline. Using transplantation assays, we demonstrate that abnormalities of the mutant midline region are primarily responsible for the CC malformation. Conditional genetic inactivation shows that RFX3 is not required in guidepost cells for proper CC formation, but is required before E12.5 for proper patterning of the cortical septal boundary and hence accurate distribution of guidepost neurons at later stages. We observe focused but consistent ectopic expression of Fibroblast growth factor 8 (Fgf8) at the rostro commissural plate associated with a reduced ratio of GLIoma-associated oncogene family zinc finger 3 (GLI3) repressor to activator forms. We demonstrate on brain explant cultures that ectopic FGF8 reproduces the guidepost neuronal defects observed in Rfx3 mutants. This study unravels a crucial role of RFX3 during early brain development by indirectly regulating GLI3 activity, which leads to FGF8 upregulation and ultimately to disturbed distribution of guidepost neurons required for CC morphogenesis. Hence, the RFX3 mutant mouse model brings novel understandings of the mechanisms that underlie CC agenesis in ciliopathies.
A Computational Investigation of Cohesion and Lexical Network Density in L2 Writing

This study used a new computational linguistics tool, the Coh-Metrix, to investigate and measure the differences in cohesion and lexical network density between native speaker and non-native speaker writing, as well as to investigate L2 proficiency level differences in cohesion and lexical network density. This study analyzed data from three corpora with the Coh-Metrix: the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) as an L2 higher proficiency group, the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS) as a native speaker baseline, and a collected EFL corpus from Indonesia for the L2 lower proficiency data. Statistical investigation of the Coh-Metrix results revealed that five out of six Coh-Metrix variables used in this study did not detect proficiency level differences in L2 but the tool was consistently able to distinguish between L2 and native speaker writing. Differences included that L2 writing contains more argument overlap, more semantic overlap, more frequent content words, fewer abstract verb hyponyms and less causal content than native speaker writing.
The Influence of Task-Irrelevant Music on Language Processing: Syntactic and Semantic Structures

Recent research has suggested that music and language processing share neural resources, leading to new hypotheses about interference in the simultaneous processing of these two structures. The present study investigated the effect of a musical chord's tonal function on syntactic processing (Experiment 1) and semantic processing (Experiment 2) using a cross-modal paradigm and controlling for acoustic differences. Participants read sentences and performed a lexical decision task on the last word, which was, syntactically or semantically, expected or unexpected. The simultaneously presented (task-irrelevant) musical sequences ended on either an expected tonic or a less-expected subdominant chord. Experiment 1 revealed interactive effects between music-syntactic and linguistic-syntactic processing. Experiment 2 showed only main effects of both music-syntactic and linguistic-semantic expectations. An additional analysis over the two experiments revealed that linguistic violations interacted with musical violations, though not differently as a function of the type of linguistic violations. The present findings were discussed in light of currently available data on the processing of music as well as of syntax and semantics in language, leading to the hypothesis that resources might be shared for structural integration processes and sequencing.
Newton‐Type Methods

Newton's method is one of the most famous numerical methods. Its origins, as the name suggests, lies in part with Newton, but the form familiar to us today is due to Simpson of “Simpson's Rule” fame. Originally proposed to find the roots of polynomials it was Simpson who proposed using it for general nonlinear equations and for its use in optimization by finding a root of the gradient. Here, we discuss Newton's method for both of these problems with the focus on the somewhat harder optimization problem. A disadvantage of Newton's method, in its original form, is that it has only local convergence unless the class of functions is severely restricted. Much of the discussion here will be about the many ways in which Newton's method may be modified to achieve global convergence. A key aim of all these methods is that once the iterates come sufficiently close to a solution, the method takes Newton steps. Keywords: nonlinear equations; optimization methods; modified Newton
Upregulation of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation in benzo[β]pyrene and arsenic-induced rat lung epithelial transformed cells

Arsenic and benzo[β]pyrene (B[a]P) are common contaminants in developing countries. Many studies have investigated the consequences of arsenic and/or B[a]P-induced cellular transformation, including altered metabolism. In the present study, we show that, in addition to elevated glycolysis, B[a]P/arsenic-induced transformation also stimulates oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Proteomic data and immunoblot studies demonstrated that enzymatic activities, involved in both glycolysis and OXPHOS, are upregulated in the primary transformed rat lung epithelial cell (TLEC) culture, as well as in subcloned TLEC cell lines (TMCs), indicating that OXPHOS was active and still contributed to energy production. LEC expression, of the glycolytic enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase (PGAM) and the TCA cycle enzyme alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH), revealed an alternating cyclic pattern of glycolysis and OXPHOS during cell transformation. We also found that the expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1β were consistent with the pattern of glycolysis during the course of transformation. Low doses of an ATP synthase inhibitor depleted endogenous ATP levels to a greater extent in TLECs, compared to parental LECs, indicating greater sensitivity of B[a]P/arsenic-transformed cells to ATP depletion. However, TLEC cells exhibited better survival under hypoxia, possibly due to further induction of anaerobic glycolysis. Collectively, our data indicate that B[a]P/arsenic-transformed cells can maintain energy production through upregulation of both glycolysis and OXPHOS. Selective inhibition of metabolic pathways may serve as a therapeutic option for cancer therapy.
Temperature measurements of semiconductor devices - a review

There are numerous methods for measuring the temperature of an operating semiconductor device. The methods can be broadly placed into three generic categories: electrical, optical, and physically contacting. The fundamentals underlying each of the categories are discussed, and a review of the variety of techniques within each category is given. Some of the advantages and disadvantages as well as the spatial, time, and temperature resolution are also provided.