Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altered Intra- and Interregional Synchronization in Resting-State Cerebral Networks Associated with Chronic Tinnitus

Objective. Subjective tinnitus is hypothesized to arise from aberrant neural activity; however, its neural bases are poorly understood. To identify aberrant neural networks involved in chronic tinnitus, we compared the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) patterns of tinnitus patients and healthy controls. Materials and Methods. Resting-state fMRI measurements were obtained from a group of chronic tinnitus patients (n = 29) with normal hearing and well-matched healthy controls (n = 30). Regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis and functional connectivity analysis were used to identify abnormal brain activity; these abnormalities were compared to tinnitus distress. Results. Relative to healthy controls, tinnitus patients had significant greater ReHo values in several brain regions including the bilateral anterior insula (AI), left inferior frontal gyrus, and right supramarginal gyrus. Furthermore, the left AI showed enhanced functional connectivity with the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), while the right AI had enhanced functional connectivity with the right MFG; these measures were positively correlated with Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaires (r = 0.459, P = 0.012 and r = 0.479, P = 0.009, resp.). Conclusions. Chronic tinnitus patients showed abnormal intra- and interregional synchronization in several resting-state cerebral networks; these abnormalities were correlated with clinical tinnitus distress. These results suggest that tinnitus distress is exacerbated by attention networks that focus on internally generated phantom sounds.
OpinionML - Opinion Markup Language for Sentiment Representation

It is the age of the social web, where people express themselves by giving their opinions about various issues, from their personal life to the world’s political issues. This process generates a lot of opinion data on the web that can be processed for valuable information, and therefore, semantic annotation of opinions becomes an important task. Unfortunately, existing opinion annotation schemes have failed to satisfy annotation challenges and cannot even adhere to the basic definition of opinion. Opinion holders, topical features and temporal expressions are major components of an opinion that remain ignored in existing annotation schemes. In this work, we propose OpinionML, a new Markup Language, that aims to compensate for the issues that existing typical opinion markup languages fail to resolve. We present a detailed discussion about existing annotation schemes and their associated problems. We argue that OpinionML is more robust, flexible and easier for annotating opinion data. Its modular approach while implementing a logical model provides us with a flexible and easier model of annotation. OpinionML can be considered a step towards “information symmetry”. It is an effort for consistent sentiment annotations across the research community. We perform experiments to prove robustness of the proposed OpinionML and the results demonstrate its capability of retrieving significant components of opinion segments. We also propose OpinionML ontology in an effort to make OpinionML more inter-operable. The ontology proposed is more complete than existing opinion ontologies like Marl and Onyx. A comprehensive comparison of the proposed ontology with existing sentiment ontologies Marl and Onyx proves its worth.
Bayesian binomial mixture model for collaborative prediction with non-random missing data

Collaborative prediction involves filling in missing entries of a user-item matrix to predict preferences of users based on their observed preferences. Most of existing models assume that the data is missing at random (MAR), which is often violated in recommender systems in practice. Incorrect assumption on missing data ignores the missing data mechanism, leading to biased inferences and prediction. In this paper we present a Bayesian binomial mixture model for collaborative prediction, where the generative process for data and missing data mechanism are jointly modeled to handle non-random missing data. Missing data mechanism is modeled by three factors, each of which is related to users, items, and rating values. Each factor is modeled by Bernoulli random variable, and the observation of rating value is determined by the Boolean OR operation of three binary variables. We develop computationally-efficient variational inference algorithms, where variational parameters have closed-form update rules and the computational complexity depends on the number of observed ratings, instead of the size of the rating data matrix. We also discuss implementation issues on hyperparameter tuning and estimation based on empirical Bayes. Experiments on Yahoo! Music and MovieLens datasets confirm the useful behavior of our model by demonstrating that: (1) it outperforms state-of-the-art methods in yielding higher predictive performance; (2) it finds meaningful solutions instead of undesirable boundary solutions; (3) it provides rating trend analysis on why ratings are observed.
A biologybased biologybased biologybased dynamic approach for the modelling of toxicity in cell-based assays . Part I : Fate modelling

There is a need to integrate existing in vitro dose-response data in a coherent framework for extending their domain of applicability as well as their extrapolation potential. This integration would contribute towards the reduction of animal use in toxicology by using in vitro data for quantitative risk assessment; moreover it would reduce costs and time especially when such approaches would be used for dealing with complex human health and ecotoxicological endpoints. In this work, based on HTS (High Throughput Screening) in vitro data, we have assessed the advantages that a dynamic biologytoxicant fate coupled model for in vitro cell-based assays could provide when assessing toxicity data, in particular, the possibility to obtain the dissolved (free) concentration which can help in raking the toxicity potency of a chemical and improve data reconciliation from several sources taking into account the inherent variability of cell-based assays. The results show that this approach may open a new way of analyzing this type of data sets and of extrapolating the values obtained to calculate in vivo human toxicology thresholds.
Effects of increasing the dose of ropivacaine on vertical infraclavicular block using neurostimulation

Background Use of an infraclavicular block is appropriate for surgery of the upper limb. However, it does not consistently block the entire brachial plexus. The aim of this study was to investigate whether increasing the dose of ropivacaine could enhance the success rate, onset time, and efficacy of the sensory and motor block during the use of a vertical infraclavicular block using neurostimulation in upper limb surgery. Methods Two hundreds and ten patients were prospectively randomized into three groups: Group 1 (30 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine; n = 70), Group 2 (40 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine; n = 70), and Group 3 (40 ml of 0.75% ropivacaine; n = 70). Patients in each group received a vertical infraclavicular block using neurostimulation and obtained a distal motor response of the ulnar or median nerve. Recorded outcome measures included block success rate, onset time, sensory and motor blocks, and adverse events. Results No differences were found in the block success rate among the three groups (92.8%, 97.1%, and 94.2% for Groups 1, 2, and, 3, respectively; P = 0.346). There were no significant differences in onset time (P = 0.225) among groups, nor was there enhancement in the sensory block, but the motor block was enhanced. Local anesthetic toxicity was observed in five female patients from group 3 (P = 0.006). Conclusions Although the efficacy of the motor block was significantly improved, success rate, onset time, and efficacy of sensory block were not enhanced significantly among groups despite differences in volume and volume/concentration of the local anesthetic.
Ranolazine prevents INaL enhancement and blunts myocardial remodelling in a model of pulmonary hypertension.

AIMS Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) reflects abnormal pulmonary vascular resistance and causes right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy. Enhancement of the late sodium current (INaL) may result from hypertrophic remodelling. The study tests whether: (i) constitutive INaL enhancement may occur as part of PAH-induced myocardial remodelling; (ii) ranolazine (RAN), a clinically available INaL blocker, may prevent constitutive INaL enhancement and PAH-induced myocardial remodelling. METHODS AND RESULTS PAH was induced in rats by a single monocrotaline (MCT) injection [60 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.)]; studies were performed 3 weeks later. RAN (30 mg/kg bid i.p.) was administered 48 h after MCT and washed-out 15 h before studies. MCT increased RV systolic pressure and caused RV hypertrophy and loss of left ventricular (LV) mass. In the RV, collagen was increased; myocytes were enlarged with T-tubule disarray and displayed myosin heavy chain isoform switch. INaL was markedly enhanced; diastolic Ca(2+) was increased and Ca(2+) release was facilitated. K(+) currents were down-regulated and APD was prolonged. In the LV, INaL was enhanced to a lesser extent and cell Ca(2+) content was strongly depressed. Electrical remodelling was less prominent than in the RV. RAN completely prevented INaL enhancement and limited most aspects of PAH-induced remodelling, but failed to affect in vivo contractile performance. RAN blunted the MCT-induced increase in RV pressure and medial thickening in pulmonary arterioles. CONCLUSION PAH induced remodelling with chamber-specific aspects. RAN prevented constitutive INaL enhancement and blunted myocardial remodelling. Partial mechanical unloading, resulting from an unexpected effect of RAN on pulmonary vasculature, might contribute to this effect.
Intrinsic Program for Migration of Cerebellar Granule CellsIn Vitro

Cerebellar granule cells exhibit distinct modes of migration in different cortical layers. The role of external cues in controlling these alterations has been suggested, but the significance of internal programs is not well understood. In the present study, we examined autonomous changes of migratory behavior of isolated granule cells in microexplant cultures of the postnatal mouse cerebellum. We found that isolated granule cells sequentially go through three characteristic phases of migration without cell–cell contact. In the first phase (0–20 hr in vitro) granule cells exhibit the highest rate of turning behavior and have multiple short processes. The length of the movement cycle is shortest. In the second phase (20–40 hrin vitro), granule cells extend a long and thick process and exhibit an elongated cycle of movement. Their speed is fastest, whereas the rate of turning is lowest. In the third phase (40–60 hrin vitro), granule cells slow down their movement and slightly increase their turnings. The length of the movement cycle further increases. At the end, the cells become permanently stationary, extend a lamellipodium around the soma, and emit several thin processes. Interestingly, granule cells sequentially develop four different modes of turning. These results indicate that internal (intrinsic) programs control alterations of granule cell behavior in a stage-dependent manner, suggesting that such programs independent of local cell–cell contacts may be essential for granule cell translocation in the developing cerebellum.
A Novel Peer-to-Peer Intrusion Detection System

MANETs are composed of mobile nodes without any infrastructure and nodes cooperate to set up routes for network communications. Because of these characters, MANETs operate in open medium, so they are particularly vulnerable to intrusions. In this paper, we present an efficient intrusion detection system called MAPIDS (Mobile Agent-based Peer-to-peer Intrusion Detection System). On detecting a suspicious activity, MAPIDS initiates a voting approach to make a collective decision and take further action. In contrast to other intrusion detection system based on collective decision, MAPIDS saves more bandwidth and energy and it is immune to sparse nodes problem.
A comparison between numerical integration techniques for EFIE singular kernels

This paper presents a comparison between some integration schemes for weak singular kernels for 2D and 3D boundary element problems. A self-adaptative coordinate transformation is used in order to evaluate integrals with singularities of order O[ln (r)] for 2D harmonic problems and of order O(1/r) for 3D steady state and harmonic problems and it is compared with approximated analytical results and a domain subdivision scheme.
Psychotic Experiences, Working Memory, and the Developing Brain: A Multimodal Neuroimaging Study

Psychotic experiences (PEs) occur in the general population, especially in children and adolescents, and are associated with poor psychosocial outcomes, impaired cognition, and increased risk of transition to psychosis. It is unknown how the presence and persistence of PEs during early adulthood affects cognition and brain function. The current study assessed working memory as well as brain function and structure in 149 individuals, with and without PEs, drawn from a population cohort. Observer-rated PEs were classified as persistent or transient on the basis of longitudinal assessments. Working memory was assessed using the n-back task during fMRI. Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) was used to characterize frontoparietal network configuration and voxel-based morphometry was utilized to examine gray matter. Those with persistent, but not transient, PEs performed worse on the n-back task, compared with controls, yet showed no significant differences in regional brain activation or brain structure. DCM analyses revealed greater emphasis on frontal connectivity within a frontoparietal network in those with PEs compared with controls. We propose that these findings portray an altered configuration of working memory function in the brain, potentially indicative of an adaptive response to atypical development associated with the manifestation of PEs.
GHASP: an Hα kinematic survey of 203 spiral and irregular galaxies – VII. Revisiting the analysis of Hα data cubes for 97 galaxies

The GHASP survey (Gassendi HAlpha survey of SPirals) consists of 3D Ha data cubes for 203 spiral and irregular galaxies, covering a large range in morphological types and absolute magnitudes, for kinematics analysis. It is the largest sample of Fabry-Perot data published up to now. In order to provide an homogenous sample, reduced and analyzed using the same procedure, we present in this paper the new reduction and analysis for a set of 97 galaxies already published in previous papers but now using the new data reduction procedure adopted for the whole sample. The GHASP survey is now achieved and the whole sample is reduced using adaptive binning techniques based on Voronoi tessellations. We have derived Ha data cubes from which are computed Ha maps, radial velocity fields as well as residual velocity fields, position-velocity diagrams, rotation curves and kinematical parameters for almost all galaxies. The rotation curves, the kinematical parameters and their uncertainties are computed homogeneously using the new method based on the power spectrum of the residual velocity field. This paper provides the kinematical parameters for the whole sample. For the first time, the integrated Ha profiles have been computed and are presented for the whole sample. The total Ha fluxes deduced from these profiles have been used in order to provide a flux calibration for the 203 GHASP galaxies. This paper confirms the conclusions already drawn from half the sample concerning (i) the increased accuracy of position angles measurements using kinematical data, (ii) the difficulty to have robust determinations of both morphological and kinematical inclinations in particular for low inclination galaxies and (iii) the very good agreement between the Tully-Fisher relationship derived from our data and previous determinations.
Major health service transformation and the public voice: conflict, challenge or complicity?

Objectives Calls for major reconfigurations of health services have been accompanied by recommendations that wide ranging stakeholders be involved. In particular, patients and the wider public are seen as critical contributors as both funders and beneficiaries of public health care. But public involvement is fraught with challenges, and little research has focused on involvement in the health service transformation initiatives. This paper examines the design and function of public involvement in reconfiguration of health services within the English NHS. Methods Qualitative data including interviews, observation and documents were collected in two health service ‘transformation’ programmes; interviews include involved public and professional participants. Data were analysed using parallel deductive and inductive approaches. Results Public involvement in the programmes was extensive but its terms of reference, and the individuals involved, were restricted by policy pressures and programme objectives. The degree to which participants descriptively or substantively represented the wider public was limited; participants sought to ‘speak for’ this public but their views on what was ‘acceptable’ and likely to influence decision-making led them to constrain their contributions. Conclusions Public involvement in two major service reconfiguration programmes in England was seen as important and functional, and could not be characterized as tokenistic. Yet involvement in these programmes fell short of normative ideals, and could inadvertently reduce, rather than enlarge, public influence on health service reconfiguration decisions.
Complications of laparoscopic procedures in urology: experience with 2,407 procedures at 4 German centers.

PURPOSE The 4 most active centers of the laparoscopy working group of the German Urologic Association collected data about the complications associated with laparoscopic surgery in urology. MATERIALS AND METHODS At 4 centers 2,407 laparoscopies or retroperitoneoscopies were performed as of May 1998, including 776 for varicocelectomy, 259 for cryptorchidism, 481 for pelvic lymph node dissection, 351 for nephrectomy/heminephrectomy renal pathology, 139 for renal cyst resection, 58 for ureteral procedures, 44 for adrenalectomy, 41 for nephropexy, 41 for lymphocele fenestration, 40 for retroperitoneal para-aortic lymphadenectomy and 187 for other operations. The complications were evaluated, listed according to the anatomical specificity and grouped with respect to the surgical step during laparoscopy. RESULTS A total of 107 complications (4.4%) occurred. The re-intervention rate was 0.8% and the mortality rate was 0.08%. The complication rate depended on the difficulty of the procedure and averaged 1.0, 3.9 and 9.2%, respectively, for easy, difficult and very difficult operations. The majority were vascular injuries (1.7%) and visceral lesions (1.1%) followed by complications of healing and infection (0.8%). Only 0.2% of complications was associated with the access technique (trocar insertion), whereas most occurred during dissection (2.9%). The complication rate was 13.3% for the first 100 procedures and subsequently averaged 3.6%. CONCLUSIONS Critical documentation of experience from several institutions, especially for an analysis of complications of urological laparoscopy, is important for the development of this surgical technique. The overall complication rate is comparable to other specialties. Future technical developments in trocar insertion, tissue dissection and control of bleeding with our improved training program will further reduce the complication rate.
Confirmation of Genetic Associations at ELMO1 in the GoKinD Collection Supports Its Role as a Susceptibility Gene in Diabetic Nephropathy

OBJECTIVE To examine the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the engulfment and cell motility 1 (ELMO1) gene, a locus previously shown to be associated with diabetic nephropathy in two ethnically distinct type 2 diabetic populations, and the risk of nephropathy in type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Genotypic data from a genome-wide association scan (GWAS) of the Genetics of Kidneys in Diabetes (GoKinD) study collection were analyzed for associations across the ELMO1 locus. In total, genetic associations were assessed using 118 SNPs and 1,705 individuals of European ancestry with type 1 diabetes (885 normoalbuminuric control subjects and 820 advanced diabetic nephropathy case subjects). RESULTS The strongest associations in ELMO1 occurred at rs11769038 (odds ratio [OR] 1.24; P = 1.7 × 10−3) and rs1882080 (OR 1.23; P = 3.2 × 10−3) located in intron 16. Two additional SNPs, located in introns 18 and 20, respectively, were also associated with diabetic nephropathy. No evidence of association for variants previously reported in type 2 diabetes was observed in our collection. CONCLUSIONS Using GWAS data from the GoKinD collection, we comprehensively examined evidence of association across the ELMO1 locus. Our investigation marks the third report of associations in ELMO1 with diabetic nephropathy, further establishing its role in the susceptibility of this disease. There is evidence of allelic heterogeneity, contributed by the diverse genetic backgrounds of the different ethnic groups examined. Further investigation of SNPs at this locus is necessary to fully understand the commonality of these associations and the mechanism(s) underlying their role in diabetic nephropathy.
Epidemiology of Functional Diarrhea and Comparison with Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Population-Based Survey in China

Background The epidemiology of functional diarrhea and its impacts on Chinese remain unclear, and there are no data on the comparative epidemiology of functional diarrhea and diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). This study was to explore the epidemiology of functional diarrhea and its impacts, and to identify its distinction from IBS-D. Methods and Findings A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 16078 respondents, who were interviewed under a randomized stratified multi-stage sampling design in five cities of China. All respondents completed the modified Rome II questionnaire, and the 36-item Short Form health survey (SF-36) was used for assessing health-related quality of life in 20% of the sample. Overall, 248 respondents (1.54%) had functional diarrhea and 277 (1.72%) had IBS-D. Functional diarrhea was positively associated with increasing age and body mass index (trend test P<0.05). The three most common symptoms for at least 3 weeks in the past months were loose, mushy or watery stools (n = 203, 81.85%), more than three bowel movements a day (n = 100, 40.32%) and having to rush to the toilet to have a bowel movement (n = 72, 29.03%). Meaningful impairment was observed in 5 of the 8 SF-36 domains in respondents with functional diarrhea. The demographics are mostly similar between the respondents with functional diarrhea and IBS-D; however, respondents with IBS-D had more frequent symptoms of diarrhea and even lower scores in SF-36 domains than those with functional diarrhea. Conclusions The prevalence of functional diarrhea in China is substantially lower than that in Western countries and relatively higher than that in other Asian countries. It impaired health-related quality of life, and respondents with IBS-D have even worse quality of life. Further population-based studies are needed to investigate the epidemiology of functional diarrhea and the differences between functional diarrhea and IBS-D.