Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CrossTalk opposing view: dynamic cerebral autoregulation should be quantified using induced (rather than spontaneous) blood pressure fluctuations

Suppose you want to take a car for a test drive. You prefer a smooth ride, so you are probably particularly interested in the car’s suspension system. Where do you take your car? Will you take it for a ride on a well-maintained highway, or will you select worn-down roads with cobblestones, potholes and speed bumps? The answer is clear: you can’t test the car’s suspension system if you don’t challenge it. Now imagine cerebral autoregulation (CA) as our brain’s suspension system, dampening out fluctuations in blood flow as blood pressure varies.
Early developmental changes in the timing of turn-taking: a longitudinal study of mother–infant interaction

To accomplish a smooth transition in conversation from one speaker to the next, a tight coordination of interaction between speakers is required. Recent studies of adult conversation suggest that this close timing of interaction may well be a universal feature of conversation. In the present paper, we set out to assess the development of this close timing of turns in infancy in vocal exchanges between mothers and infants. Previous research has demonstrated an early sensitivity to timing in interactions (e.g., Murray and Trevarthen, 1985). In contrast, less is known about infants’ abilities to produce turns in a timely manner and existing findings are rather patchy. We conducted a longitudinal study of 12 mother–infant dyads in free-play interactions at the ages of 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, and 18 months. Based on existing work and the predictions made by the Interaction Engine Hypothesis (Levinson, 2006), we expected that infants would begin to develop the temporal properties of turn-taking early in infancy but that their timing of turns would slow down at 12 months, which is around the time when infants start to produce their first words. Findings were consistent with our predictions: infants were relatively fast at timing their turn early in infancy but slowed down toward the end of the first year. Furthermore, the changes observed in infants’ turn-timing skills were not caused by changes in maternal timing, which remained stable across the 3–18 months period. However, the slowing down of turn-timing started somewhat earlier than predicted: at 9 months.
Soil organic carbon dynamics jointly controlled by climate, carbon inputs, soil properties and soil carbon fractions

Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics are regulated by the complex interplay of climatic, edaphic and biotic conditions. However, the interrelation of SOC and these drivers and their potential connection networks are rarely assessed quantitatively. Using observations of SOC dynamics with detailed soil properties from 90 field trials at 28 sites under different agroecosystems across the Australian cropping regions, we investigated the direct and indirect effects of climate, soil properties, carbon (C) inputs and soil C pools (a total of 17 variables) on SOC change rate (rC, Mg C ha−1 yr−1). Among these variables, we found that the most influential variables on rC were the average C input amount and annual precipitation, and the total SOC stock at the beginning of the trials. Overall, C inputs (including C input amount and pasture frequency in the crop rotation system) accounted for 27% of the relative influence on rC, followed by climate 25% (including precipitation and temperature), soil C pools 24% (including pool size and composition) and soil properties (such as cation exchange capacity, clay content, bulk density) 24%. Path analysis identified a network of intercorrelations of climate, soil properties, C inputs and soil C pools in determining rC. The direct correlation of rC with climate was significantly weakened if removing the effects of soil properties and C pools, and vice versa. These results reveal the relative importance of climate, soil properties, C inputs and C pools and their complex interconnections in regulating SOC dynamics. Ignorance of the impact of changes in soil properties, C pool composition and C input (quantity and quality) on SOC dynamics is likely one of the main sources of uncertainty in SOC predictions from the process‐based SOC models.
Placental growth factor and its potential role in diabetic retinopathy and other ocular neovascular diseases

The role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), including in retinal vascular diseases, has been well studied, and pharmacological blockade of VEGF is the gold standard of treatment for neovascular age‐related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion and diabetic macular oedema. Placental growth factor (PGF, previously known as PlGF), a homologue of VEGF, is a multifunctional peptide associated with angiogenesis‐dependent pathologies in the eye and non‐ocular conditions. Animal studies using genetic modification and pharmacological treatment have demonstrated a mechanistic role for PGF in pathological angiogenesis. Inhibition decreases neovascularization and microvascular abnormalities across different models, including oxygen‐induced retinopathy, laser‐induced choroidal neovascularization and in diabetic mice exhibiting retinopathies. High levels of PGF have been found in the vitreous of patients with diabetic retinopathy. Despite these strong animal data, the exact role of PGF in pathological angiogenesis in retinal vascular diseases remains to be defined, and the benefits of PGF‐specific inhibition in humans with retinal neovascular diseases and macular oedema remain controversial. Comparative effectiveness research studies in patients with diabetic retinal disease have shown that treatment that inhibits both VEGF and PGF may provide superior outcomes in certain patients compared with treatment that inhibits only VEGF. This review summarizes current knowledge of PGF, including its relationship to VEGF and its role in pathological angiogenesis in retinal diseases, and identifies some key unanswered questions about PGF that can serve as a pathway for future basic, translational and clinical research.
Human immunodeficiency virus type 2.

IP: 54.70. 40.11 On: Mon, 25 Jun 2018 17:33:24 Journal of General Virology (2002), 83, 1253–1265. Printed in Great Britain .
Extraordinary Light-Trapping Enhancement in Silicon Solar Cell Patterned with Graded Photonic Super-Crystals

Light-trapping enhancement in newly discovered graded photonic super-crystals (GPSCs) with dual periodicity and dual basis is herein explored for the first time. Broadband, wide-incident-angle, and polarization-independent light-trapping enhancement was achieved in silicon solar cells patterned with these GPSCs. These super-crystals were designed by multi-beam interference, rendering them flexible and efficient. The optical response of the patterned silicon solar cell retained Bloch-mode resonance; however, light absorption was greatly enhanced in broadband wavelengths due to the graded, complex unit super-cell nanostructures, leading to the overlap of Bloch-mode resonances. The broadband, wide-angle light coupling and trapping enhancement mechanism are understood to be due to the spatial variance of the index of refraction, and this spatial variance is due to the varying filling fraction, the dual basis, and the varying lattice constants in different directions.
Influence of molecular weight on the thermal and mechanical properties of polyurethane elastomers based on 4,4′-diisocyanato dicyclohexylmethane

Two series of segmented polyurethane elastomers based on 4,4′-diisocyanato dicyclohexylmethane were investigated with respect to their thermal properties and deformation behavior. We used a crystallizable soft segment, 1,4-poly(tetramethylene glycol), for one series and a noncrystallizable soft segment, 1,2-poly(propylene glycol), for the other. Both systems exhibited mechanical self-reinforcement that depended strongly on the deformation rate. We propose a mechanism for the observed stress/strain behavior in terms of two competing processes: (1) the buildup of orientation caused by deformation and (2) the loss of orientation caused by plastic slippage and segmental relaxation during deformation. The kinetics of these processes depend stronly on the deformation rate and overall molecular weight.
Comparison of ThinPrep and Pap Smear in Relation to Prediction of Adenocarcinoma in Situ

OBJECTIVE To compare the accuracy of reporting split-sample ThinPrep (SSTP) and the Pap smear (PS) in cases of histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and to ascertain the reasons for any discrepancies. STUDY DESIGN Comparison of prospective PS and ThinPrep (TP) predictions with unblinded review of TP slides. RESULTS In 30 paired cytologic samples, AIS was originally accurately predicted by PS in 20 (67%) and SSTP in 14 (47%). In the 16 cases in which SSTP failed to predict AIS, on review 4 were regarded as cytologic undercalls, and in the remaining 12 no diagnostic material was found on the first TP slide. In eight of these, further TP slides were made; in three, diagnostic material was present on subsequent TP slides, and in five it was not. Differences in cytologic appearances of AIS were noted between TP and PS. CONCLUSION Even though in routine practice SSTP did not perform as well as PS in predicting AIS, it has the potential to do so. These results cannot anticipate the performance of direct-to-vial TP with respect to prediction of AIS.
Authorship Attribution Using the Chaos Game Representation

The Chaos Game Representation, a method for creating images from nucleotide sequences, is modified to make images from chunks of text documents. Machine learning methods are then applied to train classifiers based on authorship. Experiments are conducted on several benchmark data sets in English, including the widely used Federalist Papers, and one in Portuguese. Validation results for the trained classifiers are competitive with the best methods in prior literature. The methodology is also successfully applied for text categorization with encouraging results. One classifier method is moreover seen to hold promise for the task of digital fingerprinting.
Effects of Supplementation with Neptune Krill Oil (Euphasia Superba) on Selected Redox Parameters and Pro-Inflammatory Markers in Athletes during Exhaustive Exercise

Effects of Supplementation with Neptune Krill Oil (Euphasia Superba) on Selected Redox Parameters and Pro-Inflammatory Markers in Athletes during Exhaustive Exercise This study investigated the effects of supplementation with Krill oil on levels of pro-oxidant/antioxidant balance markers and levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in professional rowers submitted to exhaustive exercise. This double-blind study included 17 members of the Polish National Rowing Team. Subjects were randomly assigned a supplemented group (n=9) which received two capsules (500 mg) of Krill oil daily for 6 weeks, or a placebo group (n=8). At the beginning and at the end of preparatory camp, subjects performed a 2000 m maximum effort test on a rowing ergometer. Blood samples were taken from the antecubital vein prior to each exercise test, 1 minute after completing the test, and after 24-hours of rest. The following redox parameters were assessed in erythrocytes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) concentration. Additionally, creatine kinase (CK) activity was measured in plasma samples, while tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) concentrations were measured in the serum. Exercise significantly increased values of SOD, TNF-α and TBARS in both groups, but recovery levels of TBARS were significantly lower in athletes receiving Krill oil compared with the control group. Based on these results we conclude that supplementation with Krill oil (1 g per day) in trained rowers diminished post exercise oxidative damage to erythrocytes during recovery, but had no effect on antioxidant enzymes, TNF-α and serum lipid profiles.
The FGF receptor uses the endocannabinoid signaling system to couple to an axonal growth response

Akey role for DAG lipase activity in the control of axonal growth and guidance in vitro and in vivo has been established. For example, DAG lipase activity is required for FGF-stimulated calcium influx into neuronal growth cones, and this response is both necessary and sufficient for an axonal growth response. The mechanism that couples the hydrolysis of DAG to the calcium response is not known. The initial hydrolysis of DAG at the sn-1 position (by DAG lipase) will generate 2-arachidonylglycerol, and this molecule is well established as an endogenous cannabinoid receptor agonist in the brain. In the present paper, we show that in rat cerebellar granule neurons, CB1 cannabinoid receptor antagonists inhibit axonal growth responses stimulated by N-cadherin and FGF2. Furthermore, three CB1 receptor agonists mimic the N-cadherin/FGF2 response at a step downstream from FGF receptor activation, but upstream from calcium influx into cells. In contrast, we could find no evidence for the CB1 receptor coupling the TrkB neurotrophin receptor to an axonal growth response in the same neurons. The observation that the CB1 receptor can couple the activated FGF receptor to an axonal growth response raises novel therapeutic opportunities.
How Well Can Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) Learn Densities: A Nonparametric View

We study in this paper the rate of convergence for learning densities under the Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) framework, borrowing insights from nonparametric statistics. We introduce an improved GAN estimator that achieves a faster rate, through leveraging the level of smoothness in the target density and the evaluation metric, which in theory remedies the mode collapse problem reported in the literature. A minimax lower bound is constructed to show that when the dimension is large, the exponent in the rate for the new GAN estimator is near optimal. One can view our results as answering in a quantitative way how well GAN learns a wide range of densities with different smoothness properties, under a hierarchy of evaluation metrics. As a byproduct, we also obtain improved bounds for GAN with deeper ReLU discriminator network.
Novel Approach for the Recognition and Prediction of Multi-Function Radar Behaviours Based on Predictive State Representations

The extensive applications of multi-function radars (MFRs) have presented a great challenge to the technologies of radar countermeasures (RCMs) and electronic intelligence (ELINT). The recently proposed cognitive electronic warfare (CEW) provides a good solution, whose crux is to perceive present and future MFR behaviours, including the operating modes, waveform parameters, scheduling schemes, etc. Due to the variety and complexity of MFR waveforms, the existing approaches have the drawbacks of inefficiency and weak practicability in prediction. A novel method for MFR behaviour recognition and prediction is proposed based on predictive state representation (PSR). With the proposed approach, operating modes of MFR are recognized by accumulating the predictive states, instead of using fixed transition probabilities that are unavailable in the battlefield. It helps to reduce the dependence of MFR on prior information. And MFR signals can be quickly predicted by iteratively using the predicted observation, avoiding the very large computation brought by the uncertainty of future observations. Simulations with a hypothetical MFR signal sequence in a typical scenario are presented, showing that the proposed methods perform well and efficiently, which attests to their validity.
Informative microsatellites for genetic population studies of black-faced lion tamarins (Leontopithecus caissara)

Leontopithecus caissara is a critically endangered primate species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Nineteen microsatellite loci, previously developed for congeneric species, were tested with 34 L. caissara individuals from Superagüi Island. Of the 19 loci, 17 (89.4%) produced robust alleles, nine (47.4%) of these proved to be polymorphic, with a total of 23 alleles and an average of 2.56 alleles per locus. Expected and observed heterozygosity averaged 0.483 and 0.561, respectively. The exclusion power for identifying the first parent of an arbitrary offspring was 0.315 over all loci. The results thus indicate both the usefulness and limitations of these nine microsatellite loci in the genetic analysis of L. caissara, as well as their potentiality for genetic investigation in other congeneric species.
Evaluation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis--specific antibody responses in populations with different levels of exposure from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Denmark.

BACKGROUND New, simple, and better-performing diagnostic tools are needed for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). Much effort has been invested in developing an antibody-based test for TB, but to date, no such test has performed with sufficient sensitivity and specificity. A key question remaining is the extent to which the disappointing performance of current tests is associated with a high background prevalence of latent TB. METHODS We compared Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antibody responses in a total of 565 human serum samples from M. tuberculosis-uninfected donors and donors with latent infection, as well as samples from patients with active TB. Our study included samples from 4 countries, representing environments with low, intermediate, and high TB incidences. RESULTS We demonstrated significant increases in antibody levels in latently infected contacts, compared with M. tuberculosis-uninfected individuals, and in patients with active TB disease, compared with latently infected contacts. Furthermore, we found a striking increase in the magnitude of the antibody responses in samples obtained from infected Ethiopian individuals (with and without disease), compared with Danish and Brazilian infected individuals; this was presumably the result of higher exposure levels. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirms the presence of ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antibodies in patients with TB, and we demonstrate that significant antibody responses are not restricted to active TB disease but can reflect latent infection, particularly in areas with high levels of exposure to M. tuberculosis. This finding is important for the understanding of the poor discriminatory power of current serodiagnostic tests in regions of endemicity, and it may have major implications on the future development of serologic tests.
Progress in the molecular diagnosis of Lyme disease

ABSTRACT Introduction: Current laboratory testing of Lyme borreliosis mostly relies on serological methods with known limitations. Diagnostic modalities enabling direct detection of pathogen at the onset of the clinical signs could overcome some of the limitations. Molecular methods detecting borrelial DNA seem to be the ideal solution, although there are some aspects that need to be considered. Areas covered: This review represent summary and discussion of the published data obtained from literature searches from PubMed and The National Library of Medicine (USA) together with our own experience on molecular diagnosis of Lyme disease. Expert commentary: Molecular methods are promising and currently serve as supporting diagnostic testing in Lyme borreliosis. Since the field of molecular diagnostics is under rapid development, molecular testing could become an important diagnostic modality.
Popular music estimation based on topic model using time information and audio features

This paper presents popular music estimation based on a topic model using time information and audio features. The proposed method calculates latent topic distribution using Latent Dirichlet Allocation to obtain more accurate music features. In this approach, we also use release date information of each music as time information for concerning the relationship between music trends and each age. Then, by using the obtained latent topic distribution features, the estimation of the popular music becomes feasible based on a Support Vector Machine classifier. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our method.
Multiparameter immunophenotypic analysis of fine needle aspiration biopsies and other hematologic specimens by laser scanning cytometry.

OBJECTIVE To test the new laboratory technology of laser scanning cytometry with respect to immunophenotyping of all types of hematologic and lymphoreticular specimens and particularly those of limited size, such as fine needle aspiration biopsies and hypocellular body fluids. STUDY DESIGN Over the course of two years, 343 hematologic and lymphoreticular specimens of all types were immunophenotyped by laser scanning cytometry using methodologies modified from those of conventional flow cytometric immunophenotyping. Results for all cases were corroborated with histology and/or cytology and, for some cases, immunohistochemistry and/or flow cytometric immunophenotyping. RESULTS Over 98% of the 343 cases were successfully immunophenotyped by laser scanning cytometry. These included many hypocellular specimens, such as 38 fine needle aspiration biopsies and 33 body fluid specimens. CONCLUSION Laser scanning cytometry is a new laboratory technology with several significant advantages relative to flow cytometry for immunophenotypic analysis of hematologic malignancy. The laboratory techniques are simplified, and antibody usage is reduced by 80%. Even more important, full-panel immunophenotyping with multiple antibodies can be performed on specimens as small as 50,000 cells total, making the technology particularly relevant to cytopathology. After immunophenotypic analysis, specimens can be stained for light microscopic examination, and individual cells meeting user-defined antigenic or physical characteristics can be automatically relocalized.
Accelerated forgetting? An evaluation on the use of long-term forgetting rates in patients with memory problems

The main focus of this review was to evaluate whether long-term forgetting rates (delayed tests, days, to weeks, after initial learning) are more sensitive measures than standard delayed recall measures to detect memory problems in various patient groups. It has been suggested that accelerated forgetting might be characteristic for epilepsy patients, but little research has been performed in other populations. Here, we identified eleven studies in a wide range of brain injured patient groups, whose long-term forgetting patterns were compared to those of healthy controls. Signs of accelerated forgetting were found in three studies. The results of eight studies showed normal forgetting over time for the patient groups. However, most of the studies used only a recognition procedure, after optimizing initial learning. Based on these results, we recommend the use of a combined recall and recognition procedure to examine accelerated forgetting and we discuss the relevance of standard and optimized learning procedures in clinical practice.