Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The projection from medial geniculate to field AI in cat: organization in the isofrequency dimension

The topography of the anatomical projection from isofrequency contours (IFCs) in auditory thalamus to IFCs in primary auditory cortex (field AI) was investigated in the cat. In each experiment, a best-frequency map of AI was obtained with electrophysiological recording techniques. Then, different retrogradely transported tracers (HRP, fluorescent dyes) were introduced into AI. In some experiments, different parts (e.g., dorsal, central, and ventral) of a previously mapped IFC were injected, each part with a different tracer. In other experiments, 2 or 3 rows of tracer injections were made at different dorsoventral levels of AI, over a large frequency range (5–38 kHz); each injection row was oriented orthogonal to the IFCs and contained a different tracer. The main mass of the labeled thalamic cells was found in the ventral nucleus of the medial geniculate body (MGv). The MGv cells projecting to a limited sector (1–2 mm in length in most experiments) of an IFC in AI form one or several densely packed neuron clusters of variable shape. The cells labeled by a given tracer are largely separated in space from cells labeled by a different tracer. Thus, different sectors of a cortical IFC receive input from different portions of the corresponding thalamic IFC. As a general rule, cells labeled from dorsal (ventral) injections are centered rostrally (caudally) in the part of MGv innervating AI. However, the topographic details are variable between individuals, and the rostrocaudal gradient is complicated by numerous irregularities and gradients. Previous studies of the auditory thalamocortical projection in the cat have not recognized the topographic order in the isofrequency dimension. Instead, it was believed that different sectors of a cortical IFC were innervated by coincident thalamic populations.
Thematic Progression as a Functional Resource in Analysing Texts

Frantisek Danes' (1974) proposal of three main types of thematic progression constitutes a functional explanation of the ordering of information in discourse. As such, it corresponds to Nichols' (1984) fifth distinction of 'function' as 'function in context', and specifically in textual organization. Danes' consideration of the Theme-Rheme nexus operating over sequences of text is seen to compare favourably with treatments of Theme in isolation. Application of the three TP types to texts of a more everyday nature than those previously explored for this type of organization (Dubois 1987, Nwogu and Bloor 1991) reveals that all three manifestations of TP are to be found, depending on the text type and rhetorical purpose of the writer. The study concludes with suggestions for further exploration of Danes' model within educational settings.
Brooding deficits in memory: Focusing attention improves subsequent recall

Ruminative habits of thought about one's problems and the resulting consequences are correlated with symptoms of depression and cognitive biases (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyubomirsky, 2008). In our orienting task, brooders and non-brooders concentrated on self-focusing phrases while they were also exposed to neutral target words. On each trial in the unfocused condition, participants saw and then reported the target before concentrating on the phrase; in the focused condition, the target was reported after phrase concentration. A brooding-related deficit on a subsequent unexpected test of free and forced recall was obtained in the unfocused condition only. Brooders recalled more successfully in the focused than in the unfocused condition. Thus, impaired recall of material unrelated to self-concerns may be corrected in situations that constrain attention.
The Heisenberg Defense: Proactively Defending SGX Enclaves against Page-Table-Based Side-Channel Attacks

Protected-module architectures (PMAs) have been proposed to provide strong isolation guarantees, even on top of a compromised system. Unfortunately, Intel SGX -- the only publicly available high-end PMA -- has been shown to only provide limited isolation. An attacker controlling the untrusted page tables, can learn enclave secrets by observing its page access patterns. Fortifying existing protected-module architectures in a real-world setting against side-channel attacks is an extremely difficult task as system software (hypervisor, operating system, .) needs to remain in full control over the underlying hardware. Most state-of-the-art solutions propose a reactive defense that monitors for signs of an attack. Such approaches unfortunately cannot detect the most novel attacks, suffer from false-positives, and place an extraordinary heavy burden on enclave-developers when an attack is detected. We present Heisenberg, a proactive defense that provides complete protection against page table based side channels. We guarantee that any attack will either be prevented or detected automatically before {\em any} sensitive information leaks. Consequently, Heisenberg can always securely resume enclave execution -- even when the attacker is still present in the system. We present two implementations. Heisenberg-HW relies on very limited hardware features to defend against page-table-based attacks. We use the x86/SGX platform as an example, but the same approach can be applied when protected-module architectures are ported to different platforms as well. Heisenberg-SW avoids these hardware modifications and can readily be applied. Unfortunately, it's reliance on Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) may lead to significant performance overhead under real-life conditions.
Behavior Of Salmonella Heidelberg and Salmonella Enteritidis Strains Following Broiler Chick Inoculation: Evaluation Of Cecal Morphometry, Liver And Cecum Bacterial Counts And Fecal Excretion Patterns.

Over the years, Salmonella Heidelberg (SH) has gained prominence in North America poultry production and in the poultry production of other countries. Salmonella Heidelberg has been isolated and reported from poultry and poultry products in Brazil since 1962, whereas Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) has only emerged as a serious problem in poultry and public health since 1993. These strains of Salmonella can cause intestinal problems in newly hatched chicks, and infection may persist until adulthood. Upon slaughter of chickens, Salmonella can contaminate carcasses, a condition that poses a threat to human health. The aim of this study was to compare the fecal excretion of Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Heidelberg in newly hatched chicks (orally inoculated with 105ufc/mL each) until 20 days of age. In addition, the ratio of cecal villus height:crypt depth (morphometry) and liver and cecum cell counts was analyzed in chicks ranging from 0 to 3 days of age and infected with these two Salmonella strains. One hundred seventeen chicks were separated into one of three experimental groups: a control group, an SE-infected group and an SH-infected group. Eight chicks per group were euthanized at 6, 12 and 72 hours post-inoculation (pi) to allow for Salmonella isolation from the liver and cecum and for the collection of the cecum for villi and crypt analysis. Other birds were allowed to mature to 20 days of age and cloacal swabs were taken at 2, 6, 13 and 20 days pi to compare the fecal excretion of inoculated strains. The Salmonella Enteritidis group had a higher number of cells excreted during the trial. Both strains were isolated from the liver and cecum by 6h pi. At 12h pi the Salmonella Heidelberg group had high cell counts in the cecum. No difference was found in liver cell counts. Both strains showed lower villus height:crypt depth ratio than the control group post-infection.
Autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for chronic lymphocytic leukemia: preliminary results.

PURPOSE This study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility and therapeutic effect of high-dose chemoradiotherapy with autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who relapse after fludarabine treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty-two patients with advanced CLL received high-dose cyclophosphamide, total-body irradiation, and BMT. Eleven patients with relapsed CLL received autologous BMT with marrow collected during a prior fludarabine-induced remission; leukemia cells were depleted from the autologous marrow in seven patients using an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody and immunomagnetic separation. Eleven patients received allogeneic or syngeneic BMT, seven of whom had refractory Rai stage III or IV disease. RESULTS Six autologous transplant recipients achieved a complete remission (CR), four a nodular CR (nCR), and one a partial remission (PR). Two recurred with CLL, and three developed Richter's transformation. Two patients had recurrence of immune cytopenias while in morphologic remission; one of these patients died of cytomegalovirus pneumonia. Six of 11 patients survive in remission 2 to 29 months following BMT. Of the 11 patients who received allogeneic or syngeneic BMT, seven achieved a CR, two a nCR, and one a PR; 10 survive 2 to 36 months following BMT. CONCLUSION These data indicate that high-dose chemotherapy with allogeneic BMT is effective at producing CRs in patients with CLL. Autologous transplantation in CLL is feasible and is capable of producing remissions in patients with advanced CLL. Further studies are warranted to assess the role of BMT in the treatment of CLL.
Dundee revisited — 25 years of a total amputee service

The Dundee Limb Fitting Centre has provided an integrated rehabilitation programme for the amputee since 1965. A review of 1846 primary amputees is discussed. During this period a dramatic change in the above-knee/below-knee (AK/BK) ratio has been achieved with 71% BK and 26% AK occurring in 1989. Over 80% of all amputees, the majority being elderly with peripheral vascular disease, were successfully fitted with a prosthesis. Final discharge home or to a residential home for the elderly was achieved in 76.2% of cases with 3.6% dying in the Unit. Bilateral amputation occurred in 18% of cases of whom 48% were BK-BK. Overall 66% were successfully fitted with a prosthesis. The results demonstrate the advantages of an integrated approach to the amputation and consequent rehabilitation.
Human Posture Sequence Estimation Using Two Un-calibrated Cameras

3D Human posture sequence estimation from single or multiple image sequences is essential in many applications, such as vision-based sport coaching and physical rehabilitation. However, 3D posture sequence cannot be accurately estimated from single image sequence due to depth ambiguity and self-occlusion, and pre-calibration is often required when estimating 3D posture sequence from multiple image sequences. In this paper, we present an algorithm to accurately estimate 3D human posture sequence from two un-calibrated image sequences by combining a modified Nonparametric Belief Propagation (mNBP) method with an improved camera self-calibration method. The mNBP estimates posture even when there is partial self-occlusion and when the human model scale is different from that of body image in image sequences. The improved self-calibration guarantees to find the optimal rotation and relative scale between two fixed but un-calibrated scaled orthographic cameras, without a nonlinear optimization process. Quantitative and qualitative experiment results show that the algorithm is able to estimate 3D posture sequence from a pair of un-calibrated image sequences.
Genomic Organization, Rapid Evolution and Meiotic Instability of Nucleotide-Binding-Site-Encoding Genes in a New Fruit Crop, “Chestnut Rose”

From chestnut rose, a promising fruit crop of the Rosa genus, powdery mildew disease-resistant and susceptible genotypes and their F1 progeny were used to isolate nucleotide-binding-site (NBS)-encoding genes using 19 degenerate primer pairs and an additional cloning method called overlapping extension amplification. A total of 126 genes were harvested; of these, 38 were from a resistant parent, 37 from a susceptible parent, and 51 from F1 progeny. A phylogenetic tree was constructed, which revealed that NBS sequences from parents and F1 progeny tend to form a mixture and are well distributed among the branches of the tree. Mapping of these NBS genes suggested that their organization in the genome is a “tandem duplicated cluster” and, to a lesser extent, a “heterogeneous cluster. ” Intraspecific polymorphisms and interspecific divergence were detected by Southern blotting with NBS-encoding genes as probes. Sequencing on the nucleotide level revealed even more intraspecific variation: for the R4 gene, 9.81% of the nucleotides are polymorphic. Amino acid sites under positive selection were detected in the NBS region. Some NBS-encoding genes were meiotically unstable, which may due to recombination and deletion events. Moreover, a transposon-like element was isolated in the flanking region of NBS genes, implying a possible role for transposon in the evolutionary history of resistance genes.
Genetic and pharmacological demonstration of a role for cyclic AMP‐dependent protein kinase‐mediated suppression of protein phosphatases in gating the expression of late LTP

Protein kinases and phosphatases play antagonistic roles in regulating hippocampal long‐term potentiation (LTP), with kinase inhibition and phosphatase activation both impairing LTP. The late phase of LTP (L‐LTP) requires activation of cAMP‐dependent protein kinase (PKA) for its full expression. One way in which PKA may critically modulate L‐LTP is by relieving an inhibitory constraint imposed by protein phosphatases. Using mutant PKA mice [R(AB) transgenic mice] that have genetically reduced hippocampal PKA activity, we show that deficient L‐LTP in area CA1 of mutant hippocampal slices is rescued by acute application of two inhibitors of protein phosphatase‐1 and protein phosphatase‐2A (PP1/2A) (okadaic acid and calyculin A). Furthermore, synaptic facilitation induced by forskolin, an adenylyl cyclase activator, was impaired in R(AB) transgenics and was also rescued by a PP1/2A inhibitor in mutant slices. Inhibition of PP1/2A did not affect early LTP (E‐LTP) or basal synaptic transmission in mutant and wildtype slices. Our data show that genetic inhibition of PKA impairs L‐LTP by reducing PKA‐mediated suppression of PP1/2A.
Rethinking Validity in Qualitative Research from a Social Constructionist Perspective: From Is this Valid Research? To What Is this Research Valid for?

This article theorizes the issue of validity from a social constructionist perspective, particularly as it is applied to the assessment of qualitative research. Validity must be interrogated for its discursive function within the social sciences. I will argue that, as a criterion of assessment, validity polices the social science enterprise and thus, functions as a practice of power through the de/legitimation of social knowledge, research practice, and experiential possibilities. This critique will lead into a reformulation of validity that actively recognizes and negotiates its practice of power. Within this reformulation, research findings are conceptualized as representations and should be scrutinized for their realist, critical, deconstructive, and reflexive narrative function. Put simply, assessing qualitative research entails multiple and contradictory readings of its representational failures and successes. Therefore, validity of research is no longer conceived as a determination (i.e., “is valid” versus “is not valid”) but a continual process of interrogation. This new framework will be applied to my Master’s thesis research that explored domestic violence and relationship abuse among gay males. Implications for research practice are discussed. Key words: Qualitative Methodology, Validity, Social Constructionism, and Gay Male Partner Abuse It is not uncommon for qualitative researchers to shirk the issue of validity in their research write-ups. I have done so in my own work, not to evade the issue necessarily, but as a means to dodge the long and extraordinarily tiresome task of unpacking positivist assumptions to which my own notion of validity runs contrary. However, by doing so, I often fell prey to proceeding along the research path armed with only an inarticulate, halfunderstood, and sometimes vague notion that addressed dismissively the concerns that validity purports to resolve. The purpose of this paper, then, is to explore one way of conceptualizing and assessing validity through a social constructionist lens as it is applied to qualitative research. Of course, defining social constructionism is itself problematic and to do so is to be swayed by the very assumptions that social constructionism opposes. Definition renders it fixed and stable and elides variation among its own constructions. This amounts to nothing more than, as Potter (1996) claims, a realist account of constructionism.
Efficient Numerical Solver for Simulation of Pulsed Eddy-Current Testing Signals

The pulsed eddy-current testing (PECT) method has the promising capabilities for detecting defects and evaluating material properties. It achieves this through its rich variety of frequency components and large driving electric current. Efficient numerical simulation of PECT signals plays an important role in probe optimization and quantitative signal processing. This study primarily focuses on the development of an efficient numerical solver for PECT signals, and its validation via the consideration of the nondestructive testing problems of wall thinning defects in pipes of nuclear power plants. A frequency domain summation method combined with an interpolation strategy was proposed and implemented. It is based on the finite element method with edge elements. The number of total frequencies used in signal summation and the number of selected frequencies for interpolation were thoroughly discussed. In addition, a code using the time domain integration method was also developed for the signal prediction of a transient PECT problem. It was used for comparison with the frequency domain summation method. A comparison of numerical results of the two proposed simulation methods and experimental results indicates that both of these simulation methods can model PECT signals with high precision. However, the frequency domain summation method combined with an interpolation strategy is much more efficient in its use of simulation time.
Dependency Parsing with Energy-based Reinforcement Learning

We present a model which integrates dependency parsing with reinforcement learning based on Markov decision process. At each time step, a transition is picked up to construct the dependency tree in terms of the long-run reward. The optimal policy for choosing transitions can be found with the SARSA algorithm. In SARSA, an approximation of the state-action function can be obtained by calculating the negative free energies for the Restricted Boltzmann Machine. The experimental results on CoNLL-X multilingual data show that the proposed model achieves comparable results with the current state-of-the-art methods.
Dendritic Cell-Based Cancer Immunotherapy against Multiple Myeloma: From Bench to Clinic

Although the introduction of stem cell transplantation and novel agents has improved survival, multiple myeloma (MM) is still difficult to cure. Alternative approaches are clearly needed to prolong the survival of patients with MM. Dendritic cell (DC) therapy is a very promising tool immunologically in MM. We developed a method to generate potent DCs with increased Th1 polarization and migration ability for inducing strong myeloma-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In this review, we discuss how the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy using DCs can be improved in MM.
The alteration of myosin isoform compartmentation in specific mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans

Myosin isoforms A and B are located at the surface of the central and polar regions, respectively, of thick filaments in body muscle cells of Caenorhabditis elegans, whereas paramyosin and a distinct core structure comprise the backbones of these filaments. Thick filaments and related structures were isolated from nematode mutants that have altered thick filament protein compositions. These mutant filaments and their complexes with specific antibodies were studied by electron microscopy to determine the distribution of the two myosins. The compartmentation of the two myosin isoforms in body wall muscle thick filaments depends not only upon the intrinsic properties of the myosins but their interactions with other components such as paramyosin and their relative quantities determined by synthesis.
Chlorinated hydrocarbon cycling in the benthic nepheloid layer of Lake Superior.

The dynamics and composition of the benthic nepheloid layer (BNL) in western Lake Superior were studied with respect to the cycling of trace hydrophobic organic compounds. The BNL was enriched in t-PCB, p,p'-DDE, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) but deficient in dissolved organic carbon relative to surface waters. Resuspension events in midsummer resulted in a 50% increase in the PCB burden in the water column. Seasonal cycling of PCB congeners was strongly dependent on their degree of chlorination, with heavier chlorinated congeners lost from the water column (t/sub 1/2/ = 17-28 days at two sites). Steady-state t-PCB concentrations in the BNL were maintained over the summer by transport of lighter chlorinated congeners from the underlying sediments. DDE is an effective tracer of sediment resuspension in Lake Superior. Recycling of trace organic pollutants in the BNL serves to increase their resident times in the lake.
Learning Human Pose Estimation Features with Convolutional Networks

Abstract: This paper introduces a new architecture for human pose estimation using a multi- layer convolutional network architecture and a modified learning technique that learns low-level features and higher-level weak spatial models. Unconstrained human pose estimation is one of the hardest problems in computer vision, and our new architecture and learning schema shows significant improvement over the current state-of-the-art results. The main contribution of this paper is showing, for the first time, that a specific variation of deep learning is able to outperform all existing traditional architectures on this task. The paper also discusses several lessons learned while researching alternatives, most notably, that it is possible to learn strong low-level feature detectors on features that might even just cover a few pixels in the image. Higher-level spatial models improve somewhat the overall result, but to a much lesser extent then expected. Many researchers previously argued that the kinematic structure and top-down information is crucial for this domain, but with our purely bottom up, and weak spatial model, we could improve other more complicated architectures that currently produce the best results. This mirrors what many other researchers, like those in the speech recognition, object recognition, and other domains have experienced.