Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Harnessing the power of theta: natural manipulations of cognitive performance during hippocampal theta-contingent eyeblink conditioning

Neurobiological oscillations are regarded as essential to normal information processing, including coordination and timing of cells and assemblies within structures as well as in long feedback loops of distributed neural systems. The hippocampal theta rhythm is a 3–12 Hz oscillatory potential observed during cognitive processes ranging from spatial navigation to associative learning. The lower range, 3–7 Hz, can occur during immobility and depends upon the integrity of cholinergic forebrain systems. Several studies have shown that the amount of pre-training theta in the rabbit strongly predicts the acquisition rate of classical eyeblink conditioning and that impairment of this system substantially slows the rate of learning. Our lab has used a brain-computer interface (BCI) that delivers eyeblink conditioning trials contingent upon the explicit presence or absence of hippocampal theta. A behavioral benefit of theta-contingent training has been demonstrated in both delay and trace forms of the paradigm with a two- to four-fold increase in learning speed. This behavioral effect is accompanied by enhanced amplitude and synchrony of hippocampal local field potential (LFP)s, multi-unit excitation, and single-unit response patterns that depend on theta state. Additionally, training in the presence of hippocampal theta has led to increases in the salience of tone-induced unit firing patterns in the medial prefrontal cortex, followed by persistent multi-unit activity during the trace interval. In cerebellum, rhythmicity and precise synchrony of stimulus time-locked LFPs with those of hippocampus occur preferentially under the theta condition. Here we review these findings, integrate them into current models of hippocampal-dependent learning and suggest how improvement in our understanding of neurobiological oscillations is critical for theories of medial temporal lobe processes underlying intact and pathological learning.
A Specification Language for Direct-Manipulation User Interfaces

A direct-manipulation user interface presents a set of visual representations on a display and a repertoire of manipulations that can be performed on any of them. Such representations might include screen buttons, scroll bars, spreadsheet cells, or flowchart boxes. Interaction techniques of this kind were first seen in interactive graphics systems; they are now proving effective in user interfaces for applications that are not inherently graphical. Although they are often easy to learn and use, these interfaces are also typically difficult to specify and program clearly. Examination of direct-manipulation interfaces reveals that they have a coroutine-like structure and, despite their surface appearance, a peculiar, highly moded dialogue. This paper introduces a specification technique for direct-manipulation interfaces based on these observations. In it, each locus of dialogue is described as a separate object with a single-thread state diagram, which can be suspended and resumed, but retains state. The objects are then combined to define the overall user interface as a set of coroutines, rather than inappropriately as a single highly regular state transition diagram. An inheritance mechanism for the interaction objects is provided to avoid repetitiveness in the specifications. A prototype implementation of a user-interface management system based on this approach is described, and example specifications are given.
Effects of psychosocial work characteristics on hair cortisol – findings from a post-trial study

Abstract Prolonged work stress, as indicated by the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model, jeopardizes health. Cortisol represents a candidate mechanism connecting stress to ill health. However, previous findings appear inconclusive, and recommendations were made to assess work stress at multiple time points and also to investigate ERI (sub-)components. This study therefore examines the effects of two single time points, as well as the mean and change scores between time points of ERI and its components on hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a long-term cortisol measurement. Participants were 66 male factory workers (age: 40.68 ± 6.74 years; HCC: 9.00 ± 7.11 pg/mg), who were followed up after a stress management intervention (2006–2008). In 2008 (T1) and 2015 (T2), participants completed a 23-item ERI questionnaire, assessing effort, the three reward components (esteem, job security, job promotion) and over-commitment. In 2015, participants also provided a 3-cm hair segment close to the scalp for HCC analysis, as well as information on relevant confounders (i.e. medication intake, age, work characteristics, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, number of stressful life events). Linear regressions revealed hardly any cross-sectional or longitudinal effect of ERI and its components on HCC. Only the change scores between T1 and T2 of job security were negatively associated with lower HCC in unadjusted (β = −.320; p = .009) and adjusted (β = −.288; p = .044) models. In this study, only a decrease of perceived job security over time was significantly associated with higher HCC, and other predictors were not related to this outcome. Especially after correction for multiple testing, this study revealed just a weak association of different psychosocial work measurements with HCC. Lay summary This study showed that an increase in perceived job insecurity is correlated with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The higher levels of cortisol might represent a biological explanation for the negative health effects of job insecurity. The association was, however, relatively low, and more and more voices are questioning whether cortisol in hair is a reliable marker for perceived work stress.
Strength and Deformation Characteristics of Plain Concrete Subjected to High Repeated and Sustained Loads

THE EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM SHOWED THAT CONCRETE RESPONSE TO HIGH REPEATED LOADS IS TIME-DEPENDENT FOR STRESSES HIGHER THAN ITS SUSTAINED LOAD STRENGTH. FOR A MAXIMUM STRESS HIGHER THAN THE SUSTAINED STRENGTH, A DECREASE IN THE STRESSS RANGE AND/OR THE STRESS RATE (TEST FREQUENCY) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASES THE "SUSTAINED LOAD" CONTRIBUTION TO THE OVERALL BEHAVIOR. IN THE ANALYTICAL STUDY, A DAMAGE MODEL WAS DEVELOPED IN WHICH THE CYCLE AND TIME-DEPENDENT EFFECTS ARE EXPRESSED SEPARATELY. AN ANALYTICAL MODEL TO DETERMINE THE FAILURE STRAIN MODEL WAS DERIVED. /AUTHOR/
Final Height of Patients with Pituitary Growth Failure and Changes in Growth Variables after Long Term Hormonal Therapy

Summary: Eighteen patients with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (GHD) were treated with human growth hormone (HGH) until cessation of growth. Half of these patients achieved a final height within 2 S.D. of the target height, the sex-corrected midparent height. Although growth data at the onset of therapy and during therapy were not different in the total and partial growth hormone deficient patients, the result of the latter was less favourable: eight of the 13 patients with total and only one of 5 with partial GHD reached a final height within parental target limits.A longitudinal analysis of height and bone age in the males with total GHD showed a progressive improvement of the height standard deviation scores for chronologic age (SDS-CA) during 4 years of HGH therapy: from –5.6 to –3.8 standard deviation scores (SDS) with no influence on bone age SDS. After adding androgen therapy in order to induce puberty in the patients with additional gonadotropin deficiency, an increase of growth velocity from 4.7 to 6.3 cm/year was elicited. Height SDS-CA was improved by 1 SDS and bone age SDS advanced by 1.9 SDS.Of the available methods for adult height prodiction calculated at onset of therapy, the Tanner method based on bone age best reflects the height that probably would be attained without therapy. HGH therapy initiated a clear increase in height prediction. Androgen therapy, in addition to HGH therapy, resulted in an additional small increase in the predicted height.Final height achieved was significantly correlated with midparent height. Final height expressed in SDS of target height, accounting for the genetic background, was significantly correlated with the bone age deficit, with height SDS-bone age (BA) at onset of therapy, and with the increase in height velocity during the first year of HGH therapy. No correlations were found between final height expressed in SDS of target height and chronologic age, height SDS-CA at onset of therapy and pretreatment height velocity.
Coherent Culling and Shading for Large Molecular Dynamics Visualization

Molecular dynamics simulations are a principal tool for studying molecular systems. Such simulations are used to investigate molecular structure, dynamics, and thermodynamical properties, as well as a replacement for, or complement to, costly and dangerous experiments. With the increasing availability of computational power the resulting data sets are becoming increasingly larger, and benchmarks indicate that the interactive visualization on desktop computers poses a challenge when rendering substantially more than millions of glyphs. Trading visual quality for rendering performance is a common approach when interactivity has to be guaranteed. In this paper we address both problems and present a method for high‐quality visualization of massive molecular dynamics data sets. We employ several optimization strategies on different levels of granularity, such as data quantization, data caching in video memory, and a two‐level occlusion culling strategy: coarse culling via hardware occlusion queries and a vertex‐level culling using maximum depth mipmaps. To ensure optimal image quality we employ GPU raycasting and deferred shading with smooth normal vector generation. We demonstrate that our method allows us to interactively render data sets containing tens of millions of high‐quality glyphs.
Investigating Population Structure of Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus, L.) in Western Iberian Peninsula Using Morphological Characters and Heart Fatty Acid Signature Analyses

This study hypothesizes the existence of three groups of sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus L. in Portugal (North/Central group, Tagus group, and Guadiana group), possibly promoted by seabed topography isolation during the oceanic phase of the life cycle. Within this context, our purpose was to analyze the existence of a stock structure on sea lamprey populations sampled in the major Portuguese river basins using both morphological characters and heart tissue fatty acid signature. In both cases, the multiple discriminant analysis revealed statistically significant differences among groups, and the overall corrected classification rate estimated from cross-validation procedure was particularly high for the cardiac muscle fatty acid profiles (i.e. 83.8%). Morphometric characters were much more useful than meristic ones to discriminate stocks, and the most important variables for group differentiation were eye length, second dorsal fin length and branchial length. Fatty acid analysis showed that all lampreys from the southern Guadiana group were correctly classified and not mixing with individuals from any other group, reflecting a typical heart fatty acid signature. Our results revealed that 89.5% and 72.2% of the individuals from the Tagus and North/Central groups, respectively, were also correctly classified, despite some degree of overlap between individuals from these groups. The fatty acids that contributed to the observed segregation were C16:0; C17:0; C18:1ω9; C20:3ω6 and C22:2ω6. Detected differences are probably related with environmental variables to which lampreys may have been exposed, which leaded to different patterns of gene expression. These results suggest the existence of three different sea lamprey stocks in Portugal, with implication in terms of management and conservation.
Programming Turing Machines as a Game for Technology Sense-Making

To gain a better understanding of the process through which technology users become technology creators, we designed a paper-based, tangible Turing Machine and introduced it to 54 teenage students. The information collected through tinkering tasks and a questionnaire is discussed both via statistics and qualitative analysis. This initial study suggests that simple paper tangibles and tinkering have a place in future, technology-enhanced learning, and that central technological concepts can be discussed on the basis of low-cost tabletop-like games. We also notice a general interest in the historical development of technologies, that seems to enhance motivation and participation.
APPLICATION OF BONDING SYSTEM AS A SUB-BASE MATERIAL FOLLOWING ELECTROSURGICAL PULPOTOMY TREATMENT IN PRIMARY TEETH: A NOVEL TECHNIQUE

Carious primary teeth are still a great problem in many countries. Maintaining these teeth, which play a significant role in chewing, guiding the permanent teeth to erupt normally and keeping the ideal dental arch size, is very important. The most common treatment of the deep carious primary teeth is pulpotomy. Many techniques and sub-base materials have been suggested for this purpose. All traditional sub-base materials have been found to have different percentages of failure. Bonding systems are widely used in dentistry for tooth restoration. Their greatest advantage is providing better seal in the tooth-restoration interface, which is the primary goal in restorative dentistry. The authors' suggestion is to use these materials as a sub-base agent subsequent to the electrosurgical pulpotomy technique. Bonding systems are easy to use, time efficient, biocompatible, do not need sealing pressure, and additionally provide an ideal seal.
Using Silica from Rice Husk as a Reinforcing Filler in Natural Rubber

The objective of this research was to reinforce natural rubber with silica prepared from rice husk. Rice husk was cleaned with tap water, then treated with 0.4M hydrochloric acid at 105 o C for 3 hours. The treated rice husk was burnt at 600 o C for 6 hours. The resulting white ash contained as high as 99.6% silica. The ash was ground with a jet mill and tested for its properties. It was found that silica from rich husk ash (RHA silica) had higher silica content, higher specific surface area and lower moisture content than commercial silica commonly used in rubber industries. RHA silica was then used as a reinforcing filler in natural rubber. The curing characteristics of natural rubber products using RHA silica and commercial silica were examined with an oscillating disk rheometer and a Mooney viscometer. Mechanical properties, namely, tensile strength, tear strength and hardness were determined. The results indicated that products reinforced with RHA silica had shorter curing times compared to those with commercial silica. Overall mechanical properties, i.e. tensile strength, tear strength, abrasion resistance, compression set and resilience, of rubber products reinforced with RHA silica are better than those with commercial silica. However, the hardness was inferior to those reinforced with commercial silica. Therefore, the products are suitable for applications in which hardness is not the major concern but other mechanical properties are desirable.
Ferroelectric thin films for micro-sensors and actuators: a review

This paper reviews deposition, integration, and device fabrication of ferroelectric PbZrxTi1-xO3 (PZT) films for applications in microelectromechanical systems. As examples, a piezoelectric ultrasonic micromotor and pyroelectric infrared detector array are presented. A summary of the published data on the piezoelectric properties of PZT thin films is given. The figures of merit for various applications are discussed. Some considerations and results on operation, reliability, and depolarization of PZT thin films are presented.
Marijuana Compounds: A Nonconventional Approach to Parkinson's Disease Therapy

Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder, is the second most common neurological illness in United States. Neurologically, it is characterized by the selective degeneration of a unique population of cells, the nigrostriatal dopamine neurons. The current treatment is symptomatic and mainly involves replacement of dopamine deficiency. This therapy improves only motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease and is associated with a number of adverse effects including dyskinesia. Therefore, there is unmet need for more comprehensive approach in the management of PD. Cannabis and related compounds have created significant research interest as a promising therapy in neurodegenerative and movement disorders. In this review we examine the potential benefits of medical marijuana and related compounds in the treatment of both motor and nonmotor symptoms as well as in slowing the progression of the disease. The potential for cannabis to enhance the quality of life of Parkinson's patients is explored.
Akt activation is critical for early hepatic regeneration after partial hepatectomy

Jackson LN, Larson SD, Silva SR, Rychahou PG, Chen LA, Qiu S, Rajaraman S, Evers BM. PI3K/Akt activation is critical for early hepatic regeneration after partial hepatectomy. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 294: G1401–G1410, 2008. First published April 3, 2008; doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00062. 2008. —Hepatic resection is associated with rapid proliferation and regeneration of the remnant liver. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), composed of a p85 regulatory and a p110 catalytic subunit, participates in multiple cellular processes, including cell growth and survival; however, the role of PI3K in liver regeneration has not been clearly delineated. In this study, we used the potent PI3K inhibitor wortmannin and small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting the p85 and p110 subunits to determine whether total or selective PI3K inhibition would abrogate the proliferative response of the liver after partial hepatectomy in mice. Hepatic resection is associated with an induction in PI3K activity; total PI3K blockade with wortmannin and selective inhibition of p85 or p110 with siRNA resulted in a significant decrease in hepatocyte proliferation, especially at the earliest time points. Fewer macrophages and Kupffer cells were present in the regenerating liver of mice treated with wortmannin or siRNA to p85 or p110 , as reflected by a paucity of F4/80-positive cells. Additionally, PI3K inhibition led to an aberrant architecture in the regenerating hepatocytes characterized by vacuolization, lipid deposition, and glycogen accumulation; these changes were not noted in the sham livers. Our data demonstrate that PI3K/Akt pathway activation plays a critical role in the early regenerative response of the liver after resection; inhibition of this pathway markedly abrogates the normal hepatic regenerative response, most likely by inhibiting macrophage infiltration and cytokine elaboration and thus hepatocyte priming for replication.
Hiding sensitive items in privacy preserving association rule mining

Privacy-preserving data mining [Agrawal, R. , et al., May 2000] has recently emerged to address one of the negative sides of data mining technology: the threat to individual privacy. For example, through data mining, one is able to infer sensitive information, including personal information or even patterns, from non-sensitive information or unclassified data. There have been two broad approaches for privacy-preserving data mining. The first approach is to alter the data before delivery to the data miner so that real values are obscured. The second approach assumes the data is distributed between two or more sites, and these sites cooperate to learn the global data mining results without revealing the data at their individual sites. Given specific rules to be hidden, many data altering techniques for hiding association, classification and clustering rules have been proposed. However, to specify hidden rules, entire data mining process needs to be executed. For some applications, we are only interested in hiding certain sensitive items. In this work, we assume that only sensitive items are given and propose two algorithms to modify data in database so that sensitive items cannot be inferred through association rules mining algorithms. Examples illustrating the proposed algorithms are given. The efficiency of the proposed approach is further compared with Dasseni etc. (2001) approach. It is shown that our approach required less number of databases scanning and prune more number of hidden rules. However, our approach must hide all rules containing the hidden items on the right hand side, where Dasseni's approach can hide specific rules.
The Performance of Random and Optimal Scheduling in a Time-Multiplex Switch

In a time-multiplex switching system, the incoming traffic must be scheduled to avoid conflict at the switch output (two or more users converging simultaneously upon a single output). Two scheduling algorithms, random scheduling and optimal scheduling, are explored in this paper. Random scheduling is computationally simple, whereas optimal scheduling is currently very difficult. We have found, using a traffic model appropriate for circuit switched traffic that increases of typically 10 to 15 percent in offered load can be obtained through optimal scheduling (as compared to the much simpler random scheduling algorithm). The improvement is a function of the number of time slots (or circuits) per time-multiplexed frame, and falls to zero for both very small and very large frame sizes. Thus, in many circuit switching applications, providing a computationally expensive optimal schedule may not be warranted. This conclusion has important ramifications for both electronic and emerging photonic switching systems since it reduces the importance of the costly design feature of optimal scheduling.
Epidemiology of ocular emergencies in the Egyptian population: a five-year retrospective study

Background The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiology of ocular lesions seen in the ophthalmic casualty room of the largest referral hospital in Egypt over 5 years from 2004 to 2008. Methods This epidemiologic database study used the medical records at Cairo University Hospital. Data were recorded using the ICD10 classification. Statistical analysis was based on diagnosis, age, gender, residential area, and year of admission. Results Over 5 years, 8361 ocular emergencies were admitted as inpatients. Open globe injuries were the most prevalent, comprising 33.46% of emergencies. Most cases were males (69%), in whom the most frequent lesions were open globe injuries, infective keratitis, and lid injuries. The most common ocular emergencies in females were open globe injuries, infective keratitis, endophthalmitis, and glaucoma. The age group 6–16 years accounted for 24% of emergencies, and patients over 45 years accounted for 26.8%. Under the age of 45 years, the most common lesions were open globe injuries (36%), and over this age, the most common lesions were infective keratitis (34.4%). Patients from Upper Egypt accounted for 56.2% of emergencies. A superficial corneal foreign body was the most common reason for attending the ophthalmic casualty room, with 24,844 cases seen over the 5 years of the study, all of which were managed as outpatient procedures. Deep corneal foreign bodies were more common than intraocular foreign bodies. The most common ocular hemorrhage was hyphema. The most common type of glaucoma was acute angle closure. Conclusion Superficial corneal foreign bodies, open globe injuries, and infective keratitis are the main ocular emergencies seen in the Egyptian population. Corneal foreign bodies are mostly the result of occupational accidents in workers not wearing protective goggles. Violent altercations (41.9%), occupational accidents (26.3%), and motor vehicle accidents (24.4%) were the main circumstances involved in open globe injuries. The most common admissions were for open globe injuries under the age of 45 years and infective keratitis above this age. Upper Egypt was the main referring geographic area.