Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic methods for long-term tracking and the detection and decoding of communication dances in honeybees

The honeybee waggle dance communication system is an intriguing example of abstract animal communication and has been investigated thoroughly throughout the last seven decades. Typically, observables such as durations or angles are extracted manually directly from the observation hive or from video recordings to quantify dance properties, particularly to determine where bees have foraged. In recent years, biology has profited from automation, improving measurement precision, removing human bias, and accelerating data collection. As a further step, we have developed technologies to track all individuals of a honeybee colony and detect and decode communication dances automatically. In strong contrast to conventional approaches that focus on a small subset of the hive life, whether this regards time, space, or animal identity, our more inclusive system will help the understanding of the dance comprehensively in its spatial, temporal, and social context. In this contribution, we present full specifications of the recording setup and the software for automatic recognition and decoding of tags and dances, and we discuss potential research directions that may benefit from automation. Lastly, to exemplify the power of the methodology, we show experimental data and respective analyses for a continuous, experimental recording of nine weeks duration.
An exploratory study of the effects of spatial working-memory load on prefrontal activation in low- and high-performing elderly

Older adults show more bilateral prefrontal activation during cognitive performance than younger adults, who typically show unilateral activation. This over-recruitment has been interpreted as compensation for declining structure and function of the brain. Here we examined how the relationship between behavioral performance and prefrontal activation is modulated by different levels of working-memory load. Eighteen healthy older adults (70.8 ± 5.0 years; MMSE 29.3 ± 0.9) performed a spatial working-memory task (n-back). Oxygenated ([O2Hb]) and deoxygenated ([HHb]) hemoglobin concentration changes were registered by two functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) channels located over the left and right prefrontal cortex. Increased working-memory load resulted in worse performance compared to the control condition. [O2Hb] increased with rising working-memory load in both fNIRS channels. Based on the performance in the high working-memory load condition, the group was divided into low and high performers. A significant interaction effect of performance level and hemisphere on [O2Hb] increase was found, indicating that high performers were better able to keep the right prefrontal cortex engaged under high cognitive demand. Furthermore, in the low performers group, individuals with a larger decline in task performance from the control to the high working-memory load condition had a larger bilateral increase of [O2Hb]. The high performers did not show a correlation between performance decline and working-memory load related prefrontal activation changes. Thus, additional bilateral prefrontal activation in low performers did not necessarily result in better cognitive performance. Our study showed that bilateral prefrontal activation may not always be successfully compensatory. Individual behavioral performance should be taken into account to be able to distinguish successful and unsuccessful compensation or declined neural efficiency.
Revealing the Concealed Nature of Long-QT Type 3 Syndrome

Background— Gain-of-function mutations in the voltage-gated sodium channel (Nav1.5) are associated with the long-QT-3 (LQT3) syndrome. Nav1.5 is densely expressed at the intercalated disk, and narrow intercellular separation can modulate cell-to-cell coupling via extracellular electric fields and depletion of local sodium ion nanodomains. Models predict that significantly decreasing intercellular cleft widths slows conduction because of reduced sodium current driving force, termed “self-attenuation. ” We tested the novel hypothesis that self-attenuation can “mask” the LQT3 phenotype by reducing the driving force and late sodium current that produces early afterdepolarizations (EADs). Methods and Results— Acute interstitial edema was used to increase intercellular cleft width in isolated guinea pig heart experiments. In a drug-induced LQT3 model, acute interstitial edema exacerbated action potential duration prolongation and produced EADs, in particular, at slow pacing rates. In a computational cardiac tissue model incorporating extracellular electric field coupling, intercellular cleft sodium nanodomains, and LQT3-associated mutant channels, myocytes produced EADs for wide intercellular clefts, whereas for narrow clefts, EADs were suppressed. For both wide and narrow clefts, mutant channels were incompletely inactivated. However, for narrow clefts, late sodium current was reduced via self-attenuation, a protective negative feedback mechanism, masking EADs. Conclusions— We demonstrated a novel mechanism leading to the concealing and revealing of EADs in LQT3 models. Simulations predict that this mechanism may operate independent of the specific mutation, suggesting that future therapies could target intercellular cleft separation as a compliment or alternative to sodium channels.
Destructive Cleavage of Antigenic Peptides Either by the Immunoproteasome or by the Standard Proteasome Results in Differential Antigen Presentation1

The immunoproteasome (IP) is usually viewed as favoring the production of antigenic peptides presented by MHC class I molecules, mainly because of its higher cleavage activity after hydrophobic residues, referred to as the chymotrypsin-like activity. However, some peptides have been found to be better produced by the standard proteasome. The mechanism of this differential processing has not been described. By studying the processing of three tumor antigenic peptides of clinical interest, we demonstrate that their differential processing mainly results from differences in the efficiency of internal cleavages by the two proteasome types. Peptide gp100209–217 (ITDQVPSFV) and peptide tyrosinase369–377 (YMDGTMSQV) are destroyed by the IP, which cleaves after an internal hydrophobic residue. Conversely, peptide MAGE-C2336–344 (ALKDVEERV) is destroyed by the standard proteasome by internal cleavage after an acidic residue, in line with its higher postacidic activity. These results indicate that the IP may destroy some antigenic peptides due to its higher chymotrypsin-like activity, rather than favor their production. They also suggest that the sets of peptides produced by the two proteasome types differ more than expected. Considering that mature dendritic cells mainly contain IPs, our results have implications for the design of immunotherapy strategies.
Frame Theory and Optimal Anchor Geometries in Wireless Localization

We revisit the problem of describing optimal anchor geometries that result in the minimum achievable MSE by employing the Cramer Rao Lower bound. Our main contribution is to show that this problem can be cast onto the whelm of modern Frame Theory, which not only provides new insights, but also allows the straightforward generalization of various classical results on the anchor placement problem. For example, by employing the frame potential for single-target localization we see that the directions of the anchors, as seen from the target, should optimally be as orthogonal as possible and that the existence of an optimal geometry for an arbitrary number of anchors is governed by a fundamental inequality. Furthermore, the frame-theoretic approach allows for simple derivation of some properties on optimal anchor placement that prove to be useful in a tractable approach for the more complex, multi-target anchor placement problem. In a more general sense, the paper builds a refreshing bridge between the classical problem of wireless localization and the powerful domain of Frame Theory, with far-reaching potential.
Life-styles, adaptive strategies, and sexual behaviors of homeless adolescents.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to gather information about homeless adolescents, a largely invisible and understudied population. METHODS Highly trained interviewers conducted structured face-to-face field interviews with 93 homeless adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. RESULTS Seventy-nine percent of the sample had experienced more than one homeless episode in their lifetime, and almost a fourth reported more than ten episodes. Mean length of time homeless was 440 days (median of 201 days). Aggressive and violent behaviors, including stealing, destruction of property, and physical fights, were common. The sample had a high prevalence of several mental disorders, including conduct disorder with aggression, major depression, and alcohol and drug abuse. Almost half had attempted suicide. Nearly all the adolescents were sexually active; about a third had more than ten partners in the previous year. About a third reported trading sex for money, food, or drugs. Although most had basic knowledge of HIV transmission and used some form of birth control, little more than half had used a condom in the most recent sexual encounter, and 18 percent reported sex with intravenous drug users. CONCLUSIONS Further research on this population is needed, and follow-up contacts in particular are essential in developing appropriate and successful service programs for them.
Impact of Viability, Ischemia, Scar Tissue, and Revascularization on Outcome After Aborted Sudden Death

Background—Survivors of aborted sudden death attributable to ventricular arrhythmias in the presence of coronary artery disease are at risk for recurrences. The substrate underlying these arrhythmias is not clear, and therefore the relation between ischemia, viability, scar tissue (and revascularization), and the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias (and survival) was studied over up to 3 years. Methods and Results—One hundred fifty-three survivors of sudden death underwent stress-rest perfusion imaging. Patients with ischemic/viable myocardium (n=73) were revascularized if possible. Final antiarrhythmic therapy was based on the outcome of electrophysiological testing or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Implantation of a defibrillator was performed in 112 (72%) patients. During 3-year follow-up, 15 cardiac deaths occurred and 42 (29%) patients had recurrent ventricular arrhythmias. Patients with events (death or recurrence) exhibited more often a severely depressed LVEF (≤30%), more extensive scar tissue, and less ischemic/viable myocardium on perfusion imaging and less frequently underwent revascularization. Multivariate analysis identified extensive scar tissue and LVEF ≤30% as the only predictors of death/recurrent ventricular arrhythmias. Conclusions—In patients with aborted sudden death, extensive scar tissue and severely depressed LVEF are the only predictors of death or recurrent ventricular arrhythmias. These patients should be considered for implantation of a defibrillator.
New Exact Analytic Solutions for Stable and Unstable Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations with a Cubic Nonlinearity

The Exp-Function method is used for constructing new exact analytic solutions of stable and unstable nonlinear Schrödinger (SNLS and UNLS) equations with a cubic nonlinearity. The obtained solutions has not appeared in literature as far as we know. It is shown that many previous known results can be recovered as special cases of our results. Mathematics Subject Classification: 35C07, 35G20, 35Q55
Computational Studies on the Resistance of Penicillin‐Binding Protein 2B (PBP2B) of Wild‐type and Mutant Strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae Against β‐Lactam Antibiotics

Mutations within transpeptidase domain of penicillin‐binding protein 2B of the strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae leads to resistance against β‐lactam antibiotics. To uncover the important residues responsible for sensitivity and resistance, the recently determined three dimensional structures of penicillin‐binding protein 2B of both wild‐type R6 (sensitive) and mutant 5204 (resistant) strains along with the predicted structures of other mutant strains G54, Hungary19A‐6 and SP195 were considered for the interaction study with β‐lactam antibiotics using induced‐fit docking of Schrödinger. Associated binding energies of the complexes and their intermolecular interactions in the binding site clearly show that the wild‐type R6 as sensitive, mutant strains 5204 and G54 as highly resistant, and the mutant strains Hungary19A‐6 and SP195 as intermediate resistant. The study also reveals that the mutant strains Hungary19A‐6 and SP195 exhibit intermediate resistant because of the existence of mutations till the intermediate 538th and 516th positions, respectively, and not till the end of the C‐terminus. Furthermore, our investigations show that if the mutations are extended till the end of the C terminus, then the antibiotic resistance of induced‐mutated strains increases from intermediate to high as in the strains 5204 and G54. The binding patterns obtained in the study are useful in designing potential inhibitors against multidrug resistant S. pneumoniae.
90Yttrium ibritumomab tiuxetan in the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: current status and future prospects

After nearly three decades with little change in the treatment for B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the addition of immunotherapy has had a profound effect on the treatment of this group of diseases. A more subtle addition to the armentarium has been the radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies, 90yttrium ibritumomab tiuxetan and 131iodine tositumomab. Unfortunately these drugs have been underutilized. This is, in part, because of the need for coordination between specialties, concern about long-term effects, possible limitations on the tolerance of subsequent therapies and, in part, because of reimbursement factors. In this review, the studies in relapsed and refractory disease are discussed and the very promising results reported from phase II studies using radioimmunotherapy as first-line. Potential mechanisms of resistance to monoclonal antibodies are postulated based on alterations in cell signaling pathways that have been observed in lymphoma cell lines resistant to rituximab. It is anticipated that as mechanisms of resistance are better understood for both unlabeled and labeled monoclonal antibodies, biomarkers will not only predict their efficacy but also lead to the development of therapies to overcome resistance.
Correcting the Errors: A Note on Volatility Forecast Evaluation Based on High-Frequency Data and Realized Volatilities

This note develops general model-free adjustment procedures for the calculation of unbiased volatility loss functions based on practically feasible realized volatility benchmarks. The procedures, which exploit the recent asymptotic distributional results in Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard (2002a), are both easy to implement and highly accurate in empirically realistic situations. On properly accounting for the measurement errors in the volatility forecast evaluations reported in Andersen, Bollerslev, Diebold and Labys (2003), the adjustments result in markedly higher estimates for the true degree of return-volatility predictability.
Mechanical model of blebbing in nuclear lamin meshworks

Much of the structural stability of the nucleus comes from meshworks of intermediate filament proteins known as lamins forming the inner layer of the nuclear envelope called the nuclear lamina. These lamin meshworks additionally play a role in gene expression. Abnormalities in nuclear shape are associated with a variety of pathologies, including some forms of cancer and Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome, and often include protruding structures termed nuclear blebs. These nuclear blebs are thought to be related to pathological gene expression; however, little is known about how and why blebs form. We have developed a minimal continuum elastic model of a lamin meshwork that we use to investigate which aspects of the meshwork could be responsible for bleb formation. Mammalian lamin meshworks consist of two types of lamin proteins, A type and B type, and it has been reported that nuclear blebs are enriched in A-type lamins. Our model treats each lamin type separately and thus, can assign them different properties. Nuclear blebs have been reported to be located in regions where the fibers in the lamin meshwork have a greater separation, and we find that this greater separation of fibers is an essential characteristic for generating nuclear blebs. The model produces structures with comparable morphologies and distributions of lamin types as real pathological nuclei. Thus, preventing this opening of the meshwork could be a route to prevent bleb formation, which could be used as a potential therapy for the pathologies associated with nuclear blebs.
Induction of sensory long-term facilitation in the carotid body by intermittent hypoxia: Implications for recurrent apneas

Reflexes from the carotid body have been implicated in cardiorespiratory disorders associated with chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). To investigate whether CIH causes functional and/or structural plasticity in the carotid body, rats were subjected to 10 days of recurrent hypoxia or normoxia. Acute exposures to 10 episodes of hypoxia evoked long-term facilitation (LTF) of carotid body sensory activity in CIH-conditioned but not in control animals. The magnitude of sensory LTF depended on the length of CIH conditioning and was completely reversible and unique to CIH, because conditioning with a comparable duration of sustained hypoxia was ineffective. Histological analysis revealed no differences in carotid body morphology between control and CIH animals. Previous treatment with superoxide anion (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} \begin{equation*}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{{\cdot}-}\end{equation*}\end{document}) scavenger prevented sensory LTF. In the CIH-conditioned animals, carotid body aconitase enzyme activity decreased compared with controls. These observations suggest that increased generation of reactive oxygen species contribute to sensory LTF. In CIH animals, carotid body complex I activity of the mitochondrial electron transport is inhibited, suggesting mitochondria as one source of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} \begin{equation*}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{{\cdot}-}\end{equation*}\end{document} generation. These observations demonstrate that CIH induces a previously uncharacterized form of reactive oxygen species-dependent, reversible, functional plasticity in carotid body sensory activity. The sensory LTF may contribute to persistent reflex activation of sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure in recurrent apnea patients experiencing CIH.
Clinical indications for computed tomographic colonography: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) Guideline

This is an official guideline of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR). It addresses the clinical indications for the use of computed tomographic colonography (CTC). A targeted literature search was performed to evaluate the evidence supporting the use of CTC. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was adopted to define the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence. Main recommendations 1 ESGE/ESGAR recommend computed tomographic colonography (CTC) as the radiological examination of choice for the diagnosis of colorectal neoplasia. ESGE/ESGAR do not recommend barium enema in this setting (strong recommendation, high quality evidence). 2 ESGE/ESGAR recommend CTC, preferably the same or next day, if colonoscopy is incomplete. Delay of CTC should be considered following endoscopic resection. In the case of obstructing colorectal cancer, preoperative contrast-enhanced CTC may also allow location or staging of malignant lesions (strong recommendation, moderate quality evidence). 3 When endoscopy is contraindicated or not possible, ESGE/ESGAR recommend CTC as an acceptable and equally sensitive alternative for patients with symptoms suggestive of colorectal cancer (strong recommendation, high quality evidence). 4 ESGE/ESGAR recommend referral for endoscopic polypectomy in patients with at least one polyp ≥ 6 mm in diameter detected at CTC. CTC surveillance may be clinically considered if patients do not undergo polypectomy (strong recommendation, moderate quality evidence). 5 ESGE/ESGAR do not recommend CTC as a primary test for population screening or in individuals with a positive first-degree family history of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, it may be proposed as a CRC screening test on an individual basis providing the screenee is adequately informed about test characteristics, benefits, and risks (weak recommendation, moderate quality evidence).
A three-dimensional culture system recapitulates placental syncytiotrophoblast development and microbial resistance

A three-dimensional cell culture model of syncytiotrophoblasts recapitulates their secretory, morphological, and microbial resistance phenotypes. In eutherians, the placenta acts as a barrier and conduit at the maternal-fetal interface. Syncytiotrophoblasts, the multinucleated cells that cover the placental villous tree surfaces of the human placenta, are directly bathed in maternal blood and are formed by the fusion of progenitor cytotrophoblasts that underlie them. Despite their crucial role in fetal protection, many of the events that govern trophoblast fusion and protection from microbial infection are unknown. We describe a three-dimensional (3D)–based culture model using human JEG-3 trophoblast cells that develop syncytiotrophoblast phenotypes when cocultured with human microvascular endothelial cells. JEG-3 cells cultured in this system exhibit enhanced fusogenic activity and morphological and secretory activities strikingly similar to those of primary human syncytiotrophoblasts. RNASeq analyses extend the observed functional similarities to the transcriptome, where we observed significant overlap between syncytiotrophoblast-specific genes and 3D JEG-3 cultures. Furthermore, JEG-3 cells cultured in 3D are resistant to infection by viruses and Toxoplasma gondii, which mimics the high resistance of syncytiotrophoblasts to microbial infections in vivo. Given that this system is genetically manipulatable, it provides a new platform to dissect the mechanisms involved in syncytiotrophoblast development and microbial resistance.