Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abnormal frontostriatal interactions in people with prodromal signs of psychosis: a multimodal imaging study.

CONTEXT Alterations in dopaminergic neurotransmission and function of the prefrontal cortex are thought to be central to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, but the relationship between these factors in the development of psychosis is unclear. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between striatal dopamine activity and prefrontal function in people at ultra high risk of psychosis. DESIGN Subjects were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a working memory (N-back) task. Positron emission tomography with fluorine 18-labeled fluorodopa was used to investigate presynaptic striatal dopamine activity. SETTING Outpatient service for people with prodromal signs of psychosis. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS Thirty-four subjects participated in the study: 14 healthy volunteers and 20 subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Regional brain activation (blood oxygen level-dependent response), Ki for [(18)F]fluorodopa uptake, and objective ratings of psychopathology at the time of scanning. RESULTS In the associative part of the striatum, the Ki for [(18)F]fluorodopa was higher in the ARMS group than in the controls. During the N-back task, ARMS subjects displayed less activation in the right middle frontal gyrus, the medial frontal gyri, and the left superior parietal lobule than controls. The Ki for [(18)F]fluorodopa was positively correlated with activation in the right middle frontal gyrus in controls but negatively correlated with activation in this region in the ARMS group. CONCLUSIONS In people with prodromal signs of psychosis, there are direct correlations between altered prefrontal cortical function and subcortical dopamine synthesis capacity, consistent with the notion that frontostriatal interactions play a critical role in the pathoetiology of schizophrenia.
Arthropod Pest Control for UK Oilseed Rape – Comparing Insecticide Efficacies, Side Effects and Alternatives

Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is an important combinable break crop in the UK, which is largely protected from arthropod pests by insecticidal chemicals. Despite ongoing debate regarding the use of neonicotinoids, the dominant seed treatment ingredients used for this crop, there is little publicly available data comparing the efficacy of insecticides in controlling key arthropod pests or comparing the impacts on non-target species and the wider environment. To provide an insight into these matters, a UK-wide expert survey targeting agronomists and entomologists was conducted from March to June 2015. Based on the opinions of 90 respondents, an average of 20% yield loss caused by the key arthropod pests was expected to have occurred in the absence of insecticide treatments. Relatively older chemical groups were perceived to have lower efficacy for target pests than newer ones, partly due to the development of insecticide resistance. Without neonicotinoid seed treatments, a lack of good control for cabbage stem flea beetle was perceived. Wide spectrum foliar insecticide sprays were perceived to have significantly greater negative impacts than seed treatments on users’ health, natural enemies, pollinators, soil and water, and many foliar active ingredients have had potential risks for non-target arthropod species in UK oilseed rape fields for the past 25 years. Overall, 72% of respondents opposed the neonicotinoid restriction, while 10% supported it. Opposition and support of the restriction were largely based on concerns for pollinators and the wider environment, highlighting the uncertainty over the side effects of neonicotinoid use. More people from the government and research institutes leaned towards neutrality over the issue, compared to those directly involved in growing the crop. Neonicotinoid restriction was expected to result in greater effort and expenditure on pest control and lower production (0–1 t/ha less). Alternatives for future oilseed rape protection were then discussed.
Help Seeking in Men: When Masculinity and Self-Compassion Collide

Sports are known to enculturate men in traditional masculinity. Importantly, conformity to such norms is associated with less help seeking, particularly for mental health concerns. The present study furthers the understanding of help seeking in men by addressing the relationships between conformity to masculine norms and self-compassion across intercollegiate athletes (n = 94) and a comparison group (n = 72). Results showed that intercollegiate athletes were more likely to endorse masculine norms (Cohen’s d = 1.01) and scored higher on self-compassion (Cohen’s d = 0.32) than the comparison group. Replicating past research, results also showed that conformity to traditional masculinity norms predicted less favorable attitudes toward help seeking because of self-stigma, p < . 001. New to the literature is the finding that, independent of masculinity, self-compassion predicted more positive attitudes toward help-seeking for intercollegiate athletes but not the comparison group. These findings highlight 1 potential avenue for boosting help seeking among men.
function in post-MI congestive heart failure rats Endurance training restores peritoneal macrophage

Endurance training restores peritoneal macrophage function in post-MI congestive heart failure rats. J Appl Physiol 102: 2033–2039, 2007. 2007; heart failure (CHF) induces a state of immune activation, and peritoneal macrophages (M (cid:1) s) may play an important role in the development and progression of one such condition. Moderate endurance training modulates peritoneal M (cid:1) function. We evaluated the effect of endurance training on different stages of the phagocytic process and in the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 (cid:2) (IL-1 (cid:2) ) and tumor necrosis factor- (cid:3) (TNF- (cid:3) ) after LPS stimulation. Either ligation of the left coronary artery or Sham operations were performed in adult Wistar rats. After 4 wk, control (Sham operated) and MI (ligation of the left coronary artery) animals were randomly assigned to either a sedentary (Sham-operated sedentary, n (cid:4) 7 and MI sedentary, n (cid:4) 10) or a trained group (Sham-operated trained, n (cid:4) 8 and MI trained, n (cid:4) 8). Trained rats ran on a treadmill (0% grade at 13–20 m/min) for 60 min/day, 5 days/wk, for 8–10 wk, whereas sedentary rats had only limited activity. Training increased maximal oxygen uptake normal-ized for body weight (ml (cid:1) kg (cid:5) 1 (cid:1) min (cid:5) 1 ), as well as skeletal muscle citrate synthase maximal activity, when compared with sedentary groups. The resident and total cell number, the chemotaxis index, and the production of TNF- (cid:3) stimulated by LPS were signiﬁcantly higher in the MI sedentary group when compared with the Sham sedentary group. Moderate endurance training reversed these alterations pro-moted by post-MI. These results demonstrate that moderate intensity exercise training modulates peritoneal M (cid:1) function and induces beneﬁcial metabolic effects in rats with post-MI CHF.
Distributed balancing of a digraph with integer weights

We address the integer weight-balancing problem for a distributed system whose components (nodes) can exchange information via interconnection links (edges) that form an arbitrary, possibly directed, communication topology (digraph). A weighted digraph is balanced if, for each of its nodes, the sum of the weights of the edges outgoing from the node is equal to the sum of the weights of the edges incoming to the node. Weight-balanced digraphs play a key role in a number of applications, including distributed optimization, cooperative control, and distributed averaging problems. In this paper, we develop a distributed iterative algorithm, which can be used to reach weight balance, by assigning a positive integer weight on each edge, as long as the underlying communication topology forms a strongly connected digraph (or is a collection of strongly connected digraphs).
Organization of Intracortical Circuits in Relation to Direction Preference Maps in Ferret Visual Cortex

Neurons in the primary visual cortex are selective for the direction of movement of a visual stimulus. Like other stimulus features, direction preference is mapped on the cortical surface in a systematic manner. Intracortical synaptic circuits, in particular inhibitory connections, have been implicated in the emergence of direction selectivity. Whether intracortical inhibition specifically suppresses responses to the nonpreferred direction or has a nonspecific "thresholding" effect is still controversial. To address these questions we investigated the relationship between patterns of intracortical synaptic connections and direction domains in ferret primary visual cortex (area 17) using a combined in vivo-in vitro approach. Excitatory synaptic inputs were iso-direction-tuned. The majority of local inhibitory inputs were also iso-direction-tuned. However, approximately 40% of inhibitory connections originated in regions preferring the opposite direction. These findings indicate that specific inhibitory interactions between cortical regions of opposite direction preference may contribute to the emergence and sharpening of direction selectivity.
A pre-processing tool for Web usage mining in the distance education domain

Web usage mining (WUM) is the process of extracting navigation behaviour patterns that allow analysing users' interactions with Web-based environments. We discuss the impact of developing the WUM preprocessing phase according to concepts, problems and goals specific to Web-based learning environments. We present a tool prototype that automates typical tasks performed in the pre-processing phase, by offering operators that implement these tasks. The tool seeks for the active involvement of domain-related people (e.g. instructors). Functionality makes easier the alignment of mining goals with required pre-processing tasks, by addressing the configuration of operators visually and by enabling the reuse of existing configurations.
Optimal Security-Aware Query Processing

Security-Aware Query Processing is the problem of computing answers to queries in the presence of access control policies. We present general impossibility results for the existence of optimal algorithms for Security-Aware Query Processing and classify query languages for which such algorithms exist. In particular, we show that for the relational calculus there are no optimal algorithms, whereas optimal algorithms exist for some of its fragments, such as the existential fragment. We also establish relationships between two different models of Fine-Grained Access Control, called Truman and Non-Truman models, which have been previously presented in the literature as distinct. For optimal Security-Aware Query Processing, we show that the Non-Truman model is a special case of the Truman model for boolean queries in the relational calculus, moreover the two models coincide for more powerful languages, such as the relational calculus with aggregation operators. In contrast, these two models are distinct for non-boolean queries.
Emotional imagery: Assessing pleasure and arousal in the brain's reward circuitry

Research on emotional perception and learning indicates appetitive cues engage nucleus accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas amygdala activity is modulated by the emotional intensity of appetitive and aversive cues. This study sought to determine patterns of functional activation and connectivity among these regions during narrative emotional imagery. Using event‐related fMRI, we investigate activation of these structures when participants vividly imagine pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant scenes. Results indicate that pleasant imagery selectively activates NAc and mPFC, whereas amygdala activation was enhanced during both pleasant and unpleasant imagery. NAc and mPFC activity were each correlated with the rated pleasure of the imagined scenes, while amygdala activity was correlated with rated emotional arousal. Functional connectivity of NAc and mPFC was evident throughout imagery, regardless of hedonic content, while correlated activation of the amygdala with NAc and mPFC was specific to imagining pleasant scenes. These findings provide strong evidence that pleasurable text‐driven imagery engages a core appetitive circuit, including NAc, mPFC, and the amygdala. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Survey of Multiobjective Evolutionary Clustering

Data clustering is a popular unsupervised data mining tool that is used for partitioning a given dataset into homogeneous groups based on some similarity/dissimilarity metric. Traditional clustering algorithms often make prior assumptions about the cluster structure and adopt a corresponding suitable objective function that is optimized either through classical techniques or metaheuristic approaches. These algorithms are known to perform poorly when the cluster assumptions do not hold in the data. Multiobjective clustering, in which multiple objective functions are simultaneously optimized, has emerged as an attractive and robust alternative in such situations. In particular, application of multiobjective evolutionary algorithms for clustering has become popular in the past decade because of their population-based nature. Here, we provide a comprehensive and critical survey of the multitude of multiobjective evolutionary clustering techniques existing in the literature. The techniques are classified according to the encoding strategies adopted, objective functions, evolutionary operators, strategy for maintaining nondominated solutions, and the method of selection of the final solution. The pros and cons of the different approaches are mentioned. Finally, we have discussed some real-life applications of multiobjective clustering in the domains of image segmentation, bioinformatics, web mining, and so forth.
HCV Infection Enhances Th17 Commitment, Which Could Affect the Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Diseases

Background Various kinds of autoimmune diseases have been reported to have a significant relationship with persistent hepatitis c virus (HCV) infection and Th17 cells. Previously, our group reported that the existence of HCV in T lymphocytes could affect the development of CD4+ helper T cells and their proliferation, in addition to the induction of immunoglobulin hyper-mutation. Methods Therefore, we analyzed the relationship between persistent infection of HCV and the mechanism of Th17 cell induction ex vivo and in vitro. Results The prevalence of autoimmune-related diseases in chronic hepatitis c patients (CH-C) was significantly higher than in other types of chronic hepatitis (hepatitis B and NASH). A significantly higher frequency of IL6 and TGF-β double-high patients was detected in CH-C than in other liver diseases. Moreover, these double-high patients had significantly higher positivity of anti-nuclear antibody, cryoglobulinemia, and lymphotropic HCV and higher amounts of IL1-β, IL21, IL23. In addition to the previously reported lymphotropic SB-HCV strain, we found a novel, genotype 1b lymphotropic HCV (Ly-HCV), by deep sequencing analysis. Lymphotropic-HCV replication could be detected in the lymphoid cells with various kinds of cytokine-conditions including IL1β, IL23, IL6 and TGF-β in vitro. Infection by HCV could significantly enhance the development of Th17 cells. The HCV protein responsible for inducing the Th17 cells was HCV-Core protein, which could enhance the STAT-3 signaling and up-regulate the expression of RORγt as a Th17 master gene. Conclusion Infection by lymphotropic HCV might enhance the Th17 development and contribute to understanding the pathogenesis of autoimmune-related diseases.
μ-Opioid and δ-Opioid Receptors Are Expressed in Brainstem Antinociceptive Circuits: Studies Using Immunocytochemistry and Retrograde Tract-Tracing

Opioid-produced antinociception in mammals seems to be mediated in part by pathways originating in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and the rostroventral medulla (RVM), and these pathways may include serotonergic neurons. In the present study, we examined the relationship of the cloned μ- and δ-receptors (MOR1 and DOR1, respectively) to PAG neurons projecting to the RVM, and RVM neurons projecting to the dorsal spinal cord. This was carried out by combining immunocytochemical staining for MOR1, DOR1, and serotonin with fluorescent retrograde tract-tracing. Of 133 retrogradely labeled cells in the RVM, 31% were immunoreactive for MOR1. Of the double-labeled cells, 41% also were immunoreactive for 5HT. Fifty-three percent of retrogradely labeled cells were apposed by DOR1-ir varicosities; 29% of the apposed cells were immunoreactive for 5HT. In the mesencephalon, cells retrogradely labeled from the RVM were usually surrounded by MOR1-ir structures; however, retrogradely labeled cells were never observed to be immunoreactive for MOR1. Similarly, retrogradely labeled cells in the caudal midbrain were seldom, if ever, labeled for DOR1; however, they frequently were apposed by DOR1-ir varicosities. Of 156 retrogradely labeled profiles from three rats, 52 (33%) were apposed by DOR1-ir varicosities. We conclude that both μ- and δ-opioid receptors could be involved in the antinociception mediated by the PAG–RVM–spinal cord circuit. In addition, opioids seem likely to have both direct and indirect effects on spinally projecting RVM cells in general, and on serotonergic RVM cells in particular.
Growth cones of cultured sympathetic neurons contain adrenergic vesicles

The growth cones of dissociated rat sympathetic neurons developing in culture were fixed with potassium permanganate to visualize vesicular stores of norepinephrine through the formation of granular precipitates. It was found that growth cones contain numerous small granular vesicles (SGV) 40-60 nm in diameter. The majority of the SGV was present in the varicosity of the growth cone but SGV also occurred in filopodia. The SGV appeared in clusters or scattered throughout the varicosity. Treatment of the cultured neurons, before fixation, with reserpine, which depletes catecholamine stores by blocking uptake into vesicles, resulted in the presence of small clear vesicles. In contrast, growth cones of nonadrenergic sensory neurons dissociated from dorsal root ganglia and fixed with permanganate lacked SGV and possessed small clear vesicles. These observations indicate that the growth cones of cultured sympathetic neurons contain norepinephrine, suggest that the norepinephrine is stored in synaptic vesicles, and raise the question whether this transmitter plays a role in early axon-target cell interactions during synapse formation.
The General Public’s Awareness of Early Symptoms of and Emergency Responses to Acute Myocardial Infarction and Related Factors in South Korea: A National Public Telephone Survey

Background Prompt treatment affects prognosis and survival after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) onset. This study evaluated the awareness of early symptoms of AMI and knowledge of appropriate responses on symptom occurrence, along with related factors. Methods Participants’ knowledge of the early symptoms of and responses to AMI onset were investigated using a random digit dialing survey. We included 9600 residents of 16 metropolitan cities and provinces in Korea. Results The proportions of respondents who were aware of early symptoms of AMI ranged from 32.9% (arm or shoulder pain) to 79.1% (chest pain and discomfort). Of the respondents, 67.0% would call an ambulance if someone showed signs of AMI, 88.7% knew ≥1 symptom, 10.9% knew all five symptoms, and 3.1% had excellent knowledge (correct identification of all five AMI symptoms, not answering “Yes” to the trap question, and correctly identifying calling an ambulance as the appropriate response when someone is exhibiting AMI symptoms). The odds ratio (OR) for having excellent knowledge was significantly higher for those who graduated college or higher (OR 3.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09–10.76) than for those with less than a primary school education, as well as for subjects with AMI advertisement exposure (OR 1.49; 95% CI, 1.10–2.02) and with knowledge of AMI (OR 1.63; 95% CI, 1.16–2.27). The 60- to 79-year-old group had significantly lower OR for excellent knowledge than the 20- to 39-year-old group (OR 0.53; 95% CI, 0.28–0.99). Conclusions Awareness of AMI symptoms and the appropriate action to take after symptom onset in South Korea was poor. Therefore, educational and promotional strategies to increase the overall awareness in the general public, especially in the elderly and those with low education levels, are needed.
Searching for the Limits and Explanations of the Nonselective Superiority Bias

Three experiments were conducted to test the robustness and explanations of the Nonselective Superiority Bias (NSSB), whereby any randomly selected item from a positive category is rated more favorably when compared with a cohesive group of other exemplars from the same category. Having participants rank order all exemplars prior to making a direct comparative rating did not reduce the NSSB (Experiment 1). Whether participants considered similarities or differences between the randomly selected target and the other individual exemplars, the target was rated more positively than the rest (Experiment 2). Finally, even comparing a randomly selected exemplar with exemplars from different categories (apples vs. oranges), the NSSB was still obtained (Exp. 3). The generalizability of the bias and the implications of the current results for the focalism, unique attributes, and LOGE explanations of the NSSB are discussed.
Distribution of the number of accessible states in a random deterministic automaton

We study the distribution of the number of accessible states in deterministic and complete automata with n states over a k-letters alphabet. We show that as n tends to infinity and for a fixed alphabet size, the distribution converges in law toward a Gaussian centered around vkn and of standard deviation equivalent to k p n, for some explicit constants vk and k. Using this characterization, we give a simple algorithm for random uniform generation of accessible deterministic and complete automata of size n of expected complexity O(n p n), which matches the best methods known so far. Moreover, if we allow a " variation around n in the size of the output automaton, our algorithm is the first solution of linear expected complexity. Finally we show how this work can be used to study accessible automata (which are dicult to apprehend from a combinatorial point of view) through the prism of the simpler deterministic and complete automata. As an example, we show how the average complexity inO(n log logn) for Moore’s minimization algorithm obtained by David for deterministic and complete automata can be extended to accessible automata. 1998 ACM Subject Classification F.2 Analysis of algorithms and problem complexity
Some features of MLwiN : a visual interface for multilevel modelling The equations window

Under phase II of the Analysis of Large and Complex Datasets (ALCD) programme of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the UK, five advanced workshops for established researchers in the fields of Education, Public Health, Geography/Environment, Political Science and Demography will be held. They are two-day workshops by invitation at the Institute of Education in London. The workshop dates and organisers are