Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progression and stability of brain-computer interface communication

Abstract Our objective was to investigate the relationship between brain-computer interface (BCI) communication skill and disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We sought also to assess stability of BCI communication performance over time and whether it is related to the progression of neurological impairment before entering the locked-in state. A three years follow-up, BCI evaluation in a group of ALS patients (n = 24) was conducted. For a variety of reasons only three patients completed the three years follow-up. BCI communication skill and disability level, using the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised, were assessed at admission and at each of the three follow-ups. Multiple non-parametric statistical methods were used to ensure reliability of the dependent variables: correlations, paired test and factor analysis of variance. Results demonstrated no significant relationship between BCI communication skill (BCI-CS) and disease evolution. The patients who performed the follow-up evaluations preserved their BCI-CS over time. Patients’ age at admission correlated positively with the ability to achieve control over a BCI. In conclusion, disease evolution in ALS does not affect the ability to control a BCI for communication. BCI performance can be maintained in the different stages of the illness.
Ultra-High-Field fMRI Reveals a Role for the Subiculum in Scene Perceptual Discrimination

Recent “representational” accounts suggest a key role for the hippocampus in complex scene perception. Due to limitations in scanner field strength, however, the functional neuroanatomy of hippocampal-dependent scene perception is unknown. Here, we applied 7 T high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) alongside a perceptual oddity task, modified from nonhuman primate studies. This task requires subjects to discriminate highly similar scenes, faces, or objects from multiple viewpoints, and has revealed selective impairments during scene discrimination following hippocampal lesions. Region-of-interest analyses identified a preferential response in the subiculum subfield of the hippocampus during scene, but not face or object, discriminations. Notably, this effect was in the anteromedial subiculum and was not modulated by whether scenes were subsequently remembered or forgotten. These results highlight the value of ultra-high-field fMRI in generating more refined, anatomically informed, functional accounts of hippocampal contributions to cognition, and a unique role for the human subiculum in discrimination of complex scenes from different viewpoints. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT There is increasing evidence that the human hippocampus supports functions beyond just episodic memory, with human lesion studies suggesting a contribution to the perceptual processing of navigationally relevant, complex scenes. While the hippocampus itself contains several small, functionally distinct subfields, examining the role of these in scene processing has been previously limited by scanner field strength. By applying ultra-high-resolution 7 T fMRI, we delineated the functional contribution of individual hippocampal subfields during a perceptual discrimination task for scenes, faces, and objects. This demonstrated that the discrimination of scenes, relative to faces and objects, recruits the anterior subicular region of the hippocampus, regardless of whether scenes were subsequently remembered or forgotten.
Variable Selection via Basis Pursuit for Non-Gaussian Data

A simultaneous flexible variable selection procedure is proposed by applying a basis pursuit method to the likelihood function. The basis functions are chosen to be compatible with variable selection in the context of smoothing spline ANOVA models. Since it is a generalized LASSO-type method, it enjoys the favorable property of shrinking coefficients and gives interpretable results. We derive a Generalized Approximate Cross Validation function (GACV), an approximate leave-out-one cross validation function used to choose smoothing parameters. In order to apply the GACV function for a large data set situation, we propose a corresponding randomized GACV. A technique called ‘slice modeling’ is used to develop an efficient code. Our simulation study shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach in the Bernoulli case.
Protection against Mucosal Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVmac251 Challenge by Using Replicating Adenovirus-SIV Multigene Vaccine Priming and Subunit Boosting

ABSTRACT Whereas several recent AIDS vaccine strategies have protected rhesus macaques against a pathogenic simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)89.6P challenge, similar approaches have provided only modest, transient reductions in viral burden after challenge with virulent, pathogenic SIV, which is more representative of HIV infection of people. We show here that priming with replicating adenovirus recombinants encoding SIV env/rev, gag, and/or nef genes, followed by boosting with SIV gp120 or an SIV polypeptide mimicking the CD4 binding region of the envelope, protects rhesus macaques from intrarectal infection with the highly pathogenic SIVmac251. Using trend analysis, significant reductions in acute-phase and set point viremia were correlated with anti-gp120 antibody and cellular immune responses, respectively. Within immunization groups exhibiting significant protection, a subset (39%) of macaques have exhibited either no viremia, cleared viremia, or controlled viremia at the threshold of detection, now more than 40 weeks postchallenge. This combination prime-boost strategy, utilizing replication competent adenovirus, is a promising alternative for HIV vaccine development.
Independence of Asymptotic Stability of Positive 2D Linear Systems with Delays of Their Delays

Independence of Asymptotic Stability of Positive 2D Linear Systems with Delays of Their Delays It is shown that the asymptotic stability of positive 2D linear systems with delays is independent of the number and values of the delays and it depends only on the sum of the system matrices, and that the checking of the asymptotic stability of positive 2D linear systems with delays can be reduced to testing that of the corresponding positive 1D systems without delays. The effectiveness of the proposed approaches is demonstrated on numerical examples.
Novel MYBL1 Gene Rearrangements with Recurrent MYBL1–NFIB Fusions in Salivary Adenoid Cystic Carcinomas Lacking t(6;9) Translocations

Purpose: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is an indolent salivary gland malignancy, characterized by t(6;9) translocations and MYB–NFIB gene fusions in approximately 50% of the tumors. The genetic alterations underlying t(6;9)-negative and t(6;9)-positive/MYB–NFIB fusion–negative ACC remain unknown. To uncover the genetic alterations in ACC lacking the canonical translocation and fusion transcript and identify new abnormalities in translocation positive tumors. Experimental Design: We performed whole-genome sequencing in 21 salivary ACCs and conducted targeted molecular analyses in a validation set (81 patients). Microarray gene-expression data were also analyzed to explore the biologic differences between fusion positive and negative tumors. Results: We identified a novel MYBL1–NFIB gene fusion as a result of t(8;9) translocation and multiple rearrangements in the MYBL1 gene in 35% of the t(6;9)-negative ACCs. All MYBL1 alterations involved deletion of the C-terminal negative regulatory domain and were associated with high MYBL1 expression. Reciprocal MYB and MYBL1 expression was consistently found in ACCs. In addition, 5′-NFIB fusions that did not involve MYB/MYBL1 genes were identified in a subset of t(6;9)-positive/fusion-negative tumors. We also delineated distinct gene-expression profiles in ACCs associated with the length of the MYB or MYBL1 fusions, suggesting a biologic importance of the C-terminal part of these fusions. Conclusions: Our study defines new molecular subclasses of ACC characterized by MYBL1 rearrangements and 5′-NFIB gene fusions. Clin Cancer Res; 22(3); 725–33. ©2015 AACR.
Hazard of breast cancer-specific mortality among women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer after five years from diagnosis: implication for extended endocrine therapy.

PURPOSE More than half of the patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers will relapse and die from breast cancer at 5-10 yr after diagnosis despite 5-yr endocrine therapy. Subpopulations of ER-positive patients at high risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (BCSM) at 5-10 yr are undetermined. METHODS Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results program (1990-2003), we analyzed the relative hazard ratio (HR) and absolute HR of BCSM and the cumulative 10-yr breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) in 111,993 breast cancer patients, stratified by ER, age, and lymph node (LN), and adjusted for other prognostic factors. RESULTS At 5-10 yr after diagnosis, ER-positive patients had increased risk of BCSM [HR, 0.71; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.66-0.76; ER-positive as reference] compared with ER-negative patients. Specifically, younger ER-positive patients (<40 yr) had a constant plateau of annual hazard rate, a higher hazard of BCSM (HR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.35-0.52; ER-positive as reference), and poor 10-yr BCSS, despite LN status. Among ER-positive patients aged 40-60 yr having no obvious plateau of hazard rate, only those with LN-positive disease had a significantly increased hazard of BCSM and poor 10-yr BCSS. Elderly ER-positive patients aged 60-74 yr had a hazard of BCSM, similar to that of ER-negative patients, and those with LN-positive disease had poor 10-yr BCSS. CONCLUSION Our findings help to define the ER-positive subpopulations at higher risk of BCSM at 5-10 yr after diagnosis and are useful in choosing candidates for clinical trials of extended endocrine therapy after 5-yr treatment and in guiding individualized treatment.
Surviving the Earthquake

Abstract This paper intends to explore the effectiveness of educational short-term groups for divorced and separated parents. The present research evaluates the effectiveness of the program according to two criteria: achieving the goals and satisfaction with the program. The questionnaire was examined with 130 parents (76 mothers, 54 fathers) who took part in a Parent Education Program organized by Family Court Social Services, all over Israel. Results indicate that the participants experienced the program as achieving its goals at a rate of 82.2%, and satisfaction at a rate of 89.0%. The most achieved goal was the support from the members of the group (at the rate of 89.9%).
Asymptotically Optimal Algorithms for One-to-One Pickup and Delivery Problems With Applications to Transportation Systems

Pickup and delivery problems (PDPs), in which objects or people have to be transported between specific locations, are among the most common combinatorial problems in real-world logistical operations. A widely-encountered type of PDP is the Stacker Crane Problem (SCP), where each commodity/customer is associated with a pickup location and a delivery location, and the objective is to find a minimum-length tour visiting all locations with the constraint that each pickup location and its associated delivery location are visited in immediate, consecutive order. The SCP is NP-Hard and the best known approximation algorithm only provides a 9/5 approximation ratio. In this paper, we examine an embedding of the SCP within a stochastic framework, and our objective is three-fold: First, we describe a large class of algorithms for the SCP, where every member is asymptotically optimal, i.e., it produces, almost surely, a solution approaching the optimal one as the number of pickups/deliveries goes to infinity; moreover, one can achieve computational complexity O(n2+ε) within the class, where n is the number of pickup/delivery pairs and ε is an arbitrarily small positive constant. Second, we characterize the length of the optimal SCP tour asymptotically. Finally, we study a dynamic version of the SCP, whereby pickup and delivery requests arrive according to a Poisson process, and which serves as a model for large-scale demand-responsive transport (DRT) systems. For such a dynamic counterpart of the SCP, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of stable vehicle routing policies, which depends only on the workspace geometry, the distributions of pickup and delivery points, the arrival rate of requests, and the number of vehicles. Our results leverage a novel connection between the Euclidean Bipartite Matching Problem and the theory of random permutations, and, for the dynamic setting, exhibit novel features that are absent in traditional spatially-distributed queueing systems.
Defending against parasites: fungus-growing ants combine specialized behaviours and microbial symbionts to protect their fungus gardens

Parasites influence host biology and population structure, and thus shape the evolution of their hosts. Parasites often accelerate the evolution of host defences, including direct defences such as evasion and sanitation and indirect defences such as the management of beneficial microbes that aid in the suppression or removal of pathogens. Fungus-growing ants are doubly burdened by parasites, needing to protect their crops as well as themselves from infection. We show that parasite removal from fungus gardens is more complex than previously realized. In response to infection of their fungal gardens by a specialized virulent parasite, ants gather and compress parasitic spores and hyphae in their infrabuccal pockets, then deposit the resulting pellet in piles near their gardens. We reveal that the ants' infrabuccal pocket functions as a specialized sterilization device, killing spores of the garden parasite Escovopsis. This is apparently achieved through a symbiotic association with actinomycetous bacteria in the infrabuccal pocket that produce antibiotics which inhibit Escovopsis. The use of the infrabuccal pocket as a receptacle to sequester Escovopsis, and as a location for antibiotic administration by the ants' bacterial mutualist, illustrates how the combination of behaviour and microbial symbionts can be a successful defence strategy for hosts.
Individual Learning and Performance in Communities of Practice

This study examines the relationships among individuals' involvement in communities of practice (CoPs), learning, and job performance. Drawing on the CoP and learning literatures, we develop a theoretical model exploring how individuals' involvement in CoPs affects their learning and job performance. The model is tested using survey data collected from graduate students in a large Canadian university. Results support the hypothesis that CoP involvement is related to learning, and reveals a complex relationship between learning and job performance.
Fcγ and Complement Receptors and Complement Proteins in Neutrophil Activation in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Contribution to Pathogenesis and Progression and Modulation by Natural Products

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a highly disabling disease that affects all structures of the joint and significantly impacts on morbidity and mortality in RA patients. RA is characterized by persistent inflammation of the synovial membrane lining the joint associated with infiltration of immune cells. Eighty to 90% of the leukocytes infiltrating the synovia are neutrophils. The specific role that neutrophils play in the onset of RA is not clear, but recent studies have evidenced that they have an important participation in joint damage and disease progression through the release of proteolytic enzymes, reactive oxygen species (ROS), cytokines, and neutrophil extracellular traps, in particular during frustrated phagocytosis of immune complexes (ICs). In addition, the local and systemic activation of the complement system contributes to the pathogenesis of RA and other IC-mediated diseases. This review discusses (i) the participation of Fcγ and complement receptors in mediating the effector functions of neutrophils in RA; (ii) the contribution of the complement system and ROS-dependent and ROS-independent mechanisms to joint damage in RA; and (iii) the use of plant extracts, dietary compounds, and isolated natural compounds in the treatment of RA, focusing on modulation of the effector functions of neutrophils and the complement system activity and/or activation.
Cracking the Foundational Myths: Independence, Autonomy, and Self-Sufficiency

Feminist legal theorists can legitimately complain that most mainstream work fails to take into account institutions of intimacy, such as the family. Discussions that focus on the market typically treat the family as separate, governed by an independent set of expectations and rules. When theoretical focus is turned to the nature of actions of the state, the family (if it is considered at all) is cast as a separate autonomous institutions. Theorists who focus on the individual seem to deny the family any potential relevance or theoretical significance.This reliance on the 'assumed family' distorts analysis and policy. In economic and other important public policy discussions, we focus on the appropriate relationship between the market and state, with the family relegated to the 'private' sphere. Discussions proceed as though the policies that are designed to affect these institutions in the public sphere have only few implications for the unexamined private family.This paper argues that we do not begin our lives in equal circumstances but in unequal contexts. In order to rethink how we might constitute a just system for handling dependency, our society must move beyond simplistic catch words and engage in a nationwide debate. Society’s winners and losers become so, in large part, because of benefits and privileges or disadvantages and burdens conferred by family position and unequal distribution of social and economic goods. The approach to a resolution to this type of inequality is not found in simplistic and hypocritical prescriptions, ideological placebos of independence, autonomy, and self-sufficiency.
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacogenomics of Bupropion in Three Different Formulations with Different Release Kinetics in Healthy Human Volunteers

The purpose of this pharmacokinetics (PK) study was to investigate whether different release kinetics from bupropion hydrochloride (HCl) immediate release (IR), sustained release (SR), and extended release (ER) formulations alter its metabolism and to test the hypothesis that the unsuccessful bioequivalence (BE) study of the higher strength (300 mg) of bupropion HCl ER tablets based on the successful BE study of the lower strength (150 mg) was due to metabolic saturation in the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen. A randomized six-way crossover study was conducted in healthy volunteers. During each period, subjects took a single dose of IR (75/100 mg), SR (100/150 mg), or ER (150/300 mg) formulations of bupropion HCl; plasma samples for PK analysis were collected from 0–96 h for all formulations. In addition, each subject’s whole blood was collected for the genotyping of various single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of bupropion’s major metabolic enzymes. The data indicates that the relative bioavailability of the ER formulations was 72.3–78.8% compared with IR 75 mg. No differences were observed for ratio of the area under the curve (AUC) of metabolite to AUC of parent for the three major metabolites. The pharmacogenomics analysis suggested no statistically significant correlation between polymorphisms and PK parameters of the various formulations. Altogether, these data suggested that the different release kinetics of the formulations did not change metabolites-to-parent ratio. Therefore, the differing BE result between the 150 and 300 mg bupropion HCl ER tablets was unlikely due to the metabolic saturation in the GI lumen caused by different release patterns.
Anti-infective Properties of the Golden Spice Curcumin

The search for novel anti-infectives is one of the most important challenges in natural product research, as diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi are influencing the human society all over the world. Natural compounds are a continuing source of novel anti-infectives. Accordingly, curcumin, has been used for centuries in Asian traditional medicine to treat various disorders. Numerous studies have shown that curcumin possesses a wide spectrum of biological and pharmacological properties, acting, for example, as anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and anti-neoplastic, while no toxicity is associated with the compound. Recently, curcumin’s antiviral and antibacterial activity was investigated, and it was shown to act against various important human pathogens like the influenza virus, hepatitis C virus, HIV and strains of Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Pseudomonas. Despite the potency, curcumin has not yet been approved as a therapeutic antiviral agent. This review summarizes the current knowledge and future perspectives of the antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal effects of curcumin.
AFFECTIVE MOTIVES FOR CAR USE

Currently, car use is mainly explained through cognitive and rationalistic behaviour models, and consequently, the instrumental function of car use is stressed. However, car use seems not only to be determined by instrumental motives such as travel costs, time and safety. Besides, affective and social motives, like feelings of sensation, power, and superiority, seem to play an important role. Although almost anyone recognises these affective motives for car use, the supposed significance of these motives has hardly been validated by empirical research. Results are presented of two studies aimed at identifying the relative importance of affective motives for car use. The first study revealed that affective motives are better elucidated when indirect methods are used, whereby the aim of the research task is not too apparent, for these methods prevent the occurrence of rationalisation processes and socially desirable response patterns. The second study, which is currently being performed, is aimed at examining the influence of affective motives on present car use and on policy evaluations. First, we check to what extent car use can be explained by instrumental, social and affective motives. Second, we examine whether specific target groups for policy measures can be distinguished based on these motives. Third, we examine whether instrumental, social and affective motives correlate with judgements on the acceptability and effectiveness of policy measures aimed at reducing car use. We conclude with policy implications of the study, and recommend how insights gained in this study can be applied in practice. For the covering abstract see IRRD E104586.
STIM 2 Regulates Capacitive Ca 2 + Entry in Neurons and Plays a Key Role in Hypoxic Neuronal Cell Death

htp:/ D ow nladed fom Excessive cytosolic calcium ion (Ca) accumulation during cerebral ischemia triggers neuronal cell death, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Capacitive Ca entry (CCE) is a process whereby depletion of intracellular Ca stores causes the activation of plasma membrane Ca channels. In nonexcitable cells, CCE is controlled by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–resident Ca sensor STIM1, whereas the closely related protein STIM2 has been proposed to regulate basal cytosolic and ER Ca concentrations and make only a minor contribution to CCE. Here, we show that STIM2, but not STIM1, is essential for CCE and ischemia-induced cytosolic Ca accumulation in neurons. Neurons from Stim2 mice showed significantly increased survival under hypoxic conditions compared to neurons from wild-type controls both in culture and in acute hippocampal slice preparations. In vivo, Stim2 mice were markedly protected from neurological damage in a model of focal cerebral ischemia. These results implicate CCE in ischemic neuronal cell death and establish STIM2 as a critical mediator of this process. /tke