Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Layer 4 in Primary Visual Cortex: Response Properties and Effects of Awake Brain States

In mammalian primary visual cortex (V1), layer 4 is the major input layer. It receives direct thalamocortical inputs, performs some of the earliest cortical computations and provides the main entrance of sensory information to the cortex. The first part of the current project investigated the response properties of two major cells classes in layer 4 of the awake rabbit V1: putative fastspike inhibitory interneurons (suspected inhibitory interneurons, SINs) and putative excitatory cells with simple receptive fields. The results show that the properties of these layer 4 populations are markedly distinct. SINs are far less linear, more broadly tuned to orientation, direction, spatial/temporal frequency, are more sensitive to contrast, have much higher spontaneous and stimulus-driven activity than simple cells, and they always had spatially overlapping ON/OFF receptive subfields. Furthermore, cross correlation between lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and SIN spike trains confirmed a fast and precisely timed monosynaptic connectivity. The second part of the project investigated the effects of alert/nonalert awake brain states on the response properties of layer 4 SINs and simple cells. It was previously shown that different brain states profoundly affect the receptive field properties, spontaneous firing rates, and spike-train statistics of neurons in the LGN. The results of the current project show that, in layer 4, alertness increases the strength and reliability of visual responses in layer 4 simple cells; it broadens their temporal frequency tuning but preserves their contrast sensitivity and selectivity for orientation, direction of motion and spatial frequency. Alertness also increased the amplitude and reliability of visual responses in layer 4 SINs but reduced their high spontaneous rate. Therefore, the net effect on SINs could be either enhancement or reduction of mean firing rate. Finally, alertness selectively suppressed the responses of layer 4 simple cells to stimuli moving orthogonal to the preferred direction and high contrast stimuli, effectively enhancing their responses to mid-contrast moving borders. Simulations of a direction/orientation detection model further demonstrate that enhanced response to preferred stimulation, increased reliability and stimulus-dependent suppression seen in layer 4 simple cells during the alertness can each contribute to increased cortical computational speed.
Evaluating the Privacy Guarantees of Location Proximity Services

Location-based services have become an integral part of everyday life. To address the privacy issues that emerge from the use and sharing of location information, social networks and smartphone applications have adopted location proximity schemes as a means of balancing user privacy with utility. Unfortunately, despite the extensive academic literature on this topic, the schemes that large service providers have adopted are not always designed or implemented correctly, rendering users vulnerable to location-disclosure attacks. Such attacks have recently received major publicity as, in some cases, they even exposed citizens of oppressive regimes to life-threatening risks. In this article, we systematically assess the defenses that popular location-based services and mobile applications deploy to guard against adversaries seeking to identify a user’s location. We provide the theoretical foundations for formalizing the privacy guarantees of currently adopted proximity models, design practical attacks for each case, and prove tight bounds on the number of queries required for carrying out successful attacks in practice. To evaluate the completeness of our approach, we conduct extensive experiments against popular services including Facebook, Foursquare, and Grindr. Our results demonstrate that, even though the aforementioned services implement various privacy-preserving techniques to protect their users, they are still vulnerable to attacks. In particular, we are able to pinpoint Facebook users within 5m of their exact location. For Foursquare and Grindr, users are pinpointed within 15m of their location in 90% of the cases, even with the strictest privacy settings enabled. Our attacks are highly efficient and complete within a few seconds. The severity of our findings was acknowledged by Facebook and Foursquare, both of which have followed our recommendations and adopted our design of a safe proximity scheme in their production systems. As the number of mobile applications offering location functionality will continue to increase, service providers and software developers must be able to assess the privacy guarantees that their services offer. To that end, we discuss viable defenses that can be currently adopted by all major services, and provide an open-source testing framework to be used by researchers and service providers who wish to evaluate the privacy-preserving properties of applications offering proximity functionality.
Is it necessary for all samples to quantify 25OHD2 and 25OHD3 using LC-MS/MS in clinical practice?

Abstract Background: The demand for vitamin D testing is increasing in China. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) immunoassay is specific and accurate but requires expensive equipment, experienced operators, and complicated pretreatment of serum. Automated immunoassays are simple and convenient but only determine total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD). The objective of this study was to quantify 25OHD2 and 25OHD3 in patients to assist clinical physicians and laboratory directors in choosing the most appropriate method to determine 25OHD. Methods: Vitamin D testing was conducted for 23,695 patients in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from May 2015 to January 2017. Using this large data set, the prevalence and levels of 25OHD2 were analyzed. LC-MS/MS was used to separately determine 25OHD2 and 25OHD3. Results: 25OHD2 (≥2.5 ng/mL) was detected in 16.4% (3877/23,695) of patients. Males had a significantly lower incidence of detectable 25OHD2 (p<0.01); 1077 (13.9%) samples contained detectable 25OHD2 (median: 3.7 ng/mL; 2.5%–97.5%: 2.5–17.2 ng/mL). For females, 2800 (17.5%) samples contained detectable 25OHD2 (median: 4.0 ng/mL; range: 2.5–20.6 ng/mL). Of the 3877 patients with detectable 25OHD2, males had a significantly higher level of 25OHD3 (p<0.01). There was no significant difference in total 25OHD. The proportion of 25OHD2 in total 25OHD was 1.3%–100%; 87.5% (3391/3877) of the samples contained <10 ng/mL 25OHD2. 25OHD2 negatively correlated with 25OHD3 (r=−0.197, p<0.01) and positively correlated with total 25OHD (r=0.217, p<0.01). Conclusions: Prevalence of 25OHD2 in patients tested for vitamin D is relatively high in China. 25OHD2 is significantly negatively correlated with 25OHD3.
Independent torque and stiffness adjustment of a pneumatic direct rotary soft-actuator for adaptable human-robot-interaction

An important property of rehabilitation robots required for safe and human-like interaction is compliant actuation combined with light-weight design. This requirement can be fulfilled by fluidic soft-actuators like pneumatic muscles due to inherent passive compliancy and high power to weight ratio. However because of the nonlinear dependency on actuator chamber contraction and air pressure as well as friction effects control of such actuator type still remains challenging, even for common position or force control. For human-robot-interaction (HRI) it is necessary to adapt the actuator output characteristics appropriately depending on the manipulation task and/or the capabilities of the individual person. This paper presents an approach to independently adjust torque and compliance/stiffness of a soft-actuator with direct acting antagonistic rotary elastic chambers (REC) and illustrates a possible example of application with an exoskeleton robot for lower extremities training.
Concordance Among Pathologists in the Second Cardiac Allograft Rejection Gene Expression Observational Study (CARGO II)

Background There has been no large evaluation of the ISHLT 2004 acute cellular rejection grading scheme for heart graft endomyocardial biopsy specimens (EMBs). Methods We evaluated agreement within the CARGO II pathology panel and between the panel (acting by majority) and the collaborating centers (treated as a single entity), regarding the ISHLT grades of 937 EMBs (with all grades ≥2R merged because of small numbers). Results Overall all-grade agreement was almost 71% both within the panel and between the panel and the collaborating centers but, in both cases, was largely because of agreement on grade 0: for the average pair of pathologists, fewer than a third of the EMBs assigned grade ≥2R by at least one were assigned this grade by both. Conclusion The 2004 revision has done little to improve agreement on the higher ISHLT grades. An EMB grade ≥2R is not by itself sufficient as a basis for clinical decisions or as a research criterion. Steps should be taken toward greater uniformity in EMB grading, and efforts should be made to replace the ISHLT classification with diagnostic criteria—EMB based or otherwise—that correspond better with the pathophysiology of the transplanted heart.
Relationship between endoscopic findings and clinical severity in ischemic colitis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM The incidence of ischemic colitis (IC) in Japan has been increasing due to the westernization of diet and the aging population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between endoscopic findings and clinical severity in IC. METHODS This retrospective analysis included 106 cases diagnosed with IC that were divided into two groups based on endoscopic findings in the acute stage: redness and erosion (RE) versus longitudinal and circumferential ulcers (LCU). The clinical variables were compared between the two groups. In addition, we investigated the risk factors of IC associated with the severity of the endoscopic findings by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS The percentage of cases presenting abdominal pain was significantly higher in the LCU group than that in the RE group (p=0.002), as were the baseline serum CRP levels (p=0.0001). The periods of hospitalization in LCU group were longer than in the RE group (p=0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that ischemic heart disease (IHD) and connective tissue disease were the independent explanatory factor associated with the endoscopic severity of IC (p<0.05). CONCLUSION We showed clearly that the two endoscopic classifications were accurate indicators of severity and could be used to anticipate severity of IC. Furthermore, we confirmed that IHD and connective tissue disease were the exacerbating factor associated with the severity of endoscopic findings in IC.
Genetically determined lack of CD45R- T cells in healthy individuals. Evidence for a regulatory polymorphism of CD45R antigen expression

A genetic polymorphism of CD45R expression was identified resulting in a lack of CD45R- lymphocytes in approximately 8% of healthy individuals. Family studies revealed an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance of the variant CD45R expression pattern. PBMC from donors possessing the variant type did not lose the CD45R antigen after in vitro activation, whereas a decrease of CD45R molecules was readily detected in individuals with the normal pattern. The expression of CD45RO antigens, as well as memory cell function, did not differ between both groups. These data show that activation and in vivo priming of T cells is not necessarily associated with a loss of CD45R antigen expression.
The German Version of the Humor Styles Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties and Overlap With Other Styles of Humor

The Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin et al., 2003) is one of the most frequently used questionnaires in humor research and has been adapted to several languages. The HSQ measures four humor styles (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating), which should be adaptive or potentially maladaptive to psychosocial well-being. The present study analyzes the internal consistency, factorial validity, and factorial invariance of the HSQ on the basis of several German-speaking samples combined (total N = 1,101). Separate analyses were conducted for gender (male/female), age groups (16–24, 25–35, >36 years old), and countries (Germany/Switzerland). Internal consistencies were good for the overall sample and the demographic subgroups (.80–.89), with lower values obtained for the aggressive scale (.66–.73). Principal components and confirmatory factor analyses mostly supported the four-factor structure of the HSQ. Weak factorial invariance was found across gender and age groups, while strong factorial invariance was supported across countries. Two subsamples also provided self-ratings on ten styles of humorous conduct (n = 344) and of eight comic styles (n = 285). The four HSQ scales showed small to large correlations to the styles of humorous conduct (-.54 to .65) and small to medium correlations to the comic styles (-.27 to .42). The HSQ shared on average 27.5–35.0% of the variance with the styles of humorous conduct and 13.0–15.0% of the variance with the comic styles. Thus–despite similar labels–these styles of humorous conduct and comic styles differed from the HSQ humor styles.
A Bayesian Hierarchical Correlation Model for fMRI Cluster Analysis

Data-driven cluster analysis is potentially suitable to search for, and discriminate between, distinct response signals in blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI), which appear during cerebrovascular disease. In contrast to model-driven methods, which test for a particular BOLD signal whose shape must be given beforehand, data-driven methods generate a set of BOLD signals directly from the fMRI data by clustering voxels into groups with correlated time signals. Here, we address the problem of selecting only the clusters that represent genuine responses to the experimental stimulus by modeling the correlation structure of the clustered data using a Bayesian hierarchical model. The model is empirically justified by demonstrating the hierarchical organization of the voxel correlations after cluster analysis. BOLD signal discrimination is demonstrated using: 1) simulations that contain multiple pathological BOLD response signals; and 2) fMRI data acquired during an event-related motor task. These demonstrations are compared with results from a model-driven method based on the general linear model. Our simulations show that the data-driven method can discriminate between the BOLD response signals, while the model-driven method only finds one signal. For fMRI, the data-driven method distinguishes between the BOLD signals appearing in the sensorimotor cortex and those in basal ganglia and putamen, while the model-driven method combines these signals into one activation map. We conclude that the proposed data-driven method provides an objective framework to identify and discriminate between distinct BOLD response signals.
Bee Colony Optimization – a Cooperative Learning Approach to Complex Transportation Problems

Various natural systems teach us that very simple individual organisms can create systems able to perform highly complex tasks by dynamically interacting with each other. The Bee Colony Optimization Metaheuristic (BCO) is proposed in this paper. The artificial bee colony behaves partially alike, and partially differently from bee colonies in nature. The BCO is capable to solve deterministic combinatorial problems, as well as combinatorial problems characterized by uncertainty. The development of the new heuristic algorithm for the Ride-matching problem using the proposed approach serves as an illustrative example and shows the characteristics of the proposed concepts.
A prospective comparison of the performance and survival of two different tunnelled haemodialysis catheters: SplitCath® versus DuraMax®

Background Despite their well-recognised shortcomings, haemodialysis catheters (HDCs) remain an important form of haemodialysis access for many patients. There are several HDCs commercially available, each differing considerably in design, which is known to significantly influence performance and survival. We sought to determine which of two tunnelled HDCs, DuraMax® (Angiodynamics, NY, USA) or SplitCath® (MedComp, PA, USA) delivers the best performance, safety and reliability for dialysis patients. Methods Eighty-six patients were prospectively randomised to receive either DuraMax® (DM) or SplitCath® (SC). Outcomes included: (i) mean flow rates (mL/min) averaged over the first 10 weeks of dialysis, and urea reduction ratio (URR); and (ii) long-term catheter survival with appraisal of any events leading to catheter dysfunction and early removal. Results Median flow rates (interquartile range) in the DM and SC groups were 321 (309-343) and 309 (294-322) mL/min, respectively (p = 0.002). URR values for the DM and SC groups were 71 (65-76) and 74 (70-78), respectively, (p = 0.094). There was no significant difference in long-term survival or frequency of incidents that required early HDC removal (9/43 in the DM group, 5/43 patients SC). A slightly higher incidence of HDC dislodgement was noted in the DM group, although this study was not statistically powered to determine its significance. Conclusions We conclude that DM yields slightly higher flow rates in the first 10 weeks of dialysis, and a similar low incidence of complications and long-term survival for both DM and SC HDCs.
Laser‐assisted uvulopalatoplasty for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea: Results in 170 patients

Laser‐assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP) is a procedure for the treatment of snoring and, possibly, sleep apnea. Between July 1993 and December 1994, the authors prospectively evaluated 541 consecutive patients referred to their teaching hospital for possible LAUP to treat loud, disruptive snoring. Of these patients, 274 (51%) had one or more LAUP treatments. As of January 1995, LAUP treatment courses were completed in 170 patients. In this paper, the authors report preliminary results on the use of LAUP in these patients.
Prediction of Persistent Storage Symptoms after Transurethral Resection of the Prostate in Patients with Benign Prostatic Enlargement

Objective: To identify the prognostic factors causing persistent storage symptoms following transurethral resection of the prostate in patients with benign prostatic enlargement (BPE). Methods: A total of 116 men with symptomatic BPE requiring surgery were enrolled in the study between January 2011 and December 2012. The patients underwent basic clinical evaluations including transrectal ultrasound, International Prostate Symptom Score and urodynamic study. After 6 months, International Prostate Symptom Score and uroflowmetry were rechecked. The definition of persistent storage symptoms was patients with storage scores >7 points. Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis were conducted. Results: The 116 patients were divided into a persistent storage symptom-positive group (n = 33) and a storage symptom-negative group (n = 83). Multivariate analysis showed that the degrees of worse initial storage symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 8.32), small bladder capacity (OR = 4.31), impaired detrusor contractility (OR = 2.96) and age (OR = 1.05) were consistently associated with persistent storage symptoms. Conclusions: This short-term study confirms the positive and consistent correlations between the baseline degree of worse initial storage symptoms, bladder capacity, detrusor contractility and age and the improvement in storage symptoms.
Requests and responses in children's speech

ABSTRACT An investigation of children's ability to convey and respond to requests for action was based on the spontaneous speech of 36 dyads of nursery school children (3; 6–5; 7). Direct request forms (e.g. Give me the hammer) were frequent and the majority were acknowledged verbally. Examination of the contexts of direct requests indicated that speaker and addressee shared an understanding of the interpersonal meaning factors relevant to requesting. These meaning factors were invoked in justifying, refusing and in repeating or paraphrasing a request, and they also provided a basis for the communication of indirect requests. Examples of inferred requests are discussed, and a relationship between the structure of the speech act and conversational sequences is proposed.
The vestibular nerve of the chinchilla. III. Peripheral innervation patterns in the utricular macula.

1. Nerve fibers supplying the utricular macula of the chinchilla were labeled by extracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase into the vestibular nerve. The peripheral terminations of individual fibers were reconstructed and related to the regions of the end organ they innervated and to the sizes of their parent axons. 2. The macula is divided into medial and lateral parts by the striola, a narrow zone that runs for almost the entire length of the sensory epithelium. The striola can be distinguished from the extrastriolar regions to either side of it by the wider spacing of its hair cells. Calyx endings in the striola have especially thick walls, and, unlike similar endings in the extrastriola, many of them innervate more than one hair cell. The striola occupies 10% of the sensory epithelium; the lateral extrastriola, 50%; and the medial extrastriola, 40%. 3. The utricular nerve penetrates the bony labyrinth anterior to the end organ. Axons reaching the anterior part of the sensory epithelium run directly through the connective tissue stroma. Those supplying more posterior regions first enter a fiber layer located at the bottom of the stroma. Approximately one-third of the axons bifurcate below the epithelium, usually within 5-20 microns of the basement membrane. Bifurcations are more common in fibers destined for the extrastriola than for the striola. 4. Both calyx and bouton endings were labeled. Calyces can be simple or complex. Simple calyces innervate individual hair cells, whereas complex calyces supply 2-4 adjacent hair cells. Complex endings are more heavily concentrated in the striola than in the extrastriola. Simple calyces and boutons are found in all parts of the epithelium. Calyces emerge from the parent axon or one of its thick branches. Boutons, whether en passant or terminal, are located on thin collaterals. 5. Fibers can be classified into calyx, bouton, or dimorphic categories. The first type only has calyx endings; the second, only bouton endings; and the third, both kinds of endings. Calyx units make up 6% of the labeled fibers, bouton units less than 2%, and dimorphic units greater than 92%. The three fiber types differ in the macular zones they supply and in the diameters of their parent axons. Calyx units were restricted to the striola. The few bouton units were found in the extrastriola. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Q Fever Endocarditis in HIV-Infected Patient

We describe a case of Q fever endocarditis in an HIV-infected patient. The case was treated successfully with valvular replacement and a combination of doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine. We review the current literature on Q fever endocarditis, with an emphasis on the co-infection of HIV and Coxiella burnetii.