Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supporting discourse in a synchronous learning environment: the learning protocol approach

Lack of coordination and coherence among contributions is a typical problem with the use of chat for netbased learning. We propose so-called learning protocols to increase coordination, coherence, and, hence, the efficiency of learning via chat. Learning protocols are system controlled cooperation scripts: Participants explicitely identify the reference and the type of their contributions, and the order of contributions is predetermined. As an example, the explanation protocol is described and empirical results confirming that structured discourse leads to superior learning are presented.
Comparative RNA-seq-Based Transcriptome Analysis of the Virulence Characteristics of Methicillin-Resistant and -Susceptible Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Strains Isolated from Small Animals

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is often associated with pyoderma, which can turn into a life-threatening disease. The dissemination of highly resistant isolates has occurred in the last 10 years and has challenged antimicrobial treatment of these infections considerably. We have compared the carriage of virulence genes and biofilm formation between methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible S. pseudintermedius (MRSP and MSSP, respectively) isolates and their in vitro gene expression profiles by transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq). Isolates were relatively unevenly distributed among the four agr groups, and agr type III predominated in MRSP. Five virulence genes were detected in all isolates. Only the spsO gene was significantly associated with MSSP isolates (P = 0.04). All isolates produced biofilm in brain heart infusion broth (BHIB)–4% NaCl. MSSP isolates produced more biofilm on BHIB and BHIB–1% glucose media than MRSP isolates (P = 0.03 and P = 0.02, respectively). Virulence genes encoding surface proteins and toxins (spsA, spsB, spsD, spsK, spsL, spsN, nucC, coa, and luk-I) and also prophage genes (encoding phage capsid protein, phage infection protein, two phage portal proteins, and a phage-like protein) were highly expressed in the MRSP isolate (compared with the MSSP isolate), suggesting they may play a role in the rapid and widespread dissemination of MRSP. This study indicates that MRSP may upregulate surface proteins, which may increase the adherence of MRSP isolates (especially sequence type 71 [ST71]) to corneocytes. MSSP isolates may have an increased ability to form biofilm under acidic circumstances, through upregulation of the entire arc operon. Complete understanding of S. pseudintermedius pathogenesis and host-pathogen signal interaction during infections is critical for the treatment and prevention of S. pseudintermedius infections.
Mean Actor Critic

We propose a new algorithm, Mean Actor-Critic (MAC), for discrete-action continuous-state reinforcement learning. MAC is a policy gradient algorithm that uses the agent's explicit representation of all action values to estimate the gradient of the policy, rather than using only the actions that were actually executed. We prove that this approach reduces variance in the policy gradient estimate relative to traditional actor-critic methods. We show empirical results on two control domains and on six Atari games, where MAC is competitive with state-of-the-art policy search algorithms.
A Novel Layer Jamming Mechanism With Tunable Stiffness Capability for Minimally Invasive Surgery

This paper presents a novel “layer jamming” mechanism that can achieve variable stiffness. The layer jamming mechanism exploits the friction present between layers of thin material, which can be controlled by a confining pressure. Due to the mechanism's hollow geometry, compact size, and light weight, it is well suited for various minimally invasive surgery applications, where stiffness change is required. This paper describes the concept, the mathematical model, and a tubular snake-like manipulator prototype. Various characteristics of layer jamming, such as stiffness and yield strength, are studied both theoretically and experimentally.
Preventing abusive head trauma resulting from a failure of normal interaction between infants and their caregivers

Head trauma from abuse, including shaken baby syndrome, is a devastating and potentially lethal form of infant physical abuse first recognized in the early 1970s. What has been less recognized is the role of the early increase in crying in otherwise normal infants in the first few months of life as a trigger for the abuse. In part, this is because infant crying, especially prolonged unsoothable crying, has been interpreted clinically as something wrong with the infant, the infant’s caregiver, or the interactions between them. Here, we review an alternative developmental interpretation, namely, that the early increase in crying is a typical behavioral development in normal infants and usually does not reflect anything wrong or abnormal. We also review evidence indicating that this normal crying pattern is the most common trigger for abusive head trauma (AHT). Together, these findings point to a conceptualization of AHT as the consequence of a failure in an otherwise common, iterative, and developmentally normal infant–caregiver interaction. They also imply that there is a window of opportunity for prevention of AHT, and potentially other forms of infant abuse, through a public health primary universal prevention strategy aimed at changing knowledge and behaviors of caregivers and society in general concerning normal development of infants and the significance of early increased infant crying. If effective, there may be important implications for prevention of infant abuse nationally and internationally.
Assessment of interactive effects of elevated salinity and three pesticides on life history and behavior of southern toad (Anaxyrus terrestris) tadpoles

Because habitats are increasingly exposed to multiple stressors simultaneously, assessing the interactive effects of stressors is crucial for understanding how populations respond to human‐altered habitats. Salinization of freshwater habitats is increasing and has the potential to interact with other stressors. Chemical pollutants also contribute to habitat degradation in freshwater environments, and both salinity and various pesticides can harm amphibians. The present study used a factorial experiment to investigate the effect of elevated salinity alone and in combination with each of 3 pesticides—atrazine, carbaryl, and glyphosate—on life history and behavior of southern toad larvae (Anaxyrus terrestris). Tadpoles were negatively affected by elevated salinity and by exposure to the insecticide carbaryl, with the most deleterious outcomes associated with both stressors combined. Carbaryl exposure led to reduced survival as well as sublethal effects on growth, activity and feeding behavior, escape response swimming, and time to metamorphosis. Tadpoles reared at elevated salinity were also smaller and less active, and ultimately metamorphosed later and at smaller size. Together, carbaryl and elevated salinity had a synergistic effect, resulting in particularly poor growth, depressed activity and feeding, and sluggish escape swimming among tadpoles exposed to both stressors simultaneously. These results suggest that both elevated salinity and carbaryl represent threats for amphibian populations and that pesticide exposure in salinized habitats may pose a particularly high risk. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:667–676. © 2014 SETAC
Quantitative assessment of breast mammographic density with a new objective method

Women with increased mammographic density (MD) have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The purpose of our study is to evaluate an experimental method to quantify MD using a program (compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7) which measures black areas as 0, white areas as 100 and grey scale areas with intermediate values between 0 and 100, depending on the “density” of the area. Digital screening mammograms were directly estimated with this method. Initial idea and steps of the program were based on a Mac utility used by our research team.
Antiphospholipid antibodies and the risk of severe and non‐severe pre‐eclampsia: the NOHA case‐control study

Essentials We studied the incidence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) in women with previous pre‐eclampsia. Plasma was tested for classical aPLs and other ‘new’ antibodies such as antiβ2GP1 domain I IgG. Severe pre‐eclampsia is distinct from non‐severe and is mainly associated with antiβ2GP1 IgG. Specific antiβ2GP1 antibodies IgG against domain I correlate with other aPL IgG tests.
Linear dynamical neural population models through nonlinear embeddings

A body of recent work in modeling neural activity focuses on recovering low-dimensional latent features that capture the statistical structure of large-scale neural populations. Most such approaches have focused on linear generative models, where inference is computationally tractable. Here, we propose fLDS, a general class of nonlinear generative models that permits the firing rate of each neuron to vary as an arbitrary smooth function of a latent, linear dynamical state. This extra flexibility allows the model to capture a richer set of neural variability than a purely linear model, but retains an easily visualizable low-dimensional latent space. To fit this class of non-conjugate models we propose a variational inference scheme, along with a novel approximate posterior capable of capturing rich temporal correlations across time. We show that our techniques permit inference in a wide class of generative models.We also show in application to two neural datasets that, compared to state-of-the-art neural population models, fLDS captures a much larger proportion of neural variability with a small number of latent dimensions, providing superior predictive performance and interpretability.
Durability of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bars in Seawater-Contaminated Concrete

This research aims to investigate the durability performance and microstructure characteristics of two different types of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars in severe environment. GFRP bars encased in seawater-contaminated concrete were immersed in tap water for 5, 10, and 15 months at temperatures of 20, 40, and 60°C. Half of the specimens were conditioned under a sustained load of 25% of their ultimate strength whereas the other half was conditioned without load. Following conditioning, the GFRP bars were retrieved then tested to failure under uniaxial tension. Microstructure analysis was performed by employing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and matrix digestion using nitric acid. Type I GFRP bars, with the lower moisture uptake, exhibited insignificant strength reductions in the range of 2 to 15% when conditioned without load. Their Type II counterparts exhibited higher moisture uptake, higher hydroxyl ions, lower matrix retention, and thus, substantial strength reductions in the range of 19 to 50% were recorded. The extent of degradation was more sensitive to the conditioning temperature rather than conditioning duration. A decrease in the glass transition temperature (Tg) of both types of GFRP bars was recorded, indicating matrix plasticization. Results of SEM highlighted matrix disintegration and fiber debonding after conditioning. Specimens conditioned under a sustained load exhibited higher moisture absorption than that of their counterparts conditioned without load. None of the loaded specimens conditioned at 20C were creep-ruptured during conditioning. The presence of the sustained load during conditioning at 20C for 15 months reduced the tensile strength retention by approximately 14 and 5% for Type I and Type II GFRP bars, respectively. In contrast, many bars were creep-ruptured and significant reductions in the tensile strength retention were recorded due to the presence of the sustained load during conditioning at the higher temperatures of 40 and 60C. The accelerated aging test data along with the Arrhenius concept were employed to develop a durability design model that can predict the tensile strength retention of both types of GFRP bars in moist seawater-contaminated concrete.
Prevention of surgical-site infections.

To the Editor: I am concerned about the generalizability of the findings of Bode et al. (Jan. 7 issue)1 regarding the identification of nasal carriers of Staphylococcus aureus and the subsequent use of mupirocin nasal ointment and chlorhexidine soap. First, it is unclear how the researchers identified patients who were expected to be hospitalized for 4 or more days, since no specific protocol is provided. Second, key surgical data are lacking, despite the preponderance of surgical patients (88%). No data are provided on the appropriateness of antimicrobial prophylaxis, in particular the timing of administration; 84 of 828 surgical patients (10%) received no prophylaxis. Similarly, no data are provided to explain the high rate of infection: among surgical patients, S. aureus infection developed in 3.6% of those receiving prophylaxis and 8.4% of those receiving placebo; 11 to 12% of patients had non–S. aureus infection. Would the intervention be as effective in a hospital with lower baseline rates of infection? Finally, it is unclear whether such a screening protocol would work in settings with a high rate of methicillin-resistant S. aureus infection, as is the case in many community hospitals.2
A belief-desire-intention model for blog users' negative emotional norm compliance: Decision-making in crises

The purpose of this paper is to understand blog users’ negative emotional norm compliance decision-making in crises (blog users’-NNDC). ,A belief–desire–intention (BDI) model to evaluate the blog users’-NNDC (the BDI-NNDC model) was developed. This model was based on three social characteristics: self-interests, expectations and emotions. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the BDI-NNDC model by using data retrieved from a popular Chinese social network called “Sina Weibo” about three major crises. ,The BDI-NNDC model strongly predicted the Blog users’-NNDC. The predictions were as follows: a self-interested blog user posted content that was targeting his own interests; a blogger with high expectations wrote and commented emotionally negative blogs on the condition that the numbers of negative posts increased, while he ignored the norm when there was relatively less negative emotional news; and an emotional blog user obeyed the norm based on the emotional intentions of the blogosphere in most of the cases. ,The BDI-NNDC model can explain the diffusion of negative emotions by blog users during crises, and this paper shows a way to bridge the social norm modelling and the research of blog users’ activity and behaviour characteristics in the context of “real life” crises. However, the criterion for differentiating blog users according to social characteristics needs to be further revised, as the generalizability of the results is limited by the number of cases selected in this study. ,The current method could be applied to predict emotional trends of blog users who have different social characteristics and it could support government agencies to build strategic responses to crises. ,This paper supports the creation of normative models and engineering methods to predict blog users’-NNDC and mitigate their effect in real-world crises.
Abnormal bone remodeling in patients with spontaneous painful vertebral fracture

The application of tetracycline‐based iliac bone histomorphometry to the study of the pathogenesis of osteoporosis has given conflicting results. Accordingly, we performed this procedure in 78 postmenopausal white women with one or more vertebral fractures identified according to rigorous criteria that excluded other causes of vertebral deformity and 66 healthy postmenopausal white women recruited from the same geographic region; the groups did not differ in age or weight. In each subject, measurements were made separately on the cancellous (Cn), endocortical (Ec), and intracortical (Ct) subdivisions of the endosteal envelope. In the fracture patients, osteoblast surface was reduced substantially on each subdivision, most markedly on the Cn surface, where about 25% of the deficit was in cuboidal (type II) osteoblasts, suggesting impaired recruitment; the remaining 75% of the deficit was in intermediate (type III) cells, suggesting earlier transition from type III to type IV (flat) cells. On the Ec and Ct surfaces, the deficit was exclusively in type III cells. Mean bone formation rate was reduced by about 18% on the Cn but not on the Ec or Ct surfaces. The deficit was more significant in subjects matched for Cn BV/TV when adjusted for the inverse regression on osteocyte density and after logarithmic transformation. The difference in bone formation rate resulted from a corresponding reduction in wall thickness without a change in activation frequency. The frequency distribution of bone formation rate was more skewed to the left in the fracture patients than in the controls. Osteoclast surface was significantly lower on each subdivision. The variation in osteoblast surface, bone formation rate, and osteoclast surface was significantly greater in the fracture patients than in the controls, with more abnormally low and abnormally high values. The data suggest the following conclusions: (1) The histologic heterogeneity of postmenopausal osteoporosis is reaffirmed; (2) the different subdivisions of the endosteal envelope, although in continuity, behave differently in health and disease; (3) a combination of defective osteoblast recruitment and premature osteoblast apoptosis would account for the deficit in type II and III cells and the reductions in wall thickness and bone formation rate on the Cn surface and the previously reported osteocyte deficiency in Cn bone; (4) premature disaggregation of multinuclear to mononuclear resorbing cells could account for the osteoclast deficit; and (5) some patients with vertebral fracture have one or another disorder of bone remodeling that at present cannot be identified by noninvasive means. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Early detection of sporadic CJD by diffusion-weighted MRI before the onset of symptoms

According to the WHO diagnostic criteria,1 sporadic Creutzfeldt−Jakob disease (sCJD) is diagnosed by characteristic electroencephalographic (EEG) findings, the presence of 14-3-3 protein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and appropriate clinical symptoms.1 Recent studies have made progress towards establishing a diagnosis of sCJD from the combination of diffusion-weighed MR images and 14-3-3 protein detected in the CSF; however, the earliest markers of this disease are not known. We evaluated a patient with sCJD who exhibited abnormal high-intensity signals on diffusion-weighed MR imaging (DWI) during an incidental medical check-up that included an MRI. Here, we report the chronological changes in clinical and MRI findings beginning 2 months before disease onset to end-stage sCJD. A 68-year-old male requested neurological and MRI examinations from his local physician in October, 2005, because his sister had previously died from subarachnoid haemorrhage several years earlier. While DWI of the cerebrum demonstrated a predominantly right-sided high signal intensity in the cortex from the temporal to occipital lobes (figure 1), we did not detect any abnormalities on T2-weighted or FLAIR images. His cognitive function (MMSE 30/30) and neurological findings were normal. In November 2005, repeat MRI demonstrated a slight increase in abnormal findings. We tested …
Enhanced Expression of Neurotrophic Factors in the Injured Spinal Cord Through Vaccination With Myelin Basic Protein-Derived Peptide Pulsed Dendritic Cells

Study Design. Vaccination of spinal cord injury (SCI) mice with myelin basic protein-derived peptide (A91) pulsed dendritic cells (DC) to enhance brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) expression in injured spinal cord. Objective. To investigate the effect of A91-pulsed DC (A91-DC) on expression of neurotrophic factor in injured spinal cord. Summary of Background Data. SCI leads to progressive secondary tissue degeneration, and no satisfactory treatment is currently available. Accumulating evidence indicates that administration of neurotrophic factors to injured spinal cord is partially successful at promoting nerve tissue repair. However, most of strategy can cause secondary injury and limiting their wide clinical application. Methods. Proliferation of T cells and the capability of CD4+ T cells to secret neurotrophic factors were first measured in vitro to demonstrate the stimulus action of the A91-DC. In SCI mice model, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunofluorescence was employed to investigate the brain-derived neurotrophic factor and NT-3 expression in injured spinal cord. Furthermore, the neuroprotective effect of A91-DC in injured spinal cord was examined through histology measurement. Results. In this study, we demonstrated that A91-DC promoted the capability of T cells to secret neurotrophic factors and in the subacute phase of SCI. Moreover, vaccination with A91-DC enhanced the expression level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and NT-3 and exerted neuroprotective effect in injured spinal cord. Conclusion. The findings of study demonstrate that the therapeutic strategy of vaccination A91-DC is a potential minimally invasive approach that could provide strong neurotrophic factor support after SCI. Level of Evidence:
Performance of weighted radial basis function classifiers

This paper describes Weighted Radial Basis Functions, a neuro-fuzzy uni cation algorithm which mixes Perceptrons and Radial Basis Functions. The algorithm has been tested as a pattern classi er in practical applications. Its performance are compared against those of other neural classi ers. The proposed algorithm has performance comparable or better than other neural algorithms, although it can be trained much faster. It can also act as a neuro-fuzzy uni cation algorithm.
Estimating the Selectivity of Spatial Queries Using the 'Correlation' Fractal Dimension

We examine the estimation of selectivities for range and spatial join queries in real spatial databases. As we have shown earlier [FK94], real point sets: (a) violate consistently the “uniformity” and “independence” assumptions, (b) can often be described as “fractals”, with non-integer (fractal) dimension. In this paper we show that, among the infinite family of fractal dimensions, the so called “Correlation Dimension” Dz is the one that we need to predict the selectivity of spatial join. The main contribution is that, for all the real and synthetic point-sets we tried, the average number of neighbors for a given point of the point-set follows a power law, with LI& as the exponent. This immediately solves the selectivity estimation for spatial joins, as well as for “biased” range queries (i.e., queries whose centers prefer areas of high point density). We present the formulas to estimate the selectivity for the biased queries, in&ding an integration constant (KLshape,) for each query shape. Finally, we show results on real and synthetic point sets, where our formulas achieve very low relative errors (typically about lo%, versus 40%-100% of the uniformity assumption).