Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hearing colors: an example of brain plasticity

Sensory substitution devices (SSDs) are providing new ways for improving or replacing sensory abilities that have been lost due to disease or injury, and at the same time offer unprecedented opportunities to address how the nervous system could lead to an augmentation of its capacities. In this work we have evaluated a color-blind subject using a new visual-to-auditory SSD device called “Eyeborg”, that allows colors to be perceived as sounds. We used a combination of neuroimaging techniques including Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to study potential brain plasticity in this subject. Our results suggest that after 8 years of continuous use of this device there could be significant adaptive and compensatory changes within the brain. In particular, we found changes in functional neural patterns, structural connectivity and cortical topography at the visual and auditive cortex of the Eyeborg user in comparison with a control population. Although at the moment we cannot claim that the continuous use of the Eyeborg is the only reason for these findings, our results may shed further light on potential brain changes associated with the use of other SSDs. This could help to better understand how the brain adapts to several pathologies and uncover adaptive resources such as cross-modal representations. We expect that the precise understanding of these changes will have clear implications for rehabilitative training, device development and for more efficient programs for people with disabilities.
Preparation and Evaluation of Oxaliplatin Thermosensitive Liposomes with Rapid Release and High Stability

Oxaliplatin (OXP) was reported to show low anti-tumor activity when used alone and to display side effects; this low activity was attributed to high partitioning to erythrocytes and low accumulation in tumors. Thermosensitive liposomes (TSL) were considered able to specifically deliver drugs to heated tumors and to resolve the OXP distribution problem. Regretfully, TSL encapsulating doxorubicin did not demonstrate significant improvement in progression-free survival. Drug release below 41°C and significant leakage were considered major reasons for the failure. The purpose of this study was to acquire OXP TSL with rapid release at the triggered temperature and high stability at body temperature and at storage temperatures. A small quantity of poloxamer 188 was introduced into the TSL formulation to stabilize the encapsulated drug. It was shown that the addition of poloxamer 188 had no influence on the TSL characteristics. More than 90% of OXP was released within 10 min at 42°C, and less than 15% was released within 60 min at temperatures below 39°C. TSL were stable at 37°C for 96 h and at 4°C for 6 months. The anti-tumor activity of TSL at the dose of 2.5 mg/kg was certified to be equal to those of OXP injection and non-thermosensitive liposomes (NTSL) at the dose of 5 mg/kg, and significant improvement of tumor inhibition was observed in TSL compared with injection and NTSL at the same dose. It was also shown from the histological transmutation of tumors that TSL had stronger anti-tumor activity. Therefore, it could be concluded that TSL composed of a proper amount of poloxamer had rapid release and high stability, and OXP TSL would be anticipated to exert prominent anti-tumor activity in the clinic.
On the optimality of metrics for coarse frame synchronization in OFDM: a comparison

Commonly, a repetition preamble is proposed as a burst training sequence to allow frame- and carrier frequency synchronization in digital transmission over unknown, severely dispersive channels. In this paper the preamble is composed of one repeated data-carrying-and therefore random-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. The current literature suggests several metrics to detect repetition preambles for coarse frame synchronization so we provide a ranking of four different metrics proposed by Chevillat, Maiwald and Ungerboeck (1987), Sandell, van de Beek and Borjesson (1995), Schmidl and Cox (see IEEE Trans. on Commun., vol.45, no.12, p.1613-21, 1997), and Keller and Hanzo (see Proceedings of the International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC'96), p.963-67, Taipei, Taiwan, 1996) via a simulative assessment. Furthermore, a probability-based motivation for the metric of Chevillat et al is given.
Heavy Barbell Hip Thrusts Do Not Effect Sprint Performance: An 8-Week Randomized-Controlled Study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an 8-week barbell hip thrust strength training program on sprint performance. Twenty-one collegiate athletes (15 males and 6 females) were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 11, age 27.36 ± 3.17 years, height 169.55 ± 10.38 cm, weight 72.7± 18 kg) or control group (n = 10, age 27.2 ± 3.36 years, height 176.2 ± 7.94 cm, weight 76.39 ± 11.47 kg). 1RM hip thrust, 40m sprint time, and individual 10m split timings: 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40m, were the measured variables; these recorded at both the baseline and post testing time points. Following the 8-week hip thrust strength training intervention significantly greater 1RM hip thrust scores for the training group were observed (p < 0.001, d = 0.77 [mean difference 44.09 kg]), however this failed to translate into changes in sprint time for any of the measured distances (all sprint performance measures: p > 0.05, r = 0.05 - 0.37). No significant differences were seen for the control group for 1RM hip thrust (p = 0.106, d = 0.24 [mean difference 9.4 kg]) or sprint time (all sprint performance measures: p > 0.05, r = 0.13 - 0.47). These findings suggest that increasing maximum hip thrust strength through use of the barbell hip thrust does not appear to transfer into improvements in sprint performance in collegiate level athletes.
The Origins of Individual Differences in How Learning Is Expressed in Rats: A General-Process Perspective

Laboratory rats can exhibit marked, qualitative individual differences in the form of acquired behaviors. For example, when exposed to a signal-reinforcer relationship some rats show marked and consistent changes in sign-tracking (interacting with the signal; e.g., a lever) and others show marked and consistent changes in goal-tracking (interacting with the location of the predicted reinforcer; e.g., the food well). Here, stable individual differences in rats’ sign-tracking and goal-tracking emerged over the course of training, but these differences did not generalize across different signal-reinforcer relationships (Experiment 1). This selectivity suggests that individual differences in sign- and goal-tracking reflect differences in the value placed on individual reinforcers. Two findings provide direct support for this interpretation: the palatability of a reinforcer (as measured by an analysis of lick-cluster size) was positively correlated with goal-tracking (and negatively correlated with sign-tracking); and sating rats with a reinforcer affected goal-tracking but not sign-tracking (Experiment 2). These results indicate that the observed individual differences in sign- and goal-tracking behavior arise from the interaction between the palatability or value of the reinforcer and processes of association as opposed to dispositional differences (e.g., in sensory processes, “temperament,” or response repertoire).
Effects of Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress on Tetrahymena pyriformis Glyceraldehyde‐3‐Phosphate Dehydrogenase

ABSTRACT. Previous reports showed that hydrogen peroxide and the NO‐generating reagent sodium nitroprusside (SNP)‐modulated enzymatic activity of animal glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH, EC 1.2.1.12). These modifications are suggested to have a physiological regulatory role. To gain further insight into this regulatory process the model ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis was chosen. Both reagents inhibited growth of T. pyriformis cultures and produced a specific increase of GAPDH protein but only NO seemed to reduce GAPDH activity in cell‐free extracts. Both specific activity and pI were found to be altered in the in vivo NO‐treated purified enzyme, but no effect was detected by the in vivo H2O2 treatment. Analytical chromatofocusing showed a single basic isoform (pI 8.8) in enzyme preparations from control and H2O2‐treated cells. In contrast to this, three more acidic isoforms (pIs, 8.6, 8.0 and 7.3) were resolved in purified fractions from SNP‐treated cells, suggesting post‐translational modification of the enzyme by NO. Nevertheless, a decrease of GAPDH activity by H2O2 and NO, mainly due to a decrease in its Vmax without apparent change in substrate affinity, was observed in vitro in the whole enzyme population. The increase of GAPDH protein level found in vivo suggests a cell response in order to compensate for the inhibitory effect on activity observed in the purified enzyme. This is the first report of NO‐ and H2O2‐dependent effects on GAPDH of T. pyriformis, and identifies this key protein of central carbon metabolism as a physiological target of oxidative and nitrosative stress in this ciliated protozoan.
First record of Wolbachia in South American terrestrial isopods: Prevalence and diversity in two species of Balloniscus (Crustacea, Oniscidea)

Wolbachia are endosymbiotic bacteria that commonly infect arthropods, inducing certain phenotypes in their hosts. So far, no endemic South American species of terrestrial isopods have been investigated for Wolbachia infection. In this work, populations from two species of Balloniscus (B. sellowii and B. glaber) were studied through a diagnostic PCR assay. Fifteen new Wolbachia 16S rDNA sequences were detected. Wolbachia found in both species were generally specific to one population, and five populations hosted two different Wolbachia 16S rDNA sequences. Prevalence was higher in B. glaber than in B. sellowii, but uninfected populations could be found in both species. Wolbachia strains from B. sellowii had a higher genetic variation than those isolated from B. glaber. AMOVA analyses showed that most of the genetic variance was distributed among populations of each species rather than between species, and the phylogenetic analysis suggested that Wolbachia strains from Balloniscus cluster within Supergroup B, but do not form a single monophyletic clade, suggesting multiple infections for this group. Our results highlight the importance of studying Wolbachia prevalence and genetic diversity in Neotropical species and suggest that South American arthropods may harbor a great number of diverse strains, providing an interesting model to investigate the evolution of Wolbachia and its hosts.
The NLRP3 Inflammasome and IL-1β Accelerate Immunologically Mediated Pathology in Experimental Viral Fulminant Hepatitis

Viral fulminant hepatitis (FH) is a severe disease with high mortality resulting from excessive inflammation in the infected liver. Clinical interventions have been inefficient due to the lack of knowledge for inflammatory pathogenesis in the virus-infected liver. We show that wild-type mice infected with murine hepatitis virus strain-3 (MHV-3), a model for viral FH, manifest with severe disease and high mortality in association with a significant elevation in IL-1β expression in the serum and liver. Whereas, the viral infection in IL-1β receptor-I deficient (IL-1R1 -/-) or IL-1R antagonist (IL-1Ra) treated mice, show reductions in virus replication, disease progress and mortality. IL-1R1 deficiency appears to debilitate the virus-induced fibrinogen-like protein-2 (FGL2) production in macrophages and CD45+Gr-1high neutrophil infiltration in the liver. The quick release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the infected macrophages suggests a plausible viral initiation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Further experiments show that mice deficient of p47 phox, a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase subunit that controls acute ROS production, present with reductions in NLRP3 inflammasome activation and subsequent IL-1β secretion during viral infection, which appears to be responsible for acquiring resilience to viral FH. Moreover, viral infected animals in deficiencies of NLRP3 and Caspase-1, two essential components of the inflammasome complex, also have reduced IL-1β induction along with ameliorated hepatitis. Our results demonstrate that the ROS/NLRP3/IL-1β axis institutes an essential signaling pathway, which is over activated and directly causes the severe liver disease during viral infection, which sheds light on development of efficient treatments for human viral FH and other severe inflammatory diseases.
Effect of pH changes on the cardiac sphincter

In 16 normal subjects the pressure characteristics of the cardiac sphincter have been examined. The effect of perfusing the gastric aspect of the sphincter mucosa has been studied by comparing the effects of saline with those of solutions where pH ranged from 1·0 to 8·0. Acid perfusion produced an increase in sphincteric pressure, particularly at pH 3·0. This suggests that a physiological mechanism exists which can increase the barrier pressure to gastrooesophageal reflux during periods of active secretion of the stomach, as occurs in digestion.
Postglacial colonization of the Tibetan plateau inferred from the matrilineal genetic structure of the endemic red‐necked snow finch, Pyrgilauda ruficollis

Most phylogeographical studies of postglacial colonization focus on high latitude locations in the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we studied the phylogeographical structure of the red‐necked snow finch Pyrgilauda ruficollis, an endemic species of the Tibetan plateau. We analysed 879 base pairs (bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and 529 bp of the control region in 41 birds from four regional groups separated by mountain ranges. We detected 34 haplotypes, 31 of which occurred in a single individual and only three of which were shared among sampling sites within regional groups or among regional groups. Haplotype diversity was high (h = 0.94); nucleotide diversity was low (ð = 0.00415) and genetic differentiation was virtually non‐existent. Analyses of mismatch distributions and geographically nested clades yielded results consistent with contiguous range expansion, and the expansion times were estimated as 0.07–0.19 million years ago (Ma). Our results suggest that P. ruficollis colonized the Tibetan plateau after the extensive glacial period (0.5–0.175 Ma), expanding from the eastern margin towards the inner plateau. Thus, in contrast to many of the postglacial phylogeographical structures known at high latitudes, this colonization occurred without matrilineal population structuring. This might be due to the short glacial cycles typical of the Tibetan plateau, adaptation of P. ruficollis to cold conditions, or refugia and colonized habitat being semicontinuous and thus promoting population mixing.
Promoting physical activity in Iranian women: A qualitative study using social marketing

Background and aim In social marketing, at the center of the program is consumer perception. The objective of this study was to explore the viewpoints of Iranian women for tailoring interventions so as to increase physical activity. Methods The social marketing model served as the framework of the study. Qualitative data were collected via six semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs), in 2014 in Iran. Participants were 51 women, 20 to 60 years old, selected by purposive sampling, with a maximum diversity. Qualitative content analysis of the data was conducted by researchers. Results After data analysis and extracting initial codes, they were all categorized in four predefined categories of social marketing model (product, price, place and promotion) and related sub-categories. Most of the participants were inactive. Price was addressed by women as the dominant category of this study. The majority of participants emphasized the benefits of prevention of chronic diseases, fitness, staying young, and improving family relations. Most women preferred to do physical activity in a secure and enclosed female environment. And the majority of participants considered radio, television, face to face training, texting, and advertising billboards as promotional strategies. Conclusion This study provides a unique insight into consumers’ values and motivations that affect consumers’ decisions to adopt physical activity, in Iran. It could also help researchers to design and implement intervention programs to increase physical activity.
Intravenous cyclophosphamide and oral prednisolone is a safe and effective treatment option for idiopathic membranous nephropathy

Abstract Background Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is one of the most common causes of nephrotic syndrome in adults. A proportion of patients will experience spontaneous remission and the decision to offer immunosuppression is guided by the presence of adverse prognostic features. Data relating to the efficacy of different immunosuppressive protocols is lacking, in particular there are little data available on the efficacy or benefits of an intravenous (IV) cyclophosphamide-based regimen. Since 2010, our unit has been using a treatment regimen based on IV cyclophosphamide and oral prednisolone for patients with IMN associated with adverse prognostic features. The outcomes of these patients were compared with a historic cohort of similar patients who did not receive immunosuppressive therapy. Methods Between January 2010 and 2014, a total of 41 patients were treated with pulse IV cyclophosphamide and oral prednisolone. The historical comparator group included 47 similar patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2010 who did not receive immunosuppression. Two-year follow-up data were collected. The primary outcome measure was time to remission of nephrotic syndrome (defined as normalization of serum albumin). Secondary outcomes included rate of progression of kidney disease as well as incidence of treatment-related adverse events. Results As compared with supportive care alone, treatment with IV cyclophosphamide and oral prednisolone was associated with a significantly higher number of patients achieving remission. Within 18 months of therapy, 74% of treated patients had achieved a normal serum albumin level. Though there was a trend towards a more rapid decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate in the untreated cohort, this did not reach statistical significance. The IV cyclophosphamide-based regimen was well tolerated, with few significant treatment-associated side effects. Conclusion IV cyclophosphamide is a safe and effective treatment for IMN.
Childhood Epilepsy, Febrile Seizures, and Subsequent Risk of ADHD

OBJECTIVES: Epilepsy, febrile seizures, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are disorders of the central nervous system and share common risk factors. Our goal was to examine the association in a nationwide cohort study with prospective follow-up and adjustment for selected confounders. We hypothesized that epilepsy and febrile seizures were associated with subsequent ADHD. METHODS: A population-based cohort of all children born in Denmark from 1990 through 2007 was followed up until 2012. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for ADHD were estimated by using Cox regression analysis, comparing children with epilepsy and febrile seizure with those without these disorders, adjusted for socioeconomic and perinatal risk factors, as well as family history of neurologic and psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: A total of 906 379 individuals were followed up for 22 years (∼10 million person-years of observation); 21 079 individuals developed ADHD. Children with epilepsy had a fully adjusted IRR of ADHD of 2.72 (95% CI, 2.53–2.91) compared with children without epilepsy. Similarly, in children with febrile seizure, the fully adjusted IRR of ADHD was 1.28 (95% CI, 1.20–1.35). In individuals with both epilepsy and febrile seizure, the fully adjusted IRR of ADHD was 3.22 (95% CI, 2.72–3.83). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate a strong association between epilepsy in childhood and, to a lesser extent, febrile seizure and subsequent development of ADHD, even after adjusting for socioeconomic and perinatal risk factors, and family history of epilepsy, febrile seizures, or psychiatric disorders.
C-BIRD: content-based image retrieval from digital libraries using illumination invariance and recognition kernel

With huge amounts of multimedia information connected to the global information network (Internet), efficient and effective image retrieval from large image and video repositories has become an imminent research issue. This article presents our research in the C-BIRD (Content-Based Image Retrieval from Digital libraries) project. In addition to the use of common features such as keywords, color texture, shape and their conjuncts, it is shown that (a) the color-channel-normalization enables search by illumination invariance, and (b) the multi-level recognition kernel facilitates search by object model in image and video databases.
Continuous prediction of perceived traits and social dimensions in space and time

Developing automatic personality predictors requires generating reliable annotations, i.e., ground truth. To date, researchers have relied on the overall ratings provided for a whole video sequence, either obtained by self-assessment or provided by external observers. In this paper, we propose a novel personality assessment approach, where we ask external observers to continuously provide ratings along multiple dimensions ranging from 0 to 100 along time, and we generate continuous annotations in space and time. In addition to the widely used Big Five personality dimensions, we introduce three more dimensions that have the potential to gauge the reliability of the perceived social and trait judgements in the context of varying situational interactions between a human subject and virtual characters. Our results demonstrate the viability of the proposed approach and the plausible relationship between the extracted features and perceived trait and social dimensions. Annotations obtained continuously in time and in trait-social dimensional space showed that a number of dimensions appear to be more static and stable over time while other dimensions appear to be more dynamic.