Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience

A constructive mean-fi eld analysis of multi-population neural networks with random synaptic weights and stochastic inputs We deal with the problem of bridging the gap between two scales in neuronal modeling. At the fi rst (microscopic) scale, neurons are considered individually and their behavior described by stochastic differential equations that govern the time variations of their membrane potentials. They are coupled by synaptic connections acting on their resulting activity, a nonlinear function of their membrane potential. At the second (mesoscopic) scale, interacting populations of neurons are described individually by similar equations. The equations describing the dynamical and the stationary mean-fi eld behaviors are considered as functional equations on a set of stochastic processes. Using this new point of view allows us to prove that these equations are well-posed on any fi nite time interval and to provide a constructive method for effectively computing their unique solution. This method is proved to converge to the unique solution and we characterize its complexity and convergence rate. We also provide partial results for the stationary problem on infi nite time intervals. These results shed some new light on such neural mass models as the one of Jansen and Rit (1995): their dynamics appears as a coarse approximation of the much richer dynamics that emerges from our analysis. Our numerical experiments confi rm that the framework we propose and the numerical methods we derive from it provide a new and powerful tool for the exploration of neural behaviors at different scales. control parameters. This vision, inherited from statistical physics requires that the space scale be large enough to include a large number of microscopic components (here neurons) and small enough so that the region considered is homogeneous. This is in effect for instance the case of cortical columns. However, obtaining the evolution equations of the effective mean-fi eld from microscopic dynamics is far from being evident. In simple physical models this can be achieved via the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem, provided that time correlations decrease suffi ciently fast. This type of approach has been generalized to such fi elds as quantum fi eld theory or non equilibrium statistical mechanics. To the best of our knowledge, the idea of applying mean-fi eld methods to neural networks dates back to Amari (Amari, 1972; Amari et al., 1977). In his approach, the author uses an assumption that he called the " local …
A high efficient memory architecture for H.264/AVC motion compensation

In H.264/AVC decoding system, motion compensation operation occupies about 80% of the total memory access and becomes the system bottleneck. In this paper, a high efficient memory architecture for H.264/AVC motion compensation is proposed to extremely reduce external memory access bandwidth. A four-level hierarchical memory organization scheme is utilized to explore the reusability of neighboring blocks at an acceptable area cost. To improve the system processing throughput, five optimization techniques are adopted in motion compensation operation, which enable video decoder to achieve real-time decoding of HD 1080p video stream when operating at 110 MHz. Compared with the existing works, the proposed architecture is able to reduce the memory bandwidth requirement in motion compensation progress by 83.7% and performs better in the real-time application.
On the power of quantum proofs

We study the power of quantum proofs, or more precisely, the power of quantum Merlin-Arthur (QMA) protocols, in two well studied models of quantum computation: the black box model and the communication complexity model. Our main results are obtained for the communication complexity model. For this model, we identify a complete promise problem for QMA protocols, the linear sub-spaces distance problem. The problem is of geometrical nature: each player gets a linear subspace of R/sup m/ and considers the sphere of unit vectors in that subspace. Their goal is to output 1 if the distance between the two spheres is very small (say, smaller than 0.1 /spl middot/ /spl radic/2) and 0 if the distance is very large (say, larger than 0.9 /spl middot/ /spl radic/2). We show that: 1. The QMA communication complexity of the problem is O(logm). 2. The (classical) MA communication complexity of the problem is /spl Omega/(m/sup /spl epsi//) (for some /spl epsi/ > 0). 3. The (standard) quantum communication complexity of the problem is /spl Omega/(/spl radic/m). In particular, this gives an exponential separation between QMA communication complexity and MA communication complexity. For the black box model we give several observations. First, we observe that the block sensitivity method, as well as the polynomial method for proving lower bounds for the number of queries, can both be extended to QMA protocols. We use these methods to obtain lower bounds for the QMA black box complexity of functions. In particular, we obtain a tight lower bound of /spl Omega/(N) for the QMA black box complexity of a random function, and a tight lower bound of /spl Omega/(/spl radic/N) for the QMA black box query complexity of NOR(X/sub 1/,., X/sub n/). In particular, this shows that any attempt to give short quantum proofs for the class of languages Co - NP have to go beyond black box arguments. We also observe that for any Boolean function G(X/sub 1/,., X/sub n/), if for both G and 7minus;G there are QMA black box protocols that make at most T queries to the black box, then there is a classical deterministic black box protocol for G that makes 0(T/sup 6/) queries to the black box. In particular, this shows that in the black box model QMA /spl cap/ Co - QMA = P. On the positive side, we observe that any (total or partial) Boolean function G(X/sub 1/,., X/sub n/) has a QMA black box protocol with proofs of length N that makes only 0(/spl radic/N) queries to the black box. Finally, we observe a very simple proof for the exponential separation (for promise problems) between QMA black box complexity and (classical) MA black box complexity (first obtained by Watrous).
Collaboration in Tele-Immersive Environments

This paper describes a study of remote collaboration between people in a shared virtual environment. Seventeen subjects were recruited at University College London, who worked with a confederate at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Each pair was required to negotiate the task of handling an object together, and moving a few metres into a building. The DIVE system was used throughout, and the network support was Internet-2. This was an observational study to examine the extent to which such collaboration was possible, to explore the limitations of DIVE within this context, and to examine the relationship between several variables such as co-presence and task performance. The results suggest that although the task is possible under this framework, it could only be achieved by various software tricks within the DIVE framework. A new Virtual Environment system is required that has better knowledge of network performance, and that supports shared object manipulation across a network. The participant-study suggests that co-presence, the sense of being together with another person, was significantly and positively correlated with task performance.
Embedding Reflection and Learning into Agile Software Development

The theoretical underpinnings of agile methods emphasize regular reflection as a means to sustainable development pace and continuous learning, but in practice, high iteration pressure can diminish reflection opportunities. The Reflective Agile Learning Model (REALM) combines insights and results from studies of agile development practices in India, New Zealand, and the US with Schön's theory of reflective practice to embed reflection in everyday agile practices.
Protective effects of curcumin in APPswe transfected SH-SY5Y cells

The APPswe plasmid was transfected into the neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y to establish a cell model of Alzheimer's disease. Graded concentration and time course experiments demonstrate that curcumin significantly upregulates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, nuclear factor E2-related factor-2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase 1 and ferritin expression, and that it significantly downregulates heme oxygenase 2, reactive oxygen species and amyloid-beta 40/42 expression. These effects of curcumin on PI3K, Akt and Nrf2 were blocked by LY294002 (PI3k inhibitor) and NF-E2-related factor-2 siRNA. The results indicate that the cytoprotection conferred by curcumin on APPswe transfected SH-SY5Y cells is mediated by its ability to regulate the balance between heme oxygenase 1 and 2 via the PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 intracellular signaling pathway.
Gonadal protection by a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist depot in young women with Hodgkin's disease undergoing chemotherapy

Objective. To explore the effects of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist depot (goserelin acetate) in women with Hodgkin's disease receiving chemotherapy while taking a continuous combined estrogen–progestin preparation as add-back on the prevention of premature ovarian failure (POF). Methods. In a prospective pilot study, five premenopausal women with Hodgkin's disease received a GnRH agonist depot plus add-back until polychemotherapy was completed. Every 4 weeks during treatment and thereafter, a hormonal profile (follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone, 17β-estradiol, progesterone and inhibin B) was measured until resumption of menstruation or the development of a hypergonadotropic state (2 × FSH > 30 U/l). Results. All patients reached prepubertal status during treatment. After discontinuation of goserelin acetate, one patient developed a hypergonadotropic state and four patients resumed menstruation. One of those patients became pregnant and delivered a healthy son. Conclusions. The effectiveness of GnRH agonist plus add-back on the prevention of POF during polychemotherapy in women with Hodgkin's disease needs further elucidation in randomized controlled trials. The results of our pilot study are promising.
Functional Multiple-Output Decomposition: Theory and an Implicit Algorithm

We present theory and a novel, implicit algorithm for functional disjoint decomposition of multiple-output functions. While a Boolean function usually has a huge number of decomposition functions, we show that not all of them are useful for multiple-output decomposition. We therefore introduce the concept of preferable decomposition functions, which are sufficient for optimal multiple-output decomposition. We describe how to implicitly compute all preferable decomposition functions of a single-output, and how to identify all common preferable decomposition functions of a multiple-output function. Due to the implicit computation in all steps, the algorithm is very efficient. Applied to FPGA synthesis, the method combines the typically separated steps of common subfunction extraction and technology mapping. Experimental results show significant reductions in area.
Modeling of subband image data for buffer control

We develop an adaptive scheme for quantization of subband or transform coded frames in a typical video sequence coder. Using a generalized Gaussian model for the subband or transform coefficients, we present a procedure to determine the optimum dead-zone quantizer for a given entropy of the quantizer output symbols. We find that, at low bit rates, the dead-zone quantizer offers better performance than the uniform quantizer. The model is used to develop an adaptive procedure to update the quantizer parameters on the basis of the state of a channel buffer with constant output rate and variable input rate. We compare the accuracy of the generalized Gaussian model in predicting the actual bit rate to that achievable using the simpler and more common Laplacian model. Experimental results show that the generalized Gaussian model has superior performance than the Laplacian model, and that it can be effectively used in a practical scheme for buffer control.
Chronic fatigue and its syndromes

Oxford University Press, £25, pp 416 ISBN 0 19 262181 5 Rating: ! [Graphic][1] ! [Graphic][2] ! [Graphic][3] ! [Graphic][4] This is an important book. The preface warns that it may offend those with strong beliefs that chronic fatigue is an exclusively physical syndrome or that it is entirely of psychological origins. Any who are offended will have been exceptionally resistant to the scholarship and the weight and breadth of the evidence as well as to a readable style that has more vigour and humanity than is usual in medical monographs. The authors fully accept chronic fatigue syndrome as a real illness and one … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif [4]: /embed/inline-graphic-4.gif
Symptoms, Lung Function, and Perception of Asthma Control: An Exploration into the Heterogeneity of the Asthma Control Construct

Background. Asthma control is still surprisingly poor, which may be related to factors causing discrepancies between objective lung function measures and subjective symptom reports or discrepancies between objective indicators of asthma control and control perception. Identifying patients prone to such discrepancies may help to understand asthma control problems. Methods. Ninety-four persons with asthma participated in this study. We used cluster analysis to identify different subgroups of asthma control, based on a measure of lung function and self-report of daytime and nighttime symptoms, activity limitations, reliever medication use, and perception of asthma control. Subsequently, we explored between-cluster differences in clinical and psychological characteristics. Results. We identified two homogeneous clusters: a cluster of persons with poorly controlled asthma and a cluster of persons with well-controlled asthma. A third cluster included persons with an intermediate level of asthma control, an absence of nighttime symptoms, and a reduced impact of asthma symptoms on daily activities despite high levels of symptoms and reliever medication use. Members of the poorly controlled asthma cluster showed higher symptom levels, more catastrophic thinking, and activity avoidance beliefs compared with members of other clusters. Conclusion. The clusters we identified crosscut current definitions of asthma severity and asthma control and indicate the importance of affective evaluation of symptoms in explaining poor asthma control.
Warming reduces the cover and diversity of biocrust-forming mosses and lichens, and increases the physiological stress of soil microbial communities in a semi-arid Pinus halepensis plantation

Soil communities dominated by lichens and mosses (biocrusts) play key roles in maintaining ecosystem structure and functioning in drylands worldwide. However, few studies have explicitly evaluated how climate change-induced impacts on biocrusts affect associated soil microbial communities. We report results from a field experiment conducted in a semiarid Pinus halepensis plantation, where we setup an experiment with two factors: cover of biocrusts (low [<15%] versus high [>50%]), and warming (control versus a ∼2°C temperature increase). Warming reduced the richness and cover (∼45%) of high biocrust cover areas 53 months after the onset of the experiment. This treatment did not change the ratios between the major microbial groups, as measured by phospholipid fatty acid analysis. Warming increased the physiological stress of the Gram negative bacterial community, as indicated by the cy17:0/16:1ω7 ratio. This response was modulated by the initial biocrust cover, as the increase in this ratio with warming was higher in areas with low cover. Our findings suggest that biocrusts can slow down the negative effects of warming on the physiological status of the Gram negative bacterial community. However, as warming will likely reduce the cover and diversity of biocrusts, these positive effects will be reduced under climate change.
Role of chrysin on expression of insulin signaling molecules

Background: Currently available drugs are unsuccessful for the treatment of tye-2 diabetes due to their adverseside-effects. Hence, a search for novel drugs, especially ofplant origin, continues. Chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone) is a flavonoid, natural component of traditional medicinal herbs, present in honey, propolis and many plant extracts that hasbeen used in traditional medicine around the world to treat numerous ailments. Objective: The present study was aimed to identify the protective role of chrysin on the expression of insulin-signaling molecules in the skeletal muscle of high fat and sucrose-induced type-2 diabetic adult male rats. Materials and Methods: The oral effective dose of chrysin (100 mg/kg body weight) was given once a day until the end of the study (30 days post-induction of diabetes) to high fat diet-induced diabetic rats.At the end of the experimental period, fasting blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance, serum lipid profile, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and free radical generation, as well as the levels of insulin signaling molecules and tissue glycogen in the gastrocnemius muscle were assessed. Results: Diabetic rats showed impaired glucose tolerance and impairment in insulin signaling molecules (IR, IRS-1, p-IRS-1Tyr 632 , p- Akt Thr308 ), glucose transporter subtype 4 [GLUT4] proteins and glycogen concentration. Serum insulin, lipid profile, LPO and free radical generation were found to be increased in diabetic control rats.The treatment with chrysin normalized the altered levels of blood glucose, serum insulin, lipid profile, LPO and insulin signaling molecules as well as GLUT4 proteins. Conclusion: Our present findings indicate that chrysin improves glycemic control through activation of insulin signal transduction in the gastrocnemius muscle of high fat and sucrose-induced type-2 diabetic male rats.
Options for prandial glucose management in type 2 diabetes patients using basal insulin: addition of a short‐acting GLP‐1 analogue versus progression to basal‐bolus therapy

Integrating patient‐centered diabetes care and algorithmic medicine poses particular challenges when optimized basal insulin fails to maintain glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Multiple entwined physiological, psychosocial and systems barriers to insulin adherence are not easily studied and are not adequately considered in most treatment algorithms. Moreover, the limited number of alternatives to add‐on prandial insulin therapy has hindered shared decision‐making, a central feature of patient‐centered care. This article considers how the addition of a glucagon‐like peptide 1 (GLP‐1) analogue to basal insulin may provide new opportunities at this stage of treatment, especially for patients concerned about weight gain and risk of hypoglycaemia. A flexible framework for patient–clinician discussions is presented to encourage development of decision‐support tools applicable to both specialty and primary care practice.
Incidence of Spinal and Spinal Cord Injuries and Their Surgical Treatment in Children and Adolescents: A Population-Based Study

Study Design. A population based, epidemiological study. Objective. To investigate incidence of spinal and spinal cord injuries and their surgical treatment in children and adolescents in Finland. Summary of Background Data. Epidemiological data on spinal injuries and their treatment in children is sparse. Methods. All spinal and spinal cord injuries in children under 18 years of age treated in hospital between 1997 and 2006 in Finland were included. The data on injuries, hospitalizations, and surgical treatment were collected from the National Hospital Discharge Register which includes all in-patient treatment episodes. Fatal spinal injuries were derived from the Official Cause-of-Death Statistics of Finland. Results. The overall incidence of spinal injuries remained stable during the follow-up period, averaging 66 per 106 of the reference population aged below 18 years. The proportions of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine injuries altered with age: 64% of spinal injuries in children below 8 years of age were cervical, while in the older children lumbar (42%) and thoracic spine injuries (33%) were more common than cervical. The incidence of spinal cord injuries averaged 1.9 per 106 children. Thirty percent of the children with spinal injury underwent surgery. The annual incidence of fatal spinal injury averaged 2.4 per 106 children. Conclusion. Pediatric spinal and spinal cord injuries are rare. In contrast to previous literature, the most commonly affected area is lumbar spine. One-third of the children with spinal injury underwent surgery.
Metastatic follicular carcinoma of thyroid in maxilla

Metastasis to the oral region is very rare and accounts for less than 1% of oral malignant tumors. Breast, lung, kidney, adrenal, gastro intestinal tract and prostates are most common primary tumors from which metastasis to oral region occur frequently. Metastasis from thyroid gland is extremely rare to oral region. We present an unusual case of metastatic follicular carcinoma of thyroid in maxilla. The significance of this report is that the secondary lesion was the only symptom of the primary tumor and helped us in diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Study of Laminar Flow Forced Convection Heat Transfer Behavior of a Phase Change Material Fluid

Study of Laminar Flow Forced Convection Heat Transfer Behavior of a Phase Change Material Fluid. (December 2008) Gurunarayana Ravi, B.E. , Anna University, India Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Jorge Alvarado Dr. Sai Lau The heat transfer behavior of phase change material fluid under laminar flow conditions in circular tubes and internally longitudinal finned tubes are presented in this study. Two types of boundary conditions, including uniform axial heat flux with constant peripheral temperature and uniform axial and peripheral temperature, were considered in the case of circular tubes. An effective specific heat technique was used to model the phase change process assuming a hydrodynamically fully-developed flow at the entrance of the tube. Results were also obtained for the phase change process under hydro dynamically and thermally fully developed conditions. In case of a smooth circular tube with phase change material (PCM) fluid, results of Nusselt number were obtained by varying the bulk Stefan number. The Nusselt number results were found to be strongly dependent on the Stefan number. In the case of a finned tube two types of boundary conditions were studied. The first boundary condition had a uniform axial heat flux along the axis of the tube with a variable temperature on the peripheral surface of the tube. The second boundary condition had a constant temperature on the outer surface of the tube. The effective specific heat technique was again implemented to analyze the