Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Old Errors Always Lead to New Truths? A Randomized Controlled Trial of Errorless Goal Management Training in Brain-Injured Patients

Abstract Both errorless learning (EL) and Goal Management Training (GMT) have been shown effective cognitive rehabilitation methods aimed at optimizing the performance on everyday skills after brain injury. We examine whether a combination of EL and GMT is superior to traditional GMT for training complex daily tasks in brain-injured patients with executive dysfunction. This was an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial conducted in 67 patients with executive impairments due to brain injury of non-progressive nature (minimal post-onset time: 3 months), referred for outpatient rehabilitation. Individually selected everyday tasks were trained using 8 sessions of an experimental combination of EL and GMT or via conventional GMT, which follows a trial-and-error approach. Primary outcome measure was everyday task performance assessed after treatment compared to baseline. Goal attainment scaling, rated by both trainers and patients, was used as secondary outcome measure. EL-GMT improved everyday task performance significantly more than conventional GMT (adjusted difference 15.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] [4.52, 26.35]; Cohen’s d=0.74). Goal attainment, as scored by the trainers, was significantly higher after EL-GMT compared to conventional GMT (mean difference 7.34, 95% CI [2.99, 11.68]; Cohen’s d=0.87). The patients’ goal attainment scores did not differ between the two treatment arms (mean difference 3.51, 95% CI [−1.41, 8.44]). Our study is the first to show that preventing the occurrence of errors during executive strategy training enhances the acquisition of everyday activities. A combined EL-GMT intervention is a valuable contribution to cognitive rehabilitation in clinical practice. (JINS, 2015, 21, 639–649)
The use of 75Se-methionin for the in vivo study of platelet kinetics.

Platelet kinetics were studied using 75Se-methionin as an in vivo tracer in normal and aplasic rats and in normal man and in patients suffering from bone marrow inadequacy, thrombocytosis, thrombocytopenia due to hyperdestruction. Results are compared with those obtained with 51Cr-labelling. The method is found useful to measure both platelet production and autologous platelet life span in thrombocytopenic patients.
An Analysis of non(cid:0)Markov Automata Games(cid:1) Implications for Reinforcement Learning

It has previously been established that for Markov learning automata games(cid:0) the game equilibria are exactly the optimal strategies (cid:1)Witten(cid:0) (cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:5) Wheeler (cid:6) Narendra(cid:0) (cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:10) In this paper(cid:0) we extend the game theoretic view of reinforce(cid:11) ment learning to consider the implications for (cid:12)group rationality(cid:13) (cid:1)Wheeler (cid:6) Narendra(cid:0) (cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9) in the more general situation of learning when the Markov property cannot be assumed(cid:10) We show that for a general class of non(cid:11)Markov decision processes(cid:0) if actual return (cid:1)Monte Carlo(cid:9) credit assignment is used with undiscounted returns(cid:0) we are still guaranteed the optimal observation(cid:11)based policies will be game equilibria when using the standard (cid:12)direct(cid:13) reinforcement learning approaches(cid:0) but if either discounted rewards or a temporal di(cid:14)erences style of credit assignment method is used(cid:0) this is not the case(cid:10)
Factors Related to Self-reporting of the Pre-menstrual Syndrome

Menstrual health questionnaires were completed by a self-selected sample of the readership of a woman's magazine (n = 5457). Sixty-one per cent of subjects described themselves as suffering from pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) and this was largely corroborated by ratings of symptoms pre-menstrually, menstrually and post-menstrually for the most recent cycle. Mood symptoms were more strongly implicated than physical ones. Self-report of PMS was found to be modestly associated with aspects of parity and oral contraceptive use, but strongly and positively related to the duration of ‘natural’ menstrual cycles (i.e. uninterrupted by pregnancy or steroidal contraception) and to psychosocial stress. There were interactions among psychosocial factors and between psychosocial load and duration of natural cycles.
A Five‐Patient Satisfaction Pilot Study of Calcium Hydroxylapatite Injection for Treatment of Aging Hands

BACKGROUND The process of skin aging is not limited to the face but involves every part of the body, including the hands. A common manifestation of aging of the hands is the loss of volume, which occurs as the skin loses its subcutaneous fat. Injectable dermal fillers have surfaced as a popular method to address such deficiencies. OBJECTIVES To report the use of calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA) to address lost volume. METHODS Five female subjects with soft tissue deficiency of the dorsa of the hands were enrolled at Mount Sinai Medical Center. A solution of CaHA with 2% lidocaine in amounts of 0.3 to 1.0 mL was injected interdigitally at each of three to five insertion sites; the sites were massaged and molded up to three times to ensure an optimal cosmetic end point. Subjects were seen for a follow‐up visit after 1, 4, 16, and 24 weeks. RESULTS With a single injection, all subjects reached their correction goals without requiring any touch‐ups. At the 24‐week visit, the subjects retained the filling effect, with no adverse events and high patient satisfaction. CONCLUSION CaHA, a new, easily injectable, safe dermal filler, has emerged as an excellent option for soft tissue augmentation in aging hands. BioForm Medical, Inc. provided the products and equipment for this study. Drs. Marmur and Boyd are members of the Medical Education Faculty of Bioform.
A comparison between four different retrieval methods for ice cloud properties using data from the CloudSat, CALIPSO, and MODIS satellites

The A-Train constellation of satellites provides a new capability to measure vertical cloud profiles leading to more detailed information on ice-cloud microphysical properties than has been possible up to now. A variational radar-lidar ice-cloud retrieval algorithm, VarCloud, takes advantage of the complementary nature of the CloudSat radar and CALIPSO lidar to provide a seamless retrieval of ice water content, effective radius and extinction coefficient from the thinnest cirrus (seen only by the lidar) to the thickest ice cloud (penetrated only by the radar). In this paper, several versions of the VarCloud retrieval are compared with the CloudSat standard ice-only retrieval of ice water content, two empirical formulas that derive ice water content from radar reflectivity and temperature, and retrievals of vertically integrated properties from the MODIS radiometer. Typically the retrieved variables agree within a factor of 2, on average, and most of the differences can be explained by the different microphysical assumptions. For example, the ice water content comparison illustrates the sensitivity of the retrievals to assumed ice particle shape. If ice particles are modeled as oblate spheroids rather than spheres for radar scattering then the retrieved ice water content is reduced by on average 35% in clouds with a reflectivity factor larger than 0 dBZ. The factor-of-2 difference between MODIS and VarCloud optical depth, on average, can be explained by the different assumptions on particle mass and area; if VarCloud mimics the MODIS assumptions then better agreement is found in both optical depth and effective radius. However, MODIS predicts the mean vertically integrated ice water content to be around a factor-of-3 lower than VarCloud for the same retrievals, because the MODIS algorithm assumes that its retrieved effective radius (which is mostly representative of cloud top) is constant throughout the depth of the cloud. These comparisons highlight the need to refine microphysical assumptions in all retrieval algorithms, and also for future studies to compare not only the mean values but also the full probability density function.
LoRa Backscatter

The vision of embedding connectivity into billions of everyday objects runs into the reality of existing communication technologies -- there is no existing wireless technology that can provide reliable and long-range communication at tens of microwatts of power as well as cost less than a dime. While backscatter is low-power and low-cost, it is known to be limited to short ranges. This paper overturns this conventional wisdom about backscatter and presents the first wide-area backscatter system. Our design can successfully backscatter from any location between an RF source and receiver, separated by 475 m, while being compatible with commodity LoRa hardware. Further, when our backscatter device is co-located with the RF source, the receiver can be as far as 2.8 km away. We deploy our system in a 4,800 ft2 (446 m2) house spread across three floors, a 13,024 ft2 (1210 m2) office area covering 41 rooms, as well as a one-acre (4046 m2) vegetable farm and show that we can achieve reliable coverage, using only a single RF source and receiver. We also build a contact lens prototype as well as a flexible epidermal patch device attached to the human skin. We show that these devices can reliably backscatter data across a 3,328 ft2 (309 m2) room. Finally, we present a design sketch of a LoRa backscatter IC that shows that it costs less than a dime at scale and consumes only 9.25 &mgr;W of power, which is more than 1000x lower power than LoRa radio chipsets.
Improved Ant Colony Algorithm for Multipath Routing Algorithm Research

Unlike traditional routing schemes that route all traffic along a single path, multipath routing strategies split the traffic among several paths in order to ease congestion. It has been widely recognized that multipath routing can be fundamentally more efficient than the traditional approach of routing along single paths. aiming at the increasing network traffic and the deficity that the former Ant Colony Algorithms have on solving routing problem, in this paper a new multipath routing algorithm based on improved Ant Colony Algorithm (ACO) was proposed Combined with the characteristics of ant colony algorithm and the ideal of traffic engineering, the ACO was improved in three aspects: As a ant selects the next hop, the utilization ratio of router’s buffer queue is added into the criterion of selection; introduce the utilization ratio of link to update the global pheromone; select multiple paths to transfer data. Simulation experiments show the algorithm can achieve network loading balance, reduce the likelihood of congestion, and improve the utilization of network resources.
Home Appliance Load Modeling From Aggregated Smart Meter Data

With recent developments in the infrastructure of smart meters and smart grid, more electric power data is available and allows real-time easy data access. Modeling individual home appliance loads is important for tasks such as non-intrusive load disaggregation, load forecasting, and demand response support. Previous methods usually require sub-metering individual appliances in a home separately to determine the appliance models, which may not be practical, since we may only be able to observe aggregated real power signals for the entire-home through smart meters deployed in the field. In this paper, we propose a model, named Explicit-Duration Hidden Markov Model with differential observations (EDHMM-diff), for detecting and estimating individual home appliance loads from aggregated power signals collected by ordinary smart meters. Experiments on synthetic data and real data demonstrate that the EDHMM-diff model and the specialized forward-backward algorithm can effectively model major home appliance loads.
Brain training with non-action video games enhances aspects of cognition in older adults: a randomized controlled trial

Age-related cognitive and brain declines can result in functional deterioration in many cognitive domains, dependency, and dementia. A major goal of aging research is to investigate methods that help to maintain brain health, cognition, independent living and wellbeing in older adults. This randomized controlled study investigated the effects of 20 1-h non-action video game training sessions with games selected from a commercially available package (Lumosity) on a series of age-declined cognitive functions and subjective wellbeing. Two groups of healthy older adults participated in the study, the experimental group who received the training and the control group who attended three meetings with the research team along the study. Groups were similar at baseline on demographics, vocabulary, global cognition, and depression status. All participants were assessed individually before and after the intervention, or a similar period of time, using neuropsychological tests and laboratory tasks to investigate possible transfer effects. The results showed significant improvements in the trained group, and no variation in the control group, in processing speed (choice reaction time), attention (reduction of distraction and increase of alertness), immediate and delayed visual recognition memory, as well as a trend to improve in Affection and Assertivity, two dimensions of the Wellbeing Scale. Visuospatial working memory (WM) and executive control (shifting strategy) did not improve. Overall, the current results support the idea that training healthy older adults with non-action video games will enhance some cognitive abilities but not others.
Inhibition of IκB Kinase-β Protects Dopamine Neurons Against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Neurotoxicity

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by a selective loss of dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). Although current therapy can control symptoms of this disorder, there is no effective therapy available to halt its progression. Recently, neuroinflammation has been recognized as an important contributor to the pathogenesis of PD, and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) plays a key role in regulating neuroinflammation. Hence, the modulation of NF-κB pathway may have therapeutic potential for PD. Activation of NF-κB depends on the phosphorylation of its inhibitor, IκB, by the specific IκB kinase (IKK) subunit IKK-β. Compound A (7-[2-(cyclopropylmethoxy)-6-hydroxyphenyl]-5-[(3S)-3-piperidinyl]-1, 4-dihydro-2H-pyrido[2,3-d][1,3]oxazin-2-one hydrochloride), a potent and selective inhibitor of IKK-β, has recently been reported to provide cardioprotection through specific suppression of NF-κB signaling. The present study, for the first time, elucidates neuroprotective effects of compound A. Daily subcutaneous injection of compound A (1 mg/kg) for 7 days inhibited the activation of microglia induced by nigral stereotaxic injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and significantly attenuated LPS-induced loss of DA neurons in the SN. In vitro mechanistic studies revealed that neuroprotective effects of compound A were mediated by 1) suppressing the activity of microglial NADPH oxidase and decreasing the production of reactive oxygen species, and 2) inhibiting NF-κB-mediated gene transcription of various proinflammatory mediators in microglia via IKK-β suppression. These findings indicate that compound A afforded potent neuroprotection against LPS-induced neurodegeneration through selective inhibition of NF-κB activation and may be of potential benefit in the treatment of PD.
NTRC links built-in thioredoxin to light and sucrose in regulating starch synthesis in chloroplasts and amyloplasts

Plants have an unusual plastid-localized NADP-thioredoxin reductase C (NTRC) containing both an NADP-thioredoxin reductase (NTR) and a thioredoxin (Trx) domain in a single polypeptide. Although NTRC is known to supply reductant for detoxifying hydrogen peroxide in the dark, its other functions are unknown. We now report that NTRC plays a previously unrecognized role in the redox regulation of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), a central enzyme of starch synthesis. When supplied NADPH, NTRC activated AGPase in vitro in a redox reaction that required the active site cysteines of both domains of the enzyme. In leaves, AGPase was activated in planta either by light or external feeding of sucrose in the dark. Leaves of an Arabidopsis NTRC KO mutant showed a decrease both in the extent of redox activation of AGPase and in the enhancement of starch synthesis either in the light (by 40–60%) or in the dark after treatment with external sucrose (by almost 100%). The light-dependent activation of AGPase in isolated chloroplasts, by contrast, was unaffected. In nonphotosynthetic tissue (roots), KO of NTRC decreased redox activation of AGPase and starch synthesis in response to light or external sucrose by almost 90%. The results provide biochemical and genetic evidence for a role of NTRC in regulating starch synthesis in response to either light or sucrose. The data also suggest that the Trx domain of NTRC and, to a lesser extent, free Trxs linked to ferredoxin enable amyloplasts of distant sink tissues to sense light used in photosynthesis by leaf chloroplasts and adjust heterotrophic starch synthesis accordingly.
Enhancing the Security of Local DangerWarnings in VANETs - A Simulative Analysis of Voting Schemes

The upcoming deployment of vehicular ad-hoc networks does not only facilitate novel telematics applications, but also poses strong requirements on security. Especially the adoption of active safety applications may raise new threats to road safety if security issues are not properly handled, thus thwarting their initial purpose. In this paper, a special active safety application is considered that enables cooperative fore sighted driving through the exchange of local danger warnings, which are based on individual observations and refer to the current road condition. From a security point of view, the decision whether or not such an application should rely on a reported hazard, is a crucial issue, which cannot be completely protected by conventional security measures. We propose an additional security mechanism based on an information centric evaluation of the plausibility of received hazard messages. We developed four decision methods, which are based on voting schemes, and evaluated them by simulation using two attacks trying to manipulate the decision process by distributing false information. Our results indicate that the proposed information centric evaluation of remote observations is a reasonable means to increase the stability and security of a cooperative local danger warning service
Between-group analysis of microarray data

MOTIVATION Most supervised classification methods are limited by the requirement for more cases than variables. In microarray data the number of variables (genes) far exceeds the number of cases (arrays), and thus filtering and pre-selection of genes is required. We describe the application of Between Group Analysis (BGA) to the analysis of microarray data. A feature of BGA is that it can be used when the number of variables (genes) exceeds the number of cases (arrays). BGA is based on carrying out an ordination of groups of samples, using a standard method such as Correspondence Analysis (COA), rather than an ordination of the individual microarray samples. As such, it can be viewed as a method of carrying out COA with grouped data. RESULTS We illustrate the power of the method using two cancer data sets. In both cases, we can quickly and accurately classify test samples from any number of specified a priori groups and identify the genes which characterize these groups. We obtained very high rates of correct classification, as determined by jack-knife or validation experiments with training and test sets. The results are comparable to those from other methods in terms of accuracy but the power and flexibility of BGA make it an especially attractive method for the analysis of microarray cancer data.
Nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase in Huntington's disease

Nitric oxide (NO) is a biologically active inorganic molecule produced when the semiessential amino acid l‐arginine is converted to l‐citrulline and NO via the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS). NO is known to be involved in the regulation of many physiological processes, such as control of blood flow, platelet adhesion, endocrine function, neurotransmission, neuromodulation, and inflammation, to name only a few. During neuropathological conditions, the production of NO can be either protective or toxic, dependent on the stage of the disease, the isoforms of NOS involved, and the initial pathological event. This paper reviews the properties of NO and NOS and the pathophysiology of Huntington's disease (HD). It discusses ways in which NO and NOS may interact with the protein product of HD and reviews data implicating NOS in the neuropathology of HD. This is followed by a synthesis of current information regarding how NO/NOS may contribute to HD‐related pathology and identification of areas for potential future research. J. Neurosci. Res. 64:99–107, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
New data on the taxonomy and geographic distribution of Oriental species of the genus Coptocercus Hope, 1841 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Phoracanthini)

Initially, two males and three females available in this material were identified as representing Coptocercus quatuordecimsignatus sumatranus Hüdepohl, 1992, a subspecied described from northern Sumatra based on the female holotype. A further, more profound study of the Malaysian specimens and them comparison with the holotypes of C. q. sumatranus, C. q. celebensis Schwarzer, 1926, C. q. quatuordecimsignatus Schwarzer, 1926 and a number of non-type specimens of the nominative subspecies not only confirmed the initial identification as being correct, but also led to the conclusion of the species independence of C. sumatranus. Later, one male (from Malacca) and one female (collected in Thailand), both received from the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD), as well as the Sumatran female obtained from Dr. Sergey V. Murzin (Moscow, Russia), only strengthened the opinion of the full species status of C. sumatranus. Besides this, when studying the original description of Coptocercus javanicus Wang, 1995, the attention has been paid to the very strong similarity of this species to C. sumatranus. However, in the revision of the genus Coptocercus [Wang, 1995], in which C. javanicus was originally described, it was only compared to C. pascoei Wang, 1995 (Kai Islands, Indonesia), while C. quatuordecimsignatus and its subspecies, including C. sumatranus, were completely omitted. Through the courtesy of Dr. Maxwell V.L. Barclay, Dr. Michael F. Geiser and Mr. Keita Matsumoto (BMNH) I have received high-quality pictures of all specimens of the type series, namely, the holotype (male) and two paratypes (both females) of C. javanicus (Figs 12–17). Their detailed study revealed the identity of C. sumatranus and C. javanicus. ABSTRACT. Based on the first records of Coptocercus sumatranus Hüdepohl, 1992, stat.n. , from the western and earstern parts of Malaysia, as well as from Thailand, the genus Coptocercus Hope, 1841 is new to the faunas of Indochina and Borneo. A new taxonomic status and a new synonym are established: Coptocercus sumatranus Hüdepohl, 1992, stat.n. = Coptocercus javanicus Wang, 1995, syn.n. Morphological features of C. sumatranus and C. quatuordecimsignatus Schwarzer, 1926 are provided, the main differences between these species outlined, and a map of their distributions is given.