Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Subset of Dogs with Presumptive Idiopathic Epilepsy Show Hippocampal Asymmetry: A Volumetric Comparison with Non-Epileptic Dogs Using MRI

MRI-acquired volumetric measurements from 100 dogs with presumptive idiopathic epilepsy (IE) and 41 non-epileptic (non-IE) dogs were used to determine if hippocampal asymmetry exists in the IE as compared to the non-IE dogs. MRI databases from three institutions were searched for dogs that underwent MRI of the brain and were determined to have IE and those that were considered non-IE dogs. Volumes of the right and left hippocampi were measured using Mimics® software. Median hippocampal volumes of IE and non-IE dogs were 0.47 and 0.53 cm3, respectively. There was no significant difference in overall hippocampal volume between IE and non-IE dogs; however, IE dogs had greater hippocampal asymmetry than non-IE dogs (P < 0.012). A threshold value of 1.16 from the hippocampal ratio had an 85% specificity for identifying IE-associated asymmetry. Thirty five percent of IE dogs had a hippocampal ratio >1.16. Asymmetry was not associated with any particular hemisphere (P = 0.67). Our study indicates that hippocampal asymmetry occurs in a subset of dogs with presumptive idiopathic/genetic epilepsy, suggesting a structural etiology to some cases of IE.
Cost-effectiveness of tiotropium versus salmeterol: the POET-COPD trial

The aim of this study was to perform a 1-yr trial-based cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of tiotropium versus salmeterol followed by a 5-yr model-based CEA. The within-trial CEA, including 7,250 patients with moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was performed alongside the 1-yr international randomised controlled Prevention of Exacerbations with Tiotropium (POET)-COPD trial comparing tiotropium with salmeterol regarding the effect on exacerbations. Main end-points of the trial-based analysis were costs, number of exacerbations and exacerbation days. The model-based analysis was conducted to extrapolate results to 5 yrs and to calculate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). 1-yr costs per patient from the German statutory health insurance (SHI) perspective and the societal perspective were €126 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) €55–195) and €170 (95% UI €77–260) higher for tiotropium, respectively. The annual number of exacerbations was 0.064 (95% UI 0.010–0.118) lower for tiotropium, leading to a reduction in exacerbation-related costs of €87 (95% UI €19–157). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was €1,961 per exacerbation avoided from the SHI perspective and €2,647 from the societal perspective. In the model-based analyses, the 5-yr costs per QALY were €3,488 from the SHI perspective and €8,141 from the societal perspective. Tiotropium reduced exacerbations and exacerbation-related costs, but increased total costs. Tiotropium can be considered cost-effective as the resulting cost-effectiveness ratios were below commonly accepted willingness-to-pay thresholds.
Empirical Comparison of Human Behavior and Performance with Different Display Devices for Virtual Environments

Although a wide range of display devices is used in virtual environment (VE) systems, no guidelines exist to choose an appropriate display for a particular VE application. Our goal in this research is to develop such guidelines on the basis of empirical results. In this paper, we present a preliminary experiment comparing human behavior and performance between a head-mounted display (HMD) and a four-sided spatially immersive display (SID). In particular, we studied users' preferences for real vs. virtual turns in the VE. The results indicate that subjects have a significant preference for real turns in the HMD and for virtual turns in the SID. The experiment also found that females are more likely to choose real turns than males. We suggest that HMDs are an appropriate choice when users perform frequent turns and require spatial orientation.
Two contrasting roles for Notch activity in chick inner ear development: specification of prosensory patches and lateral inhibition of hair-cell differentiation

Lateral inhibition mediated by Notch is thought to generate the mosaic of hair cells and supporting cells in the inner ear, but the effects of the activated Notch protein itself have never been directly tested. We have explored the role of Notch signalling by transiently overexpressing activated Notch (NICD) in the chick otocyst. We saw two contrasting consequences, depending on the time and site of gene misexpression: (1) inhibition of hair-cell differentiation within a sensory patch; and (2) induction of ectopic sensory patches. We infer that Notch signalling has at least two functions during inner ear development. Initially, Notch activity can drive cells to adopt a prosensory character, defining future sensory patches. Subsequently, Notch signalling within each such patch mediates lateral inhibition, restricting the proportion of cells that differentiate as hair cells so as to generate the fine-grained mixture of hair cells and supporting cells.
Medical Images Edge Detection Based on Mathematical Morphology

Medical images edge detection is an important work for object recognition of the human organs and it is an important pre-processing step in medical image segmentation and 3D reconstruction. Conventionally, edge is detected according to some early brought forward algorithms such as gradient-based algorithm and template-based algorithm, but they are not so good for noise medical image edge detection. In this paper, basic mathematical morphological theory and operations are introduced at first, and then a novel mathematical morphological edge detection algorithm is proposed to detect the edge of lungs CT image with salt-and-pepper noise. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is more efficient for medical image denoising and edge detection than the usually used template-based edge detection algorithms and general morphological edge detection algorithms
Aiding comprehension of cloning through categorization

Management of duplicated code in software systems is important in ensuring its graceful evolution. Commonly clone detection tools return large numbers of detected clones with little or no information about them, making clone management impractical and unscalable. We have used taxonomy of clones to augment current clone detection tools in order to increase the user comprehension of duplication of code within software systems and filter false positives from the clone set. We support our arguments by means of 2 case studies, where we found that as much as 53% of clones can be grouped to form function clones or partial function clones and we were able to filter out as many as 65% of clones as false positives from the reported clone pairs.
Distributed storage in the plane

We consider storage devices located in the plane according to a general point process and specialize the results for the homogeneous Poisson process. A large data file is stored at the storage devices, which have limited storage capabilities. Hence, they can only store parts of the data. Clients can contact the storage devices to retrieve the data. We compare the expected cost of obtaining the complete data under uncoded as well as coded data allocation strategies. It is shown that for the general class of cost measures where the cost of retrieving data is increasing with the distance between client and storage devices, coded allocation outperforms uncoded allocation. The improvement offered by coding is quantified for two more specific classes of performance measures. Finally, our results are validated by computing the costs of the allocation strategies for the case that storage devices coincide with currently deployed mobile base stations.
A Parallel Population Genomic and Hydrodynamic Approach to Fishery Management of Highly-Dispersive Marine Invertebrates: The Case of the Fijian Black-Lip Pearl Oyster Pinctada margaritifera

Fishery management and conservation of marine species increasingly relies on genetic data to delineate biologically relevant stock boundaries. Unfortunately for high gene flow species which may display low, but statistically significant population structure, there is no clear consensus on the level of differentiation required to resolve distinct stocks. The use of fine-scale neutral and adaptive variation, considered together with environmental data can offer additional insights to this problem. Genome-wide genetic data (4,123 SNPs), together with an independent hydrodynamic particle dispersal model were used to inform farm and fishery management in the Fijian black-lip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera, where comprehensive fishery management is lacking, and the sustainability of exploitation uncertain. Weak fine-scale patterns of population structure were detected, indicative of broad-scale panmixia among wild oysters, while a hatchery-sourced farmed population exhibited a higher degree of genetic divergence (Fst = 0.0850–0.102). This hatchery-produced population had also experienced a bottleneck (NeLD = 5.1; 95% C.I. = [5.1–5.3]); compared to infinite NeLD estimates for all wild oysters. Simulation of larval transport pathways confirmed the existence of broad-scale mixture by surface ocean currents, correlating well with fine-scale patterns of population structuring. Fst outlier tests failed to detect large numbers of loci supportive of selection, with 2–5 directional outlier SNPs identified (average Fst = 0.116). The lack of biologically significant population genetic structure, absence of evidence for local adaptation and larval dispersal simulation, all indicate the existence of a single genetic stock of P. margaritifera in the Fiji Islands. This approach using independent genomic and oceanographic tools has allowed fundamental insights into stock structure in this species, with transferability to other highly-dispersive marine taxa for their conservation and management.
Associations between B Vitamins and Parkinson’s Disease

B vitamins may correlate with Parkinson’s disease (PD) through regulating homocysteine level. However, there is no comprehensive assessment on the associations between PD and B vitamins. The present study was designed to perform a meta-analytic assessment of the associations between folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 and PD, including the status of B vitamins in PD patients compared with controls, and associations of dietary intakes of B vitamins and risk of PD. A literature search using Medline database obtained 10 eligible studies included in the meta-analyses. Stata 12.0 statistical software was used to perform the meta-analysis. Pooled data revealed that there was no obvious difference in folate level between PD patients and healthy controls, and PD patients had lower level of vitamin B12 than controls. Available data suggested that higher dietary intake of vitamin B6 was associated with a decreased risk of PD (odds ratio (OR) = 0.65, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = (0.30, 1.01)), while no significant association was observed for dietary intake of folate and vitamin B12 and risk of PD. PD patients had lower level of vitamin B12 and similar level of folate compared with controls. Dietary intake of vitamin B6 exhibited preventive effect of developing PD based on the available data. As the number of included studies is limited, more studies are needed to confirm the findings and elucidate the underpinning underlying these associations.
Transformation of vivianite by anaerobic nitrate‐reducing iron‐oxidizing bacteria

In phosphate‐rich environments, vivianite (FeII3(PO4)2, 8H2O) is an important sink for dissolved Fe(II) and is considered as a very stable mineral due to its low solubility at neutral pH. In the present study, we report the mineralogical transformation of vivianite in cultures of the nitrate‐reducing iron‐oxidizing bacterial strain BoFeN1 in the presence of dissolved Fe(II). Vivianite was first transformed into a greenish phase consisting mostly of an amorphous mixed valence Fe‐phosphate. This precipitate became progressively orange and the final product of iron oxidation consisted of an amorphous Fe(III)‐phosphate. The sub‐micrometer analysis by scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy of the iron redox state in samples collected at different stages of the culture indicated that iron was progressively oxidized at the contact of the bacteria and at a distance from the cells in extracellular minerals. Iron oxidation in the extracellular minerals was delayed by a few days compared with cell‐associated Fe‐minerals. This led to strong differences of Fe redox in between these two types of minerals and finally to local heterogeneities of redox within the sample. In the absence of dissolved Fe(II), vivianite was not significantly transformed by BoFeN1. Whereas Fe(II) oxidation at the cell contact is most probably directly catalyzed by the bacteria, vivianite transformation at a distance from the cells might result from oxidation by nitrite. In addition, processes leading to the export of Fe(III) from bacterial oxidation sites to extracellular minerals are discussed including some involving colloids observed by cryo‐transmission electron microscopy in the culture medium.
A case study in connectomics: the history, mapping, and connectivity of the claustrum

The claustrum seems to have been waiting for the science of connectomics. Due to its tiny size, the structure has remained remarkably difficult to study until modern technological and mathematical advancements like graph theory, connectomics, diffusion tensor imaging, HARDI, and excitotoxic lesioning. That does not mean, however, that early methods allowed researchers to assess micro-connectomics. In fact, the claustrum is such an enigma that the only things known for certain about it are its histology, and that it is extraordinarily well connected. In this literature review, we provide background details on the claustrum and the history of its study in the human and in other animal species. By providing an explanation of the neuroimaging and histology methods have been undertaken to study the claustrum thus far—and the conclusions these studies have drawn—we illustrate this example of how the shift from micro-connectomics to macro-connectomics advances the field of neuroscience and improves our capacity to understand the brain.
Re-Examining Mortality Sources and Population Trends in a Declining Seabird: Using Bayesian Methods to Incorporate Existing Information and New Data

The population of flesh-footed shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) breeding on Lord Howe Island was shown to be declining from the 1970's to the early 2000's. This was attributed to destruction of breeding habitat and fisheries mortality in the Australian Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery. Recent evidence suggests these impacts have ceased; presumably leading to population recovery. We used Bayesian statistical methods to combine data from the literature with more recent, but incomplete, field data to estimate population parameters and trends. This approach easily accounts for sources of variation and uncertainty while formally incorporating data and variation from different sources into the estimate. There is a 70% probability that the flesh-footed shearwater population on Lord Howe continued to decline during 2003–2009, and a number of possible reasons for this are suggested. During the breeding season, road-based mortality of adults on Lord Howe Island is likely to result in reduced adult survival and there is evidence that breeding success is negatively impacted by marine debris. Interactions with fisheries on flesh-footed shearwater winter grounds should be further investigated.
Horses for courses

The film 'War Horse' reminded me of previous prejudices and an episode where I met veterinary surgeon Hunteler. We suddenly came to realise that in late 1942, during the 2nd battle of El Alamein, he was looking after the horses of Rommel’s army on one hillside, while medical officer Caldwell, my late father, was tending the wounded on the opposing hillside.
Technology to Reduce Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a major barrier toward achieving glycemic targets and is associated with significant morbidity (both psychological and physical) and mortality. This article reviews technological strategies, from simple to more advanced technologies, which may help prevent or mitigate exposure to hypoglycemia. More efficient insulin delivery systems, bolus advisor calculators, data downloads providing information on glucose trends, continuous glucose monitoring with alarms warning of hypoglycemia, predictive algorithms, and finally closed loop insulin delivery systems are reviewed. The building blocks to correct use and interpretation of this range of available technology require patient education and appropriate patient selection.
Discrimination Between Genuine Versus Fake Emotion Using Long-Short Term Memory with Parametric Bias and Facial Landmarks

Discriminating between genuine and fake emotion is a new challenge because it is in contrast to the typical facial expression recognition that aims to classify the emotional state of a given facial stimulus. Fake emotion detection could be useful in telling how good an actor is in the movie or in judging a suspect tells the truth or not. To tackle this issue, we propose a new model by combining a mirror neuron modeling and deep recurrent networks, called long-short term memory (LSTM) with parametric bias (PB), by which features are extracted in the spatial-temporal domain from the facial landmarks, and then boil down to two PB vectors: one for genuine and other for fake one. Additionally, a binary classifier based on a gradient boosting is used to enhance discrimination capability between two PB vectors. The highest score from our system was 66.7 % in accuracy, suggesting that this approach could have a potential for useful applications.
Chromosomal and Symbiotic Relationships of Rhizobia Nodulating Medicago truncatula and M. laciniata

ABSTRACT Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a sequence-based method used to characterize bacterial genomes. This method was used to examine the genetic structure of Medicago-nodulating rhizobia at the Amra site, which is located in an arid region of Tunisia. Here the annual medics Medicago laciniata and M. truncatula are part of the natural flora. The goal of this study was to identify whether distinct chromosomal groups of rhizobia nodulate M. laciniata because of its restricted requirement for specific rhizobia. The MLST analysis involved determination of sequence variation in 10 chromosomal loci of 74 isolates each of M. laciniata and M. truncatula. M. truncatula was used as a control trap host, because unlike M. laciniata, it has relatively unrestricted rhizobial requirements. Allelic diversity among the plasmid nodC alleles in the isolates was also determined. The 148 isolates were placed into 26 chromosomal sequence types (STs), only 3 of which had been identified previously. The rhizobia of M. laciniata were shown to be part of the general Medicago-nodulating population in the soil because 99.95% of the isolates had chromosomal genotypes similar to those recovered from M. truncatula. However, the isolates recovered from M. laciniata were less diverse than those recovered from M. truncatula, and they also harbored an unusual nodC allele. This could perhaps be best explained by horizontal transfer of the different nodC alleles among members of the Medicago-nodulating rhizobial population at the field site. Evidence indicating a history of lateral transfer of rhizobial symbiotic genes across distinct chromosomal backgrounds is provided.
Software Architectures for Multiuser Interactive Systems

Multiuser interactive systems allow physically separated users to interact with one another and with shared computational objects in real time. Such systems (also called synchronous groupware) are problematic to build since their user interfaces must support multiple, concurrent users, and both their application logic and their user interfaces must be distributed across multiple platforms. This survey explores the range of software architectures that have been proposed to solve this problem. The presentation includes three distinct architectural views: reference models, which divide complete systems into named functional elements and specify data ow between those elements; architectural styles, which prescribe component and connector types and their allowed patterns of interaction; and distribution architectures, which represent the distribution of system functionality across connected computing platforms. The distribution architectures are presented using a new descriptive framework called Interlace. The architectural presentation is complemented by a brief overview of consistency maintenance mechanisms for groupware.
Decentralized Algorithms for Sequential Network Time Synchronization

Accurate clock synchronization is important in many distributed applications. Standard algorithms, such as the Network Time Protocol (NTP), essentially rely on pairwise offset estimation between adjacent nodes. Some recent work introduced more elaborate algorithms for clock offset estimation, which take into account the algebraic constraints imposed on the sum of offsets over network cycles, using a least-squares framework. These algorithms are iterative and decentralized in nature, requiring several cycles of local communication among neighbors for convergence. In this paper, we extend this approach towards a sequential estimation framework, which allows to incorporate initial time estimates along with their uncertainty, as well as multiple rounds of pairwise measurements. We propose a decentralized implementation of the estimation algorithm that employs only local broadcasts and establish its convergence to the optimal centralized solution. We also present some simulation results to illustrate the performance benefits of the suggested algorithms.
Moduli Operad over F_1

In this paper we answer a question raised in [25], Sec. 4, by showing that the genus zero moduli operad {M_(0,n+1)} can be endowed with natural descent data that allow it to be considered as the lift to Spec Z of an operad over F_1. The relevant descent data are based on a notion of constructible sets and constructible functions over F_1, which describes suitable differences of torifications with a positivity condition on the class in the Grothendieck ring. More generally, we do the same for the operads {T_(d,n+1)} (whose components were) introduced in [5]. Finally, we describe a blueprint structure on {M_(0,n)} and we discuss from this perspective the genus zero boundary modular operad {M^0_(g,n+1)}.
Characterization of Viral and Human RNAs Smaller than Canonical MicroRNAs

ABSTRACT Recently identified small (20 to 40 bases) RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) participate in important cellular pathways. In this report, we systematically characterized several novel features of human and viral RNA products smaller than miRNAs. We found that Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus K12-1 miRNA (23 bases) associates with a distinct, unusually small (17-base) RNA (usRNA) that can effectively downregulate a K12-1 miRNA target, human RAD21, suggesting that stable degradation-like products may also contribute to gene regulation. High-throughput sequencing reveals a diverse set of human miRNA-derived usRNAs and other non-miRNA-derived usRNAs. Human miRNA-derived usRNAs preferentially match to 5′ ends of miRNAs and are also more likely to associate with the siRNA effector protein Ago2 than with Ago1. Many non-miRNA-derived usRNAs associate with Ago proteins and also frequently contain C-rich 3′-specific motifs that are overrepresented in comparison to Piwi-interacting RNAs and transcription start site-associated RNAs. We postulate that approximately 30% of usRNAs could have evolved to participate in biological processes, including gene silencing.