Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integration of Auditory and Visual Communication Information in the Primate Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex

The integration of auditory and visual stimuli is crucial for recognizing objects, communicating effectively, and navigating through our complex world. Although the frontal lobes are involved in memory, communication, and language, there has been no evidence that the integration of communication information occurs at the single-cell level in the frontal lobes. Here, we show that neurons in the macaque ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) integrate audiovisual communication stimuli. The multisensory interactions included both enhancement and suppression of a predominantly auditory or a predominantly visual response, although multisensory suppression was the more common mode of response. The multisensory neurons were distributed across the VLPFC and within previously identified unimodal auditory and visual regions (O'Scalaidhe et al., 1997; Romanski and Goldman-Rakic, 2002). Thus, our study demonstrates, for the first time, that single prefrontal neurons integrate communication information from the auditory and visual domains, suggesting that these neurons are an important node in the cortical network responsible for communication.
A Temporoparietal and Prefrontal Network for Retrieving the Spatial Context of Lifelike Events

Virtual reality (VR) and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging were used to study memory for the spatial context of controlled but lifelike events. Subjects received a set of objects from two different people in two different places within a VR environment. Memory for the objects, and for where and from whom they were received was tested by putting the subject back into a place in the company of a person and giving a paired forced choice of objects. In four conditions objects had to be chosen according to different criteria: which was received in that place, which was received from that person, which object was recognized, and which object was widest. Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed during testing to identify areas involved in retrieval of the spatial context of an event. A network of areas was identified consisting of a temporoparietal pathway running between the precuneus and parahippocampi via retrosplenial cortex and the parieto-occipital sulcus, left hippocampus, bilateral posterior parietal, dorsolateral, ventrolateral and anterior prefrontal cortices, and the anterior cingulate. Of these areas the parahippocampal, right posterior parietal, and posteriodorsal medial parietal areas were specifically involved in retrieval of spatial context compared to retrieval of nonspatial context. The posterior activations are consistent with a model of long-term storage of allocentric representations in medial temporal regions with translation to body-centered and head-centered representations computed in right posterior parietal cortex and buffered in the temporoparietal pathway so as to provide an imageable representation in the precuneus. Prefrontal activations are consistent with strategic retrieval processes, including those required to overcome the interference between the highly similar events.
Factors influencing the use of dental health services by preschool children in Mexico.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to identify the factors associated with dental health services utilization (DHSU) within a publicly funded oral health program for preschool children in Campeche, Mexico. METHODS A cross-sectional study in 1,303 preschoolers (3 to 6 years old) enrolled in 10 public schools was conducted. The independent variables were: (1) sex; (2) age; (3) tooth-brushing frequency; (4) caries severity; (5) enamel defects; (6) mother's maximum education level; (7) mother's attitude toward oral health; (8) health services availability; and (9) family's socioeconomic status. The mothers completed a questionnaire, and their children were clinically examined. The DHSU (none vs any) in the previous 12 months was the dependent variable. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression (BLR). RESULTS Average age was 4.3 +/- 0.8 years, and 52% of participants were boys. The prevalence of DHSU any was 31%. The variables associated with DHSU were: (1) moderate and high oral health needs; (2) access to private health services; and (3) older age. The authors' model supported an interaction between tooth-brushing frequency and the importance that the mother ascribed to her child's oral health. CONCLUSIONS A low prevalence of DHSU was observed. The source of health services and oral health needs determined DHSU in this population, with some attitudes and behaviours modifying utilization. These findings have implications for designing oral health care policies to improve the supply of services to children.
Non-smooth Bifurcations of Mean Field Systems of Two-Dimensional Integrate and Fire Neurons

Mean-field systems have been recently derived that adequately predict the behaviors of large networks of coupled integrate-and-fire neurons [14]. The mean-field system for a network of neurons with spike frequency adaptation is typically a pair of differential equations for the mean adaptation and mean synaptic gating variable of the network. These differential equations are non-smooth, and in particular are piecewise smooth continuous (PWSC). Here, we analyze the smooth and non-smooth bifurcation structure of these equations and show that the system is organized around a pair of co-dimension two bifurcations that involve, respectively, the collision between a Hopf equilibrium point and a switching manifold, and a saddle-node equilibrium point and a switching manifold. These two co-dimension 2 bifurcations can coalesce into a co-dimension 3 non-smooth bifurcation. As the mean-field system we study is a non-generic piecewise smooth continuous system, we discuss possible regularizations of this system and how the bifurcations which occur are related to non-smooth bifurcations displayed by generic PWSC systems.
Progression of Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Hypertensive Patients in a Reference Center.

Background: Hypertension is a public health problem, considering its high prevalence, low control rate and cardiovascular complications. Objective: Evaluate the control of blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular outcomes in patients enrolled at the Reference Center for Hypertension and Diabetes, located in a medium-sized city in the Midwest Region of Brazil. Methods: Population-based study comparing patients enrolled in the service at the time of their admission and after an average follow-up of five years. Participants were aged ≥18 years and were regularly monitored at the Center up to 6 months before data collection. We assessed demographic variables, BP, body mass index, risk factors, and cardiovascular outcomes. Results: We studied 1,298 individuals, predominantly women (60.9%), and with mean age of 56.7±13.1 years. Over time, there was a significant increase in physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and excessive weight. As for cardiovascular outcomes, we observed an increase in stroke and myocardial revascularization, and a lower frequency of chronic renal failure. During follow-up, there was significant improvement in the rate of BP control (from 29.6% to 39.6%; p = 0.001) and 72 deaths, 91.7% of which were due to cardiovascular diseases. Conclusion: Despite considerable improvements in the rate of BP control during follow-up, risk factors worsened and cardiovascular outcomes increased.Fundamento: A hipertensão arterial é um problema de saúde pública devido à sua elevada prevalência, baixa taxa de controle e complicações cardiovasculares. Objetivo: Avaliar o controle da pressão arterial (PA) e desfechos cardiovasculares em pacientes atendidos no Centro de Referência em Hipertensão e Diabetes, localizado em uma cidade de médio porte da Região Centro-Oeste do Brasil. Métodos: Estudo de base populacional, que comparou pacientes matriculados no serviço no momento de sua admissão e após seguimento por período médio de 5 anos. Participantes ≥18 anos, em acompanhamento regular no Centro, até 6 meses antes da coleta dos dados. Foram avaliadas variáveis demográficas, PA, índice de massa corpórea, fatores de risco e desfechos cardiovasculares. Resultados: Estudamos 1.298 indivíduos, com predomínio do sexo feminino (60,9%) e média de idade de 56,7 ± 13,1 anos. Ao longo do tempo, houve aumento significativo de sedentarismo, etilismo, diabetes, dislipidemia e excesso de peso. Com relação aos desfechos cardiovasculares, observamos aumento de acidente vascular encefálico e revascularização do miocárdio e menor frequência de insuficiência renal crônica. Durante o seguimento, houve melhora significativa da taxa de controle da PA (de 29,6% para 39,6%; p = 0,001) e ocorrência de 72 óbitos, sendo 91,7% por doenças cardiovasculares. Conclusão: Apesar da considerável melhora da taxa de controle pressórico no período de seguimento, houve piora dos fatores de risco e número elevado de desfechos cardiovasculares.
Multimedia Retrieval via Deep Learning to Rank

Many existing learning-to-rank approaches are incapable of effectively modeling the intrinsic interaction relationships between the feature-level and ranking-level components of a ranking model. To address this problem, we propose a novel joint learning-to-rank approach called Deep Latent Structural SVM (DL-SSVM), which jointly learns deep neural networks and latent structural SVM (connected by a set of latent feature grouping variables) to effectively model the interaction relationships at two levels (i.e., feature-level and ranking-level). To make the joint learning problem easier to optimize, we present an effective auxiliary variable-based alternating optimization approach with respect to deep neural network learning and structural latent SVM learning. Experimental results on several challenging datasets have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed learning to rank approach in real-world information retrieval.
Computing Minimum-Weight Perfect Matchings

We make several observations on the implementation of Edmonds' blossom algorithm for solving minimum-weight perfect matching problems and we present computational results for geometric problem instances ranging in size from 1,000 nodes up to 5,000,000 nodes. A key feature in our implementation is the use of multiple search trees with an individual dual-change e for each tree. As a benchmark of the algorithm's performance, solving a 100,000-node geometric instance on a 200 Mhz Pentium-Pro computer takes approximately 3 minutes.
Substance P receptor on parotid cell membranes

A conjugate (125I-BH-SP) between substance P and 125I-labeled Bolton- Hunter reagent binds reversibly to a single class of high affinity (Kd = 4 nM) binding sites on dispersed rat parotid cells. The total number of binding sites is 49 +/- 17 fmol/mg of protein. The binding affinity of 13 fragments and analogs of substance P correlates with their relative potency in stimulating salivation. The smallest fragment of substance P which exhibits significant binding affinity and saliva- stimulating activity is the COOH-terminal hexa(6–11)peptide. Structurally unrelated neurotransmitters and hormones do not affect the parotid cell binding of 125 I-BH-SP. 125I-BH-SP pre-bound to the cells was recovered mainly in the particulate fractions of the cell homogenate. The 125I-BH-SP binding activity of the parotid cells was inactivated by pretreatment of the cells with papain but not with ribonuclease A or deoxyribonuclease I. Our results suggest that 125I-BH- SP binds to a substance P receptor on parotid membranes and that the receptor, at least in part, may be a protein.
Police volunteers in the Netherlands: a study on policy and practice

ABSTRACT Fuelled by the popularity of citizen participation in community safety and by an ongoing pluralisation of policing, there is increasing acknowledgement of volunteer policing around the Western world. Starting with a review of the small body of knowledge that has been built up, our paper outlines the origins and background of police volunteers, their management, their role and the activities they carry out, and records their job satisfaction and working experience. Empirical findings from the Netherlands show that most police volunteers are positive about having the opportunity to do something worthwhile for society, to improve personal skills, and to make connection with regular police colleagues. Yet, at the same time, they are disappointed with their position within the force and feel uncertain about their role. As an institution, the Dutch police tends to undervalue and neglect the work of police volunteers, not least because of slow policy making processes, an unclear vision about the future of volunteer policing, and suspicion about the unwanted substitution of salaried work by voluntary work. This ambiguous attitude runs counter to the current political agenda in favour of a participatory society and active citizenship in the Netherlands, and bears striking resembles to what is known about the position of police volunteers in UK and in the US.
Development of a cell-free system to study the membrane assembly of photosynthetic proteins of Rhodobacter capsulatus

A cell-free translation system from the facultatively photoheterotrophic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus is described. Synthesis of two proteins of the bacterium's photosynthetic apparatus (light-harvesting complex B870 alpha and beta) was performed by SP6 polymerase transcription of the subcloned genes, isolation of the mRNA and translation in vitro using a cell-free extract of R. capsulatus cells. The integration of these proteins in vitro into added intracytoplasmic membrane vesicles (ICM) is demonstrated. Without addition of ICM approximately 70% of the synthesized B870 proteins were soluble. If, however, ICM were present during synthesis, the majority of the soluble protein was found to associate with the membranes. The membrane-associated polypeptides could be solubilized only by detergent treatment but could not be extracted by treatment at alkaline pH (Na2CO3), suggesting that the proteins had been firmly inserted into the lipid bilayer. Moreover, the B870 alpha and beta proteins that integrated in vitro into ICM were also found to associate with pigment ligands and to assemble into a native reaction center/B870 complex. The native conformation of this complex isolated from ICM by Triton fractionation was demonstrated by microspectral analysis of the bound pigments.
A new mode of operation for arbiter PUF to improve uniqueness on FPGA

Arbiter-based Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) is one kind of the delay-based PUFs that use the time difference of two delay-line signals. One of the previous work suggests that Arbiter PUFs implemented on Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs generate responses with almost no difference, i.e. with low uniqueness. In order to overcome this problem, Double Arbiter PUF was proposed, which is based on a novel technique for generating responses with high uniqueness from duplicated Arbiter PUFs on FPGAs. It needs the same costs as 2-XOR Arbiter PUF that XORs outputs of two Arbiter PUFs. Double Arbiter PUF is different from 2-XOR Arbiter PUF in terms of mode of operation for Arbiter PUF: the wire assignment between an arbiter and output signals from the final selectors located just before the arbiter. In this paper, we evaluate these PUFs as for uniqueness, randomness, and steadiness. We consider finding a new mode of operation for Arbiter PUF that can be realized on FPGA. In order to improve the uniqueness of responses, we propose 3-1 Double Arbiter PUF that has another duplicated Arbiter PUF, i.e. having 3 Arbiter PUFs and output 1-bit response. We compare 3-1 Double Arbiter PUF to 3-XOR Arbiter PUF according to the uniqueness, randomness, and steadiness, and show the difference between these PUFs by considering the mode of operation for Arbiter PUF. From our experimental results, the uniqueness of responses from 3-1 Double Arbiter PUF is approximately 50%, which is better than that from 3-XOR Arbiter PUF. We show that we can improve the uniqueness by using a new mode of operation for Arbiter PUF.
Advertising and Consumers' Communications

Until recently, brand identities were built by firms via brand image advertising. However, the flourishing consumer communication weakened the firms' grip on their brands. The interaction between advertising and consumer communications and their joint impact on brand identity is the focal point of this paper. We present a model in which consumer preference for functional attributes may correlate with the identity they desire to project of themselves. This correlation is known to the firm but not to the consumers. Both the firm and the consumers can communicate their desired brand identity, although the actual brand identity is determined endogeneously by the composition of consumers who purchase it i.e., what types of people consume the brand. We find that sometimes the firm can strengthen the identity of its brand by refraining from advertising. This result is based on the following intermediate finding: advertising can diminish the endogeneous informativeness of consumer communications by making it one-sided. Furthermore, it turns out that refraining from brand image advertising may be optimal for the firm when the product is especially well positioned to create a strong identity---i.e., when consumer preferences for functional and self-expressive attributes are highly correlated.
Competitive Communities of Practice, Knowledge Sharing, and Machiavellian Participation: A Case Study

This paper explores the emergence of Machiavellian behaviour in a community of practice (CoP). The CoP was initiated by the top management team (TMT) as a management development initiative. Participants in a manufacturing setting were encouraged to engage in a series of problem&#8208;solving tasks with counterparts from across the organization in a short&#8208;term CoP. A qualitative case study, using in&#8208;depth interviews, was conducted in a large processing plant in the Middle Eastern Kingdom of Bahrain. This is an empirical case study that explores employee participation in a short&#8208;term management development programme which sought to create CoPs to enable knowledge sharing. A competitive element was introduced, and we contend this promoted behaviour which served the individuals rather than the CoP. The findings indicate that TMT intervention changes the dynamics of CoPs, reducing knowledge sharing and collaboration among community members. Recommendations are made to practitioners to be cognizant of the possibility of Machiavellian participation in CoPs.
Interaction between the Type III Effector VopO and GEF-H1 Activates the RhoA-ROCK Pathway

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important pathogen that causes food-borne gastroenteritis in humans. The type III secretion system encoded on chromosome 2 (T3SS2) plays a critical role in the enterotoxic activity of V. parahaemolyticus. Previous studies have demonstrated that T3SS2 induces actin stress fibers in various epithelial cell lines during infection. This stress fiber formation is strongly related to pathogenicity, but the mechanisms that underlie T3SS2-dependent actin stress fiber formation and the main effector have not been elucidated. In this study, we identified VopO as a critical T3SS2 effector protein that activates the RhoA-ROCK pathway, which is an essential pathway for the induction of the T3SS2-dependent stress fiber formation. We also determined that GEF-H1, a RhoA guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), directly binds VopO and is necessary for T3SS2-dependent stress fiber formation. The GEF-H1-binding activity of VopO via an alpha helix region correlated well with its stress fiber-inducing capacity. Furthermore, we showed that VopO is involved in the T3SS2-dependent disruption of the epithelial barrier. Thus, VopO hijacks the RhoA-ROCK pathway in a different manner compared with previously reported bacterial toxins and effectors that modulate the Rho GTPase signaling pathway.
Impact of Impulse Control Disorders on Sleep-Wake Regulation in Parkinson's Disease

Sleep disturbances are common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and are even more prevalent in patients with behavioural addictions, such as pathological gambling, compulsive sexual behaviour, compulsive buying, binge eating, punding, and the compulsive use of dopamine replacement therapy. An overview of the relationship between these impulse control disorders and sleep disturbances is given and potential underlying mechanisms and treatment strategies are covered.
Development of Re-Usable Yeast-Gellan Gum Micro-Bioreactors for Potential Application in Continuous Fermentation to Produce Bio-Ethanol

The objectives of this study were to investigate the feasibility of encapsulating yeast cells using gellan gum by an emulsification method and to evaluate the fermentation efficiency and the reusability of the micro-bioreactors produced. It was found that yeast cells could be successfully encapsulated to form relatively spherical micro-bioreactors with high specific surface area for mass transfer. Cell viability was found to be reduced by one log reduction after the emulsification process. The ethanol yield of the micro-bioreactors was comparable to that of free yeast in the first fermentation cycle. The micro-bioreactors remained intact and could be re-used up to 10 cycles of fermentation. Despite cell breakthrough, relatively high ethanol yields were obtained, indicating that the micro-bioreactors also functioned as regenerative reservoirs of yeast.
MODELING AND SIMULATION OF FLAPPING WINGS MICRO-AERIAL-VEHICLES FLIGHT DYNAMICS

The objective of this paper is to present possibilities of transferring to flapping wings micro aerial vehicle (FMAV) flight dynamics methods applied to flexible structure control in aeronautics. Two important aspects of the problem are considered: structure modelling and modern control methods. The old Wright Brothers' idea of wing twisting to achieve a specified roll rate is examined in a new arena of FMAV manoeuvres. Therefore, we present key aspects of the active flexible wing technique. Equations of motion for flexible FMAV wings, coupled to a rigid supported " fuselage " are developed, and some results of simulations are presented.
What does past correlation structure tell us about the future? An answer from network filtering

We discovered that past changes in the market correlation structure are significantly related with future changes in the market volatility. By using correlation-based information filtering networks we device a new tool for forecasting the market volatility changes. In particular, we introduce a new measure, the "correlation structure persistence", that quantifies the rate of change of the market dependence structure. This measure shows a deep interplay with changes in volatility and we demonstrate it can anticipate market risk variations. Notably, our method overcomes the curse of dimensionality that limits the applicability of traditional econometric tools to portfolios made of a large number of assets. We report on forecasting performances and statistical significance of this tool for two different equity datasets. We also identify an optimal region of parameters in terms of True Positive and False Positive trade-off, through a ROC curve analysis. We find that our forecasting method is robust and it outperforms predictors based on past volatility only. Moreover the temporal analysis indicates that our method is able to adapt to abrupt changes in the market, such as financial crises, more rapidly than methods based on past volatility.