Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural coupling between homologous muscles during bimanual tasks: effects of visual and somatosensory feedback.

While the effects of sensory feedback on bimanual tasks have been studied extensively at two ends of the motor control hierarchy, the cortical and behavioral levels, much less is known about how it affects the intermediate levels, including neural control of homologous muscle groups. We investigated the effects of somatosensory input on the neural coupling between homologous arm muscles during bimanual tasks. Twelve subjects performed symmetric elbow flexion/extension tasks under different types of sensory feedback. The first two types involve visual feedback, with one imposing stricter force symmetry than the other. The third incorporated somatosensory feedback via a balancing apparatus that forced the two limbs to produce equal force levels. Although the force error did not differ between feedback conditions, the somatosensory feedback significantly increased temporal coupling of bilateral force production, indicated by a high correlation between left/right force profiles (P < 0.001). More importantly, intermuscular coherence between biceps brachii muscles was significantly higher with somatosensory feedback than others (P = 0.001). Coherence values also significantly differed between tasks (flexion/extension). Notably, whereas feedback type mainly modulated coherence in the α- and γ-bands, task type only affected β-band coherence. Similar feedback effects were observed for triceps brachii muscles, but there was also a strong phase effect on the coherence values (P < 0.001) that could have diluted feedback effects. These results suggest that somatosensory feedback can significantly increase neural coupling between homologous muscles. Additionally, the between-task difference in β-band coherence may reflect different neural control strategies for the elbow flexor and extensor muscles. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study investigated the effects of somatosensory feedback during bimanual tasks on the neural coupling between arm muscles, which remains largely unexplored. Somatosensory feedback using a balancing apparatus, compared with visual feedback, significantly increased neural coupling between homologous muscles (indicated by intermuscular coherence values) and improved temporal correlation of bilateral force production. Notably, feedback type modulated coherence in the α- and γ-bands (more subcortical pathways), whereas task type mainly affected β-band coherence (corticospinal pathway).
Opinion Formation and the Collective Dynamics of Risk Perception

The formation of collective opinion is a complex phenomenon that results from the combined effects of mass media exposure and social influence between individuals. The present work introduces a model of opinion formation specifically designed to address risk judgments, such as attitudes towards climate change, terrorist threats, or children vaccination. The model assumes that people collect risk information from the media environment and exchange them locally with other individuals. Even though individuals are initially exposed to the same sample of information, the model predicts the emergence of opinion polarization and clustering. In particular, numerical simulations highlight two crucial factors that determine the collective outcome: the propensity of individuals to search for independent information, and the strength of social influence. This work provides a quantitative framework to anticipate and manage how the public responds to a given risk, and could help understanding the systemic amplification of fears and worries, or the underestimation of real dangers.
High precision SPICE models for the simulation of analogue CMOS circuits

Enhanced SPICE models are developed for the simulation of analogue CMOS circuits. The well resistor model describes the voltage, geometry and temperature dependence of the resistance which is crucial for the characterization of a bandgap reference circuit. The single-operating-region MOS model uses electrically effective voltages for increased accuracy and continuity of the derivatives. It forms the basis of the lateral bipolar transistor model which includes the simulation of the MOS-to-bipolar transition region for optional gate voltages. <<ETX>>
Lumpy Price Adjustments: A Microeconometric Analysis

Based on a reduced-form state-dependent pricing model with random thresholds, we specify and estimate a nonlinear panel data model with an unobserved factor representing the common cost or demand components of the unobserved optimal price. Using this model, we are able to assess the relative importance of common and idiosyncratic shocks in explaining the frequency and magnitude of price changes in the case of a wide variety of consumer products in Belgium and France. We find that the mean level and variability of the random thresholds are key for explaining differences across products in the frequency of price changes. We also find that the idiosyncratic shocks represent the most important driver of the magnitude of price changes. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
NOTICE: A Framework for Non-Functional Testing of Compilers

Generally, compiler users apply different optimizations to generate efficient code with respect to non-functional properties such as energy consumption, execution time, etc. However, due to the huge number of optimizations provided by modern compilers, finding the best optimization sequence for a specific objective and a given program is more and more challenging. This paper proposes NOTICE, a component-based framework for non-functional testing of compilers through the monitoring of generated code in a controlled sand-boxing environment. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach by verifying the optimizations performed by the GCC compiler. Our experimental results show that our approach is able to auto-tune compilers according to user requirements and construct optimizations that yield to better performance results than standard optimization levels. We also demonstrate that NOTICE can be used to automatically construct optimization levels that represent optimal trade-offs between multiple non-functional properties such as execution time and resource usage requirements.
Effects of anti-human neutrophil antibodies in vitro. Quantitative studies.

Opsonic, antiphagocytic, cytotoxic, and metabolic effects of homologous and heterologous antibodies against human neutrophils were analyzed by means of quantitative assays to facilitate detection of antibody activity, and to probe membrane function of these cells. Normal human neutrophils were purified by gradient centrifugation, sensitized with heat-inactivated antineutrophil antisera, and incubated with rabbit alveolar macrophages in balanced salt solution containing nitroblue tetrazolium. The macrophages engulfed sensitized neutrophils and reduced nitroblue tetrazolium to formazan in phagocytic vacuoles. The initial rate of nitroblue tetrazolium reduction by macrophages ingesting the neutrophils was measured spectrophotometrically. Neutrophils treated with rabbit anti-human leukocyte antiserum or IgG, with sera from mothers of infants with neonatal isoimmune neutropenia, and with 27% of sera from frequently transfused patients promoted rapid rates of nitroblue tetrazolium reduction by alveolar macrophages. This indicates that antineutrophil antibodies without added complement opsonized neutrophils for ingestion by the macrophages. Some sera from frequently transfused patients with opsonic activity for certain donors' neutrophils did not agglutinate these neutrophils (44%), did not lyse them in the presence of fresh plasma (47%), and did not inhibit phagocytosis of particles by the neutrophils (26%). The reverse was not observed. The opsonic activity of antineutrophil antiserum appears to be the most sensitive and a quantitative means of detecting antibody activity in vitro.Low concentrations of rabbit anti-human leukocyte antisera or IgG stimulated the ingestion rate of unopsonized or opsonized particles by human neutrophils, and, as previously reported by others, enhanced rates of oxidation of [1-(14)C]glucose by the cells. High concentrations of the antisera or IgG inhibited ingestion. All concentrations of homologous antineutrophil antisera tested only inhibited ingestion of particles by neutrophils and none altered rates of resting glucose oxidation by the cells. The findings suggest that heterologous antibodies disturb membrane antigens that trigger oxidative metabolism and enhance as well as inhibit ingestion, and that these antigens are common to all human neutrophils. In contrast to other studies with antimacrophage antibodies, antineutrophil antibodies altered phagocytic rates of both unopsonized and opsonized particles although there were differences in dose-response curves depending on the type of particle tested. Thus, antineutrophil antibodies do not merely cover selected receptor sites.
Asymptotic theory of marginal turbulent separation

The development of an asymptotic theory of turbulent separation has been hampered severely by the fact that a pressure increase of O(1) appears to be necessary to separate an initially firmly attached turbulent boundary layer, even in the limit of infinite Reynolds number, denoted by Re. According to classical theory, the latter one is characterized by a small velocity defect with respect to the external irrotational flow. A different situation is expected to arise if one considers boundary layers subjected to adverse pressure gradients such that the wall shear stress vanishes eventually but immediately recovers. Similar to the case of laminar marginally separated flows, the pressure changes in the vicinity of the point of vanishing wall shear then are small. But then the difficulty is encountered that separation is not compatible with a small velocity defect but rather requires the existence of a defect of O(1). Thus, separation is seen to be associated with the appearance of a nonlinear wake-like solution describing the outer part of the boundary layer, whose slenderness then is determined by an additional small parameter which is essentially independent of Re. This allows for further analytical progress which suggests a self-consistent description of the separation process and, among others, shows how the classical logarithmic law of the wall is gradually transformed into the well-known square root law that holds at the point of zero skin friction. Supported by numerical calculations, the important result is found, among others, that separation is accompanied by a regular solution of the inviscid wake. It gives rise to a small reverse-flow regime in the limit Re −1 = 0 within the framework of pure boundary layer theory, strikingly contrasting the singular behaviour known from its laminar counterpart. Moreover, in the special case of quasi-equilibrium flows characterized by an only weakly varying Rotta–Clauser parameter β the transition from the classical defect to the nonlinear wake is found to be associated with non-uniqueness of the solutions in the case β → ∞. The analysis presented is essentially independent of the choice of a specific closure for the Reynolds shear stress. iii CONTENTS
Unique accumulation of neuropeptides in an insect: FMRFamide‐related peptides in the cockroach, Periplaneta americana

FMRFamides belong to the most extensively studied neuropeptides in invertebrates and exhibit diverse physiological effects on different target organs, such as muscles, intestine and the nervous system. This study on the American cockroach confirms for the first time that extended FMRFamides occur in non‐dipteran insects. By means of tandem mass spectrometry, these neuropeptides were structurally elucidated, and sequence information was used for subsequent cloning of the cockroach FMRFamide gene. This precursor gene encodes for 24 putative peptides and shows sufficient similarity with the Drosophila FMRFamide gene. Of the 24 peptides, 23 were detected by mass spectrometric methods; it is the highest number of neuropeptide forms shown to be expressed from a single precursor in any insect. The expression was traced back to single neurons in the thoracic ganglia. The unique accumulation of these FMRFamide‐related peptides in thoracic perisympathetic organs provides the definite evidence for a tagma‐specific distribution of peptidergic neurohormones in neurohaemal release sites of the insect CNS. Excitatory effects of the cockroach FMRFamides were observed on antenna–heart preparations. In addition, the newly described FMRFamides reduce the spike frequency of dorsal‐unpaired median neurons and reduce the intracellular calcium concentration, which may affect the peripheral release of the biogenic amine octopamine.
Malaria Infection Alters the Expression of Hepatobiliary and Placental Drug Transporters in Pregnant Mice

Preventing and treating malaria in pregnancy is a global health priority. However little is known regarding the impact of malaria infection on the maternal and fetal disposition of pharmaceuticals and other xenobiotics. Our objective was to characterize expression of key determinants of drug-disposition in maternal and fetal tissues in a validated murine model of experimental placental malaria. Balb/c mice were infected with Plasmodium berghei at mid gestation [gestational day (GD) 13] and maternal, placental, and fetal tissues were collected at GD19. Expression of key ABC drug transporters and Cyp3a11 was examined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Western blotting was used to examine the protein expression of multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1, ABCB1). Compared with controls, placental mRNA expression of Abcb1a, Abcb1b, Abcc1, Abcc2, Abcc3, and Abcg2 were significantly downregulated in the malaria-infected group (P < 0.05), as was placental MDR1 protein (P < 0.05). Significantly decreased hepatic expression of Abcc2, Abcg2, and Abcb11 and significantly increased expression of Abcb1b, Abcc1, and Abcc3 were seen in malaria-infected dams (P < 0.05) in comparison with uninfected controls. The expression of Abcb1a and Abcg2 was significantly decreased in fetal liver of infected dams, whereas levels of Abcb1b were increased (P < 0.05). Maternal and fetal hepatic expression of Cyp3a11 was significantly downregulated in the malaria group (P < 0.05). Together, malaria-induced alterations in the expression of transporters and drug-metabolizing enzymes in maternal and fetal tissues may alter the disposition of endogenous and therapeutic substrates, potentially impacting maternal and fetal outcomes.
Factors affecting the choice of soil conservation practices adopted by potato farmers in Nuwara Eliya district, Sri Lanka.

Potato is an economically attractive crop, but it causes soil erosion in the hill country. Nuwara Eliya contributes about 27% of the national potato production and about 58% of the potato-cultivated land is prone to severe soil erosion. In spite of the seriousness of the soil erosion and the need for effective soil conservation practices, there is an absence of research on soil conservation practices and the level of adoption by potato cultivators. Therefore, the purpose of this research project was to find out the different soil conservation practices, level of adoption by potato farmers and influence of socio-economic factors on farmers' decisions in the Nuwara Eliya district. Data were collected from a multistage stratified random sample of 50 potato farmers in five Agrarian Service Centers (ASC) in the Nuwara Eliya district during 2007. Judgmental scaling method was used to assess the different levels of soil conservation methods adopted by the potato farmers. Multinomial Logit model was used to determine the choice of soil conservation practices. Likert - scaling method was used to assess the potato farmers' perception on adopting appropriate soil conservation methods. Results reveal that 30, 52 and 18% of the potato cultivators were practicing good, average and poor level of soil conservation practices respectively. Good level of soil conservation practices has increased the farmers' potato yield and income. The cost of cultivation inversely affected the soil conservation practices adopted by potato cultivators. The probability of adopting good level of soil conservation was affected positively and significantly by education and land size. About 60% of the potato farmers have a positive attitude towards the importance of improving soil conservation. Land ownership is a crucial factor for this. Appropriate training, extension and effective soil conservation subsidy are recommended to improve soil conservation for sustainable potato cultivation. Key words: Potato Cultivation; Soil Conservation; Choice Model; Nuwara Eliya DOI: 10.4038/tare.v11i0. 1789 Tropical Agricultural Research and Extension Vol.11 2008 pp.49-54
APPLYING A DATA DUPLICATION TECHNIQUE IN LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF WAITING TIME TO PREGNANCY

This analysis demonstrates the application of a data duplication technique in linear regression with censored observations of the waiting time to third pregnancy ending in two outcome types, using data from Malaysia. The linear model not only confirmed the results obtained by the Cox proportional hazards model, but also identified two additional significant factors. The method provides a useful alternative when Cox proportionality assumption of the hazards is violated.
Identifying Students at Risk, Monitoring Performance, and Determining Eligibility Within Response to Intervention: Research on Educational Need and Benefit From Academic Intervention

The new Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) offers local education agencies the choice of using a student's response to intervention (RTI) as a major component to determine eligibility for special education under the category of specific learning disabilities (SLD). Using a RTI model, it is not expected that different students will be identified as SLD than those identified historically. For more than 25 years, accumulated evidence has strongly suggested that most students labeled SLD have been those students with severe educational needs (i.e., have performance discrepancies compared to students in their own communities), regardless of the stated eligibility criterion (e.g., ability–achievement discrepancies). What is unique about RTI is that educational need is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for SLD identification. Students also must not be responding to high-quality general education instruction (i.e., receiving educational benefit). This article first explores the scientific evidence for operationalizing the educational need component using curriculum-based measurement. Second, the use of curriculum-based measurement to assess RTI is presented not only within a special education eligibility process, but also for universal screening and progress monitoring for all students within a three-tier problem-solving model. The article concludes with important research questions within RTI.
Generalized Stirling Permutations and Forests: Higher-Order Eulerian and Ward Numbers

We define a new family of generalized Stirling permutations that can be interpreted in terms of ordered trees and forests. We prove that the number of generalized Stirling permutations with a fixed number of ascents is given by a natural three-parameter generalization of the well-known Eulerian numbers. We give the generating function for this new class of numbers and, in the simplest cases, we find closed formulas for them and the corresponding row polynomials. By using a non-trivial involution our generalized Eulerian numbers can be mapped onto a family of generalized Ward numbers, forming a Riordan inverse pair, for which we also provide a combinatorial interpretation.
Biological Activities and Structural Properties of the Atypical Bacteriocins Mesenterocin 52B and Leucocin B-TA33a

ABSTRACT The antibacterial spectra and modes of action of synthetic peptides corresponding to mesenterocin 52B and leucocin B-TA33a greatly differ despite their high sequence homology. Circular dichroism experiments establish the capacity of each of these two peptides to partly fold into an amphiphilic helix that might be crucial for their adsorption at lipophilic-hydrophilic interfaces.
Contact allergy to herbal teas derived from Asteraceae plants

Contact allergy to herbal teas derived from the Asteraceae plant family was investigated in patients allergic to sesquiterpene lactones (SLs). 20 patients with a known contact allergy to SLs were recalled and patch tested with aqueous extracts of 8 different herbal teas based on Asteraceae plants as well as with parthenolide and other SLs. In 18 of 20 patients with SL allergy, there were positive test reactions to the Asteraceae teas, mainly to those based on German chamomile, dandelion and wormwood. Among the SLs, parthenolide was the most frequent co‐reactor. Obviously, most patients with a contact allergy to SLs are allergic to commercial teas derived from the Asteraceae plant family as well.
Relevant sparse codes with variational information bottleneck

In many applications, it is desirable to extract only the relevant aspects of data. A principled way to do this is the information bottleneck (IB) method, where one seeks a code that maximizes information about a 'relevance' variable, Y, while constraining the information encoded about the original data, X. Unfortunately however, the IB method is computationally demanding when data are high-dimensional and/or non-gaussian. Here we propose an approximate variational scheme for maximizing a lower bound on the IB objective, analogous to variational EM. Using this method, we derive an IB algorithm to recover features that are both relevant and sparse. Finally, we demonstrate how kernelized versions of the algorithm can be used to address a broad range of problems with non-linear relation between X and Y.