Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Action Perception Is Intact in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autistic traits span a wide spectrum of behavioral departures from typical function. Despite the heterogeneous nature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there have been attempts at formulating unified theoretical accounts of the associated impairments in social cognition. A class of prominent theories capitalizes on the link between social interaction and visual perception: effective interaction with others often relies on discrimination of subtle nonverbal cues. It has been proposed that individuals with ASD may rely on poorer perceptual representations of other people's actions as returned by dysfunctional visual circuitry and that this, in turn, may lead to less effective interpretation of those actions for social behavior. It remains unclear whether such perceptual deficits exist in ASD: the evidence currently available is limited to specific aspects of action recognition, and the reported deficits are often attributable to cognitive factors that may not be strictly visual (e.g., attention). We present results from an exhaustive set of measurements spanning the entire action processing hierarchy, from motion detection to action interpretation, designed to factor out effects that are not selectively relevant to this function. Our results demonstrate that the ASD perceptual system returns functionally intact signals for interpreting other people's actions adequately; these signals can be accessed effectively when autistic individuals are prompted and motivated to do so under controlled conditions. However, they may fail to exploit them adequately during real-life social interactions.
ENSO theory

Beginning from the hypothesis by Bjerknes [1969] that oceanatmosphere interaction was essential to the E1 Nifio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) decade has not only confirmed this but has supplied detailed theory for mechanisms setting the underlying period and possible mechanisms responsible for the irregularity of ENSO. Essentials of the theory of ocean dynamical adjustment are reviewed from an ENSO perspective. Approaches to simple atmospheric modeling greatly aided development of theory for ENSO atmospheric feedbacks but are critically reviewed for current stumbling blocks for applications beyond ENSO. ENSO theory has benefitted from an unusually complete hierarchy of coupled models of various levels of complexity. Most of the progress during the ENSO decade came from models of intermediate complexity, which are sufficiently detailed to compare to observations and to use in prediction but are less complex than coupled general circulation models. ENSO theory in simple models lagged behind ENSO simulation in intermediate models but has provided a useful role in uniting seemingly diverse viewpoints. The process of boiling ENSO theory down to a single consensus model of all aspects of the phenomenon is still a rapidly progressing area, and theoretical limits to ENSO predictability are still in debate, but a thorough foundation for the discussion has been established in the TOGA decade.
Ground‐ and satellite‐based evidence of the biophysical mechanisms behind the greening Sahel

After a dry period with prolonged droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, recent scientific outcome suggests that the decades of abnormally dry conditions in the Sahel have been reversed by positive anomalies in rainfall. Various remote sensing studies observed a positive trend in vegetation greenness over the last decades which is known as the re‐greening of the Sahel. However, little investment has been made in including long‐term ground‐based data collections to evaluate and better understand the biophysical mechanisms behind these findings. Thus, deductions on a possible increment in biomass remain speculative. Our aim is to bridge these gaps and give specifics on the biophysical background factors of the re‐greening Sahel. Therefore, a trend analysis was applied on long time series (1987–2013) of satellite‐based vegetation and rainfall data, as well as on ground‐observations of leaf biomass of woody species, herb biomass, and woody species abundance in different ecosystems located in the Sahel zone of Senegal. We found that the positive trend observed in satellite vegetation time series (+36%) is caused by an increment of in situ measured biomass (+34%), which is highly controlled by precipitation (+40%). Whereas herb biomass shows large inter‐annual fluctuations rather than a clear trend, leaf biomass of woody species has doubled within 27 years (+103%). This increase in woody biomass did not reflect on biodiversity with 11 of 16 woody species declining in abundance over the period. We conclude that the observed greening in the Senegalese Sahel is primarily related to an increasing tree cover that caused satellite‐driven vegetation indices to increase with rainfall reversal.
Identification of Reversible Disruption of the Human Blood–Brain Barrier Following Acute Ischemia

Background and Purpose— Animal models of acute cerebral ischemia have demonstrated that diffuse blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption can be reversible after early reperfusion. However, irreversible, focal BBB disruption in humans is associated with hemorrhagic transformation in patients receiving intravenous thrombolytic therapy. The goal of this study was to use a magnetic resonance imaging biomarker of BBB permeability to differentiate these 2 forms of BBB disruption. Methods— Acute stroke patients imaged with magnetic resonance imaging before, 2 hours after, and 24 hours after treatment with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator were included. The average BBB permeability of the acute ischemic region before and 2 hours after treatment was calculated using a T2* perfusion-weighted source images. Change in average permeability was compared with percent reperfusion using linear regression. Focal regions of maximal BBB permeability from the pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging were compared with the occurrence of parenchymal hematoma (PH) formation on the 24-hour magnetic resonance imaging scan using logistic regression. Results— Signals indicating reversible BBB permeability were detected in 18/36 patients. Change in average BBB permeability correlated inversely with percent reperfusion (P=0.006), indicating that early reperfusion is associated with decreased BBB permeability, whereas sustained ischemia is associated with increased BBB disruption. Focal regions of maximal BBB permeability were significantly associated with subsequent formation of PH (P=0.013). Conclusions— This study demonstrates that diffuse, mild BBB disruption in the acutely ischemic human brain is reversible with reperfusion. This study also confirms prior findings that focal severe BBB disruption confers an increased risk of hemorrhagic transformation in patients treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator.
The tyrosine kinase inhibitor tyrphostin AG126 reduces renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in the rat.

BACKGROUND We investigate the effects of tyrphostin AG126, an inhibitor of tyrosine kinase activity, on the renal dysfunction and injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) of the kidney. METHODS Tyrphostin AG126 (5 mg/kg intraperitoneally) was administered to male Wistar rats 30 minutes prior to bilateral renal ischemia for 45 minutes followed by reperfusion for up to 48 hours. Biochemical markers of renal dysfunction and injury were measured and renal sections assessed for renal injury. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and formation of nitrotyrosine and poly (ADP) ribose (PAR) were assessed using immunohistochemistry. Rat proximal tubular cells (PTCs) were incubated with interferon-gamma (100 IU/mL), bacterial lipopolysaccharide (10 microg/mL), and with increasing concentrations of tyrphostin AG126 (0.0001-1 mmol/L) for 24 hours. Nitric oxide production was measured in both plasma from rats subjected to I/R and in incubation medium from PTCs. RESULTS After 6 hours of reperfusion, tyrphostin AG126 significantly reduced the increase in serum and urinary indicators of renal dysfunction and injury caused by I/R and reduced histologic evidence of renal injury. Tyrphostin AG126 also improved renal function (after 24 and 48 hours of reperfusion) and reduced the histologic signs of renal injury (after 48 hours of reperfusion). Tyrphostin AG126 reduced the expression of iNOS and nitric oxide levels in both rat plasma and in PTC cultures, as well as expression of COX-2. Tyrphostin AG126 also reduced nitrotyrosine and PAR formation, suggesting reduction of nitrosative stress and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activation, respectively. CONCLUSION Taken together, these results show that tyrphostin AG126 significantly reduces the renal dysfunction and injury caused by I/R of the kidney. We propose that inhibition of tyrosine kinase activity may be useful against renal I/R injury.
TREMOR—a tool for retrieving transcriptional modules by incorporating motif covariance

A transcriptional module (TM) is a collection of transcription factors (TF) that as a group, co-regulate multiple, functionally related genes. The task of identifying TMs poses an important biological challenge. Since TFs belong to evolutionarily and structurally related families, TF family members often bind to similar DNA motifs and can confound sequence-based approaches to TM identification. A previous approach to TM detection addresses this issue by pre-selecting a single representative from each TF family. One problem with this approach is that closely related transcription factors can still target sufficiently distinct genes in a biologically meaningful way, and thus, pre-selecting a single family representative may in principle miss certain TMs. Here we report a method—TREMOR (Transcriptional Regulatory Module Retriever). This method uses the Mahalanobis distance to assess the validity of a TM and automatically incorporates the inter-TF binding similarity without resorting to pre-selecting family representatives. The application of TREMOR on human muscle-specific, liver-specific and cell-cycle-related genes reveals TFs and TMs that were validated from literature and also reveals additional related genes.
Assessment of dynamic susceptibility contrast cerebral blood flow response to amphetamine challenge: A human pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging study at 1.5 and 4 T

Pharmacological MRI (phMRI) techniques can be used to monitor the neurophysiological effects of central nervous system (CNS) active drugs. In this study, we investigated whether dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion imaging employing the use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Resovist) could be used to measure hemodynamic response to d‐amphetamine challenge in human subjects at both 1.5 and 4 T. Significant changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) were found in focal regions associated with the nigrostriatal circuit and mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic pathways. More significant CBF responses were found at higher field strength, mainly within striatal structures. The results from this study indicate that DSC perfusion imaging using Resovist can be used to assess the efficacy of CNS‐active drugs and may play a role in the development of novel psychiatric therapies at the preclinical level. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Experience with DETER: a testbed for security research

The DETER testbed is shared infrastructure designed for medium-scale repeatable experiments in computer security, especially those experiments that involve malicious code. The testbed provides unique resources and a focus of activity for an open community of academic, industry, and government researchers working toward better defenses against malicious attacks on our networking infrastructure, especially critical infrastructure. This paper presents our experience with the deployment and operation of the testbed, highlights some of the research conducted on the testbed, and discusses our plans for continued development, expansion, and replication of the testbed facility
Comparison of three DEM sources: a case study from Greek forests

In this study, we compare ALOS World 3D 30m mesh (AW3D30) which is provided free by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), European Digital Elevation Model (EUDEM) which is provided free by European Environment Agency (EEA) and the DEM created from digitized contours from the 1/50.000 topographic maps of Hellenic Military Geographic Service (HMGS). The vegetation height of a forest environment affects the elevation data of AW3D30 and EU-DEM, with that in mind, we choose to compare the elevation data in forest fire break lines. The two DSMs, AW3D30 and EU-DEM v1.1 published in 2016 and the spatial resolution is 30m for AW3D30 and 25m for EU-DEM. For the DEM we created from the topographic maps we used 20m-pixel size. The statistical parameters of the three DEMs have examined in 149 forest fire break lines of total length 187,955.8 km. The study area is located in Chalkidiki a part of the Region of Central Macedonia in Northern Greece.
Decision-making: initiating insulin therapy for adults with diabetes.

AIM This paper is a report of a study to describe nurses' perceptions of decision-making and the evidence base for the initiation of insulin therapy. BACKGROUND Several theoretical perspectives and professional's attributes underpin decision-making to commence insulin therapy. The management of type 2 diabetes is moving from secondary to primary care and this affects how clinical decisions are made, by whom and the evidence base for these decisions. METHOD A postal survey was conducted with a stratified sample of 3478 Diabetes Specialist Nurses and Practice Nurses with a special interest in diabetes across the four countries of the United Kingdom. A total of 1310 valid responses were returned, giving a response rate of 37.7%. The questionnaire was designed for the study and pilot-tested before use. Responses were given using Likert-type scales. Data were collected during 2005 and 2006, and one reminder was sent. RESULTS People with diabetes are seen as having little influence in decision-making. Consultant physicians appear to be influential in most decisions, and the nursing groups held varying perceptions of who made clinical decisions. Nurses' identified different responsibilities for those working solely in secondary care from those working in both community and secondary care. Practice nurses were not as involved as anticipated. CONCLUSION Nurses working with people with diabetes need to encourage them to become more active partners in care. Clinical guidelines can assist in decision-making where nurses are least experienced in initiating insulin therapy.
Geophysical and Sedimentological Investigations of Peatlands for the Assessment of Lithology and Subsurface Water Pathways

Peatlands located on slopes (herein called slope bogs) are typical landscape units in the Hunsrueck, a low mountain range in Southwestern Germany. The pathways of the water feeding the slope bogs have not yet been documented and analyzed. The identification of the different mechanisms allowing these peatlands to originate and survive requires a better understanding of the subsurface lithology and hydrogeology. Hence, we applied a multi-method approach to two case study sites in order to characterize the subsurface lithology and to image the variable spatio-temporal hydrological conditions. The combination of Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and an ERT-Monitoring and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), in conjunction with direct methods and data (borehole drilling and meteorological data), allowed us to gain deeper insights into the subsurface characteristics and dynamics of the peatlands and their catchment area. The precipitation influences the hydrology of the peatlands as well as the interflow in the subsurface. Especially, the geoelectrical monitoring data, in combination with the precipitation and temperature data, indicate that there are several forces driving the hydrology and hydrogeology of the peatlands. While the water content of the uppermost layers changes with the weather conditions, the bottom layer seems to be more stable and changes to a lesser extent. At the selected case study sites, small differences in subsurface properties can have a huge impact on the subsurface hydrogeology and the water paths. Based on the collected data, conceptual models have been deduced for the two case study sites.
Residual Neural Processing of Musical Sound Features in Adult Cochlear Implant Users

Auditory processing in general and music perception in particular are hampered in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. To examine the residual music perception skills and their underlying neural correlates in CI users implanted in adolescence or adulthood, we conducted an electrophysiological and behavioral study comparing adult CI users with normal-hearing age-matched controls (NH controls). We used a newly developed musical multi-feature paradigm, which makes it possible to test automatic auditory discrimination of six different types of sound feature changes inserted within a musical enriched setting lasting only 20 min. The presentation of stimuli did not require the participants’ attention, allowing the study of the early automatic stage of feature processing in the auditory cortex. For the CI users, we obtained mismatch negativity (MMN) brain responses to five feature changes but not to changes of rhythm, whereas we obtained MMNs for all the feature changes in the NH controls. Furthermore, the MMNs to deviants of pitch of CI users were reduced in amplitude and later than those of NH controls for changes of pitch and guitar timber. No other group differences in MMN parameters were found to changes in intensity and saxophone timber. Furthermore, the MMNs in CI users reflected the behavioral scores from a respective discrimination task and were correlated with patients’ age and speech intelligibility. Our results suggest that even though CI users are not performing at the same level as NH controls in neural discrimination of pitch-based features, they do possess potential neural abilities for music processing. However, CI users showed a disrupted ability to automatically discriminate rhythmic changes compared with controls. The current behavioral and MMN findings highlight the residual neural skills for music processing even in CI users who have been implanted in adolescence or adulthood. Highlights: - Automatic brain responses to musical feature changes reflect the limitations of central auditory processing in adult Cochlear Implant users. - The brains of adult CI users automatically process sound features changes even when inserted in a musical context. - CI users show disrupted automatic discriminatory abilities for rhythm in the brain. - Our fast paradigm demonstrate residual musical abilities in the brains of adult CI users giving hope for their future rehabilitation.
Assessment of transient stability support for electric vehicle integration

Gradual escalation of electric vehicle (EV) penetration in modern power systems requires increasing support for EV charging. This additional demand represents a significant proportion of daily electric load which requires greater or flexible generation and transmission and poses challenges to system security and stability. This paper considers the impact of EV integration on transient stability by using an equivalent model of the Northern Ireland (NI) power system. The paper proposes an AC/DC converter-based EV aggregator model with two typical EV connections. A range of typical faults is investigated and discussed through simulation. The critical clearing time (CCT) and transient stability margin are used to assess transient stability on the NI system. Simulation results indicate that in order to achieve and sustain 2020 EV integration targets and guarantee adequate transient stability, asset support and network reinforcement will be required and these outcomes are described in the paper.
Assessment of water quality in selected shallow wells of Keiyo Highlands, Kenya

A supply of potable water is important for the sustenance of a healthy population. This study was conducted in the Keiyo Highlands, Elgeyo Marakwet County, in Kenya. The aim was to assess seasonal variation in physico-chemical and microbiological water quality parameters of shallow wells. The water quality parameters were analyzed during the wet season of 2015 and during the dry season that followed. Water samples were collected from 10 randomly selected wells and analyzed for pH, turbidity, total hardness, nitrates, phosphates, fluorides, faecal coliforms, total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved solids (TDS). The results were compared with water quality guidelines, such as those of the WHO. pH was low during both the dry (5.35 ± 0.09) and wet (6.14 ± 0.26) seasons, showing the water to be acidic. Faecal coliform values were higher than those recommended by the WHO (0/100 ml) for drinking water in both the wet (2.70 ± 1.34/100 ml) and dry (21.56 ± 10.0/100 ml) seasons. In conclusion, the elevated values of faecal coliforms indicate that utilization of water from the wells is of concern to public health. It is recommended that wells should be located away from potential sources of contamination, such as pit latrines, and should be properly covered.
The Stroop Task: Comparison Between the Original Paradigm and Computerized Versions in Children and Adults

The Stroop task has a long-standing history in psychological research and diagnostics, and many variants have emerged. Computerized versions have recently gained popularity because of their applicability in brain-imaging studies. It remains unclear, however, whether computerized versions are content valid with reference to the original task. We compare the performance in the original task with two computerized versions. All three versions show high test–retest reliability and are able to elicit interference effects, but to varying degrees. However, performances in the computerized versions and in the original task do not correlate. The transition from oral to manual response and from listed to single stimulus presentation seems not only to diminish the interference effect, but also to alter its nature in such a way that it no longer looks genuinely “Stroop-like”. These findings have important clinical implications on the use and interpretation of computerized Stroop tasks in children and adults.
Feature Selection for Classification under Anonymity Constraint

Over the last decade, proliferation of various online platforms and their increasing adoption by billions of users have heightened the privacy risk of a user enormously. In fact, security researchers have shown that sparse microdata containing information about online activities of a user although anonymous, can still be used to disclose the identity of the user by cross-referencing the data with other data sources. To preserve the privacy of a user, in existing works several methods (k-anonymity, l-diversity, differential privacy) are proposed that ensure a dataset which is meant to share or publish bears small identity disclosure risk. However, the majority of these methods modify the data in isolation, without considering their utility in subsequent knowledge discovery tasks, which makes these datasets less informative. In this work, we consider labeled data that are generally used for classification, and propose two methods for feature selection considering two goals: first, on the reduced feature set the data has small disclosure risk, and second, the utility of the data is preserved for performing a classification task. Experimental results on various real-world datasets show that the method is effective and useful in practice.