Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diffusion tensor fiber tractography of the optic radiation: analysis with 6-, 12-, 40-, and 81-directional motion-probing gradients, a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Knowing the exact location of the optic radiation preoperatively is important for surgery of the temporal lobe. We hypothesized that a greater number of motion-probing gradients (MPGs) would provide better results of diffusion tensor (DT) fiber tractography of the optic radiation. To test this hypothesis, this study evaluated differences in DT fiber tractography of the optic radiation under different MPG settings. METHODS DT images were obtained in 12 healthy volunteers (7 men, 5 women) with a mean age of 32 years (range, 22-45 years) by using a 3T MR imaging scanner with single-shot echo-planar imaging with parallel acquisition (reduction factor = 2). MPG was applied in 6, 12, 40, and 81 independent directions. The first region of interest (ROI) was placed in the occipital lobe, and the second ROI was placed in the lateral geniculate body. Fibers penetrating both ROIs were considered as the optic radiation. Anteroposterior distance between the tip of the Meyer loop and the lateral geniculate body on an axial section was defined as a loop index. Numbers of fibers and loop indices in both cerebral hemispheres were evaluated statistically. RESULTS The optic radiation was well visualized in full length by DT fiber tractography in 20 of 24 hemispheres (83%). No significant differences were noted in number of fibers and loop indices among different MPG settings. CONCLUSION DT fiber tractography can frequently depict almost the entire optic radiation. MPG number does not exert any significant effect on visualization of the optic radiation, and 6-directional MPG is thus sufficient for this purpose.
Mandatory Processing of Irrelevant Fearful Face Features in Visual Search

Abstract Faces expressing fear may attract attention in an automatic bottom–up fashion. Here we address this issue with magneto-encephalographic (MEG) recordings in subjects performing a demanding visual search combined with the presentation of irrelevant neutral or fearful faces. The impact of the faces' emotional expression on attentional selection was assessed by analyzing the N2pc component—a modulation of the event-related magnetic field response known to reflect attentional focusing in visual search. We observed that lateralized fearful faces elicited an N2pc approximately between 240 and 400 msec in ventral extrastriate cortex that was independent of the N2pc reflecting target selection in visual search. Despite their clear influence on neural processing, fearful faces did not significantly influence behavioral performance. To clarify this discrepancy, we further performed an MEG experiment in which the demands of the search task were reduced. Under those conditions, lateralized fearful faces elicited an N2pc response that was again independent of the N2pc response to the search target. Behavioral performance was, however, influenced in a significant manner, suggesting that for behavioral effects to appear, sufficient attentional resources need to be left unoccupied by the search task—a notion put forward by the perceptual load theory. Our observations are taken to indicate that irrelevant fearful faces influence attentional processing in extrastriate visual cortex in an automatic fashion and independent of other task-relevant attentional operations. However, this may not necessarily be echoed at the behavioral level as long as task-relevant selection operations exhaust attentional resources.
Algebraic Lower Bounds for Computing on Encrypted Data

In cryptography, there has been tremendous success in building primitives out of homomorphic semantically-secure encryption schemes, using homomorphic properties in a black-box way. A few notable examples of such primitives include items like private information retrieval schemes and collision-resistant hash functions (e.g. [14, 6, 13]). In this paper, we illustrate a general methodology for determining what types of protocols can be implemented in this way and which cannot. This is accomplished by analyzing the computational power of various algebraic structures which are preserved by existing cryptosystems. More precisely, we demonstrate lower bounds for algebraically generating generalized characteristic vectors over certain algebraic structures, and subsequently we show how to directly apply this abstract algebraic results to put lower bounds on algebraic constructions of a number of cryptographic protocols, including PIR-writing and private keyword search protocols. We hope that this work will provide a simple “litmus test” of feasibility for use by other cryptographic researchers attempting to develop new protocols that require computation on encrypted data. Additionally, a precise mathematical language for reasoning about such problems is developed in this work, which may be of independent interest.
Aging-Resistant Organophosphate Bioscavenger Based on Polyethylene Glycol-Conjugated F338A Human Acetylcholinesterase

The high reactivity of cholinesterases (ChEs) toward organophosphorus (OP) compounds has led to propose recombinant ChEs as bioscavengers of nerve agents. The bioscavenging potential of recombinant ChEs can be enhanced by conjugation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) moieties, to extend their circulatory residence. However, the ability of exogenously administered ChEs to confer long-term protection against repeated exposures to nerve agents is still limited due to the aging process, whereby organophosphate-ChE adducts undergo irreversible dealkylation, which precludes oxime-mediated reactivation of the enzyme. To generate an optimal acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-based OP bioscavenger, the F338A mutation, known to decelerate the rate of aging of AChE-OP conjugates, was incorporated into polyethylene glycol-conjugated (PEGylated) human AChE. The PEGylated F338A-AChE displayed unaltered rates of hydrolysis, inhibition, phosphylation, and reactivation and could effectively protect mice against exposure to soman (pinacolylmethyl phosphonofluoridate), sarin (O-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate), or O-ethyl-S-(2-isopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothioate (VX). Unlike PEGylated wild-type (WT)-AChE, the PEGylated F338A-AChE exhibits significantly reduced aging rates after soman inhibition and can be efficiently reactivated by the 1-[[[4(aminocarbonyl)-pyridinio]methoxy]methyl]-2(hydroxyimino)methyl]pyridinium dichloride (HI-6) oxime, both in vitro and in vivo. Accordingly, oxime administration to PEG-F338A-AChE-pretreated mice enabled them to withstand repeated soman exposure (5.4 and 4 LD50/dose), whereas same regime treatment of non-PEGylated F338A-AChE- or PEGylated WT-AChE-pretreated mice failed to protect against the second challenge, due to rapid clearance or irreversible aging of the latter enzymes. Thus, judicious incorporation of selected mutations into the AChE mold in conjunction with its chemical modification provides means to engineer an optimal ChE-based OP bioscavenger in terms of circulatory longevity, resistance to aging, and reduced doses required for protection, even against repeated exposures to nerve agents, such as soman.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Center for Applied Financial Economics (CAFE) Robust Deviance Information Criterion for Latent Variable Models

It is shown in this paper that the data augmentation technique undermines the theoretical underpinnings of the deviance information criterion (DIC), a widely used information criterion for Bayesian model comparison, although it facilitates parameter estimation for latent variable models via Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation. Data augmentation makes the likelihood function non-regular and hence invalidates the standard asymptotic arguments. A new information criterion, robust DIC (RDIC), is proposed for Bayesian comparison of latent variable models. RDIC is shown to be a good approximation to DIC without data augmentation. While the later quantity is difficult to compute, the expectation – maximization (EM) algorithm facilitates the computation of RDIC when the MCMC output is available. Moreover, RDIC is robust to nonlinear transformations of latent variables and distributional representations of model specification. The proposed approach is illustrated using several popular models in economics and finance. JEL classification: C11, C12, G12
Ranitidine is Associated With Infections, Necrotizing Enterocolitis, and Fatal Outcome in Newborns

Background And Objective: Gastric acidity is a major nonimmune defense mechanism against infections. The objective of this study was to investigate whether ranitidine treatment in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is associated with an increased risk of infections, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and fatal outcome. Methods: Newborns with birth weight between 401 and 1500 g or gestational age between 24 and 32 weeks, consecutively observed in neonatal intensive care units, were enrolled in a multicenter prospective observational study. The rates of infectious diseases, NEC, and death in enrolled subjects exposed or not to ranitidine were recorded. Results: We evaluated 274 VLBW infants: 91 had taken ranitidine and 183 had not. The main clinical and demographic characteristics did not differ between the 2 groups. Thirty-four (37.4%) of the 91 children exposed to ranitidine and 18 (9.8%) of the 183 not exposed to ranitidine had contracted infections (odds ratio 5.5, 95% confidence interval 2.9–10.4, P < .001). The risk of NEC was 6.6-fold higher in ranitidine-treated VLBW infants (95% confidence interval 1.7–25.0, P = .003) than in control subjects. Mortality rate was significantly higher in newborns receiving ranitidine (9.9% vs 1.6%, P = .003). Conclusions: Ranitidine therapy is associated with an increased risk of infections, NEC, and fatal outcome in VLBW infants. Caution is advocated in the use of this drug in neonatal age.
An HST Search for Supernovae Accompanying X-Ray Flashes

We present the results from a Hubble Space Telescope ACS search for supernovae associated with X-ray flashes 020903, 040701, 040812, and 040916. We find strong evidence that XRF 020903 (z = 0.25) was associated with a SN 1998bw-like supernova and confirm this using optical spectroscopy at t ~ 25 days. We find no evidence, however, for SN 1998bw-like supernovae associated with the other three events. In the case of XRF 040701 (z = 0.21), we rule out even a faint supernova similar to SN 2002ap, using template light curves for several local Type Ic supernovae. For the two cases in which the redshift is not known, XRFs 040812 and 040916, we derive robust redshift limits, assuming that they were accompanied by supernovae similar to SN 1998bw, and compare these limits with photometric redshift constraints provided by their host galaxies. We supplement this analysis with results for three additional events (XRFs 011030, 020427, and 030723) and discuss the observed diversity of supernovae associated with X-ray flashes and gamma-ray bursts. We conclude that XRF-SNe exist but can be significantly fainter than SN 1998bw, possibly consistent with the observed spread in local Type Ibc supernovae.
Incidence of colorectal cancer after liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and associated inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). We estimated the pooled incidence of CRC after liver transplantation (LT) in patients with PSC as well as in a subset of patients with associated IBD (PSC‐IBD). Through a systematic review of major bibliographic databases up to April 1, 2013, we identified cohort studies reporting the incidence of de novo CRC after LT for PSC. The main outcome measure was CRC incidence rate (IR) per 1000 person‐years after LT in all patients with PSC and in a subset of patients with PSC‐IBD with an intact colon. According to a meta‐analysis of 18 independent cohorts (69 cases of CRC among 1987 patients), the pooled IR of de novo CRC in patients with PSC after LT was 5.8 per 1000 person‐years [95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.8‐7.8]. According to a meta‐analysis of 16 independent cohort studies (66 cases of CRC among 1017 patients), the IR of CRC in patients with PSC‐IBD and an intact colon at the time of LT was 13.5 per 1000 person‐years (95% CI = 8.7‐18.2). A long duration of IBD and extensive colitis were identified as risk factors for CRC. Specific transplant‐related factors that can increase the risk of CRC have not been identified. In conclusion, the risk of CRC remains high for patients who undergo LT for PSC, particularly in the subset of patients with associated IBD and an intact colon at the time of LT. Aggressive colonoscopic surveillance for CRC would be prudent for patients with PSC‐IBD even after LT. Liver Transpl 19:1361–1369, 2013. © 2013 AASLD.
Incentives and opportunism: from the carrot to the stick

Cooperation in public good games is greatly promoted by positive and negative incentives. In this paper, we use evolutionary game dynamics to study the evolution of opportunism (the readiness to be swayed by incentives) and the evolution of trust (the propensity to cooperate in the absence of information on the co-players). If both positive and negative incentives are available, evolution leads to a population where defectors are punished and players cooperate, except when they can get away with defection. Rewarding behaviour does not become fixed, but can play an essential role in catalysing the emergence of cooperation, especially if the information level is low.
Oblivious equilibrium for large-scale stochastic games with unbounded costs

We study stochastic dynamic games with a large number of players, where players are coupled via their cost functions. A standard solution concept for stochastic games is Markov perfect equilibrium (MPE). In MPE, each player's strategy is a function of its own state as well as the state of the other players. This makes MPE computationally prohibitive as the number of players becomes large. An approximate solution concept called oblivious equilibrium (OE) was introduced, where each player¿s decision depends only on its own state and the "long-run average" state of other players. This makes OE computationally more tractable than MPE. It was shown that, under a set of assumptions, as the number of players become large, OE closely approximates MPE. In this paper we relax those assumptions and generalize that result to cases where the cost functions are unbounded. Furthermore, we show that under these relaxed set of assumptions, the OE approximation result can be applied to large population linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) games.
Performance of Social Network Sensors during Hurricane Sandy

Information flow during catastrophic events is a critical aspect of disaster management. Modern communication platforms, in particular online social networks, provide an opportunity to study such flow and derive early-warning sensors, thus improving emergency preparedness and response. Performance of the social networks sensor method, based on topological and behavioral properties derived from the “friendship paradox”, is studied here for over 50 million Twitter messages posted before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy. We find that differences in users’ network centrality effectively translate into moderate awareness advantage (up to 26 hours); and that geo-location of users within or outside of the hurricane-affected area plays a significant role in determining the scale of such an advantage. Emotional response appears to be universal regardless of the position in the network topology, and displays characteristic, easily detectable patterns, opening a possibility to implement a simple “sentiment sensing” technique that can detect and locate disasters.
Influence of Hematocritcomma Blood Gas Tensions, and pH on Pressure‐Flow Relations in the Isolated Canine Lung

An isolated perfused canine lung preparation in which determinants of vascular caliber could be individually controlled was developed. The relation of pulmonary arterial (Pa), venous (Pv), and alveolar (PA) pressures was such that Pa > PA > Pv throughout the whole lung. The addition of isoprenaline to the perfusate abolished vascular reactivity. Once stability was reached, vascular cross-sectional area remained acceptably constant for 2.25 hours as judged by normalized conductance. The influence of perfusate hematocrit, blood gas tensions, and pH on pressure-flow relations was then studied in 15 isolated canine lungs. The hematocrit-vascular conductance relation was derived at constant perfusion pressure. Conductance varied linearly with hematocrit over a range of 16.5 to 89.5percent. Mean pulmonary arterial blood gas tensions were: Po2 = 121 mm Hg, Pco2 = 28 mm Hg, and pH = 7.46. Acute respiratory acidosis (Po2 = 30 mm Hg, Pco2 = 81 mm Hg, pH = 7.17) and lactic acidosis and hypoxemia (Po2 = 32 mm Hg, Pco2 = 21 mm Hg, pH = 6.96) did not significantly alter this relation. Transformation of the conductance-hematocrit data indicated that hematocrit was the most important determinant of relative apparent viscosity of the blood. Both acute respiratory and lactic acidosis failed to significantly increase relative viscosity within the range of hematocrit usually found in secondary polycythemia.
Clinical and inflammatory phenotyping by breathomics in chronic airway diseases irrespective of the diagnostic label

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are complex and overlapping diseases that include inflammatory phenotypes. Novel anti-eosinophilic/anti-neutrophilic strategies demand rapid inflammatory phenotyping, which might be accessible from exhaled breath. Our objective was to capture clinical/inflammatory phenotypes in patients with chronic airway disease using an electronic nose (eNose) in a training and validation set. This was a multicentre cross-sectional study in which exhaled breath from asthma and COPD patients (n=435; training n=321 and validation n=114) was analysed using eNose technology. Data analysis involved signal processing and statistics based on principal component analysis followed by unsupervised cluster analysis and supervised linear regression. Clustering based on eNose resulted in five significant combined asthma and COPD clusters that differed regarding ethnicity (p=0.01), systemic eosinophilia (p=0.02) and neutrophilia (p=0.03), body mass index (p=0.04), exhaled nitric oxide fraction (p<0.01), atopy (p<0.01) and exacerbation rate (p<0.01). Significant regression models were found for the prediction of eosinophilic (R2=0.581) and neutrophilic (R2=0.409) blood counts based on eNose. Similar clusters and regression results were obtained in the validation set. Phenotyping a combined sample of asthma and COPD patients using eNose provides validated clusters that are not determined by diagnosis, but rather by clinical/inflammatory characteristics. eNose identified systemic neutrophilia and/or eosinophilia in a dose-dependent manner. Breathomics may qualify for rapid clinical/inflammatory phenotyping of chronic airway disease at the point of care http://ow.ly/E16p30gE1Cl
Involvement of family members in life with type 2 diabetes: Six interconnected problem domains of significance for family health identity and healthcare authenticity

Objectives: Family involvement plays a key role in diabetes management. Problems and challenges related to type 2-diabetes often affect the whole family, and relatives are at increased risk of developing diabetes themselves. We highlight these issues in our objectives: (1) to uncover specific family problems associated with mutual involvement in life with type 2-diabetes and (2) to analytically look at ways of approaching these problems in healthcare settings. Methods: Qualitative data were gathered in participatory problem assessment workshops. The data were analysed in three rounds using radical hermeneutics. Results: Problems were categorized in six domains: knowledge, communication, support, everyday life, roles and worries. The final cross-analysis focusing on the link between family identity and healthcare authenticity provided information on how the six domains can be approached in healthcare settings. Conclusion: The study generated important knowledge about problems associated with family involvement in life with type 2 diabetes and about how family involvement can be supported in healthcare practice.
Optimal Use of a Panel of Methylation Markers with GSTP1 Hypermethylation in the Diagnosis of Prostate Adenocarcinoma

Purpose: In this study, we tested the ability of a panel of hypermethylation markers to improve the sensitivity of histologic prostate cancer detection in sextant needle biopsies. Experimental Design: We obtained fresh-frozen sextant biopsies from 72 excised prostates and directly compared blinded histologic review and quantitative real-time methylation-specific PCR for hypermethylation of four genes, Tazarotene-induced gene 1 (TIG1), adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), retinoic acid receptor β2 (RARβ2), and glutathione S-transferase π (GSTP1) to detect the presence of prostate cancer. Results were compared with the final surgical pathological review of the resected prostates as the gold standard. Results: Histologic review alone detected carcinoma with a sensitivity of 64% (39 of 61 cases) and 100% specificity. Quantitative real-time methylation-specific PCR for TIG1, APC, RARβ2, and GSTP1 detected carcinoma with a sensitivity of 70%, 79%, 89%, and 75%, respectively, with 100% specificity for all of the genes. Using this panel of methylation markers in combination with histology resulted in the detection of 59 of 61 (97%) cases of prostate with 100% specificity, a 33% improvement over histology alone. Conclusion: The use of a panel of methylation markers as an adjunct to histologic review may substantially augment prostate cancer diagnosis from needle biopsies.
Helminth Antigens Modulate Immune Responses in Cells from Multiple Sclerosis Patients through TLR2-Dependent Mechanisms1

To better understand the link between parasite infections and the course of multiple sclerosis (MS), we studied the role of TLRs in helminth product recognition by dendritic cells (DCs) and B cells. Baseline expression of TLR2 was significantly higher in infected-MS patients compared with uninfected MS subjects or healthy controls. Moreover, cells exposed to TLR2 agonists or to soluble egg Ag (SEA) from Schistosoma mansoni resulted in significant TLR2 up-regulation. SEA suppressed the LPS-induced DCs production of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, and TNF-α and enhanced TGF-β as well as IL-10 production. Similarly, after exposure to SEA, anti-CD40-activated B cells increased IL-10 production. Both processes were MyD88 dependent. In addition, SEA down-regulated the expression of LPS-induced costimulatory molecules on DCs in a MyD88-independent manner. DCs stimulation by SEA and TLR2 agonists induced increasing phosphorylation of the MAPK ERK1/2. Neither stimulus showed an effect on p38 and JNK1/2 phosphorylation, however. Addition of the ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126 was associated with dose-dependent inhibition of IL-10 and reciprocal enhancement of IL-12. Finally, cytokine effects and changes observed in DCs costimulatory molecule expression after SEA exposure were lost when TLR2 expression was silenced. Overall, these findings indicate that helminth molecules exert potent regulatory effects on both DCs and B cells through TLR2 regulation conducted via different signaling pathways. This knowledge could prove critical in developing novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as MS.