Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gambling on visual performance: neural correlates of metacognitive choice between visual lotteries

A lottery is a list of mutually exclusive outcomes together with their associated probabilities of occurrence. Decision making is often modeled as choices between lotteries and—in typical research on decision under risk—the probabilities are given to the subject explicitly in numerical form. In this study, we examined lottery decision task where the probabilities of receiving various rewards are contingent on the subjects' own visual performance in a random-dot-motion (RDM) discrimination task, a metacognitive or second order judgment. While there is a large literature concerning the RDM task and there is also a large literature on decision under risk, little is known about metacognitive decisions when the source of uncertainty is visual. Using fMRI with humans, we found distinct fronto-striatal and fronto-parietal networks representing subjects' estimates of his or her performance, reward value, and the expected value (EV) of the lotteries. The fronto-striatal network includes the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum, involved in reward processing and value-based decision-making. The fronto-parietal network includes the intraparietal sulcus and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which was shown to be involved in the accumulation of sensory evidence during visual decision making and in metacognitive judgments on visual performance. These results demonstrate that—while valuation of performance-based lotteries involves a common fronto-striatal valuation network—an additional network unique to the estimation of task-related performance is recruited for the integration of probability and reward information when probability is inferred from visual performance.
Adaptive Reliable Routing Based on Cluster Hierarchy for Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

As a multimedia information acquisition and processing method, wireless multimedia sensor network(WMSN) has great application potential in military and civilian areas. Compared with traditional wireless sensor network, the routing design of WMSN should obtain more attention on the quality of transmission. This paper proposes an adaptive reliable routing based on clustering hierarchy named ARCH, which includes energy prediction and power allocation mechanism. To obtain a better performance, the cluster structure is formed based on cellular topology. The introduced prediction mechanism makes the sensor nodes predict the remaining energy of other nodes, which dramatically reduces the overall information needed for energy balancing. ARCH can dynamically balance the energy consumption of nodes based on the predicted results provided by power allocation. The simulation results prove the efficiency of the proposed ARCH routing.
Automated dynamic memory data type implementation exploration and optimization

The behavior of many algorithms is heavily determined by the input data. Furthermore, this often means that multiple and completely different execution paths can be followed, also internal data usage and handling is frequently quite different. Therefore, static compile time memory allocation is not efficient, especially on embedded systems where memory is a scarce resource, and dynamic memory management is the only feasible alternative. Including applications with dynamic memory in embedded systems introduces new challenges as compared to traditional signal processing applications. In this paper, an automated framework is presented to optimize embedded applications with extensive use of dynamic memory management. The proposed methodology automates the exploration and identification of optimal data type implementations based on power estimates, memory accesses and normalized memory usage.
Dietary sodium to potassium ratio and the incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease: A population-based longitudinal study

ABSTRACT Objective: There is an interaction between dietary sodium/potassium intake in the pathogenesis of hypertension (HTN) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of dietary sodium to potassium (Na/K) ratio and the risk of HTN and CVD in a general population of Iranian adults. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, adults men and women with complete baseline data were selected from among participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study and were followed up for 6.3 years for incidence of HTN and CVD outcomes. Dietary sodium and potassium were assessed using a valid and reliable 168-item food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between dietary sodium, potassium and their ratio and risk of outcomes. Results: During the study follow-up, 291 (15.1%) and 79 (5.0%) new cases of HTN and CVD were identified, respectively. No significant association was observed between usual intakes of sodium, potassium and dietary Na/K ratio with the incidence of HTN. There was no significant association between dietary intakes of sodium and potassium per se and the risk of CVD, whereas when dietary sodium to potassium ratio was considered as exposure in the fully-adjusted Cox regression model, and participants in the highest compared to lowest tertile had a significantly increased risk of CVD (HR = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.16–4.14). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that high dietary Na/K ratio could contribute to increased risk of CVD events.
Immunolocalization of NTS 2 receptor in rat spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia

Philippe Sarret,1 Michael J. Esdaile,1 Amélie Perron,1 Jean Martinez,2 Thomas Stroh,1 and Alain Beaudet1 1Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2B4, and 2Laboratoire des Aminoacides, Peptides et Protéines, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5810, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Montpellier I & II, 34093 Montpellier, France
Understanding Brain Connectivity Patterns during Motor Imagery for Brain-Computer Interfacing

EEG connectivity measures could provide a new type of feature space for inferring a subject's intention in Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). However, very little is known on EEG connectivity patterns for BCIs. In this study, EEG connectivity during motor imagery (MI) of the left and right is investigated in a broad frequency range across the whole scalp by combining Beamforming with Transfer Entropy and taking into account possible volume conduction effects. Observed connectivity patterns indicate that modulation intentionally induced by MI is strongest in the γ-band, i.e., above 35 Hz. Furthermore, modulation between MI and rest is found to be more pronounced than between MI of different hands. This is in contrast to results on MI obtained with bandpower features, and might provide an explanation for the so far only moderate success of connectivity features in BCIs. It is concluded that future studies on connectivity based BCIs should focus on high frequency bands and consider experimental paradigms that maximally vary cognitive demands between conditions.
Computer-Mediated Communication Effects on Disclosure, Impressions, and Interpersonal Evaluations: Getting to Know One Another a Bit at a Time

This investigation examined how computer-mediated communication (CMC) partners exchange personal information in initial interactions, focusing on the effects of communication channels on self-disclosure, question-asking, and uncertainty reduction. Unacquainted individuals (N = 158) met either face-to-face or via CMC. Computer-mediated interactants exhibited a greater proportion of more direct and intimate uncertainty reduction behaviors than unmediated participants did, and demonstrated significantly greater gains in attributional confidence over the course of the conversations. The use of direct strategies by mediated interactants resulted in judgments of greater conversational effectiveness by partners. Results illuminate some microstructures previously asserted but unverified within social information processing theory (Walther, 1992), and extend uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1975) to CMC interaction.
The Sociomicrobiology of Antivirulence Drug Resistance: a Proof of Concept

ABSTRACT Antivirulence drugs disarm rather than kill pathogens and are thought to alleviate the problem of resistance, although there is no evidence to support this notion. Quorum sensing (QS) often controls cooperative virulence factor production and is therefore an attractive antivirulence target, for which inhibitors (QSI) have been developed. We designed a proof-of-principle experiment to investigate the impact of bacterial social interactions on the evolution of QSI resistance. We cocultured Pseudomonas aeruginosa QS-deficient mutants with small proportions of the QS-proficient wild type, which in the absence of QSI mimic QSI-sensitive and -resistant variants, respectively. We employed two different QS-dependent nutrients that are degraded by extracellular (public) and cell-associated (private) enzymes. QS mutants (QSI-sensitive mimics) behaved as social cheaters that delayed population growth and prevented enrichment of wild-type cooperators (QSI-resistant mimics) only when nutrient acquisition was public, suggesting that QSI resistance would not spread. This highlights the potential for antivirulence strategies that target cooperative behaviors and provides a conceptual framework for future studies.
MulTiSEX - A Multi-language Timex Sequential Extractor

In this paper we present a light-weighted Machine Learning based approach to the recognition and semantic classification of temporal expressions in different languages. We applied the proposed approach to English, Italian and Spanish with limited porting efforts. The experimental results show that our system produces state-of-the-art performance on all the corpora used and in some cases outperforms available systems.
Improved Detection of the Central Reflex in Retinal Vessels Using a Generalized Dual-Gaussian Model and Robust Hypothesis Testing

This updates an earlier publication by the authors describing a robust framework for detecting vasculature in noisy retinal fundus images. We improved the handling of the "central reflex'' phenomenon in which a vessel has a "hollow'' appearance. This is particularly pronounced in dual-wavelength images acquired at 570 and 600 nm for retinal oximetry. It is prominent in the 600 nm images that are sensitive to the blood oxygen content. Improved segmentation of these vessels is needed to improve oximetry. We show that the use of a generalized dual-Gaussian model for the vessel intensity profile instead of the Gaussian yields a significant improvement. Our method can account for variations in the strength of the central reflex, the relative contrast, width, orientation, scale, and imaging noise. It also enables the classification of regular and central reflex vessels. The proposed method yielded a sensitivity of 72% compared to 38% by the algorithm of Can , and 60% by the robust detection based on a single-Gaussian model. The specificity for the methods were 95%, 97%, and 98%, respectively.
Design of Adaptive Neural Network Controller for Thermal Power System Frequency Control

This paper deals with analytical and simulation approach for choice of activation functions and instead of a number of nodes for a class of neural network controllers for frequency control of thermal power systems. Neural network update laws are derived via Lyapunov like stability analysis. When number of nodes is fixed, then simulation analysis is conducted to find the best performer activation function. Best performance is chosen using integral error criteria and proper statistical tests.
Size effect on concrete shear strength in beams reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer bars

The understanding of size effect on the concrete shear strength of beams reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars is of fundamental and practical significance. The calibration and verification of the ACI 440 shear design algorithm has been mainly based on experimental results from specimens with a maximum effective depth of 360 mm (14.19 in.), which are not always representative of large-scale applications. In this paper, the results of laboratory tests on scaled FRP-reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement, having a maximum effective depth of 883 mm (34.75 in.), are presented. Based also on results available in the literature for normal-strength concrete, the scaling of strength is discussed in relation to effective depth, reinforcement ratio, aggregate size, and presence of minimum shear reinforcement and longitudinal skin reinforcement. Representative North American design algorithms that account for the shear force being resisted primarily by the uncracked concrete in compression (ACI) and through aggregate interlock (CSA) are then assessed.
Earlier response assessment in invasive aspergillosis based on the kinetics of serum Aspergillus galactomannan: proposal for a new definition.

BACKGROUND Current criteria for assessing treatment response of invasive aspergillosis (IA) rely on nonspecific subjective parameters. We hypothesized that an Aspergillus-specific response definition based on the kinetics of serum Aspergillus galactomannan index (GMI) would provide earlier and more objective response assessment. METHODS We compared the 6-week European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mycoses Study Group (EORTC/MSG) response criteria with GMI-based response among 115 cancer patients with IA. Success according to GMI required survival with repeatedly negative GMI for ≥2 weeks. Time to response and agreement between the 2 definitions were the study endpoints. RESULTS Success according to EORTC/MSG and GMI criteria was observed in 73 patients (63%) and 83 patients (72%), respectively. The GMI-based response was determined at a median of 21 days after treatment initiation (range, 15-41 days), 3 weeks before the EORTC/MSG time point, in 72 (87%) of 83 responders. Agreement between definitions was shown in all 32 nonresponders and in 73 of the 83 responders (91% overall), with an excellent κ correlation coefficient of 0.819. Among 10 patients with discordant response (EORTC/MSG failure, GMI success), 1 is alive without IA 3 years after diagnosis; for the other, aspergillosis could not be detected at autopsy. The presence of other life-threatening complications in the remaining 8 patients indicates that IA had resolved. CONCLUSIONS The Aspergillus-specific GMI-based criteria compare favorably to current response definitions for IA and significantly shorten time to response assessment. These criteria rely on a simple, reproducible, objective, and Aspergillus-specific test and should serve as the primary endpoint in trials of IA.
Combined carbamazepine and pregabalin therapy in a rat model of neuropathic pain.

BACKGROUND Carbamazepine and pregabalin have proven effects against neuropathic pain. Carbamazepine blocks voltage-dependent Na(+) channels, whereas pregabalin blocks voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels. The authors hypothesized that the co-administration of these drugs would synergistically reduce neuropathic pain. METHODS Neuropathic pain was induced by L5 nerve ligation in Sprague-Dawley rats. To determine their ED(50) values, carbamazepine and pregabalin were orally administered at 0.3, 3, 10, or 30 mg kg(-1). The drugs were then co-administered at 0, 1/4×ED(50), 1/2×ED(50), 1.5×ED(50), and 2×ED(50) to determine the ED(50) and ED(75) values of the drugs in combination. Allodynia was determined using the von Frey hair test and dose-effect curves and isobolograms were used to investigate drug interactions. Levels of the acute reactive protein c-Fos in the dorsal horn were evaluated as an indicator of pathological nerve excitation. RESULTS At ED(50) levels, carbamazepine and pregabalin did not exhibit synergism, but doses higher than ED(75) were found to be synergistic. The combination index was 0.18 (strong synergy) and dose reductions were 35.7-fold for carbamazepine and 6.8-fold for pregabalin when co-administered when compared with a single administration at ED(75). The percentage allodynia relief was only 60% for carbamazepine and 80% for pregabalin by single administration, whereas their co-administration relieved allodynia by 100%. Furthermore, treatment decreased c-Fos expression in the dorsal horn, but expressional differences between animals treated with carbamazepine plus pregabalin were not significantly different from those treated with single drug. CONCLUSIONS Carbamazepine and pregabalin ameliorate neuropathic pain synergistically at higher doses.
Effects of lipopolysaccharide priming on acute ischemic brain injury.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Infection has been implicated as a stroke risk factor. Activation and infiltration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) after cerebral ischemia may contribute to ischemic brain injury. This study was conducted to investigate how enhanced postischemic PMN infiltration by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) altered the acute ischemic outcomes. METHODS LPS (0.05 mg/kg SC) or vehicle was given to Long-Evans male rats 24 hours before ischemia. Focal cerebral ischemia was induced by temporary ligation of the right middle cerebral artery and both common carotid arteries for 45 minutes. Animals were killed 6 and 24 hours after reperfusion to determine the extent of PMN infiltration (myeloperoxidase assay), brain edema (wet-dry weight method), and vascular injury (fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated dextran extravasation). The infarct volumes were measured on the basis of TTC stain 24 hours after ischemia. RESULTS LPS had little effect on body temperature or peripheral white count but substantially enhanced PMN infiltration into the ischemic right middle cerebral artery cortex on the basis of myeloperoxidase activity (6 hours: control, 0 U/g; LPS, 0.186+/-0. 025 U/g; 24 hours: control, 0.185+/-0.025 U/g; LPS, 0.290+/-0.040 U/g; P<0.001) and morphological studies. The extent of vascular injury defined by the extravasation of fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated dextran into the ischemic tissue (6 hours: control, 3.11+/-0.41 microliter/mg protein; LPS, 0.48+/-0.16 microliter/mg protein; 24 hours: control, 1.77+/-0.23 microliter/mg protein; LPS, 0. 90+/-0.19 microliter/mg protein; P<0.001) and brain edema determined by the brain water content (6 hours: control, 84.77+/-1.63%; LPS, 82. 09+/-1.25%; 24 hours: control, 89.40+/-0.43%; LPS, 87.88+/-0.58%; P<0.01) were paradoxically reduced by LPS priming. LPS-primed rats also had smaller infarct volumes (control, 135+/-5 mm(3); LPS, 108+/-12 mm(3); P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Enhanced postischemic PMN infiltration is anticipated to facilitate ischemic brain injury. Contrary to this expectation, results from the present study suggest that an increase in postischemic PMN infiltration after LPS priming was not detrimental. These findings challenge the notion that postischemic PMN infiltration is uniformly deleterious.
Effect of Injection Parameters and Addition of Nanoscale Materials on the Shrinkage of Polypropylene Copolymer

The effect of variation of injection conditions and addition of nano-calcium carbonate (CaCO3), nano-silicon dioxide (SiO2) and full-vulcanized nano-powdered styrene butadiene rubber (PSBR) on the shrinkage of injection-molded polypropylene-ethylene copolymer (90/10, co-PP) were investigated. The results showed that the shrinkage was different for different locations along the flow path. The shrinkage in the length direction of the injection-molded sample varied with the adjustment of the processing parameters, while the shrinkage in the width and thickness direction was almost unchanged. The addition of nano-CaCO3 and PSBR decreased the shrinkage of co-PP, while the shrinkage of co-PP/ SiO2 composite was almost unchanged.
Cytotoxicity of lavender oil and its major components to human skin cells

Abstract. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) oil, chiefly composed of linalyl acetate (51%) and linalool (35%), is considered to be one of the mildest of known plant essential oils and has a history in wound healing. Concerns are building about the potential for irritant or allergenic skin reactions with the use of lavender oil. This study has demonstrated that lavender oil is cytotoxic to human skin cells in vitro (endothelial cells and fibroblasts) at a concentration of 0.25% (v/v) in all cell types tested (HMEC‐1, HNDF and 153BR). The major components of the oil, linalyl acetate and linalool, were also assayed under similar conditions for their cytotoxicity. The activity of linalool reflected that of the whole oil, indicating that linalool may be the active component of lavender oil. Linalyl acetate cytotoxicity was higher than that of the oil itself, suggesting suppression of its activity by an unknown factor in the oil. Membrane damage is proposed as the possible mechanism of action.
Algorithm 851: CG_DESCENT, a conjugate gradient method with guaranteed descent

Recently, a new nonlinear conjugate gradient scheme was developed which satisfies the descent condition <b>g</b><sup>T</sup><sub><i>k</i></sub><b>d</b><sub><i>k</i></sub> ≤ −7/8 ‖<b>g</b><sub><i>k</i></sub>‖<sup>2</sup> and which is globally convergent whenever the line search fulfills the Wolfe conditions. This article studies the convergence behavior of the algorithm; extensive numerical tests and comparisons with other methods for large-scale unconstrained optimization are given.
Neuroglial Plasticity at Striatal Glutamatergic Synapses in Parkinson's Disease

Striatal dopamine denervation is the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). Another major pathological change described in animal models and PD patients is a significant reduction in the density of dendritic spines on medium spiny striatal projection neurons. Simultaneously, the ultrastructural features of the neuronal synaptic elements at the remaining corticostriatal and thalamostriatal glutamatergic axo-spinous synapses undergo complex ultrastructural remodeling consistent with increased synaptic activity (Villalba and Smith, 2011). The concept of tripartite synapses (TS) was introduced a decade ago, according to which astrocytes process and exchange information with neuronal synaptic elements at glutamatergic synapses (Araque et al., 1999a). Although there has been compelling evidence that astrocytes are integral functional elements of tripartite glutamatergic synaptic complexes in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, their exact functional role, degree of plasticity and preponderance in other CNS regions remain poorly understood. In this review, we discuss our recent findings showing that neuronal elements at cortical and thalamic glutamatergic synapses undergo significant plastic changes in the striatum of MPTP-treated parkinsonian monkeys. We also present new ultrastructural data that demonstrate a significant expansion of the astrocytic coverage of striatal TS synapses in the parkinsonian state, providing further evidence for ultrastructural compensatory changes that affect both neuronal and glial elements at TS. Together with our limited understanding of the mechanisms by which astrocytes respond to changes in neuronal activity and extracellular transmitter homeostasis, the role of both neuronal and glial components of excitatory synapses must be considered, if one hopes to take advantage of glia–neuronal communication knowledge to better understand the pathophysiology of striatal processing in parkinsonism, and develop new PD therapeutics.