Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Musical Aptitude Is Associated with AVPR1A-Haplotypes

Artistic creativity forms the basis of music culture and music industry. Composing, improvising and arranging music are complex creative functions of the human brain, which biological value remains unknown. We hypothesized that practicing music is social communication that needs musical aptitude and even creativity in music. In order to understand the neurobiological basis of music in human evolution and communication we analyzed polymorphisms of the arginine vasopressin receptor 1A (AVPR1A), serotonin transporter (SLC6A4), catecol-O-methyltranferase (COMT), dopamin receptor D2 (DRD2) and tyrosine hydroxylase 1 (TPH1), genes associated with social bonding and cognitive functions in 19 Finnish families (n = 343 members) with professional musicians and/or active amateurs. All family members were tested for musical aptitude using the auditory structuring ability test (Karma Music test; KMT) and Carl Seashores tests for pitch (SP) and for time (ST). Data on creativity in music (composing, improvising and/or arranging music) was surveyed using a web-based questionnaire. Here we show for the first time that creative functions in music have a strong genetic component (h2 = .84; composing h2 = .40; arranging h2 = .46; improvising h2 = .62) in Finnish multigenerational families. We also show that high music test scores are significantly associated with creative functions in music (p<.0001). We discovered an overall haplotype association with AVPR1A gene (markers RS1 and RS3) and KMT (p = 0.0008; corrected p = 0.00002), SP (p = 0.0261; corrected p = 0.0072) and combined music test scores (COMB) (p = 0.0056; corrected p = 0.0006). AVPR1A haplotype AVR+RS1 further suggested a positive association with ST (p = 0.0038; corrected p = 0.00184) and COMB (p = 0.0083; corrected p = 0.0040) using haplotype-based association test HBAT. The results suggest that the neurobiology of music perception and production is likely to be related to the pathways affecting intrinsic attachment behavior.
Angiogenesis , Metastasis , and the Cellular Microenvironment Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Mediates Fibroblast-Dependent Growth in EMMPRIN-Depleted Head and Neck Cancer Tumor Cells

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tumors (HNSCC) contain a dense fibrous stroma which is known to promote tumor growth, although the mechanism of stroma-mediated growth remains unclear. As dysplastic mucosal epithelium progresses to cancer, there is incremental overexpression of extracellular matrix metalloprotease inducer (EMMPRIN) which is associated with tumor growth and metastasis. Here, we present evidence that gain of EMMPRIN expression allows tumor growth to be less dependent on fibroblasts by modulating fibroblast growth factor receptor-2 (FGFR2) signaling. We show that silencing EMMPRIN in FaDu and SCC-5 HNSCC cell lines inhibits cell growth, but when EMMPRIN-silenced tumor cells were cocultured with fibroblasts or inoculated with fibroblasts into severe combined immunodeficient mice, the growth inhibition by silencing EMMPRIN was blunted by the presence of fibroblasts. Coculture experiments showed fibroblast-dependent tumor cell growth occurred via a paracrine signaling. Analysis of tumor gene expression revealed expression of FGFR2 was inversely related to EMMPRIN expression. To determine the role of FGFR2 signaling in EMMPRIN-silenced tumor cells, ligands and inhibitors of FGFR2 were assessed. Both FGF1 and FGF2 enhanced tumor growth in EMMPRIN-silenced cells compared with control vector–transfected cells, whereas inhibition of FGFR2 with blocking antibody or with a synthetic inhibitor (PD173074) inhibited tumor cell growth in fibroblast coculture, suggesting the importance of FGFR2 signaling in fibroblast-mediated tumor growth. Analysis of xenografted tumors revealed that EMMPRIN-silenced tumors had a larger stromal compartment compared with control. Taken together, these results suggest that EMMPRIN acquired during tumor progression promotes fibroblast-independent tumor growth. Mol Cancer Res; 9(8); 1–10. 2011 AACR.
From Pixels to Palate: Deep Learning-Based Image Aesthetics Assessment for Food and Beverages

Food and beverage images are omnipresent on the internet, reflecting a growing trend of people sharing their culi-nary experiences on various social media platforms. This visual abundance of food content presents significant opportunities and challenges for businesses and researchers alike, as they seek to harness the potential of these images' aesthetics for marketing, recommendation systems, and gaining valuable insights into consumer preferences and trends. In this paper we extend the topic's current research state (a) by composing a data set extracted from a real-world recipe data base, labeled by a large number of raters (104 laypersons) to reduce biases and enhance relevance for end-users who are typically no experts; (b) by contrasting the effects of transfer learning using pre-trained ImageNet-models compared to training from scratch and thereby investigating the usefulness of the pre- trained models' general features for aesthetics assessment; (c) by showing how the models can be used as an “Oracle” to isolate the effects of high-level image features on image aesthetics. Our experimental results show that while the test set results on our own data set are similar (approx. 80%) for pre-trained models and models trained from scratch, the pre-trained ImageNet-models have better generalization capabilities with respect to a different data set.
ACL reconstruction with BPTB autograft and irradiated fresh frozen allograft

ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical outcomes of arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with irradiated bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) allograft compared with non-irradiated allograft and autograft.MethodsAll BPTB allografts were obtained from a single tissue bank and the irradiated allografts were sterilized with 2.5 mrad of irradiation prior to distribution. A total of 68 patients undergoing arthroscopic ACL reconstruction were prospectively randomized consecutively into one of the two groups (autograft and irradiated allograft groups). The same surgical technique was used in all operations done by the same senior surgeon. Before surgery and at the average of 31 months of follow-up (ranging from 24 to 47 months), patients were evaluated by the same observer according to objective and subjective clinical evaluations.ResultsOf these patients, 65 (autograft 33, irradiated allograft 32) were available for full evaluation. When the irradiated allograft group was compared to the autograft group at the 31-month follow-up by the Lachman test, the anterior drawer test (ADT), the pivot shift test, and KT-2000 arthrometer test, statistically significant differences were found. Most importantly, 87.8% of patients in the autograft group and just only 31.3% in the irradiated allograft group had a side-to-side difference of less than 3 mm according to KT-2000. The failure rate of the ACL reconstruction with irradiated allograft (34.4%) was higher than that with autograft (6.1%). The anterior and rotational stabilities decreased significantly in the irradiated allograft group. According to the overall International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), functional and subjective evaluations, and activity level testing, no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups. Besides, patients in the irradiated allograft group had a shorter operation time and a longer duration of postoperative fever. When the patients had a fever, the laboratory examinations of all patients were almost normal. Blood routine was normal, the values of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were 5∼16 mm/h and the contents of C reactive protein (CRP) were 3∼10 mg/L.ConclusionWe conclude that the short term clinical outcomes of the ACL reconstruction with irradiated BPTB allograft were adversely affected. The less than satisfactory results led the senior authors to discontinue the use of irradiated BPTB allograft in ACL surgery and not to advocate using the gamma irradiation as a secondary sterilizing method.
Word Sense Disambiguation Using OntoNotes: An Empirical Study

The accuracy of current word sense disambiguation (WSD) systems is affected by the fine-grained sense inventory of WordNet as well as a lack of training examples. Using the WSD examples provided through OntoNotes, we conduct the first large-scale WSD evaluation involving hundreds of word types and tens of thousands of sense-tagged examples, while adopting a coarse-grained sense inventory. We show that though WSD systems trained with a large number of examples can obtain a high level of accuracy, they nevertheless suffer a substantial drop in accuracy when applied to a different domain. To address this issue, we propose combining a domain adaptation technique using feature augmentation with active learning. Our results show that this approach is effective in reducing the annotation effort required to adapt a WSD system to a new domain. Finally, we propose that one can maximize the dual benefits of reducing the annotation effort while ensuring an increase in WSD accuracy, by only performing active learning on the set of most frequently occurring word types.
Respiratory input and transfer mechanical impedances in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Total respiratory input (Zin) and transfer (Ztr) mechanical impedances were measured from 4-30 Hz in 9 patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in 12 healthy subjects. Zin was obtained by applying a pressure input around the head to minimize transmural pressure across extrathoracic airway walls, and Ztr was obtained with a pressure input at the chest. In agreement with previous studies total respiratory compliance and inertance were decreased in patients, while effective input resistance was increased and exhibited a negative frequency dependence. Effective transfer resistance (Re(Ztr)) was also increased at all frequencies, and, in some patients, the Re(Ztr)-frequency curve was sigmoid in shape, which was never seen in normals. When Ztr was analysed with a six-coefficient monoalveolar model featuring tissue properties, alveolar gas compliance, and airways properties, the model fitted the data less closely in patients than in normals and, in the former, provided unrealistic coefficients. Such was also the case with a bialveolar model. A better fit with more realistic values for the coefficients was obtained in selected patients with a model where central and peripheral (Rp) airway resistance were separated by a shunt representing airway wall compliance (Cb): Cb was found to range from 0.029-0.062 l.kPa-1 and Rp represented 44-81% of total airway resistance.
ADAM-17: the enzyme that does it all

This review focuses on the role of ADAM-17 in disease. Since its debut as the tumor necrosis factor converting enzyme (TACE), ADAM-17 has been reported to be an indispensible regulator of almost every cellular event from proliferation to migration. The central role of ADAM-17 in cell regulation is rooted in its diverse array of substrates: cytokines, growth factors, and their receptors as well as adhesion molecules are activated or inactivated by their cleavage with ADAM-17. It is therefore not surprising that ADAM-17 is implicated in numerous human diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, kidney fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and is a promising target for future treatments. The specific role of ADAM-17 in the pathophysiology of these diseases is very complex and depends on the cellular context. To exploit the therapeutic potential of ADAM-17, it is important to understand how its activity is regulated and how specific organs and cells can be targeted to inactivate or activate the enzyme.
Crk Adaptors Negatively Regulate Actin Polymerization in Pedestals Formed by Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) by Binding to Tir Effector

Infections by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) cause diarrhea linked to high infant mortality in developing countries. EPEC adheres to epithelial cells and induces the formation of actin pedestals. Actin polymerization is driven fundamentally through signaling mediated by Tir bacterial effector protein, which inserts in the plasma membrane of the infected cell. Tir binds Nck adaptor proteins, which in turn recruit and activate N-WASP, a ubiquitous member of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome family of proteins. N-WASP activates the Arp2/3 complex to promote actin polymerization. Other proteins aside from components of the Tir-Nck-N-WASP pathway are recruited to the pedestals but their functions are unknown. Here we investigate the function of two alternatively spliced isoforms of Crk adaptors (CrkI/II) and the paralog protein CrkL during pedestal formation by EPEC. We found that the Crk isoforms act as redundant inhibitors of pedestal formation. The SH2 domain of CrkII and CrkL binds to phosphorylated tyrosine 474 of Tir and competes with Nck to bind Tir, preventing its recruitment to pedestals and thereby inhibiting actin polymerization. EPEC infection induces phosphorylation of the major regulatory tyrosine in CrkII and CrkL, possibly preventing the SH2 domain of these proteins from interacting with Tir. Phosphorylated CrkII and CrkL proteins localize specifically to the plasma membrane in contact with EPEC. Our study uncovers a novel role for Crk adaptors at pedestals, opening a new perspective in how these oncoproteins regulate actin polymerization.
Freshwater biodiversity : a preliminary global assessment

This document provides information on inland waters and their biodiversity, and includes the first global assessment of areas of special importance for freshwater biodiversity, based on expert opinion and data. It also includes a first comparative analysis of major river basins, using indicators of biodiversity, the condition of catchment basins and pressures on water resources, in order to generate indices of importance and risk
The Centre for Market and Public Organisation Place-based Policies Place-based Policies* 1

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) is a leading research centre, combining expertise in economics, geography and law. Our objective is to study the intersection between the public and private sectors of the economy, and in particular to understand the right way to organise and deliver public services. The Centre aims to develop research, contribute to the public debate and inform policy-making. CMPO, now an ESRC Research Centre was established in 1998 with two large grants from The Leverhulme Trust. In 2004 we were awarded ESRC Research Centre status, and CMPO now combines core funding from both the ESRC and the Trust. Abstract Place-based policies commonly target underperforming areas, such as deteriorating downtown business districts and disadvantaged regions. Principal examples include enterprise zones, European Union Structural Funds, and industrial cluster policies. Place-based policies are rationalized by various hypotheses in urban and labor economics, such as agglomeration economies and spatial mismatch – hypotheses that entail market failures and often predict overlap between poor economic performance and disadvantaged residents. The evidence on enterprise zones is very mixed. We need to know more about what features of enterprise zone policies make them more effective or less effective, who gains and who loses from these policies, and how we can reconcile the existing findings. Some evidence points to positive benefits of infrastructure expenditure, and also investment in higher education and university research – likely because of the public-goods nature of these policies. However, to better guide policy, we need to know more about what policies create self-sustaining longer-run gains.
Cogging Torque Cancellation by Magnet Shape Design for Axial Gap Motors

This paper proposes the optimization of magnet shape combination and cogging torque cancellation method for a double rotor single stator axial gap motor. The motor consists of a central stator sandwiched between two rotors from both sides. Since the two axially opposite surfaces are torquegenerating surfaces, the motor is expected to generate a high torque density in a flat structure. On the other hand, cogging torque is a major issue because it determines the quality of the motor. Previously, the authors proposed a method to reduce the cogging torque while maintaining the torque by designing the magnet shape in the shape of multiplying wave. In this study, the authors optimize the combination of the multiplied wave magnet shapes of the top and bottom rotors. In addition, we design a magnet shape that inverts the phase of the harmonic component of the cogging torque generated between the top and bottom rotors and the stator. As a result, the proposed model can significantly reduce the cogging torque while maintaining almost the same torque as the basic model.
Calcium‐ and polyphosphate‐containing acidocalcisomes in chicken egg yolk

Background information. Poly P (inorganic polyphosphate) is a polymer formed by Pi residues linked by high‐energy phosphoanhydride bonds. The presence of poly P in bacteria, fungi, algae and protists has been widely recognized, but the distribution of poly P in more complex eukaryotes has been poorly studied. Poly P accumulates, together with calcium, in acidic vesicles or acidocalcisomes in a number of organisms and possesses a diverse array of functions, including roles in stress response, blood clotting, inflammation, calcification, cell proliferation and apoptosis.
Increased Health Service Utilization Costs in the Year Prior to Institutionalization: Findings from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging

Objectives The objective of this study was to characterize patterns of formal health service utilization costs during older adults’ transition from community to institutional care. Methods Participants were 127 adults (age ≥ 65) from the British Columbia sample (N = 2,057) of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging who transitioned from community to institutional care between 1991 and 2001. Health service utilization costs were measured using Cost-Per-Day-At-Risk at five time points: > 12 months, 6–12 months, and ≤ 6 months preinstitutionalization, and ≤ 6 months and 6–12 months postinstitutionalization. Cost-Per-Day-At-Risk was measured for Continuing Care, Medical Services Plan, and PharmaCare costs by calculating total health service use over time, divided by the number of days the participant was alive. Results Significant differences in Cost-Per-Day-At-Risk were observed for Continuing Care, Medical Services Plan, and PharmaCare costs over time. All health service utilization costs increased significantly during the 6–12 months and ≤ 6 months prior to institutionalization. Postinstitutionalization Continuing Care costs continued to increase at ≤ 6 months before decreasing at 6–12 months, while decreases occurred for Medical Services Plan and PharmaCare costs relative to preinstitutionalization costs. Conclusions The increases in costs observed during the year prior to institutionalization, characterized by a flurry of health service utilization, provide evidence of distinct cost patterns over the transition period.
Response of rice yield to rat damage in irrigated rice (Oryza Sativum L.) in Mvomero district, Morogoro, Tanzania

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN CROPSCIENCE OF SOKOINE UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURE. MOROGORO, TANZANIA. 2016
A Deep Learning-Based Multimodal Recognition Biometric System Using Finger Vein and Finger Knuckle Print

Secure personal identification remains a paramount challenge in contemporary society, necessitating robust and reliable identity verification mechanisms. Biometric identification systems offer a promising avenue, given their inherent secu-rity attributes. In particular, the finger knuckle print (FKP) and finger vein (FV) are emerging as potent hand biometric modalities. In this paper, we employed convolutional neural networks (CNNs), foundational structures in deep learning, owing to their unparalleled proficiency in image analysis. Leveraging transfer learning through pretrained CNN models, we evaluated a biometric system that employs both finger knuckle and finger vein modalities. This paper proposes utilising two distinct datasets comprising 11,736 images 7,920 of finger knuckles and 3,816 of finger veins. Further enhancing system efficacy, we implemented a multimodal approach by fusing unimodal scores, our suggested multimodal system EER performance in finger knuckle print (FKP) 0.000% and finger vein (FV) 0.00599%. Preliminary experimental outcomes underscore the promising potential of FKP and FV in biometric applications.
On the Interaction with Large Language Models for Web Accessibility: Implications and Challenges

The widespread diffusion of Large Language Models (LLMs) has ushered in a transformative era across numerous research domains, including web accessibility. In fact, they can potentially offer automated solutions for generating accessible content, performing accessibility testing, and enhancing the overall user experience for individuals with disabilities. In this paper, we investigate how LLMs can be successfully employed to evaluate and correct web accessibility. Then, we delve into the positive implications and the current challenges derived from the interaction between developers and LLMs in this specific context. Finally, we present some future directions that could be explored to ensure that web content remains accessible to all.
Structural and Evolutionary Relationships among Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Domains

With the current access to the whole genomes of various organisms and the completion of the first draft of the human genome, there is a strong need for a structure-function classification of protein families as an initial step in moving from DNA databases to a comprehensive understanding of human biology. As a result of the explosion in nucleic acid sequence information and the concurrent development of methods for high-throughput functional characterization of gene products, the genomic revolution also promises to provide a new paradigm for drug discovery, enabling the identification of molecular drug targets in a significant number of human diseases. This molecular view of diseases has contributed to the importance of combining primary sequence data with three-dimensional structure and has increased the awareness of computational homology modeling and its potential to elucidate protein function. In particular, when important proteins or novel therapeutic targets are identified—like the family of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) (reviewed in reference 53)—a structure-function classification of such protein families becomes an invaluable framework for further advances in biomedical science. Here, we present a comparative analysis of the structural relationships among vertebrate PTP domains and provide a comprehensive resource for sequence analysis of phosphotyrosine-specific PTPs.