Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metaplasticity in the Visual Cortex: Crosstalk Between Visual Experience and Reactive Oxygen Species

Metaplasticity is the regulation of synaptic plasticity based on the history of previous synaptic activation. This concept was formulated after observing that synaptic changes in the visual cortex are not fixed, but dynamic and dependent on the history of visual information flux. In visual cortical neurons, sustained synaptic stimulation activate the enzymatic complex NOX2, resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). NOX2 is the main molecular structure responsible for translating neural activity into redox modulation of intracellular signaling pathways involved in plastic changes. Here, we studied the interaction between NOX2 and visual experience as metaplastic factors regulating synaptic plasticity at the supergranular layers of the mouse visual cortex. We found that genetic inhibition of NOX2 reverses the polarizing effects of dark rearing from LTP to LTD. In addition, we demonstrate that this process relies on changes in the NMDA receptor functioning. Altogether, this work indicates a role of ROS in the activity-dependent regulation of cortical synaptic plasticity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Synaptic plasticity in the visual cortex is modulated by the history of sensory experience and this modulation has been defined as metaplasticity. Dark rearing facilitates synaptic potentiation as a mechanism optimizing the range of synaptic modification. This process requires the production of reactive oxygen species mediated by the enzymatic complex NOX2. If the activity of NOX2 is inhibited, then visual deprivation results in synaptic depression. These findings increase our knowledge about metaplasticity and help in our understanding of how neural activity modulates cellular mechanisms of synaptic change.
Pilot study assessing the direct medical cost of treating patients with cancer in Kenya; findings and implications for the future

Abstract Background: Currently the majority of cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, where there are appreciable funding concerns. In Kenya, most patients currently pay out of pocket for treatment, and those who are insured are generally not covered for the full costs of treatment. This places a considerable burden on households if family members develop cancer. However, the actual cost of cancer treatment in Kenya is unknown. Such an analysis is essential to better allocate resources as Kenya strives towards universal healthcare. Objectives: To evaluate the economic burden of treating cancer patients. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional cost of illness study in the leading teaching and referral hospital in Kenya, with data collected from the hospital files of sampled adult patients for treatment during 2016. Results: In total, 412 patient files were reviewed, of which 63.4% (n = 261) were female and 36.6% (n = 151) male. The cost of cancer care is highly dependent on the modality. Most reviewed patients had surgery, chemotherapy and palliative care. The cost of cancer therapy varied with the type of cancer. Patients on chemotherapy alone cost an average of KES 138,207 (USD 1364.3); while those treated with surgery cost an average of KES 128,207 (1265.6), and those on radiotherapy KES 119,036 (1175.1). Some patients had a combination of all three, costing, on average, KES 333,462 (3291.8) per patient during the year. Conclusion: The cost of cancer treatment in Kenya depends on the type of cancer, the modality, cost of medicines and the type of inpatient admission. The greatest contributors are currently the cost of medicines and inpatient admissions. This pilot study can inform future initiatives among the government as well as private and public insurance companies to increase available resources, and better allocate available resources, to more effectively treat patients with cancer in Kenya. The authors will be monitoring developments and conducting further research.
Deep Reinforcement Learning in a Handful of Trials using Probabilistic Dynamics Models

Model-based reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms can attain excellent sample efficiency, but often lag behind the best model-free algorithms in terms of asymptotic performance. This is especially true with high-capacity parametric function approximators, such as deep networks. In this paper, we study how to bridge this gap, by employing uncertainty-aware dynamics models. We propose a new algorithm called probabilistic ensembles with trajectory sampling (PETS) that combines uncertainty-aware deep network dynamics models with sampling-based uncertainty propagation. Our comparison to state-of-the-art model-based and model-free deep RL algorithms shows that our approach matches the asymptotic performance of model-free algorithms on several challenging benchmark tasks, while requiring significantly fewer samples (e.g., 8 and 125 times fewer samples than Soft Actor Critic and Proximal Policy Optimization respectively on the half-cheetah task).
Dabigatran affects thrombin-dependent platelet aggregation after a week-long therapy

Abstract Objective. Dabigatran is a direct thrombin inhibitor. As the main adverse event is bleeding, it is relevant whether dabigatran has additional effects on platelet function. If so, it could affect the bleeding risk. We aimed to assess in vitro aggregation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) receiving dabigatran. Design. We evaluated 32 AF patients treated with dabigatran (study group) and 18 non-anticoagulated non-AF blood donors (control group). We assessed light transmittance platelet aggregation (LTA) with 100 nmol/L γ-thrombin in both groups. The LTA was performed at two time-points in our dabigatran group of patients. Results. The thrombin-induced platelet aggregation was significantly lower two hours after dabigatran was taken compared to baseline measurement (9% ± 6% vs. 29% ± 21%) in our study group. Moreover, we observed that the baseline value of platelet aggregation in patients on dabigatran treatment was significantly lower compared to healthy volunteers (29% ± 21% vs. 89 ± 8). However, one subanalysis showed that this significant reduction in platelet aggregation at baseline was only observed in patients who received dabigatran for over a week. Conclusion. The thrombin-induced platelet aggregation is reduced in non-valvular AF patients receiving dabigatran after a week-long therapy.
Dealing With the Aftermath of Mass Disasters: A Field Study on the Application of EMDR Integrative Group Treatment Protocol With Child Survivors of the 2016 Italy Earthquakes

This study explored the effects of the EMDR Integrative Group Treatment Protocol (EMDR-IGTP) on child survivors of the earthquakes that struck Umbria, a region of central Italy, on August 24th and on October 26th 2016. Three hundred and thirty-two children from the town of Norcia and nearby severely disrupted villages received 3 cycles of EMDR-IGTP. The Emotion Thermometers (ET-5) and the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) were administered before (T0) and about 1 week after the conclusion of the third cycle (T3) of EMDR-IGTP. At T3, older children showed a reduction of distress and anger, whereas younger children reported an increase on these domains; moreover, older children reported a greater reduction of anxiety than younger ones. A greater reduction of distress, anxiety, and need for help was evidenced in females, whereas a greater improvement in depressive symptoms was evidenced in males. The effects of the EMDR-IGTP treatment on post-traumatic symptoms were particularly evident in older children, compared to younger ones, and marginally greater in females than in males; moreover, a greater improvement was found in children who had received a timelier intervention, than in those who received delayed treatment. These results provide further evidence for the utility of EMDR-IGTP in dealing with the extensive need for mental health services in mass disaster contexts. Also, these data highlight the importance of providing EMDR-IGTP in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, to contribute significantly in restoring adaptive psychological functioning in children, especially in older ones.
An Evaluation of Image-Based Verb Prediction Models against Human Eye-Tracking Data

Recent research in language and vision has developed models for predicting and disambiguating verbs from images. Here, we ask whether the predictions made by such models correspond to human intuitions about visual verbs. We show that the image regions a verb prediction model identifies as salient for a given verb correlate with the regions fixated by human observers performing a verb classification task.
Canine Rabies Outbreaks, Vaccination Coverage, and Transmission in Humans: Greater Accra Region, Ghana- A Retrospective Study-2006-2011

Rabies is a highly fatal, viral, zoonotic disease caused by a Lyssa virus. It is acquired through the bite of an infected animal, mostly dogs. Estimated annual global human mortalities from rabies is 61,000, over 99% of which are from developing countries where about US$583.5 million is spent on its control. Rabies is enzootic in Ghana. Vaccinating about 70% of the dog population leads to a reduction in rabies transmission to humans; however, percentage dog anti-rabies vaccination coverage in Ghana is unknown. This study therefore investigated the magnitude of rabies in dogs and humans in the Greater-Accra region, and assessed annual percentage dog anti-rabies vaccination coverage from 2007-2011. Secondary data on rabies vaccination, post mortem and dog quarantine records for all ten districts in the region, and human rabies records were analysed. Means and percentages were calculated, graphs drawn and trends analysed. The number of animal samples which tested positive out of 309, was 283. Predictive value positive was 91.6%. Of the positive cases, 97.5% (276/283) had no previous vaccination history, and 96.1% (272/283) were from dogs. Fifty-five out of 174 (31.6%) samples were from dogs which bit more than one person. Human exposures to dog and other animal bites are not differentiated. Average annual number of outbreaks was 31, whereas percentage dog vaccination ranged from 10.26-17.56. Current annual percentage dog anti-rabies vaccination coverage is very low, whereas the incidence of dog rabies in the region is high. The number of humans affected may be underestimated. Government should immediately facilitate annual mass vaccination of pets.
Quantitative Imaging In Vivo of Functioning Lymphatic Vessels Around Human Melanoma and Benign Nevi

The density of functioning human lymphatics in vivo and of immunohistochemically defined lymphatics was quantified around melanomas, benign nevi, and matched normal skin, to assess the current lymphangiogenesis paradigm. We investigated whether histological and functioning density increased around melanomas compared with benign nevi or matched skin; whether functioning and histological density increased similarly; and whether larger increases occurred around metastatic melanomas.
Centrin-Deleted Leishmania donovani Parasites Help CD4+ T Cells to Acquire Th1 Phenotype and Multi-Functionality Through Downregulation of CD200–CD200R Immune Inhibitory Axis

The protozoan parasite Leishmania has evolved several strategies to undermine host defense mechanisms by inducing Th2-type adaptive immunity and suppressing effector functions of Th1 phenotype. In our earlier studies, using centrin gene-deleted Leishmania (LdCen−/−) parasites as an immunogen, we have shown induction of an effective Th1-type immunity and robust memory responses that mediate protection against virulent challenge. However, role of inhibitory signals in Leishmania vaccine induced immunity in general, and LdCen−/− in particular has not been studied. Herein, we report that immunization with LdCen−/− parasites produces more functional Th1-type CD4+ T cells via downregulation of CD200–CD200R immune inhibitory axis compared to wild-type infection. We found that expression of CD200 and CD200R was significantly reduced in LdCen−/− infection compared to wild-type infection. Diminished CD200–CD200R signaling in LdCen−/− infection enabled proliferation of CD4+ T cells and resulted in the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and suppression of anti-inflammatory response. The effects of diminished CD200–CD200R signaling by LdCen−/− were most evident in the suppression of IL-10-producing CD4+ T cells that helped enhance more Th1 cytokine producing and multi-functional T cells compared to wild-type infection. In vivo blocking of CD200 expression with anti-CD200 treatment in wild-type infected mice limited Th2 response as indicated by reduction of IL-10-producing Tr1 cells and reduced parasite burden. On the other hand, treatment with anti-CD200 improved the LdCen−/− vaccine-induced multifunctional response and reduction in splenic parasite load upon challenge. Taken together, these studies demonstrate the role of CD200–CD200R signals in the protection induced by LdCen−/− parasites.
Effect of Prandtl’s ratio on balance in geophysical turbulence

The fluid dynamics of the atmosphere and oceans is to a large extent controlled by the slow evolution of a scalar field called ‘potential vorticity’ (PV), with relatively fast motions such as inertia-gravity waves playing only a minor role. This state of affairs is commonly referred to as ‘balance’. Potential vorticity is a special scalar field which is materially conserved in the absence of diabatic effects and dissipation, effects that are generally weak in the atmosphere and oceans. Moreover, in a balanced flow, PV induces the entire fluid motion and its thermodynamic structure (Hoskins et al., Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., vol. 111, 1985, pp. 877–946). While exact balance is generally not achievable, it is now well established that balance holds to a high degree of accuracy in rapidly rotating and strongly stratified flows. Such flows are characterised by both a small Rossby number, $\mathit{Ro}\equiv |{\it\zeta}|_{max}/f$ , and a small Froude number, $\mathit{Fr}\equiv |{\bf\omega}_{h}|_{max}/N$ , where ${\it\zeta}$ and ${\bf\omega}_{h}$ are the relative vertical and horizontal vorticity components, while $f$ and $N$ are the Coriolis and buoyancy frequencies. In fact, balance can even be a good approximation when $\mathit{Fr}\lesssim \mathit{Ro}\sim \mathit{O}(1)$ . In this study, we examine how balance depends specifically on Prandtl’s ratio, $f/N$ , in unforced freely evolving turbulence. We examine a wide variety of turbulent flows, at a mature and complex stage of their evolution, making use of the fully non-hydrostatic equations under the Boussinesq and incompressible approximations. We perform numerical simulations at exceptionally high resolution in order to carefully assess the degree to which balance holds, and to determine when it breaks down. For this purpose, it proves most useful to employ an invariant PV-based Rossby number ${\it\varepsilon}$ , together with $f/N$ . For a given ${\it\varepsilon}$ , our key finding is that – for at least tens of characteristic vortex rotation periods – the flow is insensitive to $f/N$ for all values for which the flow remains statically stable (typically $f/N\lesssim 1$ ). Only the vertical velocity varies in proportion to $f/N$ , in line with quasi-geostrophic (QG) scaling for which $\mathit{Fr}^{2}\ll \mathit{Ro}\ll 1$ . We also find that as ${\it\varepsilon}$ increases towards unity, the maximum $f/N$ attainable decreases towards 0. No statically stable flows occur for ${\it\varepsilon}\gtrsim 1$ . For all stable flows, balance is found to hold to a remarkably high degree: as measured by an energy norm, imbalance never exceeds more than a few per cent of the balance, even in flows where $\mathit{Ro}>1$ . The vertical velocity $w$ remains a tiny fraction of the horizontal velocity $\boldsymbol{u}_{h}$ , even when $w$ is dominantly balanced. Finally, typical vertical to horizontal scale ratios $H/L$ remain close to $f/N$ , as found previously in QG turbulence for which $\mathit{Fr}\sim \mathit{Ro}\ll 1$ .
Inhibition of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)-induced endocrine disruption by co-treatment of vitamins C and E and their mechanism of action

ABSTRACT The endocrine disrupting actions of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) on testicular functions are postulated to involve excess free radical generation. Thus the aim of this study was to examine the ability of antioxidant vitamins C and E to prevent DEHP-induced testicular disruption in male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. SD male rats were administered DEHP alone or DEHP with vitamin C and/or vitamin E for 30 days. DEHP alone increased the levels of testosterone (T) and reduced estradiol (E2) concentrations. Supplementation with antioxidant vitamins diminished or restored serum T levels noted in DEHP-treated rats to control values. In contrast vitamins C and E increased E2 levels to control in rats administered DEHP. Antioxidants significantly improved the decreased testicular levels of reduced glutathione and activity of superoxide dismutase compared to DEHP-treatment alone. Co-treatment of vitamins C and E also markedly improved the reduced epididymal sperm head counts and elevated levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) or 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) induced by DEHP treatment. These results support the concept that the adverse actions of DEHP may be related to increased free radical generation while co-treatment with vitamins C and E significantly blocked the actions of DEHP on male testicular functions.
Cooperative Intersection Control Based on Virtual Platooning

This paper proposes a cooperative intersection control strategy, which aims to decrease the number of accidents and to increase the traffic flow at intersections. Existing high-level automation methodologies mainly focus on the determination of a safe crossing sequence of the involved vehicles, typically ignoring realistic vehicle dynamics aspects. The solution proposed in this paper, referred to as cooperative intersection control (CIC), takes into account the dynamics of the vehicles and is based on the novel concept of virtual platooning. Virtual platooning allows to form platoons of vehicles that are in different lanes of the intersection and have different directional intentions. Herewith, both safe passage of the vehicles through the intersection and a high intersection throughput (due to close “virtual” vehicle following) can be achieved. The performance of the proposed strategy is assessed, and a comparison between the CIC and an intersection controlled with traffic lights is presented.
Syntactically Aware Neural Architectures for Definition Extraction

Automatically identifying definitional knowledge in text corpora (Definition Extraction or DE) is an important task with direct applications in, among others, Automatic Glossary Generation, Taxonomy Learning, Question Answering and Semantic Search. It is generally cast as a binary classification problem between definitional and non-definitional sentences. In this paper we present a set of neural architectures combining Convolutional and Recurrent Neural Networks, which are further enriched by incorporating linguistic information via syntactic dependencies. Our experimental results in the task of sentence classification, on two benchmarking DE datasets (one generic, one domain-specific), show that these models obtain consistent state of the art results. Furthermore, we demonstrate that models trained on clean Wikipedia-like definitions can successfully be applied to more noisy domain-specific corpora.
A test of genomic modularity among life‐history adaptations promoting speciation with gene flow

Speciation with gene flow may require adaptive divergence of multiple traits to generate strong ecologically based reproductive isolation. Extensive negative pleiotropy or physical linkage of genes in the wrong phase affecting these diverging traits may therefore hinder speciation, while genetic independence or “modularity” among phenotypic traits may reduce constraints and facilitate divergence. Here, we test whether the genetics underlying two components of diapause life history, initial diapause intensity and diapause termination timing, constrain differentiation between sympatric hawthorn and apple‐infesting host races of the fly Rhagoletis pomonella through analysis of 10,256 SNPs measured via genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS). Loci genetically associated with diapause termination timing were mainly observed for SNPs mapping to chromosomes 1–3 in the genome, most notably for SNPs displaying higher levels of linkage disequilibrium (LD), likely due to inversions. In contrast, selection on initial diapause intensity affected loci on all five major chromosomes of the genome, specifically those showing low levels of LD. This lack of overlap in genetically associated loci suggests that the two diapause phenotypes are largely modular. On chromosome 2, however, intermediate level LD loci and a subgroup of high LD loci displayed significant negative relationships between initial diapause intensity and diapause termination time. These gene regions on chromosome 2 therefore affected both traits, while most regions were largely independent. Moreover, loci associated with both measured traits also tended to exhibit highly divergent allele frequencies between the host races. Thus, the presence of nonoverlapping genetic modules likely facilitates simultaneous, adaptive divergence for the measured life‐history components.
attr2vec: Jointly Learning Word and Contextual Attribute Embeddings with Factorization Machines

The widespread use of word embeddings is associated with the recent successes of many natural language processing (NLP) systems. The key approach of popular models such as word2vec and GloVe is to learn dense vector representations from the context of words. More recently, other approaches have been proposed that incorporate different types of contextual information, including topics, dependency relations, n-grams, and sentiment. However, these models typically integrate only limited additional contextual information, and often in ad hoc ways. In this work, we introduce attr2vec, a novel framework for jointly learning embeddings for words and contextual attributes based on factorization machines. We perform experiments with different types of contextual information. Our experimental results on a text classification task demonstrate that using attr2vec to jointly learn embeddings for words and Part-of-Speech (POS) tags improves results compared to learning the embeddings independently. Moreover, we use attr2vec to train dependency-based embeddings and we show that they exhibit higher similarity between functionally related words compared to traditional approaches.