Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decoding Task-Specific Cognitive States with Slow, Directed Functional Networks in the Human Brain

Flexible functional interactions among brain regions mediate critical cognitive functions. Such interactions can be measured from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data with either instantaneous (zero-lag) or lag-based (time-lagged) functional connectivity; only the latter approach permits inferring directed functional interactions. Yet, the fMRI hemodynamic response is slow, and sampled at a timescale (seconds) several orders of magnitude slower than the underlying neural dynamics (milliseconds). It is, therefore, widely held that lag-based fMRI functional connectivity, measured with approaches like as Granger-Geweke causality (GC), provides spurious and unreliable estimates of underlying neural interactions. Experimental verification of this claim has proven challenging because neural ground truth connectivity is often unavailable concurrently with fMRI recordings. We address this challenge by combining machine learning with GC functional connectivity estimation. We estimated instantaneous and lag-based GC functional connectivity networks using fMRI data from 1000 participants, drawn from the Human Connectome Project database. A linear classifier, trained on either instantaneous or lag-based GC, reliably discriminated among seven different task and resting brain states, with over 80% cross-validation accuracy. With network simulations, we demonstrate that instantaneous and lag-based GC exploited interactions at fast and slow timescales, respectively, to achieve robust classification. With human fMRI data, instantaneous and lag-based GC identified distinct, cognitive core networks. Finally, variations in GC connectivity explained inter-individual variations in a variety of cognitive scores. Our findings show that instantaneous and lag-based methods reveal complementary aspects of functional connectivity in the brain, and suggest that slow, directed functional interactions, estimated with fMRI, provide robust markers of behaviorally relevant cognitive states. Author Summary Functional MRI (fMRI) is a leading, non-invasive technique for mapping networks in the human brain. Yet, fMRI signals are noisy and sluggish, and fMRI scans are acquired at a timescale of seconds, considerably slower than the timescale of neural spiking (milliseconds). Can fMRI, then, be used to infer dynamic processes in the brain such as the direction of information flow among brain networks? We sought to answer this question by applying machine learning to fMRI scans acquired from 1000 participants in the Human Connectome Project (HCP) database. We show that directed brain networks, estimated with a technique known as Granger-Geweke Causality (GC), accurately predicts individual subjects’ task-specific cognitive states inside the scanner, and also explains variations in a variety of behavioral scores across individuals. We propose that directed functional connectivity, as estimated with fMRI-GC, is relevant for understanding human cognitive function.
Trust and online consumer health service success

We examine consumers’ early stage trust beliefs for effects on perceptions of information and system quality, later stage trust, satisfaction and usage intentions in the context of online health services. Using a longitudinal research design, data was collected from a sample of undergraduates during two time periods, approximately five weeks apart. Results show that trust in the website influences trust in the e-service provider at both early and later stages. Perceptions of system and information quality depend on trust, while trust and satisfaction are important to continued usage intentions. Results are important for understanding how trust interacts with IS success factors.
An object-based analysis filtering algorithm for airborne laser scanning

Ground filtering is a key process to derive digital terrain models from airborne laser scanning data. Although many methods have been developed to tackle the filtering problem, it has not been fully solved so far. Current algorithms mainly focus on neighbourhood-based or directional filtering approaches. A new object-based analysis (OBA) method is proposed in this article. First, a grid index algorithm accelerates access to unorganized cloud points. Then, a segmentation algorithm is deployed based on the index, and objects are obtained. A filtering logic that utilizes the objects' characteristics is designed. Following this, the performance of the method is comprehensively tested using publicly available International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) test data sets for nine urban and six rural regions, and the results are compared to those of eight other algorithms. The OBA method implemented in this article reveals good results without scene-wise optimization of the parameters, and it ranks third or fourth in most of the cases.
Morphological, Phytochemical, and Pharmacological Studies of Grewia asiatica: A Review

Pakistan has various variety of medicinally essential plants which have been guaranteed with useful therapeutic effects and better bearableness for side effects. One of the shrubs is Grewia asiatica (G. asiatica) commonly called Phalsa fruit, of Tiliaceae family, is grown in warmer season for edibility and medicinal uses. In traditional folk medicine, Phalsa was used for its astringent, digestive and cooling properties whereas the unripened fruit has been used as an inflammatory reliever, antipyretic, and as an aid in blood and cardiac disorders. It’s leaves are applied on skin rashes while root and bark are prescribed in rheumatic disorders and infusion owes demulsifying properties. Different parts of its specie display distinctive medicinal significance but still needs to be researched phytochemically. This review article is dependent on information of conventional uses, phytochemistry, and organic impacts of various parts of G. asiatica rich in supplements, for example, nutrients, minerals, amino acids-proteins and contain different bioactive mixes, as anthocyanins, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides and phenolic substances. The extract preparation of different parts of the species showed different natural impacts, such as antibacterial, analgesic and antioxidant effects.
Effect of napier grass supplemented with Gliricidia sepium, Sapindus rarak or Hibiscus rosa-sinensis on in vitro rumen fermentation profiles and methanogenesis

This study examined the supplementation effects of gliricidia leaves(GL, Gliricidia sepium), lerak fruit(LF, Sapindus rarak), or hibiscusleaves(HL, Hibiscusrosa-sinensis) on in vitro rumen fermentation and methanogenesis and made a comparisonwith the Napier grass (NG, Pennisetum purpureum) grass. In vitro rumen fermentation was designed according to a randomized complete block design with four replications and seven treatments: NG, GL, LF, HL, NG 70% + GL 30%, NG 70% + LF 30%and NG 70% + HL 30%. The generated data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Duncan’s multiple range test and compared among treatment means.Addition of a plant containing saponin such as LF or HL to NG did not alter gas production after 24 and 48 h of incubation period in comparison to NG alone.The HLalone or blended with NGproduced the highest IVOMDduring the fermentation processas compared to other treatments (P<0.05). Adding LF supplement either singly or in combination significantly (P<0.05) reduced methane production in terms of %TVFA as compared to NG. Supplementation of LF plants has shifted VFA proportion towards more propionate and less acetate. The microbial population of LF, whether single or in combination had a tendency to reduce the rumen protozoa population but had no effect on methanogen population. It can be concluded that utilization of saponin-rich materials is particularly beneficial for reducing ruminal methane emission.
Salivary sex hormone levels following oxytocin administration in autistic and typical women

Oxytocin administration, which may be of therapeutic value for social disabilities, likely influences endogenous levels of other socially-relevant hormones. However, to date, the effects of oxytocin administration on endogenous hormones have only been examined in typical males. The need to consider multi-hormone interactions is particularly warranted in oxytocin trials for autism due to evidence of irregularities in both oxytocin and sex steroid systems. Here, as part of a larger trial with a double-blind cross-over design, we assessed salivary testosterone and oestradiol levels in 16 autistic and 29 typical women before and after intranasal administration of 24IU oxytocin or placebo. Distinct patterns of change in testosterone and oestradiol across time were observed between groups, with autistic women showing increases in both hormones 90 min post-administration and typical women showing small decreases (mean %change oestradiol: +12% Autism, −10% Typical, 95%CI of difference: 5.0–39.4%, p=0.01; mean %change testosterone: +8% Autism, −14% Typical, 95%CI of difference: 7.8–35.6%, p=0.002). Under the oxytocin condition, the group difference in %change testosterone was amplified (+14.4% Autism, −15.2% Typical, p=0.018). Although baseline hormone levels did not differ between groups, greater baseline oestradiol relative to testosterone was negatively correlated with autistic-like traits (r= −0.36, p=0.019) and positively correlated (r=0.35, p=0.02) with self-reported empathy in the overall sample. These results provide further evidence that oxytocin influences endogenous testosterone, with autistic women showing increases similar to previous reports in typical men. These findings may help to identify autistic people expected to benefit most from interventions involving oxytocin.
Variation on growth and yield traits among selected Phaseolus vulgaris landraces in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract. Ndlangamandla VV, Ntuli NR. 2019. Variation on growth and yield traits among selected Phaseolus vulgaris landraces in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Biodiversitas 20: 1597-1605. Phaseolus vulgaris L. (common bean) of American origin is grown worldwide for edible leaves, immature pods and dry seeds. This is the first comprehensive study conducted on variation among P. vulgaris landraces in South Africa. This study aimed to characterize variability in morpho-agronomic traits of P. vulgaris landraces. Twenty landraces were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Variations in germination percentage as well as in stem, leaf, pod and seed traits were determined. Significant variations were recorded in all vegetative and reproductive traits except germination percentage and seed thickness. Vegetative traits correlated positively with each other, whereas reproductive traits correlated positively with both traits. Positive association of almost all traits with first and second components in a principal component analysis and biplot indicated them as potential discriminatory traits for landraces. The biplot and dendrogram associated landraces mainly according to their seed colour as well as growth and yield traits. This study revealed the potential vegetative and reproductive traits that can be used to select vigorously growing and high-yielding P. vulgaris landraces for future large-scale farming and breeding in South Africa. These traits could potentially result in desired plants with big stems, many branches, and numerous and broad leaves with high chlorophyll content, which will yield many, long and wide pods as well as many and heavy seeds. The taller landraces (D-50M50LB-Cl, D-50P50C-Cl, E-100YG-Cl, E-25YG-Cu, E-50M50LB-Cu, E-50B50C-Cl and E-50DB50C-Cl) from KwaZulu-Natal show good potential for future large-scale farming and breeding for vigorous growth as well as high pod and seed yield.
The herbivorous fish family Kyphosidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) represents a recent radiation from higher latitudes

Herbivorous reef fishes are considered to have difficulty digesting plant material at extratropical temperatures and are thus largely restricted to tropical waters where they are thought to have evolved. However, the herbivorous Kyphosidae, with both temperate and tropical species, provides an ideal opportunity to test this view. Previous studies have resolved the taxonomy and distribution patterns of all species. Here, we use a calibrated phylogeny to analyse the age, geographical origin and pattern of diversification of kyphosids to determine their origins in space and time, and thus refine hypotheses on the evolutionary origins of herbivory in reef fishes.
Longissimus Muscle Composition and Palatability of Grazing Steers Supplemented with Corn Oil or Corn Grain

Twenty-eight Angus (289 ± 3.8 kg) steers were used to evaluate the effect of isocaloric supplementation of 2 different energy sources to steers grazing tall fescue pastures for 197 d on longissimus muscle fatty acid profile, shear force, tenderness and color. Steers were supplemented with either corn grain (PC) or soybean hulls plus corn oil (PO). A negative control, pasture only (PA), and positive control, high-concentrate control diets (CONC) were also included in the study. Total trans-11 vaccenic acid (TVA) and cis-9, trans-11 CLA content per serving were similar with PA, PC and CONC and greatest with PO (P < 0.001). Muscle total fatty acids, myristic and palmitic contents per serving were similar with PC, PO, and PA and greatest with CONC (P < 0.001). Muscle PUFA n-6:n-3 ratio was greater with PC than with PA and lower with PC than with CONC, but it was greatest with PO (P < 0.001). Shear force was lower (P = 0.046) with CONC than with PA and PC; beef from PO did not differ from any of the other treatments. Sensory panel scores for overall tenderness (P < 0.001) were greatest with CONC, greater with PO than with PC, and similar with PA than with PO and PC. Muscle lightness was similar for PO and PC, greater with PO and PC than with PA and lower with PO and PC than with CONC (P < 0.001). Treatment by time postmortem interaction was significant for muscle temperature (P < 0.001), but not for muscle pH (P = 0.79). Temperature decline was fastest with PA and slowest with CONC. Postmortem muscle pH was greater with PA, PC, and PO than with CONC (P = 0.011). Overall, fatty acid profile with PC was closer to the fatty acid profile with PA than that with PO or CONC. Finishing systems altered fat deposition, which impacted chilling rate, muscle color and palatability.
Conceptualization of the Business Intelligence Extended Use Model

Business intelligence systems (BIS) are considered a potential source of competitive advantage but their benefits can be fully realized only when using BIS and the information provided by BIS become fully embedded into the routines of decision makers. This study thus adds to previous research of IS acceptance by investigating diverse post-adoptive use behaviors, which are the intensity, extent of use and embeddedness of BIS. We followed an exploratory approach to conceptualize a business intelligence extended use model. The findings show that personal innovativeness and readiness for change boost the transition to the embeddedness of BIS into workers routines. The relevance of the information provided by BIS is crucial for the deep structural usage of BIS, which has not been highlighted in previous models of IT acceptance. Besides taking pre- and post-implemental issues that address acceptance determinants into consideration, for the success of BIS we must consider trans-implemental issues.
A computer-aided geological interpretation system for subsurface imaging

Describes a computer-aided geological interpretation system developed for radio attenuation tomographic imaging of subsurface geology with immediate application in mining geophysics. Measurements in remote sensing are often expensive so that, in practice, the data-interpretation process is plagued by insufficient data. Inverse procedures are generally ill-posed leading to the use of regularization techniques which are mathematically tractable but rarely physically relevant to the problem. The authors' response to this has been to invert the normal imaging philosophy. Instead of using the data to reconstruct an image for interpretation by some domain expert, they provide a computational system in which set theoretic techniques are used to modify hypotheses provided by the expert in image form to make them consistent with the data and other constraints. This is an implementation of the hypothetico-deductive model of scientific method. While the actual image-processing algorithms such as tomographic inversion are based on sophisticated techniques, the authors have made a considerable effort to remove this level of abstraction for the benefit of geologists and geophysicists who are the target users. By employing X-Windows-based, graphical user interface methods, in conjunction with graphics and image-based visualization, the system can be used intuitively to explore the possibilities offered by the data without an extensive knowledge of the processing techniques. The application of the system to field examples from the Australian mining industry is shown in the interactive presentation. <<ETX>>
Neural Network Estimation Of Anesthetic Level Using Eeg Spectral Signatures

Assessment of anesthetic depth using univariate descriptors of EEG, such as mean frequency or spectral edge frequency, remains unreliable. A 3 layer neural network with 30 input nodes, 6 middle layer nodes, and 3 output nodes was trained with back propagation to recognize 30 point spectral signatures (1-30 HZ) from EEG recorded from 10 dogs at 3 anesthetic levels. Visual inspection of the EEG waveforms and spectral signatures showed considerable intra-dog and inter-Bog diversity. The neural network was able to correctly identify the anesthetic level of unknown EEG epochs with an overall accuracy of 77 %. Since the controlled variable was anesthetic concentration, not lldepthll of anesthesia, some of the apparent misclassifications may be attributable to variation in "depth" at a given anesthetic concentration.
Simvastatin Reduces Hepatic Oxidative Stress and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Experimental Model

Objective In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of simvastatin in the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis induced by methionine and choline-deficient diet in mice and its possible effect on factors involved in the pathogenesis of the disease including oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Method Male C57BL6 mice were fed either a normal diet (control) or a methionine and choline-deficient diet for four weeks and then treated orally with simvastatin (4 mg/kg once a day) for two final weeks. At the end of the experimental period, liver integrity, biochemical analysis, hepatic lipids, histology, DNA damage, biomarkers of oxidative stress, and endoplasmic reticulum stress were assessed. Results Simvastatin treatment was able to significantly reduce hepatic damage enzymes and hepatic lipids and lower the degree of hepatocellular ballooning, without showing genotoxic effects. Simvastatin caused significant decreases in lipid peroxidation, with some changes in antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. Simvastatin activates antioxidant enzymes via Nrf2 and inhibits endoplasmic reticulum stress in the liver. Conclusions In summary, the results provide evidence that in mice with experimental nonalcoholic steatohepatitis induced by a methionine and choline-deficient diet, the reduction of liver damage by simvastatin is associated with attenuated oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress.
Modeling the dynamics of glucose, insulin, and free fatty acids with time delay: The impact of bariatric surgery on type 2 diabetes mellitus

The role of free fatty acids (FFA) on Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) progression has been studied extensively with prior studies suggesting that individuals with shared familial genetic predisposition to metabolic-related diseases may be vulnerable to dysfunctional plasma FFA regulation. A harmful cycle arises when FFA are not properly regulated by insulin contributing to the development of insulin resistance, a key indicator for T2DM, since prolonged insulin resistance may lead to hyperglycemia. We introduce a hypothesis-driven dynamical model and use it to evaluate the role of FFA on insulin resistance progression that is mathematically constructed within the context of individuals that have genetic predisposition to dysfunctional plasma FFA. The dynamics of the nonlinear interactions that involve glucose, insulin, and FFA are modeled by incorporating a fixed-time delay with the corresponding delay-differential equations being studied numerically. The results of computational studies, that is, extensive simulations, are compared to the known minimal ordinary differential equations model. Parameter estimation and model validation are carried out using clinical data of patients who underwent bariatric surgery. These estimates provide a quantitative measure that is used to evaluate the regulation of lipolysis by insulin action measured by insulin sensitivity, within a metabolically heterogeneous population (non-diabetic to diabetic). Results show that key metabolic factors improve after surgery, such as the effect of insulin inhibition of FFA on insulin and glucose regulation, results that do match prior clinical studies. These findings indicate that the reduction in weight or body mass due to surgery improve insulin action for the regulation of glucose, FFA, and insulin levels. This reinforces what we know, namely, that insulin action is essential for regulating FFA and glucose levels and is a robust effect that can be observed not only in the long-term, but also in the short-term; thereby preventing the manifestation of T2DM.
For Electronic Journals, Total Downloads Can Predict Number of Users

Results from two multiple regression models involving HighWire journal subscriptions in 2003 for 16 participating universities in the United States, United Kingdom, and Sweden indicate a highly predictive relationship between the number of article downloads and the number of users—meaning that the size of a user population can be estimated by just knowing the total use of a journal. The relationship is consistent over time and across institutions and appears to be unrelated to the subject, size, or popularity of a journal. It is not consistent across publishers, however, suggesting that an "interface effect" may exist. The development of a Project COUNTER standard to deal with extreme or abnormal journal usage is necessary if we wish to compare the performance of journals across publishers.