Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EEG Analysis With Nonlinear Excitable Media

The detection of patterns embedded within a complex, nonstationary, and noisy background activity is a crucial and important task in EEG analysis. The authors present a biologically inspired, analog approach to EEG analysis that is conceptually different from a variety of statistical approaches currently used. A nonlinear, excitable, spatially extended medium that is composed of diffusively coupled model neurons is considered. When EEG recordings are applied as local perturbations to such an excitable neural tissue, the induced transient changes in the dynamics of the perturbed system can be regarded as an instantaneous characterization of transient processes in the brain reflected by the EEG, e.g., in the form of a sequence of correlated dynamical events (patterns). Nonlinear excitable media can be implemented in form of an array of locally coupled integrated analog nonlinear electrical circuits called cellular neural networks, which represent a next evolutionary step in the parallel analog computer architecture. Using cellular neural networks, the authors show that the concept of signal-induced pattern generation allows an almost instantaneous and unsupervised detection of seizure onsets in EEG recordings. In addition, they show that a cellular neural network can be trained in a supervised way to approximate the degree of synchronization in EEG recordings. The resulting pattern-recognition device may be suitable for the prediction of epileptic seizures.
A Challenge to the Discourse of Development or Development Done Differently: The Discourse of Experts in the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation

The 2017 coming into force of the WTO Agreement of Trade Facilitation, and its special and differential treatment provisions for developing and least developed countries is expected to leverage substantial international development resources, along with the dominant discourse of development, including the deployment of Western-trained experts to support the implementation of complex border management measures on the basis of a neoliberal discourse of good governance. Critical development scholarship, informed by Escobar (2011), Ferguson (1994) and Li (2007) helps to inform the texture of expert-beneficiary relations, while a post-structuralist discourse analysis helps to reveal the underlying power relationships as reflected in texts and practices. This study will explore these dominant discourses, paying particular attention to the peer-to-peer expert deployment mechanism employed by the Brussels-based World Customs Organization and the case of Sierra Leone, which offers potential to challenge the dominant tactics employed by international development agencies.
Mapping Precipitation, Temperature, and Evapotranspiration in the Mkomazi River Basin, Tanzania

It is still a challenge to provide spatially explicit predictions of climate parameters in African regions of complex relief, where meteorological information is scarce. Here we predict rainfall, temperature, and reference evapotranspiration (ETo) for the southern Mkomazi River Basin in Northeastern Tanzania, East Africa, by means of regression-based, digital elevation models (DEM) at 90 m spatial-resolution and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques. We mapped rainfall for the period 1964–2010. The models accounted for orographic factors which strongly influenced the spatial variability of rainfall in the region. According to orography, the area was divided into three zones for modelling rainfall: windward, leeward, and transition zone. Rainfall indicates high spatial and temporal variability dominated by equatorial East-African climate circulation systems. Maximum and minimum temperatures were modelled for the period 1989–1994, the models accounted only for the altitude gradient. Mean temperature was calculated by arithmetic mean of maximum and minimum temperatures maps in ArcGIS. ETo was estimated in ArcGIS following the method described by Hargreaves and Samani. The maps were made on a monthly basis for rainfall, ETo, and mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures. The obtained maps are useful for the purpose of agriculture, ecological, and water resources management.
Platform strategies: how the position in the network drives success

ABSTRACT Scholars have focused on platform strategies for a long time, moving from a product perspective to an industry-wide one. In particular, the decision to open the platform to external complementors has been studied through the perspective of platform leadership. The digital age is now moving from a closed approach versus an open approach. Is being a platform leader still imperative or is participating in a network of existing platforms still a suitable strategy as well? What kind of collaborations within an ecosystem leads to better performances? Leveraging social network analysis is performed within the network formed by mobile apps in the Health and Fitness category; this research shows how the decision of being (or not) a platform provider has an impact on the performances, but the position within the network mediates this impact. Based on the results obtained, research and managerial implications can be established.
Limb perfusion in the lower limb amputee—a comparative study using a laser Doppler flowmeter and a transcutaneous oxygen electrode

Accurate and objective assessment of amputation level in the lower limb plays an important role in patient management. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is a new and noninvasive technique for skin blood flow measurement and has been used pre-operatively in 25 patients undergoing amputation for vascular disease and in five normal controls. Baseline flux measurements were made at room temperature on the medial aspect of legs and then again after local heating of the skin for five minutes. Transcutaneous oxygen measurements were made at the same site for comparison and amputation level in patients selected on this basis. Significant differences (p<0.001) in TcPO2 values were found between controls (10.9±0.5kPa), below-knee (BK) amputees (6.0±1.5kPa) and above-knee (AK) amputees (1.5±0.6kPa). Baseline LDF flux did not differ significantly between any group. Heated flux values did however show a significant difference (p<0.005) between controls (52.4±23.5) and both BK (20.6±9.2) and AK groups (8.1±7.7) and also between the amputee groups. The relative increase in flux (heated flux/baseline flux) differed significantly between the BK (3.3±1.5) and AK (1.2±0.3) groups (p<0.001) and between these two and the controls (11.2±5.4) (p<0.001). The correlation between relative increase in flux and TcPO2 was 0.7 (p<0.001). It is concluded that laser Doppler flowmetry used in conjunction with thermal stressing could provide a quick, simple and non-invasive method for objectively determining amputation level in the lower limb.
Aging, Output Per Capita and Secular Stagnation

This paper re-examines the relationship between population aging and economic growth. We confirm previous research such as Cutler, Poterba, Sheiner, and Summers (1990) and Acemoglu and Restrepo (2017) that show positive correlation between measures of population aging and per-capita output growth. Our contribution is demonstrating that this relationship breaks down when the adjustment of interest rates is inhibited by an effective lower bound on nominal rates as took place during the Great Financial Crisis decade. Indeed, during the “secular stagnation regime” of 2008-2015 that prevailed in a number of countries, aging had a negative impact on living standards, consistent with the secular stagnation hypothesis.
Effect of paternal alcohol and drug dependence on offspring conduct disorder: gene-environment interplay.

OBJECTIVE Not only are substance-use disorders and externalizing disorders frequently comorbid, they often co-occur in families across generations. The current study examined the role of genetic and environmental influences in the relationship between paternal histories of drug dependence or alcohol dependence and offspring conduct disorder using an offspring-of-twins design. METHOD Participants were male twins (n = 1,774) from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry, their offspring (n = 1,917), and mothers of the offspring (n = 1,202). Twins had a history of drug dependence, alcohol dependence, or neither. Based on the father's and his co-twin's drug-dependence or alcohol-dependence history and zygosity, risk groups were constructed to reflect different levels of genetic and environmental risk that were then used to predict offspring conduct disorder. RESULTS After controlling for potentially confounding variables, the offspring of men with a history of drug dependence or alcohol dependence had significantly higher rates of conduct disorder, compared with offspring of men without this history. Offspring at higher genetic risk had higher rates of conduct disorder. High-risk offspring at lower environmental risk had lower rates of conduct disorder but only in the case of paternal drug-dependence risk. Lower environmental risk did not influence rates of offspring conduct disorder when the father had an alcohol-dependence history. CONCLUSIONS Genetic risk associated with both paternal drug-dependence and paternal alcohol-dependence histories predicted offspring conduct-disorder risk, but only risk associated with paternal drug-dependence history was mitigated by having a low-risk environment. These results demonstrated a significant gene-environment interaction effect.
The role of natural killer cells in resistance to coccidiosis: investigations in a murine model

Natural killer (NK) activity, detected by the lysis of Yac‐1 target cells, was examined in splenic and mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells throughout the course of infection with Eimeria vermiformis in BALB/c and C57BI/6 (B6) mice. These strains are, respectively, relatively resistant and susceptible to primary infections, which render them equally, and completely, resistant to challenge. Resting levels of NK activity were higher in B6 than in BALB/c, and B6 responded earlier in the course of infection than BALB/c, but splenic peak values were higher in BALB/c; the pattern of response in MLN cells was similar in both strains, but the peak was higher in BALB/c. At the lime (7 days p.i.) of peak NK response in BALB/c mice there was, depending upon the choice of NK‐resistant/lymphokine‐activated killer (LAK)‐sensitive target cells, either little (P388D1), or no (P815) splenic LAK activity. Challenge of immunized BALB/c mice did not evoke a detectable NK response. Although the higher NK activity in BALB/c mice correlated with greater control of primary infection, depletion of NK activity (demonstrated in splenic cells) in vivo by treatment with anti‐asialo GM1 antibodies did not greatly affect the course of infection. Furthermore, this treatment did not augment the exacerbation of infection produced by treatment with antiinterferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) MoAb, indicating that, at least in this system, NK cells are not a fundamentally important source of this controlling cytokine of eimerian infections. The results suggest that NK cells may not greatly influence the outcome of coccidial infections.
Understanding the requirements for project management maturity models: Awareness of the ICT industry in Malaysia

Surveys reveal that the higher the organization project management maturity level is, the greater it enhances project performance. However it is vital to first understand the requirements of such a maturity model in the context of the target industry or sector. In this study, we aim to assess the current status of project management maturity model (PMMM) adoption in Malaysia's ICT industry as an initiative to conceptualize a model for use in the sector. An online survey was carried out to investigate the level of PMMM awareness, its extent of adoption or practices and its prerequisite requirements for use in the ICT industry. Based on our findings, a preliminary framework of the PMMM is proposed in our next phase of study.
Metabolic and Transcriptomic Phenotyping of Inorganic Carbon Acclimation in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 79421[W]

The amount of inorganic carbon is one of the main limiting environmental factors for photosynthetic organisms such as cyanobacteria. Using Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, we characterized metabolic and transcriptomic changes in cells that had been shifted from high to low CO2 levels. Metabolic phenotyping indicated an activation of glycolysis, the oxidative pentose phosphate cycle, and glycolate metabolism at lowered CO2 levels. The metabolic changes coincided with a general reprogramming of gene expression, which included not only increased transcription of inorganic carbon transporter genes but also genes for enzymes involved in glycolytic and photorespiratory metabolism. In contrast, the mRNA content for genes from nitrogen assimilatory pathways decreased. These observations indicated that cyanobacteria control the homeostasis of the carbon-nitrogen ratio. Therefore, results obtained from the wild type were compared with the MP2 mutant of Synechococcus 7942, which is defective for the carbon-nitrogen ratio-regulating PII protein. Metabolites and genes linked to nitrogen assimilation were differentially regulated, whereas the changes in metabolite concentrations and gene expression for processes related to central carbon metabolism were mostly similar in mutant and wild-type cells after shifts to low-CO2 conditions. The PII signaling appears to down-regulate the nitrogen metabolism at lowered CO2, whereas the specific shortage of inorganic carbon is recognized by different mechanisms.
Short-Term Field Study Programs: A Holistic and Experiential Approach to Learning

ABSTRACT For business schools, AACSB and Middle States’ call for more experiential learning is one reason to provide study abroad programs. Universities must attend to the demand for continuous improvement and employ metrics to benchmark and evaluate their relative standing among peer institutions. One such benchmark is the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, 2013) which outlines 10 “Engagement Indicators” classified under four dimensions representing broad aspects of the student experience. These dimensions and engagement indicators are addressed in this article and may serve as a litmus test of the value and impact of study abroad programs.
Stability of Discontinuous Diffusion Coefficients and Initial Conditions in an Inverse Problem for the Heat Equation

We consider the heat equation with a discontinuous diffusion coefficient and give uniqueness and stability results for both the diffusion coefficient and the initial condition from a measurement of the solution on an arbitrary part of the boundary and at some arbitrary positive time. The key ingredient is the derivation of a Carleman-type estimate. The diffusion coefficient is assumed to be discontinuous across an interface with a monotonicity condition.
Line bisection judgments implicate right parietal cortex and cerebellum as assessed by fMRI

Objective: To use functional MRI (fMRI) to determine which brain regions are implicated when normal volunteers judge whether pretransected horizontal lines are correctly bisected (the Landmark test). Background: Manual line bisection and a variant thereof involving perceptual judgments of pretransected lines (the Landmark test) are widely used to assess unilateral visuospatial neglect in patients with neurologic disease. Although unilateral (left) neglect most often results from lesions to right temporoparietal cortex, the normal functional anatomy of the Landmark test has not been convincingly demonstrated. Methods: fMRI was carried out in 12 healthy right-handed male volunteers who judged whether horizontal lines were correctly prebisected. In the control task, subjects detected whether the horizontal lines contained a transection mark irrespective of the position of that mark. Response was by two-choice key press: on half the trials, subjects used the right, and on half, the left hand. Statistical analysis of evoked blood oxygenation level-dependent responses, measured with echoplanar imaging, employed statistical parametric mapping. Results: Performing the Landmark task showed neural activity (p < 0.05, corrected) in the right superior posterior and right inferior parietal lobe, early visual processing areas bilaterally, the cerebellar vermis, and the left cerebellar hemisphere. Only the latter area showed a significant interaction with hand used. Conclusions: The right hemispheric dominance observed in inferior parietal cortex is consistent with the results of lesion studies. Right superior parietal cortex, vermis, and left cerebellar hemisphere have not been implicated in neglect, but all appear to play a cognitive role in the Landmark task.
Structural Equation Modeling of Latent Variables Affecting Stock Prices: Evidence from Nepal

This study uses the structural equation model in Nepali stock market, chooses investor sentiment, monetary and macroeconomic factors as latent variables, and selects a few observed variables which can explain the latent variables to study the influence on stock prices. Based on existing empirical research conclusion, influence path diagram is designed and gets its path coefficient and causal path diagram using maximum likelihood estimation. The statistical significance of the results indicated that the causal relationships of Nepal’s stock market as follows can be accepted; firstly, investor sentiment, macroeconomic indicators, and monetary factors have certain influence on stock prices, the investor sentiment has a positive correlation. Secondly, the investor sentiment has the major impact on stock prices; when investor sentiment is more stable and optimistic, stock prices will relatively be better. This research also provides certain reference to investors for rational investment decisions.
Silencing of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α by RNA Interference Attenuates Human Glioma Cell Growth In vivo

Purpose: Higher-grade gliomas are distinguished by increased vascular endothelial cell proliferation and peritumoral edema. These are thought to be instigated by vascular endothelial growth factor, which, in turn, is regulated by cellular oxygen tension. Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a main responder to intracellular hypoxia and is overexpressed in many human cancers, including gliomas. Experimental Design: We investigated the role of HIF-1α in glioma growth in vivo using RNA interference (RNAi) in U251, U87, and U373 glioma cells. Results: We found that RNAi can be used to significantly attenuate glioma growth by reducing HIF-1α levels constitutively using short hairpin RNAs and transiently using small interfering RNAs (siRNA). HIF-1α levels on average were reduced 55% in normoxia and 71% in hypoxia. Vascular endothelial growth factor and GLUT-1 levels were reduced 81% and 71%, respectively, in the stable HIF-1α–reduced clones. These clones showed significant growth attenuation (up to 73%) compared with negative controls when grown in vivo in mouse flanks. Cellular proliferation was also reduced significantly, as determined by MIB-1 staining. Treating gliomas grown in mouse flank transiently with siRNA against HIF-1α by intratumoral injection resulted in a significant reduction of HIF-1α activity. This activity was followed using a hypoxia-responsive luciferase construct that enabled hypoxia imaging in vivo. Tumor volume in these siRNA injection experiments was reduced by 50% over the negative controls. Conclusions: These results indicate that transient RNAi directed against HIF-1α can effectively curb glioma growth in vivo.
Kinetic curves of malignant lesions are not consistent across MRI systems: need for improved standardization of breast dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI acquisition.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare MRI kinetic curve data acquired with three systems in the evaluation of malignant lesions of the breast. MATERIALS AND METHODS The cases of 601 patients with 682 breast lesions (185 benign, 497 malignant) were selected for review. The malignant lesions were classified as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), and other. The dynamic MRI protocol consisted of one unenhanced and three to seven contrast-enhanced images acquired with one of three imaging protocols and systems. An experienced radiologist analyzed the shapes of the kinetic curves according to the BI-RADS lexicon. Several quantitative kinetic parameters were calculated, and the kinetic parameters of malignant lesions were compared across the three systems. RESULTS Imaging protocol and system 1 were used to image 304 malignant lesions (185 IDC, 62 DCIS); imaging protocol and system 2, 107 lesions (72 IDC, 21 DCIS); and imaging protocol and system 3, 86 lesions (64 IDC, 17 DCIS). Compared with those visualized with imaging protocols and systems 1 and 2, IDC lesions visualized with imaging protocol and system 3 had significantly less initial enhancement, longer time to peak enhancement, and a slower washout rate (p < 0.004). Only 47% of IDC lesions imaged with imaging protocol and system 3 exhibited washout type curves, compared with 75% and 74% of those imaged with imaging protocols and systems 2 and 1, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of kinetic analysis was lowest for imaging protocol and system 3, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION The kinetic curve data on malignant lesions acquired with one system showed significantly lower initial contrast uptake and a different curve shape in comparison with data acquired with the other two systems. Differences in k-space sampling, T1 weighting, and magnetization transfer effects may be explanations for the difference.
INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT SITTING POSITIONS AND ABDUCTION ORTHOSES ON LEG MUSCLE ACTIVITY IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

A surface electromyogram (EMG) was recorded from four leg muscles to measure the effects of various seat inclinations and an abduction orthosis on eight children with cerebral palsy and controls during performance of an upper‐estremity task and while listening to a story. EMG responses were lowest in the forward‐leaning and horizontal positions with the abduction orthosis, and highest in reclined and horizontal positions without the orthosis for both groups of children during the performance of an upper‐estremity task. While listening to a story, there was no median EMG activity in any muscles of the controls, but there were wide variations in those of the children with cerebral palsy. The results indicate that the use of an abduction orthosis and horizontal and forward‐leaning seats decrease lower‐estremity muscle activity, and so it is possible that it might also improve upper‐extremity function.