Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beyond Critical Period Learning: Striatal FoxP2 Affects the Active Maintenance of Learned Vocalizations in Adulthood

Abstract In humans, mutations in the transcription factor forkhead box P2 (FOXP2) result in language disorders associated with altered striatal structure. Like speech, birdsong is learned through social interactions during maturational critical periods, and it relies on auditory feedback during initial learning and on-going maintenance. Hearing loss causes learned vocalizations to deteriorate in adult humans and songbirds. In the adult songbird brain, most FoxP2-enriched regions (e.g., cortex, thalamus) show a static expression level, but in the striatal song control nucleus, area X, FoxP2 is regulated by singing and social context: when juveniles and adults sing alone, its levels drop, and songs are more variable. When males sing to females, FoxP2 levels remain high, and songs are relatively stable: this “on-line” regulation implicates FoxP2 in ongoing vocal processes, but its role in the auditory-based maintenance of learned vocalization has not been examined. To test this, we overexpressed FoxP2 in both hearing and deafened adult zebra finches and assessed effects on song sung alone versus songs directed to females. In intact birds singing alone, no changes were detected between songs of males expressing FoxP2 or a GFP construct in area X, consistent with the marked stability of mature song in this species. In contrast, songs of males overexpressing FoxP2 became more variable and were less preferable to females, unlike responses to songs of GFP-expressing control males. In deafened birds, song deteriorated more rapidly following FoxP2 overexpression relative to GFP controls. Together, these experiments suggest that behavior-driven FoxP2 expression and auditory feedback interact to precisely maintain learned vocalizations.
Improved coupled-mode theory for nonlinear directional couplers

An improved coupled-mode equation for nonlinear directional couplers (NLDC) with Kerr-like nonlinear media is proposed. The method is based on the generalized reciprocity relation in which two sets of field solutions satisfying Maxwell's equations are for the NLDC and for the isolated nonlinear waveguide. That leads to a reasonable result that all the coefficients in the coupled-mode equations, including the coupling coefficient, become power dependent. For the NLDC with a self-focusing or self-defocusing nonlinear material, the authors examine how the coupling coefficient, the coupling length, and the guided power depend on the input power in the range of coupling stronger than in previous reports. It is found that the critical power at which the coupling length becomes infinity does not increase as much with the two guides for the case of self-focusing media. >
Statistical survey of widely spread out solar electron events observed with STEREO and ACE with special attention to anisotropies

Context. In February 2011, the two STEREO spacecrafts reached a separation of 180 degrees in longitude, offering a complete view of the Sun for the first time ever. When the full Sun surface is visible, source active regions of solar energetic particle (SEP) events can be identified unambiguously. STEREO, in combination with near-Earth observatories such as ACE or SOHO, provides three well separated viewpoints, which build an unprecedented platform from which to investigate the longitudinal variations of SEP events. Aims. We show an ensemble of SEP events that were observed between 2009 and mid-2013 by at least two spacecrafts and show a remarkably wide particle spread in longitude (wide-spread events). The main selection criterion for these events was a longitudinal separation of at least 80 degrees between active region and spacecraft magnetic footpoint for the widest separated spacecraft. We investigate the events statistically in terms of peak intensities, onset delays, and rise times, and determine the spread of the longitudinal events, which is the range filled by SEPs during the events. Energetic electron anisotropies are investigated to distinguish the source and transport mechanisms that lead to the observed wide particle spreads. Methods. According to the anisotropy distributions, we divided the events into three classes depending on different source and transport scenarios. One potential mechanism for wide-spread events is efficient perpendicular transport in the interplanetary medium that competes with another scenario, which is a wide particle spread that occurs close to the Sun. In the latter case, the observations at 1 AU during the early phase of the events are expected to show significant anisotropies because of the wide injection range at the Sun and particle-focusing during the outward propagation, while in the first case only low anisotropies are anticipated. Results. We find events for both of these scenarios in our sample that match the expected observations and even different events that do not agree with the scenarios. We conclude that probably both an extended source region at the Sun and perpendicular transport in the interplanetary medium are involved for most of these wide-spread events.
Waiting Times and Number of Appearances of Runs: A Unified Approach

Abstract In this article we consider two-state Markov dependent trials and the waiting time T needed for the occurrence of the r 0-th ℓ0-overlapping failure run of length k 0, or the occurrence of the r 1-th ℓ1-overlapping success runs of length k 1, whichever comes sooner. We derive the joint pgf of a certain random vector associated with the waiting time T, and as byproduct we derive the pgf of the random vector (T r,ℓ, Nf , N s ), where T r,ℓ denotes the waiting time for the r-th appearance of a ℓ-overlapping success run of length k, and Nf and Ns denote the number of failures and successes, respectively, observed at that time. Also we consider the random variable N n,ℓ which denotes the number of ℓ-overlapping success run of length k in the first n Markov dependent trials. Several formulae are provided for the evaluation of the pgf, pmf, and moments of T r,ℓ and N n,ℓ. For the special cases ℓ = 0 and ℓ = k−1 our results reduce to respective ones regarding the non-overlapping and overlapping counting scheme for runs, respectively. Furthermore, our results can be instantly adjusted to cover the framework of i.i. d. trials.
The Faint Counterparts of MAMBO Millimeter Sources near the New Technology Telescope Deep Field

We discuss identifications for 18 sources from our Max-Planck-Millimeter-Bolometer (MAMBO) 1.2 mm survey of the region surrounding the NTT Deep Field. We have obtained accurate positions from Very Large Array 1.4 GHz interferometry, and in a few cases IRAM millimeter interferometry, and have also made deep BVRIzJK imaging at ESO. We find thirteen 1.2 mm sources associated with optical/near-infrared objects in the magnitude range K = 19.0-22.5, while five are blank fields at K > 22. We argue from a comparison of optical/near-infrared photometric redshifts and radio/millimeter redshift estimates that two of the 13 optical/near-infrared objects are likely foreground objects distinct from the dust sources, one of them possibly lensing the millimeter source. The median redshift of the radio-identified millimeter sources is ~2.6 from the radio/millimeter estimator, and the median optical/near-infrared photometric redshifts for the objects with counterparts is ~2.1. This suggests that those radio-identified millimeter sources without optical/near-infrared counterparts tend to lie at higher redshifts than those with optical/near-infrared counterparts. Compared to published identifications of objects from 850 μm surveys of similar depth, the median K and I magnitudes of our counterparts are roughly 2 mag fainter, and the dispersion of I-K colors is less. Real differences in the median redshifts, residual misidentifications with bright objects, cosmic variance, and small-number statistics are likely to contribute to this significant difference, which also affects redshift measurement strategies. Some of the counterparts are red in J-K (≳20%), but the contribution of such millimeter objects to the recently studied population of near-infrared-selected (Js-Ks > 2.3) high-redshift galaxies is only of order a few percent. The recovery rate of MAMBO sources by preselection of optically faint radio sources is relatively low (~25%), in contrast to some claims of a higher rate for Submillimeter Common-User Bolometric Array (SCUBA) sources (~70%). In addition to this difference, the MAMBO sources also appear significantly fainter (~1.5 mag in the I band) than radio-preselected SCUBA sources. We discuss the basic properties of the near-infrared/(sub)millimeter/radio spectral energy distributions of our galaxies and of interferometrically identified submillimeter sources from the literature. From a comparison with submillimeter objects with CO-confirmed spectroscopic redshifts, we argue that roughly two-thirds of the (sub)millimeter galaxies are at z ≳ 2.5. This fraction is probably larger when including sources without radio counterparts.
On ladder height densities and Laguerre series in the study of stochastic functionals. I. Basic methods and results

In this paper we develop methods for reducing the study, the computation, and the construction of stochastic functionals to those of standard concepts such as the moments of the pertinent random variables. Principally, our methods are based on the notion of ladder height densities and their Laguerre expansions, and our results provide a unifying framework for the distinct approaches of Dufresne (2000) and Schröder (2005).
An Investigation into Some Lexical Ambiguities in Algebra: South African Experience

Many scholars in the field of mathematics education have written a lot about algebra. They commented that the simple and consistent rules for using abstract numbers and the shorthand symbols for mathematical verbs and operators in algebra evolved very slowly. Therefore, this study has revealed some of the lexical ambiguities in algebra aspect of mathematics. These ambiguities include among others; word problem in algebra, fallacies and hitches of word problem in algebra, linguistic complexity in algebra, proficiency in language of instruction problem just to mention but a few. The model for conceptualizing algebraic activity was no left behind. The study however recommends among others that there should be a paradigm shift in the method of teaching algebra and mathematics as a subject so as to enhance students’ academic performance. The choice of methodology especially the student-centred methods (contemporary methods of teaching) are very pertinent at this stage since researches have shown that many students have phobia for mathematics. Hence, there is need for teachers to update their knowledge about the problem solving skills that can be used as a panacea to mathematics phobia and algebra ambiguities. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n20p1243
An investigation into an outbreak of pancytopenia in cats in the United Kingdom

Abstract Background In spring 2021 increasing numbers of cats presenting with severe pancytopenia were noted in United Kingdom (UK). Objective To describe process and outcome of the investigation performed into the outbreak of pancytopenia in cats. Animals Five hundred and eighty client owned cats that presented with severe bi‐ or pancytopenia of unknown cause. Methods Real‐time data collection was performed by an online registration forum available to all veterinary surgeons in UK. Data collected included demographics, clinicopathological findings, diagnostic testing, dietary and drug history, outcome and COVID household status. Mycotoxicological feed analysis was performed on feed samples of 3 diets frequently mentioned in the database and 3 control diets. Results Five hundred and eighty cats presented to 378 veterinary practices were included for analysis. Case fatality rate was 63.3%. Dietary history was available for 544 (93.8%) cats, of which 500 (86%) were fed 1 of 3 diets (which were recalled midinvestigation). 54 (9.3%) cats were not fed a recalled product, with diet information unknown in 26 (4.5%) cats. Analysis of feed samples revealed concentrations of hematotoxic trichothecene T‐2/HT‐2 mycotoxins greater than recommended by the European Commission in 5/7 recalled diet samples but in none of control diet samples. The trichothecene mycotoxin diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) was detectable in all recalled diet samples but not in any of control samples. Conclusion and Clinical Importance Contaminated‐feed induced trichothecene mycotoxicosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis for pancytopenia in cats.
The structure of the vorticity field in homogeneous turbulent flows

The structure of the vorticity fields in homogeneous turbulent shear flow and various irrotational straining flows is examined using results from direct numerical simulations of the unsteady, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with up to 128 × 128 × 128 grid points. In homogeneous shear flow, the distribution of the inclination angle of the vorticity vectors and contour plots of two-point correlations of both velocity and vorticity are consistent with the existence of persistent vortical structures inclined with respect to the flow direction. Early in the development of these shear flows, the angle of inclination at which most of these structures are found is near 45°; after the flow develops, this angle lies between 35°–40°. Instantaneous vorticity-vector and vortex-line plots confirm the presence of hairpin vortices in this flow at the two Reynolds numbers simulated. These vortices are formed by the roll-up of sheets of mean spanwise vorticity. The average hairpin leg spacing decreases with increasing Reynolds number but increases relative to the Taylor microscale for developed shear flows. Examination of irrotational axisymmetric contraction, axisymmetric expansion, and plane strain flows shows, as expected, that the vorticity tends to be aligned with the direction of positive strain. For example, the axisymmetric contraction flow is dominated by coherent longitudinal vortices. Without the presence of mean shear, however, hairpin structures do not develop. The simulations strongly indicate that the vorticity occurs in coherent filaments that are stretched and strengthened by the mean strain. When compressed, these filaments appear to buckle rather than to decrease in strength.
A condition for a compact plane set to be a union of finitely many convex sets

All the sets with which we are concerned are subsets of the real Euclidean plane E2. By Lm we denote those subsets X of E2 for which, if pl, p2, …, Pm are any m points of X, then at least one segment pipj, i ≠ j consists entirely of points of X. L2 is the class of convex subsets of E2. We shall show that if X is closed and X ∈ Lm. then X is the union of finitely many convex sets. This extends a result of Valentine (4). See also (1),(2),(3).
Analytical study of integrable–nonintegrable transition of the shifted KdV map

A shifted KdV map (sKdV), a two-dimensional reduction of the three-point KdV map with additional shift parameters, is considered and a mechanism of transition from chaos to integrable limit is studied by changing shift parameters. Irrespective of shift parameters the sKdV is birational, globally area-preserving. We study the algebraic entropy and Julia set to see integrable–nonintegrable transition. Moreover, we introduce a new concept of CP transformation with CPT symmetry and find that the behaviour of saddle points under this transformation determines the nature of the map.
Exposure to isocyanates predicts atopic dermatitis prevalence and disrupts therapeutic pathways in commensal bacteria

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition increasing in industrial nations at a pace that suggests environmental drivers. We hypothesize that the dysbiosis associated with AD may signal microbial adaptations to modern pollutants. Having previously modeled the benefits of health-associated Roseomonas mucosa, we now show that R. mucosa fixes nitrogen in the production of protective glycerolipids and their ceramide by-products. Screening EPA databases against the clinical visit rates identified diisocyanates as the strongest predictor of AD. Diisocyanates disrupted the production of beneficial lipids and therapeutic modeling for isolates of R. mucosa as well as commensal Staphylococcus. Last, while topical R. mucosa failed to meet commercial end points in a placebo-controlled trial, the subgroup who completed the full protocol demonstrated sustained, clinically modest, but statistically significant clinical improvements that differed by study site diisocyanate levels. Therefore, diisocyanates show temporospatial and epidemiological association with AD while also inducing eczematous dysbiosis.
The inflation and extension of rubber tube for biaxial strain studies

The combined extension and inflation of a thin-walled rubber tube enables homogeneous biaxial strains to be achieved up to higher strains than are obtainable with the customary flat sheet specimen, e.g. up to principal extension ratios, lambda 1 and lambda 2 of 3.3 and 5.0 respectively or more, in a typical rubber. The data obtained can be interpreted on the basis of the Valanis-Landel hypothesis for values of lambda 1 and lambda 2 up to 3.0, but for higher strains deviations from the hypothesis may occur.
On Finite Saturated Chains of Overrings

If a domain R, with quotient field K, has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K, then the integral closure of R is a Prüfer domain. An integrally closed domain R with quotient field K has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K with length m ≥ 1 iff R is a Prüfer domain and |Spec(R)| =m + 1. In particular, we prove that a domain R has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K with length dim(R) iff R is a valuation domain and that an integrally closed domain R has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K with length dim (R) +1 iff R is a Prüfer domain with exactly two maximal ideals such that at most one of them fails to contain every non-maximal prime. The relationship with maximal non-valuation subrings is also established.
Teaching an old dog new tricks: re-engineering IL-2 for immuno-oncology applications

Various approaches are being explored to address the unmet medical need among patients with advanced cancer who do not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Interleukin-2 has become a prominent focus of preclinical and clinical investigation, because of its known clinical activity, the important role of this cytokine in immune biology, and the ability to engineer variant proteins with potentially improved antitumor immunomodulatory activity and reduced toxicity. Bempegaldesleukin, the first of the modified IL-2 agents to reach phase 3 evaluation in combination with an anti-PD-1, did not improve outcome for patients with metastatic melanoma and renal carcinoma. The disappointing data raise important questions about the potential efficacy of other interleukin-2 variants, however, several of the other variants appear to be sufficiently differentiated in anticipated pharmacokinetic properties and immune modulatory effects to warrant continued clinical development.
Examining the effectiveness and implementation of patient treatment decision‐aid tools for men with localised prostate cancer: A systematic review

Men diagnosed with localised prostate cancer (LPC) often face a difficult process deciding on a treatment choice that suits their personal preferences. This systematic review examines the impact of patient treatment decision‐aids (DAs) on decisional outcomes and treatment choice for men diagnosed with LPC. Our secondary aim was to examine how DAs have been implemented into routine clinical practice.
Physics Based Control Oriented Model for HCCI Combustion Timing

Incorporating homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) into combustion engines for better fuel economy and lower emission requires understanding the dynamics influencing the combustion timing in HCCI engines. A control oriented model to dynamically predict cycle-to-cycle combustion timing of a HCCI engine is developed. The model is designed to work with parameters that are easy to measure and to have low computation time with sufficient accuracy for control applications. The model is a full-cycle model and consists of a residual gas model, a modified knock integral model, fuel burn rate model, and thermodynamic models. In addition, semi-empirical correlations are used to predict the gas exchange process, generated work and completeness of combustion. The developed model incorporates the thermal coupling dynamics caused by the residual gases from one cycle to the next cycle. The model is parameterized by over 5700 simulations from a detailed thermokinetic model and experimental data obtained from a single-cylinder engine. Cross-validation of the model with both steady-state and transient HCCI experiments for four different primary reference fuel blends is detailed. With seven model inputs, the combustion timing of over 150 different HCCI points is predicted to within an average error of less than 1.5 deg of crank angle. A narrow window of combustion timing is found to provide stable and efficient HCCI operation.
Progress in Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Barrier Discharges

Systematic study of barrier discharges (BDs) using cross‐correlation spectroscopy (CCS) has been conducted since 2000 by two research teams at the universities in Moscow and in Greifswald. From the beginning, the investigations were focused on the application of the CCS diagnostics to the BDs in air and in N2/O2 mixtures. Further progress in the research field being considered was aimed on the one hand, at the improvement of the measurement technique and development of the data processing procedures, and on the other hand, at using different working gases and gas mixtures. In this paper, the most interesting and important research results obtained in the course of two last years at both referred above universities using the CCS technique are reported. They correspond to three different subjects of investigation, namely an analysis of axial and radial structure of the microdischrge in air at ambient pressure, an influence of the composition of binary mixtures Ne/O2 upon the mechanism of the BD development, and spatio‐temporal structure of the BD in pure argon. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Network decomposition in the many-sources regime

We derive results that show the impact of aggregation in a queueing network. Our model consists of a two-stage queueing system where the first (upstream) queue serves many flows, of which a certain subset arrive at the second (downstream) queue. The downstream queue experiences arbitrary interfering traffic. In this setup, we prove that, as the number of flows being aggregated in the upstream queue increases, the overflow probability of the downstream queue converges uniformly in the buffer level to the overflow probability of a single queueing system obtained by simply removing the upstream queue in the original two-stage queueing system. We also provide the speed of convergence and show that it is at least exponentially fast. We then extend our results to non-i.i. d. traffic arrivals.