Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Basal Ganglia Play a Unique Role in Task Switching within the Frontal-Subcortical Circuits: Evidence from Patients with Focal Lesions

The performance of patients with lesions involving the basal ganglia (BG) was compared to that of patients with prefrontal (PFC) lesions, thalamic (TH) lesions, and age-matched controls in order to examine the specific role of the BG within the frontal-subcortical circuits (FSCC) in task switching. All the BG patients and none of the other participants showed a marked increase in error rate in incongruent trials where correct responses depended upon the choice of the correct task rule. Some BG patients erred in failing to switch tasks and others failed despite their attempt to switch tasks. Additionally, reaction time results indicate abnormal response repetition effects among the BG patients; failure in benefiting from advance task information among all the patients; and increased task mixing costs following PFC lesions. The authors conclude that although the frontal-subcortical circuits jointly determine some behaviors (such as benefiting from preparation), the BG play a unique role within the FSCC in action selection and/or the inhibition of irrelevant information.
Confusion Strongly Associated with Antibiotic Prescribing Due to Suspected Urinary Tract Infections in Nursing Homes

To quantify the prevalence of documented urinary tract infection (UTI), nonspecific symptoms, and antibiotic treatment of suspected UTI in nursing homes (NHs) in the tropics and to describe the typical resident likely to receive antibiotic treatment for suspected UTI and factors associated with the development of confusion, fatigue, and restlessness.
Optical Deconstruction of Parkinsonian Neural Circuitry

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a therapeutic option for intractable neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Parkinson's disease and major depression. Because of the heterogeneity of brain tissues where electrodes are placed, it has been challenging to elucidate the relevant target cell types or underlying mechanisms of DBS. We used optogenetics and solid-state optics to systematically drive or inhibit an array of distinct circuit elements in freely moving parkinsonian rodents and found that therapeutic effects within the subthalamic nucleus can be accounted for by direct selective stimulation of afferent axons projecting to this region. In addition to providing insight into DBS mechanisms, these results demonstrate an optical approach for dissection of disease circuitry and define the technological toolbox needed for systematic deconstruction of disease circuits by selectively controlling individual components.
Recognition of Visually Perceived Compositional Human Actions by Multiple Spatio-Temporal Scales Recurrent Neural Networks

We investigate a deep learning model for action recognition that simultaneously extracts spatio-temporal information from a raw RGB input data. The proposed multiple spatio-temporal scales recurrent neural network (MSTRNN) model is derived by combining multiple timescale recurrent dynamics with a conventional convolutional neural network model. The architecture of the proposed model imposes both spatial and temporal constraints simultaneously on its neural activities. The constraints vary, with multiple scales in different layers. As suggested by the principle of upward and downward causation, it is assumed that the network can develop a functional hierarchy using its constraints during training. To evaluate and observe the characteristics of the proposed model, we use three human action datasets consisting of different primitive actions and different compositionality levels. The performance capabilities of the MSTRNN model on these datasets are compared with those of other representative deep learning models used in the field. The results show that the MSTRNN outperforms baseline models while using fewer parameters. The characteristics of the proposed model are observed by analyzing its internal representation properties. The analysis clarifies how the spatio-temporal constraints of the MSTRNN model aid in how it extracts critical spatio-temporal information relevant to its given tasks.
Pyramidal implementation of the lucas kanade feature tracker

1 Problem Statement Let I and J be two 2D grayscaled images. The two quantities I(x) = I(x, y) and J(x) = J(x, y) are then the grayscale value of the two images are the location x = [x y] , where x and y are the two pixel coordinates of a generic image point x. The image I will sometimes be referenced as the first image, and the image J as the second image. For practical issues, the images I and J are discret function (or arrays), and the upper left corner pixel coordinate vector is [0 0] . Let nx and ny be the width and height of the two images. Then the lower right pixel coordinate vector is [nx − 1 ny − 1] . Consider an image point u = [ux uy] on the first image I. The goal of feature tracking is to find the location v = u + d = [ux+dx uy +dy] on the second image J such as I(u) and J(v) are “similar”. The vector d = [dx dy] is the image velocity at x, also known as the optical flow at x. Because of the aperture problem, it is essential to define the notion of similarity in a 2D neighborhood sense. Let ωx and ωy two integers. We define the image velocity d as being the vector that minimizes the residual function defined as follows:
Preconception care in Saudi women with diabetes mellitus

Background: The rate of preexisting diabetes mellitus (DM) in Saudi Arabia is one of the highest in the world. The role of preconception care (PCC) is well-established as a means of improving pregnancy outcomes in DM. Objectives: To assess the rate of preconception counseling, the level of PCC knowledge, and the rate of unplanned pregnancies in Saudi women with DM. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 355 Saudi women aged 18–49 years with self-reported DM. The study questionnaire contained variables about the provision of preconception counseling, knowledge of PCC facts, and the number of unplanned pregnancies after developing DM. The level of PCC knowledge was evaluated using a modified Likert scale. Statistical Package for Social Sciences 20 was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation, and percentages were calculated; t-test was used for statistical significance. Results: About one-third of the participants had received preconception counseling after being diagnosed with DM. Counseling on PCC for older and married participants was significantly less. Of the 355 participants, 42.8% had little or no PCC knowledge. All pregnancies that occurred after developing DM were unplanned. Conclusions: The rate of preconception counseling, the level of PCC knowledge in the studied Saudi women with DM is suboptimal, and none of the pregnancies that occurred after developing DM was planned. The study highlights the need for PCC programs that target all Saudi women of child-bearing age with DM, and their families starting at the age of puberty and at diagnosis of type 2DM, to optimize women's health and improve pregnancy outcomes.
A novel current-control method for three-phase PWM AC/DC voltage-source converters

This paper presents a novel current-control-based control strategy, obtained in stationary frame, for a three-phase pulsewidth-modulated AC/DC voltage-source converter. In this control strategy, an error voltage is produced from the comparison of the output DC voltage with a DC reference voltage. This error voltage is then utilized by a proportional plus integral controller to generate a command signal for the input line current amplitude and is automatically controlled to the desired value. Therefore, there is no need to measure the input line currents. Stability analysis of the closed-loop system is made, and the stability region for proportional and integral gains which makes the operating point stable is also found. The resulting closed-loop system not only exhibits good transient response, but also provides sinusoidal line currents and unity power factor, both in the rectifying and regenerating modes. Experimental results are presented and compared with simulations.
Heterogeneity of Soluble Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule

Abstract: Soluble neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) from rat brain neuronal cell culture media consists predominantly of a polypeptide of Mr∼ 115,000. Minor amounts of a polypeptide of Mr∼ 180,000 and two inconsistently appearing components of Mr 160,000 and 145,000 are also observed. The Mr 115,000 component is derived from the neuronal membrane NCAM components NCAM‐A of Mr 190,000, NCAM‐B of Mr 140,000, or both. Thus, as a part of the catabolism of membrane NCAM‐A plus ‐B, a minor fraction is posttranslationally cleaved and recovered in the media as discernible soluble NCAM polypeptides. The half‐life of membrane NCAM‐A plus ‐B is <24 h. Astrocyte culture media contains a predominant soluble NCAM component of Mr 120,000 derived from membrane‐associated NCAM‐C. A close comparison of deglycosylated soluble NCAM from astrocyte and neuronal cultures showed a small but consistent difference in Mr, a result suggesting that different NCAM polypeptides are released from the membrane of neurons and astrocytes. In contrast to the Mr 115,000‐120,000 NCAM polypeptides, the Mr 180,000 polypeptide from neuronal culture media does not seem to be derived from membrane‐attached NCAM and may therefore represent a secreted NCAM isoform
The role of activator binding sites in transcriptional control of the divergently transcribed nifF and nif LA promoters from Klebsiella pneumoniae

The regulatory region spanning the divergently transcribed nif F and nifLA promoters contains a NIFA‐specific upstream activator sequence (UAS) located around +59, and two NTRC binding sites centred at −142 and −163 with respect to the nifLA transcription start site. We have constructed mutations in each of these binding sites and examined their role in transcriptional activation of the divergently transcribed promoters. Analysis of a mutation at +60 confirms that the UAS is required for efficient NIFA‐mediated activation of nifF transcription. This sequence is also required for maximal activation of the nifLA promoter. Mutations at −169 and −148, within the two NTRC binding sites, reduce activation of the nifLA promoter by NTRC in vivo and lower the affinity of the activator for these sites in vitro. Phosphorylation of NTRC by NTRB is required for efficient binding of NTRC to these sites.
Internet Surveys and National Election Studies: A Symposium

The science of national election studies is now more than a half-century old. Throughout this lengthy period, the research methods employed by major election studies such as the American National Election Study (ANES) and the British Election Study (BES) have remained essentially unchanged. The core data collection device has been, and continues to be, in-person interviews with national probability samples. However, the advent of high quality internet surveys now presents researchers with exciting new opportunities to advance the science of election studies. Recognizing this opportunity, the BES principal investigators (Harold Clarke, David Sanders, Marianne Stewart and Paul Whiteley) partnered with their ANES counterparts (Jon Krosnick and Arthur Lupia) to hold a two-day conference at Wivenhoe House, University of Essex in June 2007 to discuss the prospects and problems of employing internet survey methods to study the complex of opinions, attitudes and behaviors of interest to election-study researchers. Funded with a grant from the US National Science Foundation’s Cyberinfrastructure Initiative, with additional funding provided by the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Essex, the conference brought together election-study scholars and representatives from major internet survey firms. After the conference, selected presentations were converted into papers and submitted for consideration for publication in JEPOP . The resulting peer-reviewed collection constitutes the present symposium. There are several reasons why election study researchers are interested in employing internet survey methods. One is cost effectiveness. Stated simply, internet surveys are incredibly inexpensive compared to traditional in-person and telephone surveys. Marginal costs of adding respondents are very small, and really large N surveys become realistic possibilities. The internet component of the 2005 BES, the wholly internet-based 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study
Decentralized Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging Selection Algorithm in Power Systems

This paper uses a charging selection concept for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) to maximize user convenience levels while meeting predefined circuit-level demand limits. The optimal PEV-charging selection problem requires an exhaustive search for all possible combinations of PEVs in a power system, which cannot be solved for the practical number of PEVs. Inspired by the efficiency of the convex relaxation optimization tool in finding close-to-optimal results in huge search spaces, this paper proposes the application of the convex relaxation optimization method to solve the PEV-charging selection problem. Compared with the results of the uncontrolled case, the simulated results indicate that the proposed PEV-charging selection algorithm only slightly reduces user convenience levels, but significantly mitigates the impact of the PEV-charging on the power system. We also develop a distributed optimization algorithm to solve the PEV-charging selection problem in a decentralized manner, i.e., the binary charging decisions (charged or not charged) are made locally by each vehicle. Using the proposed distributed optimization algorithm, each vehicle is only required to report its power demand rather than report several of its private user state information, mitigating the security problems inherent in such problem. The proposed decentralized algorithm only requires low-speed communication capability, making it suitable for real-time implementation.
Using Generic Summarization to Improve Music Information Retrieval Tasks

In order to satisfy processing time constraints, many music information retrieval (MIR) tasks process only a segment of the whole music signal. This may lead to decreasing performance, as the most important information for the tasks may not be in the processed segments. We leverage generic summarization algorithms, previously applied to text and speech, to summarize items in music datasets. These algorithms build summaries (both concise and diverse), by selecting appropriate segments from the input signal, also making them good candidates to summarize music. We evaluate the summarization process on binary and multiclass music genre classification tasks, by comparing the accuracy when using summarized datasets against the accuracy when using human-oriented summaries, continuous segments (the traditional method used for addressing the previously mentioned time constraints), and full songs of the original dataset. We show that GRASSHOPPER, LexRank, LSA, MMR, and a Support Sets-based centrality model improve classification performance when compared to selected baselines. We also show that summarized datasets lead to a classification performance whose difference is not statistically significant from using full songs. Furthermore, we make an argument stating the advantages of sharing summarized datasets for future MIR research.
Counsellors' focus on competitive employment for people with severe mental illness: an application of the theory of planned behaviour in vocational rehabilitation programmes

Although the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support programme highlights the importance of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) counsellors' focus on competitive employment during career counselling, studies have shown that counsellors do not always target such jobs. This study examines which determinants affect the counsellors' intentions using an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Cross-sectional data of 263 VR counsellors of three public employment services were analysed using structural equation modelling. A path model comprising attitudes, prior behaviour, and subjective and moral norms explained 69% of the variance in intentions. The findings indicate that counsellors focus more on competitive employment when they (1) view the placement in a competitive job as positive, (2) experience support and (3) have prior relevant experiences.
Application workload prediction and placement in cloud computing systems

Cloud computing has become popular in recent years. Companies such as Amazon and Microsoft host large datacenters of networked machines available for users to rent. These users are varied: from individual researchers to large companies. Their workloads range from short, resource-intensive jobs to long-running user-facing services. As cloud environments become more heavily used, provisioning the underlying network becomes more important. Previous approaches to deal with this problem involve changing the network infrastructure, for instance by imposing a particular topology [34] or creating a new routing protocol [27]. While these techniques are interesting and successful in their own right, we ask a different question: How can we improve cloud networks without changing the network itself? This question is motivated by two desires: first, that customers be able to improve their application’s performance without necessarily involving the provider, and second, that our techniques be immediately applicable to today’s cloud networks. This dissertation presents an end-to-end system, Cicada, which improves application performance on cloud networks. Cicada tackles two problems: how to model and predict an application’s workload, and how to place applications on machines in the network. Cicada can be used by either cloud providers or customers. When used by a cloud provider, Cicada enables the provider to offer certain network performance guarantees to its customers. These guarantees give customers the confidence to use cloud resources when building their own user-facing applications (as there is no longer a risk of the cloud under-provisioning for the customer’s network needs), and allow providers to better utilize their network. When used by customers, Cicada enables customers to satisfy their own objectives, such as minimizing the completion time of their application. To do this, Cicada exploits variation in the underlying cloud network touse the fastest pathsmost frequently. This requires an extension toCicada, called Choreo, which performs quick, accurate, client-side measurement. We evaluate Cicada using data we collected from HP Cloud, a deployed network with real users. Cicada’s workload prediction algorithm outperforms the existing
Intergroup Discrimination in Positive and Negative Outcome Allocations: Impact of Stimulus Valence, Relative Group Status, and Relative Group Size

Three studies investigated the determination of social discrimination by the valence of stimuli that are allocated between groups. The studies were based on either the minimal group paradigm or a more reality-based laboratory intergroup setting, with stimulus valence, group status, and group size as factors and with pull scores on Taifel matrices as dependent variables. In general, the results showed that group members did not discriminate against the out-group when allocating negative stimuli, where as for positive stimuli the typical in-group bias was found. However, those participants whose positive social identity was threatened by assigning them to inferior or minority groups showed an increased willingness to favor the in-group over the out-group in the allocation of both positive and negative stimuli.
Elevated Parathyroid Hormone, But Not Vitamin D Deficiency, Is Associated With Increased Risk of Heart Failure in Older Men With and Without Cardiovascular Disease

Background—Hyperparathyroidism and low vitamin D status have been implicated in the pathogenesis of heart failure (HF). We examined the prospective associations between parathyroid hormone (PTH), circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and markers of mineral metabolism and risk of incident HF in older men with and without established cardiovascular disease. Methods and Results—Prospective study of 3731 men aged 60 to 79 years with no prevalent HF followed up for a mean period of 13 years, in whom there were 287 incident HF cases. Elevated PTH (≥55.6 pg/mL; top quarter) was associated with significantly higher risk of incident HF after adjustment for lifestyle characteristics, diabetes mellitus, blood lipids, blood pressure, lung function, heart rate, renal dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and C-reactive protein (hazards ratio, 1.66; 95% confidence interval, 1.30–2.13). The increased risk was seen in both men with and without previous myocardial infarction or stroke (hazards ratio, 1.72; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.76; hazards ratio, 1.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.25–2.30, respectively). Elevated PTH was significantly associated with N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide, a marker of left ventricular wall stress. By contrast, 25-hydroxyvitamin D and other markers of mineral metabolism including serum calcium and phosphate showed no significant association with incident HF after adjustment for age. Conclusions—Elevated PTH, but not 25-hydroxyvitamin D or other markers of mineral metabolism, is associated with increased risk of HF in both older men with and without myocardial infarction/stroke. This increased risk was not explained by its association with known risk factors for HF. Further studies are now needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this association.
Supporting doctoral students in their professional identity projects

Doctoral programmes and education do not necessarily pay enough attention to the professional development of the student. Doctoral students may struggle with an unclear conception of who they can and want to become as a result of their doctoral studies. This paper describes an event that aimed to provide doctoral students with opportunities to reflect collectively upon and resource their identity projects. In this course academic work was approached as ‘practical activity’ that can be discussed in terms of its tactics, politics, morals and subjects. After identifying the specific features of the course design, the authors assess its usability beyond the local context.
Evaluation of a therapeutic education program for French family caregivers of elderly people suffering from major neurocognitive disorders: Preliminary study

ABSTRACT The pertinence of a therapeutic program of education has been studied with regard to carers of patients suffering from major neurocognitive disorders. The program, adapted to the needs expressed by the carers, consisted of three workshops with a view to supplying general information about the pathologies, specific information on behavioral disorders, and specific aids to identify and manage their emotional reactions. The results of this preliminary study show a moderate significant benefit to the level of anxiety in the participants, taking into account the specific expectations of the carers and bringing to light further needs.