Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural Changes between Seasons in the Songbird Auditory Forebrain

The song control system (SCS) of seasonal songbirds shows remarkable seasonal plasticity. Male starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) sing throughout the year, but in the breeding season, when concentrations of testosterone are elevated, the song is highly sexually motivated. The main goal of this study was to investigate structural seasonal changes in regions involved in auditory processing and in socio-sexual behavior. Using in vivo Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), we measured in breeding and nonbreeding seasons volume and tissue characteristics of several brain regions of nine adult male starlings. We demonstrate that the songbird brain exhibits an extreme seasonal plasticity not merely limited to the SCS. Volumetric analysis showed seasonal telencephalon volume changes and more importantly also a volumetric change in the caudal region of the nidopallium (NCM), a region analogous to the mammalian secondary auditory cortex. Analysis of the DTI data allowed detection of seasonal changes in cellular attributes in NCM and regions involved in social behavior. This study extends our view on a seasonally dynamic avian brain which not only hones its song control system but also auditory and social systems to be prepared for the breeding season.
Organizational Learning, Managerial Ties, and Radical Innovation: Evidence From an Emerging Economy

Although organizational learning has been recognized as an important driver of radical innovation, the literature ignores the moderating roles of managerial ties in changing the effects of learning on radical innovation. By providing access to external resources, managerial ties increase resource availability in emerging economies. Firms in these economies can utilize different ties to acquire the complementary resources for organizational learning to improve radical innovation. This study advances research on organizational learning and managerial ties by examining how different managerial ties affect the relationships between organizational learning and radical innovation in emerging economies. By integrating organizational learning theory and social capital theory, we find that political ties strengthen the relationship between exploitative learning and radical innovation, while business ties strengthen the effects of both exploratory learning and exploitative learning on radical innovation. Both types of ties strengthen the relationship between the interaction of the two types of learning and radical innovation. Our results reveal the different moderating roles of political ties and business ties in changing the organizational learning-innovation link, an indirect mechanism through which managerial ties affect the long-term development of firms in emerging economies. Firms in these economies should build the appropriate ties according to their portfolios of learning.
Exogenous salicylic acid improves photosynthesis and growth through increase in ascorbate-glutathione metabolism and S assimilation in mustard under salt stress

Ascorbate (AsA)–glutathione (GSH) cycle metabolism has been regarded as the most important defense mechanism for the resistance of plants under stress. In this study the influence of salicylic acid (SA) was studied on ascorbate-glutathione pathway, S-assimilation, photosynthesis and growth of mustard (Brassica juncea L.) plants subjected to 100 mM NaCl. Treatment of SA (0.5 mM) alleviated the negative effects of salt stress and improved photosynthesis and growth through increase in enzymes of ascorbate-glutathione pathway which suggest that SA may participate in the redox balance under salt stress. The increase in leaf sulfur content through higher activity of ATP sulfurylase (ATPS) and serine acetyl transferase (SAT) by SA application was associated with the increased accumulation of glutathione (GSH) and lower levels of oxidative stress. These effects of SA were substantiated by the findings that application of SA-analog, 2,6, dichloro-isonicotinic acid (INA) and 1 mM GSH treatment produced similar results on rubisco, photosynthesis and growth of plants establishing that SA application alleviates the salt-induced decrease in photosynthesis mainly through inducing the enzyme activity of ascorbate-glutathione pathway and increased GSH production. Thus, SA/GSH could be a promising tool for alleviation of salt stress in mustard plants.
The electroencephalographic evolution of a group of patients on a ketonic diet

INTRODUCTION: A ketogenic diet is an old method for the treatment of resistant epilepsy in children, which has been revived in recent years because of its proven efficacy. OBJECTIVE: To correlate electroencephalographic findings and clinical changes observed in a group of patients on the classical ketogenic diet, to determine the validity of the electroencephalogram in following-up treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We made a prospective evaluation of 11 patients aged between 1 and 19 years for an average period of 22 months. The patients had different types of resistant epilepsy according to Schmidt's score as modified by Aicardi, with a sleep encephalogram prior to treatment and 3, 6, 12 and 24 months later, after following the protocol of the classical ketogenic diet. RESULTS: The sleep encephalograph recordings showed changes in all patients. In 9% of cases they became normal, there was great improvement in 45.45% and some improvement in 45.45%. No patient had worsening of the recording. There was over 50% reduction in the number of seizures seen in 72.7% of the children and complete control was achieved in 27.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Normalization or improvement of sleep encephalogram recordings was correlated with improvement in seizures. Electroenchephalogram follow-up is a useful method for prediction of response to treatment with a ketogenic diet.
Towards a standardization of the murine tail bleeding model

*Departments of Pharmacology and Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Division of Pediatrics,The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA; and Department of Experimental Pharmacology, TA Bio Therapeutics,Baxter BioScience, Vienna, AustriaTo cite this article: Greene TK, Schiviz A, Hoellriegl W, Poncz M, Muchitsch E-M, on behalf of the Animal Models Subcommittee of the Scientiﬁcand Standardization Committee of the ISTH. Towards a standardization of the murine tail bleeding model. J Thromb Haemost 2010; 8: 2820–2.
AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE PROJECT FOR UNDERGRADUATES

Brigham Young University recently introduced a project for undergraduates in which a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle system is constructed. The system is capable of autonomous flight, takeoff, landing, and navigation through a planned path. In addition, through the use of video and telemetry collected by the vehicle, accurate geolocation of specified targets is performed. This paper outlines our approach and successes in facilitating this accomplishment at the undergraduate level.
Pre‐incubation with cyclosporine A potentiates its inhibitory effects on pitavastatin uptake mediated by recombinantly expressed cynomolgus monkey hepatic organic anion transporting polypeptide

Cyclosporine A, an inhibitor of hepatic organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs), reportedly increased plasma concentrations of probe substrates, although its maximum unbound blood concentrations were lower than the experimental half‐maximal inhibitory (IC50) concentrations. Pre‐incubation with cyclosporine A in vitro before simultaneous incubation with probes has been reported to potentiate its inhibitory effects on recombinant human OATP‐mediated probe uptake. In the present study, the effects of cyclosporine A and rifampicin on recombinant cynomolgus monkey OATP‐mediated pitavastatin uptake were investigated in pre‐ and simultaneous incubation systems. Pre‐incubation with cyclosporine A, but not with rifampicin, decreased the apparent IC50 values on recombinant cynomolgus monkey OATP1B1‐ and OATP1B3‐mediated pitavastatin uptake. Application of the co‐incubated IC50 values toward R values (1 + [unbound inhibitor]inlet to the liver, theoretically maximum/inhibition constant) in static models, 1.1 in monkeys and 1.3 in humans, for recombinant cynomolgus monkey and human OATP1B1‐mediated pitavastatin uptake might result in the poor prediction of drug interaction magnitudes. In contrast, the lowered IC50 values after pre‐incubation with cyclosporine A provided better prediction with R values of 3.9 for monkeys and 2.7 for humans when the estimated maximum cyclosporine A concentrations at the inlet to the liver were used. These results suggest that the enhanced inhibitory potential of perpetrator medicines by pre‐incubation on cynomolgus monkey OATP‐mediated pitavastatin uptake in vitro could be of value for the precise estimation of drug interaction magnitudes in silico, in accordance with the findings from pre‐administration of inhibitors on pitavastatin pharmacokinetics validated in monkeys. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Classification of Structured EEG Tensors Using Nuclear Norm Regularization: Improving P300 Classification

Choosing an appropriate approach for single-trial EEG classification is a key factor in brain computer interfaces (BCIs). Here we consider an auditory oddball paradigm, recorded in normal indoor and walking outdoor conditions. The signal of interest, namely the P300 component of the event related potential (ERP), unlike noise, is a structured signal in the multidimensional space spanned by channels, time and frequency or possibly other types of features. Therefore, we apply spectral regularization using nuclear norm on a tensorial representation of the EEG data. Due to the a-priori structural information conveyed by the nuclear norm penalty, we expect an improved performance compared to traditional approaches, especially under noisy conditions and in case of small sample sizes.
Functional Test Generation for Sequential Circuits

We propose a method of generating tests for finite state machines (FSMs) from the same functional description that is used for logic synthesis. The faults are modeled as growth and disappearance faults in the cubical description (or personality matrix) of the irredundant combinational part of the FSM. For combinational logic alone, test vectors for these faults are eficiently derived using a cube-based method previously developed for programmable logic arrays (PLAs). It is shown that these tests provide a 100% coverage of single stuck type faults in any irredundant twolevel implementation and in the multi-level implementation obtained through testability preserving transformations. To derive tests for the sequential circuit, we represent it as an iterative array of the combinational logic whose personality matrix is modified according to the fault. A test for a growth or disappearance fault now consists of a state justification sequence, a test vector for the combinational logic and a fault propagation sequence. The cube-based PLA algorithm is extended to obtain the entire test sequence. The results on synthesis benchmark circuits show that almost 100% stuck type fault coverage can be obtained with this technique.
Integration of woodchuck hepatitis and N‐myc rearrangement determine size and histologic grade of hepatic tumors

Integrations of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) DNA and rearrangements of the N‐myc 2 gene have been detected frequently in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of Eastern woodchucks (Marmota monax) chronically infected with WHV. Fifty‐five hepatocellular neoplasms and matched nontumor hepatic tissue specimens obtained postmortem from 13 chronic WHV carriers were analyzed and the frequency of WHV DNA integrations and of N‐myc rearrangements compared in tumors of different size and histologic grade. Four small tumor nodules were classified histologically as adenomas and integrated sequences of WHV DNA were detected in two of the four tumor nodules. In one of the two nodules, there was evidence of N‐myc rearrangement. Fifty‐one neoplasms were classified as HCC. Seven were grade 1 HCCs. WHV DNA integrations were demonstrated in 43% but none had N‐myc rearrangements. Twenty grade 2 HCCs had WHV DNA integrations in 80% and in 38% N‐myc rearrangements were present. Twenty‐four grade 3 HCCs had integrations of WHV DNA in 79% and N‐myc rearrangements in 74%. In two other grade 3 HCCs, rearrangements of N‐myc were detected in the absence of WHV DNA integrations. The 12 largest tumors in the series all were grade 2 or 3 HCCs, and in 83%, both WHV DNA integrations and N‐myc rearrangements were demonstrated. In conclusion, molecular changes observed in this study suggest a progression of genetic alterations providing either a significant proliferative stimulation and/or a growth advantage in hepatocarcinogenesis of woodchucks with chronic WHV infection. (HEPATOLOGY 2004;39:1008–1016.)
Examining the Panic Attack Specifier in Social Anxiety Disorder

Abstract Panic attacks (PAs) are characterized by overwhelming surges of fear and discomfort and are one of the most frequently occurring symptoms in psychiatric populations. The most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e. DSM-5) allows for a panic attack (PA) specifier for all disorders, including social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, there is little research examining differences between individuals diagnosed with SAD with the PA specifier versus individuals diagnosed with SAD without the PA specifier. The current study examined social anxiety, mood, anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity social concerns, a risk factor for social anxiety in SAD-diagnosed individuals without (N = 52) and with (N = 14) the PA specifier. The groups differed only in somatic symptoms of anxiety. Result of the current study provides preliminary evidence that the presence of the PA specifier in social anxiety does not result in elevated levels of comorbidity or a more severe presentation of social anxiety.
Zero signal and last available signal strategies comparison for H∞ control over lossy links

This paper studies the H<inf>∞</inf> performance of networked control systems where control packets are subject to loss. Two commonly-used compensation strategies, namely, the “zero signal” and “last available signal” strategies are compared. The results in this paper show that besides giving simpler equations and being convenient to mathematical analysis, the “zero signal” strategy is never worse than the “last available signal” one. An example is given to show the validity of the proposed result.
Effects of Stereoscopic Display on Learning and User Experience in an Educational Virtual Environment

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, many studies have examined the potential benefits of educational virtual environments (EVEs), either by comparing them with other media or by assessing the effects of their features on learning. Paradoxically, very few of them have explored the effects of stereoscopic versus nonstereoscopic displays on learning and/or the subjective experience provided in an EVE. Our study was designed to fill this gap, by comparing the effects of these two virtual reality modes in an interactive mechanics learning task. We collected measures of task effectiveness (success/failure and completion time), learning outcomes and subjective experience (user experience, flow, and immersion). Results showed that (1) users were more successful in the learning tasks in the stereoscopic condition, and (2) perceived affective quality, flow, and immersion were better in this condition.
Estimation of Window Coefficients for Dynamic Feature Extraction for HMM-Based Speech Synthesis

In standard approaches to hidden Markov model (HMM)-based speech synthesis, window coefﬁcients for calculating dynamic features are pre-determined and ﬁxed. This may not be optimal to capture various context-dependent dynamic characteristics in speech signals. This paper proposes a data-driven technique to estimate the window coefﬁcients. They are optimized so as to maximize the likelihood of trajectory HMMs given data. Experimental results show that the proposed technique can achieve a comparable performance with the mean-and variance-updated trajectory HMMs in the naturalness of synthesized speech, while offering signiﬁcantly lower computational cost.
A video database for facial behavior understanding

The use of new technologies in order to step up the interaction between humans and machines is the main proof that faces are important in videos. Therefore we suggest a novel Face Video Database for development, testing and verification of algorithms related to facebased applications and to facial recognition applications. In addition of facial expression videos, the database includes body videos. The videos are taken by three different cameras, working in real time, without varying illumination conditions.
Active Fuse

In this work, we propose an active fuse which is a novel power device to prevent serious hazards in power electronics in the case of a fault. Using this active fuse, power devices or parts of power electronic circuits which are in an undefined, uncontrollable condition can be disconnected reliable and irreversible from the power supply. Critical safety consequences of faults like overheating or fire will be avoided. The focus of this work was to develop a monolithic integrated crowbar circuit including a fusible element $the active fuse - with an application range from 1A to 5A and 48V at an operating temperature of 175degC
Ontology-based annotation using naive Bayes and decision trees

The Cognitive Paradigm Ontology (CogPO) defines an ontological relationship between academic terms and experiments in the field of neuroscience. BrainMap (www.brainmap.org) is a database of literature describing these experiments, which are annotated by human experts based on the ontological framework defined in CogPO. We present a stochastic approach to automate this process. We begin with a gold standard corpus of abstracts annotated by experts, and model the annotations with a group of naive Bayes classifiers, then explore the inherent relationship among different
Characterization of the coagulation profile in children with liver disease and extrahepatic portal vein obstruction or shunt

ABSTRACT Introduction: Chronic liver disease causes a disruption of procoagulant and anticoagulant factors, resulting in a fragile state, prone to increased rates of both bleeding and thrombosis. Currently, there is limited literature describing the changes observed in pediatric liver disease and extrahepatic portal vein obstruction or shunt. This study aimed to describe the changes that occur in children with chronic liver disease and extrahepatic portal vein obstruction or shunt. Materials and methods: We measured the concentration and activity of key procoagulant and anticoagulant factors in children with liver disease, children with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction or shunt, and healthy children. Results: Children with severe liver disease had coagulopathic changes, including either decreased concentration or activity of factor II, factor V, and factor VII. Nineteen percent (8/42) of the cohort had significant bleeding. Thrombophilic changes were also observed, including decreased concentration or activity of protein C, protein S, and antithrombin and increased concentration and activity of factor VIII and Von Willebrand factor. Similar coagulation factor changes were observed in children with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction or shunt. There was a trend toward greater changes in coagulation factor activity compared to concentration. Conclusion: This study provides a detailed description of the changes in both the concentration and activity of coagulation factors in pediatric liver disease and extrahepatic portal vein obstruction or shunt. Interestingly, procoagulant and anticoagulant factors were deranged in portal vein obstruction or shunt to a similar degree as in liver disease. An improved understanding of the coagulation profile in the pediatric setting will contribute to the improved management of liver disease and extrahepatic portal obstruction or shunt. Abbreviations: PELD: pediatric end-stage liver disease score; MELD: model for end-stage liver disease score; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; MCRI: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute; FII: factor II; FV: factor V; FVII: factor VII; FVIII: factor VIII; AT: antithrombin III; A2M: alpha-2-macroglobulin; vWF: Von Willebrand factor; PC: protein C; PS: protein S; ISTH-BAT: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis Bleeding Assessment Tool
Plasminogen activator activity of metastatic variants from a murine fibrosarcoma; effect of thrombin in vitro

In order to investigate the possible correlation between plasminogen activator (PA) activity and metastatic potential of tumour cells, we studied cultured cells from the murine fibrosarcoma mFS6 and from its two sublines M4 and M9 which differ markedly in their capacity to cause spontaneous metastases in the lung. PA activity was detected in all the sublines by an amidolytic method and was almost completely inhibited by treatment with anti‐urokinase antiserum. No significant differences were shown between mFS6, M4 and M9. Moreover, molecular analysis of PA by SDS‐PAGE electrophoresis and fibrin overlay revealed in all the cell types a single species having a mol. wt. of approximately 48,000 daltons. Thrombin treatment dramatically inhibited the amidolytic activity of all cells, suggesting a role for this enzyme in the modulation of fibrin formation and dissolution within the primary neoplasm.
Performance analysis of Z - source Inverter based ASD system with reduced harmonics

This paper presents the Z - source inverter for adjustable speed drive system. The Z - source inverter employs a unique impedance network couple with inverter main circuit. By controlling the shoot through duty cycle, the Z - source inverter system using MOSFETS provide ride - through capability during voltage sags, reduces line harmonics, improves power factor and high reliability, and extends output voltage range. Analysis and simulation results will be presented to demonstrate new features. It reduces harmonics, electromagnetic interference.
Speed-sensorless control of induction motors with improved fault tolerance against current sensor failure

In this paper we propose the use of a multisensor switching strategy for fault tolerant speed-sensorless vector control of induction motors. The proposed strategy combines three current sensors and associated observers that estimate rotor speed and flux. The estimates provided by the observers are compared at each sampling time by a switching mechanism which selects the sensors-observer pair with the smallest value of an appropriately chosen switching cost. The switching selection is such that measurements from faulty current sensors are automatically avoided by the switching mechanism, thus maintaining good performance levels even in the presence of a faulty sensor. The measurements provided by the selected pair are used by a vector controller (DTFC or FOC) to implement the control law. Simulation results under realistic conditions illustrate the effectiveness of the scheme.
A 33 nJ/vector descriptor generation processor for low-power object recognition

An energy efficient descriptor generation (DG) processor is proposed for low-power object recognition (OR) processor, it has 3 low-power schemes: descriptor reuse (DR) algorithm, hierarchical pipeline (HP) architecture, and look-up table (LUT)-based nonlinear operation circuits. The DR OR algorithm reuses 58% descriptors from the previous frame. The HP employs upper 3-stage keypoint-level pipeline with lower 4-stage fine-grained pixel-level pipeline for the high pipeline utilization. The LUT-based nonlinear operations enhance the energy efficiency. The chip is implemented in a 65nm CMOS process, and it shows average 5 mW power consumption and up to 33 nJ/vector energy efficiency. As a result, 21.6 times higher energy efficiency and 3.5 times higher area efficiency can be achieved compared to the state-of-the-art OR processor.