Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms underlying cortical resonant states: implications for levodopa-induced dyskinesia

Abstract A common observation in recordings of neuronal activity from the cerebral cortex is that populations of neurons show patterns of synchronized oscillatory activity. However, it has been suggested that neuronal synchronization can, in certain pathological conditions, become excessive and possibly have a pathogenic role. In particular, aberrant oscillatory activation patterns have been implicated in conditions involving cortical dysfunction. We here review the mechanisms thought to be involved in the generation of cortical oscillations and discuss their relevance in relation to a recent finding indicating that high-frequency oscillations in the cerebral cortex have an important role in the generation of levodopa-induced dyskinesia. On the basis of these insights, it is suggested that the identification of physiological changes associated with symptoms of disease is a particularly important first step toward a more rapid development of novel treatment strategies.
Interleukin-1β Immunoreactivity and Microglia Are Enhanced in the Rat Hippocampus by Focal Kainate Application: Functional Evidence for Enhancement of Electrographic Seizures

Using immunocytochemistry and ELISA, we investigated the production of interleukin (IL)-1β in the rat hippocampus after focal application of kainic acid inducing electroencephalographic (EEG) seizures and CA3 neuronal cell loss. Next, we studied whether EEG seizures per se induced IL-1β and microglia changes in the hippocampus using bicuculline as a nonexcitotoxic convulsant agent. Finally, to address the functional role of this cytokine, we measured the effect of human recombinant (hr)IL-1β on seizure activity as one marker of the response to kainate. Three and 24 hr after unilateral intrahippocampal application of 0.19 nmol of kainate, IL-1β immunoreactivity was enhanced in glia in the injected and the contralateral hippocampi. At 24 hr, IL-1β concentration increased by 16-fold (p < 0.01) in the injected hippocampus. Reactive microglia was enhanced with a pattern similar to IL-1β immunoreactivity. Intrahippocampal application of 0.77 nmol of bicuculline methiodide, which induces EEG seizures but not cell loss, enhanced IL-1β immunoreactivity and microglia, although to a less extent and for a shorter time compared with kainate. One nanogram of (hr)IL-1β intrahippocampally injected 10 min before kainate enhanced by 226% the time spent in seizures (p < 0.01). This effect was blocked by coinjection of 1 μg (hr)IL-1β receptor antagonist or 0.1 ng of 3-((+)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonate, selective antagonists of IL-1β and NMDA receptors, respectively. Thus, convulsant and/or excitotoxic stimuli increase the production of IL-1β in microglia-like cells in the hippocampus. In addition, exogenous application of IL-1β prolongs kainate-induced hippocampal EEG seizures by enhancing glutamatergic neurotransmission.
EigenSP: A More Accurate Shortest Path Distance Estimation on Large-Scale Networks

Estimating the distances of the shortest path between given pairs of nodes in a graph is a basic operation in a wide variety of applications including social network analysis, web retrieval, etc. Such applications require a response on the order of a few milliseconds, but exact algorithms to compute the distance of the shortest path exactly do not work on real-world large-scale networks, because of their infeasible time complexities. The landmark-based methods approximate distances by using a few nodes as landmarks, and can accurately estimate shortest-path distances with feasible time complexities. However, they fail at estimating small distances, as it is difficult for a few selected landmarks to cover the shortest paths of many close node pairs. To tackle this problem, we present a novel method EigenSP, that estimates the shortest-path distance by using an adjacency matrix approximated by a few eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The average relative error rate of EigenSP is lower than that of the landmark-based methods on large graphs with many short distances. Empirical results suggest that EigenSP estimates small distances better than the landmark-based methods.
Airborne observations of the Eyjafjalla volcano ash cloud over Europe during air space closure in April and May 2010

Abstract. Airborne lidar and in-situ measurements of aerosols and trace gases were performed in volcanic ash plumes over Europe between Southern Germany and Iceland with the Falcon aircraft during the eruption period of the Eyjafjalla volcano between 19 April and 18 May 2010. Flight planning and measurement analyses were supported by a refined Meteosat ash product and trajectory model analysis. The volcanic ash plume was observed with lidar directly over the volcano and up to a distance of 2700 km downwind, and up to 120 h plume ages. Aged ash layers were between a few 100 m to 3 km deep, occurred between 1 and 7 km altitude, and were typically 100 to 300 km wide. Particles collected by impactors had diameters up to 20 μm diameter, with size and age dependent composition. Ash mass concentrations were derived from optical particle spectrometers for a particle density of 2.6 g cm−3 and various values of the refractive index (RI, real part: 1.59; 3 values for the imaginary part: 0, 0.004 and 0.008). The mass concentrations, effective diameters and related optical properties were compared with ground-based lidar observations. Theoretical considerations of particle sedimentation constrain the particle diameters to those obtained for the lower RI values. The ash mass concentration results have an uncertainty of a factor of two. The maximum ash mass concentration encountered during the 17 flights with 34 ash plume penetrations was below 1 mg m−3. The Falcon flew in ash clouds up to about 0.8 mg m−3 for a few minutes and in an ash cloud with approximately 0.2 mg m−3 mean-concentration for about one hour without engine damage. The ash plumes were rather dry and correlated with considerable CO and SO2 increases and O3 decreases. To first order, ash concentration and SO2 mixing ratio in the plumes decreased by a factor of two within less than a day. In fresh plumes, the SO2 and CO concentration increases were correlated with the ash mass concentration. The ash plumes were often visible slantwise as faint dark layers, even for concentrations below 0.1 mg m−3. The large abundance of volatile Aitken mode particles suggests previous nucleation of sulfuric acid droplets. The effective diameters range between 0.2 and 3 μm with considerable surface and volume contributions from the Aitken and coarse mode aerosol, respectively. The distal ash mass flux on 2 May was of the order of 500 (240–1600) kg s−1. The volcano induced about 10 (2.5–50) Tg of distal ash mass and about 3 (0.6–23) Tg of SO2 during the whole eruption period. The results of the Falcon flights were used to support the responsible agencies in their decisions concerning air traffic in the presence of volcanic ash.
A new approach to the bottleneck bandwidth measurement for an end-to-end network path

We propose a new technique for measuring the bottleneck bandwidth of a network path between end hosts. Our proposal is based on the packet-pair technique and uses a simple statistical procedure for filtering out the cross traffic effect. We explain the basic mechanism of our proposal and its implementation in two different types of tools, single end-point and double end-point tools. The former runs in one end-point of the path, assuming that the other end-point or intermediate routers should reply to each received packet using ICMP (Internet control message protocol) packets. The latter works under the cooperation of both source and destination hosts. We have extensively conducted several experiments on nationwide and international networks to show that our proposal outperforms existing tools, such as Pathchar and Nettimer, in terms of accuracy and robustness of measurement.
Radiologically Isolated Syndrome: An Overview

The use of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation of neurological disorders has increased in the past two decades. This has led to an increased detection of incidental findings on brain MRI. The most common of these asymptomatic abnormalities are white matter lesions that are interpreted as demyelinating based on radiological criteria. However, in the absence of associated clinical symptoms suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS), a definite diagnosis of MS cannot be made in patients with these incidental white matter lesions. These patients are now diagnosed as radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS). The natural history and clinical approach to patients with RIS are reviewed in this article.
TP53 Gene Status Affects Survival in Advanced Mycosis Fungoides

TP53 is frequently mutated in different types of neoplasms including leukemia and lymphomas. Mutations of TP53 have also been reported in mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common type of cutaneous lymphoma. However, little is known about the frequency, spectrum of mutations, and their prognostic significance in MF. In this study, we have optimized the protocol for Sanger sequencing of TP53 using DNA extracted from archival paraffin-embedded biopsies. Of 19 samples from patients with stage IIB MF or higher, 31% harbored mutations in TP53. Overall survival of the patients with mutated TP53 was significantly shorter than median survival in the age- and stage-matched patients treated in our Institution. Distribution of mutations was heterogenous in TP53 exons; however, C > T transitions were common suggesting the causal role of ultraviolet radiation. We propose that TP53 mutation status would be useful for risk stratification of patients with advanced MF.
Do Culture, Sentiment, and Cognitive Dissonance Explain the ‘Above Suspicion’ Anomalies?

We investigate how cognitive dissonance arising from interactions between sentiment and culture affects momentum and post‐earnings‐announcement‐drift (PEAD). We focus on differing views relating to change between Western and East Asian cultures. Building on Hong and Stein (1999) and recognising Westerners' (Easterners') belief in continuation (reversal), we propose cognitive dissonance arises in different circumstances and to differing degrees in the two cultures, resulting in it being a key driver of the anomalies. Results support our hypotheses, suggesting sentiment and culture interact to impact cognitive dissonance, explaining differences in the anomalies across countries evident in prior literature.
Sharpness Enhancement of Stereo Images Using Binocular Just-Noticeable Difference

In this paper, we propose a new sharpness enhancement algorithm for stereo images. Although the stereo image and its applications are becoming increasingly prevalent, there has been very limited research on specialized image enhancement solutions for stereo images. Recently, a binocular just-noticeable-difference (BJND) model that describes the sensitivity of the human visual system to luminance changes in stereo images has been presented. We introduce a novel application of the BJND model for the sharpness enhancement of stereo images. To this end, an overenhancement problem in the sharpness enhancement of stereo images is newly addressed, and an efficient solution for reducing the overenhancement is proposed. The solution is found within an optimization framework with additional constraint terms to suppress the unnecessary increase in luminance values. In addition, the reliability of the BJND model is taken into account by estimating the accuracy of stereo matching. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can provide sharpness-enhanced stereo images without producing excessive distortion.
Stability Analysis of Natural Gradient Learning Rules in Complete ICA: A Unifying Perspective

This letter deals with the independent component analysis (ICA) problem in the complete case. As appeared recently in the literature, different Riemannian metrics can be defined within the parameter space (i.e., the general linear group), allowing to derive correspondingly various ICA learning rules based on the relative natural gradients (NGs). This letter proposes a general framework to analyze the stability of such learning rules, including the already published study focusing on the Amari's NG approach as a special case thereof. In particular, it is shown that the stability conditions known in the literature still hold in all cases addressed
Biomedical imaging in the safety evaluation of new drugs

Summary Toxicology accounts for approximately one-third of attrition in new drug development and is a major concern in the pharmaceutical industry. This paper reviews the role of biomedical imaging in the safety evaluation of new candidate drugs. Ex vivo high-resolution three-dimensional imaging of specimens can provide a quick overview of the specimens. Volumetric measurements of tissue structures and lesions can be made with higher precision and reproducibility than histology approaches. As opposed to histology, in vivo animal imaging permits longitudinal studies of the same animals over an extended period of time, with individual animals serving as their own control. Therefore, the number of animals required for a study can be significantly reduced and the intra-subject variability is minimized. Repeated in vivo imaging allows monitoring of the occurrence and progression, or regression, of various structural and functional abnormalities. Compared with other biological assays, imaging can provide anatomically specific information about tissue abnormality. Imaging offers the opportunity to carry forward the same methodology in animal experiments into human studies and has an important role in clinical trials when other safety biomarkers for early toxicities are not available.
Escherichia coli contamination of rural well water in Alberta, Canada is associated with soil properties, density of livestock and precipitation

Abstract Waterborne outbreaks of infectious disease continue to be a public health risk, particularly those in areas where testing of private and public small system groundwater systems is left to the owners/overseers of these wells who may not recognize the importance of testing and treatment. Recognizing factors associated with contamination of wells is important for public safety and can encourage well owners/overseers to test regularly and properly maintain drinking water supplies. Tests results for presence/absence of total coliforms and Escherichia coli for private and public untreated well water for the years 2010-2012 (n = 56,609) were provided by the Alberta Provincial Laboratory for Public Health. Tests were geolocated with the Alberta Township Survey System and aggregated to the quarter section. Agricultural independent variables were provided by the Canadian Agricultural Census and monthly cumulative precipitation was calculated using Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s website of weather station data. Overall frequency of E. coli-positive wells in the study was 1.4%. A marginal multivariable logistic regression model was fit using generalized estimating equations to account for repeat testing of some quarter sections. Three significant factors associated with increased E. coli-positive untreated drinking water wells were identified: soil properties (KSat and sand content), animal density and monthly cumulative precipitation.
Synthesis and reduction of state machine workflow nets

We present two rules for generating State Machine Workflow (SMWf) nets. We prove the soundness of these rules, i.e., we show that applying these rules to an SMWf net results in an SMWf net. We also prove completeness, i.e., we show that any SMWf net can be obtained by applying our rules to the initial SMWf net containing one transition only. We present two proofs for completeness, one based on synthesis and one based on reduction.
Male-female wage gap and firm effect The case of young Italian workers ( Running title : Male-female wage gap and firm effect )

The idea that wages are determined by firm and individual characteristics leads to gather that there is a firms’ effect that influences wage differentials. This paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of gender wage differentials based on INPS data firms for people between the ages of 20 and 25 employed in the private sector in 1996 which takes into account the characteristics of workers and firms using a two level random effect model. Firm variables proved to be significant, and firm female proportion showed a negative effect on wage of both man and woman.
The psychological effects of state socialization: IGO membership loss and respect for human rights

ABSTRACT We present an interdisciplinary theory that considers how loss of membership in international organizations affects states’ human rights practices. Drawing mostly from social psychology and international relations research, we argue that states are socialized into the international community through a process of social influence, whereby they are incentivized to comply with group norms by the promise (threat) of social rewards (punishments). Social influence occurs when states form social bonds through interactions with other states. When social bonds are severed, fewer opportunities for social influence occur due to lower information to both the remaining states and the state that lost those social bonds. Thus, we hypothesize that the loss of membership from IGOs reduces incentives to comply with group norms and adversely affects human rights practices at home. A combination of propensity score matching/regression and autoregressive distributed lag (ADL) models on a global cross-section across the years 1978–2012 supports the theory. Specifically, losing at least one IGO membership leads to a long-run drop in human rights respect of about one quarter to one half standard deviation.
Perceptions of Movement Competence in Children and Adolescents from Different Cultures and Countries

aaa The purpose of this special issue was to present current research regarding perceptions of motor competence in children and adolescents. From a motor development perspective, it is important to be able to articulate and measure perceived motor competence. The conceptual model presented by Stodden and colleagues (2008) articulated that perceived motor competence was a mediator between actual motor skill level and physical activity participation, and that a positive spiral of engagement and perception would lead to children and adolescents having a better chance of being a healthy weight. Now some years later there is convincing evidence to support many of the aspects of this model (Robinson et al., 2015). For this special issue we were specifically interested in research that articulated and measured perceived motor competence rather than the overarching concept of physical self-perception or other domains of the physical self, such as perceived sport or athletic competence (for a full discussion see Estevan & Barnett, 2018). There are some widely used measures of physical self-perception for children and adolescents: for example, in young children, the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Acceptance for Young Children (Harter & Pike, 1984); for older children, the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (Marsh, 1996a, 1996b); and in adolescents and young adults, the Physical Self-Perception Profile (Fox & Corbin, 1989). While some of these instruments do have items that explicitly ask about perception in motor skills, these items are not necessarily aligned to those in tests of actual motor competence. Other instruments measure subdomains of physical self-perception, like perceived sports competence; thus, the child is being asked to report on their ability in all aspects relevant to sport (e.g., game play and rule knowledge), in addition to motor skill competence. While these broader constructs can be relevant to motor development (Goodway & Rudisill, 1997; Robinson, 2010; Weiss & Amorose, 2005), we were specifically interested in drilling down into the construct of perception of motor competence. Motor
Personality, Cortisol, and Cognition in Non-demented Elderly Subjects: Results from a Population-Based Study

Certain personality traits, in particular higher neuroticism, have been associated, on one hand, with elevated cortisol levels, and on the other hand, with poorer cognitive performance. At the same time, several studies highlighted the association between high cortisol and poor cognitive functioning. Here, we hypothesized that increased cortisol may be associated with poorer cognition and with certain personality traits (mainly high neuroticism), and that personality might explain the association between cortisol and cognition. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from Colaus/PsyColaus, a population-based study involving residents of Lausanne, Switzerland. Salivary cortisol samples (upon waking, 30 min after waking, at 11 am and at 8 pm) along with cognitive and personality measures were obtained from 643 non-demented participants aged at least 65. Personality traits were assessed using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). We examined the links between the cortisol Area under the Curve (AUC), the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDRSOB) and the NEO-FFI scores. No association was found between personality traits and the CDRSOB or the MMSE score, controlling for age, sex, depression, education and BMI. However, the executive functioning domain z-score was negatively associated with agreeableness (p = 0.005; slope = -0.107 [-0.181; -0.033]) and openness (p = 0.029; slope = -0.081 [-0.154; -0.008]) after controlling for age, sex, depression, education and BMI. The CDRSOB score was positively associated with the cortisol AUC after controlling for age, sex, BMI, education and depression, (p = 0.003; slope = 0.686 [0.240; 1.333]). This association remained significant after controlling for personality traits and for the interaction between personality traits and the cortisol AUC (p = 0.006; slope = 0.792 [0.233; 1.352]. High agreeableness and openness might be associated with poorer executive performance in later life. Increased cortisol may be associated with both specific personality traits (high extraversion, low openness) and worse cognitive performance. Increased salivary cortisol does not mediate the relationship between personality traits and cognitive impairment.
A maximum entropy model for product feature extraction in online customer reviews

Product feature extraction is an important task of review mining and summarization. The task of product feature extraction is to find product features that customers refer to in their topic reviews. It would be useful to characterize the opinions which they review or express about the products. In this paper, we propose an approach to product feature extraction using a maximum entropy model. Maximum entropy is a probability distribution estimation technique. It is widely used for classification problems in natural language processing, such as question answering, information extraction, and part-of-speech tagging. The underlying principle of maximum entropy is that without external knowledge, one should prefer distributions that are uniform. Using a maximum entropy approach, at first we extract features from the corpus, train maximum entropy model with an annotated corpus, and then use it with additional product feature discovery to extract product features from customer reviews. Our experimental results show that this approach can work effectively for product feature extraction with 71.88% precision and 75.23% recall.