Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multimodal Retinal Vessel Analysis in CADASIL Patients

Purpose To further elucidate retinal findings and retinal vessel changes in Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) patients by means of high resolution retinal imaging. Methods 28 eyes of fourteen CADASIL patients and an equal number of control subjects underwent confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (cSLO), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) measurements, fluorescein and indocyanine angiography. Three vessel measurement techniques were applied: RNFL thickness, a semiautomatic software tool based on cSLO images and manual vessel outlining based on SD-OCT. Results Mean age of patients was 56.2±11.6 years. Arteriovenous nicking was present in 22 (78.6%) eyes and venous dilation in 24 (85.7%) eyes. Retinal volume and choroidal volume were 8.77±0.46 mm3 and 8.83±2.24 mm3. RNFL measurements showed a global increase of 105.2 µm (Control group: 98.4 µm; p = 0.015). Based on semi-automatic cSLO measurements, maximum diameters of arteries and veins were 102.5 µm (106.0 µm; p = 0.21) and 128.6 µm (124.4 µm; p = 0.27) respectively. Manual SD-OCT measurements revealed significantly increased mean arterial 138.7 µm (125.4 µm; p<0.001) and venous 160.0 µm (146.9; p = 0.003) outer diameters as well as mean arterial 27.4 µm (19.2 µm; p<0.001) and venous 18.3 µm (15.7 µm; p<0.001) wall thicknesses in CADASIL patients. Conclusions The findings reflect current knowledge on pathophysiologic changes in vessel morphology in CADASIL patients. SD-OCT may serve as a complementary tool to diagnose and follow-up patients suffering from cerebral small-vessel diseases.
Emergence of a novel subpopulation of CC398 Staphylococcus aureus infecting animals is a serious hazard for humans

Until recently, Staphylococcus aureus from clonal complex (CC)398 were mostly described as colonizing asymptomatic raised pigs and pig-farmers. Currently, the epidemiology of the CC398 lineage is becoming more complex. CC398 human-adapted isolates are increasingly being identified in bloodstream infections in humans living in animal-free environments. In addition, CC398 isolates are increasingly responsible for invasive infections in various animals. CC398 isolates that colonize asymptomatic pigs and the isolates that infect humans living in animal-free environments (human-adapted isolates) both lack several clinically important S. aureus–associated virulence factors but differ on the basis of their prophage content. Recent findings have provided insight into the influence of a φMR11-like helper prophage on the ability of CC398 isolates to infect humans. To assess the recent spread of the CC398 lineage to various animal species and to investigate the links between the φMR11-like prophage and the emergence of CC398 isolates infecting animals, we studied 277 isolates causing infections in unrelated animals. The prevalence of CC398 isolates increased significantly between 2007 and 2013 (p < 0.001); 31.8% of the animal isolates harbored the φMR11-like prophage. High-density DNA microarray experiments with 37 representative infected-animal isolates positive for φMR11-like DNA established that most infected-animal isolates carried many genetic elements related to antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes, and a φ3 prophage encoding immune-modulating proteins and associated with animal-to-human jumps. Our findings suggest recent clonal expansion and dissemination of a new subpopulation of CC398 isolates, responsible for invasive infections in various animals, with a considerable potential to colonize and infect humans, probably greater than that of human-adapted CC398 isolates, justifying active surveillance.
Manifold Regularized Deep Neural Networks using Adversarial Examples

Learning meaningful representations using deep neural networks involves designing efficient training schemes and well-structured networks. Currently, the method of stochastic gradient descent that has a momentum with dropout is one of the most popular training protocols. Based on that, more advanced methods (i.e., Maxout and Batch Normalization) have been proposed in recent years, but most still suffer from performance degradation caused by small perturbations, also known as adversarial examples. To address this issue, we propose manifold regularized networks (MRnet) that utilize a novel training objective function that minimizes the difference between multi-layer embedding results of samples and those adversarial. Our experimental results demonstrated that MRnet is more resilient to adversarial examples and helps us to generalize representations on manifolds. Furthermore, combining MRnet and dropout allowed us to achieve competitive classification performances for three well-known benchmarks: MNIST, CIFAR-10, and SVHN.
Beyond the Work‐to‐Leisure Conflict: A High Road through Social Support for Tourism Employees

The purpose of this study was to test the direct and moderating effects of job strain variables on the Job Demand–Control–Support model. A total of 422 tourism employees completed a questionnaire. Hierarchical and moderated regression models were employed to test the proposed relationships between job strain variables and work-to-leisure conflict. Results indicated that job demands had a positive relationship with work-to-leisure conflict, whereas the schedule flexibility and the time-off flexibility were negatively related to work-to-leisure conflict. Results also found that supervisor support could moderate the influence of tourism employees' job demands on work-to-leisure conflict. Implications of stress management and job design for human resource department are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Influence of Language Orthographic Characteristics on Digital Word Recognition

We study the effect of language orthographic characteristics on the performance of digital word recognition in degraded documents such as historical documents. We provide a rigorous scheme for quantifying the influence of the orthographic characteristics on the quality of word recognition in such documents. We study and compare several orthographic characteristics for four natural languages and measure the effect of each individual characteristic on the digital word recognition process. To this end we create synthetic languages, for which all characteristics, except the one we examine, are identical, and measure the performance of two word recognition algorithms on synthetic documents of these languages. We examine and summarize the influence of the values of each characteristic on the performance of these word recognition methods.
Addressing User Experience and Societal Impact in a User Study with a Humanoid Robot

Using a preliminary exploratory case study the presented work investigates the feasibility of methods for the evaluation of user experience factors in human-humanoid interaction as well as measurements of societal impact in user studies. The case study is based on two tasks participants had to perform with the HRP-2 robot. The robot was controlled by the participants via speech commands to pick up (task1) and put down (task2) an object onto another place. Main goal of the case study was to explore the methodological concept on how to measure novice users’ experiences during the collaboration with the humanoid robot HRP-2 via speech commands and if the general attitude towards robotics changes because of the interaction with the robot. To address users’ experiences during the user study, participants were asked after each task to state their thoughts and feelings they had during the interaction (retrospective think aloud). Furthermore, participants were interviewed by means of two validated standardized questionnaires (NARS and AttrakDiff) and an especially developed questionnaire. The preliminary results show that retrospective think aloud is a good way to gather qualitative data on users’ experiences. Furthermore a final interview on societal impact of humanoid robots gave insights into how novice users imagine a future society with robots.
Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 Sensory Box Protein Involved in Aerobic and Anoxic Growth

ABSTRACT Although little is known of potential function for conserved signaling proteins, it is hypothesized that such proteins play important roles to coordinate cellular responses to environmental stimuli. In order to elucidate the function of a putative sensory box protein (PAS domains) in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, the physiological role of SO3389 was characterized. The predicted open reading frame (ORF) encodes a putative sensory box protein that has PAS, GGDEF, and EAL domains, and an in-frame deletion mutant was constructed (ΔSO3389) with approximately 95% of the ORF deleted. Under aerated conditions, wild-type and mutant cultures had similar growth rates, but the mutant culture had a lower growth rate under static, aerobic conditions. Oxygen consumption rates were lower for mutant cultures (1.5-fold), and wild-type cultures also maintained lower dissolved oxygen concentrations under aerated growth conditions. When transferred to anoxic conditions, the mutant did not grow with fumarate, iron(III), or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as electron acceptors. Biochemical assays demonstrated the expression of different c-type cytochromes as well as decreased fumarate reductase activity in the mutant transferred to anoxic growth conditions. Transcriptomic studies showed the inability of the mutant to up-express and down-express genes, including c-type cytochromes (e.g., SO4047/SO4048, SO3285/SO3286), reductases (e.g., SO0768, SO1427), and potential regulators (e.g., SO1329). The complemented strain was able to grow when transferred from aerobic to anoxic growth conditions with the tested electron acceptors. The modeled structure for the SO3389 PAS domains was highly similar to the crystal structures of FAD-binding PAS domains that are known O2/redox sensors. Based on physiological, genomic, and bioinformatic results, we suggest that the sensory box protein, SO3389, is an O2/redox sensor that is involved in optimization of aerobic growth and transitions to anoxia in S. oneidensis MR-1.
Role of IgA versus IgG in the Control of Influenza Viral Infection in the Murine Respiratory Tract1

The roles of IgG and secretory IgA in the protection of the respiratory tract (RT) against influenza infection remain unclear. Passive immunization with Ab doses resulting in serum IgG anti-influenza virus Ab titers far in excess of those observed in immune mice has compounded the problem. We compared the effects of i.v. anti-influenza virus IgG and i.v. anti-influenza virus polymeric IgA (pIgA) mAb administered in amounts designed to replicate murine convalescent serum or nasal Ab titers, respectively. A serum anti-influenza virus IgG titer 2.5 times the normal convalescent serum anti-influenza virus IgG titer was required for detectible Ab transudation into nasal secretions, and a serum IgG titer 7 times normal was needed to lower nasal viral shedding by 98%. Anti-influenza virus pIgA at a nasal Ab titer comparable to that seen in convalescent mice eliminated nasal viral shedding. The RT of influenza-infected pIgA- or IgG-protected mice were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Only pIgA was found to prevent virally induced pathology in the upper RT, suggesting that IgG did not prevent viral infection of the nose, but neutralized newly replicated virus after infection had been initiated. In contrast, IgG, but not pIgA, was found to prevent viral pathology in the murine lung. Our results help to resolve the controversy of IgA- vs IgG-mediated protection of the RT; both Abs are important, with plasma IgG Ab serving as the back-up for secretory IgA-mediated protection in the nasal compartment, and IgG being the dominant Ab in protection of the lung.
Distributional techniques for philosophical enquiry

This paper illustrates the use of distributional techniques, as investigated in computational semantics, for supplying data from large-scale corpora to areas of the humanities which focus on the analysis of concepts. We suggest that the distributional notion of 'characteristic context' can be seen as evidence for some representative tendencies of general discourse. We present a case study where distributional data is used by philosophers working in the areas of gender studies and intersectionality as confirmation of certain trends described in previous work. Further, we highlight that different models of phrasal distributions can be compared to support the claim of intersectionality theory that 'there is more to a phrase than the intersection of its parts'.
SVMs a practical and effective solution for many pattern recognition and classification problems in bioinformatics

(SVM). Digital filtering techniques are used to remove power line interference and base line wander present in the ECG signal. SVM is used as a classifier for the detection of P and T-waves. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using 50, original simultaneously recorded 12-lead ECG recordings from the standard CSE ECG database. Significant detection rate is achieved. The method successfully detects monophasic as well as biphasic waves.
Fact retrieval in younger and older adults: the role of mental models.

Using a fan effect paradigm, three experiments tested whether younger and older adults differ in the retrieval of integrated and nonintegrated facts, where integration refers to the development of a mental model. Earlier work by G. A. Radvansky and R. T. Zacks ( 1991 ) had found that as long as facts can be integrated into a single mental model, young adults show no increase in retrieval time or error rates as the size of the subset of related facts increases (i.e., no fan effect). The present studies show a similar pattern for older adults. By contrast, and in confirmation of our previous findings on age differences and the fan effect (L. D. Gerard, R. T. Zacks, L. Hasher, & G. A. Radvansky, 1991 ), older adults show an exaggerated fan effect, at least in their error rates, on subsets of related facts not easily integrated into a single mental model. The purpose of the present experiments is to assess how younger and older adults compare in the construction and use of mental models (e.g., Johnson-Laird, 1983, 1989). A mental model is a representation of a described situation rather than a representation of a text itself or the propositions conveyed by a text. The structure of a mental model corresponds to the functional relations among entities as they would exist in the world. As such, a mental model can be thought of as a simulation of events in the world, either real or imaginary. The idea of a mental model can be conveyed by considering a study by Garnham (1982). In that study, people who originally heard the sentence "The hostess bought a mink coat from the furrier" were likely to mistakenly claim that the sentence "The hostess bought a mink coat at the furrier's" was heard before. In contrast, people who originally heard the sentence "The hostess received a telegram from the furrier" were not likely to mistakenly claim that the sentence "The hostess received a telegram at the furrier's" was heard before. The first two sentences potentially describe the same situation, and therefore correspond to a single mental model, whereas the second two sentences do not. There is some evidence that young and older adults create and use mental models similarly (Morrow, Leirer, & Altieri, 1992; Radvansky, Gerard, Zacks, & Hasher, 1990). In a study mod
Single-Cell Analysis of Ploidy and Centrosomes Underscores the Peculiarity of Normal Hepatocytes

Polyploidization is the most well recognized feature of the liver. Yet, a quantitative and behavioral analysis of centrosomes and DNA content in normal hepatocytes has been limited by the technical challenges of methods available. By using a novel approach employing FISH for chromosomes 18, X and Y we provide, for the first time, a detailed analysis of DNA copies during physiological development in the liver at single cell level. We demonstrate that aneuploidy and unbalanced DNA content in binucleated hepatocytes are common features in normal adult liver. Despite the common belief that hepatocytes contain 1, 2 or no more than 4 centrosomes, our double staining for centrosome associated proteins reveals extranumerary centrosomes in a high percentage of cells as early as 15 days of age. We show that in murine liver the period between 15 days and 1.5 months marks the transition from a prevalence of mononucleated cells to up to 75% of binucleated cells. Our data demonstrate that this timing correlates with a switch in centrosomes number. At 15 days the expected 1 or 2 centrosomes converge with several hepatocytes that contain 3 centrosomes; at 1.5 months the percentage of cells with 3 centrosomes decreases concomitantly with the increase of cells with more than 4 centrosomes. Our analysis shows that the extranumerary centrosomes emerge in concomitance with the process of binucleation and polyploidization and maintain α-tubulin nucleation activity. Finally, by integrating interphase FISH and immunofluorescent approaches, we detected an imbalance between centrosome number and DNA content in liver cells that deviates from the equilibrium expected in normal cells. We speculate that these unique features are relevant to the peculiar biological function of liver cells which are continuously challenged by stress, a condition that could predispose to genomic instability.
Ground Plane Detection with a Local Descriptor

Abstrct The detection of ground plane and free space remains challenging for non-flat plane, especially with the varying latitudinal and longitudinal slope or in the case of multi-ground plane. In this paper, we propose a framework of the ground plane detection with stereo vision. The main contribution of this paper is a newly proposed descriptor which is implemented in the disparity image to obtain a disparity texture image. The ground plane regions can be distinguished from their surroundings effectively in the disparity texture image. Because the descriptor is implemented in the local area of the image, it can address well the problem of nonflat plane. And we also present a complete framework to detect the ground plane regions base on the disparity texture image with convolutional neural network architecture. Index Terms Ground Plane Detection, Free Space Estimation, Local Descriptor, Stereo Vision, Convolutional Network.
How should flow‐mediated dilation be normalized to its stimulus?

The brachial artery flow‐mediated dilation test (FMD) is the non‐invasive gold‐standard used to assess endothelial function. Reduced FMD is an early event in the development of atherosclerosis and provides a marker for predicting future cardiovascular disease events. Despite its widespread popularity and proven validity, the FMD test is limited by poor reliability. There are three major limitations associated with the standard FMD methodology: (i) inappropriate expression of FMD, (ii) measurement variance associated with a short‐lived FMD response and (iii) most studies fail to account for the FMD stimulus. A series of relatively simple statistical practices can be adopted to account for these limitations. In particular, we suggest that endothelial function be estimated using shear rate–diameter dose–response curves, which can be statistically analysed using hierarchical linear modelling. The use of dose–response curves could potentially improve measurement reliability and validity.
Delayed Observation Planning in Partially Observable Domains (Extended Abstract)

Traditional models for planning under uncertainty such as Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) or Partially Observable MDPs (POMDPs) assume that the observations about the results of agent actions are instantly available to the agent. In so doing, they are no longer applicable to domains where observations are received with delays caused by temporary unavailability of information (e.g. delayed response of the market to a new product). To that end, we make the following key contributions towards solving Delayed observation POMDPs (D-POMDPs): (i) We rst provide an parameterized approximate algorithm for solving D-POMDPs eciently, with desired accuracy; and (ii) We then propose a policy execution technique that adjusts the policy at runtime to account for the actual realization of observations. We then show the performance of our techniques on POMDP benchmark problems with delayed observations where explicit modeling of delayed observations leads to solutions of superior quality.
Enhancement of Dominant Risk Tendencies in Group Discussion

Much recent research indicates that discussion predictably affects responses to choice-dilemma items. In the present experiment, 12 choice-dilemma items were discussed to consensus by 40 female groups of varying size (2, 3, 5, or 7 members). Group size did not significantly affect shift scores. Over all groups, the mean of initial risk taking on an item was an excellent predictor of the mean amount of shift that item elicited (r = –.89), a finding consistent with certain models of group decision making as well as with the idea that discussion arguments enhance dominant values. Further analyses of the present and past research indicated that the group decision making models could not account for the observed shifts.
Dissection of the Golgi complex. I. Monensin inhibits the transport of viral membrane proteins from medial to trans Golgi cisternae in baby hamster kidney cells infected with Semliki Forest virus

Baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells were infected with Semliki Forest virus (SFV) and, 2 h later, were treated for 4 h with 10 microM monensin. Each of the four to six flattened cisternae in the Golgi stack became swollen and separated from the others. Intracellular transport of the viral membrane proteins was almost completely inhibited, but their synthesis continued and they accumulated in the swollen Golgi cisternae before the monensin block. In consequence, these cisternae bound large numbers of viral nucleocapsids and were easily distinguished from other swollen cisternae such as those after the block. These intracellular capsid-binding membranes (ICBMs) were not stained by cytochemical markers for endoplasmic reticulum (ER) (glucose-6-phosphatase) or trans Golgi cisternae (thiamine pyrophosphatase, acid phosphatase) but were labeled by Ricinus communis agglutinin I (RCA) in thin, frozen sections. Since this lectin labels only Golgi cisternae in the middle and on the trans side of the stack (Griffiths, G., R. Brands, B. Burke, D. Louvard, and G. Warren, 1982, J. Cell Biol., 95:781-792), we conclude that ICBMs are derived from Golgi cisternae in the middle of the stack, which we term medial cisternae. The overall movement of viral membrane proteins appears to be from cis to trans Golgi cisternae (see reference above), so monensin would block movement from medial to the trans cisternae. It also blocked the trimming of the high-mannose oligosaccharides bound to the viral membrane proteins and their conversion to complex oligosaccharides. These functions presumably reside in trans Golgi cisternae. This is supported by data in the accompanying paper, in which we also show that fatty acids are covalently attached to the viral membrane proteins in the cis or medial cisternae. We suggest that the Golgi stack can be divided into three functionally distinct compartments, each comprising one or two cisternae. The viral membrane proteins, after leaving the ER, would all pass in sequence from the cis to the medial to the trans compartment.