Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Artifact removal from EEG signals using adaptive filters in cascade

Artifacts in EEG (electroencephalogram) records are caused by various factors, like line interference, EOG (electro-oculogram) and ECG (electrocardiogram). These noise sources increase the difficulty in analyzing the EEG and to obtaining clinical information. For this reason, it is necessary to design specific filters to decrease such artifacts in EEG records. In this paper, a cascade of three adaptive filters based on a least mean squares (LMS) algorithm is proposed. The first one eliminates line interference, the second adaptive filter removes the ECG artifacts and the last one cancels EOG spikes. Each stage uses a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, which adjusts its coefficients to produce an output similar to the artifacts present in the EEG. The proposed cascade adaptive filter was tested in five real EEG records acquired in polysomnographic studies. In all cases, line-frequency, ECG and EOG artifacts were attenuated. It is concluded that the proposed filter reduces the common artifacts present in EEG signals without removing significant information embedded in these records.
Frequency Domain Linear Prediction-based robust text-dependent speaker identification

Speaker identification is a biometric technique of determining an unknown speaker's identity among a number of speakers using distinguish latent information of uttered speech. Crime investigation, security control, telephone banking and trading, and information reservation are some applications of this technique. Frequency Domain Linear Prediction (FDLP) is a time-frequency-based feature has been derived using 2-D autoregressive model. This feature was constructed from sub-bands short frame energies estimation. FDLP has been used in this study to propose a robust text-dependent speaker identification technique. The clean features were used to obtain speaker behavioural model. Support vector machine has been used to train the proposed method. This presented study was tested in both clean and noisy conditions to validate the method extensively. The proposed method got significant improved performance over all traditional methods performances in noisy conditions. The obtained performance was indicated; the proposed method was very robust to noises and showed consistent performance irrespective to noises.
Fixed-Parameter Algorithms for Closed World Reasoning

Closed world reasoning and circumscription are essential tasks in AI. However, their high computational complexity is a serious obstacle for their practical application. In this work we employ the framework of parameterized complexity theory in order to search for fixed-parameter algorithms. We consider eleven parameters describing different characteristics of the input. For several combinations of these parameters we are able to design efficient fixed-parameter tractable algorithms. All our algorithms have a runtime only single-exponential in the parameters and linear in the input size. Furthermore, by providing parameterized hardness results we show that we have actually found all tractable fragments involving these eleven parameters. We hereby offer a complete picture of the parameterized complexity of brave closed world reasoning and circumscription.
Activation of Caspase-1 in the Nucleus Requires Nuclear Translocation of Pro-caspase-1 Mediated by Its Prodomain*

The interleukin-1β-converting enzyme-like protease precursor, pro-caspase-1, has an N-terminal prodomain that is removed during cleavage activation of the protease. Here we show that tumor necrosis factor treatment of HeLa cells induced apoptosis without detectable proteolytic activation of caspase-1 in the cytosol. Instead, tumor necrosis factor induced the translocation of pro-caspase-1 to the nucleus where it was proteolytically activated, releasing the intact prodomain. We identified a nuclear localization signal in the prodomain, which was required for translocation of both pro-caspase-1 as well as its prodomain to the nucleus. Surprisingly, transfected MCF-7 carcinoma or embryonic kidney 293T cells expressing the prodomain alone underwent apoptosis. These results show that death signal-induced nuclear targeting is a novel activity of a caspase prodomain and indicate that caspase-1 and its prodomain may have hitherto unsuspected nuclear functions in apoptosis.
COUNTING $S_5$ -FIELDS WITH A POWER SAVING ERROR TERM

Abstract We show how the Selberg $\Lambda ^2$ -sieve can be used to obtain power saving error terms in a wide class of counting problems which are tackled using the geometry of numbers. Specifically, we give such an error term for the counting function of $S_5$ -quintic fields.
Ab Initio Quantum Chemical Investigation of the First Steps of the Photocycle of Phototropin: A Model Study ¶

Phototropin is a blue light–activated photoreceptor that plays a dominant role in the phototropism of plants. The protein contains two subunits that bind flavin mononucleotide (FMN), which are responsible for the initial steps of the light‐induced reaction. It has been proposed that the photoexcited flavin molecule adds a cysteine residue of the protein backbone, thus activating autophosphorylation of the enzyme. In this study, the electronic properties of several FMN‐related compounds in different charge and spin states are characterized by means of ab initio quantum mechanical calculations. The model compounds serve as idealized model chromophores for phototropism. Reaction energies are estimated for simple model reactions, roughly representing the addition of a cysteine residue to the flavin molecule. Excitation energies were calculated with the help of time‐dependent density functional theory. On the basis of these calculations we propose the following mechanism for the addition reaction: (1) after photoexcitation of FMN out of the singlet ground state S0, excited singlet state(s) are populated; these relax to the lowest excited singlet state S1, and subsequently by intersystem crossing FMN in the lowest triplet state, T1 is formed; (2) the triplet easily removes the neutral hydrogen atom from the H–S group of the cysteine residue; and (3) the resulting thio radical is added.
Hippocampal function in the rat: Cognitive mapping or vicarious trial and error?

The most prominent hypothesis of hippocampal function likens the hippocampus to a “cognitive map,” a term used by a famous learning theorist, E. C. Tolman, to explain maze learning. The usual application of this concept of cognitive map, as it applies to the hippocampus, is to what is called spatial learning, mainly in the radial‐arm maze of Olton and the Morris water maze. In a recent Hippocampus Forum, evidence for the cognitive map hypothesis was reviewed in a lead article by Nadel, followed by a series of commentaries by leading investigators of hippocampal function. This speculative commentary offers an alternative not represented in the forum—that the function of the hippocampus in spatial learning is not as a cognitive map, but that it subserves another function proposed by Tolman in his work on simple discrimination learning, vicarious trial and error, based on incipient, conflicting dispositions to approach and avoid.
Complementation Analysis of Mutants of 1-Aminocyclopropane1-carboxylate Synthase Reveals the Enzyme Is a Dimer with Shared Active Sites*

The pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACS, EC 4.4.1.14) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the ethylene biosynthetic pathway. ACS shares the conservation of 11 invariant residues with a family of aminotransferases that includes aspartate aminotransferase. Site-directed mutagenesis on two of these residues, Tyr-92 and Lys-278, in the tomato isoenzyme Le-ACS2 greatly reduces enzymatic activity, indicating their importance in catalysis. These mutants have been used in complementation experiments either in vivo inEscherichia coli or in an in vitrotranscription/translation assay to study whether the enzyme functions as a dimer. When the Y92L mutant is coexpressed with the K278A mutant protein, there is partial restoration of enzyme activity, suggesting that the mutant proteins can dimerize and form active heterodimers. Coexpressing a double mutant with the wild-type protein reduces wild-type activity, indicating that inactive heterodimers are formed between the wild-type and the double mutant protein subunits. Furthermore, hybrid complementation shows that another tomato isoenzyme, Le-ACS4, can dimerize and that Le-ACS2 and Le-ACS4 have limited capacity for heterodimerization. The data suggest that ACS functions as a dimer with shared active sites.
Diffusion of cefpirome into the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with purulent meningitis.

We evaluated the diffusion of cefpirome into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 25 patients with bacterial meningitis or ventriculitis who were receiving conventional antibiotic treatment. A single cefpirome dose of 2 g was infused at day 2-3 after the onset of therapy. Concentrations of cefpirome in serum and CSF obtained at 2, 4, 8 or 12 h after the infusion were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The mean (+/- S.E.M.) concentrations of cefpirome in CSF ranged from 2.26 +/- 1.16 to 4.17 +/- 0.83 mg/L. These concentrations were higher than the MBCs for the pathogens usually responsible for bacterial meningitis.
Usefulness of the eosin‐5′‐maleimide cytometric method as a first‐line screening test for the diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis: comparison with ektacytometry and protein electrophoresis

This project was supported by the Institutional Research Program of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Southwest Cancer Treatment and Research Center Program. We thank Teri Fields for her assistance in editing this manuscript and Drs Janet Dertien and Jose-Louis Redondo for their assistance and support in using the confocal microscope. W. Martin Kast holds the Walter A. Richter Cancer Research Chair.
Wall clutter mitigation for radar imaging of indoor targets: A matrix completion approach

This paper presents a low-rank matrix completion approach to tackle the problem of wall clutter mitigation for through-wall radar imaging in the compressive sensing context. In particular, the task of wall clutter removal is reformulated as a matrix completion problem in which a low-rank matrix containing wall clutter is reconstructed from compressive measurements. The proposed model regularizes the low-rank prior of the wall-clutter matrix via the nuclear norm, casting the wall-clutter mitigation task as a nuclear-norm penalized least squares problem. To solve this optimization problem, an iterative algorithm based on proximal gradient technique is introduced. Experiments on simulated full-wave electromagnetic data are conducted under compressive sensing scenarios. The results show that the proposed matrix completion approach is very effective at suppressing unwanted wall clutter and enhancing the desired targets.
Charcot on Parkinson's disease

Charcot saluted Parkinson for his early observations, but condemned his use of the term “paralysis agitans. ” He emphasized that patients were neither dramatically weak nor were they necessarily plagued with tremor. Charcot suggested the name “Parkinson's disease,” although he could not resist the comment in his amphitheater lecture series at the Salpětrièe that French physicians (unnamed) had probably described the disorder before 1817. Tremor, rigidity, postural instability, and bradykinesia were all recognized by Charcot. He classified the disorder as a “névrose,” meaning a neurologic disorder without a known pathologic lesion, and found little benefit from therapies available at the time, including belladonna and ergot products.
A Conserved Myc Protein Domain, MBIV, Regulates DNA Binding, Apoptosis, Transformation, and G2 Arrest

ABSTRACT The myc family of oncogenes is well conserved throughout evolution. Here we present the characterization of a domain conserved in c-, N-, and L-Myc from fish to humans, N-Myc317-337, designated Myc box IV (MBIV). A deletion of this domain leads to a defect in Myc-induced apoptosis and in some transformation assays but not in cell proliferation. Unlike other Myc mutants, MycΔMBIV is not a simple loss-of-function mutant because it is hyperactive for G2 arrest in primary cells. Microarray analysis of genes regulated by N-MycΔMBIV reveals that it is weakened for transactivation and repression but not nearly as defective as N-MycΔMBII. Although the mutated region is not part of the previously defined DNA binding domain, we find that N-MycΔMBIV has a significantly lower affinity for DNA than the wild-type protein in vitro. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation shows reduced binding of N-MycΔMBIV to some target genes in vivo, which correlates with the defect in transactivation. Thus, this conserved domain has an unexpected role in Myc DNA binding activity. These data also provide a novel separation of Myc functions linked to the modulation of DNA binding activity.
Cognitive Difficulties in Struggling Comprehenders and Their Relation to Reading Comprehension: A Comparison of Group Selection and Regression-Based Models

ABSTRACT Difficulties suppressing previously encountered but currently irrelevant information from working memory characterize less skilled comprehenders in studies in which they are matched to skilled comprehenders on word decoding and nonverbal IQ. These “extreme” group designs are associated with several methodological issues. When sample size permits, regression approaches permit a more accurate estimation of effects. Using data for students in Grades 6 through 12 (n = 766), regression techniques assessed the significance and size of the relation of suppression to reading comprehension across the distribution of comprehension skill. After accounting for decoding efficiency and nonverbal IQ, suppression, measured by performance on a verbal proactive interference task, accounted for a small amount of significant unique variance in comprehension (less than 1%). A comparison of suppression in less skilled comprehenders matched to more skilled comprehenders (48 per group) on age, word reading efficiency, and nonverbal IQ did not show significant group differences in suppression. The implications of the findings for theories of reading comprehension and for informing comprehension assessment and intervention are discussed.
Anatomic Connectivity Assessed Using Pathway Radial Diffusivity Is Related to Functional Connectivity in Monosynaptic Pathways

This work presents a pathway-dependent anatomic and functional connectivity analysis in 19 patients with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and 16 age-, education-, and gender-matched controls. An MS population is used in this study as a model for anatomic connectivity, permitting us to observe relationships between anatomic and functional connectivity more easily. A combined resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and whole-brain, high angular resolution diffusion imaging analysis is performed in three independent, monosynaptic pathways. The pathways chosen were transcallosal pathway connecting the bilateral primary sensorimotor regions, right and left posterior portion of the Papez circuit, connecting the posterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus. The Papez circuit is known to be involved in memory function, one of the most frequently impacted cognitive domains in patients with MS. We show that anatomic connectivity, as measured with diffusion-weighted imaging, and functional connectivity, as measured with resting-state fMRI, are significantly reduced in patients as compared with controls for at least some of the pathways considered. In addition when all pathway measures are combined, anatomic and functional connectivity are significantly correlated in patients with MS as well as healthy controls. We suggest that anatomic and functional connectivity are related for monosynaptic pathways and that radial diffusivity, as a diffusion-tensor-based measure of white matter integrity, is a robust measure of anatomic connectivity in the general population.
Transection of Radioactive Seeds in Breast Specimens

Radioactive seed localization is a new procedure for localizing breast lesions that has several advantages over the standard wire-localization procedure. It is reported to be safe for both patients and medical personnel. Although it is theoretically possible to transect the titanium-encapsulated seed while processing the breast specimen in the pathology laboratory, the likelihood of such an event is thought to be exceedingly low. In fact, there are no previous reports of such an event in the literature to date. We recently encountered 2 cases in which a radioactive seed was inadvertently transected while slicing a breast specimen at the grossing bench. In this report, we describe each case and offer recommendations for minimizing radioactive exposure to personnel and for preventing radioactive contamination of laboratory equipment.
Experimental study of a wide band LTSA which is fed by an inverted microstrip line (IML)

The endfire linearly tapered slot antenna (LTSA) is of considerable interest as a wide band antenna element and has many potential applications such as the feed used with reflector antennas. We present the experimental investigation of the LTSA in an array environment. The study includes 1/spl times/2, 1/spl times/4, 1/spl times/8, 1/spl times/16 and 1/spl times/32 element arrays operating in the millimeter wave (MMW) band, the results show that the LTSA has very good gain performance and radiation pattern profile when used in an array environment.
Re‐evaluation of differential phase contrast (DPC) in a scanning laser microscope using a split detector as an alternative to differential interference contrast (DIC) optics

In this paper, differential phase imaging (DPC) with transmitted light is implemented by adding a suitable detection system to a standard commercially available scanning confocal microscope. DPC, a long‐established method in scanning optical microscopy, depends on detecting the intensity difference between opposite halves or quadrants of a split photodiode detector placed in an aperture plane. Here, DPC is compared with scanned differential interference contrast (DIC) using a variety of biological specimens and objective lenses of high numerical aperture. While DPC and DIC images are generally similar, DPC seems to have a greater depth of field. DPC has several advantages over DIC. These include low cost (no polarizing or strain‐free optics are required), absence of a double scanning spot, electronically variable direction of shading and the ability to image specimens in plastic dishes where birefringence prevents the use of DIC. DPC is also here found to need 20 times less laser power at the specimen than DIC.
Multi-Objective Optimization in a Job Shop with Energy Costs through Hybrid Evolutionary Techniques

Energy costs are an increasingly important issue in real-world scheduling, for both economic and environmental reasons. This paper deals with a variant of the well-known job shop scheduling problem, where we consider a bi-objective optimization of both the weighted tardiness and the energy costs. To this end, we design a hybrid metaheuristic that combines a genetic algorithm with a novel local search method and a linear programming approach. We also propose an efficient procedure for improving the energy cost of a given schedule. In the experimental study we analyse our proposal and compare it with the state of the art and also with a constraint programming approach, obtaining competitive results.
Automatic Recognition of Craters on the Surface of Mars Based on Boosting Techniques

The identification of impact craters on a planetary surface has crucial importance for planetary studies because it allows the estimation of the surface age through measures of size and frequency of impacts. Several methods for automatic crater identification have been developed, however none is sufficiently robust to be applied on all planetary surfaces. This dissertation proposes a new approach to automatic crater detection on the surface of Mars using learning algorithms based on boosting and Haar-like features. The method developed is inspired on the work of P. Viola and M. Jones [22] in 2001 for face detection. This new approach is by itself a contribution to this area. Other contributes are: the proposal of a classifier training mechanism with craters of different scales, methods to produce false examples for the training set and automatic evaluation of the performance of each classifier. For training and testing, 101 images of Mars are used. The proposed method is evaluated through a four fold cross validation. The best global results for craters equal or above 7 pixels of diameter vary between 79% to 88% of true detection rate and 5% to 23% of false detection rate depending on the chosen threshold. The performances are close to the best ever published so far and can be improved.
Chromosome-scale shotgun assembly using an in vitro method for long-range linkage

Long-range and highly accurate de novo assembly from short-read data is one of the most pressing challenges in genomics. Recently, it has been shown that read pairs generated by proximity ligation of DNA in chromatin of living tissue can address this problem, dramatically increasing the scaffold contiguity of assemblies. Here, we describe a simpler approach (“Chicago”) based on in vitro reconstituted chromatin. We generated two Chicago data sets with human DNA and developed a statistical model and a new software pipeline (“HiRise”) that can identify poor quality joins and produce accurate, long-range sequence scaffolds. We used these to construct a highly accurate de novo assembly and scaffolding of a human genome with scaffold N50 of 20 Mbp. We also demonstrated the utility of Chicago for improving existing assemblies by reassembling and scaffolding the genome of the American alligator. With a single library and one lane of Illumina HiSeq sequencing, we increased the scaffold N50 of the American alligator from 508 kbp to 10 Mbp.
Requirement of Reactive Oxygen Species-dependent Activation of ASK1-p38 MAPK Pathway for Extracellular ATP-induced Apoptosis in Macrophage*

Extracellular ATP, an autocrine or paracrine intercellular transmitter, is known to induce apoptosis in macrophages. However, the precise signaling mechanisms of ATP-induced apoptosis remain to be elucidated. Here we showed that activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) plays a critical role in ATP-induced apoptosis. p38 activation and apoptosis in macrophages were induced by ATP. ATP-induced apoptosis was mediated in part by production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from NOX2/gp91phox, a component of the NADPH oxidase complex expressed in macrophages and neutrophils. Furthermore, ATP-induced ROS generation, p38 activation, and apoptosis were almost completely inhibited by selective P2X7 receptor antagonists. We also found that ATP-induced apoptosis were diminished in ASK1-deficient macrophages accompanied by the lack of p38 activation. These results demonstrate that ROS-mediated activation of the ASK1-p38 MAPK pathway downstream of P2X7 receptor is required for ATP-induced apoptosis in macrophages.