Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Nitric Oxide-Guanylyl Cyclase Signaling Pathway Modulates Membrane Activity States and Electrophysiological Properties of Striatal Medium Spiny Neurons Recorded In Vivo

Nitric oxide (NO)-releasing interneurons are believed to regulate the activity of striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that contain the NO effector enzyme guanylyl cyclase (GC). The involvement of NO-GC signaling in modulating steady-state membrane activity of striatal MSNs was examined using in vivo intracellular recordings in rats. Intrastriatal infusion of a neuronal NO synthase inhibitor or a NO scavenger via reverse microdialysis consistently decreased the amplitude of spontaneously occurring depolarized plateau potentials (up events). Intrastriatal infusion of a NO scavenger also decreased the amplitude of EPSPs evoked during electrical stimulation of the orbital prefrontal cortex. The effect of the NO scavenger on spontaneous up events was partially reversed by coperfusion with a cell-permeable cGMP analog. Intracellular injection of MSNs with a soluble GC inhibitor resulted in large decreases in the following: (1) spontaneous up-event amplitude, (2) responsiveness to depolarizing current, (3) action potential amplitude, and (4) input resistance. These effects were partially reversed by coinjection of cGMP. Conversely, intracellular injection of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor increased MSN neuron membrane excitability. These results indicate that, in the intact animal, the NO signaling pathway exerts a powerful tonic modulatory influence over the membrane activity of striatal MSNs via the activation of GC and stimulation of cGMP production.
Efficacy and Safety of a Glutaraldehyde-Modified House Dust Mite Extract in Allergic Rhinitis

Background Modification of allergens by glutaraldehyde in extracts used for immunotherapy reduces the risk for side effects, but therapeutic efficacy of such extracts requires further evaluation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy with PURETHAL Mites (PM), a single-strength glutaraldehyde-modified aluminum hydroxide–adsorbed extract of house-dust mites (HDM). Methods In a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind setting, HDM-allergic subjects (n = 140) were treated with modified allergen extract or placebo over a 1-year period. The primary outcome parameter was a combined symptom and medication score (clinical index score [CIS]). Secondary efficacy parameters were the result of a titrated conjunctival provocation test (CPT), rhinitis/rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life (RQL) score, and serum concentrations of IgE and IgG against specific HDM allergens and a documentation of adverse events (AE). Results We evaluated 140 patients (66 treatment and 74 placebo) for clinical efficacy. The allergoid treatment for 1 year resulted in significantly greater CIS improvement and higher RQL scores. The response threshold in the titrated CPT (p = 0.009) and the serum concentrations of IgG4 (p < 0.001) against Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergens after treatment were also significantly different between groups. In total, 88 patients (46 PM/42 placebo) out of a safety population of 145 reported 278 (158 PM/120 placebo) AE. Except for local reactions, no specific AE appeared to be associated with PURETHAL Mites (HAL-Allergy, Leiden, The Netherlands). Conclusion The findings of this study indicate that allergen injection therapy with modified HDM extract is superior to placebo in allergic rhinitis therapy. The treatment was well tolerated and no serious drug-related AE were observed.
Chirp coded ultrasonic pulses used for scanning acoustic microscopy

In the present study, chirp coded pulses are investigated with respect to high frequency imaging. These pulses were used drive broadband polymer transducers assembled from an adhesive-free layer-be-layer deposition method. The image quality obtained from using a long chirp coded pulse was compared with images generated from shorter pulses. This includes the Ricker wavelet and the square pulse most commonly used for scanning acoustic microscopes.
General Highly Accurate Algebraic Coarsening Schemes

General purely algebraic approaches for repeated coarsening of deterministic or statistical eld equations are presented. They apply to the equations arising from variational as well as non-variational discretizations of general, elliptic as well as non-elliptic, partial diierential systems, on structured or unstructured grids. They apply to many types of disordered systems, such as those arising in composite materials, inhomogeneous ground ows, \twisted geometry" discretizations and Dirac equations in disordered gauge elds, and also to non-PDE systems, like those encountered in elastic structures made of discrete components and in molecular mechanics. The coarsening can be inexpensive with low accuracy, as needed for multigrid solvers, or more expensive and highly accurate, as needed for other applications (e.g., once-for-all derivation of macroscopic equations).
Extended Physicochemical Characterization of the Synthetic Anticoagulant Pentasaccharide Fondaparinux Sodium by Quantitative NMR and Single Crystal X-ray Analysis

Fondaparinux sodium is a synthetic pentasaccharide representing the high affinity antithrombin III binding site in heparin. It is the active pharmaceutical ingredient of the anticoagulant drug Arixtra®. The single crystal X-ray structure of Fondaparinux sodium is reported, unequivocally confirming both structure and absolute configuration. The iduronic acid adopts a somewhat distorted chair conformation. Due to the presence of many sulfur atoms in the highly sulfated pentasaccharide, anomalous dispersion could be applied to determine the absolute configuration. A comparison with the conformation of Fondaparinux in solution, as well as complexed with proteins is presented. The content of the solution reference standard was determined by quantitative NMR using an internal standard both in 1999 and in 2016. A comparison of the results allows the conclusion that this method shows remarkable precision over time, instrumentation and analysts.
Towards Generic Layouts for Multi-Channel Publishing: "XF-Extensible Formatting"

XML (Extensible Markup Language) has become the lingua franca for information integration, e-Business and metadata. It is also invading to office documents and hence becoming the format for organizational and end-user documents. XML documents themselves do not contain information about styling, i.e., how they should be rendered for print, screen, or other channels of publication. One document type may need numerous styling definitions as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) or XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language) stylesheets for differing multi-channel publishing purposes. Producing style definitions with differing styling languages may be quite tricky for end-users. The management of a myriad of formatting definitions may pose challenges for organizations as well. Tools for defining CSS style definitions are available but the support for differing versions of CSS on different end-user devices may be varying. Use of XSL requires programming skills or applications providing graphical user interfaces for XSL. Although there are a few commercial products available for producing XSL from easy-to-use graphical interface, there is a need for tools allowing generic styling for XML documents to be defined. The generic styling may support multiple differing formatting outputs. This paper presents a possible solution for XML document formatting. XF (Extensible Formatting language) is a generic high-level formatting language serving as a mediator for contemporary, powerful formatting languages such as CSS and XSL. A prototype implementation of XF with an easyto-use visual interface is also described. XF is based on XML and bridges the gap between end-users and existing powerful formatting languages.
Extraction and generalisation of variables from scientific publications

Scientific theories and models in Earth science typically involve changing variables and their complex interactions, including correlations, causal relations and chains of positive/negative feedback loops. Variables tend to be complex rather than atomic entities and expressed as noun phrases containing multiple modifiers, e.g. oxygen depletion in the upper 500 m of the ocean or timing and magnitude of surface temperature evolution in the Southern Hemisphere in deglacial proxy records. Text mining from Earth science literature is therefore significantly different from biomedical text mining and requires different approaches and methods. Our approach aims at automatically locating and extracting variables and their direction of variation: increasing, decreasing or just changing. Variables are initially extracted by matching tree patterns onto the syntax trees of the source texts. Next, variables are generalised in order to enhance their similarity, facilitating hierarchical search and inference. This generalisation is accomplished by progressive pruning of syntax trees using a set of tree transformation operations. Text mining results are presented as a browsable variable hierarchy which allows users to inspect all mentions of a particular variable type in the text as well as any generalisations or specialisations. The approach is demonstrated on a corpus of 10k abstracts of Nature publications in the field of Marine science. We discuss experiences with this early prototype and outline a number of possible improvements and directions for future re
Eye Blink Based Fatigue Detection for Prevention of Computer Vision Syndrome

Living in information society we spend a lot of time in front of visual display units such as computer monitors or TV screens. This has positive as well as negative effects on our lives. Negative effects are mostly health related and one major concern is the increasing number of people affected by the Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) [1]. Most CVS-related problems can be avoided by suitable preventive actions, but the majority of computer users ignore them. To help remedy the situation we present a prototype of a computer vision system for real-time eye blink based detection of eye fatigue, which is a common symptom leading towards CVS. Our program records video of the user by a computer monitor mounted web-camera, processes the frames and detects hazardous behaviour based on user’s eye dynamics and blink patterns. Experimental results show that the proposed system is capable of detecting common cases of fatigued behaviour linked with long-term computer use. We believe regular use of the proposed system could significantly reduce the CVS symptoms for long-time computer workers. However, the techniques used can also be applied to other similar applications, such as driver fatigue detection, human-computer interaction, etc.
Community and Occupation: An Exploration of Work/Leisure Relationships

Preface Introduction: some themes and issues from the classics: the theoretical background 2. The components and determinants of occupational communities 3. A review of some accounts of some accounts of occupational communities 4. The determinants of the occupational communities of architects and railwaymen 5. The occupational communities of architects and railwaymen 6. Conclusions and summary Bibliography Index.
Evaluating the use of a MOOC within Higher Education Professional Development Training

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a massive open online course (MOOC) as a professional development tool in higher education. The transition from the MOOC's initial intended use as a low cost way for students to access education and aid their studies has evolved to facilitate continuing professional development (CPD), particularly within the commercial sector [1]. Findings from this study indicate there is an increase in participation and satisfaction amongst higher education staff who undertook a MOOC compared to attending traditional staff development days. Recommendations from this study? s findings highlight that staff were keen to engage with the MOOC format, but felt they needed face-to-face meetings as well to reinforce, contextualize and discuss the key messages of the MOOC. In addition to this, time allocation within workloads should be considered for any future inclusion of MOOCs for staff development.
Natural landmark-based monocular localization for MAVs

Highly accurate localization of a micro aerial vehicle (MAV) with respect to a scene is important for a wide range of applications, in particular surveillance and inspection. Most existing approaches to visual localization focus on indoor environments, while such tasks require outdoor navigation. Within this work, we introduce a novel algorithm for monocular visual localization for MAVs based on the concept of virtual views in 3D space. Under the assumption that significant parts of the scene do not alter their geometry and serve as natural landmarks, the accuracy of our visual approach outperforms consumer grade GPS systems. In an experimental setup we compare our approach to a state-of-the-art visual SLAM algorithm and evaluate the performance by geometric validation from an observer's view. As our method directly allows global registration, it is neither prone to drift nor bias. This makes it well suited for long-term autonomous navigation.
Genetic Selection for Constitutively Trimerized Human HSF1 Mutants Identifies a Role for Coiled-Coil Motifs in DNA Binding

Human heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) promotes the expression of stress-responsive genes and is a critical factor for the cellular protective response to proteotoxic and other stresses. In response to stress, HSF1 undergoes a transition from a repressed cytoplasmic monomer to a homotrimer, accumulates in the nucleus, binds DNA, and activates target gene transcription. Although these steps occur as sequential and highly regulated events, our understanding of the full details of the HSF1 activation pathway remains incomplete. Here we describe a genetic screen in humanized yeast that identifies constitutively trimerized HSF1 mutants. Surprisingly, constitutively trimerized HSF1 mutants do not bind to DNA in vivo in the absence of stress and only become DNA binding competent upon stress exposure, suggesting that an additional level of regulation beyond trimerization and nuclear localization may be required for HSF1 DNA binding. Furthermore, we identified a constitutively trimerized and nuclear-localized HSF1 mutant, HSF1 L189P, located in LZ3 of the HSF1 trimerization domain, which in response to proteotoxic stress is strongly compromised for DNA binding at the Hsp70 and Hsp25 promoters but readily binds to the interleukin-6 promoter, suggesting that HSF1 DNA binding is in part regulated in a locus-dependent manner, perhaps via promoter-specific differences in chromatin architecture. Furthermore, these results implicate the LZ3 region of the HSF1 trimerization domain in a function beyond its canonical role in HSF1 trimerization.
DEVS execution acceleration with machine learning

Discrete Event System Specification DEVS separates modeling and simulation execution. Simulation execution is done within a runtime environment that is often called a DEVS simulator. This separation creates an opportunity to incorporate smart algorithms in the simulator to optimize simulation execution. In this paper, we propose incorporating some predictive machine learning algorithms into the DEVS simulator that can cut simulation execution times significantly for many simulation applications without compromising the simulation accuracy. In this paper, we introduce a specific learning mechanism that can be embedded into the DEVS simulator to incrementally build a predictive model that learns from past simulations. We further look into issues related to the predictive model selection, its prediction accuracy, its effect on the overall simulation performance, and when to switch between the predictive model and the simulation during an execution.
Pre-service to In-service Changes in Beliefs: A Study of Intention to Become a Democratic Practitioner

Abstract This study investigated the degree to which beliefs about democratic theory and practice taught in a social studies methods course would persist after the transition to in-service teaching. The 27 participants were pre-service teachers at initial data collection and first-year in-service teachers at final data collection. Data were collected through bipolar probability and evaluative scales at pre-service and in-service stages and through interviews at the in-service stage. In-service teachers' scores on scales of all seven major variables were as high, or higher, than they had been in the pre-service stage. The study's results have implications for integrating practice with theory taught in the social studies methods course.
Autonomous topology optimization for unstructured peer-to-peer networks

The topology of a peer-to-peer overlay network is usually constructed randomly without considering the characteristics of underlying physical links. Thus searching and routing between peer nodes is often inefficient. This paper proposes a mechanism that a peer node autonomously optimizes the topology of a peer-to-peer network based on the metrics of underlying networks. The simulation results show that this mechanism optimizes the topology of a peer-to-peer network and significantly decreases the average hop count between any pair of peer nodes.
Structuring Time through Participation in Micro-task Crowdsourcing: A Time Allocation Perspective

Small payments in micro-task crowdsourcing markets appear unreasonable compared with remunerations for regular work in the workplace, yet hundreds of thousands of micro-tasks are completed each day, and frequently by highly educated individuals. To explain this perplexing anomaly, we investigate individuals’ continuous participation in micro-task crowdsourcing from a time allocation perspective. Drawing upon the theory of the allocation of time, relative advantage over alternative activities and reservation wage of micro-task crowdsourcing affect intent to continue and expected wage respectively, which in turn have effects on intent to increase participation level. Based on previous research on time structure, we propose time structure as another indicator of continuous participation in micro-task crowdsourcing. More importantly, the negative moderating effect of time is conjectured as a salient driver of continuous participation in micro-task crowdsourcing. IT-enabled time structuring thus helps individuals fill dead time with micro-tasking online in spite of low payments.
Risk aversion in information seeking

The information gain model argues that participants select alternatives with a larger expected value of information gain. The present study investigated risk aversion in information seeking to examine whether the expected value always determines information-seeking behaviour. For this investigation, we used a scale method selection task in which participants were required to select one of two scales for weighing coins in order to find an underweight coin. Two experiments showed that participants more frequently selected the alternative that provided information gain without risk, although its expected information gain was smaller. This finding indicates the presence of risk aversion in information seeking, suggesting that information-seeking behaviour is affected by risk associated with obtaining information gain.
On the Origin of the High-Ionization Intermediate-Velocity Gas toward HD 14434

We present Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations of high-ionization interstellar absorption toward HD 14434 (l = 135.°1, b = -3.°8; d ~ 2.3 kpc), an O5.5 V star in the Perseus OB1 association. Intermediate-velocity interstellar Si IV and C IV absorption is present at VLSR = -67 km s-1, while low-ionization gas associated with the Perseus arm is detected at about -50 km s-1. Neither N V nor O VI is detected at VLSR = -67 km s-1, although Al III and Fe III, tracers of warm ionized gas, are seen. The high-ion column densities in the -67 km s-1 component are log[N(C IV)] = 13.92 ± 0.02 cm-2, log[N(Si IV)] = 13.34 ± 0.02 cm-2, log[N(N V)] ≤ 12.65 cm-2, and log[N(O VI)] ≤ 13.73 cm-2 (3 σ limits). The observed C IV/Si IV ratio of 3.8 ± 0.3 in this intermediate-velocity cloud (IVC) is similar to the Galactic average (4.3 ± 1.9). Our analysis of the Si IV and C IV line widths yields a temperature of T ~ 10,450 ± 3400 K for this component. At this low temperature, neither Si IV nor C IV can be produced via collisions. We investigate several photoionization models to explain the intermediate-velocity Si IV and C IV absorption toward HD 14434. Photoionization models employing cooling of a hot (T ~ 106 K) diffuse plasma as the source of ionizing radiation reproduce the observed properties of the IVC toward HD 14434 quite well. The hot plasma responsible for the ionizing radiation in these models may be attributed to hot gas contained in a supershell in or near the Perseus arm or from a more generally distributed hot ionized medium.
Determination of atrial fibrillation frequency using QRST-cancellation with QRS-scaling in standard electrocardiogram leads

Non-invasive assessment of the atrial cycle length can be obtained through QRST-cancellation algorithms. The main spectral component of the QRST-cancelled ECG gives an indication of the atrial cycle length. Due to QRS amplitude variations (eg caused by respiration) small residuals of QRS complexes can remain in the final ECG. We applied a QRST scaling algorithm to minimize these effects. Standard 12-lead ECG was recorded, simultaneous with both left (LA) and right (RA) intracardiac atrial electrograms. We applied a QRST-cancellation algorithm with automatic QRS-amplitude correction on both atrial fibrillation signals and atrial flutter signals. On average over all leads the percentual deviation between the intracardiac right atrial dominant frequency and the frequency measured on the standard ECG leads was 1.04% for atrial flutter and 2.16% for atrial fibrillation. For comparison with the LA fibrillation frequency, errors were slightly higher (flutter: 3.05%, fibrillation 2.31%). It is concluded that the QRST-cancellation algorithm with automatic QRS amplitude adjustment performs accurate on both atrial fibrillation signals and atrial flutter signals. These methods can have substantial clinical importance in monitoring non-invasively the atrial cycle length after interventional procedures or medication administration
Mapping Attitude Formation as a Function of Information Input: Online Processing Models of Attitude Formation

Consistent with calls for a dynamical social psychology (Jacoby et al., 1987; Nowak, Lewenstein, & Vallacher, 1994), attitude formation was studied using a recently developed, computer-based simulation technique termed Higher Order Cognitive Tracing (see Jacoby et al., 1994). Participants’ attitudes toward 12 different products in 3 product categories were investigated as a function of incremental information input. As opposed to traditional memory-based models of attitude formation, the study explored online processing models. Results indicate that the impact of information tends to decrease the later in the sequence that information is accessed. In addition, new information that is affectively inconsistent with prior information tends to have a greater impact on attitudes than information that is affectively redundant. This effect is more pronounced earlier rather than later in the sequence of information acquisition. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.