Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epileptic scalp ripples are associated with corticothalamic BOLD changes

Interictal high frequency oscillations (HFOs) in the 40–200 Hz range have been identified in scalp electroencephalography (EEG) recordings of patients with focal epilepsy. HFOs usually co‐occur with interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), and are specific and accurate markers for the epileptic focus, but the brain regions involved when HFOs are generated are unknown. We investigated this question with combined EEG–functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), measuring the blood oxygenation level–dependent (BOLD) signal, and examined HFOs in the gamma (40–80 Hz) and ripple (80–200 Hz) bands.
TECHNICAL NOTE CRIMINALISTICS

Laser detection of latent fingerprints on a white paper has been performed, previously. Ultraviolet fluorescence from various kinds of printer toner and ink used for home printers were measured to study fluorescence imaging of fingerprints on a color-printed white paper. The experimental system consisted of a nanosecond pulsed tunable laser and a cooled CCD camera. Excitation wavelengths are 230 and 280 nm. Fourteen printers consisting of three color laser printers, three color inkjet printers, five monochrome laser printers, two monochrome copy machines, and a color copy machine were tested. Toner and ink of most printers exhibited fluorescence in the region from 360 to 550 nm. In most cases, clear fluorescence images were obtained by time-resolved imaging with a band-pass filter and 280-nm excitation. However for toners from laser color printers that showed strong fluorescence, better results were obtained with 230-nm excitation. Latent fingerprints on a photograph page and a black-character page of a newspaper were also imaged.
Joint Crosstalk-Avoidance and Error-Correction Coding for Parallel Data Buses

Communication in integrated circuits faces two major impediments: inter-wire capacitive coupling and noise. Coding can be used to address both these problems. So-called crosstalk-avoidance codes mitigate capacitive coupling, and traditional error-correction codes introduce resilience against channel errors. Unfortunately, crosstalk-avoidance and error-correction codes cannot be combined in a straightforward manner. On the one hand, crosstalk-avoidance encoding followed by error-correction encoding destroys the crosstalk-avoidance property. On the other hand, error-correction encoding followed by crosstalk-avoidance encoding causes the crosstalk-avoidance decoder to fail in the presence of errors. Existing approaches circumvent this difficulty by using additional bus wires to protect the parities generated from the output of the error-correction encoder, and are therefore inefficient. In this paper, we propose a novel joint crosstalk-avoidance and error-correction coding and decoding scheme that provides higher bus transmission rates compared with existing approaches. Our joint approach carefully embeds the parities such that the crosstalk-avoidance property is preserved. We analyze the rate and minimum distance of the proposed scheme. We also provide a density evolution analysis and predict iterative decoding thresholds for reliable communication under random bus erasures. This density evolution analysis is nonstandard, since the crosstalk-avoidance constraints are inherently nonlinear.
System level performance of cellular networks utilizing ASA/LSA mechanisms

Flexible and efficient spectrum usage in cellular communication systems is a key to meet the service demand of forthcoming 4G and 5G networks by 2020. Recent wide-band power measurements in an urban environment show that spectrum below 6 GHz is still under-utilized. Licensed shared access (LSA) is one technique which can be deployed to make use of these valuable resources. In this paper we highlight cell-planning aspects for the implementation of licensed shared access (LSA) in LTE cellular networks. Different cellular deployments are evaluated by means of system-level simulations. Numerical results show that transmit power, antenna type and orientation, as well as antenna downtilt should be carefully evaluated during the planning of spectrum sharing deployments using LSA in cellular wireless.
Inert Gas Washout: Theoretical Background and Clinical Utility in Respiratory Disease

Inert gas washout was first described more than 60 years ago and 2 principal tests have been developed from it: the single breath and multiple breath washout (MBW) techniques. The invention of fast responding gas analysers almost 60 years ago and small computers 30 years later have facilitated breath-by-breath analysis and the development of sophisticated analysis techniques. It is now possible to detect not only the degree of pulmonary ventilation inhomogeneity, but also to gain important insight into the location of the underlying disease process. While single breath washout requires a full vital capacity effort, tidal breathing during the multiple breath test requires minimal co-operation and co-ordination, and is feasible in subjects of all ages. Available MBW normative data from parameters, such as the lung clearance index, appears to vary minimally with age, making MBW particularly useful to follow children longitudinally. Multiple breath inert gas washout has demonstrated improved sensitivity, in comparison to spirometry, in the early detection of a number of important disease processes, including cystic fibrosis. Despite this, these important techniques remain under-utilised in the clinical setting and there is a lack of commercially available devices currently available. The recent resurgence of research in this area has produced a large number of important studies and a pronounced international interest has developed in these techniques. This review article will provide an overview of the theoretical background of inert gas washout and analysis indices, review important physiological and clinical insights gained from research to date (as well as from our own experience) to illustrate its utility, and outline the challenges that lie ahead in incorporating these techniques into the mainstream clinical setting.
Structural Alignment of RNA with Complex Pseudoknot Structure

The secondary structure of an ncRNA molecule is known to play an important role in its biological functions. Aligning a known ncRNA to a target candidate to determine the sequence and structural similarity helps in identifying de novo ncRNA molecules that are in the same family of the known ncRNA. However, existing algorithms cannot handle complex pseudoknot structures which are found in nature. In this article, we propose algorithms to handle two types of complex pseudoknots: simple non-standard pseudoknots and recursive pseudoknots. Although our methods are not designed for general pseudoknots, it already covers all known ncRNAs in both Rfam and PseudoBase databases. An evaluation of our algorithms shows that it is useful to identify ncRNA molecules in other species which are in the same family of a known ncRNA.
Interference in dichotic listening: the effect of contralateral noise on oscillatory brain networks

Coupling of thalamocortical networks through synchronous oscillations at gamma frequencies (30–80 Hz) has been suggested as a mechanism for binding of auditory sensory information into an object representation, which then becomes accessible for perception and cognition. This study investigated whether contralateral noise interferes with this step of central auditory processing. Neuromagnetic 40‐Hz oscillations were examined in young healthy participants while they listened to amplitude‐modulated sound in one ear and a multi‐talker masking noise in the contralateral ear. Participants were engaged in a gap‐detection task, for which their behavioural performance declined under masking. The amplitude modulation of the stimulus elicited steady 40‐Hz oscillations with sources in bilateral auditory cortices. Analysis of the temporal dynamics of phase synchrony between source activity and the stimulus revealed two oscillatory components; the first was indicated by an instant onset in phase synchrony with the stimulus while the second showed a 200‐ms time constant of gradual increase in phase synchrony after phase resetting by the gap. Masking abolished only the second component. This coincided with masking‐related decrease of the P2 wave of the transient auditory‐evoked responses whereas the N1 wave, reflecting early sensory processing, was unaffected. Given that the P2 response has been associated with object representation, we propose that the first 40‐Hz component is related to representation of low‐level sensory input whereas the second is related to internal auditory processing in thalamocortical networks. The observed modulation of oscillatory activity is discussed as reflecting a neural mechanism critical for speech understanding in noise.
Effects of RAGE Gene Polymorphisms on the Risk and Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

AbstractHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy of the liver, whose heterogeneous incidence reflects genetic variations among individuals in the main risk factors. The receptor for advanced glycosylation endproducts (RAGE) is a multiligand receptor and known to be implicated in various pathogenic conditions, such as diabetes, inflammatory disorder, Alzheimer disease, and cancer. In this study, the impact of RAGE gene polymorphisms on the susceptibility to hepatocarcinogenesis was explored. Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs184003 (1704G > T), rs1800624 (−374T > A), rs1800625 (−429T > C), and rs2070600 (Gly82Ser), as well as 1 gene polymorphism of RAGE gene, a 63 bp deletion allele (−407 to −345) were analyzed between 300 cancer-free subjects and 265 HCC cases. We detected a significant association of rs1800625 with the increased risk of HCC (odds ratio [OR], 2.565; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.492–4.409 and adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.568; 95% CI, 1.418–4.653). However, patients who possess at least 1 polymorphic allele of rs1800625 are less prone to develop late-stage (stage III/IV, OR, 0.502; 95% CI, 0.243–1.037; P = 0.059 and AOR, 0.461; 95% CI, 0.219–0.970; P = 0.041) and large-size tumors (OR, 0.398; 95% CI, 0.183–0.864; P = 0.017 and AOR, 0.351; 95% CI, 0.157–0.781; P = 0.010). Furthermore, individuals bearing specific haplotypes of 4 RAGE SNPs tested are more inclined to have HCC. In conclusion, our data suggest a correlation of RAGE gene polymorphism rs1800625 with the early stage of liver tumorigenesis and implicate its protective role in the progression of HCC.
On the possibility and impossibility of achieving clock synchronization

It is known that clock synchronization can be achieved in the presence of faulty clocks numbering more than one-third of the total number of participating clocks provided that some authentication technique is used. Without authentication the number of faults that can be tolerated has been an open question. Here we show that if we restrict logical clocks to running within some linear function of real time, then clock synchronization is impossible, without authentication, when one-third or more of the processors are faulty. However, if there is a bound on the rate at which a processor can generate messages, then we show that clock synchronization is achievable, without authentication, as long as the faults do not disconnect the network. Finally, we provide a lower bound on the closeness to which simultaneity can be achieved in the network as a function of the transmission and processing delay properties of the network.
Phenomenology of the littlest Higgs model with T-parity

Little Higgs models offer an interesting approach to weakly coupled electroweak symmetry breaking without fine-tuning. The original little Higgs models were plagued by strong constraints from electroweak precision data which required a fine-tuning to be reintroduced. An economical solution to this problem is to introduce a discrete symmetry (analogous to R-parity of SUSY) called T-parity. T-parity not only eliminates most constraints from electroweak precision data, but it also leads to a promising dark matter candidate. In this paper we investigate the dark matter candidate in the littlest Higgs model with T-parity. An upper bound on the symmetry breaking scale f < or approx. 1.8 TeV naturally arises from calculating the relic density. We begin the study of the LHC phenomenology of the littlest Higgs model with T-parity. We find that the model offers an interesting collider signature that has a generic missing energy signal which could 'fake' SUSY at the LHC. We also investigate the properties of the heavy partner of the top quark which is common to all littlest Higgs models, and how its properties are modified with the introduction of T-parity. We include an appendix with a list of Feynman rules specific to the littlest Higgs with T-paritymore » to facilitate further study. « less
Timing Matters: The Impact of Immediate and Delayed Feedback on Artificial Language Learning

In the present experiment, we used event-related potentials (ERP) to investigate the role of immediate and delayed feedback in an artificial grammar learning (AGL) task. Two groups of participants were engaged in classifying non-word strings according to an underlying rule system, not known to the participants. Visual feedback was provided after each classification either immediately or with a short delay of 1 s. Both groups were able to learn the artificial grammar system as indicated by an increase in classification performance. However, the gain in performance was significantly larger for the group receiving immediate feedback as compared to the group receiving delayed feedback. Learning was accompanied by an increase in P300 activity in the ERP for delayed as compared to immediate feedback. Irrespective of feedback delay, both groups exhibited learning related decreases in the feedback-related positivity (FRP) elicited by positive feedback only. The feedback-related negativity (FRN), however, remained constant over the course of learning. These results suggest, first, that delayed feedback is less effective for AGL as task requirements are very demanding, and second, that the FRP elicited by positive prediction errors decreases with learning while the FRN to negative prediction errors is elicited in an all-or-none fashion by negative feedback throughout the entire experiment.
Spatio‐Temporal Control of LbL Films for Biomedical Applications: From 2D to 3D

Introduced in the '90s by Prof. Moehwald, Lvov, and Decher, the layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly of polyelectrolytes has become a popular technique to engineer various types of objects such as films, capsules and free standing membranes, with an unprecedented control at the nanometer and micrometer scales. The LbL technique allows to engineer biofunctional surface coatings, which may be dedicated to biomedical applications in vivo but also to fundamental studies and diagnosis in vitro. Initially mostly developed as 2D coatings and hollow capsules, the range of complex objects created by the LbL technique has greatly expanded in the past 10 years. In this Review, the aim is to highlight the recent progress in the field of LbL films for biomedical applications and to discuss the various ways to spatially and temporally control the biochemical and mechanical properties of multilayers. In particular, three major developments of LbL films are discussed: 1) the new methods and templates to engineer LbL films and control cellular processes from adhesion to differentiation, 2) the major ways to achieve temporal control by chemical, biological and physical triggers and, 3) the combinations of LbL technique, cells and scaffolds for repairing 3D tissues, including cardio‐vascular devices, bone implants and neuro‐prosthetic devices.
On congruity of nodes and assortative information content in complex networks

Many distributed systems lend themselves to be modelled as networks, where nodes can have a range of attributes and properties based on which they may be classified. In this paper, we attempt the task of quantifying varying levels of similarity among nodes in a complex network over a period of time. We analyze how this similarity varies as nodes implement their functional logic and node states vary accordingly. We then use information theory to analyze how much Shannon information is conveyed by such a similarity measure, and how such information varies with time. We also propose node congruity as a measure to quantify the contribution of each node to the network's scalar assortativity. Finally, focussing on networks with binary states, we present algorithms (logic functions) which can be implemented in nodes to maximize or minimize scalar assortativity in a given network, and analyze the corresponding tendencies in information content.
Spider-Man, the Child and the Trickster -- Archetypal Analysis in R

Archetypal analysis has the aim to represent observations in a multivariate data set as convex combinations of extremal points. This approach was introduced by Cutler and Breiman (1994); they defined the concrete problem, laid out the theoretical foundations and presented an algorithm written in Fortran, which is available on request. In this paper we present the R package archetypes which is available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network. The package provides an implementation of the archetypal analysis algorithm within R and dierent exploratory tools to analyze the algorithm during its execution and its final result. The application of the package is demonstrated on two examples.
Self-configuring, Lightweight Sensor Networks for Ubiquitous Computing

We show that it is possible to extract geometric descriptions of the spaces observed by sensor networks, even if the network consists of sensors that are of very limited ability: such as motion detectors. By using statistical techniques and relying only on the unconstrained patterns generated by the occupants of the building we show how to recover information about sensor geometry. This is important to the ubiquitous computing community since ubiquitous sensors and the context that the provide will only become a reality if the sensors are cheap, low-power, and self-configuring.
The Novel Small Leucine-rich Protein Chondroadherin-like (CHADL) Is Expressed in Cartilage and Modulates Chondrocyte Differentiation*

Background: Collagen-binding proteins regulate tissue-specific extracellular matrices. Results: CHADL is enriched in cartilage, binds collagen, and modulates the chondrocyte phenotype. Conclusion: CHADL regulates the chondrocyte microenvironment. Significance: Characterizing novel collagen-associated proteins is crucial to understand the constitution and function of specialized extracellular matrices. The constitution and biophysical properties of extracellular matrices can dramatically influence cellular phenotype during development, homeostasis, or pathogenesis. These effects can be signaled through a differentially regulated assembly of collagen fibrils, orchestrated by a family of collagen-associated small leucine-rich proteins (SLRPs). In this report, we describe the tissue-specific expression and function of a previously uncharacterized SLRP, chondroadherin-like (CHADL). We developed antibodies against CHADL and, by immunohistochemistry, detected CHADL expression mainly in skeletal tissues, particularly in fetal cartilage and in the pericellular space of adult chondrocytes. In situ hybridizations and immunoblots on tissue lysates confirmed this tissue-specific expression pattern. Recombinant CHADL bound collagen in cell culture and inhibited in vitro collagen fibrillogenesis. After Chadl shRNA knockdown, chondrogenic ATDC5 cells increased their differentiation, indicated by increased transcript levels of Sox9, Ihh, Col2a1, and Col10a1. The knockdown increased collagen II and aggrecan deposition in the cell layers. Microarray analysis of the knockdown samples suggested collagen receptor-related changes, although other upstream effects could not be excluded. Together, our data indicate that the novel SLRP CHADL is expressed in cartilaginous tissues, influences collagen fibrillogenesis, and modulates chondrocyte differentiation. CHADL appears to have a negative regulatory role, possibly ensuring the formation of a stable extracellular matrix.
Monotonic optimization framework for the MISO IFC

Resource allocation and transmit optimization for the multiple-antenna Gaussian interference channel are important but difficult problems. Recently, there has been a large interest in algorithms that find operating points which are optimal in the sum-rate, proportional-fair, or minimax sense. Finding these points entails solving a nonlinear, non-convex optimization problem. In this paper, we develop an algorithm that solves these problems exactly, to within a prescribed level of accuracy and in a finite number of steps. The main idea is to rewrite the objective functions so that methods for monotonic optimization can be used. More precisely, we write each objective function as a difference between two functions which are strictly increasing over a normal constraint set. The so-obtained reformulated, equivalent problem can then be solved efficiently by using so-called polyblock optimization. Numerical examples illustrate the advantages of the proposed framework compared to an exhaustive grid search.
A burstiness-aware approach for document dating

A large number of mainstream applications, like temporal search, event detection, and trend identification, assume knowledge of the timestamp of every document in a given textual collection. In many cases, however, the required timestamps are either unavailable or ambiguous. A charac- teristic instance of this problem emerges in the context of large repositories of old digitized documents. For such doc- uments, the timestamp may be corrupted during the digiti- zation process, or may simply be unavailable. In this paper, we study the task of approximating the timestamp of a doc- ument, so-called document dating. We propose a content- based method and use recent advances in the domain of term burstiness, which allow it to overcome the drawbacks of pre- vious document dating methods, e.g. the fix time partition strategy. We use an extensive experimental evaluation on different datasets to validate the efficacy and advantages of our methodology, showing that our method outperforms the state of the art methods on document dating.
Automatic Codebook Acquisition

concepts include very useful indicators. For example: ’Judicial Power’ yields trial, court, trials, courts, jurisdiction, proceedings, evidence, law, inquiry, adjudication: all in all 10 direct synonyms and 12 indicators in the first 25 words (this is the lowest important nonpolitical actor in figure 2). 6 Summary and Discussion This paper proposes a method to aid the researcher in two steps that are performed in most content analyses: the creation of a the list of categories or entities that the researcher wants to count, and the definition of these terms in the codebook or synonym list. For the first step, our method can suggest terms with a recall of 80%-90%, with the higher figure especially for concrete political actors. Precision of the method is lower with an upper bound of around 50%. This means that the method is not suited as an automatic method to generate entities since too much noise would be contained in the result. On the other hand, the high recall means that the method can be very useful to help the researcher prevent errors of ommission. For the second step, our method can suggest lists of candidate-synonyms. In the first 25 candidates, there are on average 1.5 direct synonyms and 2.5 words that indicate the presence of the entity. In contrast to the first step, performance is best on general or abstract terms, although this might be because there simply are not many synonyms for a person.