Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Columnar Segregation of Magnocellular and Parvocellular Streams in Human Extrastriate Cortex

Magnocellular versus parvocellular (M-P) streams are fundamental to the organization of macaque visual cortex. Segregated, paired M-P streams extend from retina through LGN into V1. The M stream extends further into area V5/MT, and parts of V2. However, elsewhere in visual cortex, it remains unclear whether M-P-derived information (1) becomes intermixed or (2) remains segregated in M-P-dominated columns and neurons. Here we tested whether M-P streams exist in extrastriate cortical columns, in 8 human subjects (4 female). We acquired high-resolution fMRI at high field (7T), testing for M- and P-influenced columns within each of four cortical areas (V2, V3, V3A, and V4), based on known functional distinctions in M-P streams in macaque: (1) color versus luminance, (2) binocular disparity, (3) luminance contrast sensitivity, (4) peak spatial frequency, and (5) color/spatial interactions. Additional measurements of resting state activity (eyes closed) tested for segregated functional connections between these columns. We found M- and P-like functions and connections within and between segregated cortical columns in V2, V3, and (in most experiments) area V4. Area V3A was dominated by the M stream, without significant influence from the P stream. These results suggest that M-P streams exist, and extend through, specific columns in early/middle stages of human extrastriate cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The magnocellular and parvocellular (M-P) streams are fundamental components of primate visual cortical organization. These streams segregate both anatomical and functional properties in parallel, from retina through primary visual cortex. However, in most higher-order cortical sites, it is unknown whether such M-P streams exist and/or what form those streams would take. Moreover, it is unknown whether M-P streams exist in human cortex. Here, fMRI evidence measured at high field (7T) and high resolution revealed segregated M-P streams in four areas of human extrastriate cortex. These results suggest that M-P information is processed in segregated parallel channels throughout much of human visual cortex; the M-P streams are more than a convenient sorting property in earlier stages of the visual system.
Foraging Strategy Quick Response to Temperature of Messor barbarus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Mediterranean Environments

Abstract Animals principally forage to try to maximize energy intake per unit of feeding time, developing different foraging strategies. Temperature effects on foraging have been observed in diverse ant species; these effects are limited to the duration of foraging or the number of foragers involved. The harvester ant Messor barbarus L. 1767 has a specialized foraging strategy that consists in the formation of worker trails. Because of the high permeability of their body integument, we presume that the length, shape, and type of foraging trails of M. barbarus must be affected by temperature conditions. From mid-June to mid-August 1999, we tested the effect on these trail characteristics in a Mediterranean forest. We found that thermal stress force ants to use a foraging pattern based on the variation of the workers trail structure. Ants exploit earlier well-known sources using long physical trails, but as temperatures increases throughout the morning, foragers reduce the length of the foraging column gradually, looking for alternative food sources in nonphysical trails. This study shows that animal forage can be highly adaptable and versatile in environments with high daily variations.
Dynamic Screening Model of the Electric Microfield Distribution

Abstract Starting from the linearized Klimontovich equations and the pair approximation we study the probability distribution of the electric microfield. We deduce the separation of the total microfield distribution into a high and a low frequency component. We further prove that each of these com-ponents can be calculated from a model of uncorrelated, dynamically screened particles. The low frequency component, which is of prominent interest for applications, is evaluated. The results show devations from all earlier theories.
The 5 C Challenges of Business-Driven IT Management and the 5 A Approaches to Addressing Them

To summarize to business people the main challenges of business-driven information and communication technology (ICT) systems management, we suggest "the 5 C challenges of ICT systems management": 1) cost-benefit relationship, 2) complexity, 3) conformance to higher-level objectives, 4) circumstances and their diversity, and 5) change. We also advocate the slogan "To address the 5 C challenges you need at least the 5 A approaches and a compromise. " Here, the "5 As" are the main approaches for addressing the "5 Cs": 1) analysis of benefits and costs, 2) automation of management activities, 3) aims (objectives, policy) modeling and processing, 4) accommodation of different circumstances through customization and context-sensitivity, and 5) adaptability. We also discuss how these 5 Cs and 5 As relate to self-management, policy-based management, and contract-based management and how they can be used for presenting a new project on modeling and using business value information.
Design and analysis of Carry Bypass Adder using CNTFET

This paper enumerates the efficient design and analysis of a Carry Bypass Adder using Full Adder cell. The Full Adder is designed using Stanford University CNTFET model and proposed 10nm CNTFET model. There are many issues facing while integrating more number of transistors like short channel effect, power dissipation, scaling of the transistors. To overcome these problems, the carbon nano tubes have promising applications in the field of electronics. The carbon nanotube is emerging as a viable replacement to the MOSFET. The transient and power analyses are obtained with operating voltage at 0.9V. Simulations and analyses are carried out for the Full Adder Cell and Carry Bypass Adder. The simulation results are presented and the analyses are compared with circuits designed using 32nm MOSFET. The comparison of results indicated that the proposed 10nm CNTFET based design is more efficient in power savings and speed.
A-TEAM: Automatic template-based assertion miner

Different mining approaches have been proposed in literature for the automatic generation of temporal assertions from execution traces of digital systems. However, in most cases, existing tools can only mine assertions compliant with a limited set of pre-defined templates. Furthermore, they tend to generate a huge amount of assertions, while they still lack an effective way to measure their coverage in terms of design behaviours. To fill in the gap, this paper presents A-TEAM, a tool for the automatic extraction of temporal assertions starting from a set of user-defined assertion templates. Our method involves a combination of data mining and coverage analysis for mining a compact and expressive set of LTL formulas.
Link-Nested Logit Model of Route Choice: Overcoming Route Overlapping Problem

A new link-nested logit model of route choice is presented. The model is derived as a particular case of the generalized-extreme-value class of discrete choice models. The model has a flexible correlation structure that allows for overcoming the route overlapping problem. The corresponding stochastic user equilibrium is formulated in two equivalent mathematical programming forms: as a particular case of the general Sheffi formulation and as a generalization of the logit-based Fisk formulation. A stochastic network loading procedure is proposed that obviates route enumeration. The proposed model is then compared with alternative assignment models by using numerical examples.
Letter to the Editor: Further evidence is required to confirm association between CACNA1C gene variants and bipolar affective disorder

Free to read full-text copy is available via the social sharing link below Further evidence is required to confirm association between CACNA1C gene variants and bipolar affective disorder In their invited review on the genetics of bipolar affective disorder (BP), Keers et al. (2009) reported multiple association signals across the CACNA1C gene and suggested that because ‘these association signals were located in three blocks of largely distinct regions of linkage disequilibrium (LD)’ they ‘may therefore be considered as three relatively independent associations between CACNA1C and BP’.
Chinese Text Classification Based on Summarization Technique

Two approaches to text classification based on summarization technique are proposed: in the first approach, the heuristic rules of auto-summarization are used to select and weight features for every category, and texts are classified by these features; in the second approach, the text summarization is directly used for classification instead of the original text. Experimental results show that the combination of summarization technology and classification technology can not only reduce the time of feature selection and classification but also improve the performance of text classification.
Microperimetry as an Outcome Measure in Choroideremia Trials: Reproducibility and Beyond.

PURPOSE To determine test-retest repeatability of microperimetry testing (MP) in choroideremia (CHM) subjects using standard and personalized stimulus grids. METHODS Fifteen CHM subjects (28 eyes) underwent consecutive repeat examinations with the Macular Integrity Assessment (MAIA) microperimeter using a standard (10°) and a customized macular grid adapted to individual macular pathology. Repeatability of standard-grid mean (MS) and point-wise (PWS) sensitivity was determined and compared with age-matched controls (seven eyes), with PWS separately analyzed for loci within and outside the border of degeneration. Interpolated volumetric indices were used to estimate repeatability of customized grids and compare their performance to standard grids. RESULTS Test-retest measures of standard-grid MS yielded higher coefficients of variation (CV) in CHM subjects compared with controls (0.09 vs. 0.02). Volumetric indices from customized grids improved repeatability by driving CV values to 0.05 and close to 0.02 for region-of-interest (ROI) analysis. Variability of PWS was significantly higher in CHM, especially at the border of degeneration (10.68 vs. 4.74 dB at the central retina, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Microperimetry testing in CHM shows high test-retest variation at the border of degeneration, which influences repeatability of MS measures. Volumetric measures from customized grids can improve reliability of both global and regional sensitivity assessment. Nevertheless, inherent test-retest variation of individual points needs to be taken into account when assessing potential functional decline and/or disease progression.
The serotonin neurons in nucleus raphe dorsalis of adult rat: A light and electron microscope radioautographic study

The serotoninergic nerve cell body population of nucleus raphe dorsalis (RD) was identified by radioautography following cerebroventricular instillation of tritiated serotonin ([3H]5‐HT) in adult rats pretreated with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Series of histological sections taken throughout the midbrain and upper pons exhibited a similar distribution and number of labeled nerve cell bodies in RD after prolonged administration ofeither 10−5 or 10−4 M [3H]5‐HT or 10−4 M [3H]5‐HT and 10−3 M nonradioactive noradrenaline. This allowed systematic mapping and quantification of serotoninergic nerve cell bodies at various levels of the RD. Their extrapolated total number averaged 11,500. Twice as many unreactive (nonserotoninergic) neurons were present within the same region. In electron microscope radioautographs, the labeled cells were usually larger (17.9 μm mean diameter) than their unlabeled congeners (13.1 μm), but stereological sampling of their perikarial organelle content failed to reveal any difference in cytoplasmic composition. Few [3H]5‐HT‐labeled axonal varicosities were observed in RD and none were found in close apposition or in synaptic junction with labeled nerve cell bodies, dendrites, or unreactive perikarya. A detailed statistical analysis of silver grain distribution in both labeled and “unlabeled” nerve cell bodies indicated that in the former, but not in the latter, dense bodies had a relatively high affinity for [3H]5‐HT. Mitochondria and the cytoplasmic membrane were the only other organelles to show higher labeling indices in labeled than in unlabeled cells. Other sites of[3H]5‐HT localization could be ascribed to artefactitious cross‐linkage of the tracer by the fixative, since they had the same relative affinity in the two cell populations. These results provide new insights into the morphology and cytofunctional properties of the 5‐HT neurons of rat RD.
Delayed Complete Functional Lactase Sufficiency in Breast‐Fed Infants

Summary: Colonic fermentation of unabsorbed lactose was evaluated by measuring breath hydrogen (BH2) after a regular feeding in 17 white, normal, exclusively breastfed infants 4‐5 weeks of age. Interval breath samples were collected with a specially modified face mask and analyzed by gas chromatography for H2 and CO2 concentrations. Five infants (29%) produced 20 ppm or more of H2, four of whom underwent repeated testing. Three infants stopped producing over 20 ppm of H2 as they grew older. On a repeat evaluation, one of these three infants had levels over 20 ppm when other foods were introduced into his diet. The other continued to have elevated BH2 when weaned. Stools of infants with elevated BH2 levels had no detectable glucose, and pH was over 5.5. Weight‐for‐age of infants with elevated BH2 was at or above the 75th percentile. BH2 levels, normalized for the amount of breast milk ingested, fell significantly with age. These results show that complete small bowel absorption of lactose from breast milk does not occur in all white, normal, term, appropriate‐for‐gestational‐age infants in the first months of life. The absence of glucose in the stool and the normal stool pH suggest that the unabsorbed lactose that produced H2 can be degraded in the colon.
Arginine 719 in human plasminogen mediates formation of the staphylokinase:plasmin activator complex.

Staphylokinase (Sak), a 16-kDa bacterial protein, forms a 1:1 stoichiometric complex with the serine proteinase domain of human plasmin, which in turn converts other plasminogen molecules into plasmin. To identify amino acid residues critical for generating the Sak:plasmin activator complex, alanine-scanning mutagenesis was performed on phage-displayed micro-plasminogen (microPlg). Substitution of Arg719 with Ala [microPlg(R719A)] disrupted complex formation, although the sensitivity of phage-displayed microPlg(R719A) to activation by urokinase and the amidolytic activity of the micro-plasmin derivative [microPli(R719A)] remained unaffected. Likewise, the soluble microPlg(R719A) molecule did not generate a functional activator complex with Sak, whereas quantitative activation into plasmin was obtained upon incubation with either urokinase or the Sak:plasmin complex. Real-time biospecific affinity measurements revealed that the Arg --> Ala substitution at position 719 increased the equilibrium dissociation constant between microPlg(R719A) and Sak from 46 nM to 1 microM, primarily by reducing the association rate constant. Arg719 has recently also been implied in the functional complex formation between human plasmin and streptokinase [Dawson, K. M. , Marshall, J. M. , Raper, R. H. , Gilbert, R. J., and Ponting, C. P. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 12042-12047. ], suggesting that both bacterial cofactors may share common structural and/or mechanistic aspects for plasminogen activation.
A preliminary impact assessment of typhoon wind risk of residential buildings in Japan under future climate change

This paper performs a quantitative impact assessment of the climate change on typhoon wind risk, focusing on residential buildings in Japan. The risk is assessed based on (1) the typhoon event set extracted from the simulation by the super-high resolution atmospheric general circulation model developed within the KAKUSHIN program; (2) the probabilistic typhoon modeling scheme developed by our group; (3) a fragility model empirically estimated on the basis of the damage report of typhoon Songda in 2004 and the reproduced wind field by a mesoscale meteorological model; JMA-NHM. The main results are that in the future (2075–2099) at most locations of Japan: (1) extreme wind events (10-minute sustained wind speed exceeding 30 m/s) are more likely to occur; (2) the median of the annual maximum wind speed decreases; (3) the expected number of damaged residential buildings decreases, assuming that the profile of the building portfolio remains unchanged. Based on these results, the assumptions and inputs to the assessment are critically reviewed. Thereby, the needs of further research efforts toward more credible and comprehensive assessment are addressed.
The Use of Prescribed Fire to Control Invasive Exotic Weeds at Jepson Prairie Preserve

Jepson Prairie in Solano County, an outstanding example of remnant California Central Valley vernal pool and grassland habitats, is threatened by invasive exotic species. This paper describes the results of a 200-acre late-spring prescribed fire conducted at Jepson Prairie in June of 1995 and aimed at reducing the cover of an extensive infestation of Medusahead ( Taeniatherum caput-medusae ). Burned and unburned control plots are compared with respect to changes in community composition within three habitat types. The habitat types mound, intermound, and swale correspond to three topographic/hydrologic regimes within vernal pool complexes. Ocular estimates of percent cover (using Daubenmire cover classes) were recorded for six species guilds: native grasses, exotic grasses, native early forbs, exotic early forbs, native l ate forbs, and exotic late forbs. Cover of thatch, bare ground and residual dry matter was also measured. Results show significant decreases in the cover of exotic annual grasses (including Medusahead) and thatch in burned mound and intermound habitats. Cover of native grasses and native early forbs increased on burned mound and intermound habitats. However, exotic early forbs also increased on burned mounds and intermounds, due mainly to an increase in cover of Erodium spp. The results provide strong evidence that late-spring burning reduces the cover of non-native annual grasses, such as Medusahead, while increasing the dominance of native species and the cover of native grasses and forbs. Prescriptions for management of vernal pool and grassland habitats in California should include late-spring prescribed fire in areas that have heavy infestations of Medusahead or an accumulated thatch layer. CITATION. Pages 241-249 in: C.W. Witham, E.T. Bauder, D. Belk, W.R. Ferren Jr., and R. Ornduff (Editors). Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Vernal Pool Ecosystems – Proceedings from a 1996 Conference. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA. 1998.
Physicians’ knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward antimicrobial prescribing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To assess knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward antimicrobial prescribing among physicians practicing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A questionnaire was developed and distributed to physicians working in hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between June and August 2013. The results were analyzed using Stata 12 software. Results: Two hundred and twelve (84.8%) full responses were returned. Most respondents perceived antimicrobial resistance as a significant problem in their daily practice (119, 56.1%) and at a national level (148, 69.8%). Inappropriate empirical therapy (101, 47.6%) and excessive use of antimicrobials in healthcare settings (66, 31.1%) were believed to be the main contributors to increasing bacterial resistance. Respondents favor treating infection rather than colonization (98, 46.2%), and physician education (74, 34.9%) as the most effective interventions to reduce antimicrobial resistance. Many respondents (95, 44.8%) do not feel confident in their knowledge of antimicrobial prescribing. Two-thirds of the respondents (135, 63.7%) have local antimicrobial guidelines, of which 90 (66.7%) felt were useful. Most respondents (160, 75.5%) considered their local infectious diseases service to be very helpful. Conclusion: There are considerable unmet training and education need for physicians in the area of antimicrobial prescribing. Local antimicrobial guidelines need revision to ensure they are more relevant and helpful for medical practitioners.
A Tune-All Wideband Filter Based on Perturbed Ring-Resonators

A dual-mode resonator is presented for tunable wideband filters, which allows tunability in both the centre frequency and bandwidth. It is based on a new perturbation arrangement in a ring-resonator that is electronically tuned with varactor diodes. A filter is designed for a radio astronomy receiver application. It consists of 6 cascaded dual-mode resonators with a 49% bandwidth in the L-band. High selectivity and low insertion losses are achieved. The centre frequency is tunable by 9% and the bandwidth by 25.3%. This design is unique in that it achieves wide bandwidth, is realisable in microstrip and tunable in both the centre frequency and bandwidth.
A mechanistic study of danazol dissolution in ionic surfactant solutions.

This study examined the dissolution mechanism of the neutral drug danazol into solutions of the ionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The effect of counterion concentration on drug dissolution was also studied by controlling the solution ionic strength (IS). The laminar flow apparatus of Shah and Nelson was chosen to measure in vitro dissolution rates for its simulation of physiological hydrodynamics. A mathematical model was developed to test the proposed mechanism for dissolution. Transport of the dissolved drug away from the tablet surface is the slow step in the process. Two major physicochemical properties, drug solubility in surfactant solutions and the effective diffusion coefficients used in the model, were measured in separate experiments for use in the transport model. Pulsed field proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H NMR) was used to measure the drug diffusion coefficient. Actual drug dissolution rates were determined by multiplying the measured effluent drug concentration in the aqueous medium by its flow rate. The assumption of a transport-controlled dissolution rate was tested by plotting the measured dissolution rates as a function of medium flow rate in a log-log plot. A slope of 1/3 is predicted by the model and slopes of 0.26 to 0.32 were found experimentally, suggesting that the transport controlled mechanism is accurate. The model-predicted dissolution rates were compared with the experimental data. For SDS solutions without IS control, the model calculated data are 20-35% lower than the experimental results, whereas with IS control, the error is only 0.4-4%. We believe that there is significant electrostatic interaction between micelles in processes with low IS or poor IS control. In that situation, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-measured drug diffusivity would not be its actual value in the dissolution process.