Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exacerbation of delayed cell injury after transient global ischemia in mutant mice with CuZn superoxide dismutase deficiency.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We have demonstrated that copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD), a cytosolic isoenzyme of SODs, has a protective role in the pathogenesis of superoxide radical-mediated brain injury. Using mice bearing a disruption of the CuZn-SOD gene (Sod1), the present study was designed to clarify the role of superoxide anion in the pathogenesis of selective vulnerability after transient global ischemia. METHODS Sod1 knockout homozygous mutant mice (Sod1 -/-) with a complete absence of endogenous CuZn-SOD activity, heterozygous mutant mice (Sod1 +/-) with a 50% decrease in the activity, and littermate wild-type mice (male, 35 to 45 g) were subjected to global ischemia. Since the plasticity of the posterior communicating artery (PcomA) has been reported to influence the outcome of hippocampal injury, we assessed the relation between the plasticity of PcomAs and the decrease of regional cerebral blood flow in global ischemia. RESULTS The fluorescence intensity of hydroethidine oxidation, a measurement of ethidium fluorescence for superoxide radicals, was increased in mutant mice 1 day after both 5 and 10 minutes of global ischemia, compared with wild-type mice. Hippocampal injury in the PcomA hypoplastic brains showed significant exacerbation in mutant mice compared with wild-type littermates 3 days after 5 minutes of global ischemia, although a marked difference was not observed at 1 day. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that superoxide radicals play an important role in the pathogenesis of delayed injury in the vulnerable hippocampal CA1 subregion after transient global ischemia.
Kinaesthetic illusion shapes the cortical plasticity evoked by action observation

The combination of action observation (AO) and a peripheral nerve stimulation has been shown to induce plasticity in the primary motor cortex (M1). However, using peripheral nerve stimulation little is known about the specificity of the sensory inputs. The current study, using muscle tendon vibration to stimulate muscle spindles and transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess M1 excitability, investigated whether a proprioceptive stimulation leading to a kinaesthetic illusion of movement (KI) was able to evoke M1 plasticity when combined with AO. M1 excitability increased immediately and up to 60 min after AO‐KI stimulation as a function of the vividness of the perceived illusion, and only when the movement directions of AO and KI were congruent. Tactile stimulation coupled with AO and KI alone were not sufficient to induce M1 plasticity. This methodology might be proposed to subjects during a period of immobilization to promote M1 activity without requiring any voluntary movement.
Simple and Sensitive Detection of HBsAg by Using a Quantum Dots Nanobeads Based Dot-Blot Immunoassay

Simple and sensitive detection of infectious disease at an affordable cost is urgently needed in developing nations. In this regard, the dot blot immunoassay has been used as a common protein detection method for detection of disease markers. However, the traditional signal reporting systems, such as those using enzymes or gold nanoparticles lack sensitivity and thus restrict the application of these methods for disease detection. In this study, we report a simple and sensitive detection method for the detection of infectious disease markers that couples the dot-blot immunoassay with quantum dots nanobeads (QDNBs) as a reporter. First, the QDNBs were prepared by an oil-in-water emulsion-evaporation technique. Because of the encapsulation of several QDs in one particle, the fluorescent signal of reporter can be amplified with QDNBs in a one-step test and be read using a UV lamp obviating the need for complicated instruments. Detection of disease-associated markers in complex mixture is possible, which demonstrates the potential of developing QDNBs into a sensitive diagnostic kit.
Development of an Advanced Dynamic Microindentation System to Determine Local Viscoelastic Properties of Polymers

This study presents a microindentation system which allows spatially resolved local as well as bulk viscoelastic material information to be obtained within one instrument. The microindentation method was merged with dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) for a tungsten cone indenter. Three tungsten cone indenters were investigated: tungsten electrode, tungsten electrode + 2% lanthanum, and tungsten electrode + rare earth elements. Only the tungsten electrode + 2% lanthanum indenter showed the sinusoidal response, and its geometry remained unaffected by the repeated indentations. Complex moduli obtained from dynamic microindentation for high-density polyethylene, polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, and thermoplastic polyurethane are in agreement with the literature. Additionally, by implementing a specially developed x-y-stage, this study showed that dynamic microindentation with a tungsten cone indenter was an adequate method to determine spatially resolved local viscoelastic surface properties.
Study of Neural Network Algorithm for Straight-Line Drawings of Planar Graphs

Graph drawing addresses the problem of finding a layout of a graph that satisfies given aesthetic and understandability objectives. The most important objective in graph drawing is minimization of the number of crossings in the drawing, as the aesthetics and readability of graph drawings depend on the number of edge crossings. VLSI layouts with fewer crossings are more easily realizable and consequently cheaper. A straight-line drawing of a planar graph G of n vertices is a drawing of G such that each edge is drawn as a straight-line segment without edge crossings. However, a problem with current graph layout methods which are capable of producing satisfactory results for a wide range of graphs is that they often put an extremely high demand on computational resources. This paper introduces a new layout method, which nicely draws internally convex of planar graph that consumes only little computational resources and does not need any heavy duty preprocessing. Here, we use two methods: The first is self organizing map known from unsupervised neural networks which is known as (SOM) and the second method is Inverse Self Organized Map (ISOM).
Mirror Neuron System Activation in Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy During Observation of Actions Performed by a Pathological Model

Background. Recent evidence suggested that Action Observation Therapy (AOT), based on observation of actions followed by immediate reproduction, could be a useful rehabilitative strategy for promoting functional recovery of children affected by unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). AOT most likely exploits properties of the parieto-premotor mirror neuron system (MNS). This is more intensely activated when participants observe actions belonging to their own motor repertoire. Objective. The aim of the present study was to investigate the issue of whether MNS of UCP children is better activated by actions performed by a paretic hand rather than a healthy one. Methods. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed brain activation in a homogeneous group of 10 right UCP children compared with that of 10 right-handed typically developing (TD) children, during observation of grasping actions performed by a healthy or a paretic hand. Results. The results revealed a significant activation within the MNS in both UCP and TD children, more lateralized to the left hemisphere in the TD group. Most important, region of interest (ROI) analysis on parietal and premotor regions showed that, in UCP, the MNS was more strongly activated by observation of actions performed by the paretic hand, a motor model more similar to the observer’s motor repertoire. Conclusions. This study shows that children affected by spastic UCP exhibit enhanced activation of the MNS during observation of goal-directed actions performed by a pathological model with respect to a healthy one.
Constructing the Field Methodological Reflections for Infrastructuring in Participatory Design

Information infrastructures challenge us to open up thinking about Participatory Design (PD) in several respects. One of the ways to address these challenges in PD has been the adoption of the notion of ‘infrastructuring’. While existing infrastructuring efforts in PD include new methodological developments related to analyzing the infrastructural phenomenon and developing method support for design, little attention has been given to considering what kinds of empirical landscapes infrastructuring involves and how they can be accounted for in fieldwork-based inquiry and design. This paper puts forward the notion of ‘constructing the field’ as an attempt to open up thinking about the empirical component in infrastructuring. Constructing the field involves questioning the initial notion of the ‘field’, extending the field by following the phenomenon, and bounding the field through processes of sensitizing and decision-making. Several conceptualizations of the ‘field’ offer alternatives for pursuing the phenomenon in meaningful ways yet with different emphases. By constructing the field infrastructuring efforts can both remain situated within specific contextual settings, which is a key principle in PD, and – at the same time – broaden and diversify the field to accommodate for the complex sociotechnical constellations and processes reaching over extended scopes that characterize infrastructuring as an object of design and inquiry. Helena Karasti (2014): Constructing the Field Methodological Reflections for Infrastructuring in Participatory Design. In International Reports on Socio-Informatics (IRSI), Proceedings of the PDC 2014, Infrastructuring, Collaboration and Evolving Socio-Material Practices of Changing Our World (Vol. 11, Iss. 2, pp. 29-38)
Bunch Compressor and Transfer to Main Linac

The equilibrium bunch length in the damping ring (DR) is 6 mm, too long by an order of magnitude for optimum collider performance (σ z = 0.3 mm). Hence the bunch must be compressed longitudinally by a factor of ∼20 before being injected into the main linac. Compression is achieved by introducing an energy-position correlation along the bunch length using an RF section, followed by a dispersive beamline with an energy dependent path length: in this way, the tail of the bunch can be made to follow a shorter path than the head, and the bunch becomes shorter. For the dispersive (compressing) beamline, a simple wiggler chicane will be used. In addition to the bunch compressor, the ring-to-linac transfer line also includes the following sections: Spin rotator The particle spin orientation in the damping ring must be vertical to preserve the polarisation. To adjust the spin vector to the required orientation at the collision point, a so-called spin rotator is required. The system consists of a combination of dipole and superconducting solenoid magnets. Coupling correction section The large horizontal to vertical emittance ratio requires a high degree of betatron coupling control. A section containing skew-quadrupoles provides a sufficient empirical correction of the cross-plane coupling. Diagnostic and collimation section The transfer line includes a diagnostic section which allows continuous monitoring of the beam phase space. The diagnostics serve as a quality control for the complete injection system. For commissioning and tune up a beam dump downstream of the diagnostic section is foreseen. The section also contains the collimators which remove the beam halo before injection into the main linac, decreasing the particle flux at the post-linac collimation system in the beam delivery section, and protecting the accelerating structures in the linac. Fifteen-degree arc Before injection into the main linac, the TESLA tunnel bends 15 • with a 500 meter radius. An achromatic optics is required to transport the large energy spread in the beam (∼3% rms), without causing significant transverse emittance growth.
[POSTER] Fusion of Vision and Inertial Sensing for Accurate and Efficient Pose Tracking on Smartphones

This paper aims at accurate and efficient pose tracking of planar targets on modern smartphones. Existing methods, relying on either visual features or motion sensing based on built-in inertial sensors, are either too computationally expensive to achieve realtime performance on a smartphone, or too noisy to achieve sufficient tracking accuracy. In this paper we present a hybrid tracking method which can achieve real-time performance with high accuracy. Based on the same framework of a state-of-the-art visual feature tracking algorithm [5] which ensures accurate and reliable pose tracking, the proposed hybrid method significantly reduces its computational cost with the assistance of a phone's built-in inertial sensors. However, noises in inertial sensors and abrupt errors in feature tracking due to severe motion blurs could result in instability of the hybrid tracking system. To address this problem, we propose to employ an adaptive Kalman filter with abrupt error detection to robustly fuse the inertial and feature tracking results. We evaluated the proposed method on a dataset consisting of 16 video clips with synchronized inertial sensing data. Experimental results demonstrated our method's superior performance and accuracy on smartphones compared to a state-of-the-art vision tracking method [5]. The dataset will be made publicly available with the publication of this paper.
Multiplexed, High Density Electrophysiology with Nanofabricated Neural Probes

Extracellular electrode arrays can reveal the neuronal network correlates of behavior with single-cell, single-spike, and sub-millisecond resolution. However, implantable electrodes are inherently invasive, and efforts to scale up the number and density of recording sites must compromise on device size in order to connect the electrodes. Here, we report on silicon-based neural probes employing nanofabricated, high-density electrical leads. Furthermore, we address the challenge of reading out multichannel data with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) performing signal amplification, band-pass filtering, and multiplexing functions. We demonstrate high spatial resolution extracellular measurements with a fully integrated, low noise 64-channel system weighing just 330 mg. The on-chip multiplexers make possible recordings with substantially fewer external wires than the number of input channels. By combining nanofabricated probes with ASICs we have implemented a system for performing large-scale, high-density electrophysiology in small, freely behaving animals that is both minimally invasive and highly scalable.
Multi-frequency analysis of neutralino dark matter annihilations in the Coma cluster

We study the astrophysical implications of neutralino dark matter annihilations in galaxy clusters, with a specific application to the Coma cluster. We first address the determination of the dark halo models for Coma, starting from structure formation models and observational data, and we discuss in detail the role of sub-halos. We then perform a thorough analysis of the transport and diffusion properties of neutralino annihilation products, and investigate the resulting multi-frequency signals, from radio to gamma-ray frequencies. We also study other relevant astrophysical effects of neutralino annihilations, like the DM-induced Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and the intracluster gas heating. As for the particle physics setup, we adopt a two-fold approach, resorting both to model-independent bottom-up scenarios and to benchmark, GUT-motivated frameworks. We show that the Coma radio-halo data (the spectrum and the surface brightness) can be nicely fitted by the neutralino-induced signal for peculiar particle physics models and for magnetic field values, which we outline in detail. Fitting the radio data and moving to higher frequencies, we find that the multi-frequency spectral energy distributions are typically dim at EUV and X-ray frequencies (with respect to the data), but show a non-negligible gamma-ray emission, depending on the amplitude of the Coma magnetic field. A simultaneous fit to the radio, EUV and HXR data is not possible without violating the gamma-ray EGRET upper limit. The best-fit particle physics models yields substantial heating of the intracluster gas, but not sufficient energy injection as to explain the quenching of cooling flows in the innermost region of clusters. Due to the specific multi-frequency features of the DM-induced spectral energy distribution in Coma, we find that supersymmetric models can be significantly and optimally constrained either in the gamma-rays or at radio and microwave frequencies.
Sensor-assisted Monte Carlo localization for Wireless Sensor Networks

Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) denotes the procedure of a single sensor node to determine its geographical position in space. As these nodes are limited in computational power, battery lifetime and communication range, there is the requirement for efficient localization algorithms which is an ongoing topic in research. Nearly all algorithms are based on the usage of seed nodes which are aware of their location and help other nodes approximating their own position. In this paper we extend an existing Monte Carlo particle filter approach (Monte Carlo Localization, MCL) to account for situations where the degree of seed nodes is low, i.e. the location estimation of a node cannot be updated. For this purpose we make use of comparatively cheap sensors to determine the movement direction and velocity of a node. With this obtained information we can update a nodes recent position estimation even in the absence of seed nodes. We simulate our approach and compare our results to the originally proposed algorithm, MCL.
Can Supplementation with Vitamin D Modify Thyroid Autoantibodies (Anti-TPO Ab, Anti-Tg Ab) and Thyroid Profile (T3, T4, TSH) in Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis? A Double Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is the most prevalent autoimmune disorder characterized by the destruction of thyroid cells caused by leukocytes and antibody-mediated immune processes accompanied by hypothyroidism. In recent years, evidence has emerged pointing to various roles for vitamin D, including, proliferation and differentiation of normal and cancer cells, cardiovascular function, and immunomodulation. Vitamin D deficiency has been especially demonstrated in HT patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin D on circulating thyroid autoantibodies and thyroid hormones profile (T4, T3, and TSH) in females with HT. Forty-two women with HT disease were enrolled in this randomized clinical trial study and divided into vitamin D and placebo groups. Patients in the vitamin D and placebo groups received 50 000 IU vitamin D and placebo pearls, weekly for 3 months, respectively. The serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH) D], Ca++ion, anti-thyroperoxidase antibody (anti-TPO Ab), anti-thyroglobulin antibody (anti-Tg Ab), T4, T3, and TSH were measured at the baseline and at the end of the study using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The results of this study showed a significant reduction of anti-Tg Ab and TSH hormone in the Vitamin D group compared to the start of the study; however, there was a no significant reduction of anti-TPO Ab in the Vitamin D group compared to the placebo group (p=0.08). No significant changes were observed in the serum levels of T3 and T4 hormones. Therefore, vitamin D supplementation can be helpful for alleviation of the disease activity in HT patients; however, further well controlled, large, longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether it can be introduced in clinical practice.
Field mapping without reference scan using asymmetric echo‐planar techniques

Improvements in B0 mapping and shimming were achieved by measuring the static field information in multiple subsequent echoes generated by an asymmetric echo‐planar readout gradient train. With careful compensation, eddy current effects were shown to affect the adjustment of the shim coils minimally. In addition to reducing the time required for field mapping by two‐fold, the sensitivity was simultaneously optimized irrespective of the prevalent T*2 present, thereby minimizing the error of the static field measurement to below 0.1 Hz. With adiabatic low flip‐angle excitation, the time required for field mapping was below 1 second. Magn Reson Med 43:319–323, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Detection of Zero-Day Polymorphic Worms Using Principal Component Analysis

Polymorphic worms pose a big challenge to the Internet security. The difficulty of detection of such a polymorphic worm is that it has more than one instance and very large efforts are needed to capture all these instances and to generate signatures. This paper proposes automatic system for signature generation for zero-day polymorphic worms. We have designed a novel double-honeynet system, which is able to detect new worms that have not been seen before. We apply Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to determine the most significant substrings that are shared between polymorphic worm instances and to use them as signatures. The system is able to generate signatures to match most polymorphic worm instances with low false positives and low false negatives.
Text Mining Analysis to Evaluate Stakeholders’ Perception Regarding Welfare of Equines, Small Ruminants, and Turkeys

Simple Summary Consumers are currently more sensitive regarding the way animals are kept and handled and, in general, have increased their awareness towards animal welfare. There is a close link between welfare of animals and stakeholders’ perception of their needs. This study aimed at investigating stakeholders’ perception of the welfare of equines, small ruminants, and turkeys using a text mining approach to analyze their answers to open-ended questions. A total of 270 surveys were collected from respondents of 32 different countries. Independently from the species, respondents considered that an animal needs appropriate nutrition to be fit, healthy, and productive. The “environment” was considered particularly important for turkey stakeholders, whereas housing factors were relevant for goat stakeholders. Horse stakeholders also considered “exercise”, “pasture” and “proper training” important. Although the sample was too small to analyze variation in welfare perception among stakeholders of different species, text mining analysis seems to be a promising method to investigate stakeholders’ perception of animal welfare, as it emphasizes their real perception, without the constraints deriving by close-ended questions. Abstract Welfare of animals significantly depends on how stakeholders perceive their needs and behave in a way to favor production systems that promote better welfare outcomes. This study aimed at investigating stakeholders’ perception of the welfare of equines, small ruminants, and turkeys using text mining analysis. A survey composed by open-ended questions referring to different aspects of animal welfare was carried out. Text mining analysis was performed. A total of 270 surveys were filled out (horses = 122, sheep = 81, goats = 36, turkeys = 18, donkeys = 13). The respondents (41% veterinarians) came from 32 different countries. To describe welfare requirements, the words “feeding” and “water” were the most frequently used in all the species, meaning that respondents considered the welfare principle “good feeding” as the most relevant. The word “environment” was considered particularly important for turkeys, as well as the word “dry”, never mentioned for other species. Horses stakeholders also considered “exercise” and “proper training” important. Goat stakeholders’ concerns are often expressed by the word “space”, probably because goats are often intensively managed in industrialized countries. Although the sample was too small to be representative, text mining analysis seems to be a promising method to investigate stakeholders’ perception of animal welfare, as it emphasizes their real perception, without the constraints deriving by close-ended questions.