Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional dissociation between anterior temporal lobe and inferior frontal gyrus in the processing of dynamic body expressions: Insights from behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

Several brain regions are involved in the processing of emotional stimuli, however, the contribution of specific regions to emotion perception is still under debate. To investigate this issue, we combined behavioral testing, structural and resting state imaging in patients diagnosed with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and age matched controls, with task‐based functional imaging in young, healthy volunteers. As expected, bvFTD patients were impaired in emotion detection as well as emotion categorization tasks, testing dynamic emotional body expressions as stimuli. Interestingly, their performance in the two tasks correlated with gray matter volume in two distinct brain regions, the left anterior temporal lobe for emotion detection and the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for emotion categorization. Confirming this observation, multivoxel pattern analysis in healthy volunteers demonstrated that both ROIs contained information for emotion detection, but that emotion categorization was only possible from the pattern in the IFG. Furthermore, functional connectivity analysis showed reduced connectivity between the two regions in bvFTD patients. Our results illustrate that the mentalizing network and the action observation network perform distinct tasks during emotion processing. In bvFTD, communication between the networks is reduced, indicating one possible cause underlying the behavioral symptoms. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4472–4486, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Daily Informal Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Unit Operational Debriefing Provides Effective Support for Intensive Care Unit Nurses

Background:Although most organizations have comprehensive formal stress management programs, an approach that is most likely to be helpful is the one that is curtailed specifically to the needs of a particular nursing unit. With that aim in mind, a process of daily intensive care unit (ICU) multidisciplinary operational debriefings was developed. These operational debriefings use the same concepts as traditional debriefing, yet are offered on a daily basis, rather than being reserved only for major stressful events. Furthermore, they are informal, brief (15 minutes), and multidisciplinary (intensivists, ICU nurses, chaplain, ICU social worker, ICU nutritionist, and ICU pharmacist). The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the perceptions of attendees in relation to the implementation of daily operational debriefings. Methods:Six months into the process, the attendees were requested to fill out an anonymous voluntary survey. Questions were simple, straightforward, and close ended. Results:Of 47 potential respondents (42 nurses, 2 nurse managers, 1 social worker, 1 pharmacist, and 1 nutritionist), 42 completed the survey. Results revealed that an overwhelming majority felt that daily operational debriefings provide an effective unit-based support system, a sense of connectedness, and a commitment to the well-being of others. Nearly 50% of the respondents felt that the overall stress level in the ICU decreased, and 98% indicated operational daily debriefings should continue. Conclusion:Daily Informal multidisciplinary ICU operational debriefing provides an effective support system for ICU nurses. A modified model could be replicated for non-ICU units as well.
Road Segmentation of Remotely-Sensed Images Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks with Landscape Metrics and Conditional Random Fields

Object segmentation of remotely-sensed aerial (or very-high resolution, VHS) images and satellite (or high-resolution, HR) images, has been applied to many application domains, especially in road extraction in which the segmented objects are served as a mandatory layer in geospatial databases. Several attempts at applying the deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) to extract roads from remote sensing images have been made; however, the accuracy is still limited. In this paper, we present an enhanced DCNN framework specifically tailored for road extraction of remote sensing images by applying landscape metrics (LMs) and conditional random fields (CRFs). To improve the DCNN, a modern activation function called the exponential linear unit (ELU), is employed in our network, resulting in a higher number of, and yet more accurate, extracted roads. To further reduce falsely classified road objects, a solution based on an adoption of LMs is proposed. Finally, to sharpen the extracted roads, a CRF method is added to our framework. The experiments were conducted on Massachusetts road aerial imagery as well as the Thailand Earth Observation System (THEOS) satellite imagery data sets. The results showed that our proposed framework outperformed Segnet, a state-of-the-art object segmentation technique, on any kinds of remote sensing imagery, in most of the cases in terms of precision, recall, and F 1 .
An overview on the role of silica-based materials in vaccine development

ABSTRACT Introduction: Although vaccination has prevented millions of deaths, the development of highly immunogenic subunit vaccines is still required. Since the number of adjuvants approved for human use is limited, the new paths for the development of delivery vehicles offered by nanotechnology are of key relevance. Areas covered: Herein, the potential of silica nanoparticles (SP) as both adjuvants and vaccine delivery vehicles is discussed based on the analysis of the current biomedical literature. Expert commentary: SP are reported not only as biodegradable and biocompatible material but also as easy to modify and with a low production cost. Additionally, several reports suggest that SP enhance the immune response. Therefore, SP are a promising delivery vehicle and/or adjuvant in vaccines. However, knowledge on the industrial production and specific aspects of immunity are still required.
A Highly Sensitive Non-Radioactive Activity Assay for AMP-Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK)

While many methods exist to quantitatively determine protein kinase activities, 32P-based radioactive assays remain the workhorse of many laboratories due to their high sensitivity, high signal to noise ratio, lack of interference by fluorescent and light-absorbing small molecules, and easy quantitation. Here, we demonstrate that the interaction between the yeast Rad53 Forkhead-associated (FHA) domain and a peptide optimized for phosphorylation by AMP-Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK), which has previously been exploited for the generation of intracellular phosphorylation sensors, can serve as a readout for a highly sensitive two-step AMPK AlphaScreen kinase assay with exceptional signal-to-noise ratio.
Granular material response with respect to loading direction and material instability

ABSTRACT The paper examines the emerging roles of instabilities towards characterizing various modes of failure in geomaterials. We show that conventional analysis of failure through a failure criterion is no longer sufficient and it is also important to study the causes leading to failure. Micromechanical in character, these causes relate to local instabilities such as inter-granular slippage, overriding, buckling, grain crushing, among others. We briefly investigate the phenomenon of instability using an elasto-plastic model. Hill's stability criterion, based on the second-order work, is employed to capture the existence of material instability inside classical plastic limit surface. The postulate of flow rule is another subject matter discussed here. Through discrete element analysis, we show that this postulate fails under general three-dimensional conditions and the plastic response is a function of loading direction.
Optineurin links myosin VI to the Golgi complex and is involved in Golgi organization and exocytosis

Myosin VI plays a role in the maintenance of Golgi morphology and in exocytosis. In a yeast 2-hybrid screen we identified optineurin as a binding partner for myosin VI at the Golgi complex and confirmed this interaction in a range of protein interaction studies. Both proteins colocalize at the Golgi complex and in vesicles at the plasma membrane. When optineurin is depleted from cells using RNA interference, myosin VI is lost from the Golgi complex, the Golgi is fragmented and exocytosis of vesicular stomatitis virus G-protein to the plasma membrane is dramatically reduced. Two further binding partners for optineurin have been identified: huntingtin and Rab8. We show that myosin VI and Rab8 colocalize around the Golgi complex and in vesicles at the plasma membrane and overexpression of constitutively active Rab8-Q67L recruits myosin VI onto Rab8-positive structures. These results show that optineurin links myosin VI to the Golgi complex and plays a central role in Golgi ribbon formation and exocytosis.
UV-B–induced forest sterility: Implications of ozone shield failure in Earth’s largest extinction

UV-B regimes modeled for Earth’s largest mass extinction sterilize living conifers. Although Siberian Trap volcanism is considered a primary driver of the largest extinction in Earth history, the end-Permian crisis, the relationship between these events remains unclear. However, malformations in fossilized gymnosperm pollen from the extinction interval suggest biological stress coinciding with pulsed forest decline. These grains are hypothesized to have been caused by enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation from volcanism-induced ozone shield deterioration. We tested this proposed mechanism by observing the effects of inferred end-Permian UV-B regimes on pollen development and reproductive success in living conifers. We find that pollen malformation frequencies increase fivefold under high UV-B intensities. Surprisingly, all trees survived but were sterilized under enhanced UV-B. These results support the hypothesis that heightened UV-B stress could have contributed not only to pollen malformation production but also to deforestation during Permian-Triassic crisis intervals. By reducing the fertility of several widespread gymnosperm lineages, pulsed ozone shield weakening could have induced repeated terrestrial biosphere destabilization and food web collapse without exerting a direct “kill” mechanism on land plants or animals. These findings challenge the paradigm that mass extinctions require kill mechanisms and suggest that modern conifer forests may be considerably more vulnerable to anthropogenic ozone layer depletion than expected.
Structure and the aging process of dry archaeological wood

A literature survey is provided then the results of recent studies on the effect of ageing on the structure of dry archaeological wood. Various insects cause major structural breakdown in dry wood, but enclosure of wood or the presence of toxic extractives in wood appear to have protected many artifacts from attack by insects. Under dry conditions, the effect of age on wood structure appear to be minimal up to an age of 4400 years. Structural changes are observed only at the ultrasctructural level when using trasmission electron microscopy. Delaminations in the middle lamella region or in the secondary cell walls are the most commonly reported phenomena. Fissures and loosening of fibres have also been observed.
In vivo biocompatibility and degradation of novel Polycaprolactone-Biphasic Calcium phosphate scaffolds used as a bone substitute.

BACKGROUND Biocompatibility and degradation of poly ε-caprolactone (PCL)-Biphasic Calcium Phosphate (BCP) scaffolds fabricated by the "Melt Stretching and Compression Molding (MSCM)" technique were evaluated in rat models. OBJECTIVES Degradation behaviors and histological biocompatibility of the PCL-20% BCP MSCM scaffolds and compare with those of PCL-20% β-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) scaffolds commercially fabricated by Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) were evaluated. METHODS The study groups included Group A: PCL-20% BCP MSCM scaffolds and Group B: PCL-20% TCP FDM scaffolds, which were implanted subcutaneously in twelve male Wistar rats. On day 14, 30, 60 and 90, dimensional changes of the scaffolds and their surrounding histological features were assessed using Micro-Computed Tomography (μ-CT) and histological analysis. Changes of their molecular weight were assessed using Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). RESULTS Formation of collagen and new blood vessels throughout the scaffolds of both groups increased with time with low degrees of inflammation. The μ-CT and GPC analysis demonstrated that the scaffolds of both groups degraded with time, but, their molecular weight slightly changed over the observation periods. All results of both groups were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS The PCL-20% BCP MSCM scaffolds were biocompatible and biodegradable in vivo. Their properties were comparable to those of the commercial PCL-20% TCP scaffolds.
Investigation and correlation of manikin and bench‐scale fire testing of clothing systems

The US Army currently has five flame/thermal protective clothing systems to provide protection for soldiers against fire hazards. The protective performance of these clothing systems against burn injuries was investigated in full‐scale manikin tests. The protective performance of fabric layers of these clothing systems was also examined in bench‐scale tests. In addition, air gap thicknesses and distributions of the five clothing systems were determined by using a three‐dimensional laser scanning technique. In this paper, test conditions of the manikin and bench‐scale tests are compared, and the test results are correlated in light of the air gap measurements. The behavior of individual sensors on the manikin with similar test conditions to those of bench‐scale tests are compared with the bench‐scale tests. It is found that if the air gap distribution of a clothing system is known, bench‐scale tests could provide useful information for full‐scale performance, especially bench‐scale tests with zero air gap measurements. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The fungal snoRNAome

Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are essential players in the rRNA biogenesis due to their involvement in the nucleolytic processing of the precursor and the subsequent guidance of nucleoside modifications. Within the kingdom Fungi, merely a few species-specific surveys have explored their snoRNA repertoire. However, the wide range of the snoRNA landscape spanning all major fungal lineages has not been mapped so far, mainly because of missing tools for automatized snoRNA detection and functional analysis. For the first time, we report here a comprehensive inventory of fungal snoRNAs together with a functional analysis and an in-depth investigation of their evolutionary history including innovations, deletions, and target switches. This large-scale analysis, incorporating more than 120 snoRNA families with more than 7700 individual snoRNA sequences, catalogs and clarifies the landscape of fungal snoRNA families, assigns functions to previously orphan snoRNAs, and increases the number of sequences by 450%. We also show that the snoRNAome is subject to ongoing rearrangements and adaptations, e.g., through lineage-specific targets and redundant guiding functions.
Uveitis–Glaucoma–Hyphaema Syndrome. General review

Uveitis-Glaucoma-Hyphaema Syndrome (UGH syndrome, or “Ellingson” Syndrome) is a rare condition caused by the mechanical trauma of an intraocular lens malpositioned over adjacent structures (iris, ciliary body, iridocorneal angle), leading to a spectrum of iris transillumination defects, microhyphaemas and pigmentary dispersion, concomitant with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). UGH Syndrome can also be characterized by chronic inflammation, secondary iris neovascularization, cystoid macular edema (CME). The fundamental step in the pathogenesis of UGH syndrome appears to arise from repetitive mechanical iris trauma by a malpositioned or subluxed IOL. These patients have uncomplicated cataract implants and return for episodes of blurry vision weeks to months after surgery. This may be accompanied by pain, photophobia, erythropsia, anterior uveitis, hyphaema along with raised intraocular pressure. A careful history and examination, as well as appropriate investigations can confirm the diagnostic. Treatment options are IOL Explantation exchange, topical and systemic medication, and cyclophotocoagulation, the placement of a Capsular Tension Ring to redistribute zonular tension and Anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) Therapy.
Measuring 3D Hand and Finger Kinematics—A Comparison between Inertial Sensing and an Opto-Electronic Marker System

Objective analysis of hand and finger kinematics is important to increase understanding of hand function and to quantify motor symptoms for clinical diagnosis. The aim of this paper is to compare a new 3D measurement system containing multiple miniature inertial sensors (PowerGlove) with an opto-electronic marker system during specific finger tasks in three healthy subjects. Various finger movements tasks were performed: flexion, fast flexion, tapping, hand open/closing, ab/adduction and circular pointing. 3D joint angles of the index finger joints and position of the thumb and index were compared between systems. Median root mean square differences of the main joint angles of interest ranged between 3.3 and 8.4deg. Largest differences were found in fast and circular pointing tasks, mainly in range of motion. Smallest differences for all 3D joint angles were observed in the flexion tasks. For fast finger tapping, the thumb/index amplitude showed a median difference of 15.8mm. Differences could be explained by skin movement artifacts caused by relative marker movements of the marker system, particularly during fast tasks; large movement accelerations and angular velocities which exceeded the range of the inertial sensors; and by differences in segment calibrations between systems. The PowerGlove is a system that can be of value to measure 3D hand and finger kinematics and positions in an ambulatory setting. The reported differences need to be taken into account when applying the system in studies understanding the hand function and quantifying hand motor symptoms in clinical practice.
Notice of Retraction Comparison of two scan strategies applied to the selective laser melting

In selective laser melting (SLM) processing, the residual stress will be occurred inside the melted layer inevitable, and the deformation will be made simultaneously. The laser scanning strategy determined the deformation magnitude and the shape residual stress profiles. In order to optimize the manufacture and reduce the deformation of manufactured metal layers, helix scan strategy and progressive scan strategy for selective laser melting technology have been developed. In the result, the helix scan strategy helps to decrease the deformation of melted layer more effectively.
Sequencing-based diagnostics for pediatric genetic diseases: progress and potential

ABSTRACT Introduction: The last two decades have witnessed revolutionary changes in clinical diagnostics, fueled by the Human Genome Project and advances in high throughput, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). We review the current state of sequencing-based pediatric diagnostics, associated challenges, and future prospects. Areas covered: We present an overview of genetic disease in children, review the technical aspects of Next Generation Sequencing and the strategies to make molecular diagnoses for children with genetic disease. We discuss the challenges of genomic sequencing including incomplete current knowledge of variants, lack of data about certain genomic regions, mosaicism, and the presence of regions with high homology. Expert commentary: NGS has been a transformative technology and the gap between the research and clinical communities has never been so narrow. Therapeutic interventions are emerging based on genomic findings and the applications of NGS are progressing to prenatal genetics, epigenomics and transcriptomics.
Delft University of Technology Coordinated Border Management Through Digital Trade Infrastructures and Trans-National Government Cooperation

Digital infrastructures (DI) that support information exchange related to international trade processes (here referred to as Digital Trade Infrastructures (DTI)) have been seen as an instrument to help address the trade facilitation and security challenges. Data pipelines can be seen as an example of a DTI. Data pipelines are IT innovations that enable the timely provision of data captured at the source from different information systems available in the supply chain. Using the pipeline companies can share information with authorities and enjoy trade facilitation in return. The benefits of such data pipelines have been showcased in demonstrator settings. However, outside the controlled environment of demonstrator installations, the adoption and growth of these DTIs has been limited. The benefits based on purely implementing the data pipeline are limited. Combining data pipeline capability with Coordinated Border Management (CBM) has potential to articulate more clear benefits for stakeholders and push further investments and wider adoption. In this paper based on the FloraHolland trade lane related to exporting flowers from Kenya to the Netherlands we discuss a data pipeline/ CBM innovation. Through the conceptual lens of DI (examining architectural, process and governance dimensions) we demonstrate the potential benefits of data pipeline/ CBM innovation and the complex alignment processes between business and government actors needed for the further adoption. From a theoretical point of view we enhance the understanding regarding the governance dimension of such data pipeline/ CBM innovations by identifying four type of alignments processes involving businesses and government actors nationally and internationally. As such the paper contributes to the body of research on DI and more specifically DTI. Form a point of view of practice, the insights from our analysis can be used to better understand other data pipeline/ CBM innovation alignment processes in other domains as well.
The synergistic role of ATP‐dependent drug efflux pump and focal adhesion signaling pathways in vinorelbine resistance in lung cancer

The vinorelbine (VRB) plus cisplatin regimen is widely used to treat non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but its cure rate is poor. Drug resistance is the primary driver of chemotherapeutic failure, and the causes of resistance remain unclear. By focusing on the focal adhesion (FA) pathway, we have highlighted a signaling pathway that promotes VRB resistance in lung cancer cells. First, we established VRB‐resistant (VR) lung cancer cells (NCI‐H1299 and A549) and examined its transcriptional changes, protein expressions, and activations. We treated VR cells by Src Family Kinase (SFK) inhibitors or gene silencing and examined cell viabilities. ATP‐binding Cassette Sub‐family B Member 1 (ABCB1) was highly expressed in VR cells. A pathway analysis and western blot analysis revealed the high expression of integrins β1 and β3 and the activation of FA pathway components, including Src family kinase (SFK) and AKT, in VR cells. SFK involvement in VRB resistance was confirmed by the recovery of VRB sensitivity in FYN knockdown A549 VR cells. Saracatinib, a dual inhibitor of SFK and ABCB1, had a synergistic effect with VRB in VR cells. In conclusion, ABCB1 is the primary cause of VRB resistance. Additionally, the FA pathway, particularly integrin, and SFK, are promising targets for VRB‐resistant lung cancer. Further studies are needed to identify clinically applicable target drugs and biomarkers that will improve disease prognoses and predict therapeutic efficacies.