Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postnatal ontogeny of cells expressing prepro‐neurotensin/neuromedin N mRNA in the rat forebrain and midbrain: A hybridization histochemical study involving isotope‐labeled and enzyme‐labeled probes

The postnatal ontogeny of cells expressing prepro‐neurotensin/neuromedin N messenger RNA (prepro‐NT/NN mRNA) in the rat forebrain and midbrain was investigated by in situ hybridization histochemistry. According to the pattern of expression during development, the cells which express prepro‐NT/NN mRNA can be roughly divided into 2 groups. In type I cells, prepro‐NT/NN mRNA expression reaches a maximum in terms of content during the postnatal period. After this early peak, cells of this type express the same or less prepro‐NT/NN mRNA, reaching a plateau at an adult level that still contains a high level of expression. In type II cells, prepro‐NT/NN mRNA appears during the postnatal period, and the expression decreases dramatically after the first postnatal week, being almost undetectable by a few weeks after birth. Type I cells were observed in the following areas: the piriform cortex, field CA1 of Ammon's horn, subiculum, vertical, and horizontal limbs of the diagonal band of Broca, intermediate part of the lateral septal nucleus, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, medial preoptic area, lateral hypothalamus, caudal part of the caudate putamen, medial, cortical, and central amygdaloid nuclei, ventral tegmental area, deep mesencephalic nucleus, cuneiform nucleus, dorsal raphe nucleus, laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, parabrachial nucleus, and oral part of the pontine reticular nucleus. Cells of type II were observed in the following areas: the mitral cell layer of the olfactory bulb, rostral part of the caudate putamen, (anterior) cingulate cortex, and retrosplenial cortex (posterior cingulate cortex).
Parkinson's disease assessment based on gait analysis using an innovative RGB-D camera system

Movement-related diseases, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), progressively affect the motor function, many times leading to severe motor impairment and dramatic loss of the patients' quality of life. Human motion analysis techniques can be very useful to support clinical assessment of this type of diseases. In this contribution, we present a RGB-D camera (Microsoft Kinect) system and its evaluation for PD assessment. Based on skeleton data extracted from the gait of three PD patients treated with deep brain stimulation and three control subjects, several gait parameters were computed and analyzed, with the aim of discriminating between non-PD and PD subjects, as well as between two PD states (stimulator ON and OFF). We verified that among the several quantitative gait parameters, the variance of the center shoulder velocity presented the highest discriminative power to distinguish between non-PD, PD ON and PD OFF states (p = 0.004). Furthermore, we have shown that our low-cost portable system can be easily mounted in any hospital environment for evaluating patients' gait. These results demonstrate the potential of using a RGB-D camera as a PD assessment tool.
The predictive value of cytogenetic diagnosis after CVS: 1500 cases

The cytogenetic results of 1500 chorionic villus samples (CVS) are presented. In these 1500 samples, 23 samples (1·5 per cent) could not be provided with a diagnosis because of laboratory failure. This failure rate dropped from 3 per cent in the first 500 samples to 0·2 per cent in the last 500. In the remaining 1477 samples, 58 (3·9 per cent) chromosomal aberrations were found. Of these, 21 (36 per cent) proved not to represent the karyotype of the fetus proper. Predictive values of (different groups of) chromosomal aberrations in CVS are calculated. The impact of (differences between) the predictive value for some major chromosomal aberrations is discussed. A tissue‐ and chromosome‐specific selection mechanism is postulated.
The Cumulative Burden Borne by Offspring Whose Mothers Were Sexually Abused as Children

This multigenerational study empirically demonstrates the extent to which offspring whose parents experienced childhood abuse are at increased risk of being abused or neglected. Females with substantiated childhood sexual abuse and nonabused comparison females were assessed at six points spanning 18 years in a prospective, longitudinal study. Nonabusing parents or caregivers and offspring were also assessed. Descriptive results indicate that offspring born to mothers with histories of sexual abuse were more likely to be born preterm, have a teenage mother, and be involved in protective services. Abused mothers were more likely to be high-school dropouts, be obese, and have experienced psychiatric problems, substance dependence, and domestic violence. Results provide evidence for the advantages of intervention and prevention programs for victims of childhood maltreatment and their families. Primary prevention/intervention efforts extending throughout development and focusing on the cumulative risk to offspring will likely improve victim outcomes and curtail intergenerational transmission of adversity.
A CMAC-Q-Learning based Dyna agent

In the this paper, a CMAC-Q-learning based Dyna agent is presented to relieve the problem of learning speed in reinforcement learning, in order to achieve the goals of shortening training process and increasing the learning, speed. We combine CMAC, Q-learning, and prioritized sweeping techniques to construct the Dyna agent in which a Q-learning is trained for policy learning; meanwhile, model approximators, called CMAC-model and CMAC-R-model, are in charge of approximating the environment model. The approximated model provides the Q-learning with virtual interaction experience to further update the policy within the time gap when there is no interplay between the agent and the real environment. The Dyna agent switches seamlessly between the real environment and the virtual environment model for the objective of policy learning. A simulation for controlling a differential-drive mobile robot has been conducted to demonstrate that the proposed method can preliminarily achieve the design goal.
Efficient assay for evaluating human thrombopoiesis using NOD/SCID mice transplanted with cord blood CD34+ cells

A suitable model for the preclinical study of human platelet production in vivo has not been available. NOD/SCID mice were characterized as representing an efficient engraftment model for human hematopoietic stem cells, which resulted in the production of human platelets. Here, we evaluated in vivo human thrombopoiesis and ex vivo human platelet functions in NOD/SCID mice transplanted with human cord blood (CB) CD34+ cells. Human platelets and human CD45+ cells appeared in peripheral blood of NOD/SCID mice from 4 wk after transplantation. Human platelets produced in these mice showed CD62P expression and the activation of GPIIb/IIIa on human platelets on stimulation with an agonist. PEG‐rHuMGDF (0, 0.5 and 5 μg/kg/d s.c.) was injected for 14 d into mice that had been confirmed to produce human platelets stably. The number of human platelets increased about twofold at 0.5 μg/kg/d and about fivefold at 5 μg/kg/d after 14 d. Withdrawal of PEG‐rHuMGDF administration caused the human platelet count to return to the pretreatment level. Further, re‐administration of PEG‐rHuMGDF induced a similar human thrombopoietic response as it did on initial administration. These results suggest that NOD/SCID mice engrafted with human CB CD34+ cells will be useful for the study of human platelet production in vivo.
Psychiatric morbidity in dementia with Lewy bodies: a prospective clinical and neuropathological comparative study with Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE The literature reports considerable variation in the rates of psychiatric morbidity for patients with dementia with Lewy bodies. The authors intended to clarify the frequency of psychiatric morbidity in dementia with Lewy bodies and how it differs from probable Alzheimer's disease. METHOD The study incorporated two groups--a clinical case register cohort (98 with dementia with Lewy bodies; 92 with Alzheimer's disease) and 80 (40 with dementia with Lewy bodies: 40 with Alzheimer's disease) prospectively studied, neuropathologically confirmed cases. Diagnoses were made by using the McKeith et al. consensus criteria for dementia with Lewy bodies and the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria for Alzheimer's disease. Neuropathological diagnoses were made by using the consensus criteria for dementia with Lewy bodies and the Mirra et al. protocol for Alzheimer's disease. RESULTS The occurrence of psychiatric symptoms was reported over 1 month. Hallucinations, depression, delusions, and delusional misidentification were all significantly higher for patients with dementia with Lewy bodies. The differences in frequency between dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease for auditory and visual hallucinations were especially pronounced for patients with mild cognitive impairment. The presence of psychiatric symptoms at presentation was a better discriminator between dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease than occurrence over the course of dementia. CONCLUSIONS Delusional misidentification and hallucinations in the early stages of dementia may improve differentiation between patients with dementia with Lewy bodies and those with Alzheimer's disease and have important treatment implications.
Social and environmental accounting in Malaysia: Practitioners’ views

Purpose – During the past decade in Malaysia, there has been a rise in the number of companies engaging in a rudimentary form of social and environmental reporting, and this has coincided with high-profile media coverage of environmental disasters in the country. The purpose of this article is to explore the perceptions of accounting practitioners in Malaysia to social and environmental accounting (SEA). Methodology/approach – The study utilises a mixed-method approach and involves 245 survey questionnaire respondents, 7 in-depth interviews and the qualitative data from 123 of the survey respondents. Findings – The level of knowledge and awareness of accounting practitioners in Malaysia of SEA is low. They are sceptical about quantification and valuation issues, but are able to see that reform, which would have to be driven by legislation, and could improve business performance regarding social justice and environmental quality. Research limitations/implications – This study enables the development of SEA and reporting framework as a vehicle for further discussions on business communication and the participants’ perceptions relating to social and environmental accountability in Malaysia. It postulates the strong likelihood that SEA will take root in Malaysia given the strong undercurrents of accounting and business malpractices and the clarion call by many for the reinstatement of the ethical dimension of the profession. Originality/value of the article – While most research on SEA and reporting in the context of Malaysia focuses on the disclosure aspects, this article explores the perceptions of accounting practitioners and establishes their insights on the issue of social and environmental accountability and reporting.
Brown v. Board of Education

1. Racial discrimination in public education is unconstitutional, 347 U.S. 483, 497, and all provisions of federal, state or local law requiring or permitting such discrimination must yield to this principle. P. 298. 2. The judgments below (except that in the Delaware case) are reversed and the cases are remanded to the District Courts to take such proceedings and enter such orders and decrees consistent with this opinion as are necessary and proper to admit the parties to these cases to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed. P. 301. (a) School authorities have the primary responsibility for elucidating, assessing and solving the varied local school problems which may require solution in fully implementing the governing constitutional principles. P. 299. (b) Courts will have to consider whether the action of school authorities constitutes good faith implementation of the governing constitutional principles. P. 299. (c) Because of their proximity to local conditions and the possible need for further hearings, the courts which originally heard these cases can best perform this judicial appraisal. P. 299. (d) In fashioning and effectuating the decrees, the courts will be guided by equitable principles—characterized by a practical flexibility in shaping remedies and a facility for adjusting and reconciling public and private needs. P. 300. [p295] (e) At stake is the personal interest of the plaintiffs in admission to public schools as soon as practicable on a nondiscriminatory basis. P. 300. (f) Courts of equity may properly take into account the public interest in the elimination in a systematic and effective manner of a variety of obstacles in making the transition to school systems operated in accordance with the constitutional principles enunciated in 347 U.S. 483, 497; but the vitality of these constitutional principles cannot be allowed to yield simply because of disagreement with them. P. 300. (g) While giving weight to these public and private considerations, the courts will require that the defendants make a prompt and reasonable start toward full compliance with the ruling of this Court. P. 300. (h) Once such a start has been made, the courts may find that additional time is necessary to carry out the ruling in an effective manner. P. 300. (i) The burden rests on the defendants to establish that additional time is necessary in the public interest and is consistent with good faith compliance at the earliest practicable date. P. 300. (j) The courts may consider problems related to administration, arising from the physical condition of the school plant, the school transportation system, personnel, revision of school districts and attendance areas into compact units to achieve a
Correlation Based Extreme Learning Machine

Extreme learning machine (ELM) is a generalized single hidden layer feed forward network in which weights and biases between the input layer and hidden layer are randomly assigned whereas, the weights between the hidden layer and the output layer are analytically determined. The optimal number of hidden neurons in ELM is evaluated by varying the number of hidden neurons in some range. Most of the recently published articles, quote the number of hidden neurons at which the ELM gives the maximum testing accuracy. Ideally, the model should not be selected using the testing accuracy because testing dataset is unseen. Selecting the number of hidden neurons by observing the training accuracy might be misleading as solution with higher training accuracy might suffers from overfitting. In this work, we have developed a variant of ELM which does not required manual tuning of the number of hidden neurons. The proposed ELM variant also has a minimum network structure, with slightly less testing performance compared to original ELM. In original ELM highest testing performance is quoted without any description to select the optimal number of hidden neurons. The proposed ELM variant initially set the number of hidden neurons to higher value and then removes the highly correlated hidden neurons to minimize the network structure. The proposed work also removes the overfitting problem in original ELM. Experimental results have been shown on some popular datasets taken from keel repository.
Inserting control points for Bezier curve approximation

The master benefit of squared distance minimization is that it need not parameterize the data points of the target curve, so it converges faster than those method need points parameterization. Whereas, SDM can be very sensitive to the original curve owe to its local optimization. We propose a new approach to improve this. In this paper, we associate SDM with procedures for automatically inserting and redistributing of the control points of the active Bezier curve. The effectiveness and accuracy of our approach is illustrated in experimental example.
Effects of aqueous extract of Arctium lappa L. roots on serum lipid metabolism

Objective To identify potential genes that may be involved in lipid metabolism in rats after treatment with aqueous extract of Arctium lappa L (burdock). Methods Rats were randomly divided into six groups: (i) control (standard diet); (ii) model group (high-fat diet only); (iii) high-fat diet and low-dose aqueous burdock root extract (2 g/kg); (iv) high-fat diet and moderate-dose aqueous burdock root extract (4 g/kg); (v) high-fat diet and high-dose aqueous burdock root extract (8 g/kg); and (vi) a positive control group exposed to a high-fat diet and simvastatin (10 mg/kg). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis was performed to find the potential candidate genes involved in the modulation of blood lipids by treatment with aqueous burdock root extract. Results Burdock root extract reduced body weight and cholesterol levels in rats. KEGG analysis revealed 113 genes that were involved in metabolic pathways. Of these, 27 potential genes associated with blood lipid metabolism were identified. Conclusions Aqueous extract of burdock root reduced body weight and cholesterol in rats, possibly by modulating the differential expression of genes.
Towards trusted execution of multi-modal continuous authentication schemes

The emergence of powerful, sensor-rich devices has led to the development of continuous authentication (CA) schemes using off-the-shelf hardware, where user behaviour is compared to past experience to produce an authentication decision with the aim of addressing challenges with traditional authentication schemes. Current CA proposals, however, have largely neglected adversaries present in a real-world deployment, namely the ubiquity of mal ware and software attacks. This has particular importance when a device cannot be trusted by a third-party, such as a corporation, that controls access to assets based on that decision. A software compromise, either on the scheme implementation or platform, may enable an adversary to modify authentication scores to alter the status of the device in reality, give insights into user behaviour, or gain unauthorised access to restricted assets. Hence, for the first time, we examine two standardised constructs that offer isolated and trusted execution - Secure Elements (SEs) and Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) - even when an adversary has root-level privileges, and propose measures for providing trusted CA while retaining deployability. Based on these, we implement the first system for evaluating TEE-based CA on a consumer mobile device using Intel SGX, thus providing confidentiality, integrity and trust while removing the main platform from the TCB. We present an empirical evaluation of TEE-and non-TEE performance using methods proposed in related CA schemes. Our results indicate that trusted CA can be provided with no significant performance penalty, and may even offer performance benefits.
OX40 Costimulation Synergizes with GM-CSF Whole-Cell Vaccination to Overcome Established CD8+ T Cell Tolerance to an Endogenous Tumor Antigen1

T cell costimulation via OX40 is known to increase CD4+ T cell expansion and effector function and enhances the development of T cell memory. OX40 costimulation can also prevent, and even reverse, CD4+ T cell anergy. However, the role of OX40 in CD8+ T cell function is less well defined, particularly in the setting of immune tolerance. To determine the effects of OX40 costimulation on the induction of the host CD8+ T cell repertoire to an endogenous tumor Ag, we examined the fate of CD8+ T cells specific for the immunodominant rat HER-2/neu epitope, RNEU420–429, in FVB MMTV-neu (neu-N) mice, which express rat HER-2/neu protein in a predominantly mammary-restricted fashion. We show that the RNEU420–429-specific T cell repertoire in neu-N mice expands transiently after vaccination with a neu-targeted GM-CSF-secreting whole-cell vaccine, but quickly declines to an undetectable level. However, OX40 costimulation, when combined with GM-CSF-secreting tumor-targeted vaccination, can break established CD8+ T cell tolerance in vivo by enhancing the expansion, and prolonging the survival and effector function of CD8+ T cells specific for RNEU420–429. Moreover, we demonstrate that OX40 expression is up-regulated on both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells shortly after administration of a GM-CSF expressing vaccine. These studies highlight the increased efficacy of OX40 costimulation when combined with a GM-CSF-secreting vaccine, and define a new role for OX40 costimulation of CD8+ T cells in overcoming tolerance and boosting antitumor immunity.
Erythropoiesis after nonmyeloablative stem-cell transplantation is not impaired by inadequate erythropoietin production as observed after conventional allogeneic transplantation

Background. It is now well established that after conventional allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT), erythropoietic recovery is impaired because erythropoietin (Epo) production remains inadequate for prolonged periods of time. However, erythropoietic reconstitution after nonmyeloablative SCT (NMSCT) has never been characterized. Methods. Twelve patients received a nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen consisting of 2 Gy total body irradiation (TBI) alone (n=6), 2 Gy TBI and fludarabine (n=3), or cyclophosphamide and fludarabine (n=3), followed by transplantation of allogeneic peripheral blood stem cells. Graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) prophylaxis was carried out with mycophenolate mofetil (from day −1 to day 28) plus cyclosporine (from day −1 to day 120 or longer in case of chronic GvHD). Erythropoiesis was quantitated by soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) levels, and the adequacy of Epo production was evaluated by the observed-to-predicted Epo ratio (O/P Epo). Results. Mean sTfR levels decreased following the conditioning regimen but remained well within the normal range throughout the posttransplant period. The O/P Epo ratio presented an initial surge quite similar to that observed after conventional conditioning. Thereafter, the O/P Epo ratio normalized rapidly, and Epo levels remained adequate during the whole observation period. Conclusion. Contrarily to what is observed after myeloablative transplant, Epo levels remained adequate after NMSCT, resulting in normal erythropoiesis. These results suggest that the administration of erythropoietin therapy (rHuEpo) could be less effective after NMSCT than after conventional allogeneic transplant.
Affective facilitation and inhibition of cultural influences on reasoning

Research in South Korea and the United States examined how affective states facilitate or inhibit culturally dominant styles of reasoning. According to the affect-as-information hypothesis, affective cues of mood influence judgements by serving as embodied information about the value of accessible inclinations and cognitions. Extending this line of research to culture, we hypothesised that positive affect should promote (and negative affect should inhibit) culturally normative reasoning. The results of two studies of causal reasoning supported this hypothesis. Positive and negative affect functioned like “go” and “stop” signals, respectively, for culturally typical reasoning styles. Thus, in happy (compared to sad) moods, Koreans engaged in more holistic reasoning, whereas Americans engaged in more analytic reasoning.