Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing mini-mental state (MMSE) score in stroke patients.

AIM To evaluate the usefulness of MMSE score in vascular dementia and the influence of different factors on the MMSE score. SUBJECT AND METHODS We studied 78 stroke patients followed up at the neurology unit, Specialistic Polyclinic 2, Tirana. A neurological visit is done and the MMSE score is calculated for each of them. We noted the stroke form (ischemic, hemorrhagic), patient's age, education, time from stroke onset, accompanying neurological disorders (parkinsonism, epilepsy), risk factors (arterial hypertension, cardiac diseases, diabetes mellitus, smoking, carotid stenosis). The imaging (CT and/or MRI) of the brain is requested. Independent Samples Test, t-test for Equality of Means, 2 - tailed, is applied for the statistical evaluation. RESULTS The mean age of the patients in the study is 70.31 years old. There are 37 females (47.43%) and 41 males (52.56%). 12 (15.38%) patients had hemorrhagic and 66 (84.61%) ischemic stroke. The mean time from stroke onset is 4.55 years. 15 (19.2%) patients have parkinsonism, 1 other extra pyramidal disorder, 3 (3.8%) secondary generalized epilepsy. The mean MMSE score for all patients is 23.48. The multi ischemic cerebral lesions were present in the imaging of 12 (15.38%) patients. The generalized cortical atrophy is found in 25 (32%) patients and the temporal atrophy in 14 (17.94%) patients. We analyzed the data of 37 patients [16 (43.24%) females and 21 (56.75%) males], with MMSE score < or = 23. The mean age is 75.39 years old. 6 (16.21%) patients are diagnosed with hemorrhagic stroke. 3 (8.1%) patients have secondary generalized epilepsy, 9 (24.32%) are suffering of parkinsonism and the mean time from stroke onset is 4.31 years. The imaging study revealed multi ischemic cerebral lesions in 9 (24.3%) patients. We found accompanying temporal atrophy in 10 (27%) patients, frontal atrophy in 2 (5.4%) patients, and generalized cortical atrophy in 17 (45.9%) patients. CONCLUSION Dementia after stroke is frequent. The MMSE is still a useful scale to evaluate the VaD and is related to age, gender, education, stroke age, cardiovascular risk factors, stroke type and localization, other neurological disorders as epilepsy and parkinsonism.
A NOVEL STILL IMAGE MOSAIC ALGORITHM CONSTRUCTION USING FEATURE BASED METHOD

An image mosaic is a method of assembling multiple overlapping images of same scene into a larger one. The output of image mosaic will be the union of two input images. In this paper we have to use three step automatic image mosaic method. The first step is taking two input images and finding out the corners in both the images, second step is finding its matched corner and third step is its blending and we get final output mosaic. The experimental results show the proposed algorithm produces an improvement in mosaic accuracy, efficiency and robustness.
SAW Classification Algorithm for Chinese Text Classification

Considering the explosive growth of data, the increased amount of text data’s effect on the performance of text categorization forward the need for higher requirements, such that the existing classification method cannot be satisfied. Based on the study of existing text classification technology and semantics, this paper puts forward a kind of Chinese text classification oriented SAW (Structural Auxiliary Word) algorithm. The algorithm uses the special space effect of Chinese text where words have an implied correlation between text information mining and text categorization for high-correlation matching. Experiments show that SAW classification algorithm on the premise of ensuring precision in classification, significantly improve the classification precision and recall, obviously improving the performance of information retrieval, and providing an effective means of data use in the era of big data information extraction.
Genomic Response in Daphnia to Chemical Pollutants

Chemicals released into the environment have a potential to affect on various species and evaluation of the impacts on ecosystems including aquatic organisms is urgent issue. In order to evaluate chemical effects on various species, it is important to understand their mode of action. Recent advances in toxicogenomics, the integration of genomics into toxicology is promising for understanding mode of action in responding to chemical pollutants. In this study, we applied the toxicogenomics to an aquatic organism, Daphnia magna. Among aquatic organisms, Daphnia magna has been used extensively in acute toxicity or reproductive toxicity tests. Although these types of tests can provide information on hazardous concentrations of chemicals, they provide no information about their mode of action. Thus we developed an oligonucleotide-based DNA microarray based on a Daphnia expressed sequence tag (EST) database and applied for ecotoxicogenomic assessment of Daphnia magna. The DNA microarray was used to examine gene expression profiles of neonate daphnids exposed to several different chemicals. Exposure to these chemicals resulted in characteristic gene expression patterns that were chemical- specific. This result indicates that our newly developed DNA microarray can be useful for a mechanistic understanding of chemical toxicity on a common freshwater organism, Daphnia magna, and that the Daphnia genomics is useful for aquatic ecotoxicology.
Transcriptome Analysis of the Desert Locust Central Nervous System: Production and Annotation of a Schistocerca gregaria EST Database

Background The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) displays a fascinating type of phenotypic plasticity, designated as ‘phase polyphenism’. Depending on environmental conditions, one genome can be translated into two highly divergent phenotypes, termed the solitarious and gregarious (swarming) phase. Although many of the underlying molecular events remain elusive, the central nervous system (CNS) is expected to play a crucial role in the phase transition process. Locusts have also proven to be interesting model organisms in a physiological and neurobiological research context. However, molecular studies in locusts are hampered by the fact that genome/transcriptome sequence information available for this branch of insects is still limited. Methodology We have generated 34,672 raw expressed sequence tags (EST) from the CNS of desert locusts in both phases. These ESTs were assembled in 12,709 unique transcript sequences and nearly 4,000 sequences were functionally annotated. Moreover, the obtained S. gregaria EST information is highly complementary to the existing orthopteran transcriptomic data. Since many novel transcripts encode neuronal signaling and signal transduction components, this paper includes an overview of these sequences. Furthermore, several transcripts being differentially represented in solitarious and gregarious locusts were retrieved from this EST database. The findings highlight the involvement of the CNS in the phase transition process and indicate that this novel annotated database may also add to the emerging knowledge of concomitant neuronal signaling and neuroplasticity events. Conclusions In summary, we met the need for novel sequence data from desert locust CNS. To our knowledge, we hereby also present the first insect EST database that is derived from the complete CNS. The obtained S. gregaria EST data constitute an important new source of information that will be instrumental in further unraveling the molecular principles of phase polyphenism, in further establishing locusts as valuable research model organisms and in molecular evolutionary and comparative entomology.
A short review on techniques for processes and process simulation of scaffold-free tissue engineering

The invention of three-dimensional printers has led to major innovations in tissue engineering. They have enabled the printing of complex geometries such as those that occur in natural tissues, that were not possible with traditional manufacturing techniques. Tissue engineering in particular deals with printing bio-compatible material that may be infused with live cells. Thus additional complexity is incurred because the live cells can migrate and proliferate and thus change the printed geometry. One of the important issues is the prediction of geometry and possibly mechanical properties of the steady state tissue. In this short review, we will provide an overview of different tissue engineering processes that are currently available. Furthermore, we will review two important techniques, namely, Cellular Potts Model (CPM), and Cellular Particle Dynamics (CPD) that have been used to predict the steady state of printed tissue.
A brain MRI study of chronic fatigue syndrome: evidence of brainstem dysfunction and altered homeostasis

To explore brain involvement in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), the statistical parametric mapping of brain MR images has been extended to voxel‐based regressions against clinical scores. Using SPM5 we performed voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) and analysed T1‐ and T2‐weighted spin‐echo MR signal levels in 25 CFS subjects and 25 normal controls (NC). Clinical scores included CFS fatigue duration, a score based on the 10 most common CFS symptoms, the Bell score, the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) anxiety and depression, and hemodynamic parameters from 24‐h blood pressure monitoring. We also performed group × hemodynamic score interaction regressions to detect locations where MR regressions were opposite for CFS and NC, thereby indicating abnormality in the CFS group. In the midbrain, white matter volume was observed to decrease with increasing fatigue duration. For T1‐weighted MR and white matter volume, group × hemodynamic score interactions were detected in the brainstem [strongest in midbrain grey matter (GM)], deep prefrontal white matter (WM), the caudal basal pons and hypothalamus. A strong correlation in CFS between brainstem GM volume and pulse pressure suggested impaired cerebrovascular autoregulation. It can be argued that at least some of these changes could arise from astrocyte dysfunction. These results are consistent with an insult to the midbrain at fatigue onset that affects multiple feedback control loops to suppress cerebral motor and cognitive activity and disrupt local CNS homeostasis, including resetting of some elements of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). © 2011 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Depth Coding Based on Depth-Texture Motion and Structure Similarities

This paper addresses high performance depth coding in 3D video by making good use of its coded texture video counterpart. The relationship between the depth and its associated texture video in terms of coding mode and motion vector is carefully examined. Our statistical study suggests that the skip-coding mode and its associated motion vectors in the coded texture can be shared for depth coding by saving bit rate at the cost of little increase of distortion, which subsequently results in a nonsequential coding of the depth map. In this sense, coding/prediction of a block can be performed using the skip-coded blocks below and right, which are not available in the conventional sequential coding, thus producing the so-called omnidirectional blocks predicted in the intra-coding by making the best use of (at most) four neighboring blocks. Moreover, in view of the depth-texture structure similarity, a depth-texture cooperative clustering-based prediction method is proposed for cluster-based depth prediction in the intra-coding, which exploits the structure similarity for the current coding block and its neighboring pixels around the block. On the other hand, some large prediction errors may be present for the depth-texture misaligned pixels, which may greatly compromise the coding performance. To deal with these large residuals induced by the depth-texture misalignment, a simple yet effective detection and rectification approach is incorporated in the proposed depth coding scheme. Experimental results show that our proposed depth coding scheme achieves superior rate-distortion performance compared with other relevant coding methods.
Improving the Sensitivity of Elastic Capacitive Pressure Sensors Using Silver Nanowire Mesh Electrodes

Fully solution-processed elastic capacitive pressure sensors were fabricated by laminating two layers of silver nanowire (AgNW)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite films. With AgNWs being partly embedded in the PDMS layer to create rough surface, the fabricated sensor device was able to achieve sensitivity three times of that using common metal film electrodes. The mechanism was investigated by comparing sensor devices using the electrodes with different surface roughness and characterizing the microstructure deformation at the surface region of the electrode under pressure using cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy. The devices also present fast response and relaxation (<; 1 s). It is finally demonstrated that the placement and removal of a small weight leaf (30 mg, corresponding to a pressure of 2 Pa) can be reliably detected by the AgNW mesh electrode sensor devices.
Microtubule Stability Decreases Axon Elongation but Not Axoplasm Production

Microtubules are a primary cytoskeletal constituent of axons and growth cones. In addition to serving as a scaffolding for axon assembly, they also provide a means of transport of organelles that are essential for outgrowth and maintenance of synaptic function. Pharmacological manipulations that disrupt net assembly of microtubules also interfere with growth cone advance and axon extension. Less is known about the effects of disrupting microtubule dynamics without affecting net assembly. To investigate this, we studied the effects of low doses of nocodazole on axon extension and microtubule organization in rat superior cervical ganglion neurons. We report that 165–330 nm nocodazole significantly reduces axon extension rate and increases axon diameter without affecting the rate of production of axoplasm or microtubule polymer, and without decreasing the average length or number of microtubules. Two observations suggested that microtubule dynamics were depressed by this dose of nocodazole. First, this treatment eliminated the highly divergent lengths and positions of microtubules characteristic of normal growth cones, inducing an array in which each microtubule terminated at roughly the same position in the proximal regions of the growth cone. Second, there was a decrease in the proportion of microtubule length containing mostly tyrosinated (newly assembled) α-tubulin and an increase in the proportion of microtubule length containing mostly acetylated (older, more stable) α-tubulin. Together, these data suggest that a decrease in dynamic instability of microtubules is sufficient to disrupt axon extension but does not interfere with axoplasm production.
Beyond dissociation: Exploring interactions between implicit priming and explicit recognition

Over the last 30 or more years evidence has accumulated in favour of the view that memory is not a unitary faculty; rather, it can be subdivided into a number of functionally independent subsystems. Whilst dividing memory phenomena into these distinct subsystems has undoubtedly advanced our understanding of memory as a whole, the approach of studying subsystems in isolation fails to address potential interactions between them. Over the last few decades there has been a gradual increase in the number of studies attempting to move beyond dissociation by characterising functional interactions between subsystems of memory. The main aim of this thesis was to contribute to this endeavour, by examining interactions between two specific subsystems that are positioned on opposite sides of the declarative and non-declarative divide in long-term memory: priming and episodic recognition. Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were employed to monitor neural markers of repetition priming and episodic memory during recognition tests with masked priming of test cues. In the standard procedure, half of the studied and unstudied test trials began with a brief (48ms) masked repetition of the to-be-recognized word prior to the onset of test items; the remaining unprimed trials were preceded by the word “blank”. The pattern of priming effects across experiments was reasonably consistent, with differences between experiments directly related to the intended manipulations. In contrast to priming effects, the pattern of memory effects was variable across experiments, demonstrating that the engagement of explicit recognition signals is influenced by the outcome of implicit processing, and suggesting that interactions between priming and explicit retrieval processes do occur. Taken together, results from experiments reported in this thesis indicate (1) that under certain circumstances, priming is sufficient to support accurate recognition and does not necessitate changes in memory performance, (2) that mid-frontal old/new effects indexing familiarity are not merely driven by repeated access to semantic information, and (3) that priming influences neural correlates of recollection by speeding their onset. Overall, the data clearly demonstrate that there are multiple potentially interacting routes to recognition.
A New Automated Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm Based on Emergent Self Organizing Maps

Emergent Self Organizing Map (ESOM) has been shown as a powerful nonlinear data transformation and visualization method. In [13] based on ESOM and some of its derivatives, U-Matrix and P-Matrix, a powerful automated clustering algorithm, U*C, is introduced, and it is shown that the algorithm performs better than the some of the benchmark algorithms. However, the mentioned algorithm is suitable for partitional clustering tasks, while in most of the real cases, because of the nature of the data sets (not the ESOM training algorithm) a hierarchical structure in the data can be assumed. In this paper, based on the main ideas of U*C algorithm and underlying meaning of the U-Matrix, we introduced an automated hierarchical clustering algorithm, which performs well for real data sets. After testing with some test cases, we applied the proposed algorithm on a real data set, including different energy, ICT and Urban related indicators of European and central Asian countries. The proposed algorithm identified the hierarchical groups among the selected countries.
Single-stage CMOS OTA for active-RC filter design

Single-stage operational transconductance amplifier is proposed for OTA-RC filter design. The concept is developed from a resistive source-degeneration long-tail pair where large transconductance is obtained by utilising negative resistance as a degeneration resistor. Such single-stage structure poses obvious advantage in consuming small current consumption compared to conventional two-stage OTA. Functionality of the proposed OTA has been confirmed by simulation of a complex 5th-order Chebyshev channel-select filter in 0.18 mum CMOS process with centre frequencies of 1 MHz and 2 MHz for Bluetooth and ZigBee applications with respective in-band SFDR of 58 dB and 54 dB while draining static current consumption less than 450 muA from 1.5-V supply. The proposed OTA concept has also been experimentally verified with MOS transistor arrays implementation.
A youth perspective on psychotherapy: ideas and recommendations for enhancing the therapeutic relationship

This study interviewed a group of youth who had extensive experience with psychotherapy in order to obtain their opinions regarding the therapeutic relationship and engagement in therapy. The establishment of a therapeutic relationship is a crucial component of successful therapy with adolescents as youth have unique developmental needs (e.g., establishing autonomy) that present challenges in therapy. Because Canadian youth are experiencing concerning rates of mental illness and suicidality, but are reluctant to seek out mental health services, research aimed at enhancing services is critical. A qualitative analysis was conducted to identify themes and concepts from the group discussion, based on which recommendations for establishing a therapeutic relationship and increasing engagement were devised. Major themes highlight a strong desire for youth to be treated as equals and understood as unique individuals, in addition to concerns regarding a perceived power differential and the feeling that professionals are "too busy to care".
Multiple Vehicle Cooperative Localization with Spatial Registration Based on a Probability Hypothesis Density Filter

This paper studies the problem of multiple vehicle cooperative localization with spatial registration in the formulation of the probability hypothesis density (PHD) filter. Assuming vehicles are equipped with proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensors (with biases) to cooperatively localize positions, a simultaneous solution for joint spatial registration and state estimation is proposed. For this, we rely on the sequential Monte Carlo implementation of the PHD filtering. Compared to other methods, the concept of multiple vehicle cooperative localization with spatial registration is first proposed under Random Finite Set Theory. In addition, the proposed solution also addresses the challenges for multiple vehicle cooperative localization, e.g., the communication bandwidth issue and data association uncertainty. The simulation result demonstrates its reliability and feasibility in large-scale environments.
Targeted ‘ Next-Generation ’ sequencing in anophthalmia and microphthalmia patients confirms SOX 2 , OTX 2 and FOXE 3 mutations

Background: Anophthalmia/microphthalmia (A/M) is caused by mutations in several different transcription factors, but mutations in each causative gene are relatively rare, emphasizing the need for a testing approach that screens multiple genes simultaneously. We used next-generation sequencing to screen 15 A/M patients for mutations in 9 pathogenic genes to evaluate this technology for screening in A/M. Methods: We used a pooled sequencing design, together with custom single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) calling software. We verified predicted sequence alterations using Sanger sequencing. Results: We verified three mutations c.542delC in SOX2, resulting in p.Pro181Argfs*22, p.Glu105X in OTX2 and p. Cys240X in FOXE3. We found several novel sequence alterations and SNPs that were likely to be non-pathogenic p.Glu42Lys in CRYBA4, p.Val201Met in FOXE3 and p.Asp291Asn in VSX2. Our analysis methodology gave one false positive result comprising a mutation in PAX6 (c.1268A > T, predicting p.X423LeuextX*15) that was not verified by Sanger sequencing. We also failed to detect one 20 base pair (bp) deletion and one 3 bp duplication in SOX2. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated the power of next-generation sequencing with pooled sample groups for the rapid screening of candidate genes for A/M as we were correctly able to identify disease-causing mutations. However, next-generation sequencing was less useful for small, intragenic deletions and duplications. We did not find mutations in 10/15 patients and conclude that there is a need for further gene discovery in A/M.