Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attentional Modulation of Neuromagnetic Evoked Responses in Early Human Visual Cortex and Parietal Lobe following a Rank-Order Rule

Top-down voluntary attention modulates the amplitude of magnetic evoked fields in the human visual cortex. Whether such modulation is flexible enough to adapt to the demands of complex tasks in which abstract rules must be applied to select a target in the presence of distracters remains unclear. We recorded brain neuromagnetic activity using whole-head magnetoencephalography in 14 human subjects during a rule-guided target selection task, and applied event-related Synthetic Aperture Magnetometry to image instantaneous changes in neuromagnetic source activity throughout the brain. During the task subjects selected one of two stimuli (the target) and ignored the other (the distracter) based on a color-rank rule (color 1 > color 2 > color 3). Our results revealed that in early visual color-sensitive areas and the parietal cortex visual stimuli evoke activity that scaled following the rank-order rule. This effect was stronger and occurred later in the parietal lobe (∼200 ms after target/distracter onset) relative to early visual areas (∼180 ms). Moreover, we found that transient changes in the target's motion direction evoked stronger responses relative to similar changes in the distracter at ∼180 ms from change onset in contralateral areas hMT+/V5. These results suggest that during target selection and allocation of attention to a stimulus, top-down signals adjust their intensity following complex selection rules according to the organism's priorities, thereby differentially modulating neuromagnetic activity across visual cortical areas.
Chronic alcohol feeding impairs hepatic translation initiation by modulating eIF 2 and eIF 4 E

Lang, Charles H. , Duanqing Wu, Robert A. Frost, Leonard S. Jefferson, Thomas C. Vary, and Scot R. Kimball. Chronic alcohol feeding impairs hepatic translation initiation by modulating eIF2 and eIF4E. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Endocrinol. Metab. 40): E805–E814, 1999. —The present study examined potential cellular mechanisms responsible for the inhibition of protein synthesis in liver after chronic alcohol consumption. Rats were maintained on an alcoholcontaining diet for 14 wk; control animals were fed isocalorically. Hepatic ATP content was not different in alcohol-fed and control animals. No alcohol-induced reduction in total hepatic RNA content (an estimate of ribosomal RNA) was detected, suggesting that alcohol decreased translational efficiency. Alcohol feeding increased the proportion of 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits in the nonpolysome-associated fraction by 30%. To identify mechanisms responsible for the impairment in initiation, several eukaryotic initiation factors (eIF) were analyzed. Alcohol feeding decreased hepatic eIF2B activity by 36%. This reduction was associated with a 20% decrease in eIF2Be content and a 90% increase in eIF2a phosphorylation. Alcohol also dramatically influenced the distribution of eIF4E. Compared with pair-fed control values, alcohol feeding increased the amount of eIF4E present in the inactive 4Ebinding protein 1 (4E-BP1) ·eIF4E complex by 80% and decreased binding of eIF4G to eIF4E by 70%. However, the phosphorylation status of 4E-BP1 and eIF4E was not altered by alcohol. Although the plasma concentrations of threonine, proline, and citrulline were mildly decreased, the circulating amount of total amino acids was not altered by alcohol feeding. In summary, these data suggest that chronic alcohol consumption impairs translation initiation in liver by altering eIF2B activity as well as eIF4F function via changes in eIF4E availability.
Highly Confined Hybrid Plasmonic Modes Guided by Nanowire-Embedded-Metal Grooves for Low-Loss Propagation at 1550 nm

A waveguiding configuration consisting of a semiconductor nanowire embedded in a dielectric-coated V-shaped metal groove is presented. The modal properties of the fundamental quasi-TE hybrid plasmonic mode are investigated at the wavelength of 1550 nm. Simulation results reveal that by tuning the size of the nanowire, the hybridization between the dielectric mode, and plasmonic mode could be effectively controlled. Through appropriate design, the hybrid mode could be strongly localized in the nanowire and the gap regions on each side, featuring both tight-mode confinement and low propagation loss. Besides, the compromise between confinement and loss could also be balanced by controlling the angle or depth of the metal groove. Moreover, it is found that the hybrid mode could exist for a wide geometrical parameter range, even when the corresponding metal groove by itself does not support a guided channel plasmon polariton mode. The proposed hybrid structure is technologically simple and compatible with planar fabrication methods while avoiding alignment errors.
Studies of the mechanism of human salivary histatin-5 candidacidal activity with histatin-5 variants and azole-sensitive and -resistant Candida species

Histatins are a group of small, cationic, antifungal peptides present in human saliva. A previous molecular modeling analysis suggested structural similarity between the Phe14-His15 and His18-His19 dipeptide sequences in histatin-5 (Hsn-5; a 24-amino-acid polypeptide) and the sequence of miconazole (one of the azole-based antifungal therapeutic agents), implying that the mechanisms of killing of Candida albicans by these two molecules may be similar. To further elaborate on this observation, we have produced two variants of Hsn-5 in which Phe14-His15 or His18-His19 dipeptide sequences were replaced by Ala-Ala (F14A/H15A and H18A/H19A) to eliminate the phenyl and imidazole rings of the side chains and assessed their candidacidal activities against C. albicans. In addition, we tested azole-resistant C. albicans and Candida glabrata strains for their susceptibilities to Hsn-5. Analysis of the purified recombinant proteins for their candidacidal activities indicated that both variants were significantly less effective (the molar concentrations required to kill half of the maximum number of cells [ED50s], approximately 67 and approximately 149 microM for F14A/H15A and H18A/H19A, respectively) than the unaltered Hsn-5 (ED50, approximately 8 microM) at killing C. albicans, suggesting that the two dipeptide sequences are important for the candidacidal activity of Hsn-5. Assessment of the candidacidal activity of Hsn-5 with the well-characterized azole-resistant strains of C. albicans and C. glabrata, however, suggested that the mode of action of histatins against Candida is distinct from that of azole-based antifungal agents because Hsn-5 kills both azole-sensitive and azole-resistant strains equally well.
Cyclopamine‐Mediated Hedgehog Pathway Inhibition Depletes Stem‐Like Cancer Cells in Glioblastoma

Brain tumors can arise following deregulation of signaling pathways normally activated during brain development and may derive from neural stem cells. Given the requirement for Hedgehog in non‐neoplastic stem cells, we investigated whether Hedgehog blockade could target the stem‐like population in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). We found that Gli1, a key Hedgehog pathway target, was highly expressed in 5 of 19 primary GBM and in 4 of 7 GBM cell lines. Shh ligand was expressed in some primary tumors, and in GBM‐derived neurospheres, suggesting a potential mechanism for pathway activation. Hedgehog pathway blockade by cyclopamine caused a 40%–60% reduction in growth of adherent glioma lines highly expressing Gli1 but not in those lacking evidence of pathway activity. When GBM‐derived neurospheres were treated with cyclopamine and then dissociated and seeded in media lacking the inhibitor, no new neurospheres formed, suggesting that the clonogenic cancer stem cells had been depleted. Consistent with this hypothesis, the stem‐like fraction in gliomas marked by both aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and Hoechst dye excretion (side population) was significantly reduced or eliminated by cyclopamine. In contrast, we found that radiation treatment of our GBM neurospheres increased the percentage of these stem‐like cells, suggesting that this standard therapy preferentially targets better‐differentiated neoplastic cells. Most importantly, viable GBM cells injected intracranially following Hedgehog blockade were no longer able to form tumors in athymic mice, indicating that a cancer stem cell population critical for ongoing growth had been removed.
Analysis of phase error effects in multishot diffusion-prepared turbo spin echo imaging.

BACKGROUND To characterize the effect of phase errors on the magnitude and the phase of the diffusion-weighted (DW) signal acquired with diffusion-prepared turbo spin echo (dprep-TSE) sequences. METHODS Motion and eddy currents were identified as the main sources of phase errors. An analytical expression for the effect of phase errors on the acquired signal was derived and verified using Bloch simulations, phantom, and in vivo experiments. RESULTS Simulations and experiments showed that phase errors during the diffusion preparation cause both magnitude and phase modulation on the acquired data. When motion-induced phase error (MiPe) is accounted for (e.g., with motion-compensated diffusion encoding), the signal magnitude modulation due to the leftover eddy-current-induced phase error cannot be eliminated by the conventional phase cycling and sum-of-squares (SOS) method. By employing magnitude stabilizers, the phase-error-induced magnitude modulation, regardless of its cause, was removed but the phase modulation remained. The in vivo comparison between pulsed gradient and flow-compensated diffusion preparations showed that MiPe needed to be addressed in multi-shot dprep-TSE acquisitions employing magnitude stabilizers. CONCLUSIONS A comprehensive analysis of phase errors in dprep-TSE sequences showed that magnitude stabilizers are mandatory in removing the phase error induced magnitude modulation. Additionally, when multi-shot dprep-TSE is employed the inconsistent signal phase modulation across shots has to be resolved before shot-combination is performed.
A marginal‐mean ANOVA approach for analyzing multireader multicase radiological imaging data

The correlated‐error ANOVA method proposed by Obuchowski and Rockette (OR) has been a useful procedure for analyzing reader‐performance outcomes, such as the area under the receiver‐operating‐characteristic curve, resulting from multireader multicase radiological imaging data. This approach, however, has only been formally derived for the test‐by‐reader‐by‐case factorial study design. In this paper, I show that the OR model can be viewed as a marginal‐mean ANOVA model. Viewing the OR model within this marginal‐mean ANOVA framework is the basis for the marginal‐mean ANOVA approach, the topic of this paper. This approach (1) provides an intuitive motivation for the OR model, including its covariance‐parameter constraints; (2) provides easy derivations of OR test statistics and parameter estimates, as well as their distributions and confidence intervals; and (3) allows for easy generalization of the OR procedure to other study designs. In particular, I show how one can easily derive OR‐type analysis formulas for any balanced study design by following an algorithm that only requires an understanding of conventional ANOVA methods. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Microwave ablation versus transarterial chemoembolization in large hepatocellular carcinoma: prospective analysis

Abstract Objective. Limited therapies are offered for large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It carries dismal prognosis and efforts tried changing its management from a palliative to a curative mode. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a palliative procedure that may have survival benefit if compared to non-management of large lesions. Microwave ablation (MWA) has emerged as a relatively new technique with promise of larger and faster ablation. We aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of percutaneous MWA versus TACE for large tumors (5–7 cm) and to assess their effects on local tumor progression and survival. Patients and methods. Sixty-four patients with large lesions are managed in our multidisciplinary HCC clinic and were divided into two groups treated either by MWA or TACE. Complete response rate, local recurrence, de novo lesions, and overall survival analysis are compared between both procedures. Results. Both groups were comparable as regards the demographic and ultrasonographic features. MWA showed higher rates of complete ablation (75%) with fewer sessions, lower incidence of tumor recurrence (p = 0.02), development of de novo lesions (p = 0.03), occurrence of post-treatment ascites (p = 0.003), and higher survival rates (p = 0.04). The mean survival of the microwave group was 21.7 months with actuarial probability of survival at 12 and 18 months 78.2% and 68.4%, respectively. The mean survival of the TACE group was 13.7 months with actuarial probability of survival at 12 and 18 months being 52.4% and 28.6%, respectively. Conclusion. MWA showed better results than TACE in the management of large HCC lesions.
Listen carefully: transgender voices in the workplace

Abstract We find that only 17% of FTSE 100 company websites refer directly to transgender (‘trans’) individuals, illustrating the extent to which trans voices are unheard in the workplace. We propose that these voices are missing for a number of reasons: voluntary silence to protect oneself from adverse circumstances; the subsumption of trans voices within the larger ‘LGBT’ community; assimilation, wherein many trans voices become affiliated with those of their post-transition gender; multiple trans voices arising from diversity within the transgender community; and limited access to voice mechanisms for transgender employees. We identify the negative implications of being unheard for individual trans employees, for organizational outcomes, and for business and management scholarship, and propose ways in which organizations can listen more carefully to trans voices. Finally, we introduce an agenda for future research that tests the applicability of the theoretical framework of invisible stigma disclosure to transgender individuals, and calls for new theoretical and empirical developments to identify HRM challenges and best practices for respecting trans employees and their choices to remain silent or be heard.
Switching antiretroviral regimes for the treatment of HIV: safety implications

ABSTRACT Introduction: There are multiple reasons to switch from a virologically successful antiretroviral regimen. Some of them are related to toxicity. Lately, combination antiretroviral treatment (cART) switches have often been related to drug-drug interactions which may also eventually entail safety issues as well. Areas covered: The purpose of this review is to analyze causes of switching between virologically successful cART regimes related to safety issues. The most relevant papers were selected and summarized. Expert opinion: Switching cART has been a popular strategy to address safety issues throughout the antiretroviral era. The myriad of switching studies have paralleled the study and release into clinical practice of new antiretroviral drugs with different and often improved safety profiles. Most of them have been successful in improving antiretroviral toxicity while keeping HIV replication under control. However, it should be taken into account that, whenever a new drug is given, there is a possibility of new drug-related toxicity. Notwithstanding that, an increase in cART switching is foreseen, given the fact that we have a wide antiretroviral drug armamentarium and that people living with HIV are ageing and thus more prone to developing age-related co-morbidities whose therapies may entail new interactions and eventually new toxicities.
Spoofing Speech Detection Using Modified Relative Phase Information

The detection of human and spoofing (synthetic or converted) speech has started to receive an increasing amount of attention. In this paper, modified relative phase (MRP) information extracted from a Fourier spectrum is proposed for spoofing speech detection. Because original phase information is almost entirely lost in spoofing speech using current synthesis or conversion techniques, some phase information extraction methods, such as the modified group delay feature and cosine phase feature, have been shown to be effective for detecting human speech and spoofing speech. However, existing phase information-based features cannot obtain very high spoofing speech detection performance because they cannot extract precise phase information from speech. Relative phase (RP) information, which extracts phase information precisely, has been shown to be effective for speaker recognition. In this paper, RP information is applied to spoofing speech detection, and it is expected to achieve better spoofing detection performance. Furthermore, two modified processing techniques of the original RP, that is, pseudo pitch synchronization and linear discriminant analysis based full-band RP extraction, are proposed in this paper. In this study, MRP information is also combined with the Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC) and modified group delay. The proposed method was evaluated using the ASVspoof 2015: Automatic Speaker Verification Spoofing and Countermeasures Challenge dataset. The results show that the proposed MRP information significantly outperforms the MFCC, modified group delay, and other phase information based features. For the development dataset, the equal error rate (EER) was reduced from 1.883% of the MFCC, 0.567% of the modified group delay to 0.013% of the MRP. By combining the RP with the MFCC and modified group delay, the EER was reduced to 0.003%. For the evaluation dataset, the MRP obtained much better performance than the magnitude-based feature and other phase-based features, except for S10 spoofing speech.
The Political Economics of Income Inequality, Government Expenditures and Redistribution - an Empirical Study Using Long-Term Panel Data

The thesis aims to further explain the relationship between income inequality, the welfare state and the level of redistribution. We use a dataset containing unbalanced panel data between 1900 and 2004 for 17 economies and use central government expenditures as a share of GDP and top marginal tax rates. Our results do not support the suggestion made by the Median Voter Theorem that changes in income inequality affect the level of redistribution.
Bio-Microfluidics Real-Time Monitoring Using CNN Technology

A new non-invasive real-time system for the monitoring and control of microfluidodynamic phenomena involving transport of particles and two phase fluids is proposed. The general purpose design of such system is suitable for in vitro and in vivo experimental setup and, therefore, for microfluidic applications in the biomedical field, such as lab-on-chip and for research studies in the field of microcirculation. The system consists of an ad hoc optical setup for image magnification providing images suitable for acquisition and processing. The main feature of the optical system is the accessibility of the information at any point of the optical path. It was designed and developed using discrete opto-mechanic components mounted on a breadboard. The optical sensing, acquisition, and processing were all performed using an integrated vision system based on cellular nonlinear networks (CNNs) analogic (analog plus logic) technology called focal plane processor (FPP, Eye-RIS, Anafocus) that was inserted in the optical path. Ad hoc algorithms were implemented for the real-time analysis and extraction of fluidodynamic parameters in micro-channels. They were firstly tested on sequences of images recorded during in vivo microcirculation experiments on hamsters and then applied on images acquired and processed in real-time during in vitro experiments on two-phase fluid flow in a continuous microfluidic device (serpentine mixer, ThinXXS).
Improved high axial resolution ultrasound imaging using spectral whitening and minimum-variance based coherence weighting

In this paper, we propose the frequency domain minimum variance (MV) method plus coherence factor (CF) weighting technique to improve the axial resolution of medical ultrasound images. The minimum variance beamformer is originally proposed to apply over aperture domain data to improve lateral resolution. Via the help of spectral whitening, the MV method can be applied to the frequency components which synthesize the signal at a desired depth, minimizing the interference from other depths thus improves axial resolution. In addition, the frequency domain coherence factor is introduced to calculate the ratio of coherent energy to incoherent energy of the frequency components at the desired depth, which can be used to further reduce the axial mainlobe width and suppress the axial sidelobes. The performance of the proposed technique is demonstrated by simulation, and the proposed frequency domain MV plus CF weighting technique results in 46% improvement in axial resolution.
Epidermal Growth Factor Induces Tyrosine Phosphorylation, Membrane Insertion, and Activation of Transient Receptor Potential Channel 4*

Various members of the canonical family of transient receptor potential channels (TRPCs) exhibit increased cation influx following receptor stimulation or Ca2+ store depletion. Tyrosine phosphorylation of TRP family members also results in increased channel activity; however, the link between the two events is unclear. We report that two tyrosine residues in the C terminus of human TRPC4 (hTRPC4), Tyr-959 and Tyr-972, are phosphorylated following epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor stimulation of COS-7 cells. This phosphorylation was mediated by Src family tyrosine kinases (STKs), with Fyn appearing to be the dominant kinase. In addition, EGF receptor stimulation induced the exocytotic insertion of hTRPC4 into the plasma membrane dependent on the activity of STKs and was accompanied by a phosphorylation-dependent increase in the association of hTRPC4 with Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor. Furthermore, this translocation and association was defective upon mutation of Tyr-959 and Tyr-972 to phenylalanine. Significantly, inhibition of STKs was concomitant with a reduction in Ca2+ influx in both native COS-7 cells and hTRPC4-expressing HEK293 cells, with cells expressing the Y959F/Y972F mutant exhibiting a reduced EGF response. These findings represent the first demonstration of a mechanism for phosphorylation to modulate TRPC channel function.
The orthodontist, an essential partner in CLP treatment.

OBJECTIVES Patients with orofacial clefts need multidisciplinary care, which should be provided by teams of specialists working in this field. Usually the following disciplines participate in such teams: paediatrics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, orthodontics, genetics, social work or nursing, ENT, speech therapy, maxillofacial surgery, prosthetic dentistry, psychology and oral hygiene. DESIGN Narrative review. RESULTS An overview is given of the orthodontic treatment protocol and the role of the orthodontist in cleft palate treatment from birth until 20 years of age for a child with a complete unilateral or bilateral cleft. CONCLUSIONS The orthodontist has proven to be an essential partner in the cleft palate team. The orthodontist is not only responsible for the active orthodontic and facial orthopaedic treatment of the child with a cleft. More importantly, he or she is also the guardian of the child's maxillofacial growth. By nature, orthodontists have a long-term treatment perspective in mind, which will assist the team in their consideration of treatment techniques, sequence and timing in relation to the effect on maxillofacial growth. Moreover, standardised records collected by the orthodontist provide a valuable basis for retrospective studies of treatment outcome and inter-centre comparisons. Finally, in recent times, orthodontists seem to be quite often the motor behind large-scale inter-centre randomised clinical trials in the field of CLP.