Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Normal ‘heart’ in Parkinson's disease: is this a distinct clinical phenotype?

Reduction of metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake has been observed in almost all patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), associated with hyposmia, orthostatic hypotension and rapid eye movement sleep behavioral disorder (RBD). In contrast, a subgroup of patients with PD with normal MIBG uptake have been reported to have milder disease and preserved cognition compared with those with lower MIBG. The aim of this study was to investigate whether non‐motor manifestations of PD differ between patients with normal and abnormal myocardial MIBG uptake.
Automatic enrollment for gait-based person re-identification

Automatic enrollment involves a critical decision-making process within people re-identification context. However, this process has been traditionally undervalued. This paper studies the problem of automatic person enrollment from a realistic perspective relying on gait analysis. Experiments simulating random flows of people with considerable appearance variations between different observations of a person have been conducted, modeling both short- and longterm scenarios. Promising results based on ROC analysis show that automatically enrolling people by their gait is affordable with high success rates.
Lung tumor motion prediction during lung brachytherapy using finite element model

A biomechanical model is proposed to predict deflated lung tumor motion caused by diaphragm respiratory motion. This model can be very useful for targeting the tumor in tumor ablative procedures such as lung brachytherapy. To minimize motion within the target lung, these procedures are performed while the lung is deflated. However, significant amount of tissue deformation still occurs during respiration due to the diaphragm contact forces. In the absence of effective realtime image guidance, biomechanical models can be used to estimate tumor motion as a function of diaphragm's position. To develop this model, Finite Element Method (FEM) was employed. To demonstrate the concept, we conducted an animal study of an ex-vivo porcine deflated lung with a tumor phantom. The lung was deformed by compressing a diaphragm mimicking cylinder against it. Before compression, 3D-CT image of this lung was acquired, which was segmented and turned into FE mesh. The lung tissue was modeled as hyperelastic material with a contact loading to calculate the lung deformation and tumor motion during respiration. To validate the results from FE model, the motion of a small area on the surface close to the tumor was tracked while the lung was being loaded by the cylinder. Good agreement was demonstrated between the experiment results and simulation results. Furthermore, the impact of tissue hyperelastic parameters uncertainties in the FE model was investigated. For this purpose, we performed in-silico simulations with different hyperelastic parameters. This study demonstrated that the FEM was accurate and robust for tumor motion prediction.
A Stochastic Control Approach to Maximize Profit on Service Provisioning for Mobile Cloudlet Platforms

The recent emergence of mobile cloud computing has enabled mobile users to offload computing tasks from mobile devices to nearby cloudlets, so as to reduce energy consumption and improve application performance. In this paper, we consider the problem of maximizing the profit of the cloudlets’ managing platform that receives computing requests from mobile users and fulfils these requests by leveraging computing service of participating cloudlets. However, it is very challenging to maximize the operating profit for such a managing platform, due to unpredictable arrival of user requests, dynamic participation of mobile cloudlets, and complexity in computing resource allocations. Based on the Lyapunov optimization technique combined with the technique of weight perturbation, we introduce a new stochastic control algorithm that makes online decisions on computing request admission and dispatching, computing service purchasing, and computing resource allocation. Different from traditional techniques, this algorithm does not require any statistical knowledge of relevant system dynamics, and is efficient for implementation in practice. Theoretical analysis and simulation results have demonstrated both the profit optimality and the system stability achieved by the proposed control algorithm.
Deep Sequencing and Microarray Hybridization Identify Conserved and Species-Specific MicroRNAs during Somatic Embryogenesis in Hybrid Yellow Poplar

Background To date, several studies have indicated a major role for microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating plant development, but miRNA-mediated regulation of the developing somatic embryo is poorly understood, especially during early stages of somatic embryogenesis in hardwood plants. In this study, Solexa sequencing and miRNA microfluidic chips were used to discover conserved and species-specific miRNAs during somatic embryogenesis of hybrid yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera×L. chinense). Methodology/Principal Findings A total of 17,214,153 reads representing 7,421,623 distinct sequences were obtained from a short RNA library generated from small RNAs extracted from all stages of somatic embryos. Through a combination of deep sequencing and bioinformatic analyses, we discovered 83 sequences with perfect matches to known miRNAs from 33 conserved miRNA families and 273 species-specific candidate miRNAs. MicroRNA microarray results demonstrated that many conserved and species-specific miRNAs were expressed in hybrid yellow poplar embryos. In addition, the microarray also detected another 149 potential miRNAs, belonging to 29 conserved families, which were not discovered by deep sequencing analysis. The biological processes and molecular functions of the targets of these miRNAs were predicted by carrying out BLAST search against Arabidopsis thaliana GenBank sequences and then analyzing the results with Gene Ontology. Conclusions Solexa sequencing and microarray hybridization were used to discover 232 candidate conserved miRNAs from 61 miRNA families and 273 candidate species-specific miRNAs in hybrid yellow poplar. In these predicted miRNAs, 64 conserved miRNAs and 177 species-specific miRNAs were detected by both sequencing and microarray hybridization. Our results suggest that miRNAs have wide-ranging characteristics and important roles during all stages of somatic embryogenesis in this economically important species.
Design, modelling and preliminary characterisation of microneedle-based electrodes for tissue electroporation in vivo

We analysed the use of microneedle-based electrodes to enhance electroporation of mouse testis with DNA vectors for production of transgenic mice. Different microneedle formats were developed and tested, and we ultimately used electrodes based on arrays of 500 μm tall microneedles. In a series of experiments involving injection of a DNA vector expressing Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and electroporation using microneedle electrodes and a commercially available voltage supply, we compared the performance of flat and microneedle electrodes by measuring GFP expression at various timepoints after electroporation. Our main finding, supported by both experimental and simulated data, is that needles significantly enhanced electroporation of testis.
Despite phylogenetic effects, C3–C4 lineages bridge the ecological gap to C4 photosynthesis

Abstract C4 photosynthesis is a physiological innovation involving several anatomical and biochemical components that emerged recurrently in flowering plants. This complex trait evolved via a series of physiological intermediates, broadly termed ‘C3‐C4’, which have been widely studied to understand C4 origins. While this research program has focused on biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy, the ecology of these intermediates remains largely unexplored. Here, we use global occurrence data and local habitat descriptions to characterize the niches of multiple C3‐C4 lineages, as well as their close C3 and C4 relatives. While C3‐C4 taxa tend to occur in warm climates, their abiotic niches are spread along other dimensions, making it impossible to define a universal C3‐C4 niche. Phylogeny‐based comparisons suggest that, despite shifts associated with photosynthetic types, the precipitation component of the C3‐C4 niche is particularly lineage specific, being highly correlated with that of closely related C3 and C4 taxa. Our large‐scale analyses suggest that C3‐C4 lineages converged toward warm habitats, which may have facilitated the transition to C4 photosynthesis, effectively bridging the ecological gap between C3 and C4 plants. The intermediates retained some precipitation aspects of their C3 ancestors’ habitat, and likely transmitted them to their C4 descendants, contributing to the diversity among C4 lineages seen today.
Cooperative Path Following of Robotic Vehicles Using an Event-Based Control and Communication Strategy

In this letter, a novel approach to the cooperative path following (CPF) control problem is proposed that aims to reduce the frequency of communication between the robotic vehicles while achieving cooperation. Specifically, a decentralized, event-based cooperative controller is designed to achieve coordination between the robotic vehicles, tasked to follow a priori specified reference geometric path while maintaining a desired formation. The event-based cooperative controller transmits the necessary information at discrete event times, that are computed based on an event triggering condition designed such that the convergence and stability properties of the consensus controller is preserved. The Input-to-State Stability framework is utilized to prove the stability and convergence of the CPF control with event-based control and communication scheme. The proposed method is experimentally validated using Autonomous Surface Vehicles communicating over Wi-Fi. It is shown that the event-based approach results in significant reduction of information exchange between the vehicles when compared to the conventional periodic transmission.
Progressive inter-carrier interference equalization for OFDM transmission over time-varying underwater acoustic channels

In this paper we propose a progressive receiver for orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) transmission over time-varying underwater acoustic (UWA) channels. The progressive receiver is in nature an iterative receiver. However, it distinguishes itself from existing iterative receivers in that the system model for channel estimation and data detection is itself continually updated during the iterations. When the decoding in the current iteration is not successful, the receiver increases the span of the inter-carrier interference (ICI) in the model and utilizes the currently available soft information from the decoder to assist the next iteration which deals with a channel with larger Doppler spread. Numerical simulation and experimental data collected from the SPACE08 experiment show that the proposed receiver can self adapt to channel variations, enjoying low complexity in calm channel conditions while maintaining excellent performance in tough channel conditions.
Lists, taxonomies, lattices, thesauri and ontologies : paving a pathway through a terminological jungle

This article seeks to resolve ambiguities and create a shared vocabulary with reference to classification-related terms. Due to the need to organize information in all disciplines, knowledge organization systems (KOSs) with varying attributes, content and structures have been developed independently in different domains. These scattered developments have given rise to a conglomeration of classification-related terms which are often used inconsistently both within and across different research fields. This terminological conundrum has impeded communication among researchers. To build the ideal Semantic Web, this problem will have to be surmounted. A common nomenclature is needed to incorporate the vast body of semantic information embedded in existing classifications when developing new systems and to facilitate interoperability among diverse systems. To bridge the terminological gap between the researchers and practitioners of disparate disciplines, we have identified five broad classes of KOSs: lists, taxonomies, lattices, thesauri and ontologies. We provide definitions of the terms catalogue, index, lexicon, knowledge base and topic map. After explaining the meaning and usage of these terms, we delineate how they relate to one another as well as to the different types of KOSs. Our definitions are not intended to replace established definitions but rather to clarify their respective meanings and to advocate their proper usage. In particular we caution against the indiscriminate use of the term ontology in contexts where, in our view, the term thesaurus would be more appropriate. Received 14 June 2013; Revised 3 March 2014; Accepted 5 March 2014
Building a Corpus of Facial Expressions for Learning-Centered Emotions

Recognizing emotions in software interfaces is very important today and even more in the educational field where the students can, through their emotions, reveal affective states related or not to the learning process. An educational software with the capability to recognize emotions will allow the students to receive appropriate feedback to their personal cognitive needs. In this paper a method is presented for the construction of an image database of facial expressions, in which, through the detection of EGG signals corresponding to affective states focused on education (engagement, bored, frustrated and meditation), detects and registers spontaneous facial expressions. We also show experiments with the obtained results.
Language and communication development in preschool children with visual impairment: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND Language and communication difficulties of young children with visual impairment (VI) are ascribed to intellectual disability, multiple disabilities and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rather than their sensory impairment. Consequently, the communication difficulties of children with VI may have been underestimated and undertreated. OBJECTIVES This report aims to critically appraise recent peer reviewed literature relating to communication and language development in children with VI. METHOD A systematic search of the literature (2003-2013) was completed using the PRISMA guidelines, and primary and secondary search phrases. Nine publications were reviewed in terms of the strength of recent evidence. Thematic analysis was used to describe the early language and communication characteristics of children with VI. RESULTS All the selected articles (n = 9) were from developed countries and participants from seven of the studies had congenital VI. Five of the studies received an evidence level rating of III while four articles were rated as IIb. Two main themes emerged from the studies: early intervention, and multiple disabilities and ASD. Language and communication development is affected by VI, especially in the early stages of development. Speech-language therapists should therefore be included in early intervention for children with VI. CONCLUSION Recent evidence on the early language and communication difficulties of children with VI exists, but children in developing countries with acquired VI appear to not be investigated. The identified language and communication developmental characteristics may assist speech-language therapists to build a knowledge base for participation in early intervention for young children with VI and their families.
Nucleophilic Substitution (SN2): Dependence on Nucleophile, Leaving Group, Central Atom, Substituents, and Solvent

Abstract The reaction potential energy surface (PES), and thus the mechanism of bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN2), depends profoundly on the nature of the nucleophile and leaving group, but also on the central, electrophilic atom, its substituents, as well as on the medium in which the reaction takes place. Here, we provide an overview of recent studies and demonstrate how changes in any one of the aforementioned factors affect the SN2 mechanism. One of the most striking effects is the transition from a double‐well to a single‐well PES when the central atom is changed from a second‐period (e. g. carbon) to a higher‐period element (e.g, silicon, germanium). Variations in nucleophilicity, leaving group ability, and bulky substituents around a second‐row element central atom can then be exploited to change the single‐well PES back into a double‐well. Reversely, these variations can also be used to produce a single‐well PES for second‐period elements, for example, a stable pentavalent carbon species.
Psychiatry and Preclinical Psychiatric Studies -original Article the Aetiological Association between the Dynamics of Cortisol Productivity and Adhd

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been linked to dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pitu-itary–adrenal (HPA) axis, indexed by salivary cortisol. The phenotypic and aetiological association of cortisol productivity with ADHD was investigated. A selected twin design using 68 male twin-pairs aged 12–15, concordant or discordant for high ADHD symptom scores, or control twin-pairs with low ADHD symptoms, based on developmentally stable parental ADHD ratings. A genetic growth curve model was applied to cortisol samples obtained across three points during a cognitive-electroencephalography assessment, to examine the aetiological overlap of ADHD affection status (high versus low ADHD symptom scores) with latent intercept and slope factors. A significant phenotypic correlation emerged between ADHD and the slope factor, with cortisol levels dropping faster for the group with high ADHD symptom scores. The analyses further suggested this overlap was mostly driven by correlated genetic effects. We identified change in cortisol activity over time as significantly associated with ADHD affection status, primarily explained by shared genetic effects, suggesting that blunted cortisol productivity can be a marker of genetic risk in ADHD.
A Comparison of Stochastic Systems with Different Types of Delays

In this article, we investigate the effects of different types of delays, a fixed delay and a random delay, on the dynamics of stochastic systems as well as their relationship with each other in the context of a just-in-time network model. The specific example on which we focus is a pork production network model. We numerically explore the corresponding deterministic approximations for the stochastic systems with these two different types of delays. Numerical results reveal that the agreement of stochastic systems with fixed and random delays depend on the population size and the variance of the random delay, even when the mean value of the random delay is chosen the same as the value of the fixed delay. When the variance of the random delay is sufficiently small, the histograms of state solutions to the stochastic system with a random delay are similar to those of the stochastic model with a fixed delay regardless of the population size. We also compared the stochastic system with a Gamma distributed random delay to the stochastic system constructed based on the Kurtz's limit theorem from a system of deterministic delay differential equations with a Gamma distributed delay. We found that with the same population size the histogram plots for the solution to the second system appear more dispersed than the corresponding ones obtained for the first case. In addition, we found that there is more agreement between the histograms of these two stochastic systems as the variance of the Gamma distributed random delay decreases.
Temporal partitioning of cardiac metabolism by the cardiomyocyte circadian clock

What is the topic of this review? This review highlights temporal partitioning of cardiac metabolism by the cardiomyocyte circadian clock. What advances does it highlight? Advances include: 1) cardiac glucose utilization peaks during the active period to meet increased energetic demands at this time; 2) synthesis of glycogen and triglyceride peak in the heart during the latter half of the active period, likely in anticipation of the upcoming sleep/fasting period; and 3) protein turnover increases in the heart at the beginning of the sleep phase, probably to promote growth and repair at this time.
Omega‐3 Fatty Acids Do Not Protect Against Arrhythmias in Acute Nonreperfused Myocardial Infarction Despite Some Antiarrhythmic Effects

Ventricular arrhythmias are an important cause of mortality in the acute myocardial infarction (MI). To elucidate the effect of the omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on ventricular arrhythmias in acute nonreperfused MI, rats were fed with normal or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)‐enriched diet for 3 weeks. Subsequently the rats were subjected to either MI induction or sham operation. ECG was recorded for 6 h after the operation and episodes of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation (VT/VF) were identified. Six hours after MI epicardial monophasic action potentials (MAPs) were recorded, cardiomyocyte Ca2+ handling was assessed and expression of proteins involved in Ca2+ turnover was studied separately in non‐infarcted left ventricle wall and infarct borderzone. EPA and DHA had no effect on occurrence of post‐MI ventricular arrhythmias or mortality. Nevertheless, DHA but not EPA prevented Ca2+ overload in LV cardiomiocytes and improved rate of Ca2+ transient decay, protecting PMCA and SERCA function. Moreover, both EPA and DHA prevented MI‐induced hyperphosphorylation of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) as well as dispersion of action potential duration (APD) in the left ventricular wall. In conclusion, EPA and DHA have no antiarrhythmic effect in the non‐reperfused myocardial infarction in the rat, although these omega‐3 PUFAs and DHA in particular exhibit several potential antiarrhythmic effects at the subcellular and tissue level, that is, prevent MI‐induced abnormalities in Ca2+ handling and APD dispersion. In this context further studies are needed to see if these potential antiarrhythmic effects could be utilized in the clinical setting. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2570–2582, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Partially-static data as free extension of algebras

Partially-static data structures are a well-known technique for improving binding times. However, they are often defined in an ad-hoc manner, without a unifying framework to ensure full use of the equations associated with each operation. We present a foundational view of partially-static data structures as free extensions of algebras for suitable equational theories, i.e. the coproduct of an algebra and a free algebra in the category of algebras and their homomorphisms. By precalculating these free extensions, we construct a high-level library of partially-static data representations for common algebraic structures. We demonstrate our library with common use-cases from the literature: string and list manipulation, linear algebra, and numerical simplification.
Spectrum for 5G: Global Status, Challenges, and Enabling Technologies

Availability of widely harmonized mobile spectrum is crucial for the success of 5G mobile communications, fulfilling the visions and requirements and delivering the full range of potential capabilities for 5G. This article introduces the global situation of spectrum for 5G, both below and above 6 GHz, in both the regulatory status and technical aspects. In particular, the technical challenges of supporting 5G in millimeter-wave spectrum, such as coverage limitation and implementation aspects, are discussed.