Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Corticospinal Excitability During Motor Training

Background: Cerebellar activity can be modulated using cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (ctDCS) and, when applied concurrently with task training, has been shown to facilitate cognitive and motor performance. However, how ctDCS facilitates motor performance is not fully understood. Objective/Hypothesis: To assess the electrophysiological and motor performance effects of ctDCS applied during motor training. Methods: Fourteen healthy adults (age 28.8 ± 10.5 years) were randomly assigned to complete one session of finger tracking training with either simultaneous bilateral anodal or sham ctDCS. Training was completed in two 15 min epochs with a 5-min break (total 30 min stimulation, 2 mA). Tracking accuracy and corticospinal and intracortical excitability were measured immediately before and after the training period. Motor cortical excitability measures included resting motor threshold (RMT), motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude, cortical silent period (CSP) and short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI). Results: There was a significant interaction of Group * Time for MEP amplitude and CSP duration (p < 0.01). Post hoc analysis revealed MEP amplitude was increased in the sham group (p < 0.01), indicating increased corticospinal excitability from baseline while the anodal group displayed a decrease in MEP amplitude (p = 0.023) and prolongation of CSP duration (p < 0.01). SICI and RMT remained unchanged following ctDCS and training. Task accuracy was improved in both groups at post-test with a significant effect of Time (p < 0.01); however, there was no effect of Group (p = 0.45) or interaction of Group * Time (p = 0.83). During training, there was a significant effect of Block (p < 0.01) but no significant effect of Group or interaction effect (p > 0.06). Conclusions: ctDCS applied during task training is capable of modulating or interfering with practice-related changes in corticospinal excitability without disrupting performance improvement.
2-year-olds Use Syntax to Infer Actor Intentions in a Rational-action Paradigm

Verbs may refer to the means (I bumped into the lamp) or outcome (I broke the lamp) of an action (cf. Rappaport Hovav & Levin, 2010; Talmy, 1985). Do young children expect language to encode this distinction? Children’s imitation patterns suggest that they analyze nonlinguistic events in these terms. When a head-touch is the simplest action available, toddlers include just the outcome, not the means, in their own imitation (Gergely, Bekkering, & Kiraly, 2002). We ask whether syntax influences this inference. An experimenter with her hands occupied made a toy activate with a headtouch, using either Means-focused (I’m daxing to my toy) or Outcome-focused language (I’m daxing my toy). Toddlers then imitated the action. Meansbut not Outcome-focus language encouraged children to include the distinctive headtouch, overriding the standard ‘rational imitation’ effect. This suggests that toddlers’ knowledge of argument structure includes an understanding of a means/outcome divide in verb meaning.
MicroRNA-23a-3p inhibitor decreases osteonecrosis incidence in a rat model

The mechanism of steroid-associated femoral head necrosis remains unclear. The present study investigated the role of microRNA-23a-3p (miR-23a-3p) in the incidence of osteonecrosis in a rat model. An miR-23a-3p mimic, an inhibitor and a negative control were transfected into bone mesenchymal stem cells using a lentiviral vector, and then injected into the steroid-induced femoral head necrosis model. Osteonecrosis incidence was assessed by micro computed tomography and histopathology. Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP-5) expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The results demonstrated the incidence of osteonecrosis decreased in the miR-23a-3p inhibitor group compared with the miR-23a-3p mimic group (18.2% vs. 75%; P<0.05). The ratio of bone volume/total volume and trabecular thickness were significantly increased in the miR-23a-3p inhibitor group compared with the miR-23a mimic group. The expression level of LRP-5 was higher in the miR-23a-3p inhibitor group. The present study indicated that miR may provide a novel and alternative approach for understanding the mechanism underlying steroid-associated necrosis of the femoral head.
Rapid and Simultaneous Prediction of Eight Diesel Quality Parameters through ATR-FTIR Analysis

Quality assessment of diesel fuel is highly necessary for society, but the costs and time spent are very high while using standard methods. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an analytical method capable of simultaneously determining eight diesel quality parameters (density; flash point; total sulfur content; distillation temperatures at 10% (T10), 50% (T50), and 85% (T85) recovery; cetane index; and biodiesel content) through attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and the multivariate regression method, partial least square (PLS). For this purpose, the quality parameters of 409 samples were determined using standard methods, and their spectra were acquired in ranges of 4000–650 cm−1. The use of the multivariate filters, generalized least squares weighting (GLSW) and orthogonal signal correction (OSC), was evaluated to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the models. Likewise, four variable selection approaches were tested: manual exclusion, forward interval PLS (FiPLS), backward interval PLS (BiPLS), and genetic algorithm (GA). The multivariate filters and variables selection algorithms generated more fitted and accurate PLS models. According to the validation, the FTIR/PLS models presented accuracy comparable to the reference methods and, therefore, the proposed method can be applied in the diesel routine monitoring to significantly reduce costs and analysis time.
NovoPen Echo® insulin delivery device

The introduction of insulin pen devices has provided easier, well-tolerated, and more convenient treatment regimens for patients with diabetes mellitus. When compared with vial and syringe regimens, insulin pens offer a greater clinical efficacy, improved quality of life, and increased dosing accuracy, particularly at low doses. The portable and discreet nature of pen devices reduces the burden on the patient, facilitates adherence, and subsequently contributes to the improvement in glycemic control. NovoPen Echo® is one of the latest members of the NovoPen® family that has been specifically designed for the pediatric population and is the first to combine half-unit increment (=0.5 U of insulin) dosing with a simple memory function. The half-unit increment dosing amendments and accurate injection of 0.5 U of insulin are particularly beneficial for children (and insulin-sensitive adults/elders), who often require small insulin doses. The memory function can be used to record the time and amount of the last dose, reducing the fear of double dosing or missing a dose. The memory function also provides parents with extra confidence and security that their child is taking insulin at the correct doses and times. NovoPen Echo is a lightweight, durable insulin delivery pen; it is available in two different colors, which may help to distinguish between different types of insulin, providing more confidence for both users and caregivers. Studies have demonstrated a high level of patient satisfaction, with 80% of users preferring NovoPen Echo to other pediatric insulin pens.
A Review of Prognostics and Health Management for Power Semiconductor Modules

In this paper, a review of current techniques used in the prognostics and state-of-health monitoring for power semiconductor modules is provided. Given the increasing trend in power modules having a larger share of the power electronic market, understanding their lifetime limitations is critical to improving the life-cycle cost of the power electronic product. Hence, this paper reviews common failure mechanisms in power modules and the state-of-art in predicting the lifetime of the module based on a given mission profile. Prognostics are reviewed in terms of stress- based and condition monitoring-based methods, while the potential of prognostics is presented for applications that utilize power modules.
Condition Monitoring of Bearing Damage in Electromechanical Drive Systems by Using Motor Current Signals of Electric Motors: A Benchmark Data Set for Data-Driven Classification

This paper presents a benchmark data set for condition monitoring of rolling bearings in combination with an extensive description of the corresponding bearing damage, the data set generation by experiments and results of data-driven classifications used as a diagnostic method. The diagnostic method uses the motor current signal of an electromechanical drive system for bearing diagnostic. The advantage of this approach in general is that no additional sensors are required, as current measurements can be performed in existing frequency inverters. This will help to reduce the cost of future condition monitoring systems. A particular novelty of the present approach is the monitoring of damage in external bearings which are installed in the drive system but outside the electric motor. Nevertheless, the motor current signal is used as input for the detection of the damage. Moreover, a wide distribution of bearing damage is considered for the benchmark data set. The results of the classifications show that the motor current signal can be used to identify and classify bearing damage within the drive system. However, the classification accuracy is still low compared to classifications based on vibration signals. Further, dependency on properties of those bearing damage that were used for the generation of training data are observed, because training with data of artificially generated and real bearing damages lead to different accuracies. Altogether a verified and systematically generated data set is presented and published online for further research.
THERMAL EFFECTS OF ~O~INENTAL COLLISIONS: THICKENING A VARIABLE VISCOSITY L~HOSPHERE

Buck, W.R. and Toksoz, MN. , 1983. Thermal effects of continental collisions: thickening a variable viscosity lithosphere. In: M.Friedman and MN. Toksoz (Editors), Continental Tectonics: Structure, Kinematics and Dynamics. Tectonophysics, lot? : 53-69. Based on data that indicate that the lithosphere and the crust are anomalously hot in some convergence zones, simple calculations of the thermal effect of crustal thickening are presented. The results indicate that post-tectonic melting of the lower crust requires high levels of mantle heat flux. It has been suggested that this high heat flux can be explained by the convective removal of thermal boundary layers thickened by convergence. To test this hypothesis a series of numerical experiments were carried out on the removal of thickened thermal boundary layers whose viscosity depends on temperature and pressure. It is found that the boundary layers can be removed quickly (10 m.y. in some cases}. However, these layers are too thin to greatly alter the thickness of the lithosphere or the heat flux at the top of the mantle. A set of calculations was done with internal heat sources which give ~uilib~um lithospheric thicknesses half that of the thickened lithospheres. These indicate that the time scale for convective thinning by one half is extremely long (at least 100 m.y.) for initial lithospheric thicknesses of 100 km. Therefore, the lithosphere must be anomalously hot and thin before deformation for extensive crustal melting to occur after thickening in observed times (40 m.y. for Tibet). Finally, it is suggested that subduction-induced convection may raise the general mantle temperatures over a broad region behind a convergence. zone. This effect can inhibit the cooling of the lithosphere for more than 50 m.y. after the subduction induced convection has ceased.
Unsupervised Filtering of XML Streams for System Integration

In the last years, computer vision research is more and more shifting from algorithmic solutions to the construction of active systems. One novel approach to system construction combines data- and event-driven architectures, concentrating on the flow of information between components. A challenge in data-driven architectures is to optimize communications behavior without changing component implementations. For example, in computer vision, a common problem is that low-level components produce many very similar results whereas on a higher level, only significant changes are of interest. This distinction can be defined as a pattern recognition task that analyzes the data flow in the system. In the following, we will first give a short introduction into the architecture, then describe a generic solution for data-flow reduction based on XML distance metrics. We present first results on the application of this component in an integration framework for a vision-based Human-Computer-Interface within an augmented reality scenario.
Metacluster Model Using an Aggregate Function In The Presence Of Data Domain Membership

Once with the exponential increase of data generated by the business environment, the need of rapid, precise and robust algorithms appeared in data analysis. The improvements given by database technologies, computational performances and artificial intelligence have contributed to the development of intelligent data analysis. The principal clustering methods are presented in comparison. A technique for object grouping validation generated by the clustering methods is proposed and applied on a dataset a priori classified according to their domain membership. Metaclustering is introduced as an aggregation method for more clustering techniques in order to improve the performances of the clustering process in terms of results’ correctness.
Iron Status Predicts Treatment Failure and Mortality in Tuberculosis Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Background Experimental data suggest a role for iron in the course of tuberculosis (TB) infection, but there is limited evidence on the potential effects of iron deficiency or iron overload on the progression of TB disease in humans. The aim of the present analysis was to examine the association of iron status with the risk of TB progression and death. Methodology/Principal Findings We analyzed plasma samples and data collected as part a randomized micronutrient supplementation trial (not including iron) among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected TB patients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We prospectively related baseline plasma ferritin concentrations from 705 subjects (362 HIV-infected and 343 HIV-uninfected) to the risk of treatment failure at one month after initiation, TB recurrence and death using binomial and Cox regression analyses. Overall, low (plasma ferritin<30 µg/L) and high (plasma ferritin>150 µg/L for women and>200 µg/L for men) iron status were seen in 9% and 48% of patients, respectively. Compared with normal levels, low plasma ferritin predicted an independent increased risk of treatment failure overall (adjusted RR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.07 to 3.52) and of TB recurrence among HIV-infected patients (adjusted RR = 4.21, 95% CI: 1.22 to 14.55). High plasma ferritin, independent of C-reactive protein concentrations, was associated with an increased risk of overall mortality (adjusted RR = 3.02, 95% CI: 1.95 to 4.67). Conclusions/Significance Both iron deficiency and overload exist in TB patients and may contribute to disease progression and poor clinical outcomes. Strategies to maintain normal iron status in TB patients could be helpful to reduce TB morbidity and mortality.
Temperature Effect on Kinetics of Uptake, Transfer, and Clearance of [14C]Noviflumuron in Eastern Subterranean Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Abstract [14C]Noviflumuron uptake, clearance, rate of excretion, and transfer from treated to untreated termite workers were evaluated at 15, 19, 23, and 27°C. Feeding units were constructed from plastic containers provisioned with washed sand, distilled water, [14C]noviflumuron-treated feeding discs (0.05 or 0.5% [AI]), and Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) workers. Feeding units were held in environmental growth chambers preset at 15, 19, 23, and 27°C. The amount of [14C]noviflumuron present within R. flavipes was measured by scintillation counting and subsequently quantified. Uptake of noviflumuron by R. flavipes workers at 15°C was ≈2.8 times less than at 19 or 23°C and ≈4.4 times less than at 27°C. The highest uptake of [14C]noviflumuron occurred at 27°C and 144 h. Most transfer of [14C]noviflumuron from treated to untreated termite workers occurred between 19 and 27°C. [14C]Noviflumuron had a half-life in R. flavipes workers of ≈31–45 d, dependent on temperature. A higher amount of [14C]noviflumuron was lost through excretion at ≥19°C (≈15–22%) compared with 15°C (0.27%). Results indicated that increased uptake, transfer, and clearance of noviflumuron by R. flavipes occurred at warmer temperatures (19–27°C), and all of these processes were significantly lower at 15°C.
Metabolomics Analysis of Marker Metabolites for Patients with PancreaticCancer

Metabolomics is a rapidly growing field of research used in the identification and quantification of the small molecule metabolites within an organism, thereby providing insights into processes important in clinical medicine. It offers comprehensive information about thousands of low-molecular metabolites (<1500 Da) that represent a wide range of metabolism pathways. In human studies, metabolomics has been applied to define biomarkers related to prognosis or diagnosis of a disease. Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease and has a very low 5 years-survival rate and its diagnosis is often late and imprecise due to the lack of specificity of currently used markers for pancreatic cancer. Obviously, more sensitive biomarkers for early diagnosis and treatment are urgently needed. Fortunately, metabolomics is becoming increasingly popular, and may provide clinically useful biomarkers applied toward identifying metabolic alterations in pancreatic cancer and has introduced new insights into the pathology of pancreatic cancer. By measuring the endogenous metabolites, metabolomics can be used for delineating metabolic networks and discovering metabolic markers. Studying pancreatic cancer through metabolomics could reveal new biomarkers that could be useful for its future prognosis, diagnosis and therapy. In this review we take a closer look at the metabolomics used within the field of pancreatic cancer disease diagnosis.
Simulation of copper–water nanofluid in a microchannel in slip flow regime using the lattice Boltzmann method with heat flux boundary condition

Laminar forced convection heat transfer of water-Cu nanofluids in a microchannel is studied using the double population Thermal Lattice Boltzmann method (TLBM). The entering flow is at a lower temperature compared to the microchannel walls. The middle section of the microchannel is heated with a constant and uniform heat flux, simulated by means of the counter slip thermal energy boundary condition. Simulations are performed for nanoparticle volume fractions equal to 0.00%, 0.02% and 0.04% and slip coefficient equal to 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1. Reynolds number is equal to 1, 10 and 50.The model predictions are found to be in good agreement with earlier studies. Streamlines, isotherms, longitudinal variations of Nusselt number and slip velocity as well as velocity and temperature profiles for different cross sections are presented. The results indicate that LBM can be used to simulate forced convection for the nanofluid micro flows. They show that the microchannel performs better heat transfers at higher values of the Reynolds number. For all values of the Reynolds considered in this study, the average Nusselt number increases slightly as the solid volume fraction increases and the slip coefficient increases. The rate of this increase is more significant at higher values of the Reynolds number.
Regulation of crB Levels and Activity in Bacillus subtilis

The sigB operon of Bacilus subtilis encodes (9' plus three additional proteins (RsbV, RsbW, and RsbX) that regulate c9B activity. Using an anti-&B monoclonal antibody to monitor the levels of (9B protein, PspAc to control the expression of the sigB operon, and a ctc-lacZ reporter system to monitor crB activity, we observed that the rsbV and rsbW products control (9B activity at the ctc promoter independently of their effects on (9B levels. In contrast, RsbX was found to have no effect on expression of ctc when the sigB operon was controlled by PSPAc. The data are consistent with RsbV and RsbW being regulators of (9B activity and RsbX acting primarily as a negative regulator of sigB operon expression. Evidence that stationary-phase induction of the c9B-dependent ctc promoter is accomplished by a reduction in RsbW-dependent inhibition of crB activity is also presented. In addition, Western blot (immunoblot) analyses of sigB operon expression demonstrated that (9B accumulation is coupled to the synthesis of its primary inhibitor (RsbW). This finding is consistent with RsbW and (rB being present within the cell in equivalent amounts, a circumstance that would permit RsbW to directly influence (9B activity by a direct protein-protein interaction.
Crowdsourcing elicitation data for semantic typologies

In semantic typology, it is desirable to have quick and easy access to crosslinguistic elicitations describing stimuli from a semantic domain. We explore the use of crowdsourcing for obtaining such data, and compare it with fieldwork data obtained through in-person elicitations. Despite potential concerns about the quality of crowdsourced data, we find no difference in the amount of between-language variation and can replicate a cognitive modeling experiment using the crowdsourced data in place of the fieldwork data. Both results suggest that crowdsourcing elicitations is a viable method for gathering data for semantic typology and cognitive modeling.
Identification of the gene and the mutation responsible for the mouse nob phenotype.

PURPOSE The available evidence indicates that the naturally occurring mouse mutant nob (no b-wave) provides an animal model for the complete form of human X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB1). The goals of the present study were to identify the nob gene defect, to characterize the expression pattern of the involved gene, and to assess visual sensitivity in nob mice. METHODS Positional cloning, screening of candidate genes, and sequencing were used to identify the nob gene. The expression pattern of the nyx gene was examined with Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization. Visual sensitivity was measured with an active avoidance behavioral test. RESULTS The nob phenotype is caused by an 85-bp deletion in the mouse nyx gene, which encodes the nyctalopin protein. Expression of nyx was most abundant in the retina and, in particular, in the inner nuclear layer. The nyctalopin protein contains 11 leucine-rich repeats and is flanked by cysteine rich regions, which identifies it as a member of the small leucine rich proteoglycan family. Behavioral testing shows that nob mice have a significant decrease in visual sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS The nob mouse is a model for human CSNB1. This model will be useful in defining the role of nyctalopin in signal transmission between photoreceptors and retinal bipolar cells.