Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Neuroscience Undermine Deontological Moral Theory?

Joshua Greene has argued that several lines of empirical research, including his own fMRI studies of brain activity during moral decisionmaking, comprise strong evidence against the legitimacy of deontology as a moral theory. This is because, Greene maintains, the empirical studies establish that “typically deontological” moral thinking is driven by prepotent emotional reactions which are not a sound basis for morality in the contemporary world, while “typically consequentialist” thinking is a more reliable moral guide because it is characterized by greater cognitive command and control. In this essay, I argue that Greene does not succeed in drawing a strong statistical or causal connection between prepotent emotional reactions and deontological theory, and so does not undermine the legitimacy of deontological moral theories. The results that Greene relies on from neuroscience and social psychology do not establish his conclusion that consequentialism is superior to deontology.
Changes in Arterial Distensibility and Flow-Mediated Dilation After Acute Resistance vs. Aerobic Exercise

Collier, SR, Diggle, MD, Heffernan, KS, Kelly, EE, Tobin, MM, and Fernhall, B. Changes in arterial distensibility and flow-mediated dilation after acute resistance vs. aerobic exercise. J Strength Cond Res 24(10): 2846-2852, 2010-Previous research has shown significantly lower arterial distensibility (AD) after resistance exercise (RE) yet higher AD after aerobic exercise (AE). These changes may be related to exercise-induced differences in vasodilatory capacity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the vasodilatory and AD responses to acute AE and RE. Forearm blood flow (FBF) during reactive hyperemia (RH) was assessed before and 60 minutes after exercise, whereas aortic and femoral pulse wave velocity was measured as an index of arterial stiffness pre, 40, and 60 minutes after an acute bout of AE (30-minute leg ergometry at 65% of &OV0312;o2peak) and RE (3 sets, 10 reps; upper and lower body at 65% 1 repetition maximum) in 10 male subjects (24.9 ± 0.86 years). Area under the curve (AUC) was employed to determine differences in flow. After the intervention, we found that central pulse wave velocity decreased 8% after AE and remained depressed at this level through 60 minutes of observation, whereas RE increased central pulse wave velocity 9.8% from pre to 40 and 60 minutes postexercise. Area under the curve for FBF-RH significantly increased 38% after RE, yet there was no significant change after AE. Forearm vasodilatory capacity increased after acute RE but not after acute AE. This suggests that changes in AD may be disassociated from changes in vasodilatory capacity after acute exercise. Further, in a direct comparison of RE vs. AE, we have shown that RE has greater increases in limb blood flow and augments postexercise hypotension greater at 40 minutes postexercise when compared to AE.
Transposon-Derived Brucella abortusRough Mutants Are Attenuated and Exhibit Reduced Intracellular Survival

ABSTRACT The O antigen of Brucella abortus has been described as a major virulence determinant based on the attenuated survival of fortuitously isolated rough variants. However, the lack of genetic definition of these mutants and the virulence of naturally occurring rough species, Brucella ovis and Brucella canis, has confused interpretation. To better characterize the role of O antigen in virulence and survival, transposon mutagenesis was used to generate B. abortus rough mutants defective in O-antigen presentation. Sequence analysis of DNA flanking the site of Tn5 insertion was used to verify insertion in genes encoding lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthetic functions. Not surprisingly, each of the rough mutants was attenuated for survival in mice, but unexpected differences among the mutants were observed. In an effort to define the basis for the observed differences, the structure of the rough LPS and the sensitivity of these mutants to individual killing mechanisms were examined in vitro. All of the B. abortus rough mutants exhibited a 4- to 5-log-unit increase, compared to the smooth parental strain, in sensitivity to complement-mediated lysis. Little change was evident in the sensitivity of these organisms to hydrogen peroxide, consistent with an inability of O antigen to exclude relatively small molecules. Sensitivity to polymyxin B, which was employed as a model cationic, amphipathic peptide similar to defensins found in phagocytic cells, revealed survival differences among the rough mutants similar to those observed in the mouse. One mutant in particular exhibited hypersensitivity to polymyxin B and reduced survival in mice. This mutant was characterized by a truncated rough LPS. DNA sequence analysis of this mutant revealed a transposon interruption in the gene encoding phosphomannomutase (pmm), suggesting that this activity may be required for the synthesis of a full-length core polysaccharide in addition to O antigen. B. abortus O antigen appears to be essential for extra- and intracellular survival in mice.
Identification of NPY‐induced c‐Fos expression in hypothalamic neurones projecting to the dorsal vagal complex and the lower thoracic spinal cord

Neuropeptide Y exerts profound effects on body weight and glucose homeostasis. We have investigated the effect of centrally administered neuropeptide Y on the activity of descending neurones of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus by combining retrograde tract tracing with c‐Fos immunocytochemistry. Male rats were injected with True Blue into the dorsal vagal complex and with FluoroGold into the intermediolateral column of the lower thoracic spinal cord. One week after the last surgical procedure, animals were injected centrally with an orexigenic dose of neuropeptide Y (5 μg) and sacrificed 60 to 240 minutes following this injection. Temporal analysis of NPY‐induced c‐Fos expression showed a peak at 90 minutes, which was nearly returned to basal levels between 120 and 240 minutes. Expression of c‐Fos was prominent in several of the subnuclei of the paraventricular nucleus and in the adjacent perifornical nucleus. Neurones projecting to the spinal cord were prominent in the dorsal, lateral, and ventral portion of the medial parvicellular subnuclei of the PVN. About 15% of IML projecting neurones of the medial parvicellular subnucleus were Fos‐positive, whereas less than 5% of IML projecting neurones from other subnuclei were Fos‐positive. Hardly any PVN neurones projecting to the dorsal vagal complex were concomitantly Fos‐positive. A considerably larger (>10%) proportion of perifornical neurones projecting to the nucleus of the solitary tract were c‐Fos‐immunopositive. In conclusion, NPY induces c‐Fos in paraventricular neurones projecting to intermediolateral column of the spinal cord and in neurones of the perifornical nucleus projecting to the dorsal vagal complex. J Comp. Neurol. 438:286–299, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Operative color Doppler imaging for general surgery

Operative CDI was performed during 125 general surgical operations (53 hepatic, 25 biliary, 24 pancreatic, 7 esophagogastric, 10 pulmonary, 3 kidney transplant, and 3 soft tissue operations). Operative CDI provided beneficial information in 108 of 125 operations (86.4%). On the basis of operative CDI findings, surgical management was altered in 34 of 125 operations (27.2%), most frequently hepatic and pancreatic operations. Operative CDI demonstrated advantages over B‐mode imaging in (1) detection and localization of small blood vessels that are impossible or difficult to identify by B‐mode imaging, (2) rapid and definitive distinction of blood vessels from other hypoechoic areas, such as tissue spaces and ducts, (3) determination of the relation of tumors to vascular structures such as vascular invasion of carcinoma, (4) confirmation of blood flow to organs after surgical procedures, and (5) clearer needle localization for guidance of needle placement by color motion marking.
The Complete Mitochondrial Genome and Song Evolution of the Monotypic Genus U. Tarbinsky, 1932 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

Abstract The insect Uvarovites inflatus Uvarov is highly appreciated in China. It is known for its distinctive songs and horn-like forewings and is raised commercially for insect lovers. U. inflatus was previously categorized as part of the monotypic genus Uvarovites; however, there was little molecular evidence to support this taxonomic classification. This study obtained and investigated the mitogenome of U. inflatus, and its songs were characterized and compared with other Ensifera species whose mitogenomes are available. By performing the mitochondrial analysis, we were able to assess the phylogenetic relationships between these species and discuss the evolution of Ensifera calling songs. The mitogenome of U. inflatus is 15,956 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and 1 control region. The organization and orientation of the U. inflatus mitogenome are similar to those of other Tettigonioidea species. Phylogenetic analysis based on 13 protein-coding genes showed that the superfamily Tettigonioidea is monophyletic, as are the other six tested subfamilies from Tettigonioidea. Our results also indicated that Grylloidea is monophyletic. A Bayesian relaxed clock analysis showed that the differentiation of U. inflatus and Gampsocleis gratiosa Brunner occurred in the middle Miocene, suggesting that their speciation occurred over a long evolutionary period. The results provide significant support for the establishment of the monotypic genus Uvarovites. Calling song analysis showed that at least two discrete steps of independent evolution occurred during the change from pure tone to broadband noise, and that the ancestor of existing Ensifera was more likely to have emitted pure-tone songs than broadband signals. Together, the mitogenome, molecular clock, and acoustic data allowed us to clarify the taxonomic state of U. inflatus and propose a timeline for the evolution of Ensifera songs.
Private Collaborative Neural Network Learning

Machine learning algorithms, such as neural networks, create better predictive models when having access to larger datasets. In many domains, such as medicine and ﬁnance, each institute has only access to limited amounts of data, and creating larger datasets typically requires collaboration. However, there are privacy related constraints on these collaborations for legal, ethical, and competitive reasons. In this work, we present a feasible protocol for learning neural networks in a collaborative way while preserving the privacy of each record. This is achieved by combining Differential Privacy and Secure Multi-Party Computation with Machine Learning.
EndNet: Sparse AutoEncoder Network for Endmember Extraction and Hyperspectral Unmixing

Data acquired from multichannel sensors are a highly valuable asset to interpret the environment for a variety of remote sensing applications. However, low spatial resolution is a critical limitation for previous sensors, and the constituent materials of a scene can be mixed in different fractions due to their spatial interactions. Spectral unmixing is a technique that allows us to obtain the material spectral signatures and their fractions from hyperspectral data. In this paper, we propose a novel endmember extraction and hyperspectral unmixing scheme, so-called EndNet, that is based on a two-staged autoencoder network. This well-known structure is completely enhanced and restructured by introducing additional layers and a projection metric [i.e., spectral angle distance (SAD) instead of inner product] to achieve an optimum solution. Moreover, we present a novel loss function that is composed of a Kullback–Leibler divergence term with SAD similarity and additional penalty terms to improve the sparsity of the estimates. These modifications enable us to set the common properties of endmembers, such as nonlinearity and sparsity for autoencoder networks. Finally, due to the stochastic-gradient-based approach, the method is scalable for large-scale data and it can be accelerated on graphical processing units. To demonstrate the superiority of our proposed method, we conduct extensive experiments on several well-known data sets. The results confirm that the proposed method considerably improves the performance compared to the state-of-the-art techniques in the literature.
Sequence differences between glycosylated and non-glycosylated Asn-X-Thr/Ser acceptor sites: implications for protein engineering

Abstract In N-glycosylated glycoproteins, carbohydrate is attached to Asn in the sequence Asn-X-Ser/Thr, where X denotes any amino acid. However, the presence of this consensus peptide does not always lead to glycosylation. We have compiled an extensive collection of glycosylated and non-glycosylated Asn-X-Thr/Ser sites and present a statistical study based on this data set. Our results indicate that non-glycosylated sites tend to be found more frequently towards the C termini of glycoproteins, and that proline residues in positions X and Y in the consensus Asn-X-Thr/Ser-Y strongly reduce the likelihood of N-linked glycosylation. Beyond this, there are no obvious local sequence features that seem to correlate with the absence or presence of N-linked glycosylation. These findings are discussed in terms of the prediction and engineering of glycosylation sites in secretory proteins.
A linguistic study of product names in Thai economic news

This paper reports a linguistic analysis of product names in Thai economic news. This basic knowledge will be useful for solving named entity identification problem. The structure of product names used in the economic news is described. The analysis not only shows the result of each product name's structure, but also shows the different varying forms found in continuous text. The result of this analysis can be applied for future work that focuses in Product Named Entity recognition.
Stack filter design for image restoration using genetic algorithms

Stack filters are a class of non-linear spatial operators used for noise suppression. Their design is formulated as an optimisation problem and genetic algorithms used to perform the configuration. Applying the mean absolute error (MAE) as the basis of an objective function, the stack filter is used to restore magnetic resonance images corrupted with uncorrelated additive noise from 10% and 50%. The outcomes are compared with the median filter and return a smaller MAE for all noise levels. The design is extended from 9 point to 13 point filters and by training on Poisson noise, the filter is applied to nuclear medicine bone scans where no absolute truth exists. Image profiles and relative contrast show the filter's value in reducing noise whilst preserving contrast.
Nostalgia for the Future: The Resurgence of an Alienated Culture in China

hanghai has been a city in rising since the early 1990s and the sweeping changes in the urban landscape are most visible. In the early 1980s, the twenty-four story Park Hotel that had towered over Shanghai for half a century remained the highest building in the city and there were only four other buildings in the entire city that reached the height of twenty stories. By 1999, Shanghai had 1,350 buildings that were higher than twenty stories, nearly all of which were built in the 1990s. ' The reshaping of the landscape of Shanghai was such that in the late 1990s, on average every three months, the authorities had to print a new version of the city map.2 The rise of Shanghai has been quite remarkably stimulated by the revival of the city's cultural tradition, which was established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but halted in 1949. Beijing's endorsement of Shanghai's growth has permitted more objective views on old Shanghai and its culture. Consequently, it allowed the resurgence of at least part of the city's old commercial spirit and cosmopolitanism. Under this circumstance, nostalgia about pre-1949 Shanghai was tolerated and to some extent even encouraged and promoted. This article looks into the nostalgia in presentday Shanghai, including an emerging "coffee culture" that symbolizes the
Sizing bands on autoradiograms: A study of precision for scoring DNA fingerprints

We replicated DNA fingerprints of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) and hypervariable restriction fragments of red‐winged black birds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to estimate the between‐blot and between‐lane components of variance in molecular weights of restriction fragments. Molecular weight standards were included in every lane, and bands were sized using a sonic digitizer. In both studies, a strong positive correlation was found between band size and coefficient of variation (CV; mean = 0.7 %). In the DNA fingerprint study, 26 % of the variance in estimates of band size was due to differences between blots, 10 % due to differences between lanes on the same blot, and 64 % due to error in the digitizing process. In the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) study, 16 % of the variance was due to difference between lanes, and 84 % to digitizing. Statistical models were developed to measure the effect of sizing error on identifying identical fragments in different lanes or on different blots, in categorizing distinct alleles, and in determining the size of bins in operational allele definitions. We suggest that the distance between bands be at least 2.8 standard deviations (SD) before they are declared different at α = 0.05, and 3.7 SD for α = 0.01. A variation in CVs strongly indicate that empirical relationships between SD and band size must be used to decide if two bands represent the same allele. Alleles must be at least 3.9 SD apart before the chance of assigning new observations in error falls below 0.05. We suggest that a minimum bin width of 16 SD is necessary before the chances of assigning a band to the wrong bin falls below 0.05.
Molecular Detection of Nosema apis and N. Ceranae from Southwestern and South Central USA Feral Africanized and European Honey Bees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract A Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) molecular diagnostic survey for the honey bee pathogens Nosema apis Zander and N. ceranae Fries was conducted on feral Africanized honey bee (AHB) and European honey bee (EHB), Apis mellifera L. , populations sampled from Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Utah, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Polymerase Chain Reaction — Restriction Fragment Length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of a 220 bp small subunit (SSU) marker was conducted on 517 samples, consisting of 245 AHB and 272 EHB individuals. A total of 43 samples (8.3%) were positive for Nosema; of these, 82.1% were N. ceranae, and the remainder were N. apis. No mixed samples were observed. For the AHB samples, Nosema was detected in 9.0% of the samples with 89.5% of the Nosema identified as N. ceranae, and 10.5% as N. apis. With the EHB samples, 7.7% had Nosema; 75.0% of these with N. ceranae, and 25.0% with N. apis. No significant difference was observed between AHB and EHB feral samples for occurrence of each Nosema species and prevalence of Nosema infection. Among the AHB samples, Nosema was more common in Utah and Texas than in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Nosema infection rates for feral honey bees was considerably lower than levels observed with managed honey bees in studies from New York, South Dakota, and Virginia.
Epidemiology of Hospital-Acquired Infections in Veterans With Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder

Objective. To describe the epidemiology of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in veterans with spinal cord injury and disorder (SCI&D). Design. Retrospective medical record review. Setting. Midwestern Department of Veterans Affairs spinal cord injury center. Participants. A total of 226 patients with SCI&D hospitalized at least once during a 2-year period (October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2003). Results. A total of 549 hospitalizations were included in the analysis (mean duration of hospitalization, 33.7 days); an HAI occurred during 182 (33.2%) of these hospitalizations. A total of 657 HAIs occurred during 18,517 patient-days in the hospital (incidence rate, 35.5 HAIs per 1,000 patient-days). Almost half of the 226 patients had at least 1 HAI; the mean number of HAIs among these patients was 6.0 HAIs per patient. The most common HAIs were urinary tract infection (164 [25.0%] of the 657 HAIs; incidence rate, 8.9 cases per 1,000 patient-days), bloodstream infection (111 [16.9%]; incidence rate, 6.0 cases per 1,000 patient-days), and bone and joint infection (103 [15.7%]; incidence rate, 5.6 cases per 1,000 patient-days). The most common culture isolates were gram-positive bacteria (1,082 [45.6%] of 2,307 isolates), including Staphylococcus aureus, and gram-negative bacteria (1,033 [43.6%] of isolates), including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Multivariate regression demonstrated that predictors of HAI were longer length of hospital stay (P = .002), community-acquired infection (P = .007), and use of a urinary invasive device (P = .01) or respiratory invasive device (P = .04). Conclusions. The overall incidence of HAIs in persons with SCI&D was higher than that reported for other populations, confirming the increased risk of HAI in persons with spinal cord injury. The increased risk associated with longer length of stay and with community-acquired infection suggests that strategies are needed to reduce the duration of hospitalization and to effectively treat community-acquired infection, to decrease infection rates. There is significant room for improvement in reducing the incidence of HAIs in this population.
Coronary stent strut avulsion in aorto‐ostial in‐stent restenosis: Potential complication after cutting balloon angioplasty

We report a case of stent strut avulsion by the cutting balloon during the withdrawal of the deflated balloon catheter in aorto‐ostial in‐stent restenosis, which was managed successfully by another stent. The proposed mechanisms and recommendations to avoid this rare complication are provided. Cathet Cardiovasc Intervent 2002;56:215–219. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.