Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brain Regions Responsible for Tinnitus Distress and Loudness: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Subjective tinnitus is characterized by the perception of phantom sound without an external auditory stimulus. We hypothesized that abnormal functionally connected regions in the central nervous system might underlie the pathophysiology of chronic subjective tinnitus. Statistical significance of functional connectivity (FC) strength is affected by the regional autocorrelation coefficient (AC). In this study, we used resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) and measured regional mean FC strength (mean cross-correlation coefficient between a region and all other regions without taking into account the effect of AC (rGC) and with taking into account the effect of AC (rGCa) to elucidate brain regions related to tinnitus symptoms such as distress, depression and loudness. Consistent with previous studies, tinnitus loudness was not related to tinnitus-related distress and depressive state. Although both rGC and rGCa revealed similar brain regions where the values showed a statistically significant relationship with tinnitus-related symptoms, the regions for rGCa were more localized and more clearly delineated the regions related specifically to each symptom. The rGCa values in the bilateral rectus gyri were positively correlated and those in the bilateral anterior and middle cingulate gyri were negatively correlated with distress and depressive state. The rGCa values in the bilateral thalamus, the bilateral hippocampus, and the left caudate were positively correlated and those in the left medial superior frontal gyrus and the left posterior cingulate gyrus were negatively correlated with tinnitus loudness. These results suggest that distinct brain regions are responsible for tinnitus symptoms. The regions for distress and depressive state are known to be related to depression, while the regions for tinnitus loudness are known to be related to the default mode network and integration of multi-sensory information.
The HAAPI (Home Arm Assistance Progression Initiative) Trial

Background. Geographical location, socioeconomic status, and logistics surrounding transportation impede access of poststroke individuals to comprehensive rehabilitative services. Robotic therapy may enhance telerehabilitation by delivering consistent and state-of-the art therapy while allowing remote monitoring and adjusting therapy for underserved populations. The Hand Mentor Pro (HMP) was incorporated within a home exercise program (HEP) to improve upper-extremity (UE) functional capabilities poststroke. Objective. To determine the efficacy of a home-based telemonitored robotic-assisted therapy as part of a HEP compared with a dose-matched HEP-only intervention among individuals less than 6 months poststroke and characterized as underserved. Methods. In this prospective, single-blinded, multisite, randomized controlled trial, 99 hemiparetic participants with limited access to UE rehabilitation were randomized to either (1) the experimental group, which received combined HEP and HMP for 3 h/d ×5 days ×8 weeks, or (2) the control group, which received HEP only at an identical dosage. Weekly communication between the supervising therapist and participant promoted compliance and progression of the HEP and HMP prescription. The Action Research Arm Test and Wolf Motor Function Test along with the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (UE) were primary and secondary outcome measures, respectively, undertaken before and after the interventions. Results. Both groups demonstrated improvement across all UE outcomes. Conclusions. Robotic + HEP and HEP only were both effectively delivered remotely. There was no difference between groups in change in motor function over time. Additional research is necessary to determine the appropriate dosage of HMP and HEP.
The NDR Family Kinase NdrA of Dictyostelium Localizes to the Centrosome and Is Required for Efficient Phagocytosis

Dictyostelium discoideum cells are professional phagocytes that provide an easily accessible system to gain insights into the mechanisms and the regulatory machinery controlling phagocytosis. Here, we describe a novel function for nuclear Dbf2‐related (NDR) family kinases in phagocytosis of D. discoideum. Deletion of one of the four NDR kinases of D. discoideum, NdrA, resulted in impaired cell growth caused by reduced phagocytosis rates. Detailed analysis of NdrA‐null cells revealed that the formation of phagocytic cups was delayed. Microscopic investigations showed that NdrA localizes to centrosomes, and NdrA was also identified in isolated centrosome preparations. The localization of NdrA is regulated during the cell cycle. In prophase, NdrA disappears from the centrosome and forms a cloud‐like structure around the spindle, which is totally absent during later stages until completion of mitosis. Our results suggest that a signal which originates from the NdrA kinase at the centrosome affects the efficiency of phagocytosis. We assume that in NdrA‐null cells the defects in phagocytosis may be caused by an impairment of vesicle trafficking, which is involved in providing new membrane at the sites of particle uptake.
Identification of breast vascular calcium deposition in digital mammography by linear structure analysis

Computerized detection of vascular calcium depositions in mamagraphy is a new research topics, which is driven by the clinical hypothesis of the association with many related cardiovascular diseases. In several previous studies [7, 9], calcification cue plays a very important role in the computerized analysis. We observe that vascular calcium depositions can be identified with high confidence if they appear in a bright railway pattern. Accordingly, a linear structure analysis method is introduced in this study to detect most true calcifications and also keep the false positives as little as possible. The proposed method is tested with 40 mammograms and achieves performance of 93.8±1.3% in sensitivity and 84.7±3.9% in specificity. The output of this linear structure analysis may provide more reliable calcification cue for the subsequent vessel tracking process, which will be investigated in the future.
Asphalt concrete stiffness prediction based on composition and binder properties

Asphalt concrete stiffness is currently only determined by tests in The Netherlands. A prediction model can be useful for mix design and verification purposes. In this paper existing asphalt concrete stiffness prediction models have been analysed. A database with 7 mixes has been build to assess these models. A study was performed on the relevance of binder and composition parameters for predicting asphalt concrete stiffness. Finally, a new model is proposed.
GridDB: a relational interface for the grid

Computational Grids offer the promise of harnessing vast computing resources on a global scale for computationallyintensive tasks. While many uses are envisioned, data analysis and simulation by computational scientists seems to be the initial killer application. The data-intensive nature of modern scientific applications is driving a rethinking of basic grid architecture and tools. In emerging grid systems data management is a primary concern. Modern Grid efforts, such as the Grid Physics Network (GriPhyN) [1], are recognizing the importance of databases for data management, but have refrained from using database technology as a core paradigm. As part of the GriPhyN project we are exploring a deeper integration of grid and database technologies. We have developed GridDB, which is a system that provides a relational interface to Grid services. Our goal is to investigate the benefits of a declarative, data-centric interface that hides the complex workflows of procedural programs and non-relational data typically found in Grid data analysis. In this demonstration, we show an initial version of the GridDB system and highlight some of the advantages of our approach.
Internal vs. core coalitional stability in the environmental externality game: A reconciliation

In a game with positive externalities, such as e.g. the standard environmental externality game used in the analysis of international environmental agreements, the solutions having the property of coalitional internal stability, when they exist, are compared in this paper with the solutions with the property of ? -core stability. Key instruments for that comparison are the notions of stable imputations, on the one hand, and on the other, of partial agreement Nash equilibria relative to a coalition as they result from unacceptable, i.e. unstable imputations. The relation between internal and core stable solutions is claimed to be one of compatibility, the former concept complementing the latter in the games where internally stable solutions exist. But this class of games is more restricted than the one for which only ? -core solutions exist. The argument is first presented graphically, then analytically. The relations here exhibited between core and internal forms of stability arouse some concluding thoughts on efficiency, coalitional stability, and on motivations in sharing the surplus generated by cooperation in international environmental issues
Wavelet-based algorithm for acoustic detection of moving ground and airborne targets

We detect the presence of a vehicle or an air borne target form a certain class via the analysis of its acoustic signature against an existing database of recorded and processed acoustic signals. To achieve this detection with no false alarms we construct the acoustic signatures of certain targets to be found by the distribution of the energies among blocks which consists of wavelet packet coefficients. We developed an efficient procedure for adaptive selection of the characteristic blocks. We modified the CART algorithm in order to utilize it as a decision unit in our scheme. A wide series of field experiments manifested a remarkable efficiency of the algorithm. The detecting had been achieved practically with no false alarms even under severe conditions such a the acoustic recording of sought- after object was a superposition of the acoustics emitted from other targets that belong to other classes. The detection was even immune to severe noisy surroundings.
Cell radius inaccuracy: a new measure of coverage reliability

A robust method for determining the boundaries of cells and the associated reliability of the radio frequency (RF) coverage within these boundaries is presented. The procedure accurately determines the effective cell radius using a linear regression of the RF signal strength samples. The accuracy of this estimate is quantified both as a radius uncertainty (e.g., /spl plusmn/100 m) and as a coverage (i.e., area/edge) reliability error through: (1) simulation; (2) analysis of real data; and (3) theoretical analysis. It is shown that if the estimate of the cell radius meets the desired accuracy, then the corresponding estimates of coverage reliability (both area and edge) are more than sufficiently accurate. Through a sensitivity analysis, it is discovered that estimating the cell radius is a much more critical step in determining the quality of RF coverage than the more common practice of simply estimating the area reliability. In addition, a formula for estimating area reliability is given and shown to be more accurate than can be obtained by current approaches. The verification method presented is particularly useful in wireless planning since it effectively determines the geographic extent of reliable RF coverage. It is recommended that radio survey analyses select cell radius estimation as the preferred method of coverage verification.
Fertility information appliance

Fertility awareness or natural family planning has been used successfully since the 1930s to predict a woman's fertile days. These natural methods are based on the fact that fertilization is most likely to occur around the time of ovulation. Intercourse is avoided during those times when a woman is fertile, thus preventing conception. In this paper, we present a fertility information appliance that combines ovulation, symptom-thermal and LH (luteinizing hormone) methods. The appliance is implemented using a neurofuzzy approach. The device has other features such as PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) and TCP/IP implementation for e-mail and file transfer via a modem.
A precoding and equalisation design based on oversampled filter banks for dispersive channels with correlated noise

Oversampled filter banks (OSFBs) have recently been considered for channel coding since their redundancy introduced into the transmitted signal permits more freedom in the design of joint transmitter and receiver. Further specifically, they can be exploited to transmit over low noise subspaces or even mitigate dispersiveness of the channel. In this paper we propose a joint precoding and equalisation design using OSFBs, which find a compromise between transmitting over the low-noise subspace of channel noise's polyphase components, and the high-gain subspace of the channel's polyphase components. Polynomial building blocks are permitted and the minimisation of the mean square error (MSE) at the receiver output is achieved. We describe the design, and highlight the communalities and differences of this approach to existing methods. Simulation results show the benefit of the proposed system design compared to existing design approaches.
A Ka-band cavity bandpass filter using LTCC technology

This paper presents a simple way to design a bandpass LTCC (Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic) cavity filter, which has microstrips as I/O ports and via fenses as side walls. This filter works in the Ka-band, and exhibits an insertion loss of 1.5 dB at the center frequency of 35.85 GHz, a rejection more than 20 dB over the passband, a 3-dB bandwidth about 0.5 GHz and in the lower band of 33–34 GHz, the stopband suppression of 60–81dB is achieved. Besides of the perfect performance, this filter is easy to be integrated to millimetre-wave systems.
Scalable Progressive Analytics on Big Data in the Cloud

Analytics over the increasing quantity of data stored in the Cloud has become very expensive, particularly due to the pay-as-you-go Cloud computation model. Data scientists typically manually extract samples of increasing data size (progressive samples) using domain-specific sampling strategies for exploratory querying. This provides them with user-control, repeatable semantics, and result provenance. However, such solutions result in tedious workflows that preclude the reuse of work across samples. On the other hand, existing approximate query processing systems report early results, but do not offer the above benefits for complex ad-hoc queries. We propose a new progressive analytics system based on a progress model called Prism that (1) allows users to communicate progressive samples to the system; (2) allows efficient and deterministic query processing over samples; and (3) provides repeatable semantics and provenance to data scientists. We show that one can realize this model for atemporal relational queries using an unmodified temporal streaming engine, by re-interpreting temporal event fields to denote progress. Based on Prism, we build Now! , a progressive data-parallel computation framework for Windows Azure, where progress is understood as a first-class citizen in the framework. Now! works with "progress-aware reducers"- in particular, it works with streaming engines to support progressive SQL over big data. Extensive experiments on Windows Azure with real and synthetic workloads validate the scalability and benefits of Now! and its optimizations, over current solutions for progressive analytics.
Predictions of Thermo‐Mechanical Properties of Cross‐Linked Polyacrylamide Hydrogels Using Molecular Simulations

Hydrophilic acrylamide‐based hydrogels are emerging platforms for numerous applications, but the resources to fully exploit these materials are currently limited. A deep understanding of the molecular‐level structure/property relationships in hydrogels is crucial to progressing these efforts. Such relationships can be challenging to elucidate on the basis of experimental data alone. Here, molecular simulations are used as a complementary strategy to reveal the molecular‐level phenomena that govern the thermo‐mechanical properties of hydrogels. The focus is on acrylamide‐based hydrogels cross‐linked with N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide, generated using previously established computational cross‐linking procedure. The water content is found to be a key determinant in the elastic response of these hydrogels, with enhanced tensile and shear properties at low water content. However, it is also found that increasing water content enhances the hydrogel's thermal conductivity, with the dominant contribution arising from the non‐bonded contributions to the heat flux. In addition, chemical cross‐linking improves the heat transfer properties of the hydrogel, whereas a reduction in convective heat transfer is predicted with an increase in hydrogel cross‐linking. These simulations provide a rational basis for designing and testing customized hydrogel formulations for maximizing both thermal conductivity and mechanical properties.
A 3D Finite-Difference BiCG Iterative Solver with the Fourier-Jacobi Preconditioner for the Anisotropic EIT/EEG Forward Problem

The Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) and electroencephalography (EEG) forward problems in anisotropic inhomogeneous media like the human head belongs to the class of the three-dimensional boundary value problems for elliptic equations with mixed derivatives. We introduce and explore the performance of several new promising numerical techniques, which seem to be more suitable for solving these problems. The proposed numerical schemes combine the fictitious domain approach together with the finite-difference method and the optimally preconditioned Conjugate Gradient- (CG-) type iterative method for treatment of the discrete model. The numerical scheme includes the standard operations of summation and multiplication of sparse matrices and vector, as well as FFT, making it easy to implement and eligible for the effective parallel implementation. Some typical use cases for the EIT/EEG problems are considered demonstrating high efficiency of the proposed numerical technique.
Finding stale‐value errors in concurrent programs

Concurrent programs can suffer from many types of errors, not just the well‐studied problems of deadlocks and simple race conditions on variables. This paper addresses a kind of race condition that arises from reading a variable whose value is possibly out of date. The paper introduces a simple technique for detecting such stale values, and reports on the encouraging experience with a compile‐time checker that uses the technique. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The tobacco wounding-activated mitogen-activated protein kinase is encoded by SIPK.

It has been demonstrated that both salicylic acid and fungal elicitors activate a 48-kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase termed salicylic acid-induced protein kinase (SIPK) in tobacco suspension cells. Here, we show that infiltration of these agents into tobacco leaves also activates SIPK. Of particular interest, infiltration of water alone activated a kinase of the same size, possibly because of wounding and/or osmotic stresses. The kinetics of kinase activation, however, differ for these different treatments. Various mechanical stresses, including cutting and wounding by abrasion, also activated a 48-kDa kinase. By using an immune-complex kinase assay with antibodies specific for SIPK or wounding-induced protein kinase, we demonstrate that this wounding-activated 48-kDa kinase is SIPK, rather than wounding-induced protein kinase, as reported [Seo, S. , Okamoto, M. , Seto, H. , Ishizuka, K. , Sano, H. & Ohashi, Y. (1995) Science 270, 1988-1992]. Activation of SIPK after wounding was associated with tyrosine phosphorylation but not with increases in SIPK mRNA or protein levels. Thus, the same mitogen-activated protein kinase, SIPK, appears to facilitate signaling for two distinct pathways that lead to disease resistance responses and wounding responses.
Risk Estimation via Regression

We introduce a regression-based nested Monte Carlo simulation method for the estimation of financial risk. An outer simulation level is used to generate financial risk factors and an inner simulation level is used to price securities and compute portfolio losses given risk factor outcomes. The mean squared error (MSE) of standard nested simulation converges at the rate k −2/3 , where k measures computational effort. The proposed regression method combines information from different risk factor realizations to provide a better estimate of the portfolio loss function. The MSE of the regression method converges at the rate k −1 until reaching an asymptotic bias level which depends on the magnitude of the regression error. Numerical results consistent with our theoretical analysis are provided and numerical comparisons with other methods are also given.
YCF1: A Green TIC: Response to the de Vries et al. Commentary

This response to a recent Commentary article by de Vries et al. highlights critical errors in the annotation and identification of Ycf1 homologs in the sequenced chloroplast genomes. Contrary to what is reported by de Vries et al., the majority of chloroplast genomes sequenced to date appear to have retained a typical Ycf1 sequence (i.e., including the N-terminal 6TM domain and a variable hydrophilic C-terminal domain) as my group previously reported. Our evidence continues to support the model that Ycf1 forms an essential component of a “green TIC” that is largely conserved among the Chlorophyta and land plants. Since the establishment of this green TIC with Tic20 as the core component, some cases of loss of Ycf1 during the evolution of the green lineages might be regarded as modifications or alterations of the complex. Here, I discuss our working model that the presence of an alternative “nonphotosynthetic-type” or “ancestral-type” TIC might explain other (or specific) cases of the lack of Ycf1, not only in early lineages, including Glaucophyta and Rhodophyta, but also in the grasses.
Validation of predictive equations for resting energy expenditure in obese adolescents.

BACKGROUND When the resting energy expenditure (REE) of overweight and obese adolescents cannot be measured by indirect calorimetry, it has to be predicted with an equation. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the validity of published equations for REE compared with indirect calorimetry in overweight and obese adolescents. DESIGN Predictive equations based on weight, height, sex, age, fat-free mass (FFM), and fat mass were compared with measured REE. REE was measured by indirect calorimetry, and body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The accuracy of the REE equations was evaluated on the basis of the percentage of adolescents predicted within 10% of REE measured, the mean percentage difference between predicted and measured values (bias), and the root mean squared prediction error (RMSE). RESULTS Forty-three predictive equations (of which 12 were based on FFM) were included. Validation was based on 70 girls and 51 boys with a mean age of 14.5 y and a mean (+/-SD) body mass index SD score of 2.93 +/- 0.45. The percentage of adolescents with accurate predictions ranged from 74% to 12% depending on the equation used. The most accurate and precise equation for these adolescents was the Molnar equation (accurate predictions: 74%; bias: -1.2%; RMSE: 174 kcal/d). The often-used Schofield-weight equation for age 10-18 y was not accurate (accurate predictions: 50%; bias: +10.7%; RMSE: 276 kcal/d). CONCLUSIONS Indirect calorimetry remains the method of choice for REE in overweight and obese adolescents. However, the sex-specific Molnar REE prediction equation appears to be the most accurate for overweight and obese adolescents aged 12-18 y. This trial was registered at www.trialregister. nl with the Netherlands Trial Register as ISRCTN27626398.