Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computational aspects of finite element modeling in EEG source localization

A comparison is made of two different implementations of the finite element method (FEM) for calculating the potential due to dipole sources in electroencephalography (EEG). In one formulation (the direct method) the total potential is the unknown that is solved for and the dipole source is directly incorporated into the model. In the second formulation (the subtraction method) the unknown is the difference between the total potential and the potential due to the same dipole in an infinite region of homogeneous conductivity, corresponding to the region where the dipole is located. Both methods have the same FEM system matrix. However, the subtraction method requires an additional calculation of flux integrations along the edges of the elements in the computation of the right-hand side (RHS) vector. It is shown that the subtraction method is usually more accurate in the forward modeling, provided the flux integrations are computed accurately. Errors in calculating the flux integrations may result in large errors in the forward solution due to the ill-conditioned nature of the FEM system matrix caused by the Neumann boundary condition. To minimize the errors, closed-form expressions for the flux integrations are used for both linear and quadratic triangular elements. It is also found that FEM forward modeling errors may cause false extrema in the least-square objective function obtained from the boundary potential, near boundaries between media of differing conductivity. Multiple initial guesses help eliminate the possibility of the solution getting trapped in these false extrema.
Repetition blindness for novel objects

When visual stimuli (letters, words or pictures of objects) are presented sequentially at high rates (8–12 items/s), observers have difficulty in detecting and reporting both occurrences of a repeated item: This is repetition blindness. Two experiments investigated the effects of repetition of novel objects, and whether the representations bound to episodic memory tokens that yield repetition blindness are viewpoint dependent or whether they are object centred. Subjects were shown coloured drawings of simple three‐dimensional novel objects, and rate of presentation (Experiment 1) and rotation in depth (Experiment 2) were manipulated. Repetition blindness occurred only at the higher rate (105 ms/item), and was found even for stimuli differing in orientation. We conclude that object‐centred representations are bound to episodic memory tokens, and that these are constructed prior to object recognition operating on novel as well as known objects. These results are contrasted with those found with written materials, and implications for explanations of repetition blindness are considered.
ASK-GraphView: A Large Scale Graph Visualization System

We describe ASK-GraphView, a node-link-based graph visualization system that allows clustering and interactive navigation of large graphs, ranging in size up to 16 million edges. The system uses a scalable architecture and a series of increasingly sophisticated clustering algorithms to construct a hierarchy on an arbitrary, weighted undirected input graph. By lowering the interactivity requirements we can scale to substantially bigger graphs. The user is allowed to navigate this hierarchy in a top down manner by interactively expanding individual clusters. ASK-GraphView also provides facilities for filtering and coloring, annotation and cluster labeling
VENSES++: Adapting a deep semantic processing system to the identification of null instantiations

The system to spot INIs, DNIs and their antecedents is an adaptation of VENSES, a system for semantic evaluation that has been used for RTE challenges in the last 6 years. In the following we will briefly describe the system and then the additions we made to cope with the new task. In particular, we will discuss how we mapped the VENSES analysis to the representation of frame information in order to identify null instantiations in the text.
Leaf Conductance in Relation to Rate of CO(2) Assimilation: III. Influences of Water Stress and Photoinhibition.

Rates of CO(2) assimilation and leaf conductances to CO(2) transfer were measured in plants of Zea mays during a period of 14 days in which the plants were not rewatered, and leaf water potential decreased from -0.5 to -8.0 bar. At any given ambient partial pressure of CO(2), water stress reduced rate of assimilation and leaf conductance similarly, so that intercellular partial pressure of CO(2) remained almost constant. At normal ambient partial pressure of CO(2), the intercellular partial pressure of CO(2) was estimated to be 95 microbars. This is the same as had been estimated in plants of Zea mays grown with various levels of nitrogen supply, phosphate supply and irradiance, and in plants of Zea mays examined at different irradiances.After leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieb. ex Spreng had been exposed to high irradiance in an atmosphere of CO(2)-free N(2) with 10 millibars O(2), rates of assimilation and leaf conductances measured in standard conditions had decreased in similar proportions, so that intercellular partial pressure of CO(2) remained almost unchanged. As the conductance of each epidermis that had not been directly irradiated had declined as much as that in the opposite, irradiated surface it was hypothesized that conductance may have been influenced by photoinhibition within the mesophyll tissue.
Content-based image retrieval algorithm oriented by users' experience

In order to not only improve the storage efficiency, retrieval speed and accuracy of the existing content-based image retrieval algorithm, but also improve the quality of user experience, this paper proposes a novel improved algorithm about content-based image retrieval oriented by users' experience. According to the three elements of human visual color characteristics, this algorithm firstly quantifies the image; then it calculates the histogram in HSV color space. With the feature vectors of the obtained histogram, the index will be set in Lucene indexing library. At the same time, users' relevance feedback information is made use of to modify the searching results, which makes results closer to users' needs. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has perfect efficiency and accuracy, which makes users' operating experience better.
A Linear Encoding Approach to Index Assignment in Lossy Source-Channel Coding

We present a general scheme for the lossy transmission of a source with arbitrary statistics through a noisy channel under the mean-square error fidelity criterion. Our approach is based on transform coding, scalar quantization of the transform coefficients and linear encoding of the quantization indices. Entropy coding and channel coding are merged into a single linear encoding function, such that the ¿catastrophic¿ behavior of conventional entropy coding is avoided and the full power of modern coding techniques and iterative ¿Belief-Propagation¿ decoding can be exploited. We show that this approach is asymptotically optimal in the limit of large block length, for arbitrary source statistics and binary-input output-symmetric channel. In the practical regime of finite block length and low decoding complexity, we show, through the explicit construction of codes for the lossy transmission of digital images over a binary symmetric channel, that our approach yields significant improvements with respect to previously proposed channel-optimized quantization schemes and also with respect to the conventional concatenation of state-of-the art image coding with state-of-the art channel coding. Although our constructive example focuses on a special case, the approach is general and can be applied to other classes of sources of practical interest.
Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide-Mediated Enhancement of Purinergic Neuron/Glia Communication by the Algogenic Factor Bradykinin in Mouse Trigeminal Ganglia from Wild-Type and R192Q Cav2.1 Knock-In Mice: Implications for Basic Mechanisms of Migraine Pain

Within the trigeminal ganglion, crosstalk between neurons and satellite glial cells (SGCs) contributes to neuronal sensitization and transduction of painful stimuli, including migraine pain, at least partly through activation of purinergic receptor mechanisms. We previously showed that the algogenic mediator bradykinin (BK) potentiates purinergic P2Y receptors on SGCs in primary trigeminal cultures. Our present study investigated the molecular basis of this effect in wild-type (WT) mice and CaV2.1 α1 R192Q mutant knock-in (KI) mice expressing a human mutation causing familial hemiplegic migraine type 1. Single-cell calcium imaging of WT cultures revealed functional BK receptors in neurons only, suggesting a paracrine action by BK to release a soluble mediator responsible for its effects on SGCs. We identified this mediator as the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), whose levels were markedly increased by BK, while the CGRP antagonist CGRP8-37 and the anti-migraine drug sumatriptan inhibited BK actions. Unlike CGRP, BK was ineffective in neuron-free SGC cultures, confirming the CGRP neuronal source. P2Y receptor potentiation induced by CGRP in SGCs was mediated via activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 pathways, and after exposure to CGRP, a significant release of several cytokines was detected. Interestingly, both basal and BK-stimulated CGRP release was higher in KI mouse cultures, where BK significantly upregulated the number of SGCs showing functional UTP-sensitive P2Y receptors. Our findings suggest that P2Y receptors on glial cells might be considered as novel players in the cellular processes underlying migraine pathophysiology and might represent new targets for the development of innovative therapeutic agents against migraine pain.
Variable Responses to Carbon Utilization between Planktonic and Biofilm Cells of a Human Carrier Strain of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) is a foodborne pathogen that causes typhoid fever and infects only humans. The ability of S. Typhi to survive outside the human host remains unclear, particularly in human carrier strains. In this study, we have investigated the catabolic activity of a human carrier S. Typhi strain in both planktonic and biofilm cells using the high-throughput Biolog Phenotype MicroArray, Minimum Biofilm Eradication Concentration (MBEC) biofilm inoculator (96-well peg lid) and whole genome sequence data. Additional strains of S. Typhi were tested to further validate the variation of catabolism in selected carbon substrates in the different bacterial growth phases. The analyzes of the carbon utilization data indicated that planktonic cells of the carrier strain, S. Typhi CR0044 could utilize a broader range of carbon substrates compared to biofilm cells. Pyruvic acid and succinic acid which are related to energy metabolism were actively catabolised in the planktonic stage compared to biofilm stage. On the other hand, glycerol, L-fucose, L-rhamnose (carbohydrates) and D-threonine (amino acid) were more actively catabolised by biofilm cells compared to planktonic cells. Notably, dextrin and pectin could induce strong biofilm formation in the human carrier strain of S. Typhi. However, pectin could not induce formation of biofilm in the other S. Typhi strains. Phenome data showed the utilization of certain carbon substrates which was supported by the presence of the catabolism-associated genes in S. Typhi CR0044. In conclusion, the findings showed the differential carbon utilization between planktonic and biofilm cells of a S. Typhi human carrier strain. The differences found in the carbon utilization profiles suggested that S. Typhi uses substrates mainly found in the human biliary mucus glycoprotein, gallbladder, liver and cortex of the kidney of the human host. The observed diversity in the carbon catabolism profiles among different S. Typhi strains has suggested the possible involvement of various metabolic pathways that might be related to the virulence and pathogenesis of this host-restricted human pathogen. The data serve as a caveat for future in-vivo studies to investigate the carbon metabolic activity to the pathogenesis of S. Typhi.
Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus Posttranscriptional Regulatory Element Enhances Expression of Transgenes Delivered by Retroviral Vectors

ABSTRACT The expression of genes delivered by retroviral vectors is often inefficient, a potential obstacle for their widespread use in human gene therapy. Here, we explored the possibility that the posttranscriptional regulatory element of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WPRE) might help resolve this problem. Insertion of the WPRE in the 3′ untranslated region of coding sequences carried by either oncoretroviral or lentiviral vectors substantially increased their levels of expression in a transgene-, promoter- and vector-independent manner. The WPRE thus increased either luciferase or green fluorescent protein production five- to eightfold, and effects of a comparable magnitude were observed with either the immediate-early cytomegalovirus or the herpesvirus thymidine kinase promoter and with both human immunodeficiency virus- and murine leukemia virus-based vectors. The WPRE exerted this influence only when placed in the sense orientation, consistent with its predicted posttranscriptional mechanism of action. These results demonstrate that the WPRE significantly improves the performance of retroviral vectors and emphasize that posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression should be taken into account in the design of gene delivery systems.
Systems Analysis of Auxin Transport in the Arabidopsis Root Apex[W][OPEN]

This study presents a computational model for auxin transport based on actual root cell geometries and carrier subcellular localizations and tested using the DII-VENUS auxin sensor. The model shows that nonpolar AUX1/LAX influx carriers control which tissues have high auxin levels, whereas the polar PIN carriers control the direction of auxin transport within these tissues. Auxin is a key regulator of plant growth and development. Within the root tip, auxin distribution plays a crucial role specifying developmental zones and coordinating tropic responses. Determining how the organ-scale auxin pattern is regulated at the cellular scale is essential to understanding how these processes are controlled. In this study, we developed an auxin transport model based on actual root cell geometries and carrier subcellular localizations. We tested model predictions using the DII-VENUS auxin sensor in conjunction with state-of-the-art segmentation tools. Our study revealed that auxin efflux carriers alone cannot create the pattern of auxin distribution at the root tip and that AUX1/LAX influx carriers are also required. We observed that AUX1 in lateral root cap (LRC) and elongating epidermal cells greatly enhance auxin’s shootward flux, with this flux being predominantly through the LRC, entering the epidermal cells only as they enter the elongation zone. We conclude that the nonpolar AUX1/LAX influx carriers control which tissues have high auxin levels, whereas the polar PIN carriers control the direction of auxin transport within these tissues.
Social support at work and its relationship to absenteeism

Abstract In this study, the impact of psychosocial work characteristics on illness and work absenteeism has been examined. The study group consisted of 133 civil servants (33 men and 100 women) with a mean age of 43 years (range 21-65 years). Psychosocial work characteristics, social support, quality of life, work absenteeism, psychosomatic and gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed by means of questionnaires. Five different work support or functions were identified by factor analysis: appraisal support, belonging support, instrumental support, emotional support and supportive atmosphere. The analysis showed that work absenteeism was associated with lower belonging support and a less supportive atmosphere. Furthermore, psychosomatic symptoms were associated with lack of support at work, measured as belonging support, instrumental support and supportive atmosphere. Gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with lack of belonging support and lack of social integration outside work. A bad general health sta.
Analogue Filter IP Cores for Design Reuse

This paper addresses important considerations concerning the design of analogue filters, to ensure their suitability for use in a system on chip environment as intellectual property filter cores. We argue that switched-current is the most suitable circuit design technique and furthermore that the wave filter design methodology is favourable over an integrator approach. To speed up the design process some level of automation is clearly necessary and a system implemented in the SKILL language and within the Cadence Design Framework is particularly attractive given the access to powerful circuit analysis tools. A design flow is presented encompassing all of these attributes.
Interactive Robots as Social Partners and Peer Tutors for Children: A Field Trial

Robots increasingly have the potential to interact with people in daily life. It is believed that, based on this ability, they will play an essential role in human society in the not-so-distant future. This article examined the proposition that robots could form relationships with children and that children might learn from robots as they learn from other children. In this article, this idea is studied in an 18-day field trial held at a Japanese elementary school. Two English-speaking "Robovie" robots interacted with first- and sixth-grade pupils at the perimeter of their respective classrooms. Using wireless identification tags and sensors, these robots identified and interacted with children who came near them. The robots gestured and spoke English with the children, using a vocabulary of about 300 sentences for speaking and 50 words for recognition. The children were given a brief picture-word matching English test at the start of the trial, after 1 week and after 2 weeks. Interactions were counted using the tags, and video and audio were recorded. In the majority of cases, a child's friends were present during the interactions. Interaction with the robot was frequent in the 1st week, and then it fell off sharply by the 2nd week. Nonetheless, some children continued to interact with the robot. Interaction time during the 2nd week predicted improvements in English skill at the posttest, controlling for pretest scores. Further analyses indicate that the robots may have been more successful in establishing common ground and influence when the children already had some initial proficiency or interest in English. These results suggest that interactive robots should be designed to have something in common with their users, providing a social as well as technical challenge.
Sociodemographics, Motivations, and Behavior: The Case of Texas Anglers 1989–2004

This study analyzed data from the Statewide Surveys of Texas Anglers for 1989, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2001, and 2004. The objective was to explore trends in sociodemographics, motivations, and behavior of recreational anglers. Results showed that the composition of the respondents changed significantly over time on several variables including age, race/ethnicity, income, and satisfaction. Fishing participation and days fishing were fairly stable. Factor analysis of the motivational items yielded four factors: natural environment/social, challenge/adventure, skill/equipment, and escape/relax. Further analysis using MANCOVA/ANOVA and the four factors showed several significant differences by gender, social group, income, and age. The findings of this research identified important areas of stability and change for Texas anglers. Overall recommendations are given for identifying theoretical frameworks that may help understand anglers' behavior and preferences over time, implementing management strategies to meet the needs of anglers, and increasing the use of secondary data in human dimensions research.
Learning Support Vector Machines from Distributed Data Sources

In this paper we address the problem of learning Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers from distributed data sources. We identify sufficient statistics for learning SVMs and present an algorithm that learns SVMs from distributed data by iteratively computing the set of sufficient statistics. We prove that our algorithm is exact with respect to its centralized counterpart and efficient in terms of time complexity.
Simulation of Stochastic Reaction-Diffusion Processes on Unstructured Meshes

We model stochastic chemical systems with diffusion by a reaction-diffusion master equation. On a macroscopic level, the governing equation is a reaction-diffusion equation for the averages of the chemical species. On a mesoscopic level, the master equation for a well stirred chemical system is combined with a discretized Brownian motion in space to obtain the reaction-diffusion master equation. The space is covered in our method by an unstructured mesh, and the diffusion coefficients on the mesoscale are obtained from a finite element discretization of the Laplace operator on the macroscale. The resulting method is a flexible hybrid algorithm in that the diffusion can be handled either on the meso- or on the macroscale level. The accuracy and the efficiency of the method are illustrated in three numerical examples inspired by molecular biology.
Discrimination of humanoid robots from real human in a perception sensor network

Since the appearance of humanoid robots is similar with real human, a method is proposed to discriminate these robots from real human in a perception sensor network (PSN) which uses multiple Kinects and PTZ cameras to provide the location and name of tracked human to these robots. To this end, the global map which is acquired by fusing and calibrating one local map built by a robot and the other local map by the PSN system is used to provide the location of the robot. Since the PSN updates periodically the location of the robot by subscribing the ROS (Robot Operating System) topics, the robot which is wrongly detected as human but yields the closest distance to the location can be correctly identified as a robot in the system. Therefore, the misunderstood cases when robots are recognized as human in the PSN system are removed effectively. The experimental results demonstrate the outperforming of the proposed method in various scenarios.
Visuospatial Deficits in Parkinsons Disease Assessed by Judgment of Line Orientation Test: Error Analyses and Practice Effects

The Bentons Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO) is one of the tests most frequently used to assess visuospatial function. The aim of the present study was to analyze qualitative errors in Parkinsons disease (PD) following the method described by Ska, Poissant, and Joanette (1990) and to determine possible practice effects of this test. The JLO was administered to 76 idiopathic PD patients and 76 matched normal controls. The analyses of errors showed several qualitative differences between groups. Parkinsons patients made a greater proportion of complex intraquadrant errors and horizontal line errors, while they showed fewer simple intraquadrant errors than controls. The JLO test was also administered twice in an interval of 20 min in a subsample of 25 PD patients and 25 normal controls. The results did not show significant differences between the two administrations, indicating that the test is free of practice effects. In conclusion, these data provide further evidence for the existence of visuospatial deficits in PD. Moreover, the JLO has proved to be an appropriate test for the assessment of the visuospatial function in patients who require a neuropsychological follow up.