Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurocognitive profile analysis in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Although neurocognitive deficits have been identified in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), little research has focused on whether these deficits are generalized or specific to a given cognitive domain. We assessed the relative strengths and weaknesses of 26 adult patients with OCD compared to 38 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers in domains of motor, verbal memory, visual memory, reasoning/problem solving, processing speed processing, and language. Profile analysis revealed an overall neurocognitive deficit of ½ standard deviation in OCD patients versus healthy volunteers, with relative weaknesses in motor and processing speed domains. In contrast, relative strengths were observed in language, verbal memory, and reasoning/problem solving. Our findings demonstrate neurocognitive impairment in OCD that may relate to functional outcome in this population. Findings of specific abnormalities on tasks of motor and processing speed are consistent with a hypothesized role of thalamocortical and basal ganglia regions in the pathogenesis of OCD. (JINS, 2008, 14, 640–645.)
Along-Path Evolution of Biogeochemical and Carbonate System Properties in the Intermediate Water of the Western Mediterranean

A basin-scale oceanographic cruise (OCEANCERTAIN2015) was carried out in the Western Mediterranean (WMED) in summer 2015 to study the evolution of hydrological and biogeochemical properties of the most ubiquitous water mass of the Mediterranean Sea, the Intermediate Water (IW). IW is a relatively warm water mass, formed in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMED) and identified by a salinity maximum all over the basin. While it flows westward, toward and across the WMED, it gradually loses its characteristics. This study describes the along-path changes of thermohaline and biogeochemical properties of the IW in the WMED, trying to discriminate changes induced by mixing and changes induced by interior biogeochemical processes. In the first part of the path (from the Sicily Channel to the Tyrrhenian Sea), respiration in the IW interior was found to have a dominant role in determining its biogeochemical evolution. Afterward, when IW crosses regions of enhanced vertical dynamics (Ligurian Sea, Gulf of Lion and Catalan Sea), mixing with surrounding water masses becomes the primary process. In the final part of the investigated IW path (the Menorca-Mallorca region), the role of respiration is further masked by the effects of a complex circulation of IW, indicating that short-term sub-regional hydrological processes are important to define IW characteristics in the westernmost part of the investigated area. A pronounced along-path acidification was detected in IW, mainly due to remineralization of organic matter. This induced a shift of the carbonate equilibrium toward more acidic species and makes this water mass increasingly less adequate for an optimal growth of calcifying organisms. The carbonate buffering capacity also decreases as IW flows through the WMED, making it more exposed to the adverse effects of a decreasing pH. The present analysis indicates that IW evolution in the sub-basins of the WMED is currently driven by complex hydrological and biogeochemical processes, which could be differently impacted by coming climate changes, in particular considering expected increases of extreme meteorological events, mainly due to the warming of the Mediterranean basin.
Hybrid laser-activatable gold nanorods-loaded hydrogels for photothermal applications

Gold nanorods (GNRs) show enhanced absorption in the near infrared (NIR) region and can be conveniently employed for selective conversion of light into heat. We have succeeded in fabricating hybrid GNRs-polysaccharides composites in the form of semi-solid formulations, films or hydrogels, with good biocompatibility, enhanced stabilization in physiological environment and under laser irradiation and high versatility. Thanks to these properties, these materials are good candidates for applications in many biomedical methodologies including laser-mediated tissue repair and drug delivery. The present results are encouraging toward the development of a novel minimally-invasive technology based on the introduction of bio-inspired nanoplasmonic materials into photothermal applications.
Robot Pose Annotated World Environmental State RGB Image Point Cloud Sensor Input ( c ) Noisy Image Removal ( i ) Motion Blur

For daily assistive robots working in home environment, it is important to use geometry-free representation for navigation which can deal with dynamic environmental changes. In this paper we propose semantic map based navigation which consists of 1) generating deep learning enabled semantic map from annotated world and 2) object based navigation using learned semantic map representation. One point of our proposed framework is to let robots autonomously generate a dataset for deep learning method and transfer existing geometric map based task execution system to semantic map based one which is invariant to changes of object location. Since deep learning for object segmentation technique enables endto-end learning of object features, it is not necessary to design segmentation and labeling methods for each objects manually. We confirmed the effectiveness of our approach by performing task in dynamic environment and adaptability for two type of robots with experiments.
Characterization of Burning Mouth Syndrome in Patients with Parkinson's Disease.

AIMS To determine the prevalence and characteristics of burning mouth syndrome (BMS) in a Parkinson's disease (PD) population through a self-administered, custom-made survey. METHODS A total of 218 surveys were collected during regular outpatient visits at two Movement Disorders Clinics in Montreal (Canada) and Toulouse (France) to gather information about pain experience, PD-related symptoms, and oral and general health. A neurologist confirmed the diagnosis of PD, drug treatment, Hoehn-Yahr stage, and Schwab & England Activity of Daily Living score. Data between groups were compared using the independent samples Mann-Whitney U test and two-sided exact Fisher test. RESULTS Data from 203 surveys were analyzed. BMS was reported by eight subjects (seven females and one male), resulting in a prevalence of 4.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1-7.8). Five participants with chronic nonburning oral pain were excluded. PD severity and levodopa equivalent daily dose did not differ between non-BMS and BMS participants. Mean poor oral health index was higher in BMS compared to non-BMS subjects (49.0 vs 32.2 points, P < .05). BMS manifested after PD onset in seven patients, did not occur on a daily basis in four, and always coexisted with restless legs syndrome. CONCLUSION This survey yielded a low prevalence of BMS in PD patients, indicating no strong link between the two conditions. An augmenting effect such as that resulting from drug treatment in restless legs syndrome or sensory neuropathy cannot be excluded.
Innervation distribution pattern, nerve ending structure, and fiber types in pigeon skeletal muscle

Four fiber types have been characterized in different pigeon skeletal muscles according to their innervation pattern (nerve ending structure and innervation distribution) and histochemical properties (SDH and m‐ATPase activities). All fast fibers, types IIA and IIB, present aggregated distribution of their nerve endings with “en plaque” structures and very low innervation frequencies. The two kinds of slow fibers recognized are multiple innervated and present higher innervation frequencies. However, type I fibers have nerve terminals in small knobs with uniform localization, whereas type III fibers present “en grappe” nerve endings, which tend to be randomly distributed. Fiber type composition of skeletal muscles has been found closely related to their biomechanical function. Fast fibers are predominant in muscles with an active role in locomotive movements, whereas slow fibers are mainly or exclusively located in postural muscles. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss Inc.
Impact of disruption of secondary binding site S2 on dopamine transporter function

The structures of the leucine transporter, drosophila dopamine transporter, and human serotonin transporter show a secondary binding site (designated S2) for drugs and substrate in the extracellular vestibule toward the membrane exterior in relation to the primary substrate recognition site (S1). The present experiments are aimed at disrupting S2 by mutating Asp476 and Ile159 to Ala. Both mutants displayed a profound decrease in [3H]DA uptake compared with wild‐type associated with a reduced turnover rate kcat. This was not caused by a conformational bias as the mutants responded to Zn2+ (10 μM) similarly as WT. The dopamine transporters with either the D476A or I159A mutation both displayed a higher Ki for dopamine for the inhibition of [3H](−)‐2‐β‐carbomethoxy‐3‐β‐(4‐fluorophenyl)tropane binding than did the WT transporter, in accordance with an allosteric interaction between the S1 and S2 sites. The results provide evidence in favor of a general applicability of the two‐site allosteric model of the Javitch/Weinstein group from LeuT to dopamine transporter and possibly other monoamine transporters.
Texte-dialogal, hasard et rature orale : analyse des processus d'écriture à deux par des élèves récemment alphabétisés

La dimension creative d’un texte subissant l’influence d’une multitude de facteurs doit se comprendre comme un systeme semiotique multimodal complexe ou le « dialogisme » et le « hasard » representent des elements-cles. Notre objectif est de discuter, en partant de ces phenomenes, de certaines formes de retour dans un processus de creation mis en place par deux eleves ecrivant ensemble un recit de fiction. Ces formes de retour, nommees « ratures orales », sont produites dans le flux de la co-enonciation pendant le moment ou les eleves sont en train d’ecrire le manuscrit. D’un point de vue theorique, le dialogisme est compris comme principe fondateur de tout discours et est donc relie. Nous considerons le point de tension du processus d’ecriture a deux – et la rature qui lui donne une visibilite – comme une manifestation de l’absence de re-presentee ou la dimension du « dialogisme interlocutif » et du « dialogisme interdiscursif » entretiennent des echanges sur deux plans, solidaires mais distincts, dans l’acte coenonciatif consistant a ecrire un texte a deux. Cette manifestation de l’absence representee a travers du double dialogisme se refere a l’heterogeneite constitutive du dire qui se constitue de maniere « interdiscursive » a partir de sa relation avec l’exteriorite, comme le deja dit d’autres discours, et de maniere « interlocutive » a partir du dire de l’interlocuteur dans le « texte dialogal » (Bres et Nowakowska, 2006). Nous analysons l’interaction entre une dyade qui doit se derouler en contexte d’apprentissage in natura afin de garantir des conditions sociales reelles de production de texte en classe : 1) les sujets sont des eleves ayant entre 6 et 7 ans, qui, alphabetises depuis peu de temps, ecrivent leurs premiers textes ; 2) les informations impliquant l’ensemble du processus (de la presentation de la consigne par le professeur a la remise du manuscrit fini par les eleves), sont enregistrees grâce a un camescope. Les ratures orales identifiees dans cet article (blanche, pragmatique textuelle, de modalisation autonymique) refletent l’influence du double dialogisme (interlocutif et interdiscursif), mais dans le meme temps montrent la subjectivite de celui qui ecrit. Le dialogisme represente le « il » du dispositif trinitaire (je-tu/il), mais la subjectivite de celui qui parle, inscrite dans ce dispositif, ne permet pas de dire comment le « il » va apparaitre, ni de quelle maniere la dyade « je-tu » etablira les directions que prendra le texte en cours.
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation With the Theta-Band Portion of the Temporally-Aligned Speech Envelope Improves Speech-in-Noise Comprehension

Transcranial alternating current stimulation with the speech envelope can modulate the comprehension of speech in noise. The modulation stems from the theta- but not the delta-band portion of the speech envelope, and likely reflects the entrainment of neural activity in the theta frequency band, which may aid the parsing of the speech stream. The influence of the current stimulation on speech comprehension can vary with the time delay between the current waveform and the audio signal. While this effect has been investigated for current stimulation based on the entire speech envelope, it has not yet been measured when the current waveform follows the theta-band portion of the speech envelope. Here, we show that transcranial current stimulation with the speech envelope filtered in the theta frequency band improves speech comprehension as compared to a sham stimulus. The improvement occurs when there is no time delay between the current and the speech stimulus, as well as when the temporal delay is comparatively short, 90 ms. In contrast, longer delays, as well as negative delays, do not impact speech-in-noise comprehension. Moreover, we find that the improvement of speech comprehension at no or small delays of the current stimulation is consistent across participants. Our findings suggest that cortical entrainment to speech is most influenced through current stimulation that follows the speech envelope with at most a small delay. They also open a path to enhancing the perception of speech in noise, an issue that is particularly important for people with hearing impairment.
We spend our years as a tale that is told: Oral historical narrative in a South African chiefdom

This book brings together questions to do with oral history and narrative which have in the past often been kept apart. In doing so, it draws on a complex set of approaches from historical, anthropological and literary scholarship to throw new light on oral historical narrative, illustrating this with special reference to events and storytelling in a Northern Transvaal chiefdom. It looks to four major aspects: the events referred to by the informants, the present-day context in which these narratives occur, the conventions and forms which enable narration and an intervening period of changes and development for both the conditions and craft of telling and the meaning and form of the story itself.
A Brief Review: Voice Biometric For Speaker Verification in Attendance Systems

Biometric person authentication is the task of verifying the person’s identity using human characteristics or traits to restrict the access to an intended service. Automatic attendance system is one of the applications of biometric person authentication systems . In this paper; we have briefed different steps which are required in voice dependent attendance system. We have briefed the different algorithms for feature extraction i.e. MFCC’s, LPC’s etc. Along with this, various classification algorithms has been briefed which can be used for testing and training purposes. As of now, we have surveyed the pattern of speech recognition systems and the need of different steps in the proposed work to be done by us in future. After surveying the speech recognition related work, It has been found that MFCC’s or GFCC’s can be used for feature extraction process. For classification, different algorithms can be explored for better results i.e. GMM’s, ANN, SVM etc. This paper has been written after surveying various journals and key points has been elaborated for better understanding of voice dependent attendance system
Electronic aids to daily living and quality of life for persons with tetraplegia

Purpose. To compare the satisfaction with quality of life (QOL) of adults with tetraplegia from spinal cord injury (SCI) who use and do not use electronic aids to daily living (EADLs). Method. This study used a cross-sectional design. Thirty-six persons with spinal cord injuries or conditions at or above C5/6 level participated. Fifteen participants used EADL at home and 21 formed the comparison group of non-users of EADL; all were living in the community. We used the Quality of Life Profile-Physical Disabilities (QOLP-PD) to examine participant's QOL. Results. Both groups rated the levels of importance of all aspects of QOL equally. The EADL users rated their satisfaction with QOL significantly higher for total QOLP-PD scores and for four of the nine domains, including all three domains of belonging. The groups did not differ in age, FIM scores, level of education, and hours of paid attendant care. The EADL user group had significantly more males than females, and had higher levels of SCI. Conclusions. EADLs appear to contribute to the experience of greater subjective QOL for persons with severe physical disability from high SCI. Prospective cohort studies designs that employ methods and analytic plans to study the causal effect of EADLs on QOL are recommended. The QOLP-PD was found to be a valid measure of QOL for this population.
Spinal p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase mediates allodynia induced by first‐degree burn in the rat

Activation of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the spinal cord has been implicated in the development and maintenance of pain states. In this study, we tested whether p38 MAPK is involved in the response to first‐degree burn of the hind paw. This injury induces central sensitization leading to tactile allodynia and is mediated by activation of Ca2+ permeable AMPA/kainate receptors through PKC and PKA. We demonstrate that p38 MAPK is rapidly and robustly activated in the superficial spinal dorsal horn after mild thermal injury to the hind paw. Activated p38 MAPK was localized primarily to microglia and to a lesser extent in oligodendrocytes and lamina II neurons. Astrocytes were not involved in the p38 MAPK response. Intrathecal pretreatment of pharmacological inhibitors of p38 MAPK (SB203580, SD‐282) dose‐dependently blocked development of tactile allodynia, a characteristic of the first‐degree burn model. The effects of the inhibitors on tactile allodynia were lost when they were administered after injury. These studies identify p38 MAPK as a major mediator of tactile allodynia, most likely activated downstream of AMPA/kainate receptors. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An effective numerical method for solving viscous–inviscid interaction problems

This paper presents a new numerical method to solve the equations of the asymptotic theory of separated flows. A number of measures was taken to ensure fast convergence of the iteration procedure, which is employed to treat the nonlinear terms in the governing equations. Firstly, we selected carefully the set of variables for which the nonlinear finite difference equations were formulated. Secondly, a Newton–Raphson strategy was applied to these equations. Thirdly, the calculations were facilitated by utilizing linear approximation of the boundary-layer equations when calculating the corresponding Jacobi matrix. The performance of the method is illustrated, using as an example, the problem of laminar two-dimensional boundary-layer separation in the flow of an incompressible fluid near a corner point of a rigid body contour. The solution of this problem is non-unique in a certain parameter range where two solution branches are possible.
A Novel Protein Phosphatase That Dephosphorylates and Regulates Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase II*

A synthetic peptide corresponding to the autophosphorylation site of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) (residues 281–289) was conjugated to paramagnetic particles, and phosphorylated by a constitutively active CaMKII fragment. Using this phosphopeptide conjugate as a substrate, a calyculin A-insensitive, Mn2+-dependent, and poly-l-lysine-stimulated protein phosphatase activity was detected in the crude extract of rat brain. The protein phosphatase (designated as CaMKII phosphatase) (CaMKIIPase) was purified to near homogeneity from rat brain. CaMKIIPase showed apparent molecular weights of 54,000 and 65,000, on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel-filtration analysis, respectively. It was not inhibited by 100 nm calyculin A or 10 μmokadaic acid. Mn2+, but not Mg2+, was absolutely required for activity. CaMKIIPase was potently activated by polycations. Autophosphorylated CaMKII was dephosphorylated by CaMKIIPase, whereas phosphorylase kinase, mixed histones, myelin basic protein, and α-casein (which had been phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase) and phosphorylasea (phosphorylated by phosphorylase kinase) were not significantly dephosphorylated. No other proteins than CaMKII in rat brain extract which had been phosphorylated by CaMKII were dephosphorylated. The stimulated Ca2+-independent activity of autophosphorylated CaMKII was reversed by the action of CaMKIIPase. Thus, CaMKIIPase appears to be a specialized protein phosphatase for the regulation of CaMKII.
Air-Mode Photonic Crystal Micro-Ring Resonator With Enhanced Quality Factor for Refractive Index Sensing

Intense light-matter interaction is critical for enabling high-sensitivity refractive index sensors, high-efficiency light sources, and high-performance nonlinear devices. A bowtie-hole photonic crystal micro-ring resonator is proposed and numerically demonstrated to enhance the light-matter interaction effectively through achieving strong spatial and temporal light confinement, simultaneously. Through engineering the photonic crystal unit cell, the bowtie-hole photonic crystal is proved to possess the ability to localize light with a highly tight spatial confinement. By optimizing the bowtie-hole radius and the bowtie angle, the Q factor of the air mode in the resonator is improved to 1.42 × 105, which denotes an excellent temporal confinement. With the advantages addressed, the refractive index sensing based on the high-Q air mode in the bowtie-hole photonic crystal micro-ring resonator is investigated. For the air mode in the bowtie-hole photonic crystal micro-ring resonator, the Q factor is comparable with that in the reported research, meanwhile the sensing sensitivity has a 2-fold enhancement.
Bloom Filter Based Load Balancing Mechanis for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

—Load balancing mechanism in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) can distribute the traffic evenly into the network and partial congestion can be alleviated. In this paper, a load balancing mechanism is proposed. The Bloom filter is used to detect the current flows in each node, which is a simple space-efficient randomized data structure for representing a set in order to support membership queries. The estimated link lifetime, the end-to-end delay and the existing traffic along the forwarding paths are used together as the routing metric. Our proposed load balancing mechanism is evaluated through simulation, and the performance is better than the traditional routing mechanism, such as the packet delivery ratio and the end-to-end delay.
The 11-14 week scan.

Fetal nuchal translucency thickness (NT) at the 11-14 week scan has been combined with maternal age to provide an effective method of screening for trisomy 21; for an invasive testing rate of 5%, about 75% of trisomic pregnancies can be identified. When maternal serum free-beta-human chorionic gonadotropin and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A at 11-14 weeks are also taken into account, the detection rate of chromosomal defects is about 90%. Increased NT can also identify a high proportion of other chromosomal abnormalities and is associated with major defects of the heart and great arteries, and a wide range of skeletal dysplasias and genetic syndromes. Other benefits of the 11-14 week scan include early diagnosis of major fetal defects and the detection of multiple pregnancies, as well as reliable identification of chorionicity. As with the introduction of any new technology into routine clinical practice, it is essential that those undertaking the 11-14 week scan are adequately trained and that their results are subjected to rigorous audit.