Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Response Properties of a Newly Identified Tristratified Narrow Field Amacrine Cell in the Mouse Retina

Amacrine cells were targeted for whole cell recording using two-photon fluorescence microscopy in a transgenic mouse line in which the promoter for dopamine receptor 2 drove expression of green fluorescent protein in a narrow field tristratified amacrine cell (TNAC) that had not been studied previously. Light evoked a multiphasic response that was the sum of hyperpolarizing and depolarization synaptic inputs consistent with distinct dendritic ramifications in the off and on sublamina of the inner plexiform layer. The amplitude and waveform of the response, which consisted of an initial brief hyperpolarization at light onset followed by recovery to a plateau potential close to dark resting potential and a hyperpolarizing response at the light offset varied little over an intensity range from 0.4 to ~10^6 Rh*/rod/s. This suggests that the cell functions as a differentiator that generates an output signal (a transient reduction in inhibitory input to downstream retina neurons) that is proportional to the derivative of light input independent of its intensity. The underlying circuitry appears to consist of rod and cone driven on and off bipolar cells that provide direct excitatory input to the cell as well as to GABAergic amacrine cells that are synaptically coupled to TNAC. Canonical reagents that blocked excitatory (glutamatergic) and inhibitory (GABA and glycine) synaptic transmission had effects on responses to scotopic stimuli consistent with the rod driven component of the proposed circuit. However, responses evoked by photopic stimuli were paradoxical and could not be interpreted on the basis of conventional thinking about the neuropharmacology of synaptic interactions in the retina.
Cutting Edge: CD4+ T Cell Help Can Be Essential for Primary CD8+ T Cell Responses In Vivo 1

Recent studies have shown that CD4+ T cell help is required for the generation of memory CD8+ T cells that can proliferate and differentiate into effector cells on Ag restimulation. The importance of help for primary CD8+ T cell responses remains controversial. It has been suggested that help is not required for the initial proliferation and differentiation of CD8+ T cells in vivo and that classical models of helper-dependent responses describe impaired secondary responses to Ag in vitro. We have measured primary CD8+ T cell responses to peptide-pulsed dendritic cells in mice by cytokine ELISPOT and tetramer staining. No responses were detected in the absence of help, either when normal dendritic cells were injected into MHC II-deficient mice or when MHC II-deficient dendritic cells were injected into normal mice. Thus, the primary in vivo CD8+ T cell response depends absolutely on help from CD4+ T cells in our experimental system.
Towards benchmarking in British acute hospitals

The 1997 White Paper - The New NHS - on the future of the National Health Service accorded a high profile to the use of benchmarking as a means of improving efficiency over the following decade. Here, I examine the prospects for the successful adoption of benchmarking in the acute-hospital sector. A benchmarking model is superimposed upon a model of receptive contexts for change, and the components are used to explore the background to the development of benchmarking and likely attitudes towards its implementation. Where appropriate, empirical evidence is introduced to shed light on the ideas explored. I conclude that the wider political agenda accompanying benchmarking has potentially far-reaching implications for the re-distribution of resources on regional, or even national, bases. However, the steady drip-drip on stone is necessary to achieve results at local operational levels. Only by harnessing the strengths of extant cultures will efforts to identify and adopt the most efficient/effective medical practices succeed and potentially conflicting social tensions be resolved.
Audience-Contingent Variation in Action Demonstrations for Humans and Computers

People may exhibit two kinds of modifications when demonstrating action for others: modifications to facilitate bottom-up, or sensory-based processing; and modifications to facilitate top-down, or knowledge-based processing. The current study examined actors' production of such modifications in action demonstrations for audiences that differed in their capacity for intentional reasoning. Actors' demonstrations of complex actions for a non-anthropomorphic computer system and for people (adult and toddler) were compared. Evidence was found for greater highlighting of top-down modifications in the demonstrations for the human audiences versus the computer audience. Conversely, participants highlighted simple perceptual modifications for the computer audience, producing more punctuated and wider ranging motions. This study suggests that people consider differences in their audiences when demonstrating action.
Generalized Swap Operation for Tetrahedrizations

Mesh optimization of 2D and 3D triangulations is used in multiple applications extensively. For example, mesh optimization is crucial in the context of adaptively discretizing geometry, typically representing the geometrical boundary conditions of a numerical simulation, or adaptively discretizing the entire space over which various dependent variables of a numerical simulation must be approximated. Together with operations applied to the vertices the so-called edge or face swap operations are the building block of all optimization approaches. To speed up the optimization or to avoid local minima of the function measuring overall mesh quality these swaps are combined to generalized swap operations with a less local impact on the triangulation. Despite the fact that these swap operations change only the connectivity of a triangulation, it depends on the geometry of the triangulation whether the generalized swap will generate inconsistently oriented or degenerate simplices. Because these are undesirable for numerical reasons, this paper is concerned with geometric criteria that guarantee the generalized swaps for a 3D triangulation to yield only valid, non-degenerate triangulations. 1998 ACM Subject Classification I.3. 5 Computational Geometry and Object Modeling
5-Fluorouracil, epirubicin and cisplatin in the treatment of metastatic gastric carcinoma: a retrospective analysis of 68 patients.

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer is one of the most common types of cancer and one of the most frequent causes of cancer-related death. The majority of gastric cancers show distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis. At present, there is no general agreement over one standard chemotherapy regimen for metastatic gastric cancer. AIMS We evaluated the activity and toxicity of the combination of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), epirubicin and cisplatin (FEP) in previously untreated patients with metastatic gastric cancer. SETTING AND DESIGN Medical Oncology Department of Uludag University Faculty of Medicine, Bursa; retrospective study. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixty-eight patients received 5-FU 300 mg/m2 on Days 1-5, epirubicin 50 mg/m2 on Day 1 and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 on Day 1, every 4 weeks. A median of 3.5 cycles was administered. The response rate, time to disease progression, survival and toxic effects were analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED Overall survival and time to progression were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS There were 4 partial responses and 1 complete response (overall response rate 7.3%); 16 patients had stable disease. Median progression-free and overall survival rates were 3.1 months (95% CI 1.9-4) and 6 months (95% CI 4.2-7), respectively. The principal toxicity was myelosupression. Grade 3-4 neutropenia occurred in 27.9%, anemia in 17.6%, and thrombocytopenia in 11.7% of patients. Non-hematological toxicity was mild and manageable. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that FEP combination as used at the doses and schedules in this study has inferior activity against metastatic gastric cancer.
Using closely-related language to build an ASR for a very under-resourced language: Iban

This paper describes our work on automatic speech recognition system (ASR) for an under-resourced language, namely the Iban language, which is spoken in Sarawak, a Malaysian Borneo state. To begin this study, we collected 8 hours of speech data due to no resources yet for ASR concerning this language. Following the lack of resources, we employed bootstrapping techniques on a closely-related language to build the Iban system. For this case, we utilized Malay data to bootstrap the grapheme-to-phoneme system (G2P) for the target language. We also developed several G2Ps to acquire Iban pronunciation dictionaries, which were later evaluated on the Iban ASR for obtaining the best version. Subsequently, we conducted experiments on cross-lingual ASR by using subspace Gaussian Mixture Models (SGMM) where the shared parameters obtained in either monolingual or multilingual fashion. From our observations, using out-of-language data as source language provided lower WER when Iban data is very imited.
Novel Devotions: Conversional Reading, Computational Modeling, and the Modern Novel

What would it mean for a novel to turn us as we turn its pages? How are we not simply moved, but transformed—turned <span style="text-decoration:underline;" xmlns:m="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3. org/1999/xlink">around</span>—through the novel’s combination of gestural and affective structures? How might we think, in other words, about the correspondences between the novel’s technics and its tropes in its ability to assume meaning for us as a genre on a profound personal level? This essay explores the use of computational models to understand the novel’s relationship to the narration of profound change as a vehicle of readerly devotion. It aims to give us new techniques for thinking about the novel’s significance as a genre, a significance that depends less on forms of critical estrangement and more on felt experiences of pronounced transformation. In doing so, it outlines the potential impact that the practice of computational modeling might have on our own affective attachments as critical readers.
Effect of the DnaK chaperone on the conformational quality of JCV VP1 virus‐like particles produced in Escherichia coli

Protein nanoparticles such as virus‐like particles (VLPs) can be obtained by recombinant protein production of viral capsid proteins and spontaneous self‐assembling in cell factories. Contrarily to infective viral particles, VLPs lack infective viral genome while retaining important viral properties like cellular tropism and intracellular delivery of internalized molecules. These properties make VLPs promising and fully biocompatible nanovehicles for drug delivery. VLPs of human JC virus (hJCV) VP1 capsid protein produced in Escherichia coli elicit variable hemagglutination properties when incubated at different NaCl concentrations and pH conditions, being optimal at 200 mM NaCl and at pH range between 5.8 and 7.5. In addition, the presence or absence of chaperone DnaK in E. coli cells influence the solubility of recombinant VP1 and the conformational quality of this protein in the VLPs. The hemagglutination ability of hJCV VP1 VLPs contained in E. coli cell extracts can be modulated by buffer composition in the hemagglutination assay. It has been also determined that the production of recombinant hJCV VP1 in E. coli is favored by the absence of chaperone DnaK as observed by Western Blot analysis in different E. coli genetic backgrounds, indicating a proteolysis targeting role for DnaK. However, solubility is highly compromised in a DnaK− E. coli strain suggesting an important role of this chaperone in reduction of protein aggregates. Finally, hemagglutination efficiency of recombinant VP1 is directly related to the presence of DnaK in the producing cells. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 30:744–748, 2014
The Temporary Permanence of Dominican Bodegueros in Philadelphia

The relationship between ‘neighbourhood’ and ‘community’ is contentious: while neighbourhoods are spatially based, communities are more amorphous institutions that are connected to local places through far-flung transnational networks. Dominican corner-store owners (bodegueros) in Philadelphia, USA, understand their role in their local neighbourhood community as a form of ‘temporary permanence’ because their economic development model involves building networks between the US and the Dominican Republic. The mobility practices of grocers and interviews with community leaders in Philadelphia are used to make two propositions about constructions of place-based ‘neighbourhood communities’ in the US: the mobility of the grocers highlights the spatial entrapment experienced by other urban residents and thus their embrace of place-based communities; and, in the mobility of the grocers and conversations with some neighbourhood leaders, we see actualised a more fluid and expansive understanding of the concept of a ‘neighbourhood community’ which is embedded in transnational networks.
Overlapping control systems with delayed communication channels: Stability analysis and controller design

In this paper, a decentralized overlapping static output feedback law is proposed to control a linear time-invariant (LTI) interconnected system. It is assumed that an overlapping information flow structure is given which determines which output measurements are available for any local control agent. Uncertain transmission delay is also considered in communication links among different subsystems. Each subsystem is assumed to be subject to input disturbances with finite energy. A necessary condition for the existence of a stabilizing overlapping controller is obtained which is easy to check. Furthermore, a linear matrix inequality (LMI) based design methodology is proposed to achieve internal stability and H∞ disturbance attenuation. Simulations are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the developed results.
Sultam Thiourea Inhibition of West Nile Virus

ABSTRACT We have identified sultam thioureas as novel inhibitors of West Nile virus (WNV) replication. One such compound inhibited WNV, with a 50% effective concentration of 0.7 μM, and reduced reporter expression from cells that harbored a WNV-based replicon. Our results demonstrate that sultam thioureas can block a postentry, preassembly step of WNV replication.
Delivery of cancer screening: how important is the preventive health examination?

BACKGROUND Patients and physicians strongly endorse the importance of preventive or periodic health examinations (PHEs). However, the extent to which PHEs contribute to the delivery of cancer screening is uncertain. METHODS In a retrospective cohort study, we determined the association between receipt of a PHE and cancer testing in a population-based sample of enrollees in a Washington State health plan who were aged 52 to 78 years and eligible for colorectal, breast, or prostate cancer screening in 2002-2003 (N = 64 288). Outcomes included completion of any colorectal cancer testing (fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or barium enema), screening mammography, and prostate-specific antigen testing. RESULTS More than half (52.4%) of the enrollees received a PHE during the study period. After adjusting for demographics, comorbidity, number of outpatient visits, and historical preventive service use before January 1, 2002, receipt of a PHE was significantly associated with completion of colorectal cancer testing (incidence difference, 40.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 39.4%-41.3%]; relative incidence, 3.47 [95% CI, 3.34-3.59]), screening mammography [incidence difference, 14.2% [95% CI, 12.7%-15.7%]; relative incidence, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.20-1.25]), and prostate-specific antigen testing (incidence difference, 39.4% [95% CI, 38.3%-40.5%]; relative incidence, 3.06 [95% CI, 2.95-3.18]). CONCLUSIONS Among managed care enrollees eligible for cancer screening, PHE receipt is associated with completion of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer testing. In similar populations, the PHE may serve as a clinically important forum for the promotion of evidence-based colorectal cancer and breast cancer screening and of screening with relatively less empirical support, such as prostate cancer screening.
Indigenous Territories and REDD in Latin America: Opportunity or Threat?

An important proportion of Latin America’s forests are located in indigenous territories, and indigenous peoples are the beneficiaries of about 85% of the area for which local rights to land and forest have been recognized in Latin America since the 1980s. Nevertheless, many of these areas, whether or not rights have been recognized, are subject to threats from colonists, illegal loggers, mining and oil interests and others, whose practices endanger not only the forests but also indigenous people’s territory as a whole. In this context, REDD could constitute a new threat or intensify others, particularly in places where indigenous tenure rights have not been recognized, but REDD could also offer new opportunities. This article describes the limitations of thinking only in terms of communities, rather than territories, and examines the extent to which REDD has been conceived considering the characteristics of this new territorial configuration. It also identifies the challenges that REDD may face with this new ‘stakeholder’, such as numerous specific characteristics of territories, given their heterogeneity, in the context of past experiences regarding ‘forest options’. This paper analyses the situation in already-titled indigenous territories in particular, and also discusses problems facing territories in the titling process.
Design of a P2P infrastructure to support plagiarism detection mechanisms

Nowadays the Internet has become a reference on information retrieval. But this can be misused, as one can simply access information and take it as his own authorship. This constitutes an act of plagiarism. It has become increasingly common for people to do this, and tools to prevent this are in need. In order to help to deal with this relevant problem, this paper presents the PeerDetect, a new P2P middleware to support a plagiarism detection system. The proposed solution is based on a P2P network, where a plagiarism detection mechanism uses PeerDetect to distribute the effort of doing this detection among peers. The proposed approach allows us to reach a better performance and scalability.
eHealth interventions for HIV prevention

Abstract The rapidly changing media landscape and proliferation of new technologies creates vast new opportunities for HIV prevention. The fast growth of the relatively new eHealth field is a testament to the excitement and promise of these new technologies. eHealth interventions in HIV prevention tested to date include computer- and Internet-based interventions; chat room interventions; text messaging interventions; and social media. The current article provides a brief review of these types of interventions in HIV prevention, including their unique advantages and evidence of efficacy. Implications for future research in the eHealth HIV prevention field are discussed.
PET/CT for the characterization of adrenal masses in patients with cancer: qualitative versus quantitative accuracy in 150 consecutive patients.

OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to evaluate a large cohort of patients with PET/CT to determine whether qualitative (visual) assessment, quantitative standardized uptake value (SUV), or standardized uptake ratio (SUR) techniques should be used when attempting to characterize adrenal masses in patients with cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study group was composed of 150 consecutive patients (78 men, 72 women; mean age, 60 years; range, 24-88 years) with documented adrenal lesions. All patients were known to have an underlying primary malignancy and were referred for PET/CT to evaluate the underlying primary and metastatic tumor burden. Definitive lesion characterization was determined by evaluating all histologic adrenal specimens and all relevant prior and follow-up CT scans, including unenhanced, contrast-enhanced, and delayed contrast-enhanced washout studies. RESULTS Of the 139 benign lesions, 109 were considered benign by CT densitometry measurements and 135 by qualitative PET data. Qualitative PET characterized 28 of 30 benign lesions that were considered indeterminate by unenhanced CT. All 26 malignant lesions were characterized by PET: All showed qualitative and quantitative signal intensity greater than the liver. By combining unenhanced and qualitative CT data with the retrospective PET data, the analysis yielded a sensitivity of 100% for the detection of malignancy, a specificity of 99%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 93%, a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100%, and an accuracy of 99% (Table 1). Conversely, for the detection of benignity, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy were 99%, 100%, 100%, 93%, and 99%, respectively. CONCLUSION PET/CT is a highly accurate method for differentiating benign from malignant adrenal masses particularly when using qualitative, rather than quantitative, PET data. The routine use of quantitative mean or maximal SUV or SUR data may be unnecessary. Occasional benign lesions do show mild to moderate increased FDG uptake compared with that of the liver and may mimic some malignant lesions. Without evidence that these lesions are benign by unenhanced CT densitometry or adrenal mass stability or growth from previous CT scans, we recommend that these lesions be characterized using contrast-enhanced washout tests and that if those tests are inconclusive, using percutaneous biopsy if early lesion characterization is mandatory.
Rejection of illuminance for trajectory control using Kalman filter

This paper introduces a robust recognition for mobile robot by using Kalman filter. A novel disturbance rejection method by using Kalman filter is introduced. The covariant matrix of proposed Kalman gain varies to environment. The covariant matrix of Kalman gain has to change depending on the conditions of disturbance or brightness variation. Because these signals are usually unknown, this covariant value is assumed constant, however. Therefore, enough accuracy of rejection is not obtained by this method. We propose a time-varying Kalman gain based on template and show the validity of our method for path recognition of mobile robot under changes in illumination.