Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Imprecision in Precision Medicine: Differential Response of a Disease-Linked GluN2A Mutant to NMDA Channel Blockers

Mutations in N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) subunits have been implicated in a growing number of human neurodevelopmental disorders. Previously, a de novo mutation in GRIN2A, encoding the GluN2A subunit, was identified in a patient with severe epilepsy and developmental delay. This missense mutation, which leads to GluN2A-P552R, produces significant dendrotoxicity in transfected rodent cortical neurons, as evidenced by pronounced dendritic blebbing. This injurious process can be prevented by treatment with the NMDA antagonist memantine. Given the increasing use of FDA approved NMDA antagonists to treat patients with GRIN mutations, who may have seizures refractory to traditional anti-epileptic drugs, we investigated whether additional NMDA antagonists were effective in attenuating neurotoxicity associated with GluN2A-P552R expression. Intriguingly, we found that while treatment with memantine can effectively block GluN2A-P552R-mediated dendrotoxicity, treatment with ketamine does not, despite the fact that both drugs work as open NMDAR channel blockers. Interestingly, we found that neurons expressing GluN2A-P552R were more vulnerable to an excitotoxic insult—an effect that, in this case, could be equally rescued by both memantine and ketamine. These findings suggest that GluN2A-P552R induced dendrotoxicity and increased vulnerability to excitotoxic stress are mediated through two distinct mechanisms. The differences between memantine and ketamine in halting GluN2A-P552R dendrotoxicity could not be explained by NMDA antagonist induced changes in MAP or Src kinase activation, previously shown to participate in NMDA-induced excitotoxicity. Our findings strongly suggest that not all NMDA antagonists may be of equal clinical utility in treating GRIN2A-mediated neurological disorders, despite a shared mechanism of action.
Ipsilesional Mu Rhythm Desynchronization Correlates With Improvements in Affected Hand Grip Strength and Functional Connectivity in Sensorimotor Cortices Following BCI-FES Intervention for Upper Extremity in Stroke Survivors

Stroke is a leading cause of acquired long-term upper extremity motor disability. Current standard of care trajectories fail to deliver sufficient motor rehabilitation to stroke survivors. Recent research suggests that use of brain-computer interface (BCI) devices improves motor function in stroke survivors, regardless of stroke severity and chronicity, and may induce and/or facilitate neuroplastic changes associated with motor rehabilitation. The present sub analyses of ongoing crossover-controlled trial NCT02098265 examine first whether, during movements of the affected hand compared to rest, ipsilesional Mu rhythm desynchronization of cerebral cortical sensorimotor areas [Brodmann’s areas (BA) 1-7] is localized and tracks with changes in grip force strength. Secondly, we test the hypothesis that BCI intervention results in changes in frequency-specific directional flow of information transmission (direct path functional connectivity) in BA 1-7 by measuring changes in isolated effective coherence (iCoh) between cerebral cortical sensorimotor areas thought to relate to electrophysiological signatures of motor actions and motor learning. A sample of 16 stroke survivors with right hemisphere lesions (left hand motor impairment), received a maximum of 18–30 h of BCI intervention. Electroencephalograms were recorded during intervention sessions while outcome measures of motor function and capacity were assessed at baseline and completion of intervention. Greater desynchronization of Mu rhythm, during movements of the impaired hand compared to rest, were primarily localized to ipsilesional sensorimotor cortices (BA 1-7). In addition, increased Mu desynchronization in the ipsilesional primary motor cortex, Post vs. Pre BCI intervention, correlated significantly with improvements in hand function as assessed by grip force measurements. Moreover, the results show a significant change in the direction of causal information flow, as measured by iCoh, toward the ipsilesional motor (BA 4) and ipsilesional premotor cortices (BA 6) during BCI intervention. Significant iCoh increases from ipsilesional BA 4 to ipsilesional BA 6 were observed in both Mu [8–12 Hz] and Beta [18–26 Hz] frequency ranges. In summary, the present results are indicative of improvements in motor capacity and behavior, and they are consistent with the view that BCI-FES intervention improves functional motor capacity of the ipsilesional hemisphere and the impaired hand.
Comparative Cytogenetics Analysis Among Peckoltia Species (Siluriformes, Loricariidae): Insights on Karyotype Evolution and Biogeography in the Amazon Region

Peckoltia is widely distributed genus in the Amazon and Orinoco basins and the Guiana Shield, containing 18 valid species, and distinct morphotypes still needing description in the scientific literature due to its great taxonomic complexity. This study performed a comparative chromosomal analysis of two undescribed Peckoltia species (Peckoltia sp. 3 Jarumã and Peckoltia sp. 4 Caripetuba) from the Brazilian Amazon using conventional chromosome bands methods and in situ localization of the repetitive DNA (5S and 18S rRNA and U1 snRNA genes and telomeric sequences). Both species presented 2n = 52 but differed in their karyotype formula, probably due to inversions or translocations. The nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) showed distal location on a probably homeologous submetacentric pair in both species, besides an extra signal in a subtelocentric chromosome in Peckoltia sp. 4 Caripetuba. Heterochromatin occurred in large blocks, with different distributions in the species. The mapping of the 18S and 5S rDNA, and U1 snDNA showed differences in locations and number of sites. No interstitial telomeric sites were detected using the (TTAGGG)n probes. Despite 2n conservationism in Peckoltia species, the results showed variation in karyotype formulas, chromosomal bands, and locations of repetitive sites, demonstrating great chromosomal diversity. A proposal for Peckoltia karyotype evolution was inferred in this study based on the diversity of location and number of chromosomal markers analyzed. A comparative analysis with other Peckoltia karyotypes described in the literature, their biogeography patterns, and molecular phylogeny led to the hypothesis that the derived karyotype was raised in the left bank of the Amazon River.
Commentary: “Silver Nanoparticles Coated Poly(L-Lactide) Electrospun Membrane for Implant Associated Infections Prevention”

Jiaolong et al. (2020) published an interesting study “Silver Nanoparticles Coated Poly(L-Lactide) Electrospun Membrane for Implant-Associated Infections Prevention” on which I would like to express my viewpoints which may benefit other readers and researchers. The guided bone regeneration (GBR) barrier membrane enhances the bone volume by allowing selective migration of estrogenic cells from boney margins and impeding other cells such as fibroblasts and epithelial cells from overlying mucosa in ridge augmentation procedures (Mellonig and Nevins, 1995). GBR membranes using resorbable and nonresorbable membranes can aid in treating moderate to severe bone defects. An FDAapproved PLLA polymer has been used clinically, and one of the common polymers is used in GBR procedures. Pure PLLA fibers often lack the suitability to support cell adhesion and proliferation diminishing its biological properties (Khatri et al., 2016). In addition to this, polymicrobial biofilm formation on the implanted material surface is the major reason for GBR membrane failure in vivo impeding its medical applications (Xie et al., 2010, Arciola et al., 2015, Willems et al., 2016; Trobos et al., 2018; Hong et al., 2019). To circumvent this limitation, the authors have utilized the intrinsic reduction property of polydopamine to ensure in situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles on PLLA surface imparting antimicrobial property. This study presents a new method in coating which may be utilized for coating many other nanoparticles and explored for bone tissue engineering applications.
Functional Connectivity and Networks Underlying Complex Tool-Use Movement in Assembly Workers: An fMRI Study

The aim of this study was to identify the functional connectivity and networks utilized during tool-use in real assembly workers. These brain networks have not been elucidated because the use of tools in real-life settings is more complex than that in experimental environments. We evaluated task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 assembly workers (trained workers, TW) and 27 age-matched volunteers (untrained workers, UTW) during a tool-use pantomiming task, and resting-state functional connectivity was also analyzed. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of covariance was conducted with the group as a between-subject factor (TW > UTW) and condition (task > resting) as a repeated measure, controlling for assembly time and accuracy as covariates. We identified two patterns of functional connectivity in the whole brain within three networks that distinguished TW from UTW. TW had higher connectivity than UTW between the left middle temporal gyrus and right cerebellum Crus II (false discovery rate corrected p-value, p-FDR = 0.002) as well as between the left supplementary motor area and the pars triangularis of the right inferior frontal gyrus (p-FDR = 0.010). These network integrities may allow for TW to perform rapid tool-use. In contrast, UTW showed a stronger integrity compared to TW between the left paracentral lobule and right angular gyrus (p-FDR = 0.004), which may reflect a greater reliance on sensorimotor input to acquire complex tool-use ability than that of TW. Additionally, the fronto-parietal network was identified as a common network between groups. These findings support our hypothesis that assembly workers have stronger connectivity in tool-specific motor regions and the cerebellum, whereas UTW have greater involvement of sensorimotor networks during a tool-use task.
Filtering Isomorphic Models by Invariants (Short Paper)

The enumeration of finite models of first order logic formulas is an indispensable tool in computational algebra. The task is hindered by the existence of isomorphic models, which are of no use to mathematicians and therefore are typically filtered out a posteriori. This paper proposes a divide-and-conquer approach to speed up and parallelize this process. We design a series of invariant properties that enable us to partition existing models into mutually non-isomorphic blocks, which are then tackled separately. The presented approach is integrated into the popular tool Mace4, where it shows tremendous speed-ups for a variety of algebraic structures
ESTIMATING MANGROVE ABOVE-GROUND BIOMASS (AGB) IN SABAH, MALAYSIA USING FIELD MEASUREMENTS, SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION AND LANDSAT DATA

Mangroves are one of the most productive forest ecosystems and play an important role in carbon storage. We examined the use of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data to estimate mangrove Above-ground Biomass (AGB) in Sabah, Malaysia. SRTM-DEM can be considered as Canopy Height Model (CHM) because of the flat coastal topography. Nevertheless, we also introduced ground elevation correction using a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) generated with GIS and coastal profile data. We mapped the mangrove forest cover using Landsat imagery acquired in 2015 with the supervised classification method (Kappa coefficient of 0.81). Regression analyses of field AGB and the CHMs resulted in an estimation model with the corrected CHM as the best predictor (R2: 0.73) and cross-validated Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) was 19.70 Mg ha-1 (RMSE%: 11.60). Our study showed Sabah has a mangrove cover of 268,631.91 ha with a total AGB of 44,163,207.07 Mg in 2015. This substantial amount of carbon storage should be monitored over time and managed as part of the climate change mitigation strategy.
Human-In-The-Loop Machine Learning with Intelligent Multimodal Interfaces

In this paper, we argue that intelligent multi-modal interfaces add an important dimension for advancing the cause of human-in-the-loop machine learning (HITL-ML). Multimodal interfaces seek to leverage natural human capabilities to communicate via speech, gesture, touch etc. Such interfaces are said to be intelligent when they can better learn and adapt to the requirements and condition of a user. Here we show how this implicit learning of system parameters (e.g. via interaction feedback loop) and labelling of user cognitive states is an effective and often overlooked dimension of HITL-ML. We also present a research brief of relevant investigations undertaken in this regard.
Hybrid Encryption with Verifiable Delegation using Cloud Computing

— In the cloud, for keeping data confidential and achieving access control, the data owners could adopt attribute-based encryption to encrypt the stored data. Users with limited computing power are more likely to delegate the original of the decryption task to the cloud servers to reduce the cost computing. As a result, attribute-based encryption with delegation emerges. Still, there are warning and questions remaining in the previous relevant works. For instance, during the delegation, the cloud servers could damage or replace the delegated cipher text and respond a forged computing result with malicious intent. They may also cheat the authorized users by responding them that they are ineligible for the purpose of cost saving. Furthermore, during the encryption, the access policies may not be flexible enough. Since policy for general circuits enables to achieve the strongest form of access control, a construction for realizing cipher text-policy attribute-based hybrid encryption with verifiable delegation in the cloud has been considered in this work. In such a system, combined with verifiable computation and encrypt-then-mac mechanism, the data confidentiality, the fine-grained access control and the defects of the delegated computing results are well guaranteed at the same time. Besides, our scheme achieves security against chosen-plaintext attacks under k-multilinear Decisional & Diffie-Hellman assumption. Moreover, an extensive simulation campaign confirms the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed solution.
A Review of Externally Aided Syringe Retraction Techniques for Needle Thoracostomy

Needle Thoracostomy, which is an aspiration procedure, is frequently used in critical conditions. Conventional syringes are usually used for the aspiration procedure and their usage requires two hands. However, syringesfacilitating single hand usage are very much required for needle thoracostomy so that the second hand may be utilized for video assisted procedures like ultrasound for assisting the aspiration procedure. The presnt work presents a review of various syringe designs and concepts reported in the literature for externally aided operation of syringes. Different methods have been reported for aided actuation of the plunger for single hand operation.The features of various types of syringes reviewed in the present work may guide the user in deciding the suitability of the device for aspiration as well as in designing a new device for aspiration. Keywords– Needle Thoracostomy, Air aspiration, Epidural space, Reciprocating Procedure Device, Actuating mechanism
EFFECT OF ANHYDROUS AMMONIA GAS TREATMENT OF LOW-QUALITY CEREAL STRAWS ON CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND IN VITRO RUMINAL FERMENTATION

INTRODUCTION Under free-range production systems, ruminants are highly dependent on the properties of forage to maximise voluntary feed intake, supply essential nutrients, and promote ease of utilisation (Ravhuhali et al., 2018). In the dry seasons, available grasses have poor nutritive value with protein being the major limiting nutrient. Additionally, the use of commercial supplements is prohibitive for small-holder farmers due to lack of capital. For many years, cereal straw has been used as an alternative source of feed for ruminants owing to the reduction of grazing lands for cultivation of commercial crops (Misra et al., 2013; Shrivastava et al., 2014). However, the utility of cereal straws in ruminant diets may be limited by their low crude protein content and high levels of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin (Mahesh & Madhu, 2014; Singh et al., 2016). Simmons et al. (2010) reported that the presence of lignin in cereal straw inhibits the hydrolysis process and consequently reduces digestibility.
The viscosity Study of CuO nanofluid based on Propylene Glycol

Nanofluids have heat transfer more than typical fluids that causes they used in cooling systems and performance their efficiency. They usually supplied by dispersing metallic and oxide nanoparticles in fluids. Heat transfer performance of nanofluid depends on viscosity, thermal conductivity, specific heat and density. Viscosity affects the pressure and the pumping power of fluids. When nanofluids are circulated in a closed loop for transfer of heat in cooling systems, they can affect the thermal conductivity due to the phenomenon of convection. In the present research, an empirical viscosity assessment of nanofluids comprising CuO nanoparticles (NPs) Propylene Glycol-based in different concentrations and various temperatures of nanofluids has been carried out in this paper. For viscosity investigation of nanofluid, CuO NPs dispersed within propylene glycol (PG). CuO nanoparticles suspended in PG with volume fractions ranging from 0.3, 0.7, 1.1, 1.5, 1.9 and 2.3 % were prepared. So viscosity measured by stabinger viscometer (SVM3000) in various temperatures such as 77 0 F=25 0 C, 40 0 C and 50 0 C. It seems that the sample with 0.3 % and temperature of 25 0 C has maximum viscosity and 1.9 % with temperature of 50 0 C shown minimum viscosity. It shows that there is an almost decrease in viscosity of propylene glycol-based nanofluids with increase in CuO nanoparticles concentration. The viscosity results thus obtained are compared with the Einstein’s model.
Incremental Offline/Online PIR

Recent private information retrieval (PIR) schemes preprocess the database with a query-independent offline phase in order to achieve sublinear computation during a query-specific online phase. These offline/online protocols expand the set of applications that can profitably use PIR, but they make a critical assumption: that the database is immutable. In the presence of changes such as additions, deletions, or updates, existing schemes must preprocess the database from scratch, wasting prior effort. To address this, we introduce incremental preprocessing for offline/online PIR schemes, allowing the original preprocessing to continue to be used after database changes, while incurring an update cost proportional to the number of changes rather than the size of the database. We adapt two offline/online PIR schemes to use incremental preprocessing and show how it significantly improves the throughput and reduces the latency of applications where the database changes over time.
In vitro Studies on the Formation and Growth of Urinary Stone Crystals

It is a well known fact that the urinary stone crystal disease affects a considerable number of people and makes it a major socio-economic problem in the world. Several environmental factors influence the formation and growth of many crystalline materials in the biological fluids in a human urinary system. As in vivo experimentations have limitations, in vitro investigations have been made by several researchers in the past. A success in finding the environmental factors promoting or inhibiting the formation and growth of urinary stone crystals will be of immense help to the mankind. This article provides a bief account of the results obtained in this regard along with providing some information on urolithiasis and gel methods for crystal growth. The focus is made on Whewellite, Brushite and Struvite crystals as these are among the dominant and well studied ones.
Grounding Linguistic Commands to Navigable Regions

Humans have a natural ability to effortlessly comprehend linguistic commands such as “park next to the yellow sedan” and instinctively know which region of the road the vehicle should navigate. Extending this ability to autonomous vehicles is the next step towards creating fully autonomous agents that respond and act according to human commands. To this end, we propose the novel task of Referring Navigable Regions (RNR), i.e., grounding regions of interest for navigation based on the linguistic command. RNR is different from Referring Image Segmentation (RIS), which focuses on grounding an object referred to by the natural language expression instead of grounding a navigable region. For example, for a command “park next to the yellow sedan,” RIS will aim to segment the referred sedan, and RNR aims to segment the suggested parking region on the road. We introduce a new dataset, Talk2Car-RegSeg, which extends the existing Talk2car [1] dataset with segmentation masks for the regions described by the linguistic commands. A separate test split with concise manoeuvre-oriented commands is provided to assess the practicality of our dataset. We benchmark the proposed dataset using a novel transformer-based architecture. We present extensive ablations and show superior performance over baselines on multiple evaluation metrics. A downstream path planner generating trajectories based on RNR outputs confirms the efficacy of the proposed framework.
Interactive Visualization of Event Logs of Medical Imaging Systems

Philips Healthcare produces various types of medical imaging systems, such as X-ray, Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging. These systems are mainly used in the examination of patients for the diagnosis of diseases. It is therefore of high importance that these devices are available whenever they are required. When a problem occurs in a system, the problem needs to be analyzed and solved as quickly as possible. These systems are however very complex and expertise is required for maintaining and repairing them. For analyzing the behavior of medical imaging systems, the event logs that have been produced by the system need to be analyzed. Philips has worked on researching several data analytics methods that support failure diagnostics for corrective maintenance and failure prediction for predictive maintenance. An area that has not been extensively researched yet is visual data exploration. This thesis explores the possibility of using interactive data visualization for the analysis of event logs for serviceability purposes. The designed and implemented prototype can be used for analyzing the utilization, behavior and errors of individual systems. The system uses easy to understand visualization methods for showing multiple overviews of the data. The user is enabled to request details on demand by interacting with the prototype. Interactive Visualization of Event Logs of Medical Imaging Systems iii
Communication Competency and Cultural Impact

The focus of this study sets out to address issues, such as whether the Sri Lankan Sinhalese speaking students in traditional communities better develop interdependent concept than the Sinhalese speaking students living in a different cultural context, and to what extent a cultural context affects the Students’ perceptions of self-concept on interdependence and independence. This research compares a sample of 40 Sinhalese students living in Colombo in Sri Lanka and a sample of 20 Sinhalese students living in New Delhi in India. The respondents were asked to complete a structured self-completion questionnaire emailed to them. The findings seem to suggest that culture teaches one how to think, conditions one how to feel, and instructs one how to act, especially how to interact with others. It concludes that both the Sinhalese speaking students in Colombo and in New Delhi have well-developed interdependent self-concept and independent self-concept. It is also suggested that the traditional cultural values brought with the native Sinhalese students have been well-preserved even in a different cultural context.