Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Somatosensory evoked potentials and their relation to microstructural damage in patients with multiple sclerosis—A whole brain DTI study

Introduction Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) play a pivotal role in the diagnosis and disease monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS). Delayed latencies are a surrogate for demyelination along the sensory afference. This study aimed to evaluate if SSEP latencies are representative of demyelination of the brain overall, by correlating with cerebral microstructural integrity as measured by Magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Analysis was performed in a hypothesis-free whole brain approach using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Material and methods A total of 46 patients with MS or clinically isolated syndrome were included in the study. Bilateral SSEPs of the median nerve measuring mean N20 latencies (mN20) and Central Conduction Time (CCT), were acquired. MRI scans were performed at 3T. DTI acquisition was done with a single-shot echoplanar imaging technique with 80 diffusion directions. The FSL software package was used to process the DTI datasets and to calculate maps of fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD). These maps were then further analyzed using the TBSS module. The mean N20 and CCT and the right- and left-sided N20 and CCT were separately correlated to FA, AD, and RD, controlled for age, gender, and EDSS as variables of non-interest. Results Widespread negative correlations of SSEP latencies with FA (p = 0.0005) and positive correlations with RD (p = 0.0003) were measured in distinct white matter tracts, especially the optic tracts, corpus callosum, and posterior corona radiata. No correlation with AD was found in any white matter tract. Conclusion Highly significant correlations of FA and RD to SSEPs suggest that their latency is representative of widespread microstructural change, and especially demyelination in patients suffering from MS, reaching beyond the classic somatosensory regions. This points to the usefulness of SSEPs as a non-invasive tool in the evaluation of microstructural damage to the brain.
EmotionBox: A music-element-driven emotional music generation system based on music psychology

With the development of deep neural networks, automatic music composition has made great progress. Although emotional music can evoke listeners' different auditory perceptions, only few research studies have focused on generating emotional music. This paper presents EmotionBox -a music-element-driven emotional music generator based on music psychology that is capable of composing music given a specific emotion, while this model does not require a music dataset labeled with emotions as previous methods. In this work, pitch histogram and note density are extracted as features that represent mode and tempo, respectively, to control music emotions. The specific emotions are mapped from these features through Russell's psychology model. The subjective listening tests show that the Emotionbox has a competitive performance in generating different emotional music and significantly better performance in generating music with low arousal emotions, especially peaceful emotion, compared with the emotion-label-based method.
Predictors of psychological and physiological measures of graduate student health during COVID-19

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic brought on higher-than-normal levels of anxiety and depression, especially among graduate students whose academic trajectory was disrupted. However, not all graduate students were affected and therefore, it is important to identify potential protective factors. Method We recruited 61 graduate students whose research was directly impacted by the pandemic and examined their change in academic stressors since the onset of the pandemic. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to evaluate how perceived academic stressors brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted anxiety, depression, and heart rate variability (HRV), and whether physical activity and trait resiliency independently buffered against the effects of stress. Results Graduate students who reported greater changes in academic stressors since the onset for the pandemic were more anxious and depressed. Moderate-intensity physical activity explained significant variance in anxiety whereas resiliency explained significant variance in both anxiety and depression. HRV was higher in males than females, aligning with sex differences in vulnerability to stress and mental illness. Conclusion Overall, the results suggest that resiliency and physical activity may offer unique protection against symptoms of anxiety and depression in graduate students experiencing increased academic stress during COVID-19. Institutions of higher education should consider investing in programs that encourage physical activity and promote resiliency by teaching mindfulness, stress management, and cognitive behavioral approaches.
Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf

Marine ecosystem dynamics can vary on timescales ranging from months to centuries, but many observational data are limited to just a few decades. The bivalve Arctica islandica may live up to five centuries depositing annual growth increments in its shells which can serve as an indicator for ecosystem productivity. In the present study, 154 specimens of A. islandica were collected on the Faroe Shelf and standardised annual growth increments for 143 of them – 44 from coastal stations and 99 from shelf stations – were compared with climatic, oceanographic and biological variables. A. islandica growth from coastal and shelf stations was not correlated with basin-scale climate indices (the AMO index, the NAO index, the AO index or the subpolar gyre index) or, more locally, with windspeed or sea surface temperature on the Faroe Shelf. For the shelf stations there was a significant negative correlation between A. islandica growth and the volume transport of the Faroe Current flowing just north of Faroe Islands (r = -0.62). There was a weak nonsignificant positive correlation with an index of primary production on the Faroe Shelf (r = 0.31) and a strong negative correlation with a zooplankton biomass index in mid-summer (r = -0.76). There was also a strong positive correlation between A. islandica growth and the biomass of the bottom-feeding fish species Melanogrammus aeglefinus two years later (r = 0.62). These results seem to suggest that A. islandica growth may represent the amount of fresh phytoplankton that reaches the near-bottom water layers and could probably be regarded as a proxy for the strength of pelagic-benthic coupling that is modulated through phytoplankton-zooplankton interactions in the overlying water. Our results highlight the potential for A. islandica to serve as a long-term proxy for linking variability in pelagic ecosystem dynamics to demersal fish stocks.
Impact of corporate governance and CEO remuneration on bank capitalization strategies and payout decision in income shocks period

The purpose of this research is to explore corporate governance and CEO remuneration with banks capitalization strategies and payout policy within the Pakistani banking context. Data were obtained from the financial statements of scheduled banks listed on the Pakistan stock exchange from 2005 to 2020. The findings of the research study revealed that corporate governance mechanisms that promote the bank's shareholders' interests are linked to low capitalization strategies. The size of the board of directors has a significant impact on the capitalization of banks. Banks' capitalization techniques are also adversely correlated with effective board size. The shareholder benefits from low capitalization. Corporate governance is positively related with banking sector instability, as seen by this negative correlation. Bank capitalization strategies have a significant impact on CEO remuneration. In the event of an income shock, dividend payout is essential. Banking sector payout policies are negatively related with corporate governance. In the event of a negative income shock, financial institutions reduce dividends. As a result, it has been argued that effective corporate governance benefits shareholders by reducing capitalization tactics and limiting financial institutions' aggressive payouts. JEL classification G21, G30, G32, G35.
Differential diagnosis and long-term outcomes of non-atrophic duodenal changes in children

Objectives and study Gastrointestinal endoscopy is often performed when investigating abdominal complaints in children. While atrophic changes of the duodenal mucosa are usually caused by celiac disease, the prevalence and clinical significance of non-atrophic duodenal changes are less clear. We studied these issues in a large pediatric endoscopic cohort. Methods Comprehensive data on clinical features, diagnostic findings and long-term outcomes of children who had undergone upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with systematic duodenal sampling were collected. Study variables were compared between children with non-atrophic changes and normal histology, and between those with non-atrophic changes who did and did not receive a diagnosis. Results The study comprised 1,170 consecutive children, of whom 51 (4.4%) had non-atrophic and 315 (26.9%) atrophic duodenal changes and 804 (68.7%) normal histology. The most common non-atrophic findings were non-specific inflammation (n = 19) and intraepithelial lymphocytosis (n = 14). Patients with non-atrophic changes presented more often with blood in stools (23.5 vs. 11.3%; p = 0.009), anemia (43.2 vs. 36.5%; p = 0.028) and positive celiac serology (34.3 vs. 12.9%; p < 0.001) than those with a normal duodenum. Twenty-four (44%) of those with non-atrophic changes received an initial diagnosis, the most common of which were inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (n = 8), Helicobacter pylori infection (n = 3) and food allergy (n = 3). The prevalence of the diagnoses did not differ from those with a normal duodenum. Those who received a diagnosis had more often blood in stools (37.5 vs. 11.1%; p = 0.027), anemia (70.6 vs. 20.0%; p = 0.002) and negative celiac serology (50.0 vs. 7.7%; p = 0.013) than those without diagnosis. During a follow-up of 6.1–13.3 years, five of the 12 initially undiagnosed seropositive patients developed celiac disease, and one patient also developed ulcerative colitis. Conclusion Non-atrophic duodenal changes are relatively common and associated with anemia, blood in stools, and positive celiac disease serology. Excluding potential celiac disease, those without an initial diagnosis have a favorable long-term prognosis.
Sphingolipid metabolism is associated with osteosarcoma metastasis and prognosis: Evidence from interaction analysis

Background Metabolism is widely involved in the occurrence and development of cancer. However, its role in osteosarcoma (OS) has not been elucidated. Methods The open-accessed data included in this study were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (TARGET-OS project). All the analysis was performed in R environments. Results Based on the single sample gene set enrichment analysis algorithm, we quantified 21 metabolism terms in OS patients. Among these, sphingolipid metabolism was upregulated in the metastatic OS tissue and associated with a worse prognosis, therefore aroused our interest and selected for further analysis. Our result showed that sphingolipid metabolism could activate the Notch signaling and angiogenesis pathway, which might be responsible for the metastasis ability and poor prognosis. A protein-protein interaction network was constructed to illustrate the interaction of the differentially expressed genes between high and low sphingolipid metabolism. Immune analysis showed that multiple immune terms were upregulated in patients with high sphingolipid metabolism activity. Then, a prognosis model was established based on the identified DEGs between patients with high and low sphingolipid metabolism, which showed great prediction efficiency. Pathway enrichment showed the pathway of myogenesis, spermatogenesis, peroxisome, KRAS signaling, pancreas beta cells, apical surface, MYC target, WNT beta-catenin signaling, late estrogen response and apical junction was significantly enriched in high risk patients. Moreover, we found that the model genes MAGEB1, NPIPA2, PLA2G4B and MAGEA3 could effectively indicate sphingolipid metabolism and risk group. Conclusions In summary, our result showed that sphingolipid metabolism is associated with osteosarcoma metastasis and prognosis, which has the potential to be a therapeutic target for OS.
Genome-wide identification of wheat ABC1K gene family and functional dissection of TaABC1K3 and TaABC1K6 involved in drought tolerance

Activity of BC1 complex kinase (ABC1K) serves as an atypical kinase family involved in plant stress resistance. This study identified 44 ABC1K genes in the wheat genome, which contained three clades (I–III). TaABC1K genes generally had similar structural features, but differences were present in motif and exon compositions from different clade members. More type II functional divergence sites were detected between clade I and clade III and no positive selection site were found in TaABC1K family. The three-dimensional structure prediction by Alphafold2 showed that TaABC1K proteins had more α-helixes with a relatively even distribution, and different clade members had differences in the content of secondary structures. The cis-acting element analysis showed that TaABC1K genes contained abundant cis-acting elements related to plant hormones and environmental stress response in the promoter region, and generally displayed a significantly upregulated expression under drought stress. In particular, both TaABC1K3 and TaABC1K6 genes from clade I was highly induced by drought stress, and their overexpression in yeast and Arabidopsis enhanced drought tolerance by suppressing active oxygen burst and reducing photosynthesis impairment. Meanwhile, TaABC1K3 and TaABC1K6 could, respectively, complement the function of Arabidopsis abc1k3 and abc1k6 mutants and reduce photosynthesis damage caused by drought stress.
INTERACTIVE TIMESHAPING OF MUSICAL SCORES WITH BACH AND CAGE

In this article we aim to organize the collection of practices that amount to modifying the temporality of a musical score in order to create a new one, by representing them as a combination of three basic families of operations: di-lations, distorsions and repetitions. The initial score can be borrowed or designed on purpose, and can be of any complexity (an entire score, a single note, or anything in between). We call the complex of these practices ‘time-shaping’. We describe the analytical space derived from the proposed organization and show how many of its processes can be implemented in an interactive computer-aided composition environment using the bach and cage libraries for Max.
Current Pharmacologic Treatment of Dementia: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians

Recommendation 1: Clinicians should base the decision to initiate a trial of therapy with a cholinesterase inhibitor or memantine on individualized assessment. (Grade: weak recommendation, moderate-quality evidence.) Recommendation 2: Clinicians should base the choice of pharmacologic agents on tolerability, adverse effect profile, ease of use, and cost of medication. The evidence is insufficient to compare the effectiveness of different pharmacologic agents for the treatment of dementia. (Grade: weak recommendation, low-quality evidence.)
Multiplex-PCR for simultaneous detection and genotyping of hepatitis B virus in plasma and serum

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the great medical problem worldwide in which 90% of acute HBV infection in adult is usually cleared, and 5-10% becomes chronic carrier. HBV could be classified into 8 genotypes (A-H). However, genotype B and C are predominantly reported in Asia. Currently, several studies revealed that clinical course and outcome of antiviral therapy were depended on the genotype. In this study, in-house multiplex-PCR was implemented for simultaneous detection and identification of HBV genotypes A, B, and C in serum and plasma. The pre-S1 to S gene was targeted for primers design. Of 100 HBsAg-positive and 40 HBsAg-negative plasma and serum were included in this study. Ninety of 100 HBsAg positive samples (90%) were positive and all of 40 HBsAg negative samples (100%) were negative by PCR, respectively. Among these positives, 7 (7.8%) and 75 (83.3%) were respectively identified to be genotype B and C. Three of these (3.3%) were mixed infection of genotype B and C and 5 (5.6%) were categorized into unclassified genotype. Apart from its role in epidemiological studies and treatment on HBV infection, multiplex-PCR method developed in this study provides a rapid and specific tool for detection and genotyping of HBV.
Phase differential block demodulation of hardlimited MSK signals

We investigate a block detection strategy for hard limited MSK signals. In contrast to the published work of Leib and Pasupathy (see EEE-TC, vol.40, p.1430-1441, September 1992) on optimal incoherent block detection, only first order phase differentials are exploited. This reduces the implementation complexity of a block detector significantly, since no complex valued calculations are necessary. A near-maximum likelihood detection metric is derived by suitably approximating the joint probability density function of a block of phase differentials. It is shown that the proposed detection scheme approaches the performance of coherent detection with increasing block lengths. Compared to coherent antipodal signalling, a degradation in performance still remains which is determined by the predetection filter.
Supporting Appropriation Work: A Workshop Report

A significant amount of research in the field of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work has been done to understand the mutual shaping of collaboration technologies and work practices. The outcome of such research helped improving the design of information systems as well as improving the related design processes with regard to a better technology-practice fit. Nevertheless, the approaches to support the related activities focused on design work and designer activities. With a workshop at the European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work in 2005, we opened a forum for research that focuses on supporting ‘appropriation work’, the activities that users engage in to shape and make sense of the technologies that are provided to them from different design arenas. The workshop established a broader research focus on technological and non-technological approaches to support users in reflecting and redesigning the use (and non-use) of collaborative technologies.
Analyzing the Ontology Approaches and the Formation of Open Ontology Model: A Step for Organisational Ontology Employment

—Three different ontology-based approaches have been used in previous researches to improve the semantic interoperability in an integrated information system. The approaches can be identified as the single, the multiple and the hybrid ontologies. Organisations seeking to improve their information system capability realise the benefits of using semantic technology based on ontology. However, clear guidelines are not available to select the appropriate ontological approach. The selection of the approach should be according to various organisational needs, contexts and management styles. This research is significantly important to provide flexible and adaptable way to start employing ontology, because semantic information systems are still immature in many organisations. In current research the study of different ontology-based approaches is presented. The focus is on the semantic integration challenge based on multi-sources data integration. Viability of all approaches and guides for ontology employment are presented in order to provide options for the organisations to upgrade their current system to new system. There is no specific approach that has been proven to be a successful implementation. Therefore, a new general reference model is proposed in this research work, which is based on the three approaches called Open Ontology Model. The proposed model is designed to work in dual directions which are top-down and bottom-up implementation to make the specification of ontology mappings more flexible and usable. This model would be of interest to novice system developers who plan to use it as a starting point to develop their first semantic information system. Developers might decide any single or combination of approaches based on the nature of their organisation.
Activation of AMPA/Kainate Receptors but Not Acetylcholine Receptors Causes Mg 2 (cid:2) Inﬂux into Retzius Neurones of the Leech Hirudo medicinalis

In Retzius neurones of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis , kainate activates ionotropic glutamate receptors classiﬁed as AMPA/kainate receptors. Activation of the AMPA/kainate receptor–coupled cation channels evokes a marked depolarization, intracellular acidiﬁcation, and increases in the intracellular concentrations of Na (cid:2) ([Na (cid:2) ] i ) and Ca 2 (cid:2) . Qualitatively similar changes are observed upon the application of carbachol, an activa-tor of acetylcholine receptor-coupled cation channels. Using multibarrelled ion-selective microelectrodes it was demonstrated that kainate, but not carbachol, caused additional increases in the intracellular free Mg 2 (cid:2) concentration ([Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i ). Experiments were designed to investigate whether this kainate-induced [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i increase was due to a direct Mg 2 (cid:2) inﬂux through the AMPA/kainate receptor–coupled cation channels or a secondary effect due to the depolarization or the ionic changes. It was found that: (a) Similar [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i increases were evoked by the application of glutamate or aspartate. (b) All kainate-induced effects were inhibited by the glutamatergic antagonist DNQX. (c) The magnitude of the [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i increases depended on the extracellular Mg 2 (cid:2) concentration. (d) A reduction of the extracellular Ca 2 (cid:2) concentration increased kainate-induced [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i increases, excluding possible Ca 2 (cid:2) interference at the Mg 2 (cid:2) -selective microelectrode or at intracellular buffer sites. (e) Neither depolarizations evoked by the application of 30 mM K (cid:2) , nor [Na (cid:2) ] i increases induced by the inhibition of the Na (cid:2) /K (cid:2) ATPase caused comparable [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i increases. (f) Inhibitors of voltage-dependent Ca 2 (cid:2) channels did not affect the kain-ate-induced [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i increases. Moreover, previous experiments had already shown that intracellular acidiﬁcation evoked by the application of 20 mM propionate did not cause changes in [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i . The results indicate that kain-ate-induced [Mg 2 (cid:2) ] i increases in leech Retzius neurones are due to an inﬂux of extracellular Mg 2 (cid:2) through the AMPA/kainate receptor–coupled cation channel. Mg 2 (cid:2) may thus act as an intracellular signal to distinguish between glutamatergic and cholinergic activation of leech Retzius neurones.
Systematical Approach to the Exact Solution of the Dirac Equation for A Special Form of the Woods-Saxon Potential

Exact solution of the Dirac equation for a special form of the Woods-Saxon potential is obtained for the s-states. The energy eigenvalues and two-component spinor wave functions are derived by using a systematical method which is called as Nikiforov-Uvarov. It is seen that the energy eigenvalues strongly depend on the potential parameters. In addition, it is also shown that the non-relativistic limit can be reached easily and directly. Exact