Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Modern Highly Interactive Flicker-Free Steady State Motion Visual Evoked Potentials for Practical Brain–Computer Interfaces

Motion-based visual evoked potentials (mVEP) is a new emerging trend in the field of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP)-based brain–computer interfaces (BCI). In this paper, we introduce different movement-based stimulus patterns (steady-state motion visual evoked potentials—SSMVEP), without employing the typical flickering. The tested movement patterns for the visual stimuli included a pendulum-like movement, a flipping illusion, a checkerboard pulsation, checkerboard inverse arc pulsations, and reverse arc rotations, all with a spelling task consisting of 18 trials. In an online experiment with nine participants, the movement-based BCI systems were evaluated with an online four-target BCI-speller, in which each letter may be selected in three steps (three trials). For classification, the minimum energy combination and a filter bank approach were used. The following frequencies were utilized: 7.06 Hz, 7.50 Hz, 8.00 Hz, and 8.57 Hz, reaching an average accuracy between 97.22% and 100% and an average information transfer rate (ITR) between 15.42 bits/min and 33.92 bits/min. All participants successfully used the SSMVEP-based speller with all types of stimulation pattern. The most successful SSMVEP stimulus was the SSMVEP1 (pendulum-like movement), with the average results reaching 100% accuracy and 33.92 bits/min for the ITR.
Abstract: A Seasonal Ecological Study of Foraminifera from Timbalier Bay, Louisiana

ABSTRACT Within the last decade, considerable attention has been directed toward understanding the ecological habits of Foraminifera. This study has ventured deeper than previous ones in an attempt to learn the habits of living Foraminifera from Timbalier Bay, Louisiana, over a period of a year. Ten monthly collections of samples were made from seventeen locations in the bay. Data relating to salinity, temperature, pH, eh and other chemical and physical properties of the waters were recorded at this time. Upon examination of the samples, it was determined that twenty-three species of Foraminifera could be considered common in the bay. Two facies zones were recognized within this polyhaline bay by the restriction of certain species to characteristic areas. Reproduction of the Foraminifera appeared to be dependent upon the environmental factors of salinity and temperature. The use of water chemistry, other than salinity, to explain the reproductive habits of the Foraminifera proved unsuccessful. Availability of nutrients is believed to be the principal cause of differences in total populations of living Foraminifera within the bay. These nutrients are probably derived from the land areas and transported around the bay by the normal water flow. Three periods of inflow of these materials into the bay were noted. There has been no comparable foraminiferal study of this bay. A recent foraminiferal study of several bays in Texas (Phleger and Lankford, 1957) is quite similar, but the periods between collections were longer, and no attempts were made to correlate the Foraminifera with the chemical properties of the bay. Myers (1943) studied the effects of food, substratum, depth, temperature, pH, oxygen tension, turbulence, turbidity, animal associations, parasites and enemies on a single species, Elphidium crispum, over a period of a year. End_of_Record - Last_Page 302-------
A Multitask Cascading CNN with MultiScale Infrared Optical Flow Feature Fusion-Based Abnormal Crowd Behavior Monitoring UAV †

Visual-based object detection and understanding is an important problem in computer vision and signal processing. Due to their advantages of high mobility and easy deployment, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have become a flexible monitoring platform in recent years. However, visible-light-based methods are often greatly influenced by the environment. As a result, a single type of feature derived from aerial monitoring videos is often insufficient to characterize variations among different abnormal crowd behaviors. To address this, we propose combining two types of features to better represent behavior, namely, multitask cascading CNN (MC-CNN) and multiscale infrared optical flow (MIR-OF), capturing both crowd density and average speed and the appearances of the crowd behaviors, respectively. First, an infrared (IR) camera and Nvidia Jetson TX1 were chosen as an infrared vision system. Since there are no published infrared-based aerial abnormal-behavior datasets, we provide a new infrared aerial dataset named the IR-flying dataset, which includes sample pictures and videos in different scenes of public areas. Second, MC-CNN was used to estimate the crowd density. Third, MIR-OF was designed to characterize the average speed of crowd. Finally, considering two typical abnormal crowd behaviors of crowd aggregating and crowd escaping, the experimental results show that the monitoring UAV system can detect abnormal crowd behaviors in public areas effectively.
Overlapping Vitamin A Intervention Programs: Should We Be Concerned with Excessive Intakes?

Vitamin A Intervention Programs and Their Effectiveness Because ∼2.3% of all global deaths among children below the age of 5 y are attributable to vitamin A deficiency (VAD) annually (1), and provision of additional vitamin A (VA) reduces young child mortality by an average of 23%–30% (2, 3), programs have been initiated to reduce VAD through application of biannual high-dose VA supplements, micronutrient powder distribution, food fortification, or biofortification (4). Efforts to reduce VAD through these programs have resulted in an impressive 10% prevalence reduction worldwide from 39% in 1991 to 29% in 2013, yet VAD remains a global public health problem, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (5). Where VAD is persisting, a combination of VA interventions will be required to achieve sustainable VA adequacy. However, overlapping VA interventions in the same population group have the potential of overexposing individuals at the high end of the intake distribution curve (6–8). This is particularly problematic if these interventions are not well coordinated between the different public and private sector entities that support these programs. The article in this issue of The Journal of Nutrition by Sowa et al. (9) aimed to test the effect of VA program overlap by simulating the exposure of Zambian children to provitamin A biofortified foods and preformed VA food fortification using an animal model. Although it is not surprising that combined consumption of preformed VA with biofortified maize increased liver VA stores more effectively than either approach alone, their statement that this overlap resulted in “excessive” liver VA stores, despite downregulation of provitamin A conversion, potentially increases the concern about the safety of overlapping VA interventions.
Sugar content of diet does not buffer against chronic oral imidacloprid exposure in the alfalfa leafcutting bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)

Abstract Bees are economically critical pollinators, but are declining broadly due to several stressors, including nontarget exposure to insecticides and deficiencies in nutrition. Understanding the simultaneous impact of stressors, particularly interactions between them, is critical to effectively conserving bees. Although behavioral effects of pesticides like neonicotinoids have received some attention in solitary bees, our understanding of how they are modulated by diet quality is limited. Furthermore, scarce data exist on what concentrations of orally ingested neonicotinoids elicit mortality in solitary bees. In a controlled exposure laboratory experiment, we investigated how diet quality, as sugar concentration, and chronic oral exposure to imidacloprid affect adult alfalfa leafcutting bees, Megachile rotundata (Fabricius). We provided individuals ad libitum with either 20 or 50% (m/m) sucrose syrups containing either 0, 30, or 300 ppb imidacloprid (measuring 0, 27, and 209 ppb via an ELISA assay). Over 5 wk, we tracked behavior and survivorship of individuals. Imidacloprid decreased survivorship in a dose-dependent fashion, but sucrose content did not affect survivorship, even in bees not fed imidacloprid. In the high imidacloprid treatment, 45% of bees were observed in a motionless supine position while still alive, with this effect appearing to be buffered against by the higher sucrose diet. Our results suggest that diets higher in sugar concentration may prevent an intermediate stage of poisoning, but do not ultimately extend longevity. In devising risk assessments for bees, it is important to consider that interactions between stressors may occur in the stages leading up to death even if survivorship is unaffected. Graphical Abstract
The structural conundrum of parolees and kidney transplantation

In the United States, there are a large number of incarcerated individuals, resulting in high numbers of previously incarcerated individuals out on parole undergoing reentry into society. An aging prison population translates to an older parolee population and increased incidence of kidney disease requiring either long‐term dialysis or transplantation. This paper argues that due to challenges specific to the parolee population as well as societal biases and priorities, Transplant Centers and healthcare professionals face an ethical imperative to attend to the needs of parolees as a class and take steps to address challenges related to access to Centers for renal transplantation evaluation for this disadvantaged group. It will first review the regulatory context of kidney transplantation and highlight the specific ways it effects parolees. The paper will then discuss the broader social context of parolee reentry into society and barriers faced by parolees in this process. This ethical analysis examines the complexity of these issues, and deliberates on ways to balance the competing priorities of justice, respect for this patient population as individuals and as a disadvantaged class, and the societal interests regarding organ allocation and considerable economic burdens of end‐stage renal disease on parolees, the justice system, and the public.
Bioengineered siRNA-Based Nanoplatforms Targeting Molecular Signaling Pathways for the Treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Preclinical and Clinical Advancements

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer. Owing to the absenteeism of hormonal receptors expressed at the cancerous breast cells, hormonal therapies and other medications targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) are ineffective in TNBC patients, making traditional chemotherapeutic agents the only current appropriate regimen. Patients’ predisposition to relapse and metastasis, chemotherapeutics’ cytotoxicity and resistance and poor prognosis of TNBC necessitates researchers to investigate different novel-targeted therapeutics. The role of small interfering RNA (siRNA) in silencing the genes/proteins that are aberrantly overexpressed in carcinoma cells showed great potential as part of TNBC therapeutic regimen. However, targeting specificity, siRNA stability, and delivery efficiency cause challenges in the progression of this application clinically. Nanotechnology was highlighted as a promising approach for encapsulating and transporting siRNA with high efficiency-low toxicity profile. Advances in preclinical and clinical studies utilizing engineered siRNA-loaded nanotherapeutics for treatment of TNBC were discussed. Specific and selective targeting of diverse signaling molecules/pathways at the level of tumor proliferation and cell cycle, tumor invasion and metastasis, angiogenesis and tumor microenvironment, and chemotherapeutics’ resistance demonstrated greater activity via integration of siRNA-complexed nanoparticles.
DEPDC1 up‐regulates RAS expression to inhibit autophagy in lung adenocarcinoma cells

DEP domain containing 1(DEPDC1) is involved in the tumorigenesis of a variety of cancers. But its role in tumorigenesis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is not fully understood. Here, we investigated the role and the underlying mechanisms of DEPDC1 in the development of LUAD. The expression and prognostic values of DEPDC1 in LUAD were analysed by using the data from public databases. Gene enrichment in TCGA LUAD was analysed using GSEA software with the pre‐defined gene sets. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion of A549 cells were examined with colony formation, Transwell and wound healing assays. The function of DEPDC1 in autophagy and RAS‐ERK1/2 signalling was determined with Western blot assay upon DEPDC1 knockdown and/or overexpression in A549, HCC827 and H1993 cells. The results demonstrated that DEPDC1 expression was up‐regulated in LUAD tissues, and its high expression was correlated with unfavourable prognosis. The data also showed that DEPDC1 knockdown impaired proliferation, migration and invasion of A549 cells. Most notably, the results showed that DEPDC1 up‐regulated RAS expression and thus enhanced ERK1/2 activity, through which DEPDC1 could inhibit autophagy. In conclusion, our study revealed that DEPDC1 is up‐regulated in LUAD tissues and plays an oncogenic role in LUAD, and that DEPDC1 inhibits autophagy through the RAS‐ERK1/2 signalling in A549, HCC827 and H1993 cells.
Abortion is associated with knee osteoarthritis among older women in China

Abstract The current studies revealed inconsistent relationship between reproductive factors and osteoarthritis. Community-based research has not been conducted in China. The study was to examine the association of reproductive factors with the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Through a multistage stratified random sampling method, 10 streets or villages from 5 cities in Hunan province were randomly selected, a total 2746 eligible women aged 50 to 83 were recruited in this cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire including demographic factors, socio-economic status, reproductive factors, and knee OA was used. According to the criteria of American College of Rheumatology, clinical knee OA was assessed by doctors in community or village health clinics for knee pain, age, morning stiffness, crepitus on active motion or for knee pain, morning stiffness, crepitus on active motion, and tenderness of the bony navigation of the joint. Self-reported age of menarche, parity, abortion history, and menopausal status were collected. The prevalence of knee OA was 13.44%. Abortion is associated with knee OA (odds ratio [OR] = 1.271, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.007, 1.606), but age at menarche, parity, and menopausal status were not the factors. Furthermore, age (OR = 1.040, 95% CI = 1.020, 1.060), weight (OR = 1.019, 95% CI = 1.004, 1.035), higher education level (OR = 1.530, 95% CI = 1.121, 2.088), higher monthly household income (OR = .583, 95% CI = 0.441, 0.770 for 3000–4999 ¥ and OR = 0.599, 95% CI = 0.431, 0.833 for 5000 ¥ or more), and chronic gastritis (OR = 3.364, 95% CI = 2.548, 4.442) were associated with knee OA. Abortion may increase the risk of knee OA. Special attention should be paid to women with a history of abortion, and women who are planning to abort should be informed of the risk of knee OA later in life. The relationship between abortion and knee OA should be interpreted with caution and further confirmed.
Kitumba – a new kind of copper deposit in a Zambian context

Zambia’s economy has historically been based on its copper mining industry, with the Copperbelt being the main centre of production for the past 100 years or so. It is thought that mining and smelting were introduced to Zambia around AD 650, based on old smelting sites and ornaments found in burial sites (Cikin and Drysdall, 1971). Old workings based on malachite outcrops are known from the Kansanshi, Copperbelt, and Mumbwa areas in Zambia. The first European exploration activity in 1895 by the Northern Territories (BSA) Exploration Co. expedition confirmed that large copper deposits existed in Central Africa. Discoveries occurred in rapid succession in the early 1900s and by 1938, the Copperbelt was already producing 13% of the world’s copper. Following a long history of production from the central or traditional Copperbelt, significant production is now coming from the Kansanshi (First Quantum Minerals) and Lumwana (Barrick Gold Corporation) operations some 200 km to the west. Other major projects in the pipeline within the latter area include First Quantum’s Trident project. Should all this production come on line, this will potentially elevate Zambia to the position of the fifth largest copper producing country in the world. Numerous other copper occurrences are known throughout central and western Zambia, mostly as a result of prospecting in the early to mid-1900s. Much of the early exploration effort in this region was focused on the search for Copperbelt-style sediment-hosted deposits, but instead resulted in the discovery of veinand breccia-type copper showings and deposits often associated with iron concentrations and, in some instances, gold. These types of deposits have come to be known as iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) type deposits, with the best known example being Olympic Dam in Australia. The locations of the Zambian Copperbelt, Kansanshi, and Lumwana operations, and the subject of this paper, the Kitumba deposit, are shown in Figure 1.
Optimol : Optimization of Binding Affinities in Chemical Space for Drug Discovery

Ligand-based drug design has recently benefited from the boost of deep generative models. These models enable extensive explorations of the chemical space, and provide a platform for molecular optimization. However, current state of the art methods do not leverage the structure of the target, which is known to play a key role in the interaction. We propose an optimization pipeline that leverages complementary structure-based and ligand-based methods. Instead of performing docking on a fixed drug bank, we iteratively select promising compounds in the whole chemical space using a ligand-centered generative model. Molecular docking is then used as an oracle to guide compound optimization. This allows to iteratively generate leads that better fit the target structure, in a closed optimization loop, without prior knowledge about bio-actives. For this purpose, we introduce a new graph to selfies VAE which is competitive with the state of the art and benefits from faster decoding than graph to graph methods. We also successfully optimize the generation of molecules towards high docking scores, enabling a ten-fold augmentation of high-scoring compounds found with a fixed computational budget. Availability Code is available on GitHub Contact jeromew@mcgill.ca
Diabetes, insulin resistance, and asthma: a review of potential links

Purpose of review Disorders of glucose metabolism, including insulin resistance, prediabetes, and diabetes, have been identified as risk factors for worsened asthma. This review summarizes emerging evidence for their role as modifiable risk factors in asthma, including the potential benefit of diabetes medications on asthma outcomes. Recent findings Experimental studies show that hyperinsulinemia associated with insulin resistance is associated with airway smooth muscle proliferation and promotes contractility. Epidemiologic studies have identified a higher prevalence of glycemic dysfunction among those with severe and uncontrolled asthma, and longitudinal studies have associated prediabetes and diabetes with higher risk of asthma exacerbations. The potential benefits of thiazolidinediones (TZDs), glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, and metformin being investigated in asthma, but thus far interventional studies of TZDs have reported null results. On the contrary, observational studies have inconsistently controlled for relevant confounders which leaves conclusions vulnerable to misattribution of relationships due to corelated metabolic disorders, including dyslipidemia. Summary Developing evidence suggests that disorders of glucose metabolism may be associated with worsening asthma. However, these conditions arise within a network of obesity-related metabolic diseases that may themselves worsen asthma. Few interventional trials have not identified a benefit, but data have been limited. Additional research is needed to define the potential independent impact of disorders of glucose metabolism in asthma.
Somatic embryogenesis in two Nigerian cassava cultivars (Sandpaper and TMS 60444)

The embryogenic ability of two cassava cultivars (Sandpaper and TMS 60444) was investigated by culturing their young leaf lobes on an induction medium (DKW2 50P). The explants formed organized embryogenic structures regardless of the concentration of picloram in the medium. Organized embryogenic structures induction was enhanced by increasing the concentration of picloram in the induction medium for both cultivars. The optimum level of picloram at which maximum stable frequencies (53.1±17.6 and 51.5±14.6 for Sandpaper and TMS 60444 respectively) of organized embryogenic structures were obtained was 5 mg/l. Friable embryogenic callus were further produced in GD2 50P medium supplemented with 500 µM tyrosine. The produced friable embryogenic calluses are prime target tissues for genetic transformation and plantlet regeneration. Key words: Cassava cultivars, explants, organized embryogenic structures, friable embryogenic callus, picloram, tyrosine.
Prepuce-sparing corporoplasty as a safe alternative for patients with acquired penile curvature.

OBJECTIVES penile curvature is a rare condition, classified as congenital or acquired (Peyronie's disease) (PD). Surgical correction is the standard treatment. It's common practice to associate circumcision with penile de-gloving to prevent complications. In this paper we evaluate the feasibility of penile surgery avoiding circumcision. MATERIALS AND METHODS patients presenting with penile curvature were treated using a modified Nesbit procedure. Patients were divided into group A if they opted for a prepuce-sparing surgery and the others into group B. Patients were evaluated pre and postoperatively and postoperative complications were assessed. The 5-item International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) was administered before and 6 months after surgery and we compared the difference of mean value using T-Test. RESULTS Group A and B were made of 53 and 16 patients respectively. Median age was 59 years [interquartile range (IQR) 12] in A and 62 (IQR 9) in B (p = 0.2). Median curvature was 40° (IQR 40°) in A and 40 ° (IQR 30°) in B (p = 0.62). Mean difference between pre- and post-operative IEFF was 1.9 ± 2 in A and 2.6 ± 2.1 in B (p = 0.36). CONCLUSIONS According to our experience, surgical correction of penile curvature without performing circumcision could be a safe and feasible strategy. We recommend performing circumcision only in patients who present with pre-operative phimosis.
Survey of the Health Status of Some Honey Bee Queens in Italy

Abstract While observing: non-acceptance, frequent replacements, and reduced performance in honey bee (Apis mellifera ligustica) queens, we were induced to analyse a certain number of queens to detect the causes. For this purpose, 99 newly mated queens were bought from 20 Italian queen breeders. In addition, 109 older or at-the-end-of-their-career queens, that showed poor productivity, were collected from honey production hives throughout Italy. All the queens were dissected to check the status of their reproductive system and/or the presence of various anomalies and diseases. Anatomical and functional anomalies, pertaining to ovaries and spermatheca, also in association with tissue alterations and microorganisms like Nosema spp. and protozoa, were common in both newly mated and older queens, but they were more prevalent in the latter. Observed differences permitted us to highlight the causes of the reduced performance of the queens and of the colonies they originated from. The obtained information could prove useful when it comes to improving queen breeding techniques.