Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Foot shape in arboreal birds: two morphological patterns for the same pincer‐like tool

The feet are the only contact between the body and the substrate in limbed animals and as such they provide a crucial interface between the animal and its environment. This is especially true for bipedal and arboreal species living in a complex three‐dimensional environment that likely induces strong selection on foot morphology. In birds, foot morphology is highly variable, with different orientations of the toes, making it a good model for the study of the role of functional, developmental, and phylogenetic constraints in the evolution of phenotypic diversity. Our data on the proportions of the phalanges analyzed in a phylogenetic context show that two different morphological patterns exist that depend mainly on habitat and toe orientation. In the anisodactyl foot, the hallux is the only backward‐oriented toe and is enlarged in climbing species and reduced in terrestrial ones. Moreover, a proximo‐distal gradient in phalanx size is observed depending on the degree of terrestriality. In the two other cases (heterodactyl and zygodactyl) that have two toes that point backward, the hallux is rather small in contrast to the other backward‐pointing toe, which is enlarged. The first pattern is convergent and common among tetrapods and follows rules of skeletal development. The second pattern is unique for the clade and under muscle–morphogenetic control. In all cases, the functional result is the same tool, a pincer‐like foot.
Motor unit firing rate patterns during voluntary muscle force generation: a simulation study

Objective. Muscle force is generated by a combination of motor unit (MU) recruitment and changes in the discharge rate of active MUs. There have been two basic MU recruitment and firing rate paradigms reported in the literature, which describe the control of the MUs during force generation. The first (termed the reverse ‘onion skin’ profile), exhibits lower firing rates for lower threshold units, with higher firing rates occurring in higher threshold units. The second (termed the ‘onion skin’ profile), exhibits an inverse arrangement, with lower threshold units reaching higher firing rates. Approach. Using a simulation of the MU activity in a hand muscle, this study examined the force generation capacity and the variability of the muscle force magnitude at different excitation levels of the MU pool under these two different MU control paradigms. We sought to determine which rate/recruitment scheme was more efficient for force generation, and which scheme gave rise to the lowest force variability. Main results. We found that the force output of both firing patterns leads to graded force output at low excitation levels, and that the force generation capacity of the two different paradigms diverged around 50% excitation. In the reverse ‘onion skin’ pattern, at 100% excitation, the force output reached up to 88% of maximum force, whereas for the ‘onion skin’ pattern, the force output only reached up to 54% of maximum force at 100% excitation. The force variability was lower at the low to moderate force levels under the ‘onion skin’ paradigm than with the reverse ‘onion skin’ firing patterns, but this effect was reversed at high force levels. Significance. This study captures the influence of MU recruitment and firing rate organization on muscle force properties, and our results suggest that the different firing organizations can be beneficial at different levels of voluntary muscle force generation and perhaps for different tasks.
Adverse drug reactions as cause of admission to hospital: Authors' reply

EDITOR—The aim of our study was to elucidate the prevalence of adverse drug reactions associated with prescribed medicines. We agree with Williams and Taylor that alcohol and herbal medicines may be contributory factors but thought that our study could not accurately report on this aspect because of difficulties in verification of intake. More studies of a different design are needed in this area, and we are currently addressing the role of alcohol in warfarin related adverse drug reactions in a prospective study of 2000 patients using the AUDIT questionnaire,1 a validated instrument to assess alcohol misuse. With regard …
Prehospital spinal immobilization does not appear to be beneficial and may complicate care following gunshot injury to the torso.

BACKGROUND Prehospital spinal immobilization (PHSI) is routinely applied to patients sustaining torso gunshot wounds (GSW). Our objective was to evaluate the potential benefit of PHSI after torso GSW versus the potential to interfere with other critical aspects of care. METHODS A retrospective analysis of all patients with torso GSW in the Strong Memorial Hospital (SMH) trauma registry during a 41-month period and all patients with GSW in the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) during a 60-month period was conducted. PHSI was considered potentially beneficial in patients with spine fractures requiring surgical stabilization in the absence of spinal cord injury (SCI). RESULTS Three hundred fifty-seven subjects from SMH and 75,210 from NTDB were included. A total of 9.2% of SMH subjects and 4.3% of NTDB subjects had spine injury, with 51.5% of SMH subjects and 32.3% of NTDB subjects having SCI. No SMH subject had an unstable spine fracture requiring surgical stabilization without complete neurologic injury. No subjects with SCI improved or worsened, and none developed a new deficit. Twenty-six NTDB subjects (0.03%) had spine fractures requiring stabilization in the absence of SCI. Emergent intubation was required in 40.6% of SMH subjects and 33.8% of NTDB subjects. Emergent surgical intervention was required in 54.5% of SMH subjects and 43% of NTDB subjects. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that the benefit of PHSI in patients with torso GSW remains unproven, despite a potential to interfere with emergent care in this patient population. Large prospective studies are needed to clarify the role of PHSI after torso GSW.
Neural code alterations and abnormal time patterns in Parkinson’s disease

Objective. The neural code used by the basal ganglia is a current question in neuroscience, relevant for the understanding of the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease. While a rate code is known to participate in the communication between the basal ganglia and the motor thalamus/cortex, different lines of evidence have also favored the presence of complex time patterns in the discharge of the basal ganglia. To gain insight into the way the basal ganglia code information, we studied the activity of the globus pallidus pars interna (GPi), an output node of the circuit. Approach. We implemented the 6-hydroxydopamine model of Parkinsonism in Sprague-Dawley rats, and recorded the spontaneous discharge of single GPi neurons, in head-restrained conditions at full alertness. Analyzing the temporal structure function, we looked for characteristic scales in the neuronal discharge of the GPi. Main results. At a low-scale, we observed the presence of dynamic processes, which allow the transmission of time patterns. Conversely, at a middle-scale, stochastic processes force the use of a rate code. Regarding the time patterns transmitted, we measured the word length and found that it is increased in Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, it showed a positive correlation with the frequency of discharge, indicating that an exacerbation of this abnormal time pattern length can be expected, as the dopamine depletion progresses. Significance. We conclude that a rate code and a time pattern code can co-exist in the basal ganglia at different temporal scales. However, their normal balance is progressively altered and replaced by pathological time patterns in Parkinson’s disease.
Attention-level transitory response: a novel hybrid BCI approach

Objective. People with disabilities may control devices such as a computer or a wheelchair by means of a brain–computer interface (BCI). BCI based on steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) requires visual stimulation of the user. However, this SSVEP-based BCI suffers from the ‘Midas touch effect’, i.e., the BCI can detect an SSVEP even when the user is not gazing at the stimulus. Then, these incorrect detections deteriorate the performance of the system, especially in asynchronous BCI because ongoing EEG is classified. In this paper, a novel transitory response of the attention-level of the user is reported. It was used to develop a hybrid BCI (hBCI). Approach. Three methods are proposed to detect the attention-level of the user. They are based on the alpha rhythm and theta/beta rate. The proposed hBCI scheme is presented along with these methods. Hence, the hBCI sends a command only when the user is at a high-level of attention, or in other words, when the user is really focused on the task being performed. The hBCI was tested over two different EEG datasets. Main results. The performance of the hybrid approach is superior to the standard one. Improvements of 20% in accuracy and 10 bits min−1 are reported. Moreover, the attention-level is extracted from the same EEG channels used in SSVEP detection and this way, no extra hardware is needed. Significance. A transitory response of EEG signal is used to develop the attention-SSVEP hBCI which is capable of reducing the Midas touch effect.
Towards a symbiotic brain–computer interface: exploring the application–decoder interaction

Objective. State of the art brain–computer interface (BCI) research focuses on improving individual components such as the application or the decoder that converts the user’s brain activity to control signals. In this study, we investigate the interaction between these components in the P300 speller, a BCI for communication. We introduce a synergistic approach in which the stimulus presentation sequence is modified to enhance the machine learning decoding. In this way we aim for an improved overall BCI performance. Approach. First, a new stimulus presentation paradigm is introduced which provides us flexibility in tuning the sequence of visual stimuli presented to the user. Next, an experimental setup in which this paradigm is compared to other paradigms uncovers the underlying mechanism of the interdependence between the application and the performance of the decoder. Main results. Extensive analysis of the experimental results reveals the changing requirements of the decoder concerning the data recorded during the spelling session. When few data is recorded, the balance in the number of target and non-target stimuli shown to the user is more important than the signal-to-noise rate (SNR) of the recorded response signals. Only when more data has been collected, the SNR becomes the dominant factor. Significance. For BCIs in general, knowing the dominant factor that affects the decoder performance and being able to respond to it is of utmost importance to improve system performance. For the P300 speller, the proposed tunable paradigm offers the possibility to tune the application to the decoder’s needs at any time and, as such, fully exploit this application-decoder interaction.
Proton spectroscopic imaging metabolite ratios in human brain: Measurement error proportional to the mean

As part of our 3D proton MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) studies of intracranial tumors, we carried out a repeatability study in normal volunteers. While analyzing these data we detected an interesting statistical observation: measurement error proportional to the mean, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been documented before and which may, therefore, be of interest. While we acknowledge that this observation might be specific to our particular combination of hardware and pulse sequence parameters, we feel that the result is still noteworthy. Eight volunteers were scanned twice during the same examination using a 3.0 T Signa HDx MRI scanner (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI), a bird-cage headcoil, a 144 msec TE PRESS sequence (1 sec TR), semiautomated higher-order shimming (shim and transmit/receive gain settings held constant), a voxel over-sizing (OVERPRESS) factor of 1.3, and a 12 12 8 cm field-of-view of 1 mL nominal volume voxels. Six outer-volume saturation (OVS) bands adjacent to the volume of interest were employed along with four additional OVS bands to saturate susceptibility artifacts from the frontal sinuses, the skull base, and the mouth and naso-pharynx. Spectra were obtained from between 105 and 245 voxels per study. The NAA:choline concentration ratio, as quantified using LCModel (Stephen Provencher, Oakville, ON, Canada), was taken as the clinically useful ‘‘normality index’’ and signal-to-noise ratio and Cramer-Rao thresholds of 2.0 and 20%, respectively, were employed to eliminate poor quality spectra. Twelve percent of spectra were eliminated leaving spectra from 1108 voxels with varying proportions of gray and white matter. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS (Chicago, IL) and measurement error proportional to the mean (a significant correlation, P < 0.001, between absolute difference and the mean) was detected using Kendall’s tau (1). Standard mathematical transformations of the data (logarithm, square root, and inverse) were investigated in order to correct Figure 1. Scatterplots showing the variability of metabolite ratios (scan two minus scan one) as a function of the mean ratio. a: The differences between the square roots of the choline:NAA ratios, where measurement error was not proportional to the mean, along with repeatability limits (solid lines) as calculated from the data. b: The differences between the untransformed ratios along with repeatability limits as calculated/transformed from those in panel a. DOI 10.1002/jmri.22187 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING 31:1538–1539 (2010)
Predictors of complications after spinal stabilization of thoracolumbar spine injuries.

BACKGROUND The management of complications after major traumatic spinal injury and surgical stabilization is a challenge. The purpose of this study is to identify factors predictive of a complication after surgical stabilization of thoracolumbar spine injuries. METHODS A review of subjects prospectively enrolled in a multicenter database for spine trauma was performed. Standard demographic data, Glasgow Coma Scores, Injury Severity Score, American Spinal Injury Association score, Charlson Comorbiditiy Index (CCI), mechanism of injury, administration of methylprednisolone (National Acute Spinal Cord Injury II, III), time from injury to surgery, and surgical approach were evaluated. All perioperative complications within 6 months of surgery were recorded. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors predictive of the occurrence of a complication after surgical stabilization of a thoracolumbar injury. RESULTS There were 230 patients (57 women, 173 men), 35% were smokers. The mean age at injury was 41.8 ± 17.8 years. The majority of patients (52%) had no neurologic deficits. Nineteen percent had complete cord injuries whereas 29% had incomplete cord injuries. The mean admission ISS was 9.2 ± 7.8, mean CCI was 0.2 ± 0.7, mean Glasgow Coma Score was 14.6 ± 1.6. NASCIS II and III was instituted in 15.5% and 4.2% of all patients, respectively; mean time from injury to surgery was 8.9 ± 59 days. The incidence of complications was 79% (minor 30%, major 49%). No factors predictive of a minor complication were identified. Factors predictive of the occurrence of a major complication were administration of high-dose steroids, ASIA score, and CCI. CONCLUSION The severity of neurologic injury, number of comorbidities, and use of the high-dose steroids independently increase the risk of having a major complication after surgical stabilization of thoracolumbar spine fractures.
Integrating language models into classifiers for BCI communication: a review

Objective. The present review systematically examines the integration of language models to improve classifier performance in brain–computer interface (BCI) communication systems. Approach. The domain of natural language has been studied extensively in linguistics and has been used in the natural language processing field in applications including information extraction, machine translation, and speech recognition. While these methods have been used for years in traditional augmentative and assistive communication devices, information about the output domain has largely been ignored in BCI communication systems. Over the last few years, BCI communication systems have started to leverage this information through the inclusion of language models. Main results. Although this movement began only recently, studies have already shown the potential of language integration in BCI communication and it has become a growing field in BCI research. BCI communication systems using language models in their classifiers have progressed down several parallel paths, including: word completion; signal classification; integration of process models; dynamic stopping; unsupervised learning; error correction; and evaluation. Significance. Each of these methods have shown significant progress, but have largely been addressed separately. Combining these methods could use the full potential of language model, yielding further performance improvements. This integration should be a priority as the field works to create a BCI system that meets the needs of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis population.
Enhanced polarization-sensitive terahertz emission from vertically grown graphene by a dynamical photon drag effect.

Improving terahertz (THz) emission from graphene is a challenge for graphene-based THz photonics as graphene demonstrates a weak light-matter interaction. With a unique ultra-black surface structure, vertically grown graphene (VGG) is proposed to enhance the light-matter interaction and further enhance THz emission. Herein, enhanced THz radiation is observed by THz time-domain emission spectroscopy from VGG compared with single-layer graphene. The radiated THz amplitude shows a linear dependence on pump power, which demonstrates a second order nonlinear effect. Considering the symmetry of VGG on a substrate, we can exclude the optical rectification effect and photogalvanic effect (PGE) by the D6h point group with centrosymmetry. Thus we analyze the transient photocurrent related to THz emission only by the photon drag effect (PDE). The polarization-sensitive THz radiation signals are wave-vector reliant and demonstrate cos 2φ and sin 2φ dependence on the polarization angles of the pump laser. This is consistent with the theoretical analysis of PDE. Our results show the enhanced, ultrafast, broadband THz radiation property of VGG, which paves the way for high performance THz emitters and THz detectors based on graphene materials.
An online brain–computer interface using non-flashing visual evoked potentials

Not until recently have motion-onset visual evoked potentials (mVEPs) been explored as a modality for brain–computer interface (BCI) applications. In this study, the first online BCI system based on mVEPs is presented, in which selection is discerned by subjects' focused attention to the moving cursor at a target virtual button. An adaptive approach was used to adjust the number of trial presentations according to the participants' online performance. With the EEG signal acquired from only a single channel, an acceptable information transfer rate of 42.1 bits min−1 was achieved, averaged by 12 subjects. Furthermore, an online application for the Google search system was developed based on this paradigm. The promising results, that all of 12 participants were able to operate the system freely, validate the feasibility of a practical motion-onset VEP-based BCI which could be embedded into computer screen elements, such as menu, button and icon, for various applications.
Insulin resistance and inflammation markers: correlations in obese adolescents.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To ascertain whether inflammation markers also correlate with parameters related to insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in a group of adolescents. BACKGROUND Obesity is now considered a chronic low-grade inflammatory process, characterised by alterations in the systemic concentrations of some inflammation markers. Adiponectin, leptin and other inflammatory proteins have been shown to correlate with insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in adults. DESIGN Cross-sectional study in two groups of obese and normal weight adolescents. METHODS Serum levels of adiponectin, leptin, ceruloplasmin and insulin levels were determined and correlated among them and with anthropometric parameters, blood pressure body mass index and body mass index z-score. RESULTS Waist circumference, body mass index and blood pressure values correlated significantly with both homoeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance and insulin levels. Ceruloplasmin also correlated with both parameters with a high level of significance. However, leptin levels did not correlate with either homoeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance or insulin, and adiponectin correlated with homoeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance but not insulin. All inflammation markers studied correlated with the body mass index z-score. These correlations were stronger in the group of obese individuals compared to lean ones. CONCLUSIONS We found a relationship between insulin resistance and some inflammation in adolescents, which was particularly strong in obese individuals and was associated with the development of metabolic syndrome. Among the inflammation markers studied, ceruloplasmin revealed as a potential string marker of insulin resistance in obese adolescents. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The results obtained in this study imply a significant advance in the field of clinical practice of nursing. The adequate understanding by nursing personnel of the inflammatory processes inherent to obesity constitutes a key factor for the prevention of the disease and its complications in adolescents.
Improving newborn pain management: systematic pain assessment and operators' compliance with potentially better practices.

Pain control and prevention is imperative for ethical and clinical reasons and is pursued by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a standard requirement in the paediatric and neonatal healthcare setting (American Academy of Pediatrics 2006). The Joint Commission and Accreditation Canada includes systematic pain monitoring and control during the delivery of health care among its standards of excellence.
Food allergic consumers' preferences for labelling practices: a qualitative study in a real shopping environment

Food allergy is a chronic disease that can only be managed through avoidance of problematic proteins in the diet. Inappropriate communication about food allergens can cause stress and insecurity, which may have a negative impact on quality of life. The aim was to investigate whether information provided through current labelling practices meets the need of food allergic consumers. A total of 40 participants (20 adult food allergy suffers and 20 parents of food allergic children) were recruited from two different European countries (Greece and The Netherlands), and interviewed while shopping in a supermarket. Participants were asked to purchase 15 potentially problematic food items as if for their own household. Their information search behaviour was observed, and participants were questioned about their preferences for food allergen information provision. Participants reported experiencing problems associated with current food allergy information provision. It was reported that inappropriate use of fonts, colours and languages, application of precautionary labelling and lack of harmonization in labelling practices across countries can cause (un)necessary dietary restrictions for food allergic consumers. Research is needed to investigate the feasibility and implementation possibilities for new information delivery strategies and amendments to existing European labelling policy.