Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting stimulus‐rate sensitivity of human somatosensory fMRI signals with MEG

With increasing stimulus rate (SR), cortical EEG and MEG responses typically decrease in amplitude whereas BOLD fMRI signals increase. To address this discrepancy, we predicted BOLD responses with squared MEG waveforms using a recently proposed energy‐density model. Tactile stimuli were delivered to finger tips at SRs of 1, 4, or 10 Hz in successive 25‐s blocks, and brain signals were detected from area 3b of the primary somatosensory cortex of nine healthy adults using a 306‐channel whole‐scalp neuromagnetometer and a 3‐T fMRI magnet. The main MEG deflections decreased in amplitude as a function of SR, whereas the BOLD signals increased from 1‐ to 4‐Hz SR, with no further change at 10 Hz. MEG energy densities, obtained over the whole stimulus train and convolved with different hemodynamic response functions, predicted both the shape and amplitude of the BOLD signals well, and incorporation of nonlinear terms into the model did not offer any further advantage. Thus, squared MEG waveforms obtained over the entire stimulus train provided an appropriate estimate of area 3b neuronal activity associated with the BOLD signal. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Optimal Placement and Sizing of Distributed Generators in Unbalanced Distribution Systems Using Supervised Big Bang-Big Crunch Method

This paper presents an efficient and fast-converging optimization technique based on a modification of the traditional big bang-big crunch method for optimal placement and sizing of voltage controlled distributed generators. The proposed algorithm deals with the optimization problems incorporating multiple distributed generators for the sake of power as well as energy loss minimization in balanced/unbalanced distribution systems. The proposed algorithm is implemented in MATLAB environment and tested on the 33-bus feeder system and the IEEE 37-node feeder. Validation of the proposed method is done via comparing the results with published results obtained from other competitive methods.
A Survey on Lexical Simpli cation

Lexical Simplification is the process of replacing complex words in a given sentence with simpler alternatives of equivalent meaning. This task has wide applicability both as an assistive technology for readers with cognitive impairments or disabilities, such as Dyslexia and Aphasia, and as a pre-processing tool for other Natural Language Processing tasks, such as machine translation and summarisation. The problem is commonly framed as a pipeline of four steps: the identification of complex words, the generation of substitution candidates, the selection of those candidates that fit the context, and the ranking of the selected substitutes according to their simplicity. In this survey we review the literature for each step in this typical Lexical Simplification pipeline and provide a benchmarking of existing approaches for these steps on publicly available datasets. We also provide pointers for datasets and resources available for the task.
Profiling Abusive Men Based on Women’s Self-Reports: Findings From a Sample of Urban Low-Income Minority Women

Understanding abusive behaviors among nonclinical samples of men is important to help women in the community understand the risks they may face. The purpose of the current study is to identify abusive profiles and subgroups of non-treatment-seeking men using women’s self reports. Of the sample of 611 women, 43% reported current abuse; chronicity of psychological aggression was the highest. Cluster analysis results revealed three different types of abusers. Findings provided support for recognizing batterer heterogeneity, especially based on women’s reports. Recommendations for future research and the limitations of using batterer typologies are discussed.
Microglia-neuron communication at nodes of Ranvier depends on neuronal activity through potassium release and contributes to myelin repair

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, are key players in healthy brain homeostasis and plasticity. In neurological diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, activated microglia either promote tissue damage or favor neuroprotection and myelin regeneration. The mechanisms for microglia-neuron communication remain largely unkown. Here, we identify nodes of Ranvier as a direct and stable site of interaction between microglia and axons, in both mouse and human tissue. Using dynamic imaging, we highlight the preferential interaction of microglial processes with nodes of Ranvier along myelinated fibers. We show that microglianode interaction is modulated by neuronal activity and associated potassium release, with THIK-1 ensuring their microglial read-out. Disrupting axonal K+ flux following demyelination polarizes microglia towards a pro-inflammatory phenotype and decreases remyelination rate. Taken together, these findings identify the node of Ranvier as a major site for microglia-neuron communication, participating in the pro-remyelinating effect of microglia after myelin injury.
This item is the archived peer-reviewed author-version of: Hypo-osmotic stress-induced physiological and ion-osmoregulatory responses in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) are modulated differentially by nutritional status

19 We investigated the impact of nutritional status on the physiological, metabolic and ion-osmoregulatory 20 performance of European sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) when acclimated to seawater (32 ppt), brackish 21 water (20 and 10 ppt) and hyposaline water (2.5 ppt) for 2 weeks. Following acclimation to different salinities, 22 ﬁ sh were either fed or fasted (unfed for 14 days). Plasma osmolality, [Na + ], [Cl − ] and muscle water content 23 were severely altered in fasted ﬁ sh acclimated to 10 and 2.5 ppt in comparison to normal seawater-acclimated 24 ﬁ sh, suggesting ion regulation and acid – base balance disturbance. In contrast to feed-deprived ﬁ sh, fed ﬁ sh 25 were able to avoid osmotic perturbation more effectively. This was accompanied by an increase in Na + /K + - 26 ATPase expression and activity, transitory activation of H + -ATPase (only at 2.5 ppt) and down-regulation of 27 Na + /K + /2Cl − geneexpression.Ammonia excretion ratewas inhibitedtoa largerextent infasted ﬁ shacclimated 28 to low salinities while fed ﬁ sh were able to excrete much more ef ﬁ ciently. Consequently, the build-up of 29 ammonia in the plasma of fed ﬁ sh was relatively lower. Energy stores, especially glycogen and lipid, dropped 30 in the fasted ﬁ sh at low salinities and progression towards the anaerobic metabolic pathway became evident 31 by an increase in plasma lactate level. Overall, the results indicate no osmotic stress in both feeding treatments 32 within the salinity range of 32 to 20 ppt. However, at lower salinities (10 – 2.5 ppt) feed deprivation tends to 33 reduce physiological, metabolic, ion-osmoregulatory and molecular compensatory mechanisms and thus limits 34 the ﬁ sh's abilities to adapt to a hypo-osmotic environment.
A Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Single Machine Total Earliness and Tardiness Problem with a Common Due Date

In this paper, a discrete particle swarm optimization (DPSO) algorithm is presented to solve the single machine total earliness and tardiness penalties with a common due date. A modified version of HRM heuristic presented by Hino et al. in [7], here we call it M_HRM, is also presented to solve the problem. In addition, the DPSO algorithm is hybridized with the neighborhood search algorithm to further improve the solution quality. The performance of the proposed DPSO algorithm is tested on 280 benchmark instances up to 1000 jobs from the OR Library. The computational experiments showed that the proposed DPSO algorithm has generated better results, in terms of both percent deviations from the upper bounds in Biskup and Feldmann [1] and computational time, than the existing approaches in the literature.
A selective oleic acid albumin agar medium for the cultivation of Mycobacterium bovis

SUMMARY The modification of Middlebrook's 7H11 oleic acid albumin agar medium by the addition of fresh bovine serum and lysed sheep red cells to encourage growth of Mycobacterium bovis is described. The improved medium was made selective by the addition of antibiotics and a comparative trial of this medium and the guineapig test in the isolation of M. bovis from badger tissues is reported. A close agreement between the two tests was found; the guinea-pig test detected 95% of all isolations and culture detected 91%.
Pollination of invasive Rhododendron ponticum ( Ericaceae ) in Ireland

Several insect species visited exotic Rhododendron ponticum flowers, but bumblebees were most common. Only bumblebees (and one Vespula) contacted the flower stigma whilst foraging and are probably the main pollinators. One-third of insect visits resulted in stigma contact and visitation rates were high. This explains the high seed set reported elsewhere. There were significant differences according to the body size of visitors, with large queen bees contacting stigmas more often than smaller workers. There were no significant differences in behaviour of three species (Bombus jonellus, B. lucorum and B. monticola) and all bees tended to move short distances between flowers on a single plant. Longer flights and movements among plants were rare. Pollen carryover was estimated to be high: there was no decline in the amount of pollen deposited on stigmas from the first to fifth flower visited. The impact of bee behaviour on reproduction and invasion by exotic R. ponticum is discussed. body size / exotic plant / invasion / pollen transfer / weeds / pollination / Bombus / insect
Accumulative parallel counters

An accumulative parallel counter represents a true generalization of a sequential counter in that it incorporates the memory feature of an ordinary counter; i.e., it adds the sum of its n binary inputs to a stored value. We examine the design of accumulative parallel counters and show that direct synthesis of such a counter, as opposed to building it from a combinational parallel counter and a fast adder, leads to significant reduction in complexity and delay. While the mere fact that savings can be achieved comes as no surprise to seasoned arithmetic designers, its extent and consequences in designing large-scale (systolic) associative processors, modular multi-operand adders, serial-parallel multipliers, and digital neural networks merits detailed examination. Both simple accumulative parallel counters and their modular versions, that keep the accumulated count module an arbitrary constant p, are dealt with.
PLATELET MEMBRANE PROPERTIES IN ALZHEIMER AND MULTI-INFARCT DEMENTIAS

Recent investigations revealed that the physical properties of both central andperipheral cell membranes are changed in dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT). Weattempted to ascertain whether this effect is specific for DAT by studying the polarization ofdiphenylhexatriene (DPH) fluorescence (an indicator of membrane “microviscosity”) in themembranes of platelets isolated from DAT patients, patients with multi-infarct dementiaand healthy controls. The 3 groups were matched as closely as possible for age and sexdistributions. Platelet phospholipid composition was also examined in an attempt to identifythe chemical basis of the membrane change(s) These studies revealed that DPH fluorescence polarization is significantly reduced in plate-lets from DAT patients, but not in patients with multi-infarct dementia, compared withcontrols. Analysis of the phospholipid composition of platelets from the 3 groups of subjectsdid not find any significant differences which might explain the change in membrane properties.
Lymphoid Follicle-Dense Mucosa at the Terminal Rectum Is the Principal Site of Colonization of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in the Bovine Host

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli O157:H7 causes bloody diarrhea and potentially fatal systemic sequelae in humans. Cattle are most frequently identified as the primary source of infection, and E. coli O157:H7 generally colonizes the gastrointestinal tracts of cattle without causing disease. In this study, persistence and tropism were assessed for four different E. coli O157:H7 strains. Experimentally infected calves shed the organism for at least 14 days prior to necropsy. For the majority of these animals, as well as for a naturally colonized animal obtained from a commercial beef farm, the highest numbers of E. coli O157:H7 were found in the feces, with negative or significantly lower levels detected in lumen contents taken from the gastrointestinal tract. Detailed examination demonstrated that in these individuals the majority of tissue-associated bacteria were adherent to mucosal epithelium within a defined region extending up to 5 cm proximally from the recto-anal junction. The tissue targeted by E. coli O157:H7 was characterized by a high density of lymphoid follicles. Microcolonies of the bacterium were readily detected on the epithelium of this region by immunofluorescence microscopy. As a consequence of this specific distribution, E. coli O157:H7 was present predominately on the surface of the fecal stool. In contrast, other E. coli serotypes were present at consistent levels throughout the large intestine and were equally distributed in the stool. This is a novel tropism that may enhance dissemination both between animals and from animals to humans. The accessibility of this site may facilitate simple intervention strategies.
Molecular markers of extracellular matrix remodeling in glioblastoma vessels: Microarray study of laser‐captured glioblastoma vessels

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are the most malignant and vascularized brain tumors. The aberrant vascular phenotype of GBM could be exploited for diagnosis or therapeutic targeting. This study identified new molecular markers of GBM vessels, using a combination of laser capture microdissection (LCM) microscopy, RNA amplification, and microarray analyses to compare vessels from nonmalignant human brain and GBM tumors. Forty‐two genes were differentially expressed in GBM vessels compared to nonmalignant brain vessels. Validation of differentially expressed genes was performed by literature mining, Q‐PCR, and immunohistochemistry. Among the differentially expressed genes, only 64% were previously associated with vessels, angiogenesis, gliomas, and/or cancer. The upregulation of genes encoding secreted extracellular proteins IGFBP7 and SPARC was confirmed by Q‐PCR in LCM‐captured vessels. Whereas SPARC and IGFBP7 protein were absent in nonmalignant brain vessels, a distinct immunoreactivity patterns were observed in GBM sections whereby SPARC was strongly expressed in perivascular cells adjacent to GBM vessels while GBM endothelial cells were immunostained for IGFBP7. IGFBP7 immunoreactivity was also detected on the abluminal side of GBM vessels deposited between strands of vascular basal lamina. The study discerns unique molecular characteristics of GBM vessels compared with nonmalignant brain vessels that could potentially be used for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Efficient implementation of multivariable MPC with parametric uncertainties

A robust predictive controller for uncertain multivariable systems is developed in this work. The design problem is based on multivariable Controlled Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (CARIMA) model with parametric uncertainties. The use of an uncertain CARIMA model leads to a non convex optimization problem. Consequently, the computation time is so high that limit the on line implementation of the robust predictive controller. To reduce the computation time, we propose, in this work, the convexification of the optimization problem by using the generalized geometric programming. This method is addressed for non convex polynomial problem which is the case of most robust and nonlinear control system analysis and design problem. The efficiency of the proposed optimization algorithm, LMI and genetic algorithms optimizers are tested and compared on benchmark functions. The proposed controller is performed on three tanks system.
Genotyping of rotaviruses isolated from sewage

Rotaviruses from environmental samples have been genotyped by a seminested reverse transcription PCR assay with serotype-specific primers derived from variable regions of gene 9, which produce different characteristic segment sizes for serotypes 1 to 4. The method enabled the detection and identification of type 1, 2, and 3 group A rotaviruses in sewage.
Survey of Knowledge and Attitudes about Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Among Italian Anaesthetists.

OBJECTIVE As the care of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) patients remains heterogeneous, we hypothesized that it may reflect insufficient OSA knowledge/awareness among clinicians. METHODS OSA Knowledge/Attitude Questionnaire (OSAKA) was translated into Italian and distributed to anaesthetists attending SIAARTI National Congress and Airways courses and Hands-on Workshops from October 2012 to June 2013. RESULTS In total, 370 anaesthetists returned the questionnaires (response rate, 62%); the median (interquartile range [IQR]) knowledge score was 12 (10-14), and the range was 1-17 with no difference by gender, age, professional title or years of practice. The knowledge items achieved a mean rate of corrected response of 66%±0.14%. With regard to attitude items, median (IQR) score was 15 (13-17) and range was 0-20. Females and anaesthetists with >15 years of practice reached higher scores, while anaesthesia residents showed a lower attitude score. Gender and professional title were statistically associated with the attitude score (gender: F=14.6, p=0.0002; professional title: F=4.72, p=0.0099), whereas a weak association was observed within years in practice and attitude score (F=2.6, p=0.0519). Knowledge score correlated positively with attitude score (r=0.4, p<0.0001). For knowledge domains, there was a positive correlation between pathophysiology (mid-grade: r=0.3, p<0.0001), symptoms (low grade: r=0.2, p<0.0001), diagnosis (mid grade: r=0.3, p<0.0001) and the attitude score. Correlation close to zero was observed for epidemiology and treatment domains (r=0.09, p=0.06; r=-0.01, p=0.78, respectively). CONCLUSION The results of our survey demonstrate lack of knowledge about OSA and its treatment, revealing the need to update the syllabus of teaching in medical practice and in national health care policies to improve perioperative care.
Symmetrical Patterns from Dynamics

Automatic generation of symmetrical patterns belonging to all seventeen wallpaper groups is considered from a dynamical system's point of view. A pseudo‐code of the algorithm is provided to generate the computer graphics. The method is shown to be able to create unlimited varieties of patterns and demonstrates the possibility of relaxing the crystallographic restriction to produce aperiodic patterns.
Poor Starch Digestion in Children With CSID and Recurrent Abdominal Pain

I nvestigations by Prader et al first demonstrated in 1972 that patients with congenital sucrase-isomaltase deficiency (CSID) also have starch maldigestion (1). The presence of coexisting starch and sucrose intolerances creates problems in childhood dietary management and reduces the value of oral sacrosidase supplements. Confirmation of starch maldigestion at the mucosal level is difficult because there is no specific substrate for enzyme assays, and sucrase-isomaltase (SI) and maltase-glucoamylase contribute to both maltase and glucoamylase assay activities. These considerations led us to examine starch digestion in a series of children with CSID. The subjects were previously studied using a C-sucrose breath test, which correlated with biopsy sucrase activities (2). Here we report the study of these subjects and controls using C-starch as the breath test substrate. Based on the role of SI activities on in vitro starch digestion, our hypothesis was that all individuals with CSID would have reduced breath CO2 enrichments after a C-starch load. Although a large dose of naturally enriched cane sugar had been used by others, Robayo et al used a small dose of universally enriched C-substrates believing that detection of deficiencies would be more precise if the normal subject tests were highly enriched and the enzymes and transporters were not overloaded (2). The authors recognized that children and adults have different rates of glucose oxidation; thus, they normalized the test substrate oxidation to that of dose-equivalent C-glucose oxidation. The digestion and oxidation of uniformly labeled C-sucrose/glucose in patients with CSID agreed with duodenal biopsy sucrase activity and was fully corrected by oral yeast sucrase supplements (2). Clinical reviews report that some patients with CSID may also have starch maldigestion (1,3). Our uniformly labeled C-starch/glucose breath test panel demonstrates that starch digestion is poor in all patients with CSID. Starch breath tests do not fully correlate with duodenal maltase activity because of the 4 mucosal enzyme activities that are involved in mucosal starch digestion. The universally poor starch digestion in patients with CSID, however, confirms the deficient biopsy sucroseand maltase-enzyme activities (2) and confirms Auricchio and colleagues’ pioneering CSID starch digestion studies (1,3).