Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Control of Ca2+ signals by astrocyte nanoscale morphology at tripartite synapses

Much of the Ca2+ activity in astrocytes is spatially restricted to microdomains and occurs in fine processes that form a complex anatomical meshwork, the so‐called spongiform domain. A growing body of literature indicates that those astrocytic Ca2+ signals can influence the activity of neuronal synapses and thus tune the flow of information through neuronal circuits. Because of technical difficulties in accessing the small spatial scale involved, the role of astrocyte morphology on Ca2+ microdomain activity remains poorly understood. Here, we use computational tools and idealized 3D geometries of fine processes based on recent super‐resolution microscopy data to investigate the mechanistic link between astrocytic nanoscale morphology and local Ca2+ activity. Simulations demonstrate that the nano‐morphology of astrocytic processes powerfully shapes the spatio‐temporal properties of Ca2+ signals and promotes local Ca2+ activity. The model predicts that this effect is attenuated upon astrocytic swelling, hallmark of brain diseases, which we confirm experimentally in hypo‐osmotic conditions. Upon repeated neurotransmitter release events, the model predicts that swelling hinders astrocytic signal propagation. Overall, this study highlights the influence of the complex morphology of astrocytes at the nanoscale and its remodeling in pathological conditions on neuron‐astrocyte communication at so‐called tripartite synapses, where astrocytic processes come into close contact with pre‐ and postsynaptic structures.
FTACMT study protocol: a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of faecal microbiota transplantation for autism spectrum disorder

Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complicated diffuse developmental disorder that commonly involves gastrointestinal distress and dysbacteriosis. Emerging lines of evidence have shown faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to be a potential therapeutic strategy for improving the clinical outcomes of patients with ASD by re-establishing their intestinal microflora. We are undertaking the first-ever multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial of FMT for the treatment of children with both ASD and gastrointestinal symptoms and will assess the feasibility and efficacy outcomes of this strategy. Methods In total, 318 children with both ASD and gastrointestinal symptoms will be enrolled (from 15 hospitals in China) to receive either FMT intervention (n=212) or a placebo (control, n=106). Children aged 3–6 years will take two capsules two times a day, and those older than 6 years will take three capsules two times a day. Each patient will receive four treatment courses, with each 12-day course being repeated every month. Outcomes will be evaluated at baseline, throughout the period of intervention, and at subsequent follow-ups for 2 months. The primary trial objective is to investigate the remodelling effect of FMT on the intestinal microflora in patients with ASD. The secondary objective focuses on the clinical efficacy and safety of FMT, including its improvement of the clinical response and metabonomics. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the hospital Ethics Committee of each Faecal Transfer for ASD China Multicenter Trial Working Group. The ongoing FMT clinical trial is intended to support the approval of the new technology and its administration. The results of this trial will provide high-quality evidence to inform the future clinical application of this new therapy. Trial registration number ChiCTR2100043906; Pre-results.
Vector control strategies in Brazil: a qualitative investigation into community knowledge, attitudes and perceptions following the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic

Objective The World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern following the rapid emergence of neonatal microcephaly in Brazil during the 2015–2016 Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic. In response, a national campaign sought to control Aedes mosquito populations and reduce ZIKV transmission. Achieving adherence to vector control or mosquito-bite reduction behaviours, including the use of topical mosquito repellents, is challenging. Coproduction of research at the community level is needed to understand and mitigate social determinants of lower engagement with Aedes preventive measures, particularly within disempowered groups. Design In 2017, the Zika Preparedness Latin America Network (ZikaPLAN) conducted a qualitative study to understand individual and community level experiences of ZIKV and other mosquito-borne disease outbreaks. Presented here is a thematic analysis of 33 transcripts from community focus groups and semistructured interviews, applying the Health Belief Model (HBM) to elaborate knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of ZIKV and vector control strategies. Participants 120 purposively sampled adults of approximate reproductive age (18–45); 103 women participated in focus groups and 17 men in semistructured interviews. Setting Two sociopolitically and epidemiologically distinct cities in Brazil: Jundiaí (57 km north of São Paolo) and Salvador (Bahia state capital). Results Four key and 12 major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) knowledge and cues to action; (2) attitudes and normative beliefs (perceived threat, barriers, benefits and self-efficacy); (3) behaviour change (household prevention and community participation); and (4) community preferences for novel repellent tools, vector control strategies and ZIKV messaging. Conclusions Common barriers to repellent adherence were accessibility, appearance and effectiveness. A strong case is made for the transferability of the HBM to inform epidemic preparedness for mosquito-borne disease outbreaks at the community level. Nationally, a health campaign targeting men is recommended, in addition to local mobilisation of funding to strengthen surveillance, risk communication and community engagement.
Lung volume distribution in preterm infants on non-invasive high-frequency ventilation

Introduction Non-invasive high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (nHFOV) is an extension of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) support in neonates. We aimed to compare global and regional distribution of lung volumes during nHFOV versus nCPAP. Methods In 30 preterm infants enrolled in a randomised crossover trial comparing nHFOV with nCPAP, electrical impedance tomography data were recorded in prone position. For each mode of respiratory support, four episodes of artefact-free tidal ventilation, each comprising 30 consecutive breaths, were extracted. Tidal volumes (VT) in 36 horizontal slices, indicators of ventilation homogeneity and end-expiratory lung impedance (EELI) for the whole lung and for four horizontal regions of interest (non-gravity-dependent to gravity-dependent; EELINGD, EELImidNGD, EELImidGD, EELIGD) were compared between nHFOV and nCPAP. Aeration homogeneity ratio (AHR) was determined by dividing aeration in non-gravity-dependent parts of the lung through gravity-dependent regions. Main results Overall, 228 recordings were analysed. Relative VT was greater in all but the six most gravity-dependent lung slices during nCPAP (all p<0.05). Indicators of ventilation homogeneity were similar between nHFOV and nCPAP (all p>0.05). Aeration was increased during nHFOV (mean difference (95% CI)=0.4 (0.2 to 0.6) arbitrary units per kilogram (AU/kg), p=0.013), mainly due to an increase in non-gravity-dependent regions of the lung (∆EELINGD=6.9 (0.0 to 13.8) AU/kg, p=0.028; ∆EELImidNGD=6.8 (1.2 to 12.4) AU/kg, p=0.009). Aeration was more homogeneous during nHFOV compared with nCPAP (mean difference (95% CI) in AHR=0.01 (0.00 to 0.02), p=0.0014). Conclusion Although regional ventilation was similar between nHFOV and nCPAP, end-expiratory lung volume was higher and aeration homogeneity was slightly improved during nHFOV. The aeration difference was greatest in non-gravity dependent regions, possibly due to the oscillatory pressure waveform. The clinical importance of these findings is still unclear. Randomized crossover trial comparing electrical impedance tomography (EIT) data between nHFOV with nCPAP, showing increased and more homogenous lung aeration with nHFOV compared to nCPAP
Arc-cornered microstrip antenna with defected ground structure for broad banding and improved cross-polarization suppression over whole skew planes

Defected ground structure (DGS)-integrated arc-cornered rectangular microstrip antenna (RMA) has been investigated to achieve broadband along with high co-polarized to cross-polarized radiation (CP–XP) isolation over principal as well as over skew planes without affecting the dominant mode co-polarized (CP) radiation pattern. The present arc-cornered RMA on circular and rectangular dot-type DGS is thoroughly studied and compared with the conventional rectangular microstrip antenna. In the present paper, a crucial emphasis is given to improve CP–XP isolation in all the skew planes and by employing circular dot-type DGS around 20 dB CP–XP isolation is achieved over whole skew planes as well as in the H-plane with the proposed structure with 20% impedance bandwidth. On the contrary, the CP–XP isolation and impedance bandwidth vary in opposite manner in case of the rectangular dot-type DGS. Around 25 and 10 dB CP–XP isolation with 9 and 22% impedance bandwidth have been obtained with thin and thick rectangular dot-type DGS, respectively. The corners of the patch surface are rounded in such a way to reduce spurious radiations from the sharp corners, which are generally attributed for high XP radiation along the diagonal directions.
Operating theatre gridlock: How are decisions made on emergency surgical cases

Objective: The scheduling of emergency or unplanned surgery constitutes an important area of research in health management. The ambiguity around the identification of clinical states, logistical factors and acceptable timeframes has the potential to stifle decision-making practices among hospital personnel, and have grave consequences for the hospital and patient care. The aim of the present study was to explain decision-making processes around emergency or unplanned surgical cases through an examination of priority-setting among relevant hospital personnel. Design: The mixed methodology included: (1) the analysis of an unplanned surgical case, deemed to have been exposed to unsatisfactory decision-making practices; (2) consultation with key stakeholders involved in the aforementioned case; (3) the development of a comprehensive survey that reflected the issues raised by those consulted; and (4) the use of the survey in four hospitals. Setting: The study was conducted in four public hospitals located in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland, as well as New Zealand. Main outcome measures: The study employed two main outcome measures: [1] a semi-structured, open-ended interview schedule, which facilitated consultation with key stakeholders; and [2] a survey that explored clinical, logistical and time-related considerations that influence the scheduling of unplanned surgery. Results: The four principal findings include: [1] there are divergent understandings of emergency surgery among those who schedule emergency surgery, which in turn, have the potential to spur conflict; [2] processes to prioritise and schedule emergency surgery are inconsistently understood; [3] a consideration of clinical state and logistical factors sometimes merge when priority-setting; and [4] clinical and logistical considerations might stratify priority assessment. Conclusions: This study indicates that the fusion of clinical, logistical and time-related factors is pivotal in the scheduling of unplanned surgery. Secondly, it suggests that the scheduling of emergency surgery is complex and multifaceted, and warrants further exploration.
A REVIEW OF 3D GESTURE INTERACTION FOR HANDHELD AUGMENTED REALITY

Interaction for Handheld Augmented Reality (HAR) is a challenging research topic because of the small screen display and limited input options. Although 2D touch screen input is widely used, 3D gesture interaction is a suggested alternative input method. Recent 3D gesture interaction research mainly focuses on using RGB-Depth cameras to detect the spatial position and pose of fingers, using this data for virtual object manipulations in the AR scene. In this paper we review previous 3D gesture research on handheld interaction metaphors for HAR. We present their novelties as well as limitations, and discuss future research directions of 3D gesture interaction for HAR. Our results indicate that 3D gesture input on HAR is a potential interaction method for assisting a user in many tasks such as in education, urban simulation and 3D games.
Recruitment selectivity of single and pairs of transverse, intrafascicular, multi-channel electrodes (TIME) in the pig median nerve

When applied in the rat model the Transverse Intrafascicular Multi-channel Electrode (TIME) showed selective nerve fascicle recruitment. But results from the larger and poly-fasicular median nerves in pigs indicated that a single TIME could not reach the entire nerve and could only selectively recruit a subset of the nerve fascicles. The use of multiple TIME structures could offer a means to achieve highly selective fascicular stimulation while reaching a larger percentage of the fascicles in the nerve. This work investigates this approach using pairs of TIMEs implanted in the median nerves of anesthesized pigs (n=6). TIME structures were implanted at different angles relative to each other or in parallel with one another. Electrical stimuli was passed through each contact of each TIME and the resulting electromyograms were recorded from seven muscles innervated by the median nerve. The ability to recruit these muscles was used to assess the stimulation selectivity of each contact using a selectivity index comparing the root-mean-square of the the evoked EMG of individual muscles. Results showed a significant increase in the selectivity index, when using two TIMEs compared to one. The optimal improvement was observed when TIMEs were placed in parallel to each other in such a way that they interfaced non-overlapping nerve regions.
Assistive technology product to universal design: a way forward.

The context of Assistive Technology (AT) products are defined within a user-centred, new product development (NPD) process. The viewpoint of the user, associated stakeholders and a wider UK society are described along with ways in which their associated preferences may be obtained. The focus of this article is Industrial Design practice. Industrial Design (ID) may be considered to deliver the social and cultural function of a product within the constraints of physical function, manufacture and cost. A key aspect of ID practice is the manipulation of an individual's emotions or behaviours through the user's experience of interacting with the product. This may be viewing or sensing through to using it to perform a task. The generic mechanisms of perception and emotional response to a product are discussed and mapped onto the given new product development (NPD) process. The semantics of words images and forms are shown to have a critical influence on the perception of an individual and society. An example process, methodology and design tools are described that have been practically applied through many successful AT product developments. Case studies from current (2011-2012) Finalist undergraduate Industrial Design (ID) student product designs will focus on some of the principles described. The process described uses a combination of conventional evidenced-based NPD alongside specific methods of the manipulation of perception and semantic meaning. Design tools such as value web-diagrams, technology footprint, iconography and product DNA are demonstrated within the NPD examples. New product development (NPD) process Before reviewing methods associated specifically with Assistive Technology and Universal design, it is helpful to provide a context for their application within a NPD process. Below is a 'double-diamond' approach to the explanation of NPD activities that has been refined and developed by the author over the last twenty years. This is similar the basic diagram used in more recent years by the UK design Council to explain NPD. The methods and tools highlighted in this article focus on research, eliciting evidence to make informed design decisions; and, producing the optimum compromise within a design solution. In addition, design heuristics or tools are described that are employed to enhance the social and cultural function of the product design.
Deep-Learning-based Human Intention Prediction with Data Augmentation

Data augmentation has been broadly applied in training deep-learning models to increase the diversity of data. This study ingestigates the effectiveness of different data augmentation methods for deep-learningbased human intention prediction when only limited training data is available. A human participant pitches a ball to nine potential targets in our experiment. We expect to predict which target the participant pitches the ball to. Firstly, the effectiveness of 10 data augmentation groups is evaluated on a single-participant data set using RGB images. Secondly, the best data augmentation method (i.e., random cropping) on the single-participant data set is further evaluated on a multi-participant data set to assess its generalization ability. Finally, the effectiveness of random cropping on fusion data of RGB images and optical flow is evaluated on both single- and multi-participant data sets. Experiment results show that: 1) Data augmentation methods that crop or deform images can improve the prediction performance; 2) Random cropping can be generalized to the multi-participant data set (prediction accuracy is improved from 50% to 57.4%); and 3) Random cropping with fusion data of RGB images and optical flow can further improve the prediction accuracy from 57.4% to 63.9% on the multi-participant data set.
Students' Familiarity with Metaphorical Collocations of Time: A Preliminary Investigation

The present study attempted to investigate EFL students' familiarity with collocations of time (i.e., verb + time and time + noun) in the English language. As many as 42 students were enrolled in this study as participants in which 23 participants were fifth-semester students and 19 were seventh-semester students. To collect the data, the questionnaire was designed and developed based on corpus search results in terms of the verb collocations (verb + time) and noun collocates (time + noun). The data were collected by distributing questionnaires confirming their familiarity with some setlists of time collocations. The results showed that most students are already familiar with many time collocations, either verb + time or time + noun combinations. However, some high-frequency collocations were less familiar among EFL learners. This result should be considered by introducing more intensively learners to English collocations, especially collocations of time. Received: 13 January 2022 Revised: 19 January 2022 Accepted: 20 January 2022
Source Separation By Steering Pretrained Music Models

We showcase a method that repurposes deep models trained for music generation and music tagging for audio source separation, without any retraining. An audio generation model is conditioned on an input mixture, producing a latent encoding of the audio used to generate audio. This generated audio is fed to a pretrained music tagger that creates source labels. The cross-entropy loss between the tag distribution for the generated audio and a predefined distribution for an isolated source is used to guide gradient ascent in the (unchanging) latent space of the generative model. This system does not update the weights of the generative model or the tagger, and only relies on moving through the generative model’s latent space to produce separated sources. We use OpenAI’s Jukebox as the pretrained generative model, and we couple it with four kinds of pretrained music taggers (two architectures and two tagging datasets). Experimental results on two source separation datasets, show this approach can produce separation estimates for a wider variety of sources than any tested system. This work points to the vast and heretofore untapped potential of large pretrained music models for audio-to-audio tasks like source separation.
Newborns American, Dominican, and Caucasian Mothers and Genetic Polymorphisms on PAH-DNA Adducts in African Assessment of Interactions between PAH Exposure and Updated Version

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are widespread pollutants commonly found in air, food, and drinking water. Benzo[a]pyrene is a well-studied representative PAH found in air from fossil fuel combustion and a transplacental carcinogen experimentally. PAHs bind covalently to DNA to form DNA adducts, an indicator of DNA damage, and an informative biomarker of potential cancer risk. Associations between PAH-DNA adduct levels and both cancer risk and developmental deficits have been seen in previous experimental and epidemiologic studies. Several genes have been shown to play an important role in the metabolic activation or detoxification of PAHs, including the cytochrome P450 genes CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 and the glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes GSTM1, and GSTT2 . Genetic variation in these genes could influence susceptibility to adverse effects of PAHs in polluted air. Here, we have explored interactions between prenatal PAH exposure and 17 polymorphisms in these genes (rs2198843, rs1456432, rs4646903, rs4646421, rs2606345, rs7495708, rs2472299, rs162549, rs1056837, rs1056836, rs162560, rs10012, rs2617266, rs2719, rs1622002, rs140194, and gene deletion GSTM1-02) and haplotypes on PAH-DNA adducts in cord blood of 547 newborns and in maternal blood of 806 mothers from three different self-described ethnic groups: African Americans, Dominicans, and Caucasians. PAHs were measured by personal air monitoring of mothers during pregnancy. Significant interactions (p < 0.05) were observed between certain genetic polymorphisms and CYP1A1 haplotype and PAHs in mothers and their newborns in the three ethnic groups. However, with our limited sample size, the current findings are suggestive only, warranting further study. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(2):405–13)
Wind Farm Load Reduction via Parametric Programming Based Controller Design

Abstract We propose an optimization-based strategy for wind farm control. The objectives for the farm are to produce demanded power and to minimize the loads on mechanical parts of wind turbines that occur due to turbulent winds. The load reduction is achieved by dynamic adaptation of individual wind turbine power references to the current, turbulence induced, disturbances. However, the changes in operation of all wind turbines are coordinated to ensure that the wind farm produces power according to the grid operator demands. The pursued approach uses parametric programming to find the optimal control actions for the wind farm with respect to the constraints inherent to the system. The considered control design is also motivated by the need for efficient controller computation that will allow implementations on large wind farms.
Blade and Trapeze Industries of the European Stone Age

It is the purpose of this article to analyze and discuss the flint industries characterized by the production of trapezes from blades that as a rule were broad and regular, industries which appeared in many parts of the continent during the closing phase of the local mesolithic. After a word on classification (fig. 1) the evidence for the occurrence of these industries will be summarized on a geographical basis (fig. 2). Finally, some discussion will be offered as to their significance, above all in relation to the spread of neolithic culture.