Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of a TNF-alpha-inhibitor into the scala tympany after cochlear electrode insertion trauma in guinea pigs: Preliminary audiologic results

Abstract Objective: Cochlear implantation trauma causes both macroscopic and inflammatory trauma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the TNF-alpha inhibitor etanercept applied after cochlear implantation trauma on the preservation of acoustic hearing. Design: Guinea pigs were randomly assigned to three groups receiving cochlear implantation trauma by cochleostomy. In one group, the site was sealed by bone cement with no further treatment. A second group was additionally implanted with an osmotic minipump delivering artificial perilymph into the scala tympani for seven days. In the third group, etanercept 1 mg/ml was added to artificial perilymph. Hearing was assessed by auditory brainstem responses at 2, 4, 6, and 8 kHz prior to and after surgery and on days 3, 5, 7, 14, 28. Study sample: Fifteen healthy guinea pigs. Results: The trauma led to threshold shifts from 50.3 dB ± 16.3 dB to 68.0 dB ± 19.3 dB. Hearing thresholds were significantly lower in etanercept-treated animals compared to controls on day 28 at 8 kHz and from day 3 onwards at 4 and 2 kHz (p < 0.01; two-way RM ANOVA / Bonferroni t-test). Conclusion: The application of etanercept led to preservation of acoustic hearing after cochlear implantation trauma.
Antidepressant Medications, Placebo, and the Use of Hypnosis in the Treatment of Depression

This is an unusual journal issue since its relevance to hypnosis may not be immediately clear. I first proposed it to the editor based on a confluence of related issues regarding the use of hypnosis in the treatment of depression. It first occurred to me during a dinner talk at the 2010 SCEH meeting in Boston given by Dr. Irving Kirsch who was speaking about his new book, The Emperor’s New Drugs (Kirsch, 2010). If I understood Dr. Kirsch correctly, his basic thesis was that many antidepressant medications are not significantly more effective than placebos. Based on earlier work (Kirsch & Sapirstein, 1998), Dr. Kirsch had now obtained data from multiple randomized clinical trials from the FDA (under the Freedom of Information Act) on the effectiveness of many antidepressant medications versus placebos. He used meta-analytic statistical methods to determine that they were not meaningfully more effective than placebos. This FDA data set, in my opinion, was superior to other clinical reviews on this topic as it contained data from both published and unpublished studies submitted by pharmaceutical companies to obtain FDA approval for marketing their particular brand of antidepressant. Needless to say, much of the audience was chagrined by the implication that Dr. Kirsch seemed to be making: that antidepressants worked just like placebos and therefore were not an effective pharmacological treatment for unipolar depression. I have read Dr. Kirsch’s provocative book (Kirsch, 2010) and examined his data. These data are quite compelling and I find no fault with his statistical conclusion. But I think the major cause of consternation after his talk was the speciously implied interpretation about his conclusion (i.e., many antidepressant medications are effective because their underlying mechanism is a placebo effect and not a pharmacological
GLOBAL OPTIMALITY CONDITIONS FOR QUADRATIC OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS WITH BINARY CONSTRAINTS

We consider nonconvex quadratic optimization problems with binary constraints. Our main result identifies a class of quadratic problems for which a given feasible point is global optimal. We also establish a necessary global optimality condition. These conditions are expressed in a simple way in terms of the problem’s data. We also study the relations between optimal solutions of the nonconvex binary quadratic problem versus the associated relaxed and convex problem defined over the l∞ norm. Our approach uses elementary arguments based on convex duality.
Distinct Ca2+ channels maintain a high motility state of the sperm that may be needed for penetration of egg jelly of the newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster

Activation state of sperm motility named “hyperactivation” enables mammalian sperm to progress through the oviductal matrix, although a similar state of sperm motility is unknown in non‐mammalian vertebrates at fertilization. Here, we found a high motility state of the sperm in the newt Cynops pyrrhogaster. It was predominantly caused in egg jelly extract (JE) and characterized by a high wave velocity of the undulating membrane (UM) that was significantly higher at the posterior midpiece. An insemination assay suggested that the high motility state might be needed for sperm to penetrate the egg jelly, which is the accumulated oviductal matrix. Specific characteristics of the high motility state were completely abrogated by a high concentration of verapamil, which blocks the L‐type and T‐type voltage‐dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs). Mibefradil, a dominant blocker of T‐type VDCCs, suppressed the wave of the UM at the posterior midpiece with separate wave propagation from both the anterior midpiece and the posterior principal piece. In addition, nitrendipine, a dominant L‐type VDCC blocker, weakened the wave of the UM, especially in the anterior midpiece. Live Ca2+ imaging showed that, compared with the intact sperm in the JE, the relative intracellular Ca2+ level changed especially in the anterior and posterior ends of the midpiece of the blocker‐treated sperm. These suggest that different types of Ca2+ channels mediate the intracellular Ca2+ level predominantly in the anterior and posterior ends of the midpiece to maintain the high motility state of the newt sperm.
Performance of Thin Piezoelectric Materials for Pyroelectric Energy Harvesting

This article considers pyroelectric energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials such as PZT-5A, PMN-PT, PVDF, and thin-films. A model is developed to predict the power generation based on the temporal change in temperature of the material. The measured and predicted power measurements are compared, where the maximum power density of 0.36 μW/cm2 is calculated with PMN-PT. The predicted peak power density under similar boundary conditions for thin-film lead scandium tantalate is over 125 μW/cm2. The study concludes that the power density is highly dependent upon the surface area and the pyroelectric coefficient of the material, underlining the importance of maximizing these parameters.
Are aromatic carbon donor hydrogen bonds linear in proteins?

Proteins fold and maintain structure through the collective contributions of a large number of weak, noncovalent interactions. The hydrogen bond is one important category of forces that acts on very short distances. As our knowledge of protein structure continues to expand, we are beginning to appreciate the role that weak carbon‐donor hydrogen bonds play in structure and function. One property that differentiates hydrogen bonds from other packing forces is propensity for forming a linear donor‐hydrogen‐acceptor orientation. To ascertain if carbon‐donor hydrogen bonds are able to direct acceptor linearity, we surveyed the geometry of interactions specifically involving aromatic sidechain ring carbons in a data set of high resolution protein structures. We found that while donor–acceptor distances for most carbon donor hydrogen bonds were tighter than expected for van der Waals packing, only the carbons of histidine showed a significant bias for linear geometry. By categorizing histidines in the data set into charged and neutral sidechains, we found only the charged subset of histidines participated in linear interactions. B3LYP/6‐31G**++ level optimizations of imidazole and indole–water interactions at various fixed angles demonstrates a clear orientation dependence of hydrogen bonding capacity for both charged and neutral sidechains. We suggest that while all aromatic carbons can participate in hydrogen bonding, only charged histidines are able to overcome protein packing forces and enforce linear interactions. The implications for protein modeling and design are discussed. Proteins 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Large vocabulary continuous speech recognition using HTK

HTK is a portable software toolkit for building speech recognition systems using continuous density hidden Markov models developed by the Cambridge University Speech Group. One particularly successful type of system uses mixture density tied-state triphones. We have used this technique for the 5 k/20 k word ARPA Wall Street Journal (WSJ) task. We have extended our approach from using word-internal gender independent modelling to use decision tree based state clustering, cross-word triphones and gender dependent models. Our current systems can be run with either bigram or trigram language models using a single pass dynamic network decoder. Systems based on these techniques were included in the November 1993 ARPA WSJ evaluation, and gave the lowest error rate reported on the 5 k word bigram, 5 k word trigram and 20 k word bigram "hub" tests and the second lowest error rate on the 20 k word trigram "hub" test. <<ETX>>
Using the bootstrap for robust detection in array signal processing

A critical problem in many signal processing applications is the determination of the correct model order for example, the number of multipath components in a received communication signal. One approach to detect the model order is to use the distribution of the criterion function of the estimator applied to find interesting parameters. Unfortunately, the nominal distribution of such a criterion function relies heavily on a correct model of the observed signal. In practice, with modeling errors present, the distribution is unknown. For robust detection based on the criterion function of a certain class of estimators, a two-step procedure is proposed. First, an alternative representation of the residuals is found using a predictor. Second, using bootstrap resampling, a parameter is estimated from the new residuals. This parameter transforms the criterion function to pivotal form. Numerical experiments show robustness to a range of possible modeling errors. An example from real measured array data is included.
A phase II study of low dose intravenous clofarabine for elderly patients with myelodysplastic syndrome who have failed 5-azacytidine

The treatment options for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who have failed DNA hypomethylating agents are limited. In this study, we set out to investigate the efficacy of low dose clofarabine in 10 patients with MDS (four intermediate-2/high risk disease) who had failed 5-azacytidine. The median age was 73 years (range 65–78) and median cycles of clofarabine received were 2 (range 1–4). Nine patients were evaluable for response. An overall response rate of 44% was observed (one CR, one PR, and two HI). All responders had low risk disease. The median duration of response was 12 months (range 6.5–15.5). Although the doses of clofarabine administered were only 12.5–25% of that used in other studies, significant hematologic toxicities were observed. Severe and prolonged pancytopenia occurred in all 10 patients. One patient who had a history of thrombocytopenic gastrointestinal bleed died due to an intracranial bleed despite aggressive platelet support. Low dose clofarabine may, therefore, induce response, but with significant toxicities, in patients with low risk MDS who fail 5-azacytidine. Future work involving a larger patient population is needed to establish the role of low dose clofarabine in low risk MDS.
Basic algorithms for the programming of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease

The clinical success of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treating Parkinson's disease (PD) critically depends on the quality of postoperative neurological management. Movement disorder specialists becoming involved with this therapy need to acquire new skills to adapt optimally stimulation parameters and medication after implantation of a DBS system. At first glance, the infinite number of theoretically possible parameter combinations seems to make programming a complex and time‐consuming art. This article outlines a stepwise and standardized approach, reducing the possible parameter settings in DBS to a few relevant combinations. The basic programming algorithms for thalamic, subthalamic, and pallidal stimulation in PD are explained and summarized in flowcharts. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society
Concepts of health and illness: Continuity and change among migrant tribal community in an Eastern Indian city

As a community acculturates, health and illness concepts undergo change; yet communities continue to hold to their native logic, beliefs, perceived causes, recognition and classifications of illness and subsequent management of them. We studied these concepts among a migrant tribal community living in the slums of Bhubaneswar, an eastern Indian city. In-depth interviews were conducted with specifically selected community members, key informants and traditional healers. The community’s perspectives of illness and its causes; and how the continuing cultural concepts and acquired modern knowledge and culture contact due to migration influence treatment seeking for various illnesses are discussed. The need for strategies for optimum utilisation of healthcare services is emphasised.
Listeria monocytogenes in laboratory mice: a model of short‐term infectious and pathogenic processes controllable by regulated protective immune responses

Summary: The mammalian immune system is an integrated network of tissues, leukocytes and effector and regulatory molecules. All these components operate i) to maintain the proper structure of and processes expressed by each tissue, and ii) to protect the hosts from those microorganisms that generally invade them as part of their life cycle. Among the invading microorganisms, Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) can persist as a live organism independent of the host, and is, thus, able to drive short‐term infectious and pathogenic processes that are controlled by integrated innate and adaptive protective immune responses driven by CD8 and CD4 type 1 T lymphocytes acting on non‐T non‐B leukocytes. Although the effector functions and the fine specificity of T lymphocytes have been more and more characterized, an understanding of the precise regulation of both leukocyte traffic and T‐lymphocyte migration depends on knowledge of the early tissue distribution of L. monocytogenes, points that are addressed in this review.
Molecular cloning and expression of the type 1 and type 2 murine receptors for tumor necrosis factor

Clones encoding the type 1 (p80) and type 2 (p60) forms of the murine receptors for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were isolated by cross-hybridization using probes derived from the cloned human TNF receptors. Each of the murine receptors shows strong sequence homology to the corresponding human receptor (approximately 65% amino acid identity) throughout the molecule but only modest homology, limited to ligand-binding domains, between themselves. The ligand-binding characteristics of the recombinant murine receptors mirror those of the human homologs: both receptor types bind TNF-alpha and -beta with multiple affinity classes, and the ligands cross-compete. Analysis of the murine transcripts encoding these receptors revealed the presence of RNAs for one or both forms of the receptors in all cells examined. It was also demonstrated that for both types of human TNF receptor, variably sized transcripts are observed in different cells. The murine cDNAs were further used to determine the chromosomal locations of the TNF receptor genes. They are not linked, in contrast to the ligands, and map to chromosomes 4 (type 1) and 6 (type 2).
Improving iMesh based service discovery by agents in multi-hop wireless sensor and actuator networks

In this article, agents are used to improve information mesh (iMesh) based distance sensitive service discovery in multi-hop wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs), thus improving overall energy efficiency and lifetime of the network. The area monitored by sensors is divided into sectors where one static agent, having all information about the actuators in that sector, is located in the center. Event that needs single actuator respond is sensed by one of the sensors in the grid and is reported to the nearest agent. Agents form an information mesh (aiMesh, agent-based iMesh) and the search for the closest actuator to respond is done by means of aiMesh cross lookup. Introducing agents maintains very high efficiency of the starting algorithm and significantly reduces communication overhead (over 100 times), thus saving energy in comparison to basic iMesh algorithm. Performances of both algorithms are shown by simulation results.
Preference for Spirituality and Twelve-Step-Oriented Approaches Among Adolescents in a Residential Therapeutic Community

Abstract This study sought to determine which adolescents being treated for substance use in a residential Therapeutic Community (TC) would endorse spirituality and Twelve-Step-oriented approaches as part of their treatment. By identifying individual difference characteristics associated with preference for spirituality and Twelve-Step-oriented approaches, integrated substance abuse treatments can be targeted to appropriate subgroups of adolescents. A total of 181 adolescents completed a survey assessing their substance use and attitudes toward spirituality and Twelve-Step-oriented approaches that was similar to a survey completed by 322 adults in the same residential TC program. In the adolescent sample, three spirituality-related characteristics—perceived connectedness to others, frequency of prayer, and spiritual orientation to life—were associated with preference for both spirituality and twelve step oriented approaches being featured more in TC treatment. Adolescents were less likely than adults to express a preference that both approaches be featured more in TC treatment.
Planetary detection limits taking into account stellar noise - I. Observational strategies to reduce stellar oscillation and granulation effects

Context. Stellar noise produced by oscillations, granulation phenomena (granulation, mesogranulation, and supergranulation), and activity affects radial velocity measurements. The signature of the corresponding effect in radial velocity is small, around the meterper-second, but already too large for the detection of Earth-mass planets in habitable zones. Aims. We address the important role played by observational strategies in averaging out the radial velocity signature of stellar noise. We also derive the planetary mass detection limits expected in the presence of stellar noise. Methods. We start with HARPS asteroseismology measurements for four stars (β Hyi, α Cen A, μ Ara, and τ Ceti) available in the ESO archive and very precise measurements of α Cen B. This sample covers different spectral types from G2 to K1 and different evolutionary stages, from subgiant to dwarf stars. Since data span between 5 and 8 days, only stellar noise sources with timescales shorter than this time span will be extracted from these observations. Therefore, we are able to study oscillation modes and granulation phenomena without being significantly affected by activity noise present on longer timescales. For those five stars, we generate synthetic radial velocity measurements after fitting the corresponding models of stellar noise in Fourier space. These measurements allow us to study the radial velocity variation due to stellar noise for different observational strategies as well as the corresponding planetary mass detection limits. Results. Applying three measurements per night of 10 min exposure each, 2 h apart, seems to most efficiently average out the stellar noise considered. For quiet K1V stars such as α Cen B, this strategy allows us to detect planets of about three times the mass of Earth with an orbital period of 200 days, corresponding to the habitable zone of the star. Moreover, our simulations suggest that planets smaller than typically 5 M⊕ can be detected with HARPS over a wide range of separations around most non-active solar-type dwarfs. Since activity is not yet included in our simulation, these detection limits correspond to a case, which exists, where the host star has few magnetic features and stellar noise is dominated by oscillation modes and granulation phenomena. For our star sample, a trend between spectral type and surface gravity and the level of radial velocity variation is also identified by our simulations.
In Vivo and In Vitro Photodynamic Studies with Benzochlorin Iminium Salts Delivered by a Lipid Emulsion

Benzochlorin iminium salts (Bis) are hydrophobic photosensitizers based on an octaethylbenzochlorin nucleus that absorb in the near‐IR region of the visible spectrum. In these studies the photodynamic activities of the zinc, copper and metal‐free BI derivatives were compared in vivo in C3H‐HeJ mice bearing a mammary adenocarcinoma tumor line. In vitro studies were also performed with the radiation‐induced fibrosarcoma tumor line. An argon‐pumped Ti‐sapphire laser tuned to deliver light between 710 and 800 nm or an Oriel arc‐lamp filtered to deliver broadband light above 590 nm were used as light source. A lipid emulsion was used as the delivery system for sensitizers in all studies. A pronounced solvent dependence was observed for the Q band for each of all iminium salts examined. As an example, the metal‐free (BI) derivative had an absorption maximum at 798 nm in dichloromethane and at 727 nm in serum. The action spectra showed a greater PDT response at blue‐shifted wavelengths for each of the three iminium salts both in vivo and in vitro. Among the three derivatives, the zinc analog (ZnBI) produced the greatest tumor regression at the low drug/light dose of 0.7 (μ mole/kg and 200 J/cm2. These results indicate that iminium salts have characteristics that may make them promising third‐generation photosensitizers.
Curve Density Estimates

In this work, we present a technique based on kernel density estimation for rendering smooth curves. With this approach, we produce uncluttered and expressive pictures, revealing frequency information about one, or, multiple curves, independent of the level of detail in the data, the zoom level, and the screen resolution. With this technique the visual representation scales seamlessly from an exact line drawing, (for low‐frequency/low‐complexity curves) to a probability density estimate for more intricate situations. This scale‐independence facilitates displays based on non‐linear time, enabling high‐resolution accuracy of recent values, accompanied by long historical series for context. We demonstrate the functionality of this approach in the context of prediction scenarios and in the context of streaming data.
Effect of Attention on the Detection and Identification of Masked Spatial Patterns

The effect of attention on the detection and identification of vertically and horizontally oriented Gabor patterns in the condition of simultaneous masking with obliquely oriented Gabors was studied. Attention was manipulated by varying the set size in a visual-search experiment. In the first experiment, small target Gabors were presented on the background of larger masking Gabors. In the detection task, the effect of set size was as predicted by unlimited-capacity signal detection theory. In the orientation identification task, increasing the set size from 1 to 8 resulted in a much larger decline in performance. The results of the additional experiments suggest that attention can reduce the crowding effect of maskers.