Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation of Natural Cell Death in Dopaminergic Neurons of the Substantia Nigra by Striatal Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor In Vivo

Dopamine (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra undergo a developmental cell death event that is biphasic, with peaks just after birth and at postnatal day 14. As envisioned by neurotrophic theory, this cell death is likely to be regulated by target interactions because it is augmented by their disruption. However, the nature of the trophic molecules mediating this regulation are unknown. We showed in vitro that glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is able to suppress apoptotic death in DA neurons in postnatal primary culture. We now demonstrate in vivo that administration of GDNF into the striatal target is able to suppress apoptosis. Consistent with a possible physiologic role for endogenous striatal GDNF in regulating this event, two anti-GDNF neutralizing antibodies augment cell death. These antibodies augment cell death only during the first (immediately postnatal) phase of the biphasic death event. We conclude that GDNF is the leading candidate for a target-derived neurotrophic factor for the regulation of the early phase of natural cell death in DA neurons.
IoTChain: Establishing Trust in the Internet of Things Ecosystem Using Blockchain

The Internet of Things (IoT) has already reshaped and transformed our lives in many ways ranging from how we communicate with people or manage our health to how we drive our cars and manage our homes. With the rapid development of the IoT ecosystem in a wide range of applications, IoT devices and data are going to be traded as commodities in the marketplace in near future, similar to cloud services or physical objects. Developing such a trading platform has previously been identified as one of the key grand challenges in integration of IoT and data science in this column. Deployment of such a platform obviously raises public concerns on the security and privacy of both data and devices since their ownerships are hard to trace and manage without a central trusted authority. The central trusted authority is not a viable solution for a fully decentralised and distributed IoT ecosystem with a large number of distributed device vendors and consumers who do not trust each other. Blockchain, as a decentralised system, removes the requirement for a trusted third party by allowing all participants to verify the correctness of the data and ensure their immutability. IoT devices can use blockchain to register themselves and organize, store and share streams of data from them effectively and reliably. In this article, through a case study, we demonstrate the applicability of blockchain in IoT devices and their data management with an aim of providing end-to-end trust for trading. We also give a brief introduction to the topics and challenges for future research towards addressing a grand challenge, i.e. developing a trustworthy trading platform for IoT ecosystems.
The Neurological Assessment of the Preterm & Full-Term Newborn Infant

1. Introduction 2. Historical review 3. Evolution of the present neurological scheme 4. The neurological assessment 5. Application of methodology 6. Adaptations of the scheme to special situations 7. The clinical and neurological examination in parallel with special investigations (an integrated approach) 8. Case histories.
Measurements of the anisotropic viscous and elastic properties of lyotropic polymer nematics

We summarize the current status of our studies of the macroscopic linear mechanical properties of nematic liquid crystals formed from solutions of rigid or semirigid rod-like polymers. The polymer system we have studied is a racemic mixture of poly(benzyl glutamate) dissolved in a mixture of dioxane and methylene chloride. We have also studied nematics formed from colloidal suspensions of tobacco mosaic virus which may be viewed as an ideal model system representing a rigid-rod polymer solution. We review briefly the current theoretical understanding of the elastic and viscous parameters characterizing a nematic. Then we discuss our experiments, both Frederiks-transition studies and quasielastic Rayleigh scattering. The Frederiks transition in its well known simple forms is not easily utilized in these systems, mainly because of the intervention of a number of phenomena not normally encountered in low-molecular-weight liquid crystals. However, these phenomena have been analysed theoretically and can be used to extract information on elastic and viscous properties. Quasielastic Rayleigh scattering on well oriented single crystals has proved to be an excellent technique for measuring ratios of elastic and viscous parameters. We describe the scattering geometries we have used and our results.
A Novel Anti-Influenza Copper Oxide Containing Respiratory Face Mask

Background Protective respiratory face masks protect the nose and mouth of the wearer from vapor drops carrying viruses or other infectious pathogens. However, incorrect use and disposal may actually increase the risk of pathogen transmission, rather than reduce it, especially when masks are used by non-professionals such as the lay public. Copper oxide displays potent antiviral properties. A platform technology has been developed that permanently introduces copper oxide into polymeric materials, conferring them with potent biocidal properties. Methodology/Principal Findings We demonstrate that impregnation of copper oxide into respiratory protective face masks endows them with potent biocidal properties in addition to their inherent filtration properties. Both control and copper oxide impregnated masks filtered above 99.85% of aerosolized viruses when challenged with 5.66±0.51 and 6.17±0.37 log10TCID50 of human influenza A virus (H1N1) and avian influenza virus (H9N2), respectively, under simulated breathing conditions (28.3 L/min). Importantly, no infectious human influenza A viral titers were recovered from the copper oxide containing masks within 30 minutes (≤0.88 log10TCID50), while 4.67±1.35 log10TCID50 were recovered from the control masks. Similarly, the infectious avian influenza titers recovered from the copper oxide containing masks were ≤0.97±0.01 log10TCID50 and from the control masks 5.03±0.54 log10TCID50. The copper oxide containing masks successfully passed Bacterial Filtration Efficacy, Differential Pressure, Latex Particle Challenge, and Resistance to Penetration by Synthetic Blood tests designed to test the filtration properties of face masks in accordance with the European EN 14683:2005 and NIOSH N95 standards. Conclusions/Significance Impregnation of copper oxide into respiratory protective face masks endows them with potent anti-influenza biocidal properties without altering their physical barrier properties. The use of biocidal masks may significantly reduce the risk of hand or environmental contamination, and thereby subsequent infection, due to improper handling and disposal of the masks.
MARSYAS SUBMISSIONS TO MIREX 2010

Marsyas is an open source software framework for audio analysis, synthesis and retrieval with specific emphasis on Music Information Retrieval. It is developed by an international team of programmers and researchers led by George Tzanetakis. In MIREX 2010 the Marsyas team participated in the following tasks: Audio Classical Composer Identification, Audio Genre Classification (Latin and Mixed), Audio Music Mood Classification, Audio Beat Tracking, Audio Onset Detection, Audio Tempo Estimation, Audio Music Similarity and Retrieval and Audio Tagging Tasks. In this abstract we describe the specific algorithmic details of our submission and provide information about how researchers can use our system using the MIREX input/output conventions on their own datasets. Also some comments on the results are provided.
He Looks Normal But … Challenges of Family Caregivers of Veterans Diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury

Purpose: To describe the experience of family caregivers providing care to veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design/Methods: Using a qualitative design, interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of women caregivers. Data were analyzed using content analysis procedures. Findings: Findings resulted in the key concept phrased by participants as “He looks normal but. ” This phrase conceptualizes the participants' description of their experience caring for a brain injured veteran who could appear normal to others but the caregiver's description revealed substantial cognitive, social, and emotional deficits. Concepts include (a) Becoming aware of his disabilities, (b) Observing his troubling symptoms, (c) Dealing with his memory loss, (d) Being fearful of his anger, (e) Sensing his loneliness, (f) Acknowledging the effects on the children, and (g) Managing the best I can. Conclusions/Clinical Relevance: A better understanding of the needs of caregivers of veterans with TBI may allow clinicians to better support caregivers.
Long-term stability and performance characteristics of crystal quartz gauge at high pressures and temperatures

Good long-term stability of high precision quartz pressure sensors is necessary for various applications ranging from pressure transient analysis to permanent monitoring systems for optimal reservoir management in the petroleum industry. A crystal quartz gauge (CQG/sup 1/) is a dual-mode, thickness-shear, quartz pressure sensor that has been used in oil field services for the past 8 years. High accuracy, resolution, and fast response time of this sensor enable a reliable estimate of formation permeability and oil/water interfaces in reservoirs that help reduce the overall cost of oil and gas production. The sensing resonator characteristics can be described in terms of equivalent circuit parameters (motional resistance and capacitance), resonator-Q and the short-term frequency stability of both the B- and C-modes of vibrations at various temperatures. The pressure reading errors of manufactured gauges are less than 8.89 kPa (1 psi) (plus 0.01% of the reading because of the uncertainty of the dead-weight tester). The pressure resolution is better than 20.7 Pa (0.003 psi) over a 1-s gate time. An extremely effective dynamic compensation algorithm yields corrected pressure readings with a very fast response time as short as a strain-gauge-based pressure transducer while retaining the high performance of a quartz gauge. Recent long-term stability tests of CBGs show a negligibly small drift of the order of a few tenths of 1 psi (0.1 psi=689 Pa) at 103 MPa (15 kpsi) and 175/spl deg/C for a period of more than 1 yr. These results confirm that the CQG characteristics exceed the demanding specifications for both the well tests and permanent monitoring systems.
Helping Low-Income Mothers Overcome Multiple Barriers to Self-Sufficiency: Strategies and Implications for Human Services Professionals

Women involved in public assistance and child welfare systems often must overcome multiple barriers to self-sufficiency and family stability or face sanctions or loss of benefits. Kentucky's Targeted Assessment Program (TAP) is an innovative model for assisting these women by placing human services professionals in public assistance and child welfare offices to provide support services and promote integrated service delivery This article discusses TAP program data for years 2005 through 2008, as well as initial 6-month follow-up data. These data suggest that TAP is effective in reducing the burden of barriers faced by participants. TAP strategies are discussed for their utility in informing practice models of human services agencies to proactively promote participant success in overcoming barriers.
Reflections on the serious case review of a female adult (JK)

This paper originates from accessing the Cornwall Council website (Cornwall Council, 2010) in order to download the report of the serious case review into the murder of Steven Hoskin for teaching purposes on a Post‐Qualifying Social Work programme. However, there were another two serious case review reports posted, which were also relevant to the course. This reflective piece follows from a reading of the executive summary of one of them ‐ the Serious Case Review report into the death of JK (a 76‐year‐old female) in 2008 in Cornwall (Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Safeguarding Adults Board, 2009). While adult safeguarding is everybody's business, because of the original reason for accessing the report, the paper approaches the issues primarily from a social work perspective.
Argument schemes for reasoning with legal cases using values

Argument schemes can provide a means of explicitly describing reasoning methods in a form that lends itself to computation. The reasoning required to distinguish cases in the manner of CATO has been previously captured as a set of argument schemes. Here we present argument schemes that encapsulate another way of reasoning with cases: using preferences between social values revealed in past decisions to decide cases which have no exact matching precedents when the cases are described in terms of factors. We provide a set of schemes, with variations to capture different ways of comparing sets and varying degrees of promotion of values; we formalise these schemes; and we illustrate them with some examples.
PATHOLOGIC CHANGES OF DISEASED GALLBLADDERS: A NEW CLASSIFICATION

Very early in our studies on the gallbladder it became clear to my associates and me that the present systems of classification of cholecystitis were at fault. As the work progressed it became with increasing frequency impossible to correlate the pathologic changes with either the clinical, bacteriologic or the postoperative course. As increasing numbers of cases became available for study, these discordances were so glaringly evident that it was clear that our methods of pathologic classification were inadequate (figs. 1 and 2). For these reasons the various conditions were entirely reclassified de novo, as will be elucidated in the comment. MATERIAL AND METHOD The material studied consisted of a series of fifty-four specimens which were removed at operation in cases in which elaborate chemical and pathologic studies as well as chemical studies had been made, as reported in a recent paper. 1 In sixty-one other cases, chemical, bacteriologic and clinical
A Genealogy of Fractal Code [About the cover]

Ron Barnett has more than a quarter-century of experience crunching code and creating fractal art. An object-oriented environment with a modified C++ syntax, Ultrafractal in particular made for good reusability of code. Exploring Barnett's work is like going back in time, making one wonder how much the code has evolved over the years.
Transmission friction in an electric mining shovel

Friction is a phenomenon present in all mechanical systems and is undesirable in estimation and control tasks. This paper explores the characteristics of friction in the transmission of an electric mining shovel, with a view to compensating for them. Experiments suggest that the transmission friction can be described by a Coulomb friction model with associated uncertainty on the friction force. The Kalman Inverse Filter is evaluated as a method for adaptively estimating the friction for motion of the bucket through free‐space. The friction estimates are consistent with experimental results. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Machine-Learning-Driven Sky Model

Sky illumination is responsible for much of the lighting in a virtual environment. A machine-learning-based approach can compactly represent sky illumination from both existing analytic sky models and from captured environment maps. The proposed approach can approximate the captured lighting at a significantly reduced memory cost and enable smooth transitions of sky lighting to be created from a small set of environment maps captured at discrete times of day. The author's results demonstrate accuracy close to the ground truth for both analytical and capture-based methods. The approach has a low runtime overhead, so it can be used as a generic approach for both offline and real-time applications.
ISHYS: designing an intelligent software hypertext system

The authors describe the design of ISHYS, an intelligent software hypertext system, and discuss novel applications that such a system can support. In designing ISHYS, they sought to support the software life cycle from a 'web of computing' framework, which necessarily requires the consideration of sociotechnical factors influencing and influenced by the software life cycle. ISHYS supports functionalities that include influencing work interactions on the basis of social interactions and determining tools and their options on the basis of project status information. Implementation of required enhancements to DIF (documents integration facility), the authors' current software hypertext system, has been completed using Prolog, C, and X Windows. <<ETX>>
RANGE–Robust autonomous navigation in GPS‐denied environments

This paper addresses the problem of autonomous navigation of a micro air vehicle (MAV) in GPS‐denied environments. We present experimental validation and analysis for our system that enables a quadrotor helicopter, equipped with a laser range finder sensor, to autonomously explore and map unstructured and unknown environments. The key challenge for enabling GPS‐denied flight of a MAV is that the system must be able to estimate its position and velocity by sensing unknown environmental structure with sufficient accuracy and low enough latency to stably control the vehicle. Our solution overcomes this challenge in the face of MAV payload limitations imposed on sensing, computational, and communication resources. We first analyze the requirements to achieve fully autonomous quadrotor helicopter flight in GPS‐denied areas, highlighting the differences between ground and air robots that make it difficult to use algorithms developed for ground robots. We report on experiments that validate our solutions to key challenges, namely a multilevel sensing and control hierarchy that incorporates a high‐speed laser scan‐matching algorithm, data fusion filter, high‐level simultaneous localization and mapping, and a goal‐directed exploration module. These experiments illustrate the quadrotor helicopter's ability to accurately and autonomously navigate in a number of large‐scale unknown environments, both indoors and in the urban canyon. The system was further validated in the field by our winning entry in the 2009 International Aerial Robotics Competition, which required the quadrotor to autonomously enter a hazardous unknown environment through a window, explore the indoor structure without GPS, and search for a visual target. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Reticulocyte count: comparison among methods

Introduction: The automated counting of reticulocytes has some advantages over the manual method routinely used in clinical laboratories. Technological innovations provide more statistically reliable results, while optimizing the time to perform this test. However, the cost for implementing the automated procedure in laboratory routines still constitutes a barrier to its use in small- and medium-size Brazilian laboratories. Objective: This study evaluated the performance of a new laboratory protocol for reticulocyte counting by flow cytometry using acridine orange (FC/AO), compared with the manual method and with another automated one by flow cytometry using the commercial kit BD Retic-Count (FC/RC) Conclusion: The results showed that, besides being comparable to the manual method, still considered standard, the evaluated new protocol is economically more advantageous than the automated methods currently available, and its cost is comparable to that of the manual method for laboratories that already have appropriate equipment and infrastructure.
Visualização linfocintigráfica da desembocadura do ducto torácico

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a sensibilidade da linfocintigrafia intersticial na visualizacao da desembocadura do ducto toracico. METODO: Foram analisados 535 exames linfocintigraficos realizados no Servico de Medicina Nuclear do Hospital das Clinicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), no periodo de 1993 a 1999. Todas as linfocintigrafias foram realizadas atraves da injecao subcutânea, no primeiro espaco interdigital de cada pe, de 1 ml da solucao de Dextran 500 marcado com Tecnecio-99 metaestavel. RESULTADOS: A desembocadura do ducto toracico foi visualizada em 424 pacientes, que representam 79,3% das linfocintigrafias realizadas. Na avaliacao por sexo, a desembocadura do ducto toracico foi visualizada em 191 pacientes do sexo feminino, representando 77% dos casos. Nos pacientes do sexo masculino, a desembocadura foi visualizada em 233 casos (80,9%). CONCLUSAO: O presente estudo confirma a importância da linfocintigrafia como metodo de escolha na avaliacao da circulacao linfatica e demonstra que esse exame apresenta uma alta sensibilidade para a visualizacao da desembocadura do ducto toracico.
An Application of a New Evidence Grading System to Research on the Chronic Care Model

Methodological quality undergirds all evidence-based medicine because without strong evidence supporting or refuting the efficacy of an intervention, the movement toward basing medical decisions and practice on scientific evidence is not sustainable. Recently, the consensus that had existed regarding the hierarchy of evidence produced by a study design was challenged on the basis that existing guidelines failed to properly define key terms, weight the merits of certain non-randomized controlled trials, and employ a comprehensive list of study design limitations to render evaluative conclusions, to name a few of the challenges. The present study introduces a new grading system that overcomes, or at the very least greatly diminishes, these challenges. This new method is applied to the literature on the Chronic Care Model and the results are then compared to several of the most popular grading guidelines currently in use. These results revealed substantial differences between the guidelines in accordance with previous research that challenged existing methods. Furthermore, the present study lends support to the proposed grading guideline although further research into its validity and reliability is needed.
Human‐robot Teaming for Rescue Missions: Team ViGIR's Approach to the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials

Team ViGIR entered the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) with a focus on developing software to enable an operator to guide a humanoid robot through the series of challenge tasks emulating disaster response scenarios. The overarching philosophy was to make our operators full team members and not just mere supervisors. We designed our operator control station (OCS) to allow multiple operators to request and share information as needed to maintain situational awareness under bandwidth constraints, while directing the robot to perform tasks with most planning and control taking place onboard the robot. Given the limited development time, we leveraged a number of open source libraries in both our onboard software and our OCS design; this included significant use of the robot operating system libraries and toolchain. This paper describes the high level approach, including the OCS design and major onboard components, and it presents our DRC Trials results. The paper concludes with a number of lessons learned that are being applied to the final phase of the competition and are useful for related projects as well.