Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting Outcome in Ischemic Stroke: External Validation of Predictive Risk Models

Background— Six multivariable models predicting 3-month outcome of acute ischemic stroke have been developed and internally validated previously. The purpose of this study was to externally validate the previous models in an independent data set. Summary of Report— We predicted outcomes for 299 patients with ischemic stroke who received placebo in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke rt-PA trial. The model equations used 6 acute clinical variables and head CT infarct volume at 1 week as independent variables and 3-month National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Barthel Index, and Glasgow Outcome Scale as dependent variables. Previously developed model equations were used to forecast excellent and devastating outcome for subjects in the placebo tissue plasminogen activator data set. Area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was used to measure discrimination, and calibration charts were used to measure calibration. The validation data set patients were more severely ill (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and infarct volume) than the model development subjects. Area under the receiver operator characteristic curves demonstrated remarkably little degradation in the validation data set and ranged from 0.75 to 0.89. Calibration curves showed fair to good calibration. Conclusions— Our models have demonstrated excellent discrimination and acceptable calibration in an external data set. Development and validation of improved models using variables that are all available acutely are necessary.
Investigating the response of calcareous nannoplankton to significant environmental disturbance: Links between extinction and environmental change and the role of incumbency in recovery

Marine ecosystems are facing dire consequences from anthropogenic climate change. However, the long-term impacts on marine phytoplankton are uncertain, especially concerning extinction risk and how communities will recover when faced with large-scale extinction. Calcareous nannoplankton, an important group of eukaryotic phytoplankton, are especially at risk given their sensitivity to changes in environmental conditions and susceptibility to ocean acidification. Nannoplankton have an extensive and detailed fossil record dating to the Mesozoic and can be used to investigate how phytoplankton have responded to past environmental and ecological perturbations. This focuses on the fossil record of nannoplankton to understand the relationship between climate change and nannoplankton extinction and how nannoplankton communities recover following mass extinction. The Probable Datum Method (PDM) presented in Chapter 1 estimates the age of origination or extinction of nannoplankton. Comparisons of origination or extinction between locations can be complicated by inter-site differences in abundance or preservation. The PDM models preservation and counting, two processes that can lead to misinterpretation of first and last appearances of a taxon in the fossil record, to estimate the true age of origination or extinction. The PDM allows for interpretation of origination and extinction between locations that lessens errors common in such comparisons and strengthens conclusions made on globalscale patterns of origination and extinction. In Chapter 2, the evolutionary recovery of nannoplankton from the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction is investigated. Many new Paleogene taxa are determined to have originated first in the North Pacific Ocean and were restricted there for tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Survivors of the event quickly expanded in the Southern Hemisphere and established
A Chirp Scaling Algorithm for Forward-Looking Linear-Array SAR With Constant Acceleration

For forward-looking linear-array synthetic aperture radar (FLLA-SAR) with constant acceleration, the conventional hyperbolic range model is incorrect, and the range-dependent range cell migration (RCM) cannot be ignored any more. Hence, the traditional chirp scaling (CS) algorithm based on the hyperbolic range model also cannot be used. To overcome these problems, a modified range model for the FLLA-SAR which has taken the platform’s acceleration into consideration is proposed in this letter. Based on the model, an improved CS method is proposed for FLLA-SAR to eliminate the space-variant characteristic of the RCM. Simulation results are presented to validate the range model and the proposed method.
Primary Melanocytic Tumors of the Central Nervous System: a Review with Focus on Molecular Aspects

Primary melanocytic tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) represent a spectrum of rare tumors. They can be benign or malignant and occur in adults as well as in children, the latter often in the context of neurocutaneous melanosis. Until recently, the genetic alterations in these tumors were largely unknown. This is in contrast with cutaneous and uveal melanomas, which are known to harbor distinct oncogenic mutations that can be used as targets for treatment with small‐molecule inhibitors in the advanced setting. Recently, novel insights in the molecular alterations underlying primary melanocytic tumors of the CNS were obtained, including different oncogenic mutations in tumors in adult patients (especially GNAQ, GNA11) vs. children (especially NRAS). In this review, the focus is on molecular characteristics of primary melanocytic tumors of the CNS. We summarize what is known about their genetic alterations and discuss implications for pathogenesis and differential diagnosis with other pigmented tumors in or around the CNS. Finally, new therapeutic options with targeted therapy are discussed.
Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness

mere algorithm, formal system, computer, or robot. A few minutes of reading and pondering is a small price to pay for this distinction. Penrose presents a version of the theorem in which the true but unprovable sentence is an assertion that a certain computer program runs on forever. The technical formulation is in terms of an ideal computer known as a Turing machine. A Turing machine is a computer equipped with unlimited memory and with a program for computing some function. Assign a numerical value to an input variable n and start the machine. The machine may eventually give an answer; we say in this case that it halts. It also may just go on computing forever; computer programmers will recognize this as a real possibility. There is a special kind of Turing machine that is universal; this is the equivalent of a general purpose computer that can run any program. The universal Turing machine has two input variables q and n. Given any Turing machine with one input variable n, there is a value for q so that the universal machine simulates the given machine. Consider the universal Turing machine in which the input variables have the same values n and n. Let c(n) be the assertion that this machine does not halt. This is a definite mathematical assertion about each natural number n. However, it may be difficult to verify such an assertion—one can run the machine, but what if it runs for a long time without halting? Can one conclude that it will never halt? The difficulty of this problem is the key to this version
Adamantiades-Behcet disease (ABD) in northern Greece patients: experience from a single center.

UNLABELLED OBJECTIVE-METHODS: Adamantiades-Behcet disease (ABD) is a multi-systemic vasculitis of unknown origin, with a characteristic geographic distribution, that affects vessels of all kinds and sizes and is characterized by recurrent mucosal, skin and ocular lesions. In the present study, a series of 36 patients from Northern Greece is analyzed retrospectively in regard to the epidemiological, clinical and immunological parameters. RESULTS All patients had recurrent oral ulcerations (36/36, 100%), while 23/36 (63.9%) experienced genital ulcerations and 22/36 (61.1%) developed ocular disease. Skin manifestations were observed in 23/36 patients (63.9%) and pathergy test was found positive in 14/36 patients (38.9%). Other manifestations included central nervous system involvement, recurrent genitourinary inflammations, arthralgias and superficial thrombophlebitis. Laboratory findings were not specific, partly reflecting the severity of inflammation. Ocular disease was more often observed in HLA-B51 (+) patients (20/31, 64.5%) than in HLA-B51 (-) patients. Standard of care (SOC) treatment consisted of cyclosporine A, azathioprine, methylprednisolone and aspirin, whereas refractory disease was treated with intravenous pulses of methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide. Occasionally, anti-TNF agents (infliximab) were applied to treat refractory ocular disease. CONCLUSION The findings of the present study come in agreement with those reported for other Mediterranean series. HLA-B51 seems to predispose to more severe disease, while early therapeutic intervention is beneficial for these patients.
Use of pair potentials across protein interfaces in screening predicted docked complexes

Empirical residue–residue pair potentials are used to screen possible complexes for protein–protein dockings. A correct docking is defined as a complex with not more than 2.5 Å root‐mean‐square distance from the known experimental structure. The complexes were generated by “ftdock” (Gabb et al. J Mol Biol 1997;272:106–120) that ranks using shape complementarity. The complexes studied were 5 enzyme‐inhibitors and 2 antibody‐antigens, starting from the unbound crystallographic coordinates, with a further 2 antibody‐antigens where the antibody was from the bound crystallographic complex. The pair potential functions tested were derived both from observed intramolecular pairings in a database of nonhomologous protein domains, and from observed intermolecular pairings across the interfaces in sets of nonhomologous heterodimers and homodimers. Out of various alternate strategies, we found the optimal method used a mole‐fraction calculated random model from the intramolecular pairings. For all the systems, a correct docking was placed within the top 12% of the pair potential score ranked complexes. A combined strategy was developed that incorporated “multidock,” a side‐chain refinement algorithm (Jackson et al. J Mol Biol 1998;276:265–285). This placed a correct docking within the top 5 complexes for enzyme‐inhibitor systems, and within the top 40 complexes for antibody–antigen systems. Proteins 1999;35:364–373. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Face inversion effects in autism: a combined looking time and pupillometric study

Previous research has found that in typically developing individuals, behavioral performance declines and electrophysiological brain responses are altered when the face is inverted. Such effects are generally attributed to disruption of configural information. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been found to show less pronounced inversion effects, a result in line with the view that featural processing of faces is enhanced in ASD. No study has determined if, or how, such local bias is reflected in the eye movements used in face observation. In this eye tracking study, looking time and pupil dilation were investigated during the presentation of upright and inverted faces in preschool children with ASD and typically developing preschoolers. On average, both children with ASD and typically developing children looked less at the face and the eye areas during inverted presentations than during upright presentations. Nevertheless, individuals with ASD had a stronger tendency than typically developing children to look at the same face features during upright and inverted presentations, which is suggestive of a local bias. Pupil dilation, reflecting increased processing load, was larger for inverted than upright faces in the ASD group only, and pupillary inversion effects were stronger in ASD than in typically developing children.
Maternal Environmental Contribution to Adult Sensitivity and Resistance to Obesity in Long Evans Rats

Background The OLETF rat is an animal model of early onset hyperphagia induced obesity, presenting multiple pre-obese characteristics during the suckling period. In the present study, we used a cross-fostering strategy to assess whether interactions with obese dams in the postnatal environment contributed to the development of obesity. Methodology On postnatal Day (PND)-1 OLETF and control LETO pups were cross-fostered to same or opposite strain dams. An independent ingestion test was performed on PND11 and a nursing test on PND18. Rats were sacrificed at weaning or on PND90, and plasma leptin, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were assayed. Fat pads were collected and weighed and adipocyte size and number were estimated. Body weight and intake, as well as the estrous cycle of the female offspring were monitored. Principal Findings During the suckling period, the pups' phenotype was almost completely determined by the strain of the mother. However, pups independently ingested food according to their genotype, regardless of their actual phenotype. At adulthood, cross fostered males of both strains and LETO females were affected in regard of their adiposity levels in the direction of the foster dam. On the other hand, OLETF females showed almost no alterations in adiposity but were affected by the strain of the dams in parameters related to the metabolic syndrome. Thus, OLETF females showed reduced liver adiposity and circulating levels of ALT, while LETO females presented a disrupted estrous cycle and increased cholesterol and triglycerides in the long term. Conclusions The present study provides further support for the early postnatal environment playing a sex-divergent role in programming later life phenotype. In addition, it plays a more central role in determining the functioning of mechanisms involved in energy balance that may provide protection from or sensitivity to later life obesity and pathologies related to the metabolic syndrome.
Classification of Agricultural Crops from Middle-Resolution Satellite Images Using Gaussian Processes Based Method

Agricultural applications of the Gaussian process (GP) based techniques is considered. A method of classifying crops from multi-temporal Landsat 8 satellite imagery is proposed. The method uses the model of spectral features based on GP regression with constant expectation and square exponential covariance functions. Main steps of the classification procedure and examples of recognition of culture species are represented. The ground based data are used for quantitative validation of the proposed classification method. The highest overall classification accuracy in three classes of crops is 77.78%.
Age Differences in Reaction Times and a Neurophysiological Marker of Cholinergic Activity

RÉSUMÉ La détérioration du système cholinergique lors du vieillissement normal semble contribuer au déclin de l’attention avec l’âge. Nous avons examiné l’effet potentiel de l’âge sur la performance au « Attention Network Test » (ANT) ainsi que sur la variabilité intra-individuelle dans la vitesse des réponses à une tâche go/no-go et à une tâche de temps de réaction (TR) à choix multiples chez un groupe de jeunes adultes et de personnes âgées en santé. Nous avons ensuite examiné si un marqueur neurophysiologique de l’activité cholinergique dérivé de la stimulation magnétique transcrânienne (i.e., inhibition afférente à courte latence; IACL) était associé à la performance. Les personnes âgées montraient un ralentissement au ANT ainsi qu’une plus grande variabilité intra-individuelle que les jeunes adultes à la tâche de TR à choix multiples, mais il n’y avait pas de différence liée à l’âge dans les scores reflétant les réseaux attentionnels du ANT (vigilance, orientation aux stimuli et contrôle exécutif). Les niveaux de IACL étaient diminués chez les personnes âgées, mais ils n’étaient pas associés à la performance. Il est possible que des relations entre le marqueur de l’activité cholinergique et l’attention émergent seulement en cas de déficits de neurotransmission sévères. D’autres mécanismes corticaux pourraient aussi être plus fortement associés aux fonctions liées à l’attention. ABSTRACT The deterioration of the cholinergic system in aging is hypothesized to contribute to age-related declines in attention. We investigated potential age differences in performance on the Attention Network Test (ANT) and intra-individual variability in speed (RT-IIV) on go/no-go and choice reaction time tasks in young and healthy older adults. We also asked whether short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), a neurophysiological marker of central cholinergic activity obtained via transcranial magnetic stimulation, might be correlated with performance. Older adults were slower on the ANT and exhibited greater RT-IIV than young adults on the multiple choice RT task, but there were no age differences on the ANT network scores (alerting, orienting, and executive control). SAI was diminished in older adults, but it was not significantly correlated with performance. It may only be in cases of severe cholinergic dysfunction that relations with attention emerge. Other brain mechanisms may also be stronger predictors of functions relating to attention.
Ten-year trends in stroke incidence and mortality in the FINMONICA Stroke Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The trends in stroke incidence reported so far have not been entirely consistent, although declining trends in mortality from stroke have been reported from a number of studies around the world. This study aims to evaluate the 10-year trends (from 1983 through 1992) in incidence, attack rate, and mortality of stroke in the Finnish population. METHODS A population-based stroke register was set up in the early 1980s to collect data on all suspected events of acute stroke that occurred in the population aged 25 to 74 years permanently residing in three geographic areas of Finland: the provinces of Kuopio and North Karelia in eastern Finland and the Turku-Loimaa area in southwestern Finland. Trends in age-standardized attack rates, incidence, and mortality were calculated for the period studied. RESULTS During the 10-year study period, 11 392 acute stroke events occurred in the monitored populations. A statistically significant decline was observed in the pooled FINMONICA data, both in the incidence of stroke (-1.7% with 95% confidence interval [CI], -3.0% to -0.5% per year in men; -2.2% with 95% CI, -3.6% to -0.7% per year in women) and in mortality from stroke (-5.2% with 95% CI, -8.2% to -2.2% per year; -4.7% with 95% CI, -8.2% to -1.2% per year). The attack rate of stroke also declined significantly in both sexes. When the areas were considered separately, the declining trends were observed within each area. The decline in incidence of stroke was, however, statistically significant only among men and women in Kuopio and among women in Turku/Loimaa. Mortality declined significantly in all three areas among men but among women only in Kuopio. The incidence to mortality rate ratio increased during the study period, indicating a steeper fall in mortality than in incidence. CONCLUSIONS A substantial decline in both stroke incidence and mortality was observed in the adult and elderly population in the FINMONICA study areas. Part but not all of the decline in stroke mortality, observed also in the official mortality statistics, can be attributed to the decline in stroke incidence during this 10-year period.
THE STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SEPTATE AND GAP JUNCTIONS OF HYDRA

The septate junctions and gap junctions of Hydra were studied utilizing the extracellular tracers lanthanum hydroxide and ruthenium red. Analysis of the septate junction from four perspectives has shown that each septum consists of a single row of hexagons sharing common sides of 50–60 A. Each hexagon is folded into chair configuration. Two sets of projections emanate from the corners of the hexagons. One set (A projections) attaches the hexagons to the cell membranes at 80–100-A intervals, while the other set (V projections) joins some adjacent septa to each other. The septate junctions generally contain a few large interseptal spaces and a few septa which do not extend the full length of the junction. Basal to the septate junctions the cells in each layer are joined by numerous gap junctions. Gap junctions also join the muscular processes in each layer as well as those which connect the layers across the mesoglea. The gap junctions of Hydra are composed of rounded plaques 0.15–0.5 µ in diameter which contain 85-A hexagonally packed subunits. Each plaque is delimited from the surrounding intercellular space by a single 40-A band. Large numbers of these plaques are tightly packed, often lying about 20 A apart. This en plaque configuration of the gap junctions of Hydra contrasts with their sparser, more widely separated distribution in many vertebrate tissues. These studies conclude that the septate junction may possess some barrier properties and that both junctions are important in intercellular adhesion. On a morphological basis, the gap junction appears to be more suitable for intercellular coupling than the septate junction.
A Hierarchical Quadtree-Based Link State Routing Scheme for Routing Table Compression

There are two main families of routing schemes: topology-based routing and position-based routing. Topology-based routing can always transmit packets along the shortest path, but the overhead of storage and computation is too high due to huge routing tables. In contrast, position-based routing (also called geographic routing) makes forwarding decisions using geographical location information, thus only maintains a small routing state. But geographic routing might be very inefficient in route selection. Moreover, it may encounter local minimum problem which affects message delivery. In this paper, combining the advantages of topology-based and position-based routing schemes, we propose a novel hierarchical quadtree-based link state routing scheme, called HQLSR. It allocates addresses to all participating nodes based on the structure of quadtree. It makes good use of the convergence of address space to reduce the routing table size. Simulation results show that our scheme compresses routing tables effectively while stretches the path slightly.
Reducing the data transmission in Wireless Sensor Networks using the Principal Component Analysis

Aggregation services play an important role in the domain of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) because they significantly reduce the number of required data transmissions, and improve energy efficiency on those networks. In most of the existing aggregation methods that have been developed based on the mathematical models or functions, the user of the WSN has not access to the original observations. In this paper, we propose an algorithm which let the base station access the observations by introducing a distributed method for computing the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The proposed algorithm is based on transmission workload of the intermediate nodes. By using PCA, we aggregate the incoming packets of an intermediate node into one packet and as a result, an intermediate node merely sends a packet instead of relaying all the incoming packets. Consequently, we can achieve considerable reduction in data transmission. We have analyzed the performance of the proposed algorithm through numerical simulations. The experimental results show that our algorithm performs better than the existing state of the art PCA-based aggregation algorithms such as PCAg in terms of accuracy and efficiency.