Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arginine Vasopressin Is a Blood-Based Biomarker of Social Functioning in Children with Autism

Brain arginine vasopressin (AVP) critically regulates normative social behavior in mammals, and experimental disruption of the AVP signaling pathway produces social impairments in rodent models. We therefore hypothesized that AVP signaling deficits may contribute to social impairments in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Since blood measures (which are far easier to obtain than brain measures) of AVP are most meaningful if they are related to brain AVP activity, Study 1 tested the relationship between AVP concentrations in concomitantly collected blood and CSF samples from children and adults (N = 28) undergoing clinical procedures. Study 2 tested whether blood AVP concentrations: 1) differed between children with ASD (N = 57), their ASD discordant siblings (N = 47), and neurotypical controls (N = 55); and 2) predicted social functioning (using the NEPSY-II Theory of Mind and Affect Recognition tasks and the Social Responsiveness Scale) in this large, well-characterized child cohort. Blood AVP concentrations significantly and positively predicted CSF AVP concentrations (F 1,26 = 7.17, r = 0.46, p = 0.0127) in Study 1. In Study 2, blood AVP concentrations did not differ between groups or by sex, but significantly and positively predicted Theory of Mind performance, specifically in children with ASD, but not in non-ASD children (F 1,144 = 5.83, p = 0.017). Blood AVP concentrations can be used: 1) as a surrogate for brain AVP activity in humans; and 2) as a robust biomarker of theory of mind ability in children with ASD. These findings also suggest that AVP biology may be a promising therapeutic target by which to improve social cognition in individuals with ASD.
Modalni in statistični pristop pri opisu zvočnega polja v prostoru

Povzetek. Predstavljena sta dva najpogosteje uporabljena pristopa pri opisu zvočnega polja v prostoru: modalni in statistični. Modalni pristop je uporaben pri nižjih frekvencah, medtem ko je uporaba statističnega pristopa upravičena pri višjih frekvencah. Pristopa sta si komplementarna in uporabljena glede na obravnavan frekvenčni režim. V članku je na podlagi meritve izmerjenega zvočnega polja v prostoru predstavljen pojav naravnih načinov, na katerem temelji modalni opis. Ta je izpeljan iz valovne enačbe, ki vodi do ugotovitve, da je iskanje naravnih načinov matematično ekvivalentno iskanju lastnih funkcij pri danih robnih pogojih. Robni pogoji in numerične metode reševanja, ki so za prostorsko akustiko relevantni, so predstavljeni. V drugem delu je na podlagi prekrivanja resonanc utemeljen statistični opis zvočnega polja. Tako sta uvedena Schroederjeva frekvenca in koncept difuznega zvočnega polja, katerega uporabnost je predstavljena na izpeljavi zveze med izsevano močjo zvočnega vira, zvočnim tlakom v prostoru in absorpcijo na mejnih površinah.
Isolation and Immunomodulatory Effect of Homoisoflavones and Flavones from Agave sisalana Perrine ex Engelm.

Three known flavones and seven known homoisoflavonoids were isolated from the methanolic extract of the leaves of Agave sisalana Perrine ex Engelm. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The isolated compounds were also evaluated for immunopharmacological activity. PBMC were used as target cells, and cell proliferation was determined by 3H-thymidine uptake. (±)-3,9-Dihydroeucomin (4), dihydrobonducellin (5), and 5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4′-hydroxybenzyl)-4-chromanone (7) showed inhibitory effects on PBMC proliferation activated by PHA with IC50 values 19.4, 73.8, and 58.8 µM, respectively. All three compounds significantly inhibited the production of IL-2 and IFN-γ in activated PBMC in a concentration-dependent manner.
Body Mass Index, Muscle Strength and Physical Performance in Older Adults from Eight Cohort Studies: The HALCyon Programme

Objective To investigate the associations of body mass index (BMI) and grip strength with objective measures of physical performance (chair rise time, walking speed and balance) including an assessment of sex differences and non-linearity. Methods Cross-sectional data from eight UK cohort studies (total N = 16 444) participating in the Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon) research programme, ranging in age from 50 to 90+ years at the time of physical capability assessment, were used. Regression models were fitted within each study and meta-analysis methods used to pool regression coefficients across studies and to assess the extent of heterogeneity between studies. Results Higher BMI was associated with poorer performance on chair rise (N = 10 773), walking speed (N = 9 761) and standing balance (N = 13 921) tests. Higher BMI was associated with stronger grip strength in men only. Stronger grip strength was associated with better performance on all tests with a tendency for the associations to be stronger in women than men; for example, walking speed was higher by 0.43 cm/s (0.14, 0.71) more per kg in women than men. Both BMI and grip strength remained independently related with performance after mutual adjustment, but there was no evidence of effect modification. Both BMI and grip strength exhibited non-linear relations with performance; those in the lowest fifth of grip strength and highest fifth of BMI having particularly poor performance. Findings were similar when waist circumference was examined in place of BMI. Conclusion Older men and women with weak muscle strength and high BMI have considerably poorer performance than others and associations were observed even in the youngest cohort (age 53). Although causality cannot be inferred from observational cross-sectional studies, our findings suggest the likely benefit of early assessment and interventions to reduce fat mass and improve muscle strength in the prevention of future functional limitations.
A Bacterial Individual-Based Virtual Bioreactor to Test Handling Protocols in a Netlogo Platform

Abstract The choice of a basic modeling approach, either population-level or individual-based (IbM), is an important decision to be addressed according to the problem at hand. We present an IbM that simulates the dynamics of a bacterial bioreactor under different handling protocols. The main objective is to provide a simulator that will be easily understood, adjusted and used by non-experts. The model has been designed on the same basis as the IbM simulator INDISIM, and it is described using the ODD protocol. It has been implemented in NetLogo, so that it can be easily shared among the scientific community.
Robust Location Tag Generation from Noisy Location Data for Security Applications

Location-based security service provides authorization of persons or facilities based on their distinctive location information. It applies the field of position navigation and time (PNT) to the provision of security. Location parameters from radio navigation signals are mapped into a location verification tag or geotag to block or allow certain actions or access. Loran and Wi-Fi are chosen as case studies because of their good properties that are beneficial to location-based security services. The achievable performance and the security of the system are determined by the quantity and quality of location features. By quantity, we mean the total number of different (independent) location dependent measurements available. By quality, we mean that amount of unique location dependent information and its consistency provided by each parameter that can be used to generate a robust location tag. It is desirable to have the parameters be relatively insensitivity to temporal changes which weaken the uniqueness of the information. As a result, repeatability and repeatable accuracy are the fundamental requirement for any location-based security service. In this paper we propose fuzzy extractor scheme to generate strong location tag from noisy location data. A fuzzy extractor is an algorithm that can reliably extract desired information from input, and is error tolerant in the sense that this information will be the same even if the input changes. We develop different constructions of fuzzy extractor for various parameter distance measures: Euclidean and Hamming metrics. A combination use of the constructions will produce a more robust location tag. In addition, we mathematically analyze the entropy loss of the fuzzy extractor and study how to choose optimal design parameters under the tradeoff.
A Fast and Efficient Data Association of Passive Sensor Tracking

Data association is one of the key and difficult problems for multisensor-multitarget tracking. The classic multidimensional assignment algorithm often uses Lagrange relaxation algorithm to solve association problem with the angle only data obtained by passive sensors in presence of clutter, false alarm condition. The sub gradient is applied to update the Lagrange multipliers, but it needs to minimize all the sub problems at every iterative time to solve the dual solution in the classic algorithm. This leads to long compute time and bad real-time performance. Aimed at the problem, an improved data association algorithm based on the Lagrange relaxation algorithm is introduced in this paper. It uses the surrogate modified sub gradient to update the Lagrange multipliers. Compared with the classical algorithm, new algorithm has less compute time and higher association accuracy via simulation.
AutoiMMune/inflAMMAtory optic neuropAthies

InTRoDUCTIon Inflammatory, demyelinating optic neuritis is one of the most common optic neuropathies in young adults. It occurs idiopathically, or in association with multiple sclerosis, and follows a typical course of progressing visual dysfunction often with pain for one – two weeks, followed by significant resolution over the next few weeks. Due to the characteristic presentation and frequency of this presumably autoimmune process, optic neuritis is often high on the differential diagnosis for patients presenting with optic neuropathy. However, it is important to recognize that a number of other autoimmune disorders and systemic or localized inflammatory processes can also present with an optic neuropathy. While the presenting signs and symptoms often are distinct from typical inflammatory demyelinating optic neuritis, patients can present with very similar findings that may make diagnosis difficult. Here, the distinct features and etiologies of other automimmune/ inflammatory optic neuropathies (the zebras) are discussed, including neuromyelitis optic, systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, idiopathic orbital inflammatory syndrome with optic perineuritis, and sarcoid optic neuropathy. Potential overlapping features, as well as underlying etiologies, are examined.
Parametric Bootstrap Tests for Futures Price and Implied Volatility Biases with Application to Rating Livestock Margin Insurance for Dairy Cattle

A common approach in the literature, whether the investigation is about futures price risk premiums or biases in option-based implied volatility coefficients, is to use samples in which consecutive observations can be regarded as uncorrelated. That will be the case for non- overlapping forecast horizons constructed by either focusing on short time-to-maturity contracts or excluding some data. In this article we propose a parametric bootstrap procedure for uncovering futures and options biases in data characterized by overlapping horizons and correlated prediction errors. We apply our method to test hypotheses that futures prices are efficient and unbiased predictors of terminal prices, and that squared implied volatility, multiplied by time left to option expiry, is an unbiased predictor of terminal log-price variance. We apply the test to corn, soybean meal and Class III milk futures and options data for the period 2000-2011. We find evidence for downward bias in soybean meal futures, as well as downward volatility bias in Class III milk options. Importance of these results is illustrated on the example of premium determination for Livestock Gross Margin Insurance for Dairy Cattle (LGM-Dairy).
Prediction of clinical scores from neuroimaging data with censored likelihood gaussian processes

In this paper, we explore the use of Censored Likelihoods in Gaussian Process Regression when predicting bounded clinical scores from neuroimaging data. The standard approach, which uses a Gaussian Likelihood, does not respect the fact that the clinical scores are bounded, and so may produce suboptimal models. Conversely, Censored Likelihoods explicitly model the restricted range of such clinical scores and carry this property through inference. We apply both the standard approach and the Censored Likelihood approach to the prediction of the MMSE score from structural MRI. Overall, we find small improvements in mean squared error when using the Censored Likelihood and in addition, the censored models are more favoured from a Bayesian perspective. We also discuss the qualitative nature of the predictions of the two approaches.
Urban Spaces, Homelessness, and the Public Sphere: The Urban Homeless Counterpublic

This paper is an ethnography of homeless and formerly homeless activists who participate in a member-led grassroots organization in New York City named Open City. The ethnography is based on interviews with the members of Open City and personal experiences volunteering with the organization. The lives of the urban homeless, who spend a great deal of time navigating public spaces, are dictated by a set of spatial politics that determine who may access certain spaces and for what purposes. These spatial politics have repercussions for the homeless' ability to be recognized as citizens in the public sphere. Despite this, the homeless resist their erasure from the public sphere using strategies similar to other activist movements that take place in urban public spaces, such as the recent Occupy Wall Street movements. However, the homeless require certain provisions before they can demand rights of representation in the public sphere. Open City's success lies in its ability to connect the needs of the homeless to the right to participate in the public sphere and to reconstruct homeless individuals as subjects of rights rather than recipients of provisions.
Efficient O(N 2 ) approach to solve the Bethe-Salpeter equation for excitonic bound states

Excitonic effects in optical spectra and electron-hole pair excitations are described by solutions of the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) that accounts for the Coulomb interaction of excited electron-hole pairs. Although for the computation of excitonic optical spectra in an extended frequency range efficient methods are available, the determination and analysis of individual exciton states still requires the diagonalization of the electron-hole Hamiltonian $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}$. We present a numerically efficient approach for the calculation of exciton states with quadratically scaling complexity, which significantly diminishes the computational costs compared to the commonly used cubically scaling direct-diagonalization schemes. The accuracy and performance of this approach is demonstrated by solving the BSE numerically for the Wannier-Mott two-band model in $\mathbf{k}$ space and the semiconductors MgO and InN. For the convergence with respect to the $\mathbf{k}$-point sampling, a general trend is identified, which can be used to extrapolate converged results for the binding energies of the lowest bound states.
Common Structures Identification for Solving 3 D Bin Packing by Genetic Algorithm

it is shown that genetic algorithms perform optimization by identifying and composing common structures of above-average solutions. This paper aims to identify the quantity of building blocks in 3D bin packing problem. A solution can be encoded into a binary string by many different coding. The results show that the quantities of building blocks are significantly different according to how the solutions are encoded. The coding that gives high quantity of building blocks yields better average fitness of solutions. As a result, we can spend a little time to predict the efficiency of a large number of coding by measuring the quantity of building blocks.
Development of tinnitus‐related neuronal hyperactivity through homeostatic plasticity after hearing loss: a computational model

Tinnitus, the perception of a sound in the absence of acoustic stimulation, is often associated with hearing loss. Animal studies indicate that hearing loss through cochlear damage can lead to behavioral signs of tinnitus that are correlated with pathologically increased spontaneous firing rates, or hyperactivity, of neurons in the auditory pathway. Mechanisms that lead to the development of this hyperactivity, however, have remained unclear. We address this question by using a computational model of auditory nerve fibers and downstream auditory neurons. The key idea is that mean firing rates of these neurons are stabilized through a homeostatic plasticity mechanism. This homeostatic compensation can give rise to hyperactivity in the model neurons if the healthy ratio between mean and spontaneous firing rate of the auditory nerve is decreased, for example through a loss of outer hair cells or damage to hair cell stereocilia. Homeostasis can also amplify non‐auditory inputs, which then contribute to hyperactivity. Our computational model predicts how appropriate additional acoustic stimulation can reverse the development of such hyperactivity, which could provide a new basis for treatment strategies.
War Termination, Identity Conflict, and Genocide: A Road Map

Abstract : History illustrates that genocide is a reoccurring phenomenon. A variety of indicators suggest that the potential for the US to deploy military forces to prevent or stop genocide or mass atrocity is increasing. Continued involvement in limited warfare, recent events in Libya and Syria, the identification of preventing and stopping mass atrocities as a national interest, the creation of the Atrocities Prevention Board, and the introduction of mass atrocity response operations joint doctrine are but a few. Stopping genocide involves understanding the motives of all the actors involved, invoking R2P, addressing issues of state sovereignty, understanding the legality of actions taken in accordance with UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and much more. Conducting military operations in an environment such as this is challenging. Employing military means to combat genocidal activity only compounds the complexity of the issue. This study identified ambiguous war termination criteria, identity conflict, and the opaque nature of genocide as the critical factors that contribute to the complexity of employing military forces to end wars initiated to stop genocide. The convergence of these three critical factors creates an operating environment that is difficult to understand and navigate. Therefore, it is important for military planners and commanders to understand the complexities of employing military forces to intervene in or stop genocide. A great deal of academic study has focused on why nations decide to go to war. However, there is a dearth of literature focusing on why nations stop fighting. Although the study of war termination has increased attention in the last few years, war termination as a focus of academically rigorous research is surprisingly lacking.
A Systematic Review of Food Deserts, 1966-2007

Introduction "Food deserts," areas characterized by poor access to healthy and affordable food, may contribute to social and spatial disparities in diet and diet-related health outcomes. However, the extent to which food deserts exist is debated. We review the evidence for the existence of food deserts in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Methods We conducted a systematic review of primary, quantitative, observational studies, published in English or French, that used geographic or market-basket approaches in high-income countries. The literature search included electronic and hand searches and peer-reviewed and grey literature from 1966 through 2007. We also contacted key researchers to identify other studies. We analyzed the findings and quality of the studies qualitatively. Results Forty-nine studies in 5 countries met inclusion criteria; the amount and consistency of the evidence varied by country. These studies were a mix of geographic and market-basket approaches, but the methodologic quality of studies and completeness of reported findings were mixed. We found clear evidence for disparities in food access in the United States by income and race. Findings from other high-income countries were sparse and equivocal. Conclusion This review suggests that food deserts exist in the United States, where area-level deprivation compounds individual disadvantage. Evidence for the existence of food deserts in other high-income nations is weak.
Image and video dehazing CS 766 Project Proposal

Outdoor images often suffer from low contrast and limited visibility due to haze, small particles such as dust, mist, and fumes which deflect light from its original course of propagation. Haze has two effects on the image: it weaken the imgage contrast and also adds an additive component to the image, so-called airlight. Recovering a haze-free image can restore the visibility of the scene and correct the color shift caused by the airlight. Furthermore, dehazing can benefit many computer vision algorithms which usually assume that the input image after radiometric calibration is the scene radiance and will suffer from the biased, low contrast scene radiance. Last but not lease, since haze is dependent on the unknow depth information, scene depth estimation is usually a by-product of dehazing and the depth information can be used for other applications.
A New High-Efficient Spectral-Domain Analysis of Single and Multiple Coupled Microstrip Lines in Planarly Layered Media

The analysis of propagation of bound and leaky modes in single and multiple coupled microstrip lines in planarly layered media by means of Galerkin's method applied to an electric field integral-equation formulation in the spectral domain with Chebyshev polynomials basis functions weighted with the edge behavior of the unknown surface current densities on the metallic strips leads to the evaluation of improper integrals of oscillating functions with a slow asymptotic decay. In this paper, a new analytical technique for drastically speeding up the computation of such integrals is presented. First, suitable half-space contributions are pulled out of the kernels, which makes the integrands exponentially decaying functions. The integrals of the extracted contributions are then expressed as combinations of proper integrals and fast converging improper integrals by means of appropriate integration procedures in the complex plane.