Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Advancing a Model to Account for Abnormal Spatial Relationship Perception in Bulbar Cyclotorsion

In a previous study dated back to 2001, a small sample of cyclotropic patients were found to be affected by abnormal spatial relationship perception (aspect ratio judgment) with increased discrimination threshold of elliptical targets oriented along the horizontal axis. The angular amount of incyclodeviation correlated significantly with the discrimination threshold along the horizontal axis. Our group made a similar finding some years later in subjects suffering from Menière’s syndrome. In both cases, we advanced bulbar torsion to be responsible for the reduced sensibility to spatial relationship along the x-coordinate. Still, a possible explanation and a tentative model accounting for the results at that time had not been provided. This paper aims at making up for the gap, advancing a paradigm that explains the increased discrimination threshold in cyclotropic eyes as a function of the angular discrepancy between the horizontal coordinate on the retinal plane, corresponding to the maculopapillary axis (the “retinal horizon”), and the horizontal coordinate in the visual space (the “spatial horizon”). This angular discrepancy is posited to produce abnormal encoding of the spatial relationship of the target, leading to an unbalanced activation of the two antagonistic cellular pools responsible for the analysis of the aspect ratio at the cortical level. Such a model of the "dual horizon" seems to be able to account for the experimental finding described in the previous paper, providing a theoretical explanation for the defective sense of space in patients suffering from cyclotropia.
Multiscale Pedotransfer Functions for Soil Water Retention

Parametric soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions are often used for predicting soil hydrologic behavior using hydrologic, hydroclimatic, and contaminant transport models. The prediction accuracy of any such model is critically dependent on the quality of the input parameters. Limited availability of (detailed) soil hydraulic data for large‐scale hydroclimatic models (with grids ranging from several kilometers to several hundred kilometers) is a major challenge. To address this need, pedotransfer functions (PTFs) have been used to estimate the required soil hydraulic parameters from other available or easily measurable soil properties. While most previous studies derive and adopt these parameters at matching spatial scales (1:1) of input and output data, we have developed a methodology to derive soil water retention functions at the point or local scale using the PTFs trained with coarser scale input data. This study was a novel application of an artificial neural network (ANN)‐based PTF scheme across two spatial support scales within the Rio Grande basin in New Mexico. The ANN was trained using soil texture and bulk density data from the SSURGO database (scale 1:24,000) and then used for predicting soil water contents at different pressure heads with point‐scale data (1:1) inputs. The resulting outputs were corrected for bias before constructing the soil water characteristic curve using the van Genuchten equation. A hierarchical approach with training data derived from multiple clustered subwatersheds (with varying spatial extent) was used to study the effect of the increase in spatial extent. The results show good agreement between the soil water retention curves constructed from the ANN‐based PTFs and field observations at the local scale near Las Cruces, NM. The robustness of the multiscale PTF methodology was further tested with a separate data set from the Little Washita watershed region in Oklahoma. Overall, ANN coupled with bias correction was found to be a suitable approach for deriving soil hydraulic parameters at a finer scale from soil physical properties at coarser scales and across different spatial extents. The approach could potentially be used for downscaling soil hydraulic properties.
An Artificial Intelligence System to Help the Player of Real-Time Strategy Games

Real Time Strategy (RTS) games pose a series of challenges to players and AI Agents due to its dynamical, distributed and multi-objective fashion. In this paper, we propose and develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that helps the player during the game, giving him tactical and strategical tips about the best actions to be taken according to the current game state with the objective of improving the player's performance. We describe the main features of the system, its implementation and perform experiments using a real game to evaluate its effectiveness.
The cross education of strength and skill following unilateral strength training in the upper and lower limbs.

Cross education is the strength gain or skill improvement transferred to the contralateral limb following unilateral training or practice. The present study examined the transfer of both strength and skill following a strength training program. Forty participants (20M, 20F) completed a 6-wk unilateral training program of dominant wrist flexion or dorsiflexion. Strength, force variability, and muscle activity were assessed pretraining, posttraining, and following 6 wk of detraining (retention). Analyses of covariance compared the experimental limb (trained or untrained) to the control (dominant or nondominant). There were no sex differences in the training response. Cross education of strength at posttraining was 6% ( P < 0.01) in the untrained arm and 13% ( P < 0.01) in the untrained leg. Contralateral strength continued to increase following detraining to 15% in the arm ( P < 0.01) and 14% in the leg ( P < 0.01). There was no difference in strength gains between upper and lower limbs ( P > 0.05). Cross education of skill (force variability) demonstrated greater improvements in the untrained limbs compared with the control limbs during contractions performed without concurrent feedback. Significant increases in V-wave amplitude ( P = 0.02) and central activation ( P < 0.01) were highly correlated with contralateral strength gains. There was no change in agonist amplitude or motor unit firing rates in the untrained limbs ( P > 0.05). The neuromuscular mechanisms mirrored the force increases at posttraining and retention supporting central drive adaptations of cross education. The continued strength increases at retention identified the presence of motor learning in cross education, as confirmed by force variability. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We examined cross education of strength and skill following 6 wk of unilateral training and 6 wk of detraining. A novel finding was the continued increase in contralateral strength following both training and detraining. Neuromuscular adaptations were highly correlated with strength gains in the trained and contralateral limbs. Motor learning was evident in the trained and contralateral limbs during contractions performed without concurrent feedback.
Broiler-Housing Conditions Affect the Performance

ABSTRACT In the last decades animal production has considerably increased worldwide to sustain an ever-growing human population. Among animal reared for consumption purposes, chickens are undoubtedly one of the most successful, mainly due to their rapid growth rate. The development of broiler farming has been accompanied in recent years by a substantial attention to animal welfare. This study is aimed at assessing the effects of different housing conditions on both feed conversion ratio and mortality of male broiler flocks through a large-scale study (more than 100 million birds) involving 977 farms belonging to one major producer. For this, we evaluated nine features of the housing system using a linear model with random effect. The features were: roofing, floor, drinkers, feeders, water source, color curtain color, management, light and ventilation. A total of 3516 poultry flocks were assessed. Positive ventilation, metal and clay roof, dirt floor and owner management were shown to reduced mortality. Concrete floor, negative ventilation, blue curtains, fluorescent lightening, owner management, tap water and well water significantly improved FCR. We discuss our findings in relation with economic constraints and provide advices to encourage farmers using simple devices that will improve both production and chicken survival.
Network Structure and the Aggregation of Information: Theory and Evidence from Indonesia

We use unique data from 600 Indonesian communities on what individuals know about the poverty status of others to study how network structure influences information aggregation. We develop a model of semi-Bayesian learning on networks, which we structurally estimate using within-village data. The model generates qualitative predictions about how cross-village patterns of learning relate to different network structures, which we show are borne out in the data. We apply our findings to a community-based targeting program, where villagers chose which households should receive aid, and show that networks the model predicts to be more diffusive differentially benefit from community targeting.
Screening for affective and anxiety disorders in medical patients - comparison of HADS, GHQ-12 and Brief-PHQ

Objectives: The detection of patients with comorbid mental disorders is of high clinical importance. Screening instruments can be recommended for early recognition. This study investigates the discriminant validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Patient Health Questionnaire (Brief-PHQ-D) in chronically ill patients. Methods: Two hundred and four patients with chronic illness participated in a two-stage survey. First patients were screened with HADS, Brief-PHQ and GHQ-12 and then examined for mental disorders by clinical standardized interview (M-CIDI). Validity of the three instruments was compared using ROC(receiver operating characteristics)-analysis and CIDI-diagnoses as criteria. Results: The Brief-PHQ and the HADS performed better than GHQ-12 concerning affective and anxiety disorders without reaching significance. Even though the Brief-PHQ performs significantly better in the category of “any mental disorder”, the differences between the Brief-PHQ and the HADS remain not significant considering anxiety and affective disorders. The Brief-PHQ performed slightly better considering depressive disorders with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.844, a sensitivity of 80% and a specifity of 75.7%. Conclusions: Screener can be used for the detection of mental disorders in patients with chronical illness. Especially the Brief-PHQ and the HADS can be recommended considering sensitivity and specifity. An advantage of the Brief-PHQ is the ability of categorial and dimensional analysis.
A Retrospective Study of Non–Ventilator-Associated Hospital Acquired Pneumonia Incidence and Missed Opportunities for Nursing Care

OBJECTIVE To determine non–ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) incidence, assess negative impacts on patient outcomes and cost, and identify missed preventive nursing care opportunities. BACKGROUND NV-HAP is inadequately studied and underreported. Missed nursing care opportunities, particularly oral care, may aid NV-HAP prevention. METHODS This descriptive, observational, retrospective chart review identified adult NV-HAP cases and associated demographic and hospital care data. RESULTS Two hundred five NV-HAP cases occurred in 1 year at Montefiore Medical Center, equating to an incidence of 0.47 per 1000 patient-days and an estimated excess cost of $8.2 million. ICU transfer following pneumonia occurred in 15.6% of cases. Care requirements from specialist nursing facilities increased at discharge (26.8%), as compared with care requirements on admission (17.6%). Complete nursing care documentation was missing for most patients, with oral care undocumented 60.5% of the time. CONCLUSIONS Preventable NV-HAP cases and their negative impact on cost and patient outcomes may decrease through improved basic nursing care.
Semantic Segmentation for Line Drawing Vectorization Using Neural Networks

In this work, we present a method to vectorize raster images of line art. Inverting the rasterization procedure is inherently ill‐conditioned, as there exist many possible vector images that could yield the same raster image. However, not all of these vector images are equally useful to the user, especially if performing further edits is desired. We therefore define the problem of computing an instance segmentation of the most likely set of paths that could have created the raster image. Once the segmentation is computed, we use existing vectorization approaches to vectorize each path, and then combine all paths into the final output vector image. To determine which set of paths is most likely, we train a pair of neural networks to provide semantic clues that help resolve ambiguities at intersection and overlap regions. These predictions are made considering the full context of the image, and are then globally combined by solving a Markov Random Field (MRF). We demonstrate the flexibility of our method by generating results on character datasets, a synthetic random line dataset, and a dataset composed of human drawn sketches. For all cases, our system accurately recovers paths that adhere to the semantics of the drawings.
Massively parallel approximate Bayesian computation for estimating nanoparticle diffusion coefficients, sizes and concentrations using confocal laser scanning microscopy

We implement a massively parallel population Monte Carlo approximate Bayesian computation (PMC‐ABC) method for estimating diffusion coefficients, sizes and concentrations of diffusing nanoparticles in liquid suspension using confocal laser scanning microscopy and particle tracking. The method is based on the joint probability distribution of diffusion coefficients and the time spent by a particle inside a detection region where particles are tracked. We present freely available central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) versions of the analysis software, and we apply the method to characterize mono‐ and bidisperse samples of fluorescent polystyrene beads.
Ant diversity as a direct and indirect driver of pselaphine rove beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) functional diversity in tropical rainforests, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Pselaphinae is a species‐rich beetle subfamily found globally, with many exhibiting myrmecophily—a symbiotic association with ants. Pselaphine–ant associations vary from facultative to obligate, but direct behavioral observations still remain scarce. Pselaphines are speciose and ecologically abundant within tropical leaf litter invertebrate communities where ants dominate, implying a potentially important ecological role that may be affected by habitat disturbances that impact ants. In this study, we measured and analyzed putative functional traits of leaf litter pselaphines associated with myrmecophily through morphometric analysis. We calculated “myrmecophile functional diversity” of pselaphines at different sites and examined this measure's relationship with ant abundance, in both old growth and logged rainforest sites in Sabah, Borneo. We show that myrmecophile functional diversity of pselaphine beetles increases as ant abundance increases. Old growth rainforest sites support a high abundance of ants, which is associated with a high abundance of probable myrmecophilous pselaphines. These results suggest a potential link between adult morphological characters and the functional role these beetles play in rainforest litter as ecological interaction partners with ants.
Dynamic measurements of the elastic constants of glass wool

The sound wave in the air between the fibers of glass wool exerts an oscillatory viscous drag on the fibers and excites a mechanical wave in the fiber skeleton. Accurate calculations of sound attenuation in glass wool must take the mechanical wave in the fiber skeleton into account, and this requires knowledge of the dynamic elastic constants of the fiber skeleton. The mechanical properties of glass wool are highly anisotropic. Previously only one of the elastic constants has been measured dynamically, but here all the elastic constants are reported. The measurement method is well known. But a new mechanical design, which reduces mechanical resonance, is described. The measurements were carried out in atmospheric air at normal pressure, and this causes an oscillatory airflow in the sample. To obtain the elastic constants, the influence of the airflow was subtracted from the data by a new formula. The elastic constants were measured in the frequency range 20–160Hz for glass wool of mass density 30kg∕m3. Th.
Contribution of Remote Sensing on Crop Models: A Review

Crop growth models simulate the relationship between plants and the environment to predict the expected yield for applications such as crop management and agronomic decision making, as well as to study the potential impacts of climate change on food security. A major limitation of crop growth models is the lack of spatial information on the actual conditions of each field or region. Remote sensing can provide the missing spatial information required by crop models for improved yield prediction. This paper reviews the most recent information about remote sensing data and their contribution to crop growth models. It reviews the main types, applications, limitations and advantages of remote sensing data and crop models. It examines the main methods by which remote sensing data and crop growth models can be combined. As the spatial resolution of most remote sensing data varies from sub-meter to 1 km, the issue of selecting the appropriate scale is examined in conjunction with their temporal resolution. The expected future trends are discussed, considering the new and planned remote sensing platforms, emergent applications of crop models and their expected improvement to incorporate automatically the increasingly available remotely sensed products.
Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in Jinja, Uganda: A Six-Year Follow-Up Study

Introduction We report on the adherence experience of a group of people living with HIV on ART over six years in Uganda. Methods Between 2005 and 2009, we followed up 41 participants who were also part of a clinical trial comparing home and facility based delivery of ART in Jinja, eastern Uganda. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews at enrolment, 3, 6, 18 and 30 months to capture experiences with adherence over time. In 2011 we returned to these participants to find out how they were fairing with long term adherence. We managed to retrace 24 participants and interviewed them about their experience. We thematically analysed the data and compared findings over time. Results Initially there were few barriers to adherence and many followed the adherence guidance closely. By year six, relaxation of these rules was noticeable although self-reported adherence continued to be high. Alcohol consumption was more common than before. Some relatives of the participants who had died claimed that some deaths were a result of alcohol. While participants reported that ART had allowed them to reclaim independence and return to work the changes in work and social routines created new challenges for adherence. Side effects like lipodystrophy were not only causing some stigma but for some tested their faith in the drugs. Many participants reported resumption of sexual lives but apart from those who selected same status partners, disclosure to new partners was minimal. Conclusion Good adherence practice to ART wanes over the long-term, and people who may have disclosed at initiation find it difficult to do so to new partners once they are healthy. Further adherence interventions and support with disclosure over the course of therapy may need to be considered. (Words: 283)
Impacts of the tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans on ENSO

The impacts of the tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans on ENSO are studied using a series of 500 years long GCM simulations, in which the tropical Indian and/or Atlantic Ocean SSTs are fixed. The results indicate that the tropical Indian and/or Atlantic Oceans SST anomalies substantially influence the coupling over the equatorial Pacific. In the absence of SST variability in the tropical Indian and/or Atlantic Ocean, the main ENSO period is shifted by almost one year. The total SST variance in the equatorial Pacific region is reduced if either Indian or Atlantic Ocean variability is present. At the same time the atmospheric ENSO teleconnections are damped more strongly than the SST. The results can be understood in the context of the recharge oscillator model. However, it is difficult to verify the feedback of the Indian and/or Atlantic Oceans onto ENSO only with statistical analyses of the coupled model control integration or observations.
Blocking p62‐dependent SMN degradation ameliorates spinal muscular atrophy disease phenotypes

&NA; Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a degenerative motor neuron (MN) disease, caused by loss of functional survival of motor neuron (SMN) protein due to SMN1 gene mutations, is a leading cause of infant mortality. Increasing SMN levels ameliorates the disease phenotype and is unanimously accepted as a therapeutic approach for patients with SMA. The ubiquitin/proteasome system is known to regulate SMN protein levels; however, whether autophagy controls SMN levels remains poorly explored. Here, we show that SMN protein is degraded by autophagy. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of autophagy increases SMN levels, while induction of autophagy decreases these levels. SMN degradation occurs via its interaction with the autophagy adapter p62 (also known as SQSTM1). We also show that SMA neurons display reduced autophagosome clearance, increased p62 and ubiquitinated proteins levels, and hyperactivated mTORC1 signaling. Importantly, reducing p62 levels markedly increases SMN and its binding partner gemin2, promotes MN survival, and extends lifespan in fly and mouse SMA models, revealing p62 as a potential new therapeutic target for the treatment of SMA.
Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma: A case harboring EGFR mutation treated with EGFR‐TKIs

Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is a very rare type of primary lung cancer with an aggressive clinical course. Few reports have documented therapeutic options for PPC with EGFR mutations. Herein, we report a case of PPC with EGFR mutation treated with EGFR‐tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). A 65‐year‐old Japanese woman was diagnosed with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma with L858R point mutation in exon 21. Despite treatment with erlotinib, the patient died after two weeks as a result of rapid disease progression. Postmortem examination indicated that the thoracic tumors consisted primarily of spindle/sarcomatous components, while expression of the mutated EGFR protein was only observed in adenocarcinoma components. We speculate that the tumor was not driven by EGFR mutation. Clinicians should bear in mind the possibility of pleomorphic carcinoma if EGFR‐TKI treatment fails to achieve a clinical response for adenocarcinoma harboring an activating EGFR mutation diagnosed on the basis of small biopsy specimens.
A Cold Nose and a Cold Brain? The RhinoChill: A New Way to Cool the Brain Quickly

We scientists are difficult, cranky, and above all, maddeningly frustrating people. Want to turn lead into gold? No problem, we can tell you how to do that, and in fact have even done it already: the only catch is that the cost of such ‘nuclear transmutation’ is many times that of even the most expensive mined gold. You say you want to travel to the moon? Done! That will be ~$80 billion (in 2005 US dollars). Want to increase average life expectancy from ~45 to ~80 years? Your wish is our command, but be mindful, you will, on average, spend the last few of those years as a fleshpot in the sunroom garden of an extended care facility.