Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Modulation of Motor Cortical Plasticity and Excitability in Early and Late Phases of Human Motor Learning

Different phases of motor skill learning appear to involve different physiological processes, with long-term potentiation (LTP) occurring at existing synapses in early and cortical reorganization involving synaptogenesis in later phases. Here, we test the evolution of skill learning-dependent changes in motor plasticity and excitability in six subjects trained to perform rapid thumb abductions over 5 d. Plasticity was examined using paired-associative stimulation (PAS) of the median nerve and motor cortex to induce LTP-like “PAS given with an interstimulus interval of 25 ms (PAS25)” or long-term depression (LTD)-like “PAS given with an interstimulus interval of 10 ms (PAS10)” plasticity. Excitability was tested by measuring recruitment of motor-evoked-potentials “input–output (IO) curve” and of short-latency intracortical inhibition (SICI curve), and sensorimotor organization (SMO). Task performance improved continuously over 5 d. After practice on day 1, the PAS25 effect reversed from facilitation to inhibition whereas the slope of the IO curve increased and the level of SICI decreased. These effects on IO curve and SICI were still present or even enhanced before the last practice on day 5, and were not changed by it. The effect of proprioceptive input from the trained muscle on SMO was also strengthened before practice on day 5. In contrast, PAS-induced plasticity was not influenced by motor practice on day 5, and had returned to prepractice values. The interference with PAS-induced plasticity suggests that the initial performance improvement relies on increasing the efficacy of existing synaptic connections. However, the long-lasting changes in the IO curve, SICI curve, and SMO suggest that continued practice enhances performance by changing Motor cortical organization. We hypothesize that new synaptic connections might have formed that allow LTP/LTD-susceptibility to be restored without reducing synaptic strength and performance skill.
Learning Overcomplete Dictionaries Based on Atom-by-Atom Updating

A dictionary learning algorithm learns a set of atoms from some training signals in such a way that each signal can be approximated as a linear combination of only a few atoms. Most dictionary learning algorithms use a two-stage iterative procedure. The first stage is to sparsely approximate the training signals over the current dictionary. The second stage is the update of the dictionary. In this paper we develop some atom-by-atom dictionary learning algorithms, which update the atoms sequentially. Specifically, we propose an efficient alternative to the well-known K-SVD algorithm, and show by various experiments that the proposed algorithm is much faster than K-SVD while its results are better. Moreover, we propose a novel algorithm that instead of alternating between the two dictionary learning stages", "performs only the second stage. While in K-SVD each atom is updated along with the nonzero entries of its associated row vector in the coefficient matrix (which we name it its profile), in the new algorithm", "each atom is updated along with the whole entries of its profile. As a result, contrary to K-SVD, the support of each profile can be changed while updating the dictionary. To further accelerate the convergence of this algorithm and to have a control on the cardinality of the representations, we then propose its two-stage counterpart by adding the sparse approximation stage. Experimental results on recovery of a known synthetic dictionary and dictionary learning for a class of auto-regressive signals demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed algorithms.
[Effect of electromagnetic pulse irradiation on structure and function of Leydig cells in mice].

OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) irradiation on structure and function of Leydig cells in mice. METHODS One hundred and fourteen male Kunming mice were randomly divided into irradiated and control group, the former radiated generally by 8 x 10(3) V/m, 2 x 10(4) V/m and 6 x 10(4) V/m EMP respectively five times within two minutes. Pathological changes of Leydig cells were observed by light and electron microscope. Serum testosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol (E2) were measured dynamically by radioimmunoassay at 6 h, 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d and 28 d after irradiation. RESULTS Main pathological changes were edema and vacuolation, swelling of cytoplasmic mitochondria, reduce of lipid droplets, pale staining of most of lipid droplets, and partial or complete cavitation of lipid droplets in Leydig cells within 28 days after EMP radiation. Compared with normal controls, serum T decreased in all in different degrees within 28 days, and dropped significantly at 6 h-14 d, 6 h-7 d and 1 d-28 d after 8 x 10(3) V/m, 2 x 10(4) V/m and 6 x 10(4) V/m EMP irradiation(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). EMP irradiation caused no significant changes in serum LH and E2. CONCLUSIONS Leydig cells are among those that are the most susceptible to EMP irradiation. EMP irradiation may cause significant injury in structure and function of Leydig cells in mice, whose earlier and continuous effect is bound to affect sexual function and sperm production.
Characterising User Interactivity for Sports Video-on-Demand

This paper presents a detailed characterisation of user behaviour for a series of interactive sport videos from the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In addition to generic VCR-like features, our custom-built Video-on-Demand architecture enabled us to provide advanced interactivity features such as bookmarking. We illustrate how such functionality may have a dramatic impact on how users consume content. A detailed discussion is also provided on how content distributors may turn this knowledge to their advantage, and thus increase the efficiency of their delivery networks.
Analysis of gamma4 germline transcription in human B cells.

BACKGROUND Allergic reactions occur rarely in patients with chronic helminth infections, although FcepsilonRI-bearing cells are sensitized with anti-parasite IgE and are exposed to antigen. The inhibition of allergic reactivity is due to 'blocking antibodies', predominantly IgG4. IgG4 antibodies represent 50-95% of anti-filarial IgG, and have blocking activity because they compete with cell-bound IgE for allergen binding. Blocking IgG4 antibodies have also been detected in patients treated with immunotherapy. However, the molecular mechanisms of IgG4 regulation have remained unexplored. We address this issue starting with the IL-4-dependent induction of gamma4 germline transcription, an essential step in the commitment to isotype switching. RESULTS gamma4 germline transcripts were cloned and shown to contain Igamma4 spliced to the 5' portion of Cgamma4 using the splice donor site shared by gamma1 and gamma3 germline transcripts. Sequence analysis located the human Igamma4 exon thick approximate0.6 kb upstream of the Sgamma4 region. Four major transcription start sites located 547-583 bp upstream of the Igamma4 splice donor site were identified by primer extension analysis. A HindIII/NaeI construct (-413/+466) had the highest activity in reporter assays. Transcription was induced 4.6-fold by IL-4, 2.1-fold by CD40 engagement, and 14.5-fold by a combination of the two signals. Thus CD40 crosslinking enhanced IL-4-dependent transcription by 3.1-fold, showing that the two stimuli act synergistically. CONCLUSION As we understand more about IgG4 regulation, our hope is to apply to allergy the lesson we learnt from helminth infections.
The Predictive and Prognostic Role of Stromal Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes in HER 2-positive Breast Cancer with Trastuzumab-based Treatment : a Meta-analysis and Systematic Review

Background Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are white blood cells that have left the bloodstream and migrated into a tumor, involving in the prognosis of breast cancer (BC) patients. Published studies reported the value of TILs in patients with HER2-positive receiving trastuzumab-based treatment. However, the results obtained remain controversial. Here, we conducted this study to explore the predictive and prognostic role of TILs for HER2-positive BC patients receiving trastuzumab therapies. Method To identify the related published studies, a comprehensive literature search dating up to July 2017 was performed in the databases of PubMed, PMC, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) according to predefined selection criteria. The pathologic complete response (pCR) and survival outcome of patients were measured by odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) with corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI), respectively. The association between TILs and trastuzumab benefit was analyzed by using STATA version 11.0. Result Eleven eligible studies comprising 3228 patients were identified in the present study. The pooled results showed that high level of TILs was associated with a significantly improved pCR rate (OR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.10-1.60) and longer survival (HR = 0.97; 95% CI = 0.96-0.99), particularly in the subgroups of retrospective study design and 10% INC cut-off value. Moreover, stratified analysis revealed that elevated TILs was a predictor of higher pCR rate in the Asian population and improved survival in the subgroups of Caucasian population and multivariate analysis. Conclusion This meta-analysis indicated that the level of stromal TILs was an independent predictive and prognostic marker for better outcome in HER2-positive BC patients receiving trastuzumab-based treatment. High level of TILs was significantly associated with trastuzumab benefit.
Cytoskeletal function in CD8- and T cell receptor-mediated interaction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes with class I protein

Cloned allospecific cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) adhere to purified class I alloantigen immobilized on plastic and degranulate in response to it. Binding and degranulation are inhibited by drugs that impair cytoskeletal function. Cytochalasins D and E, which interfere with microfilament function, and colchicine, which disrupts microtubules, were used and gave qualitatively similar results. Concentrations of these drugs that inhibited degranulation in response to alloantigen did not inhibit response to immobilized anti-T cell receptor (TCR) antibody. Neither did they inhibit response when alloantigen was co- immobilized with an antibody against class I on the CTL to promote adhesion between the CTL and antigen-bearing surface. Thus, neither transmembrane signal generation via the TCR nor degranulation per se were prevented. Instead, the drugs act to prevent the initial adhesion to alloantigen. CTL binding to alloantigen depends in part on CD8-class I interaction, and adhesion via CD8 is "activated" by crosslinking the TCR with soluble anti-TCR antibody. This adhesion, too, is shown to be cytoskeleton dependent.
Site-Specific Anticancer Effects of Dietary Flavonoid Quercetin

Food-derived flavonoid quercetin, widely distributed in onions, apples, and tea, is able to inhibit growth of various cancer cells indicating that this compound can be considered as a good candidate for anticancer therapy. Although the exact mechanism of this action is not thoroughly understood, behaving as antioxidant and/or prooxidant as well as modulating different intracellular signalling cascades may all play a certain role. Such inhibitory activity of quercetin has been shown to depend first of all on cell lines and cancer types; however, no comprehensive site-specific analysis of this effect has been published. In this review article, cytotoxicity constants of quercetin measured in various human malignant cell lines of different origin were compiled from literature and a clear cancer selective action was demonstrated. The most sensitive malignant sites for quercetin revealed to be cancers of blood, brain, lung, uterine, and salivary gland as well as melanoma whereas cytotoxic activity was higher in more aggressive cells compared to the slowly growing cells showing that the most harmful cells for the organism are probably targeted. More research is needed to overcome the issues of poor water solubility and relatively low bioavailability of quercetin as the major obstacles limiting its clinical use.
Equipping WAP with WEAPONS to Detect Vulnerabilities: Practical Experience Report

Although security starts to be taken into account during software development, the tendency for source code to contain vulnerabilities persists. Open source static analysis tools provide a sensible approach to mitigate this problem. However, these tools are programmed to detect a specific set of vulnerabilities and they are often difficult to extend to detect new ones. WAP is a recent popular open source tool that detects vulnerabilities in the source code of web applications written in PHP. The paper addresses the difficulty of extending these tools by proposing a modular and extensible version of the WAP tool, equipping it with "weapons" to detect (and correct) new vulnerability classes. The new version of the tool was evaluated with seven new vulnerability classes using web applications and plugins of the widely-adopted WordPress content management system. The experimental results show that this extensibility allows WAP to find many new (zero-day) vulnerabilities.
Unsupervised Dimension Reduction via Least-Squares Quadratic Mutual Information

The goal of dimension reduction is to represent high-dimensional data in a lowerdimensional subspace, while intrinsic properties of the original data are kept as much as possible. An important challenge in unsupervised dimension reduction is the choice of tuning parameters, because no supervised information is available and thus parameter selection tends to be subjective and heuristic. In this paper, we propose an information-theoretic approach to unsupervised dimension reduction that allows objective tuning parameter selection. We employ quadratic mutual information (QMI) as our information measure, which is known to be less sensitive to outliers than ordinary mutual information, and QMI is estimated analytically by a least-squares method in a computationally efficient way. Then, we provide an eigenvector-based efficient implementation for performing unsupervised dimension reduction based on the QMI estimator. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated through experiments.
Looking Beyond Psychopathology: The Dual-Factor Model of Mental Health in Youth

Abstract In a dual-factor model of mental health (cf. Greenspoon & Saklofske, 2001), assessments of positive indicators of wellness (i.e., subjective well-being—SWB) are coupled with traditional negative indicators of illness (i.e., psychopathology) to comprehensively measure mental health. The current study examined the existence and utility of a dual-factor model in early adolescence. The SWB, psychopathology, academic functioning, social adjustment, and physical health of a general sample of 349 middle school students was assessed via self-report scales, school records, and teacher reports regarding students' externalizing psychopathology. The existence of a dual-factor model was supported through the identification of four mental health groups: 57% of the sample had complete mental health, 13% was vulnerable, 13% was symptomatic but content, and 17% was troubled. The means of the four groups differed significantly in terms of academic outcomes, physical health, and social functioning. Results support the importance of high SWB to optimal functioning during adolescence, as students with complete mental health (i.e., high SWB, low psychopathology) had better reading skills, school attendance, academic self-perceptions, academic-related goals, social support from classmates and parents, self-perceived physical health, and fewer social problems than their vulnerable peers also without clinical levels of mental illness but with low SWB. Among students with clinical levels of psychopathology, students with high SWB (symptomatic but content youth) perceived better social functioning and physical health.
Reference values for Japanese children's respiratory resistance using the LMS method.

BACKGROUND The forced oscillation technique (FOT) is useful for studying pulmonary function in children, as well as in school children with asthma. However, the standard values for respiratory resistance (Rrs) in Asian school children remain unknown. We evaluated the standard Rrs using a type of FOT, impulse oscillometry (IOS), in healthy Japanese children at elementary and junior high schools. METHODS A total of 795 children (age range: 6-15 years; mean age ± SD: 11.1 ± 2.4 years; 404 boys, 391 girls) at elementary and junior high schools participated in the study. Of the 795 children, we evaluated the Rrs of 537 children aged 6-15 years (mean ± SD: 10.8 ± 2.4 years) using IOS. RESULTS Regression analyses with three IOS parameters, Rrs at 5Hz (R5), Rrs at 20Hz (R20), and Rrs difference between 5Hz and 20Hz (R5-R20), for age, height, weight, and degree of obesity as independent variables demonstrated the strongest correlation between each parameter and children's height. All parameters decreased with increasing height. Using the lambda-mu-sigma (LMS) method, we created standard curves for the Rrs values based on height. CONCLUSIONS Our standard curves could be useful for diagnosis and control evaluation of childhood asthma.
From inner cognition to outer speech : An evolutionary perspective

The origin of speech, in ontogenic terms, is the human brain: there seems to be a system inside the brain which connects an interior modelling of reality with a signalling capacity, allowing individuals to express their models and thus share them. There must therefore be, as the generative tradition maintains, cognitive mechanisms that generate outer speech from inner resources. However, the generative proposal, that these inner cognitive resources must be dedicated solely to language, encounters problems when a phylogenic view is adopted. Evolutionary calculus imposes limits on evolved capacities: they must usually have continuity with precursor capacities; and they must serve a function that enhances individual survival. These Ultimate Mechanisms of Behaviour (Tinbergen, 1963) are largely ignored by the generative language engine, which has no precursors and no function other than itself. While the generative proposal simplifies the path from inner cognition to outer speech, it does so largely by ignoring general cognition and evolutionary demands. If a language engine exists, it must act as a conduit between the internal semantics of the mind and the external semiotics of society; between the syntactic requirements of cognition and the grammatical needs of communication; and between the internal labelling of identity and external cultural gestures of naming and representation. It must use cognitive resources and modes of expression that have their own evolutionary history, and it must itself have a function beyond just language. This poster reviews some of the features of outer speech and relates them back to inner cognition, attempting to explain the transition from inner to outer in terms of evolution and pre-existing cognitive capacities. Each capacity is considered in terms of its cognitive precursors, its evolutionary fitness, and its function for the individual. From these features a transformational language engine is proposed, which is neither monolithic nor specialised. ESTABLISHING THE GROUND RULES Grammar is a complex phenomenon. This should come as no surprise, the communicative demands it has to accommodate are themselves complex: language needs a wide-ranging expressivity to allow for the sharing of utterances able to describe every aspect of being human in a human culture. And yet there are regularities in the grammars of different languages which point towards a concept of „grammar‟ rather than „grammars‟. Certain word types (e.g. nouns and verbs) and utterance forms (e.g. two-argument constructs) recur in most, if not all, human languages; and the communicative functions (e.g. questioning, manding, describing) are capacities which seem to be needed in all modern languages 1 . This regularity between languages has, however, also led to some of the big myths of linguistics: that all languages are descended from a single 1 Bernd Heine & Tania Kuteva (2007). The Genesis of Grammar: a reconstruction. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. Chs2&4.
Normal tissue reactivity of four anti‐tumor monoclonal antibodies of clinical interest

Normal tissue reactivity on frozen sections was examined with 4 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that were reported previously to be negative or weakly reactive with normal tissues, and strongly reactive with some types of carcinoma. All 4 antibodies reacted strongly with certain normal epithelial cells. The antibodies tested include 2 antibodies to ovarian cancer, MOv18 and MOv19, one antibody to breast cancer, H23, and one antibody reactive with a range of carcinomas, B72.3. MOv18, MOv19 and H23 reacted with many normal glandular and ductal epithelial cells, while B72.3 reacted most strongly with secretions of the small intestine epithelium and the suprabasal squamous epithelial cells of the esophagus. Since the tissue distribution of MOv19 was very similar to that of another antibody described previously, MW207, these two antibodies were compared by competitive binding inhibition, and found to recognize the same epitope. Our data emphasize the importance of repeated, independent tests of antibody specificity.
Chemical Repellents and Other Aversive Strategies in Predation Management

Chemical repellents and other aversive strategies are the core of non-lethal wildlife management. These strategies typically depend on irritation (pain), conditioning, or fear for their effectiveness, and none is universally successful. Thus, conditioned food aversions deter browsing and foraging by deer ( virginianus , O.hemionus), but are less useful with predators, because killing, not consumption, is the behavior of interest. Broadly speaking, the utility of non-lethal strategies is affected by number and density of wildlife species, availability of alternative foods, palatability and novelty of treated items, and intensity of pain, sickness, or fear used to establish avoidance. Some of the most promising areas for successful predation management are those involving a combination of strategies tailored to a specific problem. For example, behavioral-contingent auditory and visual stimuli coupled with presentations of electric shock or momentary vibration (via telemetry collars) could provide an effective and unambiguous cue for withdrawal. Non-lethal methods, however, are rarely stand-alone technologies. More often, integrated strategies, involving both lethal and non-lethal methods, are required for effective predation management.
Antiproliferative Activity of Cyanophora paradoxa Pigments in Melanoma, Breast and Lung Cancer Cells

The glaucophyte Cyanophora paradoxa (Cp) was chemically investigated to identify pigments efficiently inhibiting malignant melanoma, mammary carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma cells growth. Cp water and ethanol extracts significantly inhibited the growth of the three cancer cell lines in vitro, at 100 µg·mL−1. Flash chromatography of the Cp ethanol extract, devoid of c-phycocyanin and allophycocyanin, enabled the collection of eight fractions, four of which strongly inhibited cancer cells growth at 100 µg·mL−1. Particularly, two fractions inhibited more than 90% of the melanoma cells growth, one inducing apoptosis in the three cancer cells lines. The detailed analysis of Cp pigment composition resulted in the discrimination of 17 molecules, ten of which were unequivocally identified by high resolution mass spectrometry. Pheophorbide a, β-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin were the three main pigments or derivatives responsible for the strong cytotoxicity of Cp fractions in cancer cells. These data point to Cyanophora paradoxa as a new microalgal source to purify potent anticancer pigments, and demonstrate for the first time the strong antiproliferative activity of zeaxanthin and β-cryptoxanthin in melanoma cells.