Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurophysiology of Implicit Timing in Serial Choice Reaction-Time Performance

Neural representations of time for the judgment of temporal durations are reflected in electroencephalographic (EEG) slow brain potentials, as established in time production and perception tasks. Here, we investigated whether anticipatory processes in reaction-time procedures are governed by similar mechanisms of interval timing. We used a choice reaction task with two different, temporally regular stimulus presentation regimes, both with occasional deviant interstimulus intervals. Temporal preparation was shown in the form of adjustments in time course of slow brain potentials, such that they reached their maximum amplitude just before a new trial, independent of the duration of the interstimulus interval. Preparation was focused on a brief time window, demonstrated by a drop in amplitude of slow potentials as the standard interval had elapsed in deviant interstimulus intervals. Implicit timing influencing perceptual processing was shown in reduced visual-evoked responses to delayed stimuli after a deviant interstimulus interval and in a reduction of EEG α power over the visual cortex at the time when the standard interval had elapsed. In contrast to explicit timing tasks, the slow brain potential manifestations of implicit timing originated in the lateral instead of the medial premotor cortex. Together, the results show that temporal regularities set up a narrow time window of motor and sensory attention, demonstrating the operation of interval timing in reaction time performance. The divergence in slow brain potential distribution between implicit and explicit timing tasks suggests that interval timing for different behaviors relies on qualitatively similar mechanisms implemented in distinct cortical substrates.
Growth Hormone Inhibitors in Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Analysis

Objective: Despite initial therapeutic success through androgen ablation in patients with advanced prostate cancer, the vast majority progress to androgen independence. Somatostatin (SST) analogs are a viable therapeutic modality before resorting to chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Their mechanism of action is related to a reduction in the IGF-1 (survival factor, reaction on neuroendocrine cells) appearing incrementally after long-term androgen deprivation and a possible suppression of GnRH receptors in prostate cancer following exposure to LHRH agonists. Methods: The computerized databases Medline, NCBI and OMIM were searched for the terms, somatostatin and prostate cancer, in parallel with printed bibliographic references. Forty-two studies were included and 267 patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC) who were treated with SST analogs alone or in combination with other medications, e.g. dexamethasone, were analyzed. Results: In 42 studies with 267 AIPC patients, SST analogs were found to be effective, particularly when combined with estrogens or corticosteroids. The side effects are mild and related to the gastrointestinal tract. Conclusions: It would be interesting to study SST analogs in randomized trials including patients with well-defined AIPC. Whether SST analogs could be given earlier during sequential hormonal therapy remains to be studied.
Reconstitution of the core of the malaria parasite glideosome with recombinant Plasmodium class XIV myosin A and Plasmodium actin

Motility of the apicomplexan malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is enabled by a multiprotein glideosome complex, whose core is the class XIV myosin motor, PfMyoA, and a divergent Plasmodium actin (PfAct1). Parasite motility is necessary for host-cell invasion and virulence, but studying its molecular basis has been hampered by unavailability of sufficient amounts of PfMyoA. Here, we expressed milligram quantities of functional full-length PfMyoA with the baculovirus/Sf9 cell expression system, which required a UCS (UNC-45/CRO1/She4p) family myosin chaperone from Plasmodium spp. In addition to the known light chain myosin tail interacting protein (MTIP), we identified an essential light chain (PfELC) that co-purified with PfMyoA isolated from parasite lysates. The speed at which PfMyoA moved actin was fastest with both light chains bound, consistent with the light chain–binding domain acting as a lever arm to amplify nucleotide-dependent motions in the motor domain. Surprisingly, PfELC binding to the heavy chain required that MTIP also be bound to the heavy chain, unlike MTIP that bound the heavy chain independently of PfELC. Neither the presence of calcium nor deletion of the MTIP N-terminal extension changed the speed of actin movement. Of note, PfMyoA moved filaments formed from Sf9 cell–expressed PfAct1 at the same speed as skeletal muscle actin. Duty ratio estimates suggested that as few as nine motors can power actin movement at maximal speed, a feature that may be necessitated by the dynamic nature of Plasmodium actin filaments in the parasite. In summary, we have reconstituted the essential core of the glideosome, enabling drug targeting of both of its core components to inhibit parasite invasion.
Joint continuity of the local times of fractional Brownian sheets

Let $B^H=\{B^H(t),t\in{{\mathbb{R}}_+^N}\}$ be an $(N,d)$-fractional Brownian sheet with index $H=(H_1,.,H_N)\in(0,1)^N$ defined by $B^H(t)=(B^H_1(t),. ,B^H_d(t)) (t\in {\mathbb{R}}_+^N),$ where $B^H_1,. ,B^H_d$ are independent copies of a real-valued fractional Brownian sheet $B_0^H$. We prove that if $d<\sum_{\ell=1}^NH_{\ell}^{-1}$, then the local times of $B^H$ are jointly continuous. This verifies a conjecture of Xiao and Zhang (Probab. Theory Related Fields 124 (2002)). We also establish sharp local and global H\"{o}lder conditions for the local times of $B^H$. These results are applied to study analytic and geometric properties of the sample paths of $B^H$.
Comparing metabolite profiles of habitual diet in serum and urine.

BACKGROUND Diet plays an important role in chronic disease etiology, but some diet-disease associations remain inconclusive because of methodologic limitations in dietary assessment. Metabolomics is a novel method for identifying objective dietary biomarkers, although it is unclear what dietary information is captured from metabolites found in serum compared with urine. OBJECTIVE We compared metabolite profiles of habitual diet measured from serum with those measured from urine. DESIGN We first estimated correlations between consumption of 56 foods, beverages, and supplements assessed by a food-frequency questionnaire, with 676 serum and 848 urine metabolites identified by untargeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography mass spectrometry in a colon adenoma case-control study (n = 125 cases and 128 controls) while adjusting for age, sex, smoking, fasting, case-control status, body mass index, physical activity, education, and caloric intake. We controlled for multiple comparisons with the use of a false discovery rate of <0.1. Next, we created serum and urine multiple-metabolite models to predict food intake with the use of 10-fold crossvalidation least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression for 80% of the data; predicted values were created in the remaining 20%. Finally, we compared predicted values with estimates obtained from self-reported intake for metabolites measured in serum and urine. RESULTS We identified metabolites associated with 46 of 56 dietary items; 417 urine and 105 serum metabolites were correlated with ≥1 food, beverage, or supplement. More metabolites in urine (n = 154) than in serum (n = 39) were associated uniquely with one food. We found previously unreported metabolite associations with leafy green vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages, citrus, added sugar, red meat, shellfish, desserts, and wine. Prediction of dietary intake from multiple-metabolite profiles was similar between biofluids. CONCLUSIONS Candidate metabolite biomarkers of habitual diet are identifiable in both serum and urine. Urine samples offer a valid alternative or complement to serum for metabolite biomarkers of diet in large-scale clinical or epidemiologic studies.
A Major Radio Outburst in III Zw 2 with an Extremely Inverted, Millimeter-peaked Spectrum

III Zw 2 is a spiral galaxy with an optical spectrum and faint extended radio structure typical of a Seyfert galaxy, but also with an extremely variable, blazar-like radio core. We have now discovered a new radio flare in which the source has brightened more than 20-fold within less than 2 yr. A broadband radio spectrum between 1.4 and 666 GHz shows a textbook-like synchrotron spectrum peaking at 43 GHz, with a self-absorbed synchrotron spectral index +2.5 at frequencies below 43 GHz and an optically thin spectral index -0.75 at frequencies above 43 GHz. The outburst spectrum can be well fitted by two homogenous, spherical components with equipartition sizes of 0.1 and 0.2 pc at 43 and 15 GHz and with magnetic fields of 0.4 and 1 G. VLBA observations at 43 GHz confirm this double structure and these sizes. Timescale arguments suggest that the emitting regions are shocks which are continuously accelerating particles. This could be explained by a frustrated jet scenario with very compact hot spots. Similar millimeter-peaked spectrum sources could have escaped our attention because of their low flux density at typical survey frequencies and their strong variability.
Low-power low-complexity MIMO-OFDM baseband processor for wireless LANs

In this paper, we propose an efficient design and implementation results of a high speed 2TX-2RX multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) wireless LAN (WLAN) baseband processor. The proposed processor includes bit-parallel processing transmitter physical layer convergence procedure (TX-PLCP) processor and space-division multiplexing (SDM) symbol detector, which have been optimized for low power consumption and low hardware overhead. It was implemented using 0.18-µm CMOS technology. The proposed architecture can operate at a 40-MHz clock frequency and supports the maximum data rate of 130Mbps. The logic gate count for the processor is 978K and the power consumption is 62 / 284mW (TX / RX), respectively.
Evaluation and improvement of sticky traps as monitoring tools for Glossina austeni and G. brevipalpis (Diptera: Glossinidae) in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract The attractiveness of various colours, colour combinations and sizes of sticky traps of the 3-dimensional trap (3DT), cross-shaped target (XT), rectangular screen (RT) and monopanels were evaluated for their efficacy to capture Glossina austeni Newstead and G. brevipalpis Newstead in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The 3-dimensional shapes of the XT and 3DT in light blue (l.blue) and white were significantly (ca. 3.1–6.9 times) better than the RT for G. austeni. On bicoloured XTs, G. austeni landed preferentially on electric blue (e.blue) (58%) and black (63%) surfaces when used with white; while for G. brevipalpis, significantly more landed on e.blue (60–66%) surfaces when used with l.blue, black or white surfaces. Increased trap size increased the catches of G. brevipalpis females and both sexes of G. austeni significantly. Temoocid and polybutene sticky materials were equally effective and remained durable for 2–3 weeks. The glossy shine of trap surfaces did not have any significant effect on the attraction and landing responses of the two species. The overall trap efficiency of the e.blue/l.blue XT was 23% for G. brevipalpis and 28% for G. austeni, and that of the e.blue/black XT was 16% for G. brevipalpis and 51% for G. austeni. Larger monopanels, painted e.blue/black on both sides, increased the catches of G. austeni females significantly by up to four times compared to the standard e.blue/black XT. This monopanel would be recommended for use as a simple and cost effective survey tool for both species in South Africa.
Labeling for a learning mobile robot

This paper describes an approach to ground names of objects seen by a mobile robot in a real world environment. Names are given by a human teacher and axe stored within a lexicon, along with images where the corresponding objects are present. Here, the building of a high-level perceptual system is required to enable an efficient learning of the physical definition of objects. The paper briefly describes how an abstraction-based reformulation of real world data can highlight relevant information for a given concept.
Roles for Transforming Growth Factor Beta Superfamily Proteins in Early Folliculogenesis

Primordial follicle formation and the subsequent transition of follicles to the primary and secondary stages encompass the early events during folliculogenesis in mammals. These processes establish the ovarian follicle pool and prime follicles for entry into subsequent growth phases during the reproductive cycle. Perturbations during follicle formation can affect the size of the primordial follicle pool significantly, and alterations in follicle transition can cause follicles to arrest at immature stages or result in premature depletion of the follicle reserve. Determining the molecular events that regulate primordial follicle formation and early follicle growth may lead to the development of new fertility treatments. Over the last decade, many of the growth factors and signaling proteins that mediate the early stages of folliculogenesis have been identified using mouse genetic models, in vivo injection studies, and ex vivo organ culture approaches. These studies reveal important roles for the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) superfamily of proteins in the ovary. This article reviews these roles for TGF-beta family proteins and focuses in particular on work from our laboratories on the functions of activin in early folliculogenesis.
Haskell Rules: Embedding Rule Systems in Haskell

We present a domain-specic embedded language that allows the denition of rule systems in Haskell. As one particular example, we consider the modeling of type systems, which is an important part of programming language design. Type systems are most conveniently described using rule systems. Our approach is well integrated into Haskell’s type system and thus facilitates the convenient modeling of type systems and language semantics in general. We also demonstrate how our DSEL allows functional-logic programming in Haskell. Our system generalizes previous work by operating on user-dened data types, taking advantage of static typing, representing rules as functions, and allows a creative integration of logical variables into data structures which generalizes two previous approaches. We describe a straightforward method for translating rule systems into our DSEL.
BOLD and its connection to dopamine release in human striatum: a cross-cohort comparison

Activity in midbrain dopamine neurons modulates the release of dopamine in terminal structures including the striatum, and controls reward-dependent valuation and choice. This fluctuating release of dopamine is thought to encode reward prediction error (RPE) signals and other value-related information crucial to decision-making, and such models have been used to track prediction error signals in the striatum as encoded by BOLD signals. However, until recently there have been no comparisons of BOLD responses and dopamine responses except for one clear correlation of these two signals in rodents. No such comparisons have been made in humans. Here, we report on the connection between the RPE-related BOLD signal recorded in one group of subjects carrying out an investment task, and the corresponding dopamine signal recorded directly using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in a separate group of Parkinson's disease patients undergoing DBS surgery while performing the same task. The data display some correspondence between the signal types; however, there is not a one-to-one relationship. Further work is necessary to quantify the relationship between dopamine release, the BOLD signal and the computational models that have guided our understanding of both at the level of the striatum. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Interpreting BOLD: a dialogue between cognitive and cellular neuroscience’.
Membrane interactivity of charged local anesthetic derivative and stereoselectivity in membrane interaction of local anesthetic enantiomers

With respect to the membrane lipid theory as a molecular mechanism for local anesthetics, two critical subjects, the negligible effects of charged drugs when applied extracellularly and the stereoselective effects of enantiomers, were verified by paying particular attention to membrane components, phospholipids with the anionic property, and cholesterol with several chiral carbons. The membrane interactivities of structurally-different anesthetics were determined by their induced fluidity changes of liposomal membranes. Lidocaine (3.0 μmol/mL) fluidized phosphatidylcholine membranes, but not its quaternary derivative QX-314 (3.0 μmol/mL). Similarly to the mother molecule lidocaine, however, QX-314 fluidized phosphatidylserine-containing nerve cell model membranes and acidic phospholipids-constituting membranes depending on the acidity of membrane lipids. Positively charged local anesthetics are able to act on lipid bilayers by ion-pairing with anionic (acidic) phospholipids. Bupivacaine (0.75 mol/mL) and ropivacaine (0.75 and 1.0 μmol/mL) fluidized nerve cell model membranes with the potency being S(−)-enantiomer < racemate < R(+)-enantiomer (P < 0.01, vs antipode and racemate) and cardiac cell model membranes with the potency being S(−)-ropivacaine < S(−)-bupivacaine < R(+)-bupivacaine (P < 0.01). However, their membrane effects were not different when removing cholesterol from the model membranes. Stereoselectivity is producible by cholesterol which increases the chirality of lipid bilayers and enables to discriminate anesthetic enantiomers. The membrane lipid interaction should be reevaluated as the mode of action of local anesthetics.
An investigation into the Practicality Of Using a stage four Hilbert Curve Fractal Antenna for electronic warfare applications

This paper investigates the practicality of using a fractal shape to generate a multi-band antenna that can be used for electronic warfare applications. Currently fractal antennas are used in a multitude of applications such as RFID tags, wireless communication devices such as mobile phones and GPS receivers, and filters. The feasibility of extending the operational frequency range of a fractal antenna by increasing the number of iterations is explored. A Hilbert curve is examined up to the 4th stage, and the return loss and realized gain patterns are presented. A modification to the mathematically generated 4th stage is proposed, and is shown to improve the broadside radiation from the antenna.
Methyl fluorosulfonyldifluoroacetate (MFSDA): An Underutilised Reagent for Trifluoromethylation.

The introduction of fluorine groups to pharmaceutical compounds can have a dramatic effect on the lipophilicity and metabolic stability of the molecule in vivo. Around 20 % of drugs contain at least one fluorine atom. The trifluoromethyl group is known to have beneficial effects and can dramatically affect the biological activity when substituted for a methyl group, for example. In any case, the direct and late-stage introduction of a trifluoromethyl group is a powerful transformation in the tool box of the medicinal chemist. The use of methyl fluorosulfonyldifluoroacetate (MFSDA) as a relatively inexpensive reagent for trifluoromethylation was first reported in 1989; however, in our opinion it has been somewhat underutilised. Herein, a comprehensive review of trifluoromethylation using MFSDA is reported, which we hope will further expose readers to this useful reagent.
Baerveldt-350 Implant versus Ahmed Valve for Refractory Glaucoma: A Case-Controlled Comparison

PurposeTo compare the efficacy of intraocular pressure (IOP) control of the Baerveldt-350 implant with tube ligature and the Ahmed valve in patients with refractory glaucoma. Patients and MethodsFour hundred seventy glaucoma drainage device procedures from July 1995 to July 2001 (6 years) were reviewed retrospectively. Thirty-two cases of Baerveldt-350 implantation performed in patients with glaucoma refractory to medical treatment and filtering procedures, without previous drainage device or cyclodestructive procedures, and with a minimum of 1-year follow-up were identified. Thirty-two cases of Ahmed valve implantation were matched case by case with 32 Baerveldt-350 cases for age, race, gender, glaucoma subtype, previous ocular history, preoperative IOP, and surgeon who performed the implantation. The two groups were compared for IOP control, visual outcome, complication rate, and surgical success rate. Surgical success rate was defined as an IOP reduction greater than or equal to 30% and final IOP more than 5 mm Hg and less than 22 mm Hg, without devastating complications. ResultsOver a follow-up period of 1 year, no statistically significant differences were detected between the Baerveldt-350 implant versus Ahmed valve for IOP control (12.1 ± 5.3 mm Hg vs. 13.6 ± 5.6 mm Hg respectively, at a power of 90% to detect a difference of 3.2 mm Hg between the two groups and P = 0.05), surgical success rate (65.6% vs. 65.6% respectively, complete and qualified combined), postoperative hypotony rate (37.5% vs. 34.4% respectively), and visual acuity changes of more than 1 line in Snellen visual acuity (43.3% vs. 29.0% respectively). ConclusionIn a case-controlled comparison, the Baerveldt-350 implant and the Ahmed valve had similar IOP control and surgical outcomes in patients with refractory glaucoma at 1-year follow-up.
Oxygen abundances and chemical evolution in low surface brightness galaxies

We report the oxygen abundances of the H II regions of a sample of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. We provide analytic functions describing McGaugh's calibration of the R 23 method. We use this and the equivalent width (EW) method to determine oxygen abundances, and also make direct estimates in a few cases where the temperature-sensitive [O III] λ4363 line is available. We find LSB galaxies to be metal-poor, consistent with the luminosity-metallicity (L-Z) relation of other galaxies. The large gas mass fractions of these objects provide an interesting test of chemical evolution models. We find no obvious deviation from the closed-box model of galactic chemical evolution. Based on our abundance and gas mass fraction measurements, we infer that LSB galaxies are not fundamentally different from other galaxy types but are perhaps at an early stage of evolution.