Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Mutant Ataxin-3 Putative-Cleavage Fragment in Brains of Machado-Joseph Disease Patients and Transgenic Mice Is Cytotoxic above a Critical Concentration

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by ataxin-3 with a polyglutamine expansion. It is proposed that a toxic cleavage fragment of mutant ataxin-3 alternatively spliced isoform mjd1a triggers neurodegeneration, although this fragment has not yet been detected in the brains of MJD patients or in animal models. We have now generated transgenic mice expressing human mutant (Q71) or normal (Q20) ataxin-3 mjd1a under the control of the mouse prion promoter. Q71 transgenic mice expressing mutant ataxin-3 mjd1a above a critical level developed a phenotype similar to MJD including progressive postural instability, gait and limb ataxia, weight loss, premature death, neuronal intranuclear inclusions, and decreased tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the substantia nigra (determined by unbiased stereology). Q20 transgenic mice had normal behavior and pathology. Brains from sick Q71 transgenic mice contained an abundant mutant ataxin-3 mjd1a putative-cleavage fragment (Fragment), which was scarce in normal Q71 transgenic mice. Reactivity of the Fragment with a panel of antibodies and comigration with truncations of mutant ataxin-3 revealed that it contained residues C terminal to amino acid 221 to include the polyglutamine expansion. A similar portion of mutant ataxin-3 mjd1a expressed in transfected neuroblastoma cells was toxic above a critical concentration. The Fragment was more abundant in two affected brain regions of MJD patients. Thus, we have developed a murine model for mutant ataxin-3 mjd1a toxicity and identified a putative-cleavage fragment of the disease protein in the brains of these transgenic mice and MJD patients that is cytotoxic above a critical concentration.
Measuring Myelin Repair and Axonal Loss with Diffusion Tensor Imaging

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: DTI is an MR imaging measure of brain tissue integrity and provides an attractive metric for use in neuroprotection clinical trials. The purpose of our study was to use DTI to evaluate the longitudinal changes in brain tissue integrity in a group of patients with MS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients with MS starting natalizumab were imaged serially for 12 months. Gadolinium-enhancing lesions and 20 regions of interest from normal-appearing white and gray matter brain tissue were followed longitudinally. Average values within each region of interest were derived for FA, λ∥, λ⊥, and MD. New T1 black holes were identified at 12 months. Analysis was performed by using mixed-model regression analysis with slope (ie, DTI change per month) as the dependent variable. RESULTS: During 1 year, FA increased in gadolinium-enhancing lesions but decreased in NABT (P < .0001 for both). Changes in FA within gadolinium-enhancing lesions were driven by decreased λ⊥ (P < .001), and within NABT, by decreased λ∥ (P < .0001). A higher λ⊥ within gadolinium-enhancing lesions at baseline predicted conversion to T1 black holes at 12 months. MD was unchanged in both gadolinium-enhancing lesions and NABT. CONCLUSIONS: We observed changes in DTI measures during 1 year in both gadolinium-enhancing lesions and NABT. The DTI results may represent possible remyelination within acute lesions and chronic axonal degeneration in NAWM. These results support the use of DTI as a measure of tissue integrity for studies of neuroprotective therapies.
Real-time wide-area loading margin sensitivity (WALMS) in power systems

Loading margin sensitivity (LMS) has been widely used in applications in the realm of voltage stability assessment and control. Typically, LMS is derived based on system equilibrium equations near bifurcation and therefore requires full detailed system model and significant computation effort. Availability of phasor measurement units (PMUs) due to the recent development of wide-area monitoring system (WAMS) provides an alternative computation-friendly approach for calculating LMS. With such motivation, this work proposes measurement-based wide-area loading margin sensitivity (WALMS) in bulk power systems. The proposed sensitivity, with its simplicity, has great potential to be embedded in real-time applications. Moreover, the calculation of the WALMS is not limited to low voltage near bifurcation point. A case study on IEEE 39-bus system verifies the proposed sensitivity. Finally, a voltage control scenario demonstrates the potential application of the WALMS.
Epidemiological and clinicopathological characteristics of BRCA-positive and BRCA-negative breast cancer patients in Greece.

PURPOSE BRCA mutation carriers can benefit from targeted clinical interventions. On the other hand, families with evident aggregation of breast cancer (BC) cases and a BRCA-negative genetic test can still be considered as of elevated risk, since the underlying genetic factor remains unidentified. In the present study, we compared clinical and demographic characteristics between BRCA1 mutation carriers (BRCA1mut) and non-carriers (non-BRCA1) in a Greek group of BC patients (n=321). METHODS Data were collected and analyzed from 321 women with BC, with 131 patients screened for pathogenic mutations in the high-penetrant genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. Collected data included demographics, pedigrees, tumor histopathology and immunohistochemistry findings. RESULTS In BRCA1mut patients, their mothers and grand- mothers were diagnosed at a younger age compared to non-BRCA1-carriers. Additionally, BRCA1mut patients were diagnosed with mainly estrogen receptor (ER) negative (p<0.001), Her-2 negative (p<0.05) and triple negative (p<0.01) tumors. The youngest generation was diagnosed with familial breast cancer (FBC) 9.7 years earlier than their mothers (p<0.001). Age at BC diagnosis negatively correlated with the nuclear grade of breast tumors (r=-0.3, p<0.05). Among parous individuals, the number of full-term pregnancies significantly correlated with the age at BC onset (r=0.19, p<0.05). CONCLUSION Despite their similarities, FBC cases with identified BRCA1 mutations exhibit a clearly distinct profile. We have identified an anticipation effect in FBC patients, with significantly reduced age at diagnosis in younger generations. Increased parity seems to prevent early BC onset. This is the first study comparing clinical and demographic characteristics of FBC BRCA1mut and non-carriers in a Greek cohort.
Olympic Cities: Regeneration, City Rebranding and Changing Urban Agendas

Winning the right to host the Olympic Games is widely regarded as the most significant prize on offer in the never-ending contest between the world's leading cities for prestige and investment. This essay explores the implications and significance of being an Olympic city. After recognising the Olympics as a mega-event with inherent mega-project tendencies, it provides a chronological survey that shows the changing agendas that host cities have brought to bear on staging the Games. The increasing scale of their ambitions is noted, particularly with respect to urban regeneration and city rebranding, while also recognising the financial and human costs involved. The next part throws light on contemporary practice through a study of the proposals for the Lower Lea Valley in London's East End – the site of the future Olympic Park for the 2012 Summer Games. The conclusion suggests an evolving research agenda, framed particularly around the London 2012 Games and the notion of legacy.
DeCAT 2015 - Workshop on Deep Content Analytics Techniques for Personalized and Intelligent Services

Personal Information Management (PIM) research is challenging primarily due to the inherent nature of PIM. Studies have shown that people often adopt their own schemes when organising their personal collections, possibly because PIM tool-support is still lacking. In this paper we investigate the problem of automatic organisation of personal information into task-clusters by transparently exploiting the user’s behaviour while performing some tasks. We conduct a controlled experiment, with 22 participants, using three different task-execution strategies to gather clean data for our evaluation. We use our PiMx (PIM analytix) framework to analyse this data and understand better the issues associated with this problem. Based on this analysis, we then present the incremental density-based clustering algorithm, iDeTaCt, that is able to transparently generate task-clusters by exploiting document switching and revisitation. We evaluate the algorithm’s performance using the collected datasets. The results obtained are very encouraging and merit further investigation.
AD8302 LF–2.7 GHz RF/IF Gain and Phase Detector

BIAS x3 1.8V AD8302 FEATURES Measures Gain/Loss and Phase up to 2.7 GHz Dual Demodulating Log Amps and Phase Detector Input Range –60 dBm to 0 dBm in a 50 System Accurate Gain Measurement Scaling (30 mV/dB) Typical Nonlinearity < 0.5 dB Accurate Phase Measurement Scaling (10 mV/Degree) Typical Nonlinearity < 1 Degree Measurement/Controller/Level Comparator Modes Operates from Supply Voltages of 2.7 V–5.5 V Stable 1.8 V Reference Voltage Output Small Signal Envelope Bandwidth from DC to 30 MHz
Tip-over prediction for an omnidirectional mobile robot with dynamic supporting polygon

A holonomic omnidirectional mobile robot with active dual-wheel caster assemblies is proposed as a robotic transport vehicle. With concern to the existence of sudden acceleration and other dynamical effects during maneuver, the tip-over instability monitoring is very important to prevent any unexpected injuries and property damage. This work presents the preventive method of the tip-over occurrence by estimating the tipping direction and stability metrics. The dynamical model of the omnidirectional mobile robot is derived to estimate the net force from the supporting reaction force at each wheel which is caused by the inertial and external forces. The direction of tipping and the stability metric is estimated using Force-angle Stability Measure (FASM). The performance of the tip-over prediction for an omnidirectional mobile robot with active dual-wheel assemblies is shown by the conducted simulations.
The contribution of metacognitive beliefs and dysfunctional illness beliefs in predicting health anxiety: An evaluation of the metacognitive versus the cognitive models

Background In the cognitive model dysfunctional beliefs about symptoms and illnesses are pivotal in the conceptualisation of health anxiety. The metacognitive model offers an alternative view in that health anxiety is linked more to beliefs about thinking, that is metacognitive beliefs. This study sets out to test the relative contribution of each type of belief to health anxiety as a rigorous test of each of the respective models. Method In the present study, 377 participants completed measures of neuroticism, health anxiety-related dysfunctional beliefs and metacognitive beliefs. Results Metacognitive beliefs explained a significant and large proportion (49 %) of the variance in health anxiety, when controlling for dysfunctional beliefs and neuroticism. They were found to be the strongest independent predictors of health anxiety. Conclusions Overall, the findings indicate that metacognitive beliefs have a role in predicting health anxiety and may be more important than the symptom-related beliefs emphasised in cognitive models. The clinical implications of these findings are briefly considered.
A Generalized Dynamic Composition Algorithm of Weighted Finite State Transducers for Large Vocabulary Speech Recognition

We propose a generalized dynamic composition algorithm of weighted finite state transducers (WFST), which avoids the creation of noncoaccessible paths, performs weight look-ahead and does not impose any constraints to the topology of the WFSTs. Experimental results on Wall Street Journal (WSJ1) 20k-word trigram task show that at 17% WER (moderately-wide beam width), the decoding time of the proposed approach is about 48% and 65% of the other two dynamic composition approaches. In comparison with static composition, at the same level of 17% WER, we observe a reduction of about 60% in memory requirement, with an increase of about 60% in decoding time due to extra overheads for dynamic composition.
The social context of school playground games: Sex and ethnic differences, and changes over time after entry to junior school

This short term longitudinal study examined activities at recess and peer relations. Interest was in changes over the school year, and the sex and ethnic mix of groups. Data came from systematic observations of 129 pupils (61 boys and 68 girls) aged 7-8 years. Results showed that peer interaction dominated recess. Ball games increased over the year, and chasing games decreased. Aggression was most common during vigorous play and conversation, but not ball games. Cleavage in boys' and girls' play and activity was common but not inevitable. Mixed sex play was not supported by particular game types. Boys’ game networks were larger than those of girls but there were no sex differences in active networks. There was little ethnic group segregation on playgrounds, and games became more integrated with time. Results indicate that playground activities can have a positive role in social relations between different ethnic groups.
Agentification of Individuals: A Multi-Agent Approach to Metaheuristics

Collective computational intelligence is one of the best ways in problem solving and optimisation since it allows putting collective effort together from a verity of computational methods and well harmonise it. Optimisation problems are very well known hard engineering problems, which have been challenged with various approaches since ever. A category of problem solving approaches for optimisation is known as metaheuristics with which particular problem solving frameworks are implemented with domain information and used to attempt problem solving intelligently. Optimisation is naturally an iterative process in which a search algorithm is devised to look for a feasible solution that provides the best benefit with respect to performance criterion. Any global or local search algorithm designed for optimisation starts with an initial solution and iteratively looks for the best solution with the devised search procedure. Among the approaches, heuristic-based search algorithms are classified as individual-based methods and population-based methods. Collective intelligence is achieved with the techniques including population-based problem solving approaches.
Semantic Errors or Statistical Flukes? a Note on Allport's “On Knowing the Meaning of Words We are Unable to Report”

Allport (1977) has claimed that normal subjects who view briefly a multi-word array, which is then pattern-masked, produce semantic errors analogous to those made by subjects with “deep dyslexia”. We claim that the rate at which normal subjects make such errors is consistent with their arising purely by chance.
Identification of Anchor Genes during Kidney Development Defines Ontological Relationships, Molecular Subcompartments and Regulatory Pathways

The development of the mammalian kidney is well conserved from mouse to man. Despite considerable temporal and spatial data on gene expression in mammalian kidney development, primarily in rodent species, there is a paucity of genes whose expression is absolutely specific to a given anatomical compartment and/or developmental stage, defined here as ‘anchor’ genes. We previously generated an atlas of gene expression in the developing mouse kidney using microarray analysis of anatomical compartments collected via laser capture microdissection. Here, this data is further analysed to identify anchor genes via stringent bioinformatic filtering followed by high resolution section in situ hybridisation performed on 200 transcripts selected as specific to one of 11 anatomical compartments within the midgestation mouse kidney. A total of 37 anchor genes were identified across 6 compartments with the early proximal tubule being the compartment richest in anchor genes. Analysis of minimal and evolutionarily conserved promoter regions of this set of 25 anchor genes identified enrichment of transcription factor binding sites for Hnf4a and Hnf1b, RbpJ (Notch signalling), PPARγ:RxRA and COUP-TF family transcription factors. This was reinforced by GO analyses which also identified these anchor genes as targets in processes including epithelial proliferation and proximal tubular function. As well as defining anchor genes, this large scale validation of gene expression identified a further 92 compartment-enriched genes able to subcompartmentalise key processes during murine renal organogenesis spatially or ontologically. This included a cohort of 13 ureteric epithelial genes revealing previously unappreciated compartmentalisation of the collecting duct system and a series of early tubule genes suggesting that segmentation into proximal tubule, loop of Henle and distal tubule does not occur until the onset of glomerular vascularisation. Overall, this study serves to illuminate previously ill-defined stages of patterning and will enable further refinement of the lineage relationships within mammalian kidney development.
Energy efficiency effective design of DC/DC converters for DMPPT PV applications

Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) is one of the most promising solutions to overcome the drawbacks associated to mismatching phenomena in photovoltaic applications. DMPPT is based on the adoption of a dc/dc converter dedicated to each PV module. The design of the power stage of such a converter is a challenging task because of the very high efficiency requirements and of the continuous changes of the operating point during the day. In this paper the guidelines for the design of dc-dc converters for DMPPT applications are presented and discussed.
Fast, Sensitive Discovery of Conserved Genome-Wide Motifs

Regulatory sites that control gene expression are essential to the proper functioning of cells, and identifying them is critical for modeling regulatory networks. We have developed Magma (Multiple Aligner of Genomic Multiple Alignments), a software tool for multiple species, multiple gene motif discovery. Magma identifies putative regulatory sites that are conserved across multiple species and occur near multiple genes throughout a reference genome. Magma takes as input multiple alignments that can include gaps. It uses efficient clustering methods that make it about 70 times faster than PhyloNet, a previous program for this task, with slightly greater sensitivity. We ran Magma on all non-coding DNA conserved between Caenorhabditis elegans and five additional species, about 70 Mbp in total, in <4 h. We obtained 2,309 motifs with lengths of 6-20 bp, each occurring at least 10 times throughout the genome, which collectively covered about 566 kbp of the genomes, approximately 0.8% of the input. Predicted sites occurred in all types of non-coding sequence but were especially enriched in the promoter regions. Comparisons to several experimental datasets show that Magma motifs correspond to a variety of known regulatory motifs.
Intracortical Axonal Projections of Lamina VI Cells of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex in the Rat: A Single-Cell Labeling Study

A sample of 84 neurons in lamina VIa of rat somatosensory cortex (S1) was juxtacellularly labeled with biocytin, and the axons of the neurons were traced. Three classes of cells were identified as corticothalamic, corticocortical, and local circuit neurons. Corticothalamic cells (46%) are small, short pyramids projecting either to the ventral posteromedial nucleus alone or to the posterior group as well. The former are in upper lamina VI, have apical dendrites terminating in layer IV, and have intracortical collaterals ascending to layer IV as a narrow column about the size of a barrel. The latter are in the lower half of lamina VI, have apical dendrites terminating in layer V, and have a more extensive network of collaterals terminating in the upper part of lamina V. Corticothalamic cells do not project to distant cortical targets through branching axons. Corticocortical cells (44%) are small, short pyramids, inverted or modified pyramids, or bipolar spiny neurons. They send collaterals principally to infragranular layers of S1 and branches to the second somatosensory cortex, the motor cortex, or the corpus callosum. Local circuit neurons (10%) are basket cells, concentrated in upper lamina VI, having smooth, beaded dendrites and a rich collateral network densely covered with varicosities in layers V and VI. We conclude that (1) dendritic morphology and axonal arborizations of corticothalamic cells relate to the projection target; (2) many apparently diverse layer VI cells project to other cortical fields; and (3) lamina VI is a network for corticothalamic and corticocortical communication.
Why ‘Work’? Gender and the ‘Total Social Organization of Labour’

Although feminism revitalized the study of work, deconstructionist tendencies may now undermine further theoretical advance. Implicit threats to the very concept of ‘work’ pave the way for conceptual dissolution or, unwittingly, for recuperation by an unreconstructed mainstream. This paper argues for a reconceptualization of ‘work’ which builds on the new insights but avoids essentialist or ahistorical categories. The issue is approached through consideration of the simultaneous embeddedness and structural differentiation which characterize ‘work’ activities and institutions. A reorientation of perspective towards a conception of work as ‘total social organization of labour’ is proposed as a means of moving forward. By focusing on the relational organization of all labour, however and wherever it is undertaken, the concept of work as economic activity is recovered, but no longer restricted by the boundaries separating institutional spheres or the constraints demarcating traditional academic disciplines. While of general applicability, the TSOL is elaborated here in relation to gender and work in the period of mass production.
Nudging and Manipulation

Behavioural economics and social psychology have shown that humans have all sorts of psychological quirks. Policy makers have become enthusiastic about taking advantage of these quirks through what Thaler and Sunstein call ‘nudges’. This article asks: when would nudging be manipulative? The article has six parts: (1) publicity and transparency, which claims that Thaler and Sunstein's own attempt to deal with evil nudges is inadequate; (2) manipulation and autonomy, where the nature and wrongness of manipulation is connected to a conception of autonomy; (3) the perversion of the decision-making process – a piecemeal approach, which sorts nudges into easy and hard cases and assesses attempts to pick out certain methods, such as temptation, as manipulative; (4) the perversion of the decision-making process – general accounts, which shows why we do not have a clear, complete and correct account of what such perversion is; (5) intentions and nudging's escape clause, where it is shown that governments that nudge as Thaler and Sunstein would wish do not manipulate because they do not have the intention to manipulate; and (6) consensual manipulation, where it is claimed that manipulation can, with the right consent, be consistent with autonomy.