Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Integrated Index for the Identification of Focal Electroencephalogram Signals Using Discrete Wavelet Transform and Entropy Measures

The dynamics of brain area influenced by focal epilepsy can be studied using focal and non-focal electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. This paper presents a new method to detect focal and non-focal EEG signals based on an integrated index, termed the focal and non-focal index (FNFI), developed using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and entropy features. The DWT decomposes the EEG signals up to six levels, and various entropy measures are computed from approximate and detail coefficients of sub-band signals. The computed entropy measures are average wavelet, permutation, fuzzy and phase entropies. The proposed FNFI developed using permutation, fuzzy and Shannon wavelet entropies is able to clearly discriminate focal and non-focal EEG signals using a single number. Furthermore, these entropy measures are ranked using different techniques, namely the Bhattacharyya space algorithm, Student’s t-test, the Wilcoxon test, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and entropy. These ranked features are fed to various classifiers, namely k-nearest neighbour (KNN), probabilistic neural network (PNN), fuzzy classifier and least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM), for automated classification of focal and non-focal EEG signals using the minimum number of features. The identification of the focal EEG signals can be helpful to locate the epileptogenic focus.
Estrogen receptor 1 gene (TA)n polymorphism is associated with lone atrial fibrillation in men

Aim To determine the association between the number of thymine-adenine (TA)n dinucleotide repeats in the promoter region of the gene coding for the estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) and the prevalence of lone atrial fibrillation (AF) in men. Methods We conducted a case-control study involving 89 men with lone AF and 166 healthy male controls. The ESR1 genotype was established by polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis. To assess the association of ESR1 genotype with AF, logistic regression models were built with AF as outcome. Results Men with lone AF had significantly greater number of (TA)n repeats of single alleles than controls (mean ± standard deviation, 19.2 ± 4.2 vs 18 ± 4.3, P = 0.010). After adjustment for other factors, a unit-increase in (TA)n repeat number was associated with a significantly greater likelihood of AF (odds ratio 1.069; 95% confidence interval 1.024-1.116, P = 0.002). Conclusions Our results indicate that a greater number of (TA)n repeats in the promoter region of ESR1 is associated with a significantly increased likelihood of lone atrial fibrillation in men.
N-[(Z)-(1-Methyl-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)methylidene]-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-amine

In the title compound, C8H9N5, a Schiff base derived from N-methylpyrrole-2-carbaldehyde and 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole, the C=N double bond linking the two aromatic rings has a Z conformation. The two rings are twisted by 24.20 (5)°. A chain motif results from N—H⋯N hydrogen bonding.
The Multiple Functions of Cysteine-String Protein Analyzed at Drosophila Nerve Terminals

The synaptic vesicle-associated cysteine-string protein (CSP) is important for synaptic transmission. Previous studies revealed multiple defects at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) of csp null-mutant Drosophila, but whether these defects are independent of each other or mechanistically linked through J domain mediated-interactions with heat-shock cognate protein 70 (Hsc70) has not been established. To resolve this issue, we genetically dissected the individual functions of CSP by an in vivo structure/function analysis. Expression of mutant CSP lacking the J domain at csp null-mutant NMJs fully restored normal thermo-tolerance of evoked transmitter release but did not completely restore evoked release at room temperature and failed to reverse the abnormal intraterminal Ca2+ levels. This suggests that J domain-mediated functions are essential for the regulation of intraterminal Ca2+ levels but only partially required for regulating evoked release and not required for protecting evoked release against thermal stress. Hence, CSP can also act as an Hsc70-independent chaperone protecting evoked release from thermal stress. Expression of mutant CSP lacking the L domain restored neurotransmission and partially reversed the abnormal intraterminal Ca2+ levels, suggesting that the L domain is important, although not essential, for the role of CSP in regulating intraterminal Ca2+ levels. We detected no effects of csp mutations on individual presynaptic Ca2+ signals triggered by action potentials, suggesting that presynaptic Ca2+ entry is not primarily impaired. Both the J and L domains were also required for the role of CSP in synaptic growth. Together, these results suggest that CSP has several independent synaptic functions, affecting synaptic growth, evoked release, thermal protection of evoked release, and intraterminal Ca2+ levels at rest and during stimulation.
Fatigue and Sleep Disturbance Related to Perceived Stress in Chinese HIV-Positive Individuals: A Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND Few studies of HIV+ individuals in China have examined the associations between HIV-related stress with sleep disturbance and fatigue, which are common complaints among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). We carried out this study to examine the relationships among perceived stress, sleep disturbance, and fatigue in PLWHA in China. METHODS A mixed methods study design was used during data collection in Shanghai, China, from December 2009 to March 2010. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 HIV+ females. Additionally, cross-sectional audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI) were conducted to collect quantitative data from a convenience sample of 107 HIV+ patients (84% were male) including the following scales: 1) Perceived Stress Scale for PLWHA, 2) General Sleep Disturbance Scale, and 3) Fatigue Scale. RESULTS The major themes that emerged from the in-depth interviews were around life stress with HIV, sleep disturbance, and fatigue. Participants presented varying amounts of stress around worrying about whether to disclose their diagnosis and whether they might transmit the disease to their family. In addition, in the cross-sectional data, 40% of the participants reported clinically significant sleep disturbances (GSDS > 3) with an average of 3 nights of disturbed sleep in the past week (M=2.87, SD=1.21) and moderate fatigue severity (M=5.24, SD=2.27). In mediation analyses, the data suggests that the relationship between perceived stress and fatigue was largely (53%) mediated through sleep disturbance. CONCLUSIONS Chinese PLWHA described how stress had caused them to become sleepless and fatigued. The quantitative data also demonstrated significant levels of sleep disturbance and fatigue, where were due to perceived stress with HIV disease. A systematic self-management intervention to decrease perceived stress should be designed and implemented in mental health resource-limited settings such as China in order to reduce sleep disturbance and fatigue.
Toward a Pluralistic Civic Science?: Assessing Community Forestry

While stakeholder involvement in environmental management is now common, we suggest that stakeholders can contribute to a pluralistic civic science that incorporates local knowledge directly into environmental decision making and research. We consider how insights from feminist scholarship might help us to understand the influence of power relations among our subjects of study and in determining how scientific knowledge is defined and used. We pay particular attention to how knowledge is produced, how participation is constrained, and to what extent community participants and researchers would benefit from critical reflection in their work. We apply these elements to an assessment of a community forestry pilot project in Burns Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Our findings suggest that while local participants have considered community forestry effective, practices have not met the ideals of a pluralistic civic science. We identify some of the reasons for this discrepancy and provide suggestions for future practice.
Defining Sickle Cell Disease Mortality Using a Population-Based Surveillance System, 2004 through 2008

Objective. Population-based surveillance data from California and Georgia for years 2004 through 2008 were linked to state death record files to determine the all-cause death rate among 12,143 patients identified with sickle cell disease (SCD). Methods. All-cause death rates, by age, among these SCD patients were compared with all-cause death rates among both African Americans and the total population in the two states. All-cause death rates were also compared with death rates for SCD derived from publicly available death records: the compressed mortality files and multiple cause of death files. Results. Of 12,143 patients identified with SCD, 615 patients died. The all-cause mortality rate for the SCD population was lower than the all-cause mortality rate among African Americans and similar to the total population all-cause mortality rates from birth through age 4 years, but the rate was higher among those with SCD than both the African American and total population rates from ages 5 through 74 years. The count of deceased patients identified by using population-based surveillance data (n=5615) was more than twice as high as the count identified in compressed mortality files using SCD as the underlying cause of death alone (n=5297). Conclusion. Accurate assessment of all-cause mortality and age at death requires long-term surveillance via population-based registries of patients with accurately diagnosed SCD.
‘But We Were Thousands’: Dispossession, Resistance, Repossession and Repression in Mandela Park

This article seeks to give an outline of the key events in the unfolding struggle in Mandela Park, Cape Town, South Africa, against evictions and disconnections from water and electricity. It also seeks to situate this sketch of the emergence and trajectory of these struggles in a broader narrative about the Post-Apartheid State’s turn to neo-liberalism. We argue that, in certain instances, the increased political legitimacy of the State, consequent to the elite transition from apartheid to neo-liberalism, has enabled it to step-up attacks on the poor. Furthermore, we also argue that some of the new movements that have emerged to oppose neo-liberalism mark a new stage in the South African struggles: against the elitism of the ANC tradition, they believe that, in Fanon’s famous phrase, ‘the only magic hands are the hands of the people’. However we caution that, largely as a result of the strains and difficulties of organizing under growing state repression, there is a danger that new forms of authoritarianism could emerge and pose a serious risk to the growth and development of the rebellion begun by these new movements.
Eﬄux pump-mediated drug resistance in Burkholderia

Several members of the genus Burkholderia are prominent pathogens. Infections caused by these bacteria are difficult to treat because of significant antibiotic resistance. Virtually all Burkholderia species are also resistant to polymyxin, prohibiting use of drugs like colistin that are available for treatment of infections caused by most other drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Despite clinical significance and antibiotic resistance of Burkholderia species, characterization of eﬄux pumps lags behind other non-enteric Gram-negative pathogens such as Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Although eﬄux pumps have been described in several Burkholderia species, they have been best studied in Burkholderia cenocepacia and B. pseudomallei. As in other non-enteric Gram-negatives, eﬄux pumps of the resistance nodulation cell division (RND) family are the clinically most significant eﬄux systems in these two species. Several eﬄux pumps were described in B. cenocepacia, which when expressed confer resistance to clinically significant antibiotics, including aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, fluoroquinolones, and tetracyclines. Three RND pumps have been characterized in B. pseudomallei, two of which confer either intrinsic or acquired resistance to aminoglycosides, macrolides, chloramphenicol, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, trimethoprim, and in some instances trimethoprim+sulfamethoxazole. Several strains of the host-adapted B. mallei, a clone of B. pseudomallei, lack AmrAB-OprA, and are therefore aminoglycoside and macrolide susceptible. B. thailandensis is closely related to B. pseudomallei, but non-pathogenic to humans. Its pump repertoire and ensuing drug resistance profile parallels that of B. pseudomallei. An eﬄux pump in B. vietnamiensis plays a significant role in acquired aminoglycoside resistance. Summarily, eﬄux pumps are significant players in Burkholderia drug resistance.
Efficient tree-like structures modeling based on subdivision surfaces

We present a novel approach for efficiently representing tree-like shapes with quad-only meshes. After extracting the line skeleton from the input mesh, we create a bounding polyhedron along the skeleton. Then, the polyhedron is used as the control mesh to perform the Catmull-Clark subdivision. By reversely calculating the vertices of the control mesh, the limit surface is guaranteed to fit the input mesh as tight as possible. High performance is achieved by utilizing the parallel subdivision scheme on GPU. Our approach provides a compact representation for modelling tree branches, animal torsos, and vasculatures.
Improving facial recognition accuracy by applying liveness monitoring technique

In a typical transmission control protocol and Internet protocol (TCP/IP) suite, there are several ways, such as using photograph, three-dimensional (3D) model, and video clip of a valid user to mock the facial recognition. Studies show that there has been significant improvement in detecting photograph and 3D model spoofing. However, there is no such improvement in detecting video spoofing. Recent studies suggest that liveness monitoring using the facial features has potential to improve security, especially in biometric systems. In this paper, a liveness monitoring technique is introduced to assist facial recognition. In the proposed system, an eye blinking pattern is used through a real-time generic web-camera. An eye blinking password system using ultrasonic range sensing module is developed for liveness detection of the users. The system is tested by conducting experiments using 15 valid users and 100 different user appearances. According to the experimental results, the proposed system achieves 99% face recognition accuracy and 99% liveliness detection performance.
Citances: Citation Sentences for Semantic Analysis of Bioscience Text

We propose the use of the text of the sentences surrounding citations as an important tool for semantic interpretation of bioscience text. We hypothesize several diﬀerent uses of citation sentences (which we call citances), including the creation of training and testing data for semantic analysis (especially for entity and relation recognition), synonym set creation, database curation, document summarization, and information retrieval generally. We illustrate some of these ideas, showing that citations to one document in particular align well with what a hand-built curator extracted. We also show preliminary results on the problem of normalizing the diﬀerent ways that the same concepts are expressed within a set of citances, using and improving on existing techniques in automatic paraphrase generation.
Changes in U.S. Wages, 1976–2000: Ongoing Skill Bias or Major Technological Change?

This article examines the determinants of changes in the U.S. wage structure from 1976 to 2000. Our main empirical observation is that changes in both the level of wages and the returns to skill over this period were primarily driven by changes in the ratio of human capital to physical capital. We show that this pattern conforms extremely well to a simple model of technological adoption following a major change in technological opportunities. In contrast, we do not find much empirical support for the view that ongoing (factor‐augmenting) skill‐biased technological progress has been an important driving force over this period.
Identity Continuity in the Face of Biographical Disruption: ‘It's the same me’

In Australia, 20% of stroke survivors are aged less than 55 years. These younger survivors value age-appropriate, identity-affirming goals, such as resuming employment. This article reports on a small qualitative research project that explored the experiences of young, higher functioning stroke survivors in re-establishing identity and returning to work. The participants understood identity as both an inner sense of self and as socially and discursively constructed. The research found that the participants actively pursued identity continuity while managing biographical disruption. Resumption of life roles and responsibilities were important for identity re-establishment, but fraught, particularly the return to work. The findings suggest that psychosocial rehabilitation could play a greater role in supporting survivors’ resumption of valued life roles, including return to work.
The ageing lens and cataract: a model of normal and pathological ageing

Cataract is a visible opacity in the lens substance, which, when located on the visual axis, leads to visual loss. Age-related cataract is a cause of blindness on a global scale involving genetic and environmental influences. With ageing, lens proteins undergo non-enzymatic, post-translational modification and the accumulation of fluorescent chromophores, increasing susceptibility to oxidation and cross-linking and increased light-scatter. Because the human lens grows throughout life, the lens core is exposed for a longer period to such influences and the risk of oxidative damage increases in the fourth decade when a barrier to the transport of glutathione forms around the lens nucleus. Consequently, as the lens ages, its transparency falls and the nucleus becomes more rigid, resisting the change in shape necessary for accommodation. This is the basis of presbyopia. In some individuals, the steady accumulation of chromophores and complex, insoluble crystallin aggregates in the lens nucleus leads to the formation of a brown nuclear cataract. The process is homogeneous and the affected lens fibres retain their gross morphology. Cortical opacities are due to changes in membrane permeability and enzyme function and shear-stress damage to lens fibres with continued accommodative effort. Unlike nuclear cataract, progression is intermittent, stepwise and non-uniform.
Anatomical Basis for Surgical Approaches to the Hip

The hip joint is one of the most surgically exposed joints in the body. The indications for surgical exposure are numerous ranging from simple procedures such as arthrotomy for joint drainage in infection to complex procedures like revised total hip replacement. Tissue dissections based on sound knowledge of anatomic orientations is essential for best surgical outcomes. In this review, the anatomical basis for the various approaches to the hip is presented. Systematic review of the literature was done by using PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, OVID, and Google databases. Out of the initial 150 articles selected from the the review and selection criteria, only 37 that suited the study were eventually used. Selected articles included case reports, clinical trials, review and research reports. Each of these approaches has various modifications that seek to correct certain difficulties or problems encountered with previous descriptions. An ideal approach for a procedure should be safe and provide satisfactory exposure of the joint. It should avoid bone and soft tissue damage as well as avoid unnecessary devascularization. Among the factors that determine the choice of surgical approach to the hip are the indication for the procedure; the influence of previous surgical incisions as well as the personal preferences and training of the operating surgeon.
Assessing duplication and loss of APETALA1/FRUITFULL homologs in Ranunculales

Gene duplication and loss provide raw material for evolutionary change within organismal lineages as functional diversification of gene copies provide a mechanism for phenotypic variation. Here we focus on the APETALA1/FRUITFULL MADS-box gene lineage evolution. AP1/FUL genes are angiosperm-specific and have undergone several duplications. By far the most significant one is the core-eudicot duplication resulting in the euAP1 and euFUL clades. Functional characterization of several euAP1 and euFUL genes has shown that both function in proper floral meristem identity, and axillary meristem repression. Independently, euAP1 genes function in floral meristem and sepal identity, whereas euFUL genes control phase transition, cauline leaf growth, compound leaf morphogenesis and fruit development. Significant functional variation has been detected in the function of pre-duplication basal-eudicot FUL-like genes, but the underlying mechanisms for change have not been identified. FUL-like genes in the Papaveraceae encode all functions reported for euAP1 and euFUL genes, whereas FUL-like genes in Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae) function in inflorescence development and leaf complexity, but not in flower or fruit development. Here we isolated FUL-like genes across the Ranunculales and used phylogenetic approaches to analyze their evolutionary history. We identified an early duplication resulting in the RanFL1 and RanFL2 clades. RanFL1 genes were present in all the families sampled and are mostly under strong negative selection in the MADS, I and K domains. RanFL2 genes were only identified from Eupteleaceae, Papaveraceae s.l. , Menispermaceae and Ranunculaceae and show relaxed purifying selection at the I and K domains. We discuss how asymmetric sequence diversification, new motifs, differences in codon substitutions and likely protein-protein interactions resulting from this Ranunculiid-specific duplication can help explain the functional differences among basal-eudicot FUL-like genes.
T Cell-Tumor Interaction Directs the Development of Immunotherapies in Head and Neck Cancer

The competent immune system controls disease effectively due to induction, function, and regulation of effector lymphocytes. Immunosurveillance is exerted mostly by cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) while specific immune suppression is associated with tumor malignancy and progression. In squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, the presence, activity, but also suppression of tumor-specific CTL have been demonstrated. Functional CTL may exert a selection pressure on the tumor cells that consecutively escape by a combination of molecular and cellular evasion mechanisms. Certain of these mechanisms target antitumor effector cells directly or indirectly by affecting cells that regulate CTL function. This results in the dysfunction or apoptosis of lymphocytes and dysregulated lymphocyte homeostasis. Another important tumor-escape mechanism is to avoid recognition by dysregulation of antigen processing and presentation. Thus, both induction of functional CTL and susceptibility of the tumor and its microenvironment to become T cell targets should be considered in CTL-based immunotherapy.
A Survey of Procedural Methods for Terrain Modelling

Procedural methods are a promising but underused alternative to manual content creation. Commonly heard drawbacks are the randomness of and the lack of control over the output and the absence of integrated solutions, although more recent publications increasingly address these issues. This paper surveys procedural methods applied to terrain modelling, evalating realism of their output, performance and control users can exert over the procedure