Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactions between Medial Temporal Lobe, Prefrontal Cortex, and Inferior Temporal Regions during Visual Working Memory: A Combined Intracranial EEG and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

It is a fundamental question whether the medial temporal lobe (MTL) supports only long-term memory encoding, or contributes to working memory (WM) processes as well. Recent data suggest that the MTL is activated whenever multiple items or item features are being maintained in WM. This may rely on interactions between the MTL or the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and content-specific areas in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex. Here, we investigated the neural mechanism through which the MTL, PFC, and IT cortex interact during WM maintenance. First, we quantified phase synchronization of intracranial EEG data in epilepsy patients with electrodes in both regions. Second, we used directional coupling analysis to study whether oscillatory activity in the IT cortex drives the MTL or vice versa. Finally, we investigated functional connectivity in functional magnetic resonance imaging data of healthy subjects with seeds in the MTL and PFC. With increasing load, EEG phase synchronization between the IT cortex and anterior parahippocampal gyrus and within the MTL increased. Coupling was bidirectional in all load conditions, but changed toward an increased top-down (anterior parahippocampal gyrus → IT) coupling in the high gamma range (51–75 Hz) with increasing load. Functional connectivity between the MTL seed and the visual association cortex increased with load, but activity within the MTL and the PFC correlated with fewer voxels, suggesting that more specific neural networks were engaged. These data indicate that WM for multiple items depends on an increased strength of top-down control of activity within the IT cortex by the MTL.
Bargaining one-dimensional policies and the efficiency of super majority rules

We consider negotiations selecting one-dimensional policies. Individuals have single-peaked preferences, and they are impatient. Decisions arise from a bargaining game with random proposers and (super) majority approval, ranging from the simple majority up to unanimity. The existence and uniqueness of stationary subgame perfect equilibrium is established, and its explicit characterization provided. We supply an explicit formula to determine the unique alternative that prevails, as impatience vanishes, for each majority. As an application, we examine the efficiency of majority rules. For symmetric distributions of peaks unanimity is the unanimously preferred majority rule. For asymmetric populations rules maximizing social surplus are characterized.
Reduction of Facet Reflectivity of Quantum-Cascade Lasers With Subwavelength Gratings

We demonstrate the reduction of the facet reflectivity of quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) by using subwavelength gratings. The gratings were fabricated on lambda=4.9- and 9.8-mum QCLs using focused ion beam milling. Reflectivities as low as 1%-3% for the 4.9-mum QCL and as low as 4%-8% for the 9.8-mum QCL are reported
Role of core and bridging groups in the transmission dynamics of HIV and STIs in Cotonou, Benin, West Africa

The potential for exposure of low and high risk women to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) through unprotected sex with male clients of female sex workers in Cotonou could account for most if not all of the estimated yearly numbers of HIV infections in Cotonou women (∼1000). As ongoing transmission of HIV, and also of the most predominant STIs such as gonorrhoea and HSV-2, appears to be largely fuelled by transmission within core and bridging groups in Cotonou, interventions targeted at both female sex workers and their male clients remain of the utmost importance and could have a significant effect on the evolution of HIV/STI epidemics in Benin.
Jamming-Aided Secure Communication in Massive MIMO Rician Channels

In this paper, we investigate the artificial noise-aided jamming design for a transmitter equipped with large antenna array in Rician fading channels. We figure out that when the number of transmit antennas tends to infinity, whether the secrecy outage happens in a Rician channel depends on the geometric locations of eavesdroppers. In this light, we first define and analytically describe the secrecy outage region (SOR), indicating all possible locations of an eavesdropper that can cause secrecy outage. After that, the secrecy outage probability (SOP) is derived, and a jamming-beneficial range, i.e., the distance range of eavesdroppers which enables uniform jamming to reduce the SOP, is determined. Then, the optimal power allocation between messages and artificial noise is investigated for different scenarios. Furthermore, to use the jamming power more efficiently and further reduce the SOP, we propose directional jamming that generates jamming signals at selected beams (mapped to physical angles) only, and power allocation algorithms are proposed for the cases with and without the information of the suspicious area, i.e., possible locations of eavesdroppers. We further extend the discussions to multiuser and multi-cell scenarios. At last, numerical results validate our conclusions and show the effectiveness of our proposed jamming power allocation schemes.
Sonic Hedgehog Is Essential for First Pharyngeal Arch Development

The secreted protein sonic hedgehog (Shh) is essential for normal development of many organs. Targeted disruption of Shh in mouse leads to near complete absence of craniofacial skeletal elements at birth, and mutation of SHH in human causes holoprosencephaly (HPE), frequently associated with defects of derivatives of pharyngeal arches. To investigate the role of Shh signaling in early pharyngeal arch development, we analyzed Shh mutant embryos using molecular markers and found that the first pharyngeal arch (PA1) was specifically hypoplastic and fused in the midline, and remaining arches were well formed at embryonic day (E) 9.5. Molecular analyses using specific markers suggested that the growth of the maxillary arch and proximal mandibular arch was severely defective in Shh-null PA1, whereas the distal mandibular arch was less affected. TUNEL assay revealed an increase in the number of apoptotic signals in PA1 of Shh mutant embryos. Ectodermal expression of fibroblast growth factor (Fgf)-8, a cell survival factor for pharyngeal arch mesenchyme, was down-regulated in the PA1 of Shh mutants. Consistent with this observation, downstream transcriptional targets of Fgf8 signaling in neural crest–derived mesenchyme, including Barx1, goosecoid, and Dlx2, were also down-regulated in Shh-null PA1. These results demonstrate that epithelial-mesenchymal signaling and transcriptional events coordinated by Shh, partly via Fgf8, is essential for cell survival and tissue outgrowth of the developing PA1.
Significant Correlation between Chromosomal Aberration and Nuclear Morphology in Urothelial Carcinoma

We aimed to identify whether there is any correlation between chromosomal/genetic changes, nuclear morphology and the histological grade of urothelial carcinomas of the urinary bladder. Morphometry and multicolour fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) techniques were applied to 250 cells in five low-grade cases and 350 cells in seven high-grade cases of urothelial carcinoma. Compared with low-grade carcinomas, most high-grade cases showed larger and more variable nuclear size, more frequent polysomy of centromere enumeration probes (CEPs) 3, 7 and 17, and the loss of the 9p21 locus. The number of CEP signals in cells was increased as the nuclear area of the cells became larger. Cells with gains in two or more types of CEP had significantly larger nuclei than cells with normal FISH signal patterns. In conclusion, the present study indicates that there was a correlation between nuclear morphology and chromosomal/genetic changes which were related to histological grading. Thus, we show that differences in the chromosomal/genetic aberrations present in low- and high-grade tumours can affect not only nuclear morphology but also the histopathological and clinical behaviour of urothelial carcinomas.
Seroprevalence of Babesia Infections in Humans Exposed to Ticks in Midwestern Germany

ABSTRACT Babesiosis is considered to be an emerging tick-borne disease in humans worldwide. However, most studies on the epidemiology of human babesiosis to date have been carried out in North America, and there is little knowledge on the prevalence of infection and frequency of disease in other areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Babesia infections in a human population in Germany. A total of 467 sera collected between May and October 1999 from individuals living in the Rhein-Main area were tested for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies to antigens of Babesia microti and Babesia divergens by indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) tests. These sera were derived from 84 Lyme borreliosis patients suffering from erythema migrans, 60 asymptomatic individuals with positive borreliosis serology, and 81 individuals with a history of tick bite. Cutoff values for discrimination between seronegative and seropositive results in the IFA tests were determined using sera from 120 healthy blood donors and 122 patients suffering from conditions other than tick-borne diseases (malaria, n = 40; toxoplasmosis, n = 22; syphilis, n = 20; Epstein-Barr virus infection, n = 20; and presence of antinuclear antibodies, n = 20). The overall specificities of the IFA tests for B. microti and B. divergens were estimated to be ≥97.5%. Positive IgG reactivity against B. microti antigen (titer, ≥1:64) or B. divergens antigen (titer, ≥1:128) was detected significantly more often (P < 0.05) in the group of patients exposed to ticks (26 of 225 individuals; 11.5%) than in the group of healthy blood donors (2 of 120 individuals; 1.7%). IgG antibody titers of ≥1:256 against at least one of the babesial antigens were found significantly more often (P < 0.05) in patients exposed to ticks (9 of 225) than in the control groups (1 of 242). In the human population investigated here, the overall seroprevalences for B. microti and B. divergens were 5.4% (25 of 467) and 3.6% (17 of 467), respectively. The results obtained here provide evidence for concurrent infections with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia species in humans exposed to ticks in midwestern Germany. They also suggest that infections with Babesia species in the German human population are more frequent than believed previously and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of febrile illness occurring after exposure to ticks or blood transfusions, in particular in immunocompromised patients.
Overlapping Stents for Treatment of a Dissecting Carotid Artery Aneurysm

Purpose: To report the increased efficacy of oversized, overlapping stents to treat an internal carotid artery (ICA) dissecting aneurysm. Case Report: A 55-year-old woman presented with reduced consciousness, aphasia, and right-sided hemiplegia owing to an infarction of the left middle cerebral artery territory documented by computed tomography. Digital subtraction angiography disclosed an extracranial dissection of the left ICA with a pseudoaneurysm. Two self-expanding Wallstents were placed, bridging the dissected segment and overlapping at the level of the aneurysm neck. Immediate arteriography showed remarkably reduced filling of the pseudoaneurysm. Serial arteriograms performed 6 days and 9 and 20 months after stenting documented the disappearance of the pseudoaneurysm without appreciable intimal hyperplasia of the vessel wall. Conclusions: Reducing stent porosity by overlapping the devices causes significant hemodynamic changes inside the aneurysm sac, accelerating intra-aneurysmal thrombosis.
Ensuring global standards for medical graduates: a pilot study of international standard-setting

Increasing physician and patient mobility has led to a move toward internationalization of standards for physician competence. The Institute for International Medical Education proposed a set of outcome-based standards for student performance, which were then measured using three assessment tools in eight leading schools in China: a 150-item multiple-choice examination, a 15-station OSCE and a 16-item faculty observation form. The purpose of this study was to empanel a group of experts to determine whether international student-level performance standards could be set. The IIME convened an international panel of experts in student education with specialty and geographic diversity. The group was split into two, with each sub-group establishing standards independently. After a discussion of the borderline student, the sub-groups established minimally acceptable cut-off scores for performance on the multiple-choice examination (Angoff and Hofstee methods), the OSCE station and global rating performance (modified Angoff method and holistic criterion reference), and faculty observation domains (holistic criterion reference). Panelists within each group set very similar standards for performance. In addition, the two independent parallel panels generated nearly identical performance standards. Cut-off scores changed little before and after being shown pilot data but standard deviations diminished. International experts agreed on a minimum set of competences for medical student performance. In addition, they were able to set consistent performance standards with multiple examination types. This provides an initial basis against which to compare physician performance internationally.
A 54–84 GHz CMOS SPST switch with 35 dB isolation

This paper presents a hybrid design based, CMOS millimeter-wave (mm-wave) single-polar single-throw (SPST) switch. The circuit design starts from the analysis and optimization of a distributed structure, while implemented using coupled lump elements for performance improvement and area-efficient layout. Moreover, a specific bias scheme is used to further decrease insertion loss by more than 0.5 dB. This SPST switch achieves higher than 35 dB isolation over an ultra-wide frequency range, from 54 GHz to 84 GHz, a minimum 1.7 dB insertion loss, and <;-10 dB return loss with 0.012 mm2 chip area in 65 nm CMOS. This design achieves more than 10 dB enhancement of isolation by comparing with state-of-the-arts while maintaining similar insertion loss.
Technical Report: A Toolkit for Runtime Detection of Userspace Implants

This paper presents the Userspace Integrity Measurement Toolkit (USIM Toolkit), a set of integrity measurement collection tools capable of detecting advanced malware threats, such as memory-only implants, that evade many traditional detection tools. Userspace integrity measurement validates that a platform is free from subversion by validating that the current state of the platform is consistent with a set of invariants. The invariants enforced by the USIM Toolkit are carefully chosen based on the expected behavior of userspace, and key behaviors of advanced malware. Userspace integrity measurement may be combined with existing filesystem and kernel integrity measurement approaches to provide stronger guarantees that a platform is executing the expected software and that the software is in an expected state.
Quantitative Determination of K‐ras Mutations in Pancreatic Juice for Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer Using Hybridization Protection Assay

K-ras mutations at codon 12 (KRM) have been detected in ∼80% of samples of pure pancreatic juice (PPJ) from patients with pancreatic cancer (PCa) and are a promising potential tumor marker. However, the frequent presence of KRM was reported in PPJ from noncancerous patients as determined by a highly sensitive method, raising questions as to the cancer specificity of this marker. Therefore we evaluated whether the hybridization protection assay (HPA), which can quantitatively determine KRM in PPJ, is useful for the diagnosis of PCa, differentiating from chronic pancreatitis (CP). PPJ was collected endoscopically from 29 patients with PCa, 26 patients with CP, and the 11 cases as the control group. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and HPA using an acridinium ester-labeled DNA probe for KRM were performed with DNA extracted from these samples. The results were compared with those obtained by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The mean + 2 SD of chemiluminescence in the control group was 11,020 RLUs. When 11,020 RLUs was taken as the cut-off value, KRM was detected by PCR-HPA in 19 (66%) of 29 of PCa and one (4%) of 26 of CP cases. Analysis of PPJ by PCR-RFLP demonstrated KRM in 22 (79%) of 28 of PCa and five (19%) of 26 of CP cases. However, four of five patients with CP who were KRM-positive by PCR-RFLP were defined as negative by PCR-HPA, suggesting that PCR-HPA is superior to PCR-RFLP for the discrimination between PCa and CP. These findings indicate that quantitative analysis of KRM in PPJ using the PCR-HPA method is a promising approach for the diagnosis of PCa, differentiating from CP with a suitable cut-off value, as in the case with the use of conventional serum tumor marker.
Operating systems for reconfigurable embedded platforms: online scheduling of real-time tasks

Today's reconfigurable hardware devices have huge densities and are partially reconfigurable, allowing for the configuration and execution of hardware tasks in a true multitasking manner. This makes reconfigurable platforms an ideal target for many modern embedded systems that combine high computation demands with dynamic task sets. A rather new line of research is engaged in the construction of operating systems for reconfigurable embedded platforms. Such an operating system provides a minimal programming model and a runtime system. The runtime system performs online task and resource management. In this paper, we first discuss design issues for reconfigurable hardware operating systems. Then, we focus on a runtime system for guarantee-based scheduling of hard real-time tasks. We formulate the scheduling problem for the 1D and 2D resource models and present two heuristics, the horizon and the stuffing technique, to tackle it. Simulation experiments conducted with synthetic workloads evaluate the performance and the runtime efficiency of the proposed schedulers. The scheduling performance for the 1D resource model is strongly dependent on the aspect ratios of the tasks. Compared to the 1D model, the 2D resource model is clearly superior. Finally, the runtime overhead of the scheduling algorithms is shown to be acceptably low.
Alendronate-eluting polyglucose-lignol composite ( POGLICO ) : A new biomaterial for fracture fixating implants

Open Access-This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the source is credited. Background and purpose — Due to the known drawbacks of metal implants, new biomaterials for internal fracture fixation are attracting increasing interest, among them poly(lactic-co-glucolic) acids (PLGAs) and the recently developed silk-tenoin derived materials (STDMs). In accordance with the new philosophy of bio-derived biomaterials (BIODERIBIOs), I describe a novel innovative technology for use in fracture fixation. Patients and methods — Screws (2 mm dia.) were manufactured from cylindrical bars of polyglucose-lignol composite (POGLICO) in the form of birch toothpicks from the hospital canteen, dip-coated with alendronate (1 mg/mL, n = 6) or saline (n = 6), and inserted in the proximal tibias of rats for 4 weeks. Fixa-tion was evaluated by mechanical pullout testing. POGLICO nails were inserted in the contralateral tibia for microCT and histology. Results — All POGLICO implants remained fixed in the bone (p < 0.001) with a mean pullout force of 37 (SD 5.5) N. MicroCT showed that the control nails were surrounded by a thin layer of new bone, while all bisphosphonate-treated implants were surrounded by a thick layer of cancellous bone. Bisphosphonates more than doubled the bone density around the nails (p = 0.004). Interpretation — POGLICO is biocompatible, remains in situ, and appears to provide a higher resistance to pullout forces than bulk silk protein. The material is light, strong, and bio-derived. BIODERIBIO-POGLICO can be sterilized by autoclaving, and has a porous surface that can serve for slow release of drugs applied by simple dip-coating, as demonstrated by the effect of the alendronate treatment. As the raw material for the screws is readily available from the toothpick industry, I believe that the possibilities for commercial development of the material for fracture fixation are promising.
Painful osteoporotic vertebral fracture. Pathogenesis, evaluation, and roles of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty in its management.

• Osteoporotic vertebral fractures may be a sentinel sign of failing health in elderly patients and are likely to become an increasing health-care concern as the population continues to age. • A reduction in the number, thickness, and interconnectivity of vertebral trabeculae in combination with altered load transmission across the degenerated disc predisposes a vertebral body to fracture from minor trauma. • The clinical course of these fractures is variable; some patients are asymptomatic, many respond to medications and activity modification, and a small subset have debilitating symptoms. • Good short-term results have been reported following both vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for the treatment of osteoporotic and metastatic vertebral fractures. The long-term consequences of polymethylmethacrylate injection into the vertebral body are unclear, and discretion must be exercised in the use of these procedures. • Vertebral body height can be partially restored in some of these fractures by extension positioning of the patient on the table or by inflation of the vertebral body with a bone balloon. Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures are a frequently encountered clinical problem, and they are becoming more important as the median age of the population continues to increase. Notwithstanding the potentially devastating consequences, many of these fractures are initially asymptomatic and appear to cause little morbidity other than decreased height and a more forward stooped posture. Only 23% 1 to 33% 2 of these fractures become clinically evident. When such a fracture does cause pain, the patient usually can be managed successfully with a combination of medications, activity modification, and occasionally bracing. Managing a patient who does not respond to this initial treatment regimen is challenging. The risks of anesthesia and the poor quality of bone in this elderly group make operative intervention such as fusion and application of instrumentation less attractive. Internal splinting of the vertebral …
Does full-duplex double the capacity of wireless networks?

Full-duplex has emerged as a new communication paradigm and is anticipated to double wireless capacity. Existing studies of full-duplex mainly focused on its PHY layer design, which enables bidirectional transmission between a single pair of nodes. In this paper, we establish an analytical framework to quantify the network-level capacity gain of full-duplex over half-duplex. Our analysis reveals that inter-link interference and spatial reuse substantially reduces full-duplex gain, rendering it well below 2 in common cases. More remarkably, the asymptotic gain approaches 1 when interference range approaches transmission range. Through a comparison between optimal half- and full-duplex MAC algorithms, we find that full-duplex's gain is further reduced when it is applied to CSMA based wireless networks. Our analysis provides important guidelines for designing full-duplex networks. In particular, network-level mechanisms such as spatial reuse and asynchronous contention must be carefully addressed in full-duplex based protocols, in order to translate full-duplex's PHY layer capacity gain into network throughput improvement.