Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptation of Saccadic Sequences with and without Remapping

It is relatively easy to adapt visually-guided saccades because the visual vector and the saccade vector match. The retinal error at the saccade landing position is compared to the prediction error, based on target location and efference copy. If these errors do not match, planning processes at the level(s) of the visual and/or motor vector processing are assumed to be inaccurate and the saccadic response is adjusted. In the case of a sequence of two saccades, the final error can be attributed to the last saccade vector or to the entire saccadic displacement. Here, we asked whether and how adaptation can occur in the case of remapped saccades, such as during the classic double-step saccade paradigm, where the visual and motor vectors of the second saccade do not coincide and so the attribution of error is ambiguous. Participants performed saccades sequences to two targets briefly presented prior to first saccade onset. The second saccade target was either briefly re-illuminated (sequential visually-guided task) or not (remapping task) upon first saccade offset. To drive adaptation, the second target was presented at a displaced location (backward or forward jump condition or control—no jump) at the end of the second saccade. Pre- and post-adaptation trials were identical, without the re-appearance of the target after the second saccade. For the 1st saccade endpoints, there was no change as a function of adaptation. For the 2nd saccade, there was a similar increase in gain in the forward jump condition (52% and 61% of target jump) in the two tasks, whereas the gain decrease in the backward condition was much smaller for the remapping task than for the sequential visually-guided task (41% vs. 94%). In other words, the absolute gain change was similar between backward and forward adaptation for remapped saccades. In conclusion, we show that remapped saccades can be adapted, suggesting that the error is attributed to the visuo-motor transformation of the remapped visual vector. The mechanisms by which adaptation takes place for remapped saccades may be similar to those of forward sequential visually-guided saccades, unlike those involved in adaptation for backward sequential visually-guided saccades.
Regulation of signaling events involved in the pathophysiology of neovascular AMD

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex disease in which an individual’s genetic predisposition is affected by aging and environmental stresses, which trigger signaling pathways involving inflammation, oxidation, and/or angiogenesis in the RPE cells and choroidal endothelial cells (CECs), to lead to vision loss from choroidal neovascularization. Antiangiogenic therapies have greatly improved clinical outcomes in the last decade; however, vision improves in less than half of patients treated for neovascular AMD, and treatments remain inadequate for atrophic AMD. Many studies focus on genetic predisposition or the association of outcomes in trials of human neovascular AMD but are unable to evaluate the effects between different cell types involved in AMD and the signaling events that take place to cause pathologic biologic events. This manuscript complements other reviews in that it describes what is known generally in human AMD studies and clinical trials testing methods to inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF inhibitors) and presents pathologic signaling events that develop in two important cell types, the RPE cells and the CECs, when stimulated by stresses or placed into conditions similar to what is currently understood to occur in neovascular AMD. This manuscript complements other reviews by discussing signaling events that are activated by cell–cell or cell–matrix interactions. These considerations are particularly important when considering growth factors, such as VEGF, which are important in physiologic and pathologic processes, or GTPases that are present but active only if GTP bound. In either case, it is essential to understand the role of signaling activation to distinguish what is pathologic from what is physiologic. Particularly important is the essential role of activated Rac1 in CEC transmigration of the RPE monolayer, an important step in blindness associated with neovascular AMD. Other concepts discussed include the importance of feed-forward loops that overwhelm mechanisms that seek to restore homeostasis in cells and the importance of regulating, instead of abolishing, signaling events in a chronic, complex disease, such as neovascular AMD. These concepts are important as we move to the next stages in developing treatments for neovascular AMD. A novel therapeutic strategy that will be discussed is activating an isoform of the GTPase, Rap1, which can regulate downstream signaling and a pathologic feed-forward loop leading to Rac1 activation and migration of CECs.
Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound of Focal Liver Lesions.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of contrast-enhanced ultra-sound (CEUS) in focal liver lesions. CONCLUSION Focal liver lesions are usually detected incidentally during abdominal ultrasound. The injection of microbubble ultrasound contrast agents improves the characterization of focal liver lesions that are indeterminate on conventional ultrasound. The use of CEUS is recommended in official guidelines and suggested as a second diagnostic step after ultrasound detection of indeterminate focal liver lesions to immediately establish the diagnosis, especially for benign liver lesions, such as hemangiomas, avoiding further and more expensive examinations.
Approximate Bayesian Computation and Bayes’ Linear Analysis: Toward High-Dimensional ABC

Bayes’ linear analysis and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) are techniques commonly used in the Bayesian analysis of complex models. In this article, we connect these ideas by demonstrating that regression-adjustment ABC algorithms produce samples for which first- and second-order moment summaries approximate adjusted expectation and variance for a Bayes’ linear analysis. This gives regression-adjustment methods a useful interpretation and role in exploratory analysis in high-dimensional problems. As a result, we propose a new method for combining high-dimensional, regression-adjustment ABC with lower-dimensional approaches (such as using Markov chain Monte Carlo for ABC). This method first obtains a rough estimate of the joint posterior via regression-adjustment ABC, and then estimates each univariate marginal posterior distribution separately in a lower-dimensional analysis. The marginal distributions of the initial estimate are then modified to equal the separately estimated marginals, thereby providing an improved estimate of the joint posterior. We illustrate this method with several examples. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
New Users of Metformin Are at Low Risk of Incident Cancer

OBJECTIVE The antidiabetic properties of metformin are mediated through its ability to activate the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Activation of AMPK can suppress tumor formation and inhibit cell growth in addition to lowering blood glucose levels. We tested the hypothesis that metformin reduces the risk of cancer in people with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In an observational cohort study using record-linkage databases and based in Tayside, Scotland, U.K., we identified people with type 2 diabetes who were new users of metformin in 1994–2003. We also identified a set of diabetic comparators, individually matched to the metformin users by year of diabetes diagnosis, who had never used metformin. In a survival analysis we calculated hazard ratios for diagnosis of cancer, adjusted for baseline characteristics of the two groups using Cox regression. RESULTS Cancer was diagnosed among 7.3% of 4,085 metformin users compared with 11.6% of 4,085 comparators, with median times to cancer of 3.5 and 2.6 years, respectively (P < 0.001). The unadjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) for cancer was 0.46 (0.40–0.53). After adjusting for sex, age, BMI, A1C, deprivation, smoking, and other drug use, there was still a significantly reduced risk of cancer associated with metformin: 0.63 (0.53–0.75). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that metformin use may be associated with a reduced risk of cancer. A randomized trial is needed to assess whether metformin is protective in a population at high risk for cancer.
Low-cost implementation of a self-paced treadmill by using a commercial depth sensor

A self-paced treadmill that can simulate overground walking has the potential to improve the effectiveness of treadmill training for gait rehabilitation. We have implemented a self-paced treadmill without the need for expensive equipment such as a motion capture system and an instrumented treadmill. For this, an inexpensive depth sensor, ASUS XtionTM, substitutes for the motion capture system, and a low-cost commercial treadmill is considered as the platform of the self-paced treadmill. The proposed self-paced treadmill is also convenient because the depth sensor does not require markers placed on user's body. Through pilot tests with two healthy subjects, it is quantitatively and qualitatively verified that the proposed self-paced treadmill achieves similar performance as one which utilizes a commercial motion capture system (VICON) as well as an instrumented treadmill.
Nearest neighbor queries in road networks

With wireless communications and geo-positioning being widely available, it becomes possible to offer new e-services that provide mobile users with information about other mobile objects. This paper concerns active, ordered k-nearest neighbor queries for query and data objects that are moving in road networks. Such queries may be of use in many services.Specifically, we present an easily implementable data model that serves well as a foundation for such queries. We also present the design of a prototype system that implements the queries based on the data model. The algorithm used for the nearest neighbor search in the prototype is presented in detail. In addition, the paper reports on results from experiments with the prototype system.
System partitioning to maximize sleep time

Partitioning of a system to maximize exploitable sleep time for low-power synthesis is discussed. The motivation is to deactivate the memory refresh circuitry, apply power down or disable the clock signals during the inactive periods of operation of circuit elements, and thus minimize the power consumption. Since it is impractical to have a separate set of control signals for each circuit element (otherwise, the control itself would consume a lot of power), it is advisable to partition a circuit based on the activity patterns of its elements so that the partitions can be switched into sleep mode for long periods of time. In this paper, we formulate this partitioning problem and show that it is NP-hard. We present Geo-Part, a geometric partitioning heuristic for this problem. An efficient implementation of Geo-Part using segment tree data structure is discussed. Experimental results are encouraging.
One-sided Sampling for Learning Taxonomic Relations in the Modern Greek Economic Domain

This paper describes the process of learning taxonomic relations automatically from Modern Greek economic corpora. Supervised learning (Decision trees, Support Vector Machines, Meta-learning) is applied to economic term pairs; each pair is represented through a set of statistical, semantic and syntactic features. The resulting set of feature-value vectors presents a high imbalance in the class distribution, due to the large number of term pairs that do not present a direct semantic relation. This problem is addressed using One-sided Sampling, which reduces the number of the majority class instances by removing examples that are noisy, misleading or redundant. The approach makes use of no external resources (merely an economic corpus that is annotated with elementary morphological and phrase chunking information) and limited language-dependent elements to facilitate its portability to other languages and domains. An overall f-measure of 71 % is achieved.
MOBILE ROBOT LOCALIZATION VIA EFFICIENT CALIBRATION TECHNIQUE OF A FIXED REMOTE CAMERA

Tactical mobility systems have gained focus and interest in several areas including: homeland security, battlefield intelligence, space missions, surveillance systems, etc. Tactical systems work in a very sophisticated environment, and usually they need accuracy and consistency to achieve robust situational awareness. One important aspect of situation awareness is reliable localization of object of interest. This paper describes the design and implementation of an indoor mobile robot localization system using Machine Vision methods, namely, Vision-Based Indoor Positioning System (VIPS). This approach relies on color detection to identify the robot in the environment using a ceiling-mounted camera. Camera calibration model is developed to dynamically estimate the robot position in real time. The camera calibration model is based on environment grid modeling and Euclidian interpolation method to enhance the estimated gross position. Finally, Gaussian zero-phase filter is exploited to refine the localization results. The experiments conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed system indicate that an accuracy about 6’’ is achievable in complex indoor environment.
Actual trends in the elaboration of advanced multifunctional coating systems for the efficient protection of lightweight aircraft alloys

Abstract One of the pillars of developed economics is modern transport, where there is always a high demand for the elaboration of lightweight efficient vehicles and transport facilities. Aluminum and magnesium alloys encounter continuously increasing applications in high-performance aircraft, automobile, and marine vehicles. Various advanced multilayered corrosion protective coating systems have recently been proposed to provide a reliable long-term corrosion protection combined with a number of supplemental beneficial properties. The present brief review is an attempt to summarize the basic trends and concepts regarding the elaboration of environmentally friendly multilayered and multifunctional corrosion protective coating systems. Our work summarizes these recent trends, including recently accepted environmental requirements. We have also distinguished the concepts for active and passive corrosion protection capabilities. The basic approach for the achievement of efficient active corrosion protection properties are outlined with suitable examples, such as inhibitor incorporation into ceramic or carbon nanoparticles, encapsulation of active self-healing compounds, reinforcing phase involvement and coating, finished by ultraviolet absorbers and hydrophobic compounds. As a main result, an entire conceptual model has been proposed based on the state-of-the-art analysis.
Remapping the Brain

A report by Nudo et al. (p. 1791) show that after a stroke (simulated in a monkey), training the animal with certain tasks can limit the subsequent dysfunctional reorganization of the brain. These tasks engage the body part that is mapped at the injured site. In his Perspective, Freund discusses the implications of these results for rehabilitation.
Circular Polarized Patch Antenna Generating Orbital Angular Momentum

The recent extension of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) concept from optical to microwave frequencies has led some researchers to explore how well established antenna techniques can be used to radiate a non-zero OAM electromagnetic fleld. In this frame, the aim of the present paper is to propose a new approach to generate a non-zero OAM fleld through a single patch antenna. Using the cavity model, we flrst analyze the radiated fleld by a standard circular patch and show that a circular polarized (CP) TMnm mode excited by using two coaxial cables generates an electromagnetic fleld with an OAM of order §(ni1). Then, in order to obtain a simpler structure with a single feed, we design an elliptical patch antenna working on the right-handed (RH) CP TM21 mode. Using full-wave simulations and experiments on a fabricated prototype, we show that the proposed antenna efiectively radiates an electromagnetic fleld with a flrst order OAM. Such results prove that properly designed patch antennas can be used as compact and low-cost generators of electromagnetic flelds carrying OAM.
Effects of Polyethylenimine and Its Molecular Weight on the Chemical Bath Deposition of ZnO Nanowires

The addition of polyethylenimine (PEI) in the standard chemical bath deposition (CBD) of ZnO nanowires has received an increasing interest for monitoring their aspect ratio, but the physicochemical processes at work are still under debate. To address this issue, the effects of PEI are disentangled from the effects of ammonia and investigated over a broad range of molecular weight (i.e., chain length) and concentration, varying from 1300 to 750 000 and from 1.5 to 10 mM, respectively. It is shown that the addition of PEI strongly favors the elongation of ZnO nanowires by suppressing the homogeneous growth at the benefit of the heterogeneous growth as well as by changing the supersaturation level through a pH modification. PEI is further found to inhibit the development of the sidewalls of ZnO nanowires by adsorbing on their nonpolar m-planes, as supported by Raman scattering analysis. The inhibition proceeds even in the low pH range, which somehow rules out the present involvement of electrostatic interactions as the dominant mechanism for the adsorption. Furthermore, it is revealed that PEI drastically affects the nucleation process of ZnO nanowires on the polycrystalline ZnO seed layer by presumably adsorbing on the nanoparticles oriented with the m-planes parallel to the surface, reducing in turn their nucleation rate as well as inducing a significant vertical misalignment. These findings, specifically showing the effects of the PEI molecular weight and concentration, cast light onto its multiple roles in the CBD of ZnO nanowires.
Treatment Withdrawal in Autoimmune Hepatitis

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic inflammatory liver disorder of unknown aetiology, which when left untreated can lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatic failure. Current treatment strategies include long-term treatment with corticosteroids and/or azathioprine. Most patients respond well to immunosuppressive therapy and treatment usually results in an asymptomatic course of AIH in remission. Nevertheless, both drugs are associated with serious side effects that can sometimes be severe and may necessitate drug withdrawal. Whether or not treatment in patients who are in longstanding remission can be discontinued is unknown. Key Messages: Available data rely on retrospective data sets and are not conclusive. Some studies indicate that a sustained remission after treatment withdrawal is feasible, whereas other studies have found relapse rates in up to 90% of patients, even in patients with established histological remission. Patients who relapse after drug withdrawal have a high probability for a re-relapse to occur. Life-long maintenance therapy should be strongly considered in these patients, since patients who have multiple relapses are more likely to progress to cirrhosis, liver transplantation and death from liver failure. Conclusion: For a majority of patients, AIH is a lifelong disease requiring permanent treatment. Patients in longstanding clinical remission on monotherapy, with complete normalisation of aminotransferases and IgG could be offered one attempt of drug withdrawal. The risk of disease progression after a single relapse appears low, while a patient's realization that infinite maintenance therapy is mandatory may improve drug adherence.
Prosaposin, a regulator of estrogen receptor alpha, promotes breast cancer growth

Prosaposin, a secreted protein, is a well‐known pleiotropic growth factor. Although a previous report has indicated that prosaposin is overexpressed in breast cancer cell lines, the role of prosaposin in the development of breast cancer remains to be identified. Here, we first revealed that prosaposin upregulated estrogen receptor alpha expression, nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity by western blot, immunofluorescence assay and dual luciferase reporter gene assay, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrated prosaposin upregulated estrogen receptor alpha expression through MAPK‐signaling pathway using MAPK inhibitor. Proliferation assay and tumor xenograft experiments in nude mice (n = 6 per group) further confirmed prosaposin could promote breast cancer growth significantly in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggested that prosaposin might enhance estrogen receptor alpha‐mediated signaling axis and play a role in breast cancer development and progression.
mTORC1 Hyperactivity Inhibits Serum Deprivation-Induced Apoptosis via Increased Hexokinase II and GLUT1 Expression, Sustained Mcl-1 Expression, and Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β Inhibition

ABSTRACT The current concept is that Tsc-deficient cells are sensitized to apoptosis due to the inhibition of Akt activity by the negative feedback mechanism induced by the hyperactive mTORC1. Unexpectedly, however, we found that Tsc1/2-deficient cells exhibit increased resistance to serum deprivation-induced apoptosis. mTORC1 hyperactivity contributes to the apoptotic resistance of serum-deprived Tsc1/2-deficient cells in part by increasing the growth factor-independent expression of hexokinase II (HKII) and GLUT1. mTORC1-mediated increase in hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) abundance, which occurs in the absence of serum in normoxic Tsc2-deficient cells, contributes to these changes. Increased HIF1α abundance in these cells is attributed to both an increased level and the sustained translation of HIF1α mRNA. Sustained glycogen synthase kinase 3β inhibition and Mcl-1 expression also contribute to the apoptotic resistance of Tsc2-deficient cells to serum deprivation. The inhibition of mTORC1 activity by either rapamycin or Raptor knockdown cannot resensitize these cells to serum deprivation-induced apoptosis because of elevated Akt activity that is an indirect consequence of mTORC1 inhibition. However, the increased HIF1α abundance and the maintenance of Mcl-1 protein expression in serum-deprived Tsc2−/− cells are dependent largely on the hyperactive eIF4E in these cells. Consistently, the reduction of eIF4E levels abrogates the resistance of Tsc2−/− cells to serum deprivation-induced apoptosis.