Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry Editorial Behaviour Changes following Temporal Lobectomy, with Special Reference to Psychosis

The severe behaviour consequences of bilateral extirpation of the temporal lobes were realised in the earliest reports of temporal lobe resection, and several case studies or series were published in the early 1950s. ' The operations, which included amygdalotomy, uncotomy, and medial temporal lobotomy were initially carried out for the relief of psy-chosis, mainly in schizophrenic patients, but some patients with epilepsy were included. The severe memory deficits which resulted were not seen with unilateral operations, which became the accepted approach. In contrast to the recognised need for proper psy-chometric evaluation before surgery for epilepsy, the necessity for adequate psychiatric assessment was not (and has not been) realised in many centres. The importance of such evaluations emerged early in the history of these operations. Thus the number of patients with pre-operative psychiatric abnormalities was far greater in the Falconer Guy's-Maudsley series than in that from Penfield at Montreal. Although this largely reflected referral patterns , at some stage the Montreal group specifically excluded from the operation patients with gross mental changes.2 In the early studies, it was agreed that some patterns of behaviour could change after temporal lobectomy, especially aggressive problems, while others were not influenced or deteriorated. Improvements were not immediate, and could occur slowly over a period of 12 months or longer.3 Green et al4 were more explicit, noting that patients with constant hostility benefitted from the operation, while those with psychotic behaviour did not. The early experiences of Falconer et al were written up in 1957.2 The post-operative follow up was two to five years, and included information from rating scales, home visits and relatives. Post-operative scores were improved in eighteen cases, unchanged in three and declined in five. All five of the latter continued to have seizures. There was a reduction in outwardly expressed aggressiveness and an increase of depressive mood swings (eleven cases), the latter sometimes so severe that readmission to hospital was necessary; ECT was given to five patients. These depres-sive states tended to recur for up to 18 months and were not related to post-operative seizures. Another early series was that of Simmel and Counts' from Illinois. Forty patients were followed up after five years, and eleven were seizure free. Most patients had some personality disturbance or psychoses before surgery, although this was not well documented. They state "patients reported to talk about receiving messages from God, about their food being poisoned, etc, were …
Send Orders of Reprints at Reprints@benthamscience.net Effects of Low Doses of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on the Attention Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder of Children: a Systematic Review

Since attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) presents high prevalence among children, science has been researching alternative forms of treatment that do not involve medication. Objective: To evaluate the effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Methods: We reviewed the articles published between 1980 and 2012 indexed in the databases PubMed, APA psychNET, Scopus and Web of Knowledge. Results: Initially 231 articles were selected, out of which 12 met the inclusion criteria. The articles selected reported a modest cognitive and behavioral improvement of the patients after treatment with low doses of PUFAs. Those results might be associated with the evaluation methodology, the doses of PUFAs administered or the duration of treatment.
Effect of cyclodextrins on the solubility and antimycotic activity of sertaconazole: experimental and computational studies.

This study investigated the effects of the complexation of sertaconazole nitrate with different cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives (alpha-CD, beta-CD, gamma-CD, hydroxypropyl-beta-CD, and hydroxypropyl-gamma-CD) on the aqueous solubility and antimycotic activity of the drug. Phase solubility studies indicated that the solubility of sertaconazole in enzyme-free simulated gastric- and enzyme-free simulated enteric fluids was significantly increased in the presence of cyclodextrins. The observed order of solubility increasing effect was: gamma-CD > HPgamma-CD > HPbeta-CD > beta-CD > alpha-CD. Solid-state sertaconazole-cyclodextrin complexes were prepared by freeze drying, and characterized by X-ray powder difractometry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Freeze-dried complexes showed markedly higher solubility than both physical mixtures and sertaconazole alone. The antimycotic activities of sertaconazole-cyclodextrin complexes in solution were evaluated by inhibition zone assays with Candida albicans. The activity ranking agrees with the solubility ranking observed for these complexes, with the gamma-CD-sertaconazole complex showing the strongest antimycotic activity. Finally, molecular modeling studies were carried out using the MM2 force field method, for complexes in vacuum and in water. This enable indentification of the preferred orientation of sertaconazole in the gamma-CD cavity and of the main structural features responsible for the enhancement of its solubility and antimycotic activity.
3D shape reconstruction of template models using genetic algorithms

We present in this communication a method, which enables to fit a 3D object defined by a functional representation (FRep) to a dataset of 3D points on its surface. A parametric FRep model sketching the point-set is fitted to the point-set. The best fined parameters of the model are obtained by using a genetic algorithm, well known for its interesting properties in non-linear optimization. The efficiency of the approach is illustrated for reverse engineering applications.
Curl, Crimps, Kinks and Microcompressions in Pulp Fibres – Their Origin, Measurement, and Significance

The curliness of fibres and he degree of microcompression in the fibre wall strongly influence the properties of pulp suspensions, wet-webs, and dry sheets. In mill operation, curl and microcompression can be induced accidentally or intentionally, by shearing at high consistency. Some pulps are highly susceptible to curling; others are more resistant. Curl is not necessarily stable; it is readily removed from some pulps but not from others. Curl can be stabilized by certain treatments, notably by heat treatment at high consistency. This can be deliberate, or it can occur accidentally during mill operation, when a pulp is stored at an elevated temperature. Both curl and microcompression are often disregarded because they cannot be easily measured. Yet in practice their effects often dominate the properties of pulp suspensions, wet webs, and dry sheets. Ignoring these effects has led to costly surprises both in research and mill operation. In this paper the literature is reviewed and new data are introduced, illustrating the importance of curl and microcompression for mechanical, chemi-mechanical, and chemical pulps.
A Cardiac Sodium Channel Mutation Cosegregates With a Rare Connexin40 Genotype in Familial Atrial Standstill

Abstract— Atrial standstill (AS) is a rare arrhythmia that occasionally appears to be genetically determined. This study investigates the genetic background of this arrhythmogenic disorder in a large family. Forty-four family members were clinically evaluated. One deceased and three living relatives were unambiguously affected by AS. All other relatives appeared unaffected. Candidate gene screening revealed a novel mutation in the cardiac sodium channel gene SCN5A (D1275N) in all three affected living relatives and in five unaffected relatives, and the deceased relative was an obligate carrier. In addition, two closely linked polymorphisms were detected within regulatory regions of the gene for the atrial-specific gap junction protein connexin40 (Cx40) at nucleotides −44 (G→A) and +71 (A→G). Eight relatives were homozygous for both polymorphisms, which occurred in only ≈7% of control subjects, and three of these relatives were affected by AS. The three living AS patients exclusively coinherited both the rare Cx40 genotype and the SCN5A-D1275N mutation. SCN5A-D1275N channels showed a small depolarizing shift in activation compared with wild-type channels. Rare Cx40 genotype reporter gene analysis showed a reduction in reporter gene expression compared with the more common Cx40 genotype. In this study, familial AS was associated with the concurrence of a cardiac sodium channel mutation and rare polymorphisms in the atrial-specific Cx40 gene. We propose that, although the functional effect of each genetic change is relatively benign, the combined effect of genetic changes eventually progresses to total AS.
A visual servoing model for generalised cameras: Case study of non-overlapping cameras

This paper proposes an adaptation of classical image-based visual servoing to a generalised imaging model where cameras are modelled as sets of 3D viewing rays. This new model leads to a generalised visual servoing control formalism that can be applied to any type of imaging system whether it be multi-camera, catadioptric, non-central, etc. In this paper the generalised 3D viewing cones are parameterised geometrically via Plücker line coordinates. The new visual servoing model is tested on an a-typical stereo-camera system with non-overlapping cameras. In this case no 3D information is available from triangulation and the system is comparable to a 2D visual servoing system with non-central ray-based control law.
The KIT Motion-Language Dataset

Linking human motion and natural language is of great interest for the generation of semantic representations of human activities as well as for the generation of robot activities based on natural language input. However, although there have been years of research in this area, no standardized and openly available data set exists to support the development and evaluation of such systems. We, therefore, propose the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Motion-Language Dataset, which is large, open, and extensible. We aggregate data from multiple motion capture databases and include them in our data set using a unified representation that is independent of the capture system or marker set, making it easy to work with the data regardless of its origin. To obtain motion annotations in natural language, we apply a crowd-sourcing approach and a web-based tool that was specifically build for this purpose, the Motion Annotation Tool. We thoroughly document the annotation process itself and discuss gamification methods that we used to keep annotators motivated. We further propose a novel method, perplexity-based selection, which systematically selects motions for further annotation that are either under-represented in our data set or that have erroneous annotations. We show that our method mitigates the two aforementioned problems and ensures a systematic annotation process. We provide an in-depth analysis of the structure and contents of our resulting data set, which, as of October 10, 2016, contains 3911 motions with a total duration of 11.23 hours and 6278 annotations in natural language that contain 52,903 words. We believe this makes our data set an excellent choice that enables more transparent and comparable research in this important area.
NMR study of the galactomannans of Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum.

Around 90% of chronic dermatophyte infections are caused by the fungi Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum. One of the causes of the chronic infection resides in the immunosuppressive effects of the cell-wall components of these organisms. Therefore we have attempted to identify the chemical structure of galactomannan, one of the major cell-wall components. The cell-wall polysaccharides secreted by T. mentagrophytes and T. rubrum were isolated from the culture medium and fractionated into three subfractions by DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. Analysis of each subfraction by NMR indicated that there are two kinds of polysaccharides present, i.e. mannan and galactomannan. The mannan has a linear backbone consisting of alpha1,6-linked mannose units, with alpha1,2-linked mannose units as side chains. The core mannan moiety of the galactomannan was analysed by a sequential NMR assignment method after removing the galactofuranose units by acid treatment. The result indicates that the mannan moiety has a linear repeating structure of alpha1,2-linked mannotetraose units connected by an alpha1,6 linkage. The H-1 signals of the two intermediary alpha1, 2-linked mannoses of the tetraose unit showed a significant upfield shift (Deltadelta=0.05-0.08 p.p.m.), due to the steric effect of an alpha1,6-linked mannose unit. The attachment point of the galactofuranose units was determined at C-3 of the core mannan by the assignment of the downfield-shifted 13C signals of the galactomannan compared with those of the acid-modified product. In these galactomannans there were no polygalactofuranosyl chains which have been found in Penicillium charlesii and Aspergillus fumigatus.
For Whom the Bell Trolls: Troll Behaviour in the Twitter Brexit Debate

In a review into automated and malicious activity Twitter released a list of accounts that they believed were connected to state sponsored manipulation of the 2016 American Election. This list details 2,752 accounts Twitter believed to be controlled by Russian operatives. In the absence of a similar list of operatives active within the debate on the 2016 UK referendum on membership of the European Union (Brexit) we investigated the behaviour of the same American Election focused accounts in the production of content related to the UK-EU referendum. We found that within our dataset we had Brexit-related content from 419 of these accounts, leading to 3,485 identified tweets gathered between the 29th August 2015 and 3rd October 2017. The behaviour of the accounts altered radically on the day of the referendum, shifting from generalised disruptive tweeting to retweeting each other in order to amplify content produced by other troll accounts. We also demonstrate that, while these accounts are, in general, designed to resemble American citizens, accounts created in 2016 often contained German locations and terms in the user profiles.
Incidence of enteric adenoviruses among children in Thailand and the significance of these viruses in gastroenteritis

In countries with temperate climates, enteric adenoviruses have been shown to be a substantial cause of pediatric gastroenteritis. To determine the incidence of adenovirus infection in a tropical climate, stools were collected from children under age 7 during a 1-year period at an outpatient clinic in Bangkok, Thailand. Stools from 1,114 children with gastroenteritis and from 947 children without gastroenteritis were tested. Each stool was tested for adenovirus group antigen and for specific enteric adenovirus types (Ad40 and Ad41) by monoclonal antibody enzyme immunoassays. We found that 4.4% (49 of 1,114) of children with gastroenteritis and 1.8% (17 of 947) of children without gastroenteritis were positive for adenovirus group antigen. In tests for specific enteric adenovirus types, 2.0% (22 of 1,114) of the tests were positive in children with gastroenteritis and 0.6% (6 of 947) were positive in children without gastroenteritis. There was a significant correlation (P less than 0.02) of gastroenteritis with nonenteric adenovirus types (27 of 1,114) as well as with specific enteric adenovirus types (P less than 0.01). By comparison, 19.7% of children with gastroenteritis and 0.7% of those without gastroenteritis were positive for rotavirus infection. In the adenovirus-infected children with gastroenteritis, there were coinfections with rotavirus only in those with nonenteric adenovirus infection (7 of 27 children). There were no significant differences in the association of bacterial or parasitic infections with either enteric or nonenteric adenovirus infections in either group of children studied. These data demonstrate that Ad40 and Ad41 are causes of gastroenteritis in this population, but among the spectrum of diarrheal etiologies, they may be proportionately less important than they are in countries with temperate climates.
Unbiased Estimator of Shape Parameter for Spiking Irregularities under Changing Environments

We considered a gamma distribution of interspike intervals as a statistical model for neuronal spike generation. The model parameters consist of a time-dependent firing rate and a shape parameter that characterizes spiking irregularities of individual neurons. Because the environment changes with time, observed data are generated from the time-dependent firing rate, which is an unknown function. A statistical model with an unknown function is called a semiparametric model, which is one of the unsolved problem in statistics and is generally very difficult to solve. We used a novel method of estimating functions in information geometry to estimate the shape parameter without estimating the unknown function. We analytically obtained an optimal estimating function for the shape parameter independent of the functional form of the firing rate. This estimation is efficient without Fisher information loss and better than maximum likelihood estimation.
Preweighted Linearized VCO Analog-to-Digital Converter

A linearization technique of voltage-to-frequency characteristics of voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is presented. In contrast to previous works, the proposed technique is an open-loop calibration-free configuration, so it can operate at higher frequencies. It is also independent of the delay element structure, so it can be applied to various VCO ADC topologies. The analog input signal is first mapped through a preweighted resistor network in which every delay element experiences a different version of the input and produces the corresponding delay. As a result, the proposed approach suppresses the impact of $V/F$ nonlinearity on the ADC performance by expanding a linear region of the transfer curve over the full rail-to-rail input. This technique shows substantial improvement results by keeping nonlinearity within ±0.5% over the full input scale (dBFS) and achieves a peak signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) of 75.7 and 60.4 dB for input of −8 and 0 dBFS, respectively.
A Comparative Analyses of Granulometry, Mineral Composition and Major and Trace Element Concentrations in Soils Commonly Ingested by Humans

This study compared the granulometric properties, mineralogical composition and concentrations of major and trace element oxides of commonly ingested soils (geophagic soil) collected from different countries with a view of understanding how varied they may be in these properties and to understand the possible health implications of ingesting them. Soil samples were collected from three different countries (South Africa, Swaziland and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)) and their granulometric properties, concentrations of major and trace element oxides as well as mineralogical composition determined. Differences were observed in the granulometric properties of geophagic soil from the three different countries with most of them having <20% clay content. The soils also showed varied degrees of weathering with values of Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) and Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW) being between 60% and 99.9% respectively. The mineral assemblages of the soils from South Africa and Swaziland were dominated by the primary minerals quartz and feldspar whereas soils from DRC had more of kaolinite, a secondary mineral than primary minerals. Soils from DRC were associated with silt, clay, Al2O3, and CIA unlike most samples from South Africa which were associated with SiO2, sand, K2O, CaO, and MgO. The soils from Swaziland were closely associated with silt, H2O and Fe2O3(t). These associations reflect the mineralogy of the samples. These soils are not likely to serve as nutrient supplements because of the low concentrations of the nutrient elements contained. The coarse texture of the samples may also result in dental destruction during mastication. Sieving of the soils before ingestion to remove coarse particles is recommended to reduce the potential health threat associated with the ingestion of coarse-textured soils.
Biopharmaceutical considerations and in vitro-in vivo correlations (IVIVCs) for orally administered amorphous formulations

Dissolution testing and physiological based pharmacokinetic modeling are the essential methods during drug development. However, there is a lack of a sound approach and understanding of the parameter that controls dissolution and absorption of amorphous formulations. Robust dissolution conditions and setup and PBPK models that have a predictability of in vivo results will expedite and facilitate the drug development process. In this project, cefuroxime axetil, CA (Zinnat® as the amorphous formulations); itraconazole, ITR (Sporanox® as the amorphous formulation) and a compound undergoing clinical trial, Compound X, CX (CX tablet as the amorphous formulation) were chosen. The design of experiments for the in vitro dissolution studies using different apparatus, media and setup which closely simulate the physiological condition of humans (CA and ITR) and dogs (CX) were implemented. The dissolution of CA, ITR and CX formulations was successfully characterised using different dissolution apparatus, setting and media (compendial, biorelevant and modified media) to simulate the changes of pH, contents, hydrodynamic conditions (flow rate and rotation speed) in human gastrointestinal tract (fasted and fed state). The change of hydrodynamics combined with media change that corresponded to the physiological conditions created with USP apparatus 4 and biorelevant dissolution media were able to mimic the in vivo performance of the tested formulations. Furthermore, surface UV dissolution imaging methodology that could be used to understand the mechanism of CA and ITR (Active compounds and their amorphous formulations) dissolution were developed in this project. The UV images developed using surface UV imaging apparatus provided a visual representation and a means for the qualitative as well as quantitative assessment of the differences in dissolution rates and concentration for the model compounds used. In this project, validated PBPK models for fasted state (CA, ITR) and fed state (CA, ITR and CX) were developed. These models incorporated in vitro degradation, particle size distribution, in vitro solubility and dissolution data as well as in vivo human/ dog pharmacokinetics data. Similarly, the results showed that level A IVIVCs for all three model compounds were successfully established. Dissolution profiles with USP apparatus 4 combined with biorelevant media showed close correlation with the in vivo absorption profiles. Overall, this project successfully provides a comprehensive biorelevant methodology to develop PBPK models and IVIVCs for orally administered amorphous formulations.