Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pharmacological correction of excitation/inhibition imbalance in Down syndrome mouse models

Cognitive impairment in Down syndrome (DS) has been linked to increased synaptic inhibition. The underlying mechanisms remain unknown, but memory deficits are rescued in DS mouse models by drugs targeting GABA receptors. Similarly, administration of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)-containing extracts rescues cognitive phenotypes in Ts65Dn mice, potentially through GABA pathway. Some developmental and cognitive alterations have been traced to increased expression of the serine-threonine kinase DYRK1A on Hsa21. To better understand excitation/inhibition balance in DS, we investigated the consequences of long-term (1-month) treatment with EGCG-containing extracts in adult mBACtgDyrk1a mice that overexpress Dyrk1a. Administration of POL60 rescued components of GABAergic and glutamatergic pathways in cortex and hippocampus but not cerebellum. An intermediate dose (60 mg/kg) of decaffeinated green tea extract (MGTE) acted on components of both GABAergic and glutamatergic pathways and rescued behavioral deficits as demonstrated on the alternating paradigm, but did not rescue protein level of GABA-synthesizing GAD67. These results indicate that excessive synaptic inhibition in people with DS may be attributable, in large part, to increased DYRK1A dosage. Thus, controlling the level of active DYRK1A is a clear issue for DS therapy. This study also defines a panel of synaptic markers for further characterization of DS treatments in murine models.
Pen-like Haptic Interface and Its Application on Touch Screen

The objective of this research is to propose and design a compact tactile display module and verify its performance in a pen-like haptic interface, particularly on the touch screen. A small, safe, silent and light tactile display module with low power dissipation has been built. Based on this module, we present the Ubi-Pen, a pen-like haptic interface providing texture and vibration stimuli. Preliminary evaluations indicate it can satisfactorily represent tactile patterns. We also evaluate its capacity to support GUI operations by producing a simple click-like feedback when buttons are pressed. In addition, it provides texture sensation when a user rubs an image displayed on a touch screen.
Extreme learning machine for function approximation - interval problem of input weights and biases

In this article the approximation capability of the extreme learning machine is studied. Specifically the impact of the range from which the input weights and biases are randomly generated on the fitted curve complexity is analyzed. The guidance for how to generate the input weights and biases to get good performance in approximation of the functions of one variable is provided.
Overlapping Community Detection in social network based on Microblog User Model

Online social networks have found a significant increase in their popularity in recent years. All the networks have community structure, and one of the research problems mostly frequently tackled is the discovery of communities. An overlapping community is a network structure that allows one node to be a member of multiple communities. The method presented in this paper aims at detecting overlapping communities in social networks, and its novelty lies in that it combines with the Microblog User Model (MUM) which can reflect the interest of the user accurately. First, the MUM network, which is an undirected and weighted network, is constructed by computing the similarity among MUMs. Afterwords, Overlapping Community Detection based on MUM (OCD-MUM) is performed to partition the network. A community stops expanding when the fitness function reaches a local maximum. The communities detected are locally optimized. A user's interest is not only decided by the MUM, but it is also affected by the communities the user belongs to. The community model can reflect the interest of the community. The MUM is updated with community model of its communities, and therefore the interest of the user can be predicted by these communities. Our experiment result shows that OCD-MUM has a higher modularity Q value than traditional methods and the predicted interest is more close to the real world situations.
Attributes Influencing Insulin Pen Preference Among Caregivers and Patients With Diabetes Who Require Greater Than 20 Units of Mealtime Insulin

Background: This study compared patient preference for Humalog® KwikPen™ 200 units/mL (insulin lispro; hereafter, IL 200 pen; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) versus the Humalog KwikPen 100 units/mL (insulin lispro; hereafter, IL 100 pen; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) in patients with diabetes requiring >20 units of mealtime insulin and diabetes caregivers. This study also determined which attributes had the greatest influence on pen preference selection. Methods: In this 2-period, crossover, simulated-use study, 106 participants were randomized to 1 of 8 sequences that varied the pen order (IL 100 pen or IL 200 pen) and dosing order (15 units = low dose or 50 units = high dose) for a total of 4 simulated injections. Participants then completed a self-administered questionnaire to select their overall preference between the 2 pens and then rated the importance of 11 pen attributes in contributing to their overall preference. Results: Of the 90 participants expressing an overall preference, significantly more preferred the IL 200 pen to the IL 100 pen (IL 200 pen: 80 respondents; IL 100 pen: 10 respondents; 95% confidence interval [0.81, 0.94], P < .0001). The total amount of insulin in the pen, the ease in pressing the injection button, and the amount of fluid injected were key attributes influencing IL 200 pen preference. Conclusions: Based on these key attributes, the IL 200 pen was significantly preferred over the IL 100 pen by patients with diabetes who require >20 daily mealtime insulin units or diabetes caregivers and may improve the injection experience for these patients.
A Review on Breathing Behaviors of Metal-Organic-Frameworks (MOFs) for Gas Adsorption

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of microporous materials that possess framework flexibility, large surface areas, “tailor-made” framework functionalities, and tunable pore sizes. These features empower MOFs superior performances and broader application spectra than those of zeolites and phosphine-based molecular sieves. In parallel with designing new structures and new chemistry of MOFs, the observation of unique breathing behaviors upon adsorption of gases or solvents stimulates their potential applications as host materials in gas storage for renewable energy. This has attracted intense research energy to understand the causes at the atomic level, using in situ X-ray diffraction, calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations. This article is developed in the following order: first to introduce the definition of MOFs and the observation of their framework flexibility. Second, synthesis routes of MOFs are summarized with the emphasis on the hydrothermal synthesis, owing to the environmental-benign and economically availability of water. Third, MOFs exhibiting breathing behaviors are summarized, followed by rationales from thermodynamic viewpoint. Subsequently, effects of various functionalities on breathing behaviors are appraised, including using post-synthetic modification routes. Finally, possible framework spatial requirements of MOFs for yielding breathing behaviors are highlighted as the design strategies for new syntheses.
ENDOTHELIAL CONTRACTION INDUCED BY HISTAMINE-TYPE MEDIATORS

Previous work has shown that endogenous chemical mediators, of which histamine is the prototype, increase the permeability of blood vessels by causing gaps to appear between endothelial cells. In the present paper, morphologic and statistical evidence is presented, to suggest that endothelial cells contract under the influence of mediators, and that this contraction causes the formation of intercellular gaps. Histamine, serotonin, and bradykinin were injected subcutaneously into the scrotum of the rat, and the vessels of the underlying cremaster muscle were examined by electron microscopy. To eliminate the vascular collapse induced by routine fixation, in one series of animals (including controls) the root of the cremaster was constricted for 2–4 min prior to sacrifice, and the tissues were fixed under conditions of mild venous congestion. Electron micrographs were taken of 599 nuclei from the endothelium of small blood vessels representing the various experimental situations. Nuclear deformations were classified into four types of increasing tightness (notches, foldsl closing folds, and pinches. In the latter the apposed surfaces of the nuclear membrane are in contact). It was found that: (1) venous congestion tends to straighten the nuclei in al groups; (2) mediators cause a highly significant increase in the number of pinches (P < 0.001), also if the vessels are distended by venous congestion; (3) fixation without venous congestion causes vascular collapse. The degree of endothelial recoil, as measured by nuclear pinches, is very different from that caused by mediators (P < 0.001). (4) Pinched nuclei are more frequent in leaking vessels, and in cells adjacent to gaps (P < 0.001); (5) mediators also induce, in the endothelium, cytoplasmic changes suggestive of contraction, and similar to those of contracted smooth muscle; (6) there is no evidence of pericyte contraction under the conditions tested. Occasional pericytes appeared to receive fine nerve endings. Various hypotheses to explain nuclear pinching are discussed; the only satisfactory explanation is that which requires endothelial contraction.
Ecological selection pressures for C4 photosynthesis in the grasses

Grasses using the C4 photosynthetic pathway dominate grasslands and savannahs of warm regions, and account for half of the species in this ecologically and economically important plant family. The C4 pathway increases the potential for high rates of photosynthesis, particularly at high irradiance, and raises water-use efficiency compared with the C3 type. It is therefore classically viewed as an adaptation to open, arid conditions. Here, we test this adaptive hypothesis using the comparative method, analysing habitat data for 117 genera of grasses, representing 15 C4 lineages. The evidence from our three complementary analyses is consistent with the hypothesis that evolutionary selection for C4 photosynthesis requires open environments, but we find an equal likelihood of C4 evolutionary origins in mesic, arid and saline habitats. However, once the pathway has arisen, evolutionary transitions into arid habitats occur at higher rates in C4 than C3 clades. Extant C4 genera therefore occupy a wider range of drier habitats than their C3 counterparts because the C4 pathway represents a pre-adaptation to arid conditions. Our analyses warn against evolutionary inferences based solely upon the high occurrence of extant C4 species in dry habitats, and provide a novel interpretation of this classic ecological association.
Unifying strategies for Web augmentation

Since the beginning of the WWW, tools have been developed to augment the functionality of the Web. This paper provides an investigation of hypermedia tools and systems integrating the World Wide Web with focus on functionality and the techniques used to achieve this functionality. Similarities are found and based on this, a new framework, the Arakne framework, for developing and thinking about Web augmentation is presented. The Arakne framework is flexible and supports most kinds of Web augmentation. Finally an implementation of the Arakne framework is described and discussed.
Fair bandwidth sharing algorithms based on game theory frameworks for wireless ad-hoc networks

This paper examines the theoretical aspects of bandwidth sharing in wireless, possibly mobile, ad-hoc networks (MANETs) through a game theoretic framework. It presents some applications to show how such a framework can be invoked to design efficient media access control protocols in a noncooperative, self-organized, topology-blind environment as well as in environments where the competing nodes share some basic information to guide their choice of channel access policies. For this purpose, contentions between concurrent links in a MANET are represented by a conflict graph, and each maximal clique in the graph defines a contention context which in turn imposes a constraint on the share of bandwidth that the links in the clique can obtain. Using this approach the fair bandwidth allocation problem is modeled as a general utility based constrained maximization problem, called the system problem, which is shown to admit a unique solution that can only be obtained when global coordination between all links is possible. By using Lagrange relaxation and duality theory, both a non-cooperative and a cooperative game formulation of the problem are derived. The corresponding mathematical algorithms to solve the two games are also provided where there is no need for global information. Implementation issues of the algorithms are also considered. Finally, simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithms.
Fast volume rendering with adjustable color maps

In scientific visualization, it is necessary to visualize the distribution of a scalar field by using adjustable color maps in conjunction with a pseudo-color display. This paper proposes a method for fast direct volume rendering when color maps undergo change. The method pre-calculates basis images that are independent from the color maps. The rendered images for an arbitrary color map are then generated by compositing the basis images. The proposed method makes possible interactive observation of changing color maps with a fixed viewpoint.
Non-parametric Bayesian Segmentation of Japanese Noun Phrases

A key factor of high quality word segmentation for Japanese is a high-coverage dictionary, but it is costly to manually build such a lexical resource. Although external lexical resources for human readers are potentially good knowledge sources, they have not been utilized due to differences in segmentation criteria. To supplement a morphological dictionary with these resources, we propose a new task of Japanese noun phrase segmentation. We apply non-parametric Bayesian language models to segment each noun phrase in these resources according to the statistical behavior of its supposed constituents in text. For inference, we propose a novel block sampling procedure named hybrid type-based sampling, which has the ability to directly escape a local optimum that is not too distant from the global optimum. Experiments show that the proposed method efficiently corrects the initial segmentation given by a morphological analyzer.
A Case of Adult Influenza A Virus–Associated Encephalitis: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings

A 27‐year‐old man presented with fever, convulsive seizure, and sudden impairment of consciousness. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities were found in the bilateral thalami, including the brain stem and white matter. The possibility of a previous influenza A virus infection was considered, and cerebrospinal fluid cells and interleukin‐6 were elevated. The MRI findings closely resembled those found in cases of childhood acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE). The present case suggests that adult influenza A virus‐associated encephalitis/encephalopathy or ANE can occur during winter influenza epidemics.
Haematite and chromia dissolution in the zirconia matrix during thermal oxidation of Laves-phases γ–Zr(Fe,Cr)2 on Zircaloy-4

Abstract The life time of the Zircaloy-4 alloy is linked to the role that intermetallic particles play during the growth of the zirconia scale. In the present work, a photoelectrochemical technique (PEC), has been used to study the phenomena of oxidation of intermetallic particles but also of dissolution of thermal oxidised particles. Both phenomena have been addressed in the literature and studied in particular with TEM; in this work, they were clearly imaged by photoelectrochemical microscopy at a mesoscopic view. Our results do contribute to a better understanding of the major impact that intermetallic precipitates could have on the oxidation rate.
Nutrient Concentrations of Runoff as Affected by the Diameter of Unconsolidated Material from Feedlot Surfaces

Abstract. Beef cattle feedlots contain unconsolidated material that accumulates on the feedlot surface during a feeding cycle. This study was conducted to measure the effects of varying diameters of unconsolidated surface material and varying flow rates on nutrient concentrations in runoff. Unconsolidated surface material with an average diameter of 4.76, 9.53, 19.1, or 47.5 mm and a composite sample with a 15.2 mm mean diameter were placed within 0.75 m wide A— 4.0 m long plot areas. Flow was then introduced at the top of the plots in successive increments, and runoff samples for water quality analyses were obtained. Particle diameter significantly influenced runoff concentrations of dissolved phosphorus (DP), particulate phosphorus (PP), total phosphorus (TP), NH 4 -N, and solids transport. Concentrations of DP, PP, TP, and NH 4 -N for the composite material were 1.90, 1.28, 3.18, and 3.81 mg L -1 , respectively, and solids transport was 19.8 g min -1 . Runoff rate significantly affected concentrations of DP, PP, TP, NH 4 -N, and solids transport for each of the particle size classes except the 4.76 mm diameter material. For the composite material, concentrations of DP, PP, TP, and NH 4 -N decreased from 4.30 to 0.34 mg L -1 , from 5.52 to 0.41 mg L -1 , from 9.82 to 0.75 mg L -1 , and from 25.8 to 0.49 mg L -1 , respectively, as runoff rate increased from 0.02 to 1.10 L s -1 . Nutrient concentrations of runoff from feedlot surfaces are affected by both varying diameters of unconsolidated surface material and varying flow rates.
Generalized probabilistic data association for vehicle tracking under clutter

Vehicle tracking under clutter is an important prerequisite for numerous vehicular applications. In this paper, we propose a generalization of the existing integrated probabilistic data association method in order to model situations where several true and additional clutter observations originated from one object. We will show that the proposed method outperforms the existing one. Furthermore, we will demonstrate a system utilizing a camera sensor and the proposed algorithm for detecting and tracking vehicles under clutter.
Analysis of clinical incidents: a window on the system not a search for root causes

Incident reporting lies at the heart of many initiatives to improve patient safety. The UK National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA)1 has recently launched a national reporting and learning system following substantial piloting and testing across the National Health Service (NHS). In the USA the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) made incident reporting the centrepiece of its first patient safety funding programme, investing $25 million in the first year into research in incident reporting systems.2 The Australian incident monitoring system has amassed a massive database of reports over 15 years.3 New risk management and patient safety programmes-whether local or national-rely on incident reporting to provide data on the nature of safety problems and to provide indications of the causes of those problems and the likely solutions.
Prospective Relationship of Low Cardiovascular Risk Factor Profile at Younger Ages to Ankle-Brachial Index: 39-Year Follow-Up—The Chicago Healthy Aging Study

Background Data are sparse regarding the long-term association of favorable levels of all major cardiovascular disease risk factors (RFs) (ie, low risk [LR]) with ankle-brachial index (ABI). Methods and Results In 2007–2010, the Chicago Healthy Aging Study reexamined a subset of participants aged 65 to 84 years from the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry cohort (baseline examination, 1967–1973). RF groups were defined as LR (untreated blood pressure ≤120/≤80 mm Hg, untreated serum cholesterol <200 mg/dL, body mass index <25 kg/m2, not smoking, no diabetes) or as 0 RFs, 1 RF, or 2+ RFs based on the presence of blood pressure ≥140/≥90 mm Hg or receiving treatment, serum cholesterol ≥240 mg/dL or receiving treatment, body mass index ≥30 kg/m2, smoking, or diabetes. ABI at follow-up was categorized as indicating PAD present (≤0.90), as borderline PAD (0.91 to 0.99), or as normal (1.00 to 1.40). We included 1346 participants with ABI ≤1.40. After multivariable adjustment, the presence of fewer baseline RFs was associated with a lower likelihood of PAD at 39-year follow-up (P for trend is <0.001). Odds ratios (95% CIs) for PAD in persons with LR, 0 RFs, or 1 RF compared with those with 2+ RFs were 0.14 (0.05 to 0.44), 0.28 (0.13 to 0.59), and 0.33 (0.16 to 0.65), respectively; findings were similar for borderline PAD (P for trend is 0.005). The association was mainly due to baseline smoking status, cholesterol, and diabetes. Remaining free of adverse RFs or improving RF status over time was also associated with PAD. Conclusions LR profile in younger adulthood (ages 25 to 45) is associated with the lowest prevalence of PAD and borderline PAD 39 years later.
Dysplasia in Gastric Mucosa and its Reporting Problems

BACKGROUND: The recognition, terminology used and histopathologic evaluation of two essential elements in gastric carcinogenesis, atrophy and dysplasia, are characterized by controversy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred fifteen cases, with slides and their histopathologic reports from the archive of the Laboratory of Pathology were studied for the diagnostic value, reporting of dysplasia, interobserver variability, the relation of dysplastic lesions with inflammation, atrophy and metaplasia. After retrospectively studying the histopathologic reports from the archive we distributed the cases according to endoscopic and histopathologic diagnosis, together with the reexamination of the slides. The comparison of the median values of the numeric variables was made with the Mann-Whitney test (non-parametric equivalent of the Student’s “t” test). RESULTS: The endoscopic clinical diagnosis were: malignancy/suspicious for malignancy 88 cases (76%) and non-neoplastic diagnosis (like ulcer or gastritis) 27 cases (24%). From the reexamination of the cases it resulted that there is no difference in reporting the malignancy, but there is a difference in the cases reported as dysplasia (p = 0.001) and negative for neoplasia (p = 0.063, borderline). CONCLUSION: Clinicians and pathologists can feel directly the discrepancy called “interobserver variability” and should be assured that the use of guidelines will cause a lowering of this variability.