Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extracellular potassium activity, intracellular and extracellular potential responses in the spinal cord.

1. Microcapillary electrode assemblies of two or three channels were used to record extracellular and intracellular potentials together with the extracellular activity of potassium ions, from essentially single locations within the substance of the decapitate spinal cord of cats. A liquid ion exchanger filled the tip of the potassium sensing microprobe. Activity was evoked by electrical stimulation of afferent peripheral nerves (ventral roots were cut). 2. Within the substance of the spinal grey matter increments of extracellular potassium activity evoked by repetitive afferent volleys were precisely correlated with magnitudes of sustained shifts of extracellular electric potential. Raising [K+]o from 3 to 4 mM was associated with a negative shift of potential of 2‐5 +/‐ 0‐5 mV, regardless of the position of the electrode in the tissue, and regardless of treatment by convulsant or depressant drugs. 3. The spatial distribution of the responses of potassium activity was mapped by the spatial distribution of the negative sustained potential shifts. 4. Depolarization shifts of potential recorded from within neuroglia cells ran parallel with changes of extracellular potassium potential. Even though the magnitude of extracellular sustained potential shifts was precisely correlated with the responses of both extracellular potassium and intracellular glial potentials, the trajectory of sustained potential shifts did not exactly mirror the two other variables. Onset and offset of sustained potential shifts were faster than those of glial potentials or of extracellular potassium. 5. The responses of the true transmembrane potential (intracellular less extracellular potential shifts) of neuroglia cells in the spinal grey matter can fully be described by the Nernst equation. 6. Membrane potentials of neurones, potentials recorded from dorsal root filaments, or from white matter, appeared unrelated to the activity of potassium ions in extracellular fluid. 7. The results are compatible with the suggestions that changes of the membrane potential of spinal neuroglia cells are fully determined by the change of the activity of extracellular potassium, and that glia cells supply most of the current which generates sustained shifts of the extracellular potential of spinal grey matter. The results are hard to reconcile with suggestions that under conditions of moderate excitation (i.e. in the absence of convulsive neuronal activity) changes of extracellular potassium would significantly influence the membrane potential of spinal neurones, or of primary afferent nerve fibres.
A Spectrum Exchange Mechanism in Cognitive Radio Contexts

In cognitive radio (CR) contexts, the available spectrum holes between the CR transmitter and receiver may be dynamically varying. Therefore, an important issue for CR application is the coordination of available spectrum at the transmitter and receiver before and during the process of information transmission. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing a signaling mechanism. Our scheme includes both the initial link establishment algorithm and dynamic link maintenance mechanism. We also propose the interleaved OFDM-based transform domain communication system as a promising candidate for the initial access signaling transmission by comparing with currently available modulation schemes. Simulation results of the proposed access link establishment mechanism are also presented to evaluate its feasibility
Anti-Sm Autoantibodies in Systemic Lupus Target Highly Basic Surface Structures of Complexed Spliceosomal Autoantigens1

Autoantibodies directed against spliceosomal proteins are a common and specific feature of systemic lupus erythematosus. These autoantibodies target a collection of proteins, including Sm B, B′, D1, D2, and D3. We define the common antigenic targets of Sm D2 and D3 and examine their role in spliceosomal autoimmunity. Our results define nine major common epitopes, five on Sm D2 and four on Sm D3. These epitopes have significantly higher (more basic) isoelectric points than do nonantigenic regions. In fact, this association is of sufficient power to make isoelectric point an excellent predictor of spliceosomal antigenicity. The crystallographic structure of Sm D2 and D3 is now partially described. The anti-Sm D2 and D3 antigenic targets are located on the surface of the respective three-dimensional complexed proteins, thereby suggesting that these epitopes are accessible in the native configuration. All but one of these nine epitopes conspicuously avoid the specific regions involved in intermolecular interactions within the spliceosomal complex. One of the D3 epitopes (RGRGRGMGR) has significant sequence homology with a major antigenic region of Sm D1 (containing a carboxyl-terminal glycine-arginine repeat), and anti-D3 Abs cross-react with this epitope of Sm D1. These results demonstrate that spliceosomal targets of autoimmunity are accessible on native structure surfaces and that cross-reactive epitopes, as well as structural associations of various spliceosomal Ags, may be involved in the induction of autoimmunity in systemic lupus.
A 3D sound hypermedial system for the blind

It has been said that quite often a hypermedial application running over a GUI is somehow inappropriate or unusable. This is the case for end-users with little or no visual capabilities. In this paper we present a conversational metaphor to try to ameliorate this problem. We propose a framework in which the interaction is rendered using 3D sound. Several voices used as media to convey information are placed in the space through this technology. By using a glove the user controls the system manipulating a special version of 3D auditory icons, called audicons. Moreover, we introduce a technique called grab-and-drop, equivalent to the visual drag-and-drop. We show that this framework permits the building and adaptation of current hypermedia interfaces in a way that can be used without visual cues.
From wavelets to multiwavelets

This paper gives an overview of recent achievements of the multiwavelet theory. The construction of multiwavelets is based on a multiresolution analysis with higher multiplicity generated by a scaling vector. The basic properties of scaling vectors such as L-stability, approximation order and regularity are studied. Most of the proofs are sketched.
Analysis of Ribb River channel migration : Upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia

The Ribb River is one of the components of the Blue Nile River system located in the North Western part of Ethiopia. It drains to Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile River. The Ribb has a length of 130 km, with a catchment area of 1,812 km2. The average yearly rainfall of the catchment is 1300 mm, with 80 % occurring between the months of June and September. The average and daily maximum discharge of the river are 15 m3/s and 220 m3/s, respectively. A large dam and a diversion weir 30 km downstream of the dam are under construction to irrigate 15,000 ha of Fogera flood plain (WWDSE and TAHAL, 2007). Downstream of the dam location, the Ribb is a meandering river with slope ranging from 0.18% to 0.03%. The river bed material is dominated by sand with a gravel component in its upper reaches. Intensive agriculture without any natural resources conservation, deforestation, dike construction, pump irrigation and sand mining are the most impactful activities in the Ribb watershed (Tarekegn et al., 2010; Garede and Minale, 2014). The Lake Tana level is regulated since 1995 for hydropower production, which enhances flooding along the lower river reach. During the 2006 event, 45 people died, 30,000 persons were displaced and 5371 ha of agricultural land were inundated (ENTRO, 2010). To prevent flooding, dikes have been constructed in the lower reach of the river. This study aims to describe current river morphodynamic trends, including planimetric changes for the definition of the pre-dam conditions of the river. The first part of the work is presented here with some preliminary results, focusing on the river planimetric changes. This paper describes the initial state of the study.
From Perception to Metacognition: Auditory and Olfactory Functions in Early Blind, Late Blind, and Sighted Individuals

Although evidence is mixed, studies have shown that blind individuals perform better than sighted at specific auditory, tactile, and chemosensory tasks. However, few studies have assessed blind and sighted individuals across different sensory modalities in the same study. We tested early blind (n = 15), late blind (n = 15), and sighted (n = 30) participants with analogous olfactory and auditory tests in absolute threshold, discrimination, identification, episodic recognition, and metacognitive ability. Although the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed no overall effect of blindness and no interaction with modality, follow-up between-group contrasts indicated a blind-over-sighted advantage in auditory episodic recognition, that was most pronounced in early blind individuals. In contrast to the auditory modality, there was no empirical support for compensatory effects in any of the olfactory tasks. There was no conclusive evidence for group differences in metacognitive ability to predict episodic recognition performance. Taken together, the results showed no evidence of an overall superior performance in blind relative sighted individuals across olfactory and auditory functions, although early blind individuals exceled in episodic auditory recognition memory. This observation may be related to an experience-induced increase in auditory attentional capacity.
Automata Guided Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning for Zero-shot Skill Composition

An obstacle that prevents the wide adoption of (deep) reinforcement learning (RL) in control systems is its need for a large number of interactions with the environment in order to master a skill. The learned skill usually generalizes poorly across domains and re-training is often necessary when presented with a new task. We present a framework that combines techniques in \textit{formal methods} with \textit{hierarchical reinforcement learning} (HRL). The set of techniques we provide allows for the convenient specification of tasks with logical expressions, learns hierarchical policies (meta-controller and low-level controllers) with well-defined intrinsic rewards using any RL methods and is able to construct new skills from existing ones without additional learning. We evaluate the proposed methods in a simple grid world simulation as well as simulation on a Baxter robot.
The Jeffords Effect*

In May 2001, Senator James Jeffords left the Republican Party and tipped control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats. This paper uses the surprise event to demonstrate what I term the “Jeffords effect”: changes in the political landscape have large effects on the market value of firms. I use a firm’s soft‐money donations to the national parties as the measure of how the firm aligns itself politically. In this event study, a firm lost . 8 percent of market capitalization the week of Jeffords’s switch for every $250,000 it gave to the Republicans in the previous election cycle. On the basis of the point estimates, the stock price gain associated with Democratic donations is smaller than the loss associated with Republican donations, but the estimates are consistent with the effects being equal and opposite. The results withstand several robustness checks, and the effects appear to persist over time.
ANATOMICAL BENEFIT FROM RANIBIZUMAB TREATMENT OF PREDOMINANTLY CLASSIC NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION IN THE 2-YEAR ANCHOR STUDY

Purpose: To compare lesion anatomical responses to ranibizumab versus verteporfin photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the ANCHOR (Anti-VEGF Antibody for the Treatment of Predominantly Classic Choroidal Neovascularization [CNV] in Age-Related Macular Degeneration) study. Methods: In this 2-year, Phase III, randomized, multicenter, double-masked trial, 423 patients received ranibizumab (0.3 or 0.5 mg) monthly + sham PDT or PDT + monthly sham injection. Photodynamic therapy (or sham PDT) was administered at Day 0 and then quarterly as needed. A central reading center assessed fundus photography and fluorescein angiography images. A subset (n = 61) had optical coherence tomography assessments. Main outcome measures included mean change from baseline at Months 12 and 24 for area of classic CNV and total area of leakage from CNV. Results: At Months 12 and 24, ranibizumab was superior to PDT (P < 0.0001) for mean changes from baseline in total area of lesion, CNV area, and total area CNV leakage. Month 12 optical coherence tomographies showed greater center point thickness decrease from baseline with ranibizumab than with PDT (P = 0.0003). Ranibizumab benefits over PDT were evident by 3 months (fluorescein angiography) and 7 days (optical coherence tomography). Conclusion: Differences between the PDT and the ranibizumab groups in lesion anatomical outcomes were early, sustained, and favored ranibizumab.
Adaptive Robust Repetitive Control of A Class of Nonlinear Systems in Normal Form with Applications to Precision Motion Control of Linear Motors

In this paper, the idea of adaptive robust control (ARC) is integrated with a repetitive control algorithm to construct a performance oriented control law for a class of nonlinear systems in the presence of both repeatable and non-repeatable uncertain nonlinearities. All the uncertainties are assumed to be bounded by certain known bounding functions. The repetitive control algorithm is used to learn and approximate the unknown repeatable nonlinearities, but with physically intuitive discontinuous projection modifications ensuring that all the function estimates are within the known bounds. Robust terms are constructed to attenuate the effect of various uncertainties including non-repeatable uncertainties effectively for a guaranteed transient performance and a guaranteed final tracking accuracy in general. Theoretically, in the presence of repeatable uncertainties only, asymptotic output tracking is also achieved without using an infinite fast switching control law or an infinite-gain feedback. The motion control of a linear motor drive system is used as an application example, and experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness of the scheme. The work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under the CAREER grant CMS-9734345 and in part by a grant from Purdue Research Foundation.
Finite and infinite support in nominal algebra and logic: nominal completeness theorems for free

Abstract By operations on models we show how to relate completeness with respect to permissive-nominal models to completeness with respect to nominal models with finite support. Models with finite support are a special case of permissive-nominal models, so the construction hinges on generating from an instance of the latter, some instance of the former in which sufficiently many inequalities are preserved between elements. We do this using an infinite generalisation of nominal atoms-abstraction. The results are of interest in their own right, but also, we factor the mathematics so as to maximise the chances that it could be used off-the-shelf for other nominal reasoning systems too. Models with infinite support can be easier to work with, so it is useful to have a semi-automatic theorem to transfer results from classes of infinitely-supported nominal models to the more restricted class of models with finite support. In conclusion, we consider different permissive-nominal syntaxes and nominal models and discuss how they relate to the results proved here.
F-Actin–Anchored Focal Adhesions Distinguish Endothelial Phenotypes of Human Arteries and Veins

Objective— Vascular endothelial–cadherin- and integrin-based cell adhesions are crucial for endothelial barrier function. Formation and disassembly of these adhesions controls endothelial remodeling during vascular repair, angiogenesis, and inflammation. In vitro studies indicate that vascular cytokines control adhesion through regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, but it remains unknown whether such regulation occurs in human vessels. We aimed to investigate regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and cell adhesions within the endothelium of human arteries and veins. Approach and Results— We used an ex vivo protocol for immunofluorescence in human vessels, allowing detailed en face microscopy of endothelial monolayers. We compared arteries and veins of the umbilical cord and mesenteric, epigastric, and breast tissues and find that the presence of central F-actin fibers distinguishes the endothelial phenotype of adult arteries from veins. F-actin in endothelium of adult veins as well as in umbilical vasculature predominantly localizes cortically at the cell boundaries. By contrast, prominent endothelial F-actin fibers in adult arteries anchor mostly to focal adhesions containing integrin-binding proteins paxillin and focal adhesion kinase and follow the orientation of the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin. Other arterial F-actin fibers end in vascular endothelial–cadherin-based endothelial focal adherens junctions. In vitro adhesion experiments on compliant substrates demonstrate that formation of focal adhesions is strongly induced by extracellular matrix rigidity, irrespective of arterial or venous origin of endothelial cells. Conclusions— Our data show that F-actin–anchored focal adhesions distinguish endothelial phenotypes of human arteries from veins. We conclude that the biomechanical properties of the vascular extracellular matrix determine this endothelial characteristic.
[Dementia screening in primary care: critical review].

INTRODUCTION Primary care professionals need useful and simple tools to detect early cognitive impairment in patients with any clinical suspicion of dementia. AIM. This critical review attempts to analyze the psychometric properties of cognitive screening tests, commonly used for screening dementia in primary care setting, which have been adapted for Spanish speaking population in the Iberian Peninsula. DEVELOPMENT Special emphasis has been placed on those instruments which met the following criteria: easy correction and short-term application (less than or equal to 10 minutes). Properties such as reliability, validity and especially the discriminating power of the instrument (older people with dementia vs. healthy older adults) have been detailed. CONCLUSION The future of brief cognitive assessment in primary care setting requires the adaptation and validation of new tests for the Spanish population, improving the sensitivity of the tests in patients with mild cognitive impairment and searching for measures with an adequate cross-cultural validity.
Anisotropy in the Haptic Perception of Force Direction and Magnitude

Although force-feedback devices are already being used, the human ability to perceive forces has not been documented thoroughly. The haptic perception of force direction and magnitude has mostly been studied in discrimination tasks in the direction of gravity. In our study, the influence of physical force direction on haptic perception of force magnitude and direction was studied in the horizontal plane. Subjects estimated the direction and magnitude of a force exerted on their stationary hand. A significant anisotropy in perception of force magnitude and direction was found. Force direction data showed significant subject-dependent distortions at various physical directions. Normalized force magnitude data showed a consistent elliptical pattern, with its minor axis pointing roughly from the subject's hand to his/her shoulder. This pattern could be related to arm stiffness or manipulability patterns, which are also ellipse-shaped. These ellipses have an orientation consistent with the distortion measured in our study. So, forces in the direction of highest stiffness and lowest manipulability are perceived as being smaller. It therefore seems that humans possess a "sense of effort" rather than a "sense of force," which may be more useful in everyday life. These results could be useful in the design of haptic devices.
Debugging Concurrent Software: A Study Using Multithreaded Sequence Diagrams

Concurrent software is notoriously difficult to debug. We investigate the use of UML sequence diagrams to help developers correctly reason about the potential behaviors of buggy concurrent software. We conducted a controlled experiment that compared internal (i.e., "in the head") and external representations for reasoning about multithreaded software. For external representations, participants created multithreaded sequence diagrams. The results of the experiment demonstrate a strong positive effect associated with using external representations. Participants who drew diagrams were significantly more successful at reasoning about the potential behavior of concurrent software. Moreover, participants who produced diagrams with higher levels of detail and with fewer errors tended to achieve greater levels of success. Additionally, this paper contributes an extension to the UML sequence diagram notation for showing behavior of multithreaded software and formal metrics for assessing the complexity of thread interactions.
Economic Evaluation of an Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management Program to Control the Asian Tiger Mosquito in New Jersey

Aedes albopictus is the most invasive mosquito in the world, an important disease vector, and a biting nuisance that limits outdoor activities. Area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) is the recommended control strategy. We conducted an economic evaluation of the AW-IPM project in Mercer and Monmouth Counties, New Jersey with a controlled design (AW-IPM vs. control) from 2009 through 2011. The study analyzed financial documents and staff time for AW-IPM and surveyed an average of 415 randomly chosen households in AW-IPM and control areas each fall from 2008 through 2011. Hours lost from yard and porch activities were calculated as differences between actual and potential hours of these activities in an average summer week if there had been no mosquito concerns. Net estimated benefits of AW-IPM were based on cross-over and difference-in-difference analyses. Reductions in hours lost were valued based on respondents' willingness to pay for a hypothetical extra hour free of mosquitoes spent on yard or porch activities and literature on valuation of a quality adjusted life year (QALY). The incremental cost of AW-IPM per adult was $41.18 per year. Number of hours lost due to mosquitoes in AW-IPM areas between the base year (2008) and the intervention years (2009-2011) declined by 3.30 hours per summer week in AW-IPM areas compared to control areas. Survey respondents valued this improvement at $27.37 per adult per summer week. Over the 13-week summer, an average adult resident gained 42.96 hours of yard and porch time, worth $355.82. The net benefit over the summer was $314.63. With an average of 0.0027 QALYs gained per adult per year, AW-IPM was cost effective at $15,300 per QALY gained. The benefit-cost ratio from hours gained was 8.64, indicating that each $1 spent on AW-IPM gave adults additional porch and yard time worth over $8.
Management of Diffuse Lesions in Traumatic Brain Injury in Brazil

Diffuse traumatic brain injuries are due to tangential forces that cause encephalic rotation inside the skull. This leads to distension/rupture of axons or even vascular structures in different encephalic regions. Diffuse injury is the most common and complex lesion in traumatic brain injury. The management includes intracranial monitoring, advanced intensive care and decompressive surgeries. In this paper the authors review the classification and management of patients with diffuse injuries and present the guidelines adopted by the Brazilian Neurosurgery Society and the Brazilian Medical Association.