Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sodium MR Imaging Detection of Mild Alzheimer Disease: Preliminary Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is significant interest in the development of novel noninvasive techniques for the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD) and tracking its progression. Because MR imaging has detected alterations in sodium levels that correlate with cell death in stroke, we hypothesized that there would be alterations of sodium levels in the brains of patients with AD, related to AD cell death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 10 volunteers (5 with mild AD and 5 healthy control subjects) were scanned with a 20-minute sodium (23Na) MR imaging protocol on a 3T clinical scanner. RESULTS: After normalizing the signal intensity from the medial temporal lobes corresponding to the hippocampus with the ventricular signal intensity, we were able to detect a 7.5% signal intensity increase in the brains of patients with AD (AD group, 68.25% ± 3.4% vs control group, 60.75% ± 2.9%; P < .01). This signal intensity enhancement inversely correlated with hippocampal volume (AD group, 3.22 ± 0.50 cm3 vs control group, 3.91 ± 0.45 cm3; r2 = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: This finding suggests that sodium imaging may be a clinically useful tool to detect the neuropathologic changes associated with AD.
Neurobiology of Tourette Syndrome: Current Status and Need for Further Investigation

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a common, chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of fluctuating motor and phonic tics. The typical age of onset is ∼5–7 years, and the majority of children improve by their late teens or early adulthood. Affected individuals are at increased risk for the development of various comorbid conditions, such as obsessive–compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, school problems, depression, and anxiety. There is no cure for tics, and symptomatic therapy includes behavioral and pharmacological approaches. Evidence supports TS being an inherited disorder; however, the precise genetic abnormality remains unknown. Pathologic involvement of cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) pathways is supported by neurophysiological, brain imaging, and postmortem studies, but results are often confounded by small numbers, age differences, severity of symptoms, comorbidity, use of pharmacotherapy, and other factors. The primary site of abnormality remains controversial. Although numerous neurotransmitters participate in the transmission of messages through CSTC circuits, a dopaminergic dysfunction is considered a leading candidate. Several animal models have been used to study behaviors similar to tics as well as to pursue potential pathophysiological deficits. TS is a complex disorder with features overlapping a variety of scientific fields. Despite description of this syndrome in the late 19th century, there remain numerous unanswered neurobiological questions.
Canopy conductance of Pinus taeda, Liquidambar styraciflua and Quercus phellos under varying atmospheric and soil water conditions.

Sap flow, and atmospheric and soil water data were collected in closed-top chambers under conditions of high soil water potential for saplings of Liquidambar styraciflua L. , Quercus phellos L. and Pinus taeda L. , three co-occurring species in the southeastern USA. Responses of canopy stomatal conductance (g(t)) to water stress induced by high atmospheric water vapor demand or transpiration rate were evaluated at two temporal scales. On a diurnal scale, the ratio of canopy stomatal conductance to maximum conductance (g(t)/g(t,max)) was related to vapor pressure deficit (D), and transpiration rate per unit leaf area (E(l)). High D or E(l) caused large reductions in g(t)/g(t,max) in L. styraciflua and P. taeda. The response of g(t)/g(t,max) to E(l) was light dependent in L. styraciflua, with higher g(t)/g(t,max) on sunny days than on cloudy days. In both L. styraciflua and Q. phellos, g(t)/g(t,max) decreased linearly with increasing D (indicative of a feed-forward mechanism of stomatal control), whereas g(t)/g(t,max) of P. taeda declined linearly with increasing E(l) (indicative of a feedback mechanism of stomatal control). Longer-term responses to depletion of soil water were observed as reductions in mean midday g(t)/g(t,max), but the reductions did not differ significantly between species. Thus, species that employ contrasting methods of stomatal control may show similar responses to soil water depletion in the long term.
A Selective Markovianity Approach for Image Segmentation

— A new Markovianity approach is introduced in this paper. This approach reduces the response time of classic Markov Random Fields approach. First, one region is determinated by a clustering technique. Then, this region is excluded from the study. The remaining pixel form the study zone and they are selected for a Markovianity segmentation task. With Selective Markovianity approach, segmentation process is faster than classic one.
Regulation of ventilatory muscle blood flow.

The ventilatory muscles perform various functions such as ventilation of the lungs, postural stabilization, and expulsive maneuvers (e.g., coughing). They are classified in functional terms as inspiratory muscles, which include the diaphragm, parasternal intercostal, external intercostal, scalene, and sternocleidomastoid muscles; and expiratory muscles, which include the abdominal muscles, internal intercostal, and triangularis sterni. The ventilatory muscles require high-energy phosphate compounds such as ATP to fuel the biochemical and physical processes of contraction and relaxation. Maintaining adequate intracellular concentrations of these compounds depends on adequate intracellular substrate levels and delivery of these substrates by arterial blood flow. In addition to the delivery of substrates, blood flow influences muscle function through the removal of metabolic by-products, which, if accumulated, could exert negative effects on several excitatory and contractile processes. Skeletal muscle substrate utilization is also dependent on the ability to extract substrates from arterial blood, which, in turn, is accomplished by increasing the total number of perfused capillaries. It follows that matching perfusion to metabolic demands is critical for the maintenance of normal muscle contractile function. In this article, I review the factors that influence ventilatory muscle blood flow. Major emphasis is placed on the diaphragm because a large number of published reports deal with diaphragmatic blood flow. The second reason for focusing on the diaphragm is because it is the largest and most important inspiratory muscle.
Active damping of LCL resonance with minimum sensor effort by means of a digital infinite impulse response filter

This paper presents a concept for active damping of an LCL filter connecting a digitally controlled PWM converter to the grid. Active damping is performed by means of a digital Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter. Digital filters, being well known in digital signal analysis, can easily be implemented when using digital controllers and require very low computational effort. In contrast to active damping solutions found in literature, no extra quantities except the controlled current must be sensed. This functionality is proven via experimental results. After a short introduction of the problem and an overview of solutions found in literature, the implemented fundamental procedure for active damping is described. Subsequently, the main idea of using an IIR filter for active damping, being an approximation to a derivative function, is qualified and the design procedure is presented. In this paper it is stated that with this method the sensors are minimized and that due to the approximation of the derivative function the damping performance is lower compared to solutions found in literature. However, the damping effect by using an IIR filter is proven. The use of IIR filters and the reduction of sensor effort for active damping of EMI filters with multiple passives looks promising also for other applications with a known load.
Increase in nociceptive input to spinocervical tract neurons following chronic partial deafferentation

Recordings from antidromically identified spinocervical tract (SCT) cells in the partially deafferented spinal cord of chloralose- anesthetized cats have revealed reorganization of their input from peripheral receptors in the skin. Immediately after dorsal rhizotomy of segments L5, L6, S1, and S2, (sparing L7), units in L6 had a lower than normal probability of responding to moderate pressure, mechanical nociceptive, noxious heat, and cooling inputs. This persisted for about 6 weeks, after which normal or even larger than normal proportions of SCT units could be driven by these inputs. The proportion of units driven by hair deflection remained large throughout this period. Responses in the L7 segment with intact L7 dorsal root were unchanged. We suggest that afferent fibers from different receptor types differ in the extent of their normal functional projection, accounting for the selective changes after acute deafferentation. The chronic changes may reflect a differential ability of surviving afferent fibers to undergo compensatory changes in their projection (e.g., sprouting) after chronic rhizotomy.
Evidence of singularities for a family of contour dynamics equations

In this work, we show evidence of the existence of singularities developing in finite time for a class of contour dynamics equations depending on a parameter 0 < α ≤ 1. The limiting case α → 0 corresponds to 2D Euler equations, and α = 1 corresponds to the surface quasi-geostrophic equation. The singularity is point-like, and it is approached in a self-similar manner.
Perceived Teacher's Expectations, Causal Attribution of Test Results and Pupils' Motivation

This study investigated the dynamic relationship between a child's perception of the teacher's expectation of his/her academic performance, the child's own expectation, his/her attribution of the cause of the performance and his/her motivation to perform in subsequent academic tasks. Results indicated that children who perceived high expectations from their teacher also had high expectations of themselves and vice versa; those who did well on a test tended to attribute their success to effort or ability, while those who didn't attributed it to luck ; those with high teacher expectation tended to attribute performance to effort compared to luck for those who perceived it to be low ; and finally, those with high self expectation saw effort as being responsible for their performance, while those with low self expectation attributed luck. It was found that a child's self expectation depends on his/her perception of the teacher's expectation of him/her, and in turn, this self expectation affects his/her evaluation of performance, which together exert an influence upon the causal attribution of performance, which finally affects his/her motivation to perform.
Changes in snoRNA and snRNA Abundance in the Human, Chimpanzee, Macaque, and Mouse Brain

Small nuclear and nucleolar RNAs (snRNAs and snoRNAs) are known to be functionally and evolutionarily conserved elements of transcript processing machinery. Here, we investigated the expression evolution of snRNAs and snoRNAs by measuring their abundance in the frontal cortex of humans, chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys, and mice. Although snRNA expression is largely conserved, 44% of the 185 measured snoRNA and 40% of the 134 snoRNA families showed significant expression divergence among species. The snRNA and snoRNA expression divergence included drastic changes unique to humans: A 10-fold elevated expression of U1 snRNA and a 1,000-fold drop in expression of SNORA29. The decreased expression of SNORA29 might be due to two mutations that affect secondary structure stability. Using in situ hybridization, we further localized SNORA29 expression to nucleolar regions of neuronal cells. Our study presents the first observation of snoRNA abundance changes specific to the human lineage and suggests a possible mechanism underlying these changes.
Activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) modulates post-synaptic development and dendritic spine morphology

The ubiquitously expressed activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) has been variably reported to either promote or inhibit neuronal plasticity and memory. However, the potential cellular bases for these and other actions of ATF4 in brain are not well-defined. In this report, we focus on ATF4's role in post-synaptic synapse development and dendritic spine morphology. shRNA-mediated silencing of ATF4 significantly reduces the densities of PSD-95 and GluR1 puncta (presumed markers of excitatory synapses) in long-term cultures of cortical and hippocampal neurons. ATF4 knockdown also decreases the density of mushroom spines and increases formation of abnormally-long dendritic filopodia in such cultures. In vivo knockdown of ATF4 in adult mouse hippocampal neurons also reduces mushroom spine density. In contrast, ATF4 over-expression does not affect the densities of PSD-95 puncta or mushrooom spines. Regulation of synaptic puncta and spine densities by ATF4 requires its transcriptional activity and is mediated at least in part by indirectly controlling the stability and expression of the total and active forms of the actin regulatory protein Cdc42. In support of such a mechanism, ATF4 silencing decreases the half-life of Cdc42 in cultured cortical neurons from 31.5 to 18.5 h while knockdown of Cdc42, like ATF4 knockdown, reduces the densities of mushroom spines and PSD-95 puncta. Thus, ATF4 appears to participate in neuronal development and plasticity by regulating the post-synaptic development of synapses and dendritic mushroom spines via a mechanism that includes regulation of Cdc42 levels.
Type 1 fimbriated Escherichia coli-mast cell interactions in cystitis.

The single most commonly expressed virulence factor on uropathogenic Escherichia coli is type 1 fimbriae. In addition to promoting avid bacterial adherence to the uroepithelium, it is increasingly becoming clear that these determinants of bacterial adherence also play a critical role in modulating inflammatory responses of various immune cells of the host. Type 1 fimbriae have been shown to avidly bind to neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes, triggering the release of inflammatory mediators and in the case of lymphocytes, initiating cellular proliferation and secretion of antibodies [1]. An inflammatory cell found in close proximity to the bladder epithelium and which has the potential to play a key role in modulating inflammation in the urinary tract is the mast cell. Relatively little is known of the role of mast cells in urinary tract infections. In light of recent findings demonstrating that the adherence of type 1 fimbriated E. coli to the mouse bladder epithelium during infection denudes the bladder of its epithelial lining [2], mast cells are likely to be one of the first inflammatory cells to be encountered by infecting type 1 fimbriated bacteria. Work from our laboratory has demonstrated that type 1 fimbriated E. coli bind mast cells, evoking vigorous exocytic and endocytic responses in these cells [3]. We have recently identified the specific receptor on mast cells that bind the type 1 fimbrial adhesin, FimH, and made some progress at elucidating the early signal transduction events initiated by this mast cell receptor. These studies are reviewed below in the context of urinary tract infections.
On the Poisson-Lie T-plurality of boundary conditions

Conditions for the gluing matrix defining consistent boundary conditions of two-dimensional nonlinear σ-models are analyzed and reformulated. Transformation properties of the right-invariant fields under the Poisson-Lie T-plurality are used to derive a formula for the transformation of the boundary conditions. Examples of transformation of D-branes in two and three dimensions are presented. We investigate obstacles arising in this procedure and propose possible solutions.
Upper-limit evaluation of robot audition based on ICA-BSS in multi-source, barge-in and highly reverberant conditions

This paper presents the upper-limit evaluation of robot audition based on ICA-BSS in multi-source, barge-in and highly reverberant conditions. The goal is that the robot can automatically distinguish a target speech from its own speech and other sound sources in a reverberant environment. We focus on the multi-channel semi-blind ICA (MCSB-ICA), which is one of the sound source separation methods with a microphone array, to achieve such an audition system because it can separate sound source signals including reverberations with few assumptions on environments. The evaluation of MCSB-ICA has been limited to robot's speech separation and reverberation separation. In this paper, we evaluate MCSB-ICA extensively by applying it to multi-source separation problems under common reverberant environments. Experimental results prove that MCSB-ICA outperforms conventional ICA by 30 points in automatic speech recognition performance.
Comparative architectural properties of limb muscles in Crocodylidae and Alligatoridae and their relevance to divergent use of asymmetrical gaits in extant Crocodylia

Crocodiles and their kin (Crocodylidae) use asymmetrical (bounding and galloping) gaits when moving rapidly. Despite being morphologically and ecologically similar, it seems alligators and their kin (Alligatoridae) do not. To investigate a possible anatomical basis for this apparent major difference in locomotor capabilities, we measured relative masses and internal architecture (fascicle lengths and physiological cross‐sectional areas) of muscles of the pectoral and pelvic limbs of 40 individuals from six representative species of Crocodylidae and Alligatoridae. We found that, relative to body mass, Crocodylidae have significantly longer muscle fascicles (increased working range), particularly in the pectoral limb, and generally smaller muscle physiological cross‐sectional areas (decreased force‐exerting capability) than Alligatoridae. We therefore hypothesise that the ability of some crocodylians to use asymmetrical gaits may be limited more by the ability to make large, rapid limb motions (especially in the pectoral limb) than the ability to exert large limb forces. Furthermore, analysis of scaling patterns in muscle properties shows that limb anatomy in the two clades becomes more divergent during ontogeny. Limb muscle masses, fascicle lengths and physiological cross‐sectional areas scale with significantly larger coefficients in Crocodylidae than Alligatoridae. This combination of factors suggests that inter‐clade disparity in maximal limb power is highest in adult animals. Therefore, despite their apparent morphological similarities, both mean values and scaling patterns suggest that considerable diversity exists in the locomotor apparatus of extant Crocodylia.
Disruption of a Transcriptional Repressor by an Insertion Sequence Element Integration Leads to Activation of a Novel Silent Cellobiose Transporter in Lactococcus lactis MG1363

ABSTRACT Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris strains typically carry many dairy niche-specific adaptations. During adaptation to the milk environment these former plant strains have acquired various pseudogenes and insertion sequence elements indicative of ongoing genome decay and frequent transposition events in their genomes. Here we describe the reactivation of a silenced plant sugar utilization cluster in an L. lactis MG1363 derivative lacking the two main cellobiose transporters, PtcBA-CelB and PtcBAC, upon applying selection pressure to utilize cellobiose. A disruption of the transcriptional repressor gene llmg_1239 by an insertion sequence (IS) element allows expression of the otherwise silent novel cellobiose transporter Llmg_1244 and leads to growth of mutant strains on cellobiose. Llmg_1239 was labeled CclR, for cellobiose cluster repressor. IMPORTANCE Insertion sequences (ISs) play an important role in the evolution of lactococci and other bacteria. They facilitate DNA rearrangements and are responsible for creation of new genetic variants with selective advantages under certain environmental conditions. L. lactis MG1363 possesses 71 copies in a total of 11 different types of IS elements. This study describes yet another example of an IS-mediated adaptive evolution. An integration of IS981 or IS905 into a gene coding for a transcriptional repressor led to activation of the repressed gene cluster coding for a plant sugar utilization pathway. The expression of the gene cluster allowed assembly of a novel cellobiose-specific transporter and led to cell growth on cellobiose.
The Implications of Armstrong v. Executive of the President for the Archival Management of Electronic Records

This article reviews the arguments presented by both sides in the lawsuit Armstrong v. the Executive Office of the President, which concerned the electronic mail created by the Reagan and Bush White House on the IBM PROFS system. It examines the emerging consensus among archivists worldwide on approaches to managing electronic records and considers the ways in which the position taken by the government failed to reflect best practices. Specifically, it examines recent discussions of functional requirements for recordkeeping systems and raises some implications of a functional perspective for archival programs and strategies. It concludes by arguing that archivists will need to play a more active role in the society at large in order to ensure that the broader culture understands and acts on the threats to accountability presented by computer-based electronic communications.
The priority of prediction in ecological understanding

The objective of science is to understand the natural world; we argue that prediction is the only way to demonstrate scientific understanding, implying that prediction should be a fundamental aspect of all scientific disciplines. Reproducibility is an essential requirement of good science and arises from the ability to develop models that make accurate predictions on new data. Ecology, however, with a few exceptions, has abandoned prediction as a central focus and faces its own crisis of reproducibility. Models are where ecological understanding is stored and they are the source of all predictions – no prediction is possible without a model of the world. Models can be improved in three ways: model variables, functional relationships among dependent and independent variables, and in parameter estimates. Ecologists rarely test to assess whether new models have made advances by identifying new and important variables, elucidating functional relationships, or improving parameter estimates. Without these tests it is difficult to know if we understand more today than we did yesterday. A new commitment to prediction in ecology would lead to, among other things, more mature (i.e. quantitative) hypotheses, prioritization of modeling techniques that are more appropriate for prediction (e.g. using continuous independent variables rather than categorical) and, ultimately, advancement towards a more general understanding of the natural world. Synthesis Ecology, with a few exceptions, has abandoned prediction and therefore the ability to demonstrate understanding. Here we address how this has inhibited progress in ecology and explore how a renewed focus on prediction would benefit ecologists. The lack of emphasis on prediction has resulted in a discipline that tests qualitative, imprecise hypotheses with little concern for whether the results are generalizable beyond where and when the data were collected. A renewed commitment to prediction would allow ecologists to address critical questions about the generalizability of our results and the progress we are making towards understanding the natural world.