Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hemispheric asymmetry and theory of mind: Is there an association?

Introduction. In autism and schizophrenia attenuated/atypical functional hemispheric asymmetry and theory of mind impairments have been reported, suggesting common underlying neuroscientific correlates. We here investigated whether impaired theory of mind performance is associated with attenuated/atypical hemispheric asymmetry. An association may explain the co-occurrence of both dysfunctions in psychiatric populations. Methods. Healthy participants (n=129) performed a left hemisphere (lateralised lexical decision task) and right hemisphere (lateralised face decision task) dominant task as well as a visual cartoon task to assess theory of mind performance. Results. Linear regression analyses revealed inconsistent associations between theory of mind performance and functional hemisphere asymmetry: enhanced theory of mind performance was only associated with (1) faster right hemisphere language processing, and (2) reduced right hemisphere dominance for face processing (men only). Conclusions The majority of non-significant findings suggest that theory of mind and functional hemispheric asymmetry are unrelated. Instead of “overinterpreting” the two significant results, discrepancies in the previous literature relating to the problem of the theory of mind concept, the variety of tasks, and the lack of normative data are discussed. We also suggest how future studies could explore a possible link between hemispheric asymmetry and theory of mind.
Dynamic view expansion for minimally invasive surgery using simultaneous localization and mapping

Navigation during Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) has recognized difficulties due to limited field-of-view, off-axis visualization and loss of direct 3D vision. This can cause visual-spatial disorientation when exploring complex in vivo structures. In this paper, we present an approach to dynamic view expansion which builds a 3D textured model of the MIS environment to facilitate in vivo navigation. With the proposed technique, no prior knowledge of the environment is required and the model is built sequentially while the laparoscope is moved. The method is validated on simulated data with known ground truth. Its potential clinical value is also demonstrated with in vivo experiments.
Germline-Encoded TCR-MHC Contacts Promote TCR V Gene Bias in Umbilical Cord Blood T Cell Repertoire

T cells recognize antigens as peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins through T cell receptors (TCRs) on their surface. To recognize a wide range of pathogens, each individual possesses a substantial number of TCRs with an extremely high degree of variability. It remains controversial whether germline-encoded TCR repertoire is shaped by MHC polymorphism and, if so, what is the preference between MHC genetic variants and TCR V gene compatibility. To investigate the “net” genetic association between MHC variations and TRBV genes, we applied quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping to test the associations between MHC polymorphism and TCR β chain V (TRBV) genes usage using umbilical cord blood (UCB) samples of 201 Chinese newborns. We found TRBV gene and MHC loci that are predisposed to interact with one another differ from previous conclusions. The majority of MHC amino acid residues associated with the TRBV gene usage show spatial proximities in known structures of TCR-pMHC complexes. These results show for the first time that MHC variants bias TRBV gene usage in UCB of Chinese ancestry and indicate that germline-encoded contacts influence TCR-MHC interactions in intact T cell repertoires.
MyPACS.net: a Web-based teaching file authoring tool.

OBJECTIVE We sought to develop a Web service that would easily allow radiologists to create their own online teaching file cases from any Web browser. CONCLUSION We created MyPACS, a hosted teaching file authoring tool that allows easy uploading of images and descriptive information from any computer with Web access. Radiologists may designate their cases to be public or private (viewable only by the case author), and cases may be retrieved on searching for multiple parameters.
Opposition-based Differential Evolution with protective generation jumping

The Opposition-based Differential Evolution (ODE) algorithm has shown to be superior to its parent, Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm in solving many real-world problems and benchmark functions efficiently. An acceleration component of ODE, called generation jumping, is involved with creating opposite population and competing with current population, and from the union of those populations, selecting the Np fittest individuals. The jumping is triggered based on a constant percentage (i.e., jumping rate) during search process. There are optimization problems in which generation jumping is not useful and only wastes computation time and resources. In this paper, we focus on those certain benchmark functions which ODE performs poorly because of the useless generation jumping, and we introduce Opposition-Based Differential Evolution with Protective Generation Jumping (ODEPGJ), in which it makes the ODE algorithm more adaptive in term of generation jumping. In fact, we stop generation jumping when it seems to be unhelpful in acceleration process. The experimental verifications are provided to show the improvement caused due to the mentioned protective generation jumping.
Combining location and feature information for multimedia retrieval

In this paper, we propose a cross-media retrieval method for heterogeneous multimedia data by which the query examples and the returned results can be of different modalities, e.g., to query images by an example of audio clip. Taking multimedia location and content information into consideration, an affinity propagation based clustering approach is proposed to analyse and fuse the information carried by the co-existing multimedia objects so as to learn the semantic correlations among the heterogeneous multimedia data and perform cross-media retrieval. We also propose active learning methods of Relevance Feedback to make the search model more accurate.
Real-Time PCR for Quantitative Analysis of Human Commensal Escherichia coli Populations Reveals a High Frequency of Subdominant Phylogroups

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli is divided into four main phylogenetic groups, which each exhibit ecological specialization. To understand the population structure of E. coli in its primary habitat, we directly assessed the relative proportions of these phylogroups from the stools of 100 healthy human subjects using a new real-time PCR method, which allows a large number of samples to be studied. The detection threshold for our technique was 0.1% of the E. coli population, i.e., 105 CFU/g of feces; in other methods based on individual colony analysis, the threshold is 10%. One, two, three, or four phylogenetic groups were simultaneously found in 21%, 48%, 21%, and 8% of the subjects, respectively. Phylogroups present at a threshold of less than 10% of the population were found in 40% of the subjects, revealing high within-individual diversity. Phylogroups A and B2 were detected in 74% and 70% of the subjects, respectively; phylogroups B1 and D were detected in 36% and 32%, respectively. When phylogroup B2 was dominant, it tended not to cooccur with other phylogroups. In contrast, other phylogroups were present when phylogroup A was dominant. These data indicate a complex pattern of interactions between the members of a single species within the human gut and identify a reservoir of clones that are present at a low frequency. The presence of these minor clones could explain the fluctuation in the composition of the E. coli microbiota within single individuals that may be seen over time. They could also constitute reservoirs of virulent and/or resistant strains.
Chimaeric anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab) in post‐transplant B‐lymphoproliferative disorder following stem cell transplantation in children

Post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) after haemopoietic stem cell transplantation is a serious complication that occurs in 8–22% of patients with high‐risk factors. We retrospectively investigated tolerance and efficacy of humanized anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab) as first‐line treatment in 12 children with B‐cell PTLD. At diagnosis, eight patients had tumoral involvement. The other four patients had fever, associated with raised Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) viral load and monoclonal gammopathy. Rituximab was given at the dose of 375 mg/m2 once a week by intravenous infusion (1–9 infusions). Only 1/48 infusions was associated with a grade 2 clinical adverse event. Eight out of 12 (66%) patients responded to the treatment and were in complete remission. All patients without tumoral involvement responded to the treatment. A rapid decrease in fever within 1 week was observed in all responders. Non‐responders did not show any clinical response during the first week. Tumoral involvement and immunodepression seemed to be more marked in non‐responders. Rituximab was an effective and well‐tolerated treatment of B‐cell PTLD. Early treatment before tumoral involvement seemed to be the most effective approach. Lack of rapid response should lead to intensification of PTLD treatment. Pre‐emptive treatment should be considered and evaluated in further longitudinal multicentre studies.
Intestinal Smooth Muscle Dysfunction Develops Postnatally in Cystic Fibrosis Mice

Objectives: Intestinal dysmotility is one of the effects of cystic fibrosis (CF), but when and how this develops is not well understood. The goal of the present study was to use the Cftr knockout mouse to determine when in development circular smooth muscle of the small intestine becomes dysfunctional. Methods: Wild-type (WT) and CF mice were used at postnatal day 5 (P5) through adult. Pieces of small intestine were used to measure contractile activity of the circular muscle. Bacterial overgrowth was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the bacterial 16S gene. Intestinal gene expression was determined by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and its metabolites were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Results: CF circular muscle response to cholinergic stimulation was similar to WT at P5, became somewhat impaired at P7, and was severely impaired by P14. In the CF intestine, bacterial overgrowth occurred by P4 and was maintained into adulthood. Eicosanoid metabolic gene expression in the CF intestine did not differ from WT shortly after birth. The phospholipase A2 genes, Pla2g4c and Pla2g5 exhibited increased expression in CF mice at P24. Prostaglandin degradative genes, Hpgd and Ptgr1, showed lower expression in CF as compared with WT at P16 and P24, respectively. PGE2 levels were significantly greater in CF mice at most ages from P7 through adulthood. Conclusions: The results clearly demonstrate that lack of CFTR itself does not cause smooth muscle dysfunction, because the circular muscle from P5 CF mice had normal activity and dysfunction developed between P7 and P14.
Antimicrobial agents from plants: antibacterial activity of plant volatile oils

The volatile oils of black pepper [Piper nigrum L. (Piperaceae)], clove [Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & Perry (Myrtaceae)], geranium [Pelargonium graveolens L'Herit (Geraniaceae)], nutmeg [Myristica fragrans Houtt. (Myristicaceae), oregano [Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum (Link) Letsw. (Lamiaceae)] and thyme [Thymus vulgaris L. (Lamiaceae)] were assessed for antibacterial activity against 25 different genera of bacteria. These included animal and plant pathogens, food poisoning and spoilage bacteria. The volatile oils exhibited considerable inhibitory effects against all the organisms under test while their major components demonstrated various degrees of growth inhibition.
Influence of porcine somatotropin on the phosphorus requirement of finishing pigs: I. Performance and bone characteristics.

We conducted two experiments to evaluate the effects of recombinant porcine somatotropin (pST) on the P requirement of finishing pigs. Corn-soybean meal diets with varying levels of P were fed, and Ca was adjusted to maintain a Ca:P ratio of 1.1:1. In Exp. 1, 96 pigs were fed dietary P concentrations of . 35, . 45, and . 65% from 75 to 109 kg BW. One-half of the pigs were injected daily with 4 mg of pST. Pigs treated with pST consumed less feed and gained more efficiently than untreated pigs (P < .01). Increasing the dietary P level produced linear (P < .05) improvements in most metacarpal-metatarsal (MM) and femur traits. Administration of pST increased (P < .02) bone weight, but it reduced (P < .03) bone strength and the percentage of ash. The increases in percentage of ash and ash accretion associated with increasing dietary P were more pronounced in pST-treated pigs than in untreated pigs (pST x P, P < .01). Experiment 2 consisted of 66 pigs fed six dietary P concentrations (.35, .50, .65, .80, .95, and 1.10%) from 72 to 114 kg. One-half of the pigs were injected daily with 4 mg of pST. Pigs treated with pST gained faster and more efficiently (P < .01) but consumed less feed than untreated pigs (P < .01). Increasing the dietary P level improved most of the bone traits. Administration of pST reduced (P < .01) MM strength and percentage ash in the MM and femurs, but it increased (P < .01) femur diameter and wall thickness. Bone strength and percentage ash were reduced in pST-treated pigs fed low dietary P; however, at higher dietary P, these traits were similar to or greater than those in untreated pigs (pST x P, P < .10). Generally, bone traits in pST-treated pigs reached a plateau at higher dietary P concentrations and at higher P intakes compared with those in untreated pigs. These results indicate that pST administration increases the dietary P level that is required to maximize bone traits in finishing pigs.
Prediction of protein function in the absence of significant sequence similarity.

Tremendous progress in DNA sequencing has yielded the genomes of a host of important organisms. The utilisation of these resources requires understanding of the function of each gene. Standard methods of functional assignment involve sequence alignment to a gene of known function; however such methods often fail to find any significant matches. Here we discuss a number of recent alternative methods that may be of use when sequence alignment fails. Function can be defined in a number of ways including E.C. number and MIPS and KEGG functional classes. Phylogenetic profiles show the pattern of presence or absence of a protein between genomes. Protein-protein interactions can be identified by searching for interacting pairs of proteins that are fused to a single protein chain in another organism. The gene neighbour method uses the observation that if the genes that encode two proteins are close on a chromosome, the proteins tend to be functionally related. More general methods use sequence properties such as amino acid composition, mean hydrophobicity, predicted secondary structure and post-translational modification sites. Data mining methods devise rules in the form of IF. THEN statements that make predictions of function using sequence based attributes, predicted secondary structure and sequence similarity. Finally, structural features can be used, after modelling the structure of a protein from its sequence or solving its structure. Protein fold class can be strongly indicative of function, while other structural features, such as secondary structure content, cleft size and 3D structural motifs are also useful.
A Model-Based Consecutive Scanline Tracking Method for Extracting Vascular Networks From 2-D Digital Subtraction Angiograms

We propose a new model-based algorithm for the automated tracking of vascular networks in 2-D digital subtraction angiograms. Consecutive scanline profiles are fitted by a parametric imaging model to estimate local vessel center point, radius, edge locations and direction. An adaptive tracking strategy is applied with appropriate termination criteria to track each vessel segment. When tracking stops, to prevent premature termination and to detect bifurcations, a look ahead detection scheme is used to search for possible continuation points of the same vessel segment or those of its bifurcated segments. The proposed algorithm can automatically extract the majority of the vascular network without human interaction other than initializing the start point and direction. Compared to other tracking methods, the proposed method highlights accurate estimation of local vessel geometry. Accurate geometric information and a hierarchical vessel network are obtained which can be used for further quantitative analysis of arterial networks to obtain flow conductance estimates.
Wideband Dual-Mode Patch Antenna With Compact CPW Feeding Network for Pattern Diversity Application

A wideband microstrip patch antenna is proposed in this communication for pattern diversity application. Broadside and omnidirectional radiation patterns are generated by the odd and even modes of a single circular patch. A compact feeding network based on coplanar waveguide is designed to provide in-phase and out-of-phase excitations, which can excite the two modes in wide bandwidth. The size of the feeding network is only <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$35 \times 14.5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm<sup>2</sup>. A prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated and tested. The measured overlapped bandwidth (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\vert \text{S}_{11}\vert < -10$ </tex-math></inline-formula> dB and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\vert \text{S}_{22}\vert < -10$ </tex-math></inline-formula> dB) achieves 775 MHz (2.165–2.94 GHz) or 31% corresponding to the center frequency. The Port isolation is below −28 dB in the entire bandwidth.
Aging: Impact Upon Local Cerebral Oxygenation and Blood Flow With Acute Isovolemic Hemodilution

Data from the neurosurgical critical care arena demonstrate a correlation between cerebral oxygenation, survival, and cognitive function. Transfusion may increase and hemodilution decrease cerebral oxygenation. Both acute and chronic anemia have been associated with cognitive dysfunction. Aggressive blood conservation protocols have been instituted across all age groups without conclusive evidence for their impact upon outcome. Aged subjects are at the greatest risk of cognitive sequelae after major surgery associated with significant blood loss. We hypothesize that cerebral physiologic changes associated with “normal” aging may compromise cerebral oxygenation in the presence of severe anemia. Fischer 344 rats, the NIH National Institute of Aging normal aging rat model, underwent a stepwise isovolemic hemodilution protocol. Age groups (Age Grp) studied were as follows: Age Grp-A (3 months), n=14; Age Grp-B (9 to 12 months), n=14; and Age Grp-C (24 months), n=14. Brain oxygen tension (PBrO2), laser Doppler flow, and mean arterial pressure were measured. Final hemoglobin averaged 6.1±0.9 g/dL. PBrO2 levels decreased from a baseline of 18.1±4.1 to 17.5±6.8 mm Hg (P=0.49), and laser Doppler flow increased by 18±20% (P<0.0001) after hemodilution. Employing repeated measures multiple regression, Age Grp (P=0.30) was not a significant controlling covariate of PBrO2 in response to isovolemic hemodilution. PBrO2 levels were actually higher in Age Grp-C animals at all time points of the hemodilution protocol, although this was not statistically significant. Aged animals were also fully capable of mounting a robust local cerebral hyperemic response to the anemic challenge that was not separable from the response of younger animals.
Determinants of pH profile and acyl chain selectivity in lysosomal phospholipase A2[S]

Lysosomal phospholipase A2 (LPLA2) is characterized by broad substrate recognition, peak activity at acidic pH, and the transacylation of lipophilic alcohols, especially N-acetyl-sphingosine. Prior structural analysis of LPLA2 revealed the presence of an atypical acidic residue, Asp13, in the otherwise hydrophobic active site cleft. We hypothesized that Asp13 contributed to the pH profile and/or substrate preference of LPLA2 for unsaturated acyl chains. To test this hypothesis, we substituted Asp13 for alanine, cysteine, or phenylalanine; then, we monitored the formation of 1-O-acyl-N-acetylsphingosine to measure the hydrolysis of sn-1 versus sn-2 acyl groups on a variety of glycerophospholipids. Substitutions with Asp13 yielded significant enzyme activity at neutral pH (7.4) and perturbed the selectivity for mono- and double-unsaturated acyl chains. However, this position played no apparent role in selecting for either the acyl acceptor or the head group of the glycerophospholipid. Our modeling indicates that Asp13 and its substitutions contribute to the pH activity profile of LPLA2 and to acyl chain selectivity by forming part of a hydrophobic track occupied by the scissile acyl chain.
PAPR Reduction using Genetic Algorithm in OFDM System

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a multicarrier modulation technique that relies on orthogonality feature to increase transmission data rate while enhancing spectral efficiency at the same time. OFDM’s major issue is the high peaks or peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) that introduced due to summation of subcarriers’ signal. Many methods have been proposed to alleviate this issue, however, some may increase signal average power. In this paper, genetic algorithm (GA) technique is proposed for optimal solution in reducing PAPR of OFDM system. GA is a type of optimisation algorithm which is natural based selection and is used to find the optimal solution to the computational problem that maximises or minimises a particular function. The PAPR performance is compared and analysed based on the number of subcarriers and modulation size using complementary cumulative distribution function plots between the original OFDM and the proposed OFDM-GA method. By comparing with the original OFDM, simulation result demonstrates that the proposed method is able to reduce the PAPR around 50%.
Modelling electricity spot prices with a three-regime Markov model

Price formations in the spot market have received significant attention due to its great impact on delivered profits for the retailer and in turn, the pricing signal received by the consumer. The increased availability of supply and demand data since the shift towards deregulated industries has enabled the relationships between prices and their underpinning drivers to be better understood and analysed. In order to appropriately capture these stylised features, particularly mean-reversion, seasonality, volatility and short-lived spikes, a three-regime Markov switching model to predict hourly spot prices for the NSW region in Australia is proposed. The model's superior performance in comparison to similar works found in literature can be attributed to the lack of limitations placed on electricity spike behaviour and the consideration of reported intra-day, inter-day and annual seasonality.