Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[All together now: long term potentiation in the human cortex].

Introduccion. La potenciacion a largo plazo -long term potentiation (LTP)- se define como un aumento duradero en la comunicacion sinaptica entre dos neuronas como consecuencia de una estimulacion electrica de alta frecuencia. Este ajuste en la eficacia sinaptica es el proceso fisiologico que sustenta el aprendizaje y la memoria. Sin embargo, aunque este fenomeno se ha investigado durante mas de 30 anos en modelos animales, son pocos los estudios que han evaluado la existencia de este mismo fenomeno en la corteza humana. Desarrollo. La presente revision pretende ilustrar el estado del fenomeno de la LTP recientemente descrito en humanos y la posibilidad de atribuir los mecanismos de la LTP descritos en modelos animales a la corteza humana. Conclusion. Un conocimiento detallado de la plasticidad sinaptica facilitaria la traduccion de una gran cantidad de informacion fisiologica y molecular y produciria un importante impacto en el diseno y el desarrollo de agentes farmacologicos planteados para mejorar distintos procesos cognitivos. Finalmente, se reconoce la necesidad de investigar en mayor profundidad esta area particularmente importante de la neuroplasticidad.
Obesity is a strong predictor of worse clinical outcomes and treatment responses in early rheumatoid arthritis: results from the SWEFOT trial

Objectives The aim of this paper was to analyse the impact of obesity, in addition to known predictors, on disease outcome in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Body mass index (BMI) was available in 260 patients from the Swedish pharmacotherapy trial (SWEFOT). Differences in disease activity (DAS28), functional impairment (HAQ), pain (Visual Analogue Scale, VAS-pain) and radiographic damage were evaluated over 24 months between BMI categories (obese BMI >30, n=43; overweight BMI=25–29.9, n=74; normal BMI <25, n=143) using non-parametric testing. Predictors of European League Against Rheumatism non-remission (DAS28 ≥2.6) at 24 months of follow-up were evaluated using binary univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results Obesity at baseline was associated with worse continuous-scale clinical outcomes over 24 months (DAS28, HAQ and VAS-pain at last visit: obese vs normal: p<0.001; obese vs overweight: p<0.05). Furthermore, obese patients compared with non-obese patients had significantly greater odds of non-remission at 24 months (adjusted OR (aOR) 5.2; 95% CI 1.8 to 15.2). Other independent predictors were female sex (aOR 2.6; 95% CI 1.1 to 5.8), current smoking (aOR 2.6; 95% CI 1.1 to 6.3) and HAQ (per-unit increase, aOR 1.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 3.4). The pattern was similar among seropositive and seronegative patients; and in the subgroups of methotrexate responders and patients randomised at 3 months to add-on of sulfasalazine+hydroxychloroquine, although not significant with add-on of infliximab. Obesity had no independent association to radiographic progression. Conclusions In this early RA trial reflecting today’s standard treatment, obesity, in addition to sex, smoking and functional impairment strongly lowered the chance of attaining good clinical outcomes, including remission, today’s treatment goal. This highlights the importance of considering lifestyle modification as one of the cornerstones of RA care. Trial registration number NCT00764725; Post-results. WHO database at the Karolinska University Hospital: CT20080004.
On the Theory of Atmospheric Development

The baroclinic instability problem is formulated as an initial value problem to evaluate the effects of the initial configuration of the wave perturbation. The vertical shape of the initial perturbation is found to be as important as its wavelength in determining the energy conversions during the early stages of its development. The general character of the solution of the initial value problem is compared with normal mode studies of baroclinic instability. It is concluded that the initial value formulation bridges the gap between hydrodynamic stability theory and synoptic studies of cyclone development in the atmosphere.
Sustainable development of rubber plantations: challenges and opportunities

Plantations of all major tropical commodities are expanding quickly, creating opportunities for development and raising concerns about their impacts on the environment, landscapes and livelihoods. Natural rubber is a particularly interesting example with respect to sustainability objectives given it being a strategic commodity to support transportation and new forms of mobility. Furthermore, its world production originates at 90% from millions of smallholders. It is therefore key to the sustainable development of commodity producing countries and the commodity value chains. Global rubber demand has risen rapidly during the last decade, driven by economic development, especially in China. This expansion is expected to continue (albeit at a decelerating rate) and it will continue to be driven by the automotive industry and by the growing importance of natural rubber in the health sector. Various authors have raised concerns on rubber cultivation and expansion and its impact on livelihoods and ecosystems. The purpose of this paper, a collaboration between The Forests, Trees and Agroforestry research program of the CGIAR (FTA) and the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), is to consider rubber production in relation to its sustainability and challenges in order to identify how it can best contribute to sustainable development in a context of climate change. We first identify some main “ su stainability hotspots” that are where the challenges and opportunities are the greatest. We then consider how they can be addressed and propose a way forward to address them in a holistic way.
MIT Open Access Articles Quantitative phase contrast imaging of THz electric fields in a dielectric waveguide

: We apply phase contrast imaging to enable, sharply focused visualization of terahertz waves in electro-optic media. The approach allows quantitative characterization of THz waves in the 60 GHz – 4.5 THz frequency range in a thin dielectric slab and in-focus observation of THz waves in polaritonic structures.
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Post-Keynesian macroeconomics faces several challenges. The labor market and the supply side, Örst, have not been getting the attention that they deserve in post-Keynesian growth theory. The failings of the Lucastype ímicroeconomic foundationsí, second, must not lead to a neglect of microeconomic behavior. Convincing macroeconomic theories must recognize and address the connections between macroeconomic relations and the microeconomic behavior whose aggregate manifestation the relations represent. Microeconomic behavior, third, takes place within an institutional structure that shapes economic behavior and economic outcomes. Macroeconomic theory must be both behavioral and structuralist.
Mechanisms of Increased Susceptibility of Immature and Weaned Pigs to Escherichia coli Heat-Stable Enterotoxin

ABSTRACT: Pigs demonstrate an increased sensitivity and susceptibility to Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin (STa) in the 1st wk of life and immediately after weaning. To determine the possible mechanisms for this increased susceptibility, we compared STa binding, guanylate cyclase activation, and photoaffinity cross-linking to porcine jejunal brush border membranes prepared from immature (≤ wk of age) versus adult pigs as well as 3-wk-old weaned versus unweaned pigs. The STa binding capacity of immature pigs was nearly twice that of adult pigs (11.73 ± 1.52 versus 6.00 ± 0.96 x 10-11 mol/L, p < 0.001), and the STa binding capacity of weaned pigs was nearly three times greater than that of unweaned pigs (17.48 ± 2.10 versus 4.86 ± 1.02 x 10-11 mol/L, p < 0.001). Scatchard analysis suggested a single class of STa receptor, with an association of binding constant of ∼109 L/mol at all ages. Maximum guanylate cyclase response (expressed as pmol cyclic GMP generated/mg brush border membrane protein/min) was greater in immature versus adult pigs (1312 ± 831 versus 320 ± 92, p < 0.02). Weaned pigs had a greater maximum guanylate cyclase activation than unweaned pigs (1126 ± 692 versus 624 ± 298); however, this difference was not statistically significant. Autoradiograms demonstrated specific cross-linking of 125I-STa to a number of distinct radiolabeled bands (62, 66, 84, 92, 160, and 165 kD). There was a difference in the size and trypsin sensitivity of these radiolabeled bands as a function of age and weaning. Treatment with trypsin decreased the intensity of the 160 to 165-kD bands while increasing the intensity of the 62− to 66− and 84− to 92-kD bands. These differences in STa binding, guanylate cyclase activation, and STa receptor size may increase the susceptibility of pigs during the 1st wk of life and at weaning to STa-mediated diarrheal disease.
Developing wearable bio-feedback systems: a general-purpose platform

Microprocessors, even those in PocketPCs, have adequate power for many real-time biofeedback applications for disabled people. This power allows design of portable or wearable devices that are smaller and lighter, and that have longer battery life compared to notebook-based systems. In this paper, we discuss a general-purpose hardware/software solution based on industrial or consumer devices and a C++ framework. Its flexibility and modularity make it adaptable to a wide range of situations. Moreover, its design minimizes system requirements and programming effort, thus allowing efficient systems to be built quickly and easily. Our design has been used to build two brain computer interface systems that were easily ported from the Win32 platform.
Electromagnetic Tracking for Image-Guided Abdominal Procedures: Overall System and Technical Issues

This paper summarizes our work over the past several years in developing an image-guided system based on electromagnetic tracking for abdominal interventions. The paper begins with a review of computer-aided surgery and electromagnetic tracking. We next describe our image-guided system along with phantom and animal studies. We then present some technical issues in improving accuracy including pivot calibration, dynamic referencing, and registration using two 5 degree-of-freedom sensors. Electromagnetic tracking has great potential for assisting physicians in precision placement of instruments during minimally invasive interventions. However, the accuracy of these systems needs to be validated in the clinical environment and issues such as respiratory motion and organ deformation need to be addressed
A D-vine copula-based quantile regression towards merging satellite precipitation products over a rugged topography: A case study at the upper Tekeze Atbara Basin of the Nile Basin

Precipitation is a vital key element in various studies of hydrology, flood prediction, drought monitoring, and water resources management. The main challenge in conducting studies over remote regions with rugged topography is that weather stations are usually scarce and unevenly distributed. However, open-sourced satellite-based precipitation products 25 (SPPs) with the suitable resolution provide alternative options in these data-scarce regions, typically associated with high uncertainty. To reduce the uncertainty of individual satellite products, we have proposed a D-vine Copula-based Quantile Regression (DVQR) model to merge multiple SPPs with rain gauges (RGs). DVQR model was employed during the 2001-2017 summer monsoon seasons and compared with two other quantile regression methods based on the Multivariate Linear (MLQR) and the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMAQ), respectively, and two traditional merging methods: the simple 30 modeling average (SMA) and the one-outlier-removed average (OORA) using the descriptive and categorical statistics. Four SPPs have considered in this study namely: Tropical Applications of Meteorology using SATellite (TAMSAT v3.1), the Climate Prediction Center MORPHing Product Climate Data Record (CMORPH-CDR), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG v06) and Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Network (PERSIANN-CDR). The bilinear (BIL) interpolation technique was applied to
Location of procollagen in chick corneal and tendon fibroblasts with ferritin-conjugated antibodies

Three distinct antiprocollagen preparations were characterized and used in immunocytochemical staining of chick embryo corneal and tendon cells. The several ferritin-conjugated antibody preparations permitted similar location of procollagen in the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and in Golgi elements in both cell types. The ability to demonstrate and interpret specific ferritin staining was dependent on the extent of membrane breakage in each of those organelles, coupled with adequate retention of cell morphology. Corneal fibroblasts appeared to suffer more extensive intracellular membrane damage under controlled conditions of homogenization than tendon fibroblasts, facilitating the identification of procollagen in Golgi vacuoles of these cells. None of the labeled material appeared to by cytoplasmic in origin since ferritin was observed in the cytoplasm only in the vicinity of Golgi elements that were extensively broken. This study extends previous immunological evidence for the presence of procollagen in the Golgi complex and calls attention to the problems to be encountered in locating the antigen in small Golgi vesicles and lamellae.
Topology/Geometry Cut loci in lens manifolds

Cut loci in geometric three-manifolds equipped with their natural metrics are an interesting source of spines with small number of vertices. An application of this principle to lens manifolds reveals an interplay between their geometry and topology, combinatorial types of convex hulls of group orbits, and estimates of rotation distance between certain triangulations. To cite this article: S. Anisov, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 342 (2006). 
Molecular heterogeneity in pediatric malignant rhabdoid tumors in Molecular heterogeneity in pediatric malignant rhabdoid tumors in patients with multi-organ involvement patients with multi-organ involvement

Rhabdoid tumors (RTs) of the brain (atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor; AT/RT) and extracranial sites (most often the kidney; RTK) are malignant tumors predominantly occurring in children, frequently those with SMARCB1 germline alterations. Here we present data from seven RTs from three pediatric patients who all had multi-organ involvement. The tumors were analyzed using a multimodal molecular approach, which included exome sequencing of tumor and germline comparator and RNA sequencing and DNA array-based methylation pro ﬁ ling of tumors. SMARCB1 germline alterations were identi ﬁ ed in all patients and in all tumors. We observed a second hit in SMARCB1 via chr22 loss of heterozygosity. By methylation pro ﬁ ling, all tumors were classi ﬁ ed as rhabdoid tumors with a corresponding subclassi ﬁ cation within the MYC, TYR
Intraoperative and postoperative analgesic efficacy and adverse effects of intrathecal opioids in patients undergoing cesarean section with spinal anesthesia: a qualitative and quantitative systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

SPINAL anesthesia is commonly used for cesarean section, and it has become a popular practice to add opioids to spinal solutions to enhance and prolong intraoperative and postoperative analgesia. Morphine and fentanyl are the opioids most often used for this purpose, but there is not a general consensus about the benefits of the various regimens, and the incidence of side effects with different opioids and doses is controversial. Recently, a number of systematic reviews have been published in the field of pain and perioperative medicine. The aim of a systematic review is to summarize available information from controlled clinical trials to produce evidence-based estimates of the true clinical effect of an intervention. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of intrathecal opioids added to spinal anesthesia on intraoperative and postoperative pain and to evaluate adverse effects in patients scheduled for cesarean section, using evidence from all relevant randomized controlled and blinded trials.
Topographic analysis of individual activation patterns in medial frontal cortex in schizophrenia

Individual variability in the location of neural activations poses a unique problem for neuroimaging studies employing group averaging techniques to investigate the neural bases of cognitive and emotional functions. This may be especially challenging for studies examining patient groups, which often have limited sample sizes and increased intersubject variability. In particular, medial frontal cortex (MFC) dysfunction is thought to underlie performance monitoring dysfunction among patients with schizophrenia, yet previous studies using group averaging to compare schizophrenic patients to controls have yielded conflicting results. To examine individual activations in MFC associated with two aspects of performance monitoring, interference and error processing, functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while 17 patients with schizophrenia and 21 healthy controls (HCs) performed an event‐related version of the multisource interference task. Comparisons of averaged data revealed few differences between the groups. By contrast, topographic analysis of individual activations for errors showed that control subjects exhibited activations spanning across both posterior and anterior regions of MFC while patients primarily activated posterior MFC, possibly reflecting an impaired emotional response to errors in schizophrenia. This discrepancy between topographic and group‐averaged results may be due to the significant dispersion among individual activations, particularly in HCs, highlighting the importance of considering intersubject variability when interpreting the medial frontal response to error commission. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Ameliorative effects of exogenous gonadotropins on reproductive profiles of replacement gilts with delayed puberty in a farm in Thailand

This study was to investigate the effect of gonadotropins on reproductive profiles of replacement gilts with delayed puberty. Totally, 136 Landrace × Yorkshire crossbred gilts, were categorized into control (n ＝ 58) and treatment (n ＝ 78) groups. Gonadotropins (400 U eCG plus 200 IU hCG) were administered in treatment group only. The results revealed that gilts in treatment group had higher number of gilts with estrus (92.3 vs 25.9%, P ＜ 0.001), shorter onset to estrus (4.7 ± 0.3 vs 9.0 ± 0.8 d, P ＜ 0.001), higher number of dominant follicles (18.0 ± 0.2 vs 13.2 ± 0.3 follicles, P ＜ 0.001), and higher farrowing rate (87.5 vs 53.3%, P ＝ 0.002) than those in control group. In conclusion, gonadotropins containing 400 IU eCG plus 200 IU hCG could improve reproductive profiles in replacement gilts with delayed puberty.
Evaluation of positive inotropic activity induced by a triazole derivativeusing an isolated heart model.

There are some reports which indicate that several triazole derivatives have inotropic activity; however, the cellular site and mechanism of action at cardiovascular level is very confusing. In order, to have a clear understanding of these phenomena, a triazole derivative was synthesized to evaluate its biological activity on left ventricular pressure and characterize the molecular mechanism. The Langendorff technique was used to measure changes on perfusion pressure and coronary resistance in an isolated rat heart model in absence or presence of the triazole derivative. Additionally, the molecular mechanism involved in the inotropic activity induced by the triazole derivative was evaluated by measuring left ventricular pressure in absence or presence of the following compounds; prazosin, metoprolol, nifedipine, indomethacin and the compound BM-531. The results showed that the triazole derivative significantly increased the perfusion pressure and coronary resistance in comparison with the control conditions. Other data indicate that the triazole derivative increase left ventricular pressure in a dose-dependent manner (0.001 to 100 nM); nevertheless, this phenomenon was significantly inhibited only by indomethacin and BM-531 at a dose of 1 nM. Therefore, experimental results suggest that positive inotropic activity induced by the triazole derivative is via activation of TXA2. This phenomenon is particularly interesting because the inotropic activity induced by the triazole derivative involves a molecular mechanism different in comparison with other positive inotropic drugs.
Puffery in Advertisements: The Effects of Media Context, Communication Norms, and Consumer Knowledge

Ads often contain puffery—product descriptions that purport to be important but actually provide little if any meaningful information. Consumers’ reactions to these descriptions depend on whether they perceive themselves to be more or less knowledgeable about the product than others whom the ad is specifically intended to influence. When an ad appears in a professional magazine that is read primarily by experts in the product domain, puffery generally increases the ad’s effectiveness. This is also true when the ad appears in a popular magazine but readers perceive themselves to know less about the product than consumers at large. If readers believe they know as much as or more than general consumers, however, puffery decreases the ad’s effectiveness. In addition, the media context in which an ad is encountered has a direct effect on judgments by consumers who perceive themselves to have little knowledge about the type of product being advertised.
Incremental polyphonic audio to score alignment using beat tracking for singer robots

We aim at developing a singer robot capable of listening to music with its own “ears” and interacting with a human's musical performance. Such a singer robot requires at least three functions: listening to the music, understanding what position in the music is being performed, and generating a singing voice. In this paper, we focus on the second function, that is, the capability to align an audio signal to its musical score represented symbolically. Issues underlying the score alignment problem are: (1) diversity in the sounds of various musical instruments, (2) difference between the audio signal and the musical score, (3) fluctuation in tempo of the musical performance. Our solutions to these issues are as follows: (1) the design of features based on a chroma vector in the 12-tone model and onset of the sound, (2) defining the rareness for each tone based on the idea that scarcely used tone is salient in the audio signal, and (3) the use of a switching Kalman filter for robust tempo estimation. The experimental result shows that our score alignment method improves the average of cumulative absolute errors in score alignment by 29% using 100 popular music tunes compared to the beat tracking without score alignment.