Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sequences : A Combined Approach to Evaluate and Improve Whole Genome Sequence Comparisons and " Full-Length " cDNA data

Access the most recent version at doi: 2004 14: 406-413 Genome Res. Weissenbach and Marcel Salanoubat Cruaud, Francis Quétier, Claude Scarpelli, Vincent Schächter, Gary Temple, Michel Caboche, Jean Vanina Castelli, Jean-Marc Aury, Olivier Jaillon, Patrick Wincker, Christian Clepet, Manuella Menard, Corinne Genome Annotation Arabidopsis Sequences: A Combined Approach to Evaluate and Improve Whole Genome Sequence Comparisons and "Full-Length" cDNA
Prevalence and characteristics of children with mild intellectual disability in a French county.

BACKGROUND Studies conducted on mild intellectual disability (MID) in children are infrequent and the prevalence rates vary widely. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of MID in children in a French county (Isère), to describe the clinical signs and associated comorbidities, and to specify the aetiologies of this disability. METHODS The target population was comprised of the 15 100 children born in 1997 residing in Isère County, France, in 2008. Our goal was to find the children in this group with MID diagnosed between 9 and 13 years of age. MID was defined as an overall IQ score of between 50 and 69 [International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10)]; this definition was adjusted for the study by integrating confidence intervals so that the risk of IQ measurement relativity and possible discrepancy of scores could be taken into account. Children were identified through an administrative data source designed to assist disabled persons that contains health information, and an educational data source. Parents who agreed to let their children participate responded to an in-depth questionnaire on their child's medical and academic history. A genetic investigation was proposed for those children whose MID had an unknown aetiology. RESULTS The preliminary selection included 267 children, resulting in a prevalence rate of 18 per 1000 (CI [15.6; 19.9]), within the expected mean. Of these 267 cases, 181 families agreed to participate in the study (68%). MID more often affected boys [male gender ratio = 1.4 (CI [1.2; 1.6])], low socioeconomic groups, and families with a history of intellectual disability. The clinical signs and comorbidities associated with MID were very frequent, with 54% spoken language disorders and 10% pervasive developmental disorder. Only 9% of the children had undergone a genetic investigation before the study. The known aetiology rate for MID was 19% among all the children who had had genetic tests performed. CONCLUSION MID is an important public health issue based on its prevalence. The associated clinical signs and comorbidities may be warning signs of MID in case of learning difficulties. This study may help decision-makers to develop and organise screening and care for MID.
Searching for the origin of brain dysfunction in diabetic children: going back to the beginning

Neurocognitive dysfunction is a well-established complication of diabetes. Compared with their non-diabetic peers, children with diabetes are more likely to manifest poorer academic achievement (1), earn lower verbal intelligence test scores, and perform worse on measures of attention, executive function, mental flexibility, and psychomotor speed (2). Neural activity, assessed during electroencephalographic recordings at rest (3) or in response to sensory stimuli (4), is slower, as is regional cerebral blood flow (5). Structural damage within the central nervous system (CNS) is also present, as indexed by the increased prevalence of anomalies like mesial temporal sclerosis (6), reductions in gray matter density (7), and declines in certain neurometabolites, particularly choline and N-acetyl-aspartate, that are markers of neuronal damage and myelin abnormalities (8). These effects are particularly prominent in children who developed diabetes within the first 5–7 yr of life (2, 9) and appear relatively soon after diagnosis. Data from a large prospective study of newly diagnosed children have demonstrated delayed neurocognitive development after only 2 yr of diabetes (10); other, mostly cross-sectional, reports have noted clear evidence of mild cognitive dysfunction within the first 6 yr of diagnosis (4, 11–13). The etiology of these CNS anomalies remains poorly understood. For adults with type 1 diabetes of long duration, increasing evidence suggests that chronic hyperglycemia and/or the occurrence of microvascular and macrovascular complications can contribute to the development of brain dysfunction (14, 15). This is especially likely in poorly controlled patients whose neurocognitive status may decline gradually over time as the degree of cerebral hypoperfusion worsens and other metabolic changes occur (e.g., the intracellular accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (16)). However, there is as yet no support for the view that similar vascular or metabolic processes occur within the first several years after diagnosis in diabetic children and cause neurocognitive dysfunction. Although some writers continue to emphasize the deleterious direct effects of hypoglycemia on the CNS, particularly in childhood (17), most recent work has failed to find strong relationships between recurrent, moderately severe hypoglycemia and neurocognitive outcomes (11, 18–20). If neither hypoglycemic events nor hyperglycemic-induced microangiopathy are responsible for the emergence of brain dysfunction in pediatric diabetes, what is?
Glacial/interglacial changes in mineral dust and sea‐salt records in polar ice cores: Sources, transport, and deposition

Sea‐salt and mineral dust records as represented by Na+ and Ca2+ concentrations, respectively, in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores show pronounced glacial/interglacial variations. For the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), mineral dust (sea salt) concentrations in Greenland show an increase of a factor of approximately 80 (15) compared to the Holocene and significant shifts by a factor of 15 (5) during Dansgaard‐Oeschger events. In Antarctica the dust (sea salt) flux is enhanced by a factor of 15 (3) during the LGM compared to the Holocene, and variations by approximately a factor of 8 (1–2) exist in parallel to Antarctic warm events. Primary glacial dust sources are the Asian deserts for Greenland and Patagonia for Antarctica. Ice core evidence and model results show that both changes in source strength as well as atmospheric transport and lifetime contributed to the observed changes in Greenland ice cores. In Antarctica, changes in ice core fluxes are in large parts related to source variations both for sea salt and dust, where the formation of sea‐salt aerosol from sea ice may play a pivotal role. Summarizing our latest estimates on changes in sources, transport, and deposition, these processes are roughly able to explain the glacial increase in sea salt in both polar regions, while they fall short by at least a factor of 4–7 for mineral dust. Future improvements in model resolution and in the formulation of source and transport processes together with new ice core records, e.g., on dust size distributions, will eventually allow convergence of models and observations.
EEG-Based Control: Neurologic Mechanisms of Steady-State Self-Regulation.

Abstract : Neural self-regulation is key to successful application of EEG-based control for advanced interface technologies. In the EEG-based interface examined, the magnitude of the steady-state visual evoked response (SSVER) served as a control signal. The SSVER was identified and monitored using non-invasive scalp electrodes and advanced signal processing technology. With biofeedback, subjects learned to increase or decrease the magnitude of their SSVER to an evoking stimulus. These responses were translated into commands that controlled the operation of a physical device or computer program. The objective of this research was to identify some of the neurologic mechanisms involved with neural self-regulation. Using brain electroencephalographic (EEG) and evoked potential (EP) data, the character, timing and neuroanatomical significance of mental operations during task-related processes were examined.
Mechanisms of Chromosome Congression during Mitosis

Chromosome congression during prometaphase culminates with the establishment of a metaphase plate, a hallmark of mitosis in metazoans. Classical views resulting from more than 100 years of research on this topic have attempted to explain chromosome congression based on the balance between opposing pulling and/or pushing forces that reach an equilibrium near the spindle equator. However, in mammalian cells, chromosome bi-orientation and force balance at kinetochores are not required for chromosome congression, whereas the mechanisms of chromosome congression are not necessarily involved in the maintenance of chromosome alignment after congression. Thus, chromosome congression and maintenance of alignment are determined by different principles. Moreover, it is now clear that not all chromosomes use the same mechanism for congressing to the spindle equator. Those chromosomes that are favorably positioned between both poles when the nuclear envelope breaks down use the so-called “direct congression” pathway in which chromosomes align after bi-orientation and the establishment of end-on kinetochore-microtubule attachments. This favors the balanced action of kinetochore pulling forces and polar ejection forces along chromosome arms that drive chromosome oscillatory movements during and after congression. The other pathway, which we call “peripheral congression”, is independent of end-on kinetochore microtubule-attachments and relies on the dominant and coordinated action of the kinetochore motors Dynein and Centromere Protein E (CENP-E) that mediate the lateral transport of peripheral chromosomes along microtubules, first towards the poles and subsequently towards the equator. How the opposite polarities of kinetochore motors are regulated in space and time to drive congression of peripheral chromosomes only now starts to be understood. This appears to be regulated by position-dependent phosphorylation of both Dynein and CENP-E and by spindle microtubule diversity by means of tubulin post-translational modifications. This so-called “tubulin code” might work as a navigation system that selectively guides kinetochore motors with opposite polarities along specific spindle microtubule populations, ultimately leading to the congression of peripheral chromosomes. We propose an integrated model of chromosome congression in mammalian cells that depends essentially on the following parameters: (1) chromosome position relative to the spindle poles after nuclear envelope breakdown; (2) establishment of stable end-on kinetochore-microtubule attachments and bi-orientation; (3) coordination between kinetochore- and arm-associated motors; and (4) spatial signatures associated with post-translational modifications of specific spindle microtubule populations. The physiological consequences of abnormal chromosome congression, as well as the therapeutic potential of inhibiting chromosome congression are also discussed.
Multimodal Biometrics as Attacks Measure in Biometrics Systems

Multimodal systems are considered to be the most dependable among the other types of biometric systems because it is more difficult to forge multiple traits than a single one. Hence, having a fingerprint multi-algorithmic system would not make authentication more secure considering an attacker trying to gain unauthorized access provided with a fingerprint replica. Therefore, multimodal systems are widely deployed and the most generally accepted. Therefore, in this review paper we proposes an integration of fingerprint and face recognition systems to provide anti-spoofing and replay attacks measures making it difficult for an impersonator/imposter to steal multiple biometric traits of a genuine user.
Novel concepts in airway inflammation and remodelling in asthma

The hallmark pathological features of asthma include airway eosinophilic inflammation and structural changes (remodelling) which are associated with an irreversible loss in lung function that tracks from childhood to adulthood. In parallel with changes in function, pathological abnormalities occur early, during the pre-school years, are established by school age and subsequently remain (even though symptoms may remit for periods during adulthood). Given the equal importance of inflammation and remodelling in asthma pathogenesis, there is a significant disparity in studies undertaken to investigate the contribution of each. The majority focus on the role of inflammation, and although novel therapeutics such as those targeted against T-helper cell type 2 (Th2) mediators have arisen, it is apparent that targeting inflammation alone has not allowed disease modification. Therefore, unless airway remodelling is addressed for future therapeutic strategies, it is unlikely that we will progress towards a cure for asthma. Having acknowledged these limitations, the focus of this review is to highlight the gaps in our current knowledge about the mechanisms underlying airway remodelling, the relationships between remodelling, inflammation and function, remodelling and clinical phenotypes, and the importance of utilising innovative and realistic pre-clinical models to uncover effective, disease-modifying therapeutic strategies. We discuss mechanisms of airway inflammation and remodelling in asthma to uncover effective therapeutic strategies http://ow.ly/SsXiO
Measuring and modeling urban dynamics: impact on quality of life and hydrology

The objectives and methodology of the MAMUD research project are presented in this paper. MAMUD is an acronym for Measuring and Modeling Urban Dynamics: Impact on Quality of Live and Hydrology. The research will be conducted over a four year period (2007-2011). The major goal is to investigate how earth observation can contribute to a better monitoring, modeling and understanding of urban dynamics, and its impacts on the urban and suburban environment.
Special Hearing Aid Considerations in Elderly Patients with Auditory Processing Disorders

Elderly individuals often have more deficits in speech understanding than would be expected in younger individuals with the same degree of hearing loss. Such deficits may be attributed to the complex nature of age-related changes that occur throughout the central auditory nervous system and are generally referred to as auditory processing disorders. These deficits have been related to poorer performance with hearing aids, reduced satisfaction with hearing aids, and reduced prognosis for successful benefit from hearing aid use. Intervention strategies that enhance signal to noise ratio are often successful in overcoming the debilitating effects of auditory processing disorder in the elderly.
The peri-implant esthetics: An unforgettable entity

Esthetic demands in today's world of dentistry are scaling new heights, and are driven by the zest to look beautiful. The soft tissue esthetics around implants is the foci of attention, which, if failed to meet, leads to unacceptable esthetic failure. The aim of this article is to give a brief overview of the various vital parameters influencing the esthetics governing the peri-implant area.
AMPLIMODES: symmetry‐mode analysis on the Bilbao Crystallographic Server

AMPLIMODES is a computer program available on the Bilbao Crystallographic Server that can perform a symmetry-mode analysis of any distorted structure of displacive type. The analysis consists in decomposing the symmetry-breaking distortion present in the distorted structure into contributions from different symmetry-adapted modes. Given the high- and the low-symmetry structures, AMPLIMODES determines the atomic displacements that relate them, defines a basis of symmetry-adapted modes, and calculates the amplitudes and polarization vectors of the distortion modes of different symmetry frozen in the structure. The program uses a mode parameterization that is as close as possible to the crystallographic conventions, expressing all quantities for the asymmetric unit of the low-symmetry structure. Distorted structures are often related to their higher-symmetry counterparts by temperature- and/or pressure-driven phase transitions, ferroic phase transitions being a particular example. The automatic symmetry-mode analysis performed by AMPLIMODES can be very useful for establishing the driving mechanisms of such structural phase transitions or the fundamental instabilities at the origin of the distorted phases.
A Second Derivative SQP Method: Global Convergence

Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) methods form a class of highly efficient algorithms for solving nonlinearly constrained optimization problems. Although second derivative information may often be calculated, there is little practical theory that justifies exact-Hessian SQP methods. In particular, the resulting quadratic programming (QP) subproblems are often nonconvex, and thus finding their global solutions may be computationally nonviable. This paper presents a second derivative SQP method based on quadratic subproblems that are either convex, and thus may be solved efficiently, or need not be solved globally. Additionally, an explicit descent-constraint is imposed on certain QP subproblems, which “guides” the iterates through areas in which nonconvexity is a concern. Global convergence of the resulting algorithm is established.
License Plate Detection Based on Sparse Auto-Encoder

In modern society, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) plays an important role in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). In order to recognize the license plate efficiently, the location of the license plate must be detected first. In consequence, the detection of the license plate becomes a crucial stage in an ALPR system, affecting the performance of the whole system enormously. In this paper, we propose a novel method based on Sparse Auto-Encoder (SAE) to detect the vehicle license plate. The proposed method consists of three main stages: (1) A block-based image segmentation technique used for dividing the image into several blocks. (2) Deep learning model (SAE) trained for candidate block selection. (3) Accurate extraction of the license plate. Unlike other existing license plate detection methods, the proposed algorithm use a deep learning model to learn the features of the license plate. Experiment results demonstrate that our method can detect various types of license plates with a high accuracy and a relatively short running time.
The Incidence and Severity of Physical Pain Symptoms in Marfan Syndrome: A Survey of 993 Patients

Objective:To characterize the incidence, severity, quality, and treatment of pain in a large cohort of Marfan patients. Materials and Methods:A web-based survey was distributed to all individuals on the Marfan Foundation listserv. Respondents who endorsed a diagnosis of Marfan syndrome were queried as to the presence, frequency, severity, location, and quality of their pain and were asked to describe the specific treatments used to manage pain. The primary outcome was the presence of pain symptoms in respondents during the 7-day period preceding completion of the survey. Results:Of the 993 patients with a verified diagnosis of Marfan syndrome, 67% (95% confidence interval, 64%-69%) reported pain in the preceding 7 days. Median (interquartile range) “average daily pain” was 4 (3 to 5) on the numeric rating scale; “worst pain” was 7 (5 to 8). “Worst pain experienced” was ≥4 in 93% of respondents. Analgesic use to control pain related to Marfan syndrome was reported in 56% of respondents with 55% reporting <50% pain relief with this modality. Few patients underwent interventional procedures for pain control, despite intractable back and joint pain being common. A majority (52%) of respondents rated “chronic pain care” from their physicians as either “poor” or “fair. ” Discussion:Our findings suggest that pain symptoms in Marfan patients are underestimated and likely undertreated. We propose a need for improved patient and medical provider awareness of pain management options in this population, including the development of effective algorithms to treat pain in Marfan patients.
Smoke Detection Alert System via Mobile Application

Nowadays, security is very important, everyone wants to secure their assets at home since the occurrence of fire hazard is unpredictable. Fire can bring a significant threat to human life and property. Fire hazard can be greatly reduced if early warning of the fire can be detected. Therefore, the system with advance technology is needed so user does not worry when getting away from their home. The purpose of this system is to provide home security with the smoke sensor device, which able to detect smoke and give alert to users by notifying the users via SMS (Short Messaging System) together with the sound of an alarm. The authorized users able to activate and deactivated the system via the mobile application based on Android platform. Arduino Uno (R3) Board is used as the hardware platform of the system. It is very significant to have the apps nowadays because its mobility and convenience to users. Besides that, it is highly importance as early detection of smoke which can prevent economical, ecological and human-life endangering threats from fire hazard.
ffi cient cost sharing with a cheap residual claimant ∗ August 2007 1 The residual claimant approach

1 The residual claimant approach The residual claimant is a simple way to align monetary incentives and efficiency. Its most familiar application is to the rich class of Vicrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) mechanisms. If individual preferences are quasi-linear in money (or any other numeraire) a VCG mechanism takes the "efficient" decision, except for the fact that the budget imbalance must be covered by a residual claimant ([? , 7]). Thus we achieve full efficiency (Pareto optimality) in the augmented economy where the claimant's preferences are taken into account, and he only cares about cash transfers. In this case we speak of residual efficiency in the initial economy. I submit that the realism of the residual claimant idea hinges around the size of the cash transfer he or she receives. If the residual claimant (thereafter RC) pockets a surplus commensurate to-or larger than-that available in the economy, the cost of generating the efficient decision is prohibitive: the RC receives a significant rent, and the choice of the entity playing the role of RC is a matter of dispute. These difficulties are amplified if the RC must finance a substantial deficit, in effect paying out an additional rent to the participants: now it may not even be feasible to find an entity willing to play the RC role. I propose a canonical mechanism, called residual * , to run a one commodity convex technology, and argue that its residual claimant is cheap for many specifications of the technology. The residual * mechanism is simpler than a VCG mechanism: individual messages are one-dimensional "demands", namely a request for a certain amount of output, which the mechanism must meet. Its incentives properties are weaker: individual demands are typically not dominant strategies. However for any profile of convex quasi-linear preferences, the non cooperative analysis of the demand game is quite straightforward, because it is a potential game ([15]). Even when information on preferences is entirely private, most familiar learning algorithms such as fictitious play and best reply dynamics converge to a Nash * This is an extended abstract of my paper "Efficient and almost budget-balanced cost sharing", available at