Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human flexor reflexes

One type of flexor reflex, that recorded from the tibialis anterior muscle in response to electrical stimulation of the sole of the foot, was studied in normal subjects and patients with several neurological disorders. Normally this reflex consists of two components, the second of which is related to the actual withdrawal. The first component, normally of lower threshold, is difficult to evoke in patients with chronic spinal cord or discrete cerebral lesions, whereas it has an unusually low threshold and is very clearly seen in those with Parkinson's disease. In patients with spinal cord disease, the exaggerated flexor reflexes are seen at long latencies after relatively small stimuli. During the early phase of recovery from spinal transection, both components may be seen and are, therefore, spinal in origin. Studies of patients with the sensory neuropathy of Friedreich's ataxia suggest that the afferent fibres responsible for these flexor reflexes are the small myelinated fibres. Recovery curves demonstrate very long-lasting changes in flexor reflex excitability in normal subjects and patients with `spasticity' from spinal lesions. This differs in patients with `spasticity' from lesions rostral to the brain-stem. Examples in man of such physiological phenomena as reciprocal inhibition, local sign, habituation, temporal and spatial summation are discussed.
Variation in Molybdenum Content Across Broadly Distributed Populations of Arabidopsis thaliana Is Controlled by a Mitochondrial Molybdenum Transporter (MOT1)

Molybdenum (Mo) is an essential micronutrient for plants, serving as a cofactor for enzymes involved in nitrate assimilation, sulfite detoxification, abscisic acid biosynthesis, and purine degradation. Here we show that natural variation in shoot Mo content across 92 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions is controlled by variation in a mitochondrially localized transporter (Molybdenum Transporter 1 - MOT1) that belongs to the sulfate transporter superfamily. A deletion in the MOT1 promoter is strongly associated with low shoot Mo, occurring in seven of the accessions with the lowest shoot content of Mo. Consistent with the low Mo phenotype, MOT1 expression in low Mo accessions is reduced. Reciprocal grafting experiments demonstrate that the roots of Ler-0 are responsible for the low Mo accumulation in shoot, and GUS localization demonstrates that MOT1 is expressed strongly in the roots. MOT1 contains an N-terminal mitochondrial targeting sequence and expression of MOT1 tagged with GFP in protoplasts and transgenic plants, establishing the mitochondrial localization of this protein. Furthermore, expression of MOT1 specifically enhances Mo accumulation in yeast by 5-fold, consistent with MOT1 functioning as a molybdate transporter. This work provides the first molecular insight into the processes that regulate Mo accumulation in plants and shows that novel loci can be detected by association mapping.
Research on TCP Initial Sequence Number Prediction Method Based on Adding-weight Chaotic Time Series

Initiating TCP sequence number spoofing through predicting TCP initial sequence number has become a hidden trouble on TCP protocol. There are a variety of TCP ISN prediction methods. Based on the analysis of pseudo-random distribution of ISN in TCP protocol stack, this paper brings chaotic adding-weight dynamic local predict model in TCP ISN prediction by setting up the weights of the neighboring phase point in chaos time series. The experiment results indicate that the predict algorithm has a high predict accuracy, and the method also increases the feasibility of TCP reset attack.
Evidence for novel age-dependent network structures as a putative primo vascular network in the dura mater of the rat brain

With chromium-hematoxylin staining, we found evidence for the existence of novel age-dependent network structures in the dura mater of rat brains. Under stereomicroscopy, we noticed that chromium-hematoxylin-stained threadlike structures, which were barely observable in 1-week-old rats, were networked in specific areas of the brain, for example, the lateral lobes and the cerebella, in 4-week-old rats. In 7-week-old rats, those structures were found to have become larger and better networked. With phase contrast microscopy, we found that in 1-week-old rats, chromium-hematoxylin-stained granules were scattered in the same areas of the brain in which the network structures would later be observed in the 4- and 7-week-old rats. Such age-dependent network structures were examined by using optical and transmission electron microscopy, and the following results were obtained. The scattered granules fused into networks with increasing age. Cross-sections of the age-dependent network structures demonstrated heavily-stained basophilic substructures. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the basophilic substructures to be clusters with high electron densities consisting of nanosized particles. We report these data as evidence for the existence of age-dependent network structures in the dura mater, we discuss their putative functions of age-dependent network structures beyond the general concept of the dura mater as a supporting matrix.
An Automated Approach for Complementing Ad Blockers’ Blacklists

Abstract Privacy in the Web has become a major concern resulting in the popular use of various tools for blocking tracking services. Most of these tools rely on manually maintained blacklists, which need to be kept up-to-date to protect Web users’ privacy efficiently. It is challenging to keep pace with today’s quickly evolving advertisement and analytics landscape. In order to support blacklist maintainers with this task, we identify a set of Web traffic features for identifying privacyintrusive services. Based on these features, we develop an automatic approach that learns the properties of advertisement and analytics services listed by existing blacklists and proposes new services for inclusion on blacklists. We evaluate our technique on real traffic traces of a campus network and find in the order of 200 new privacy-intrusive Web services that are not listed by the most popular Firefox plug-in Adblock Plus. The proposed Web traffic features are easy to derive, allowing a distributed implementation of our approach.
Interruption of patent ductus arteriosus in children: robotically assisted versus videothoracoscopic surgery.

OBJECTIVES If robotic surgery is to be widely used, the risks must be equivalent to those of standard techniques. This study analyzes the feasibility, safety, and efficiency of a robotically assisted technique for patent ductus arteriosus closure and compares the results with those of the videothoracoscopic technique. METHODS During 2000, 56 children weighing 2.3 to 57 kg (mean, 12 kg) underwent surgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus. They were distributed into 2 groups: 28 patients (group 1) underwent the videothoracoscopic technique, and 28 (group 2) underwent a robotically assisted (Zeus; Computer Motion, Inc, Goleta, Calif) approach. Operative and postoperative surgical data were studied. RESULTS Operative time was significantly higher in the robotically assisted group. One conversion in videothoracoscopy was necessary, but no thoracotomy was required. Three persistent shunts were detected at postoperative echocardiography and were treated by means of application of a new clip with videothoracoscopy (1 in group 1 and 2 in group 2). No permanent laryngeal nerve injury and no hemorrhage were noted. The mean hospital stay was 3 days in both groups. CONCLUSIONS Robotically assisted closure of a patent ductus arteriosus is comparable with closure by means of the videothoracoscopic technique. However, it requires a longer operative time because of the increment in complexity.
Using Privacy Loss to Guide Decisions During Distributed CSP Search

In cooperative problem solving, the communication necessary for solution search can also lead to privacy loss on the part of the agents involved. Such loss can be assessed either by directly tallying the number and importance of specific items of information revealed or by tracking reductions in the set of possible values associated with a particular item of information. In both cases information loss can occur either because of direct communication or by inferences that other agents make from one’s communications. The results of these inferences are stored in the “views” that agents have of other agents. In the present work on distributed constraint solving, such views are organized as extensions of normal CSP representations that model information about possible values in unknown CSPs of other agents. Here we show how this approach can be extended so that agents also maintain views of other agents’ views of themselves; the latter are called “mirror views”. Mirror views can in turn be used to monitor one’s own privacy loss, and can support strategies designed to reduce the loss of particular kinds of private information. Experiments with a simulated meeting scheduling system show that it is possible to reduce privacy loss with strategies based
Prevention and management of post prostatectomy erectile dysfunction

Sexual dysfunction is common in patients with prostate cancer (PC) following radical prostatectomy (RP). Review the available literature concerning prevention and management strategies for post-RP erectile function (EF) impairment in terms of preoperative patient characteristics, intra and postoperative factors that may influence EF recovery, and postoperative treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED). A literature search was performed using Google and PubMed database for English-language original and review articles, either published or e-published up to July 2013. The literature still demonstrates a great inconsistency in the definition of what is considered normal EF both before and after RP. Thus, using validated psychometric instruments with recognized cut-offs for normalcy and severity during the pre- and post-operative evaluation should be routinely considered. Therefore, a comprehensive discussion with the patient about the true prevalence of postoperative ED, the concept of spontaneous or pharmacologically-assisted erections, and the difference between “back to baseline” EF and “erections adequate enough to have successful intercourse” clearly emerge as key issues in the eventual understanding of post-RP ED prevention and promotion of satisfactory EF recovery. Patient factors (including age, baseline EF, comorbid conditions status), cancer selection (non- vs. uni- vs. bilateral nerve-sparing), type of surgery (i.e., intra vs. inter vs. extrafascial surgeries), surgical techniques (i.e., open, laparoscopic and robotically-assisted RP), and surgeon factors (i.e., surgical volume and surgical skill) represent the key significant contributors to EF recovery. A number of preclinical and clinical data show that rehabilitation and treatment in due time are undoubtedly better than leaving the erectile tissue to its unassisted postoperative fate. The role of postoperative ED treatment for those patients who received a non-nerve-sparing RP was also extensively discussed. Optimal outcomes are achieved mainly by the careful choice of the correct patient for the correct type of surgery. Despite a plethora of potential rehabilitative approaches, they should be only considered as “strategies”, since incontrovertible evidence of their effectiveness for improving natural EF recovery is limited. Conversely, numerous effective therapeutic options are available for treating post-RP ED.
Further delineation of the chromosome 14q terminal deletion syndrome.

A patient with hypotonia, blepharophimosis, ptosis, a bulbous nose, a long philtrum, upturned corners of the mouth, and mild developmental delay was found to have a small subtelomeric deletion of the long arm of chromosome 14 (q32.31-qter). In comparing her phenotype with previously reported patients with similar 14q deletions, due to either a linear deletion or to a ring chromosome 14, a clinically recognizable terminal 14q microdeletion syndrome was evident. Due to the limited number of cases reported, it was not possible to assign specific features to specific regions of terminal 14q. The comparison of features in cases with a linear deletion of 14qter (n = 19) to those in cases with a deletion due to a ring chromosome 14 (n = 23), both with the same breakpoint in 14q, showed that seizures and retinitis pigmentosa have been found only in patients with ring chromosomes. Several hypotheses are put forward to explain this difference: mitotic instability of ring chromosomes; a telomere position effect in ring chromosomes in which the 14p telomere silences nearby gene(s) on the q-arm; and dose-dependent gene(s) involved in seizures and retinitis pigmentosa located on the short arm of chromosome 14. In our opinion, only seizures may be explained by the mitotic instability of ring chromosomes, while both seizures and retinitis pigmentosa may be explained by silencing of gene(s) on 14q by the 14p telomere; the third hypothesis seems unlikely to explain either symptom.
CIPT: Using Tuangou to Reduce IP Transit Costs ∗

A majority of ISPs (Internet Service Providers) support connectivity to the entire Internet by transiting their trafﬁc via other providers. Although the transit prices per Mbps decline steadily, the overall transit costs of these ISPs remain high or even increase, due to the trafﬁc growth. The discontent of the ISPs with the high transit costs has yielded notable innovations such as peering, content distribution networks, multicast, and peer-to-peer localization. While the above solutions tackle the problem by reducing the transit trafﬁc, this paper explores a novel approach that reduces the transit costs without altering the trafﬁc. In the proposed CIPT (Cooperative IP Transit), multiple ISPs cooperate to jointly purchase IP (Internet Protocol) transit in bulk. The aggregate transit costs decrease due to the economies-of-scale effect of typical subadditive pricing as well as burstable billing: not all ISPs transit their peak trafﬁc during the same period. To distribute the aggregate savings among the CIPT partners, we propose Shapley-value sharing of the CIPT transit costs. Using public data about IP trafﬁc of 264 ISPs and transit prices, we quantitatively evaluate CIPT and show that significant savings can be achieved, both in relative and absolute terms. We also discuss the organizational embodiment, relationship with transit providers, trafﬁc conﬁdentiality, and other aspects of CIPT.
Lithium Niobate on Silicon Dioxide Suspended Membranes: A Technology Platform for Engineering the Temperature Coefficient of Frequency of High Electromechanical Coupling Resonators

This paper presents a new class of laterally vibrating resonators (LVRs) based on Y-cut ion-sliced lithium niobate (LN) thin films on silicon dioxide (SiO2). The SiO2 layer is used to engineer the temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of the LN resonator. The LN LVR is built on top of a SiO2 layer and released from the underlying silicon wafer by dry etching in Xenon difluoride (XeF2). For a given sample having an LN layer thickness of 420 nm and SiO2 thickness of 1600 nm, this paper demonstrated resonators with TCF of +17 ppm/°C, and +18 ppm/°C for devices vibrating at 460 and 420 MHz, and, respectively, oriented at 10° and 30° to the x-axis. TCF of +24.1 ppm/°C and +27.7 ppm/°C were recorded for devices vibrating at 720 MHz, respectively, oriented at 40° and 50° to the x-axis. These results correspond to a 4-5 X reduction in the TCF of standalone LN resonators. The positive TCF clearly indicates the effect of the SiO2 layer, and its value matches with what is predicted analytically by finite element method simulations and nonlinear analysis of the resonator amplitude-frequency response. This demonstration offers evidence that TCF engineering of LN LVRs is possible. Most importantly, these LN LVRs still exhibited high values of electromechanical coupling, k2t , around 9% at 723.7 MHz, and Q in excess of 1320 in air at 419.3 MHz. By optimizing the relative values of the LN and SiO2 thickness, it is ultimately possible to attain devices with zero first order TCF.
Organic Causes of Erectile Dysfunction in Men Under 40

There are a significant number of men under 40 who experience erectile dysfunction (ED). In the past, the vast majority of cases were thought to be psychogenic in nature. Studies have identified organic etiologies in 15-72% of men with ED under 40. Organic etiologies include vascular, neurogenic, Peyronie's disease (PD), medication side effects and endocrinologic sources. Vascular causes are commonly due to focal arterial occlusive disease. Young men with multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and trauma in close proximity to the spinal cord are at increased risk of ED. It is estimated that 8% of men with PD are under 40, with 21% of these individuals experiencing ED. Medications causing ED include antidepressants, NSAIDs and finasteride (Propecia), antiepileptics and neuroleptics. Hormonal sources are uncommon in the young population, however possible etiologies include Klinefelter's syndrome, congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and acquired hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. The workup of young men with ED should include a thorough history and physical examination. The significant prevalence of vascular etiologies of ED in young men should prompt consideration of nocturnal penile tumescence testing and penile Doppler ultrasound. Treatment options that may improve ED include exercise and oral PDE-5 inhibitors.
Passive Metasurface for Reflectionless and Arbitary Control of Electromagnetic Wave Transmission

Electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation control is an important issue for both science and engineering. A metasurface is an artificial surface composed of electrically small scatterers. Of late, metasurfacing has been an emerging and promising technique for controlling wave propagation. Traditional metasurfaces mainly employ surface reactances and generally reflect waves when manipulating wave transmission or refraction. In this paper, a passive metasurface employing both surface reactance and positive surface resistance is proposed, which can not only manipulate wave transmission magnitude and phase independently and fully but also suppress wave reflection simultaneously. Furthermore, reflectionless refraction can also be achieved with the proposed passive metasurface. The complete design theory is established for the passive metasurface. Theoretical analysis, prototypes, simulation, and experimental validation are demonstrated. The reflectionless feature of a passive metasurface is important for avoiding multiple wave reflections and interference between stages in EM systems. It also enables novel wave transmission cascade manipulation and may have potential applications in highly directive radiation.
Simulation experiment design

So you have built and validated a simulation model - how are you going to gain insight about the associated real system in order to make decisions? This introductory tutorial gives an overview of experiment design techniques for planning a series of simulation runs. These techniques make efficient use of simulation runs to uncover the impact of system design parameters on simulation output performance. The tutorial highlights graphical methods for planning the experiment and displaying the results.
Mitochondrial Uncoupling Protein 1 Expressed in the Heart of Transgenic Mice Protects Against Ischemic-Reperfusion Damage

Background—Mitochondrial respiration is the main source of energy in aerobic animal cells and is adapted to the energy demand by respiratory coupling. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) perturb respiratory coupling by inducing a proton leak through the mitochondrial inner membrane. Although this could lead to deleterious energy waste, it may prevent the production of oxygen radicals when the rate of phosphorylation of ADP into ATP is low, whereas oxygen and substrate availability to mitochondria is high. The latter conditions are encountered during cardiac reperfusion after ischemia and are highly relevant to heart infarction. Methods and Results—Heart function of 6 transgenic mice expressing high amounts of UCP1 and of 6 littermate controls was compared in isolated perfused hearts in normoxia, after 40-minute global ischemia, and on reperfusion. In normoxia, oxygen consumption, contractility (quantified as the rate-pressure product), and their relationship (energetic yield) were similar in controls and transgenic mice. Although UCP1 expression did not alter the sensitivity to ischemia, it significantly improved functional recovery on reperfusion. After 60 minutes of reperfusion, contractility was 2-fold higher in transgenic mice than in controls. Oxygen consumption remained significantly depressed in controls (53±27% of control), whereas it recovered strikingly to preischemic values in transgenic mice, showing uncoupling of respiration by UCP1 activity. Glutathione and aconitase, markers of oxidative damage, indicated lower oxidative stress in transgenic mice. Conclusions—UCP1 activity is low under normoxia but is induced during ischemia-reperfusion. The presence of UCP1 mitigates reperfusion-induced damage, probably because it lowers mitochondrial hyperpolarization at reperfusion.
DA-Based DCT with Error-Compensated Adder Tree

In this paper, by operating the shifting and addition in parallel, an error-compensated adder-tree (ECAT) is proposed to deal with the truncation errors and to achieve low-error and high-throughput discrete cosine transform (DCT) design. Instead of the 12 bits used in previous works, 9-bit distributed arithmetic-precision is chosen for this work so as to meet peak-signal-to-noise-ratio (PSNR) requirements. Thus, an area-efficient DCT core is implemented to achieve 1 Gpels/s throughput rate with gate counts of 22.2 K for the PSNR requirements outlined in the previous works.
The Methodology of Doppler-Derived Central Blood Flow Measurements in Newborn Infants

Central blood flow (CBF) measurements are measurements in and around the heart. It incorporates cardiac output, but also measurements of cardiac input and assessment of intra- and extracardiac shunts. CBF can be measured in the central circulation as right or left ventricular output (RVO or LVO) and/or as cardiac input measured at the superior vena cava (SVC flow). Assessment of shunts incorporates evaluation of the ductus arteriosus and the foramen ovale. This paper describes the methodology of CBF measurements in newborn infants. It provides a brief overview of the evolution of Doppler ultrasound blood flow measurements, basic principles of Doppler ultrasound, and an overview of all used methodology in the literature. A general guide for interpretation and normal values with suggested cutoffs of CBFs are provided for clinical use.