Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of the averaging volume and algorithm on the in situ electric field for uniform electric- and magnetic-field exposures

The present study quantified the volume-averaged in situ electric field in nerve tissues of anatomically based numeric Japanese male and female models for exposure to extremely low-frequency electric and magnetic fields. A quasi-static finite-difference time-domain method was applied to analyze this problem. The motivation of our investigation is that the dependence of the electric field induced in nerve tissue on the averaging volume/distance is not clear, while a cubical volume of 5 × 5 × 5 mm3 or a straight-line segment of 5 mm is suggested in some documents. The influence of non-nerve tissue surrounding nerve tissue is also discussed by considering three algorithms for calculating the averaged in situ electric field in nerve tissue. The computational results obtained herein reveal that the volume-averaged electric field in the nerve tissue decreases with the averaging volume. In addition, the 99th percentile value of the volume-averaged in situ electric field in nerve tissue is more stable than that of the maximal value for different averaging volume. When including non-nerve tissue surrounding nerve tissue in the averaging volume, the resultant in situ electric fields were not so dependent on the averaging volume as compared to the case excluding non-nerve tissue. In situ electric fields averaged over a distance of 5 mm were comparable or larger than that for a 5 × 5 × 5 mm3 cube depending on the algorithm, nerve tissue considered and exposure scenarios.
OMG Emotion Challenge - ExCouple Team

The proposed model is only for the audio module. All videos in the OMG Emotion Dataset are converted to WAV files. The proposed model makes use of semi-supervised learning for the emotion recognition. A GAN is trained with unsupervised learning, with another database (IEMOCAP), and part of the GAN structure (part of the autoencoder) will be used for the audio representation. The audio spectrogram will be extracted in 1-second windows of 16khz frequency, and this will serve as input to the model of audio representation trained with another database in an unsupervised way. This audio representation will serve as input to a convolutional network and a Dense layer with 'tanh' activation that performs the prediction of Arousal and Valence values. For joining the 1-second pieces of audio, the median of the predicted values of a given utterance will be taken.
Computationally Developed Sham Stimulation Protocol for Multichannel Desynchronizing Stimulation

A characteristic pattern of abnormal brain activity is abnormally strong neuronal synchronization, as found in several brain disorders, such as tinnitus, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy. As observed in several diseases, different therapeutic interventions may induce a placebo effect that may be strong and hinder reliable clinical evaluations. Hence, to distinguish between specific, neuromodulation-induced effects and unspecific, placebo effects, it is important to mimic the therapeutic procedure as precisely as possibly, thereby providing controls that actually lack specific effects. Coordinated Reset (CR) stimulation has been developed to specifically counteract abnormally strong synchronization by desynchronization. CR is a spatio-temporally patterned multichannel stimulation which reduces the extent of coincident neuronal activity and aims at an anti-kindling, i.e., an unlearning of both synaptic connectivity and neuronal synchrony. Apart from acute desynchronizing effects, CR may cause sustained, long-lasting desynchronizing effects, as already demonstrated in pre-clinical and clinical proof of concept studies. In this computational study, we set out to computationally develop a sham stimulation protocol for multichannel desynchronizing stimulation. To this end, we compare acute effects and long-lasting effects of six different spatio-temporally patterned stimulation protocols, including three variants of CR, using a no-stimulation condition as additional control. This is to provide an inventory of different stimulation algorithms with similar fundamental stimulation parameters (e.g., mean stimulation rates) but qualitatively different acute and/or long-lasting effects. Stimulation protocols sharing basic parameters, but inducing nevertheless completely different or even no acute effects and/or after-effects, might serve as controls to validate the specific effects of particular desynchronizing protocols such as CR. In particular, based on our computational findings we propose a multichannel sham (i.e., inactive) stimulation protocol as control condition for phase 2 and phase 3 studies with desynchronizing multichannel stimulation techniques.
Property Entitlements and Land Reform in Upland Thai Catchments

Issues involved in processes of land reform in degraded upland catchment areas in Thailand include property entitlements over local resource complexes, and the roles of local communities, State agencies and commercial stakeholders. An inquiry into collaborative action between stakeholders in an upland Thai catchment has been used as an example of the process of defining property entitlements to the bundles of opportunities for management. A processual view of property is used, in which interests are expressed as claims and ultimately translated into entitlements which specify rights to streams of benefits, and associated duties, in relation to particular resource complexes. This is developed in terms of the bundles of opportunities for collective and collaborative management in upland catchments, particularly in relation to common-pool resources. Soft systems methodology was used as a guide for a process aimed at identifying mutually beneficial improvements in management between village, agency and commercial stakeholders. The collaborative actions which have developed are all cases whereby particular bundles of property entitlements and related duties have been defined through a process of the expression of claims and identification of mutually beneficial arrangements. These have included: local collective management of a water supply; partnerships relating to elements of conservation and production within the local agroecosystems; and socially legitimate patronage to support formal protocols of land reform. This process is discussed in terms of the expression of interests and translation into entitlements through partnerships supported by multiple lines of social and bureaucratic legitimation.
Multiple mechanisms of interference between transformation and differentiation in thyroid cells

Transformation of the thyroid cell line FRTL-5 results in loss or reduction of differentiation as measured by the expression of thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase, two proteins whose genes are exclusively expressed in thyroid follicular cells. The biochemical mechanisms leading to this phenomenon were investigated in three cell lines obtained by transformation of FRTL-5 cells with Ki-ras, Ha-ras, and polyomavirus middle-T oncogenes. With the ras oncogenes, transformation leads to undetectable expression of the thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase genes. However, the mechanisms responsible for the extinction of the differentiated phenotype seem to be different for the two ras oncogenes. In Ki-ras-transformed cells, the mRNA encoding TTF-1, a transcription factor controlling thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase gene expression, is severely reduced. On the contrary, nearly wild-type levels of TTF-1 mRNA are detected in Ha-ras-transformed cells. Furthermore, overexpression of TTF-1 can activate transcription of the thyroglobulin promoter in Ki-ras-transformed cells, whereas it has no effect on thyroglobulin transcription in the Ha-ras-transformed line. Expression of polyoma middle-T antigen in thyroid cells leads to only a reduction of differentiation and does not severely affect either the activity or the amount of TTF-1. Another thyroid cell-specific transcription factor, TTF-2, is more sensitive to transformation, since it disappears in all three transformed lines, and probably contributes to the reduced expression of the differentiated phenotype.
Technology transfer in small‐scale dryland crop production: Future challenges

The study focuses on maize technology transfer in a typical homeland maize‐growing area. Two thirds of maize growers were women. Thirty per cent of producers were over 60 years of age, 20 per cent were illiterate and 50‐60 per cent were living in varying states of poverty. There was insufficient contact and intensity of contact with all sources of farming information. The ‘trickle down’ process from progressive to less progressive farmers has been unsuccessful. Less than half of the farmers were implementing practices according to proven recommendations. This was related to a lack of knowledge. Most farmers did not realise that all practices were interrelated, resulting in below optimum yields. Innovativeness was explained by greater farming resources, farming knowledge, contact with information sources and level of education, while yield per ha was also explained by greater farming resources, as well as the presence of the male head of household and contact with extension workers. Farming populations are.
Rates of Reactivation of Latent Herpes Simplex Virus from Mouse Trigeminal Ganglia Ex Vivo Correlate Directly with Viral Load and Inversely with Number of Infiltrating CD8+ T Cells

ABSTRACT Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) reactivate at rates proportional to the viral loads in latently infected ganglia. However, these rates vary substantially among infected animals. We assessed whether the numbers of HSV-specific CD8+ T cells infiltrating latently infected ganglia also affect reactivation rates and contribute to their variability. Following corneal infection of mice with HSV type 2 (HSV-2), we quantified the latent viral loads in dissociated trigeminal ganglia by real-time PCR, the numbers of infiltrating CD8+ T cells by flow cytometry, and the rates of reactivation by the detection of cell-free virus released from ganglion cells cultured in 96-well plates. The reactivation rates correlated directly with the latent viral loads (P = 0.001) but did so more strongly (P = 10−7) when cultures were depleted of CD8+ T cells. Reactivation rates were reduced in a dose-dependent fashion by adding back ganglion CD8+ T cells to the cultures (P = 0.003). We related the latent viral loads, numbers of CD8+ T cells, and reactivation rates by mathematical equations. The rates of reactivation predicted from latent viral loads and numbers of infiltrating CD8+ T cells in dissociated ganglia correlated with the observed rates of reactivation (P = 0.04). The reactivation of HSV-2 from ganglia ex vivo is determined both by the latent viral load and the number of infiltrating CD8+ T cells.
Managing trust and learning: an exploratory study

Trust and learning are topics that have attracted a great deal of recent attention. However, there is an important link between the two that has not been explored fully. In this paper, we seek to examine two key empirical questions: how does organisational trust influence learning? How can a firm's organisational context help improve trust and learning? The paper is based on a survey of 109 profit centre managers in a leading European multinational company. The paper seeks to explore the relationships between their organisational context, trust and learning within their profit centres. The findings of the study suggest that organisational context has an indirect influence on organisational trust, via the unit's operating performance. Stronger the performance, better the trust. Trust was also influenced by the procedural fairness within an organisational unit. Organisational trust in turn would appear to have a significant influence on organisational learning. Despite the small sample and other limitations of the study, the paper points to a useful way in which organisational trust and learning can be influenced. The administrative practices of an organisational unit, especially its resource support and procedural fairness, have an important influence on trust and learning.
Whose Interests do Unions Represent? Unionization by Income in Western Europe

Purpose – The goal of this chapter is to explore whether variation in the distribution of union members across the income distribution affects the role of unions in redistributive politics. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual part of the study provides a theoretical motivation for disaggregating organized labor by income. The empirical part uses European Social Survey data for 15 West European countries 2006–2008 to describe the composition of union membership by income across countries and to explore, in a preliminary fashion, the implications of where union members are located in the income distribution for social protection and redistribution. Findings – In most countries, workers with incomes above the median are better organized than workers below the median and the income of the median union member exceeds the income of the median voter. The political implications of the overrepresentation of relatively well-off workers depend on the mechanism of preference aggregation within unions and the influence of unions in the policymaking process. While leaving a thorough examination of these issues for future research, we present descriptive regression results suggesting that the membership composition of unions by income is related to income inequality and redistribution but not social insurance. Originality/value of paper – This is the first comparative study to map the distribution of union members across the income distribution and to examine the implications of compositional variation by income for redistributive politics.
A Critical Review of the Bacterial Baptism Hypothesis and the Impact of Cesarean Delivery on the Infant Microbiome

Numerous studies suggest that infants delivered by cesarean section are at a greater risk of non-communicable diseases than their vaginal counterparts. In particular, epidemiological studies have linked Cesarean delivery with increased rates of asthma, allergies, autoimmune disorders, and obesity. Mode of delivery has also been associated with differences in the infant microbiome. It has been suggested that these differences are attributable to the “bacterial baptism” of vaginal birth, which is bypassed in cesarean deliveries, and that the abnormal establishment of the early-life microbiome is the mediator of later-life adverse outcomes observed in cesarean delivered infants. This has led to the increasingly popular practice of “vaginal seeding”: the iatrogenic transfer of vaginal microbiota to the neonate to promote establishment of a “normal” infant microbiome. In this review, we summarize and critically appraise the current evidence for a causal association between Cesarean delivery and neonatal dysbiosis. We suggest that, while Cesarean delivery is certainly associated with alterations in the infant microbiome, the lack of exposure to vaginal microbiota is unlikely to be a major contributing factor. Instead, it is likely that indication for Cesarean delivery, intrapartum antibiotic administration, absence of labor, differences in breastfeeding behaviors, maternal obesity, and gestational age are major drivers of the Cesarean delivery microbial phenotype. We, therefore, call into question the rationale for “vaginal seeding” and support calls for the halting of this practice until robust evidence of need, efficacy, and safety is available.
The Use of a Real-Money Experiment in a Stated-Preference Survey

This book explores frontier work at the intersection of experimental and environmental economics, with cutting edge research provided by premier scholars in the field. The book begins by focusing on improving benefit–cost analysis, which remains the hallmark of public policy decision-making around the globe. The contributors provide innovative avenues to credibly lead to more efficient policies. T
Molecular biology of rice tungro viruses.

Rice tungro, the most important virus disease of rice in South and Southeast Asia, is caused by a complex of two viruses, rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) and rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV). RTBV is a plant pararetrovirus with bacilliform particles, the structure of which is based on T = 3 icosahedral symmetry cut across the threefold axis.The particles encapsidate a circular double-stranded DNA of 8 kbp that encodes four proteins. The current information on the properties, functions, and expression of these proteins is discussed, as is the evidence for replication by reverse transcription. Two major strains of RTBV have been recognized, one from the Indian subcontinent and the other from Southeast Asia. RTSV particles contain a single-stranded RNA genome of 12 kb that encodes a large polyprotein and possibly one or two smaller proteins. The properties and processing of the polyprotein are described and the resemblance to picornaviruses noted.
Thromboxane A2 biosynthesis in acute asthma and after antigen challenge.

Thromboxane A2 is a potent bronchial smooth muscle spasmogen in vitro, and it has been implicated in airway inflammation and in the genesis of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in asthma. We have examined the urinary excretion of a variety of products derived from thromboxane A2 (thromboxane B2, 2,3-dinor, and 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2) and prostacyclin (6-oxo-PGF1 alpha and 2,3-dinor-6-oxo-PGF1 alpha) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in patients admitted acutely to hospital with severe asthma and in atopic volunteers after bronchial antigen challenge. Urinary excretion of all thromboxane-derived products was markedly increased in a number of patients with severe acute asthma compared with that in a nonsmoking control population, in some cases approaching those previously described in myocardial infarction: TXB2, 31.6 +/- 12.0 versus 6.5 +/- 0.9; 2,3-dinor-TXB2, 79.0 +/- 19.2 versus 29.5 +/- 2.7; and 11-dehydro-TXB2, 234.3 +/- 65.3 versus 25.0 +/- 2.1 ng/mmol creatinine (p less than 0.001). Urinary prostacyclin-derived products were also significantly raised in acute asthma. In contrast, after inhaled allergen challenge in atopic volunteers, which caused significant bronchoconstriction, urinary excretion of thromboxane-derived products was not significantly elevated: TXB2, 5.6 +/- 1.1 versus 5.7 +/- 1.0; 2,3-dinor-TXB2, 41.2 +/- 12.5 versus 28.5 +/- 6.9; and 11-dehydro-TXB2, 69.8 +/- 17.6 versus 39.7 +/- 11.2 ng/mmol creatinine. In a separate experiment, less than 2% of exogenously administered TXB2 to the airway appeared as urinary thromboxane-derived products, suggesting that production of greater than or equal to 1 microgram of TXA2 in vivo would be required to increase urinary thromboxane excretion twofold. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Bile reflux measurement and its contribution to the severity of reflux esophagitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may occur with acid, bile or in a mixed form. Endoscopic injury and mucosal metaplasia are a known sequelae to pathological GERD. The aim of the study was to determine the contribution of acid and duodenogastroesophageal reflux to endoscopic severity in patients with GERD and Barrett's esophagus (BE). MATERIALS AND METHODS Ninety-one patients complaining of reflux symptoms were studied with upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and graded to nonerosive reflux disease (NERD), erosive reflux disease (ERD) and BE. Esophageal manometry and simultaneous ambulatory 24-h esophageal pH and bilirubin monitoring (Bilitec 2000) were performed in all patients. RESULTS Seventy-one patients (78.0%) had ERD (Savary-Miller (grade I-III), 11 patients (12.1%) had NERD and 9 patients (9.9%) had BE, which were suspected endoscopically and diagnosed by histological esophageal biopsy. Combined 24-h esophageal bilirubin and pH monitoring revealed the following: 39 patients (42.9%) had mixed acid and bile reflux, 16 (17.6%) had pathological acid reflux alone, 18 (19.8%) had bile reflux alone and 18 patients (19.8%) showed no evidences of abnormal reflux. The percentage of the total time of the bilirubin absorbance > 0.14 in 71 patients with ERD was (8.18+/-11.28%) and in 9 patients with BE was (15.48+/-30.48%), which was significantly greater than that in 11 patients with NERD (4.48+/-8.99%), P<0.05 and P=0.01 respectively. All the BE patients had abnormal esophageal bile reflux (bile alone (3 patients)); and mixed bile and acid (6 patients)); 44 of 71 patients (61.97%) with ERD had abnormal esophageal bile reflux (alone (13 patients) and mixed bile and acid (31 patients)); meanwhile, 15 of them (21.2%) had abnormal acid exposure alone. Despite 11 patients having NERD, four patients (36.4%) had abnormal esophageal bile reflux and two of them had mixed reflux of bile with acid. CONCLUSION We believe that the Bilitec method reliably identifies the presence of bilirubin and quantitatively detects the duodenogastroesophageal reflux of bile. Mixed reflux (acid and bile) is the chief pattern of reflux in our GERD patients. Bile reflux either alone or along with acid reflux contributes to the severity of erosive and nonerosive reflux diseases as well as in BE.
Measuring and explaining the provision of infrastructure in African cities

There are few studies that investigate the provision of infrastructure in Africa from a cross-city perspective. This can be attributed to the dearth of reliable data. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) through its Global Urban Indicators Programme recently completed the collection of an extensive set of urban indicators for 237 cities worldwide. Drawing on the African component of this database, this paper measures and accounts for intercity variations in the provision of infrastructure. The empirical analysis reveals that the provision of infrastructure in African cities can be measured in terms of a single dimension of basic infrastructure, which comprises water, electricity, sewerage, sanitation and telecommunication services. Further analysis shows that the most important variables explaining intercity differences in the dimension of basic infrastructure are: income as measured by GDP per capita; external debt burden of the country in which the city is located; city size; public sector expenditure on infrastructure; local government's capital expenditure; and the proportion of the local authority's revenue derived from user charges.
The Economic Determinants of Young People's Household Formation

This paper derives predictions about the impact of the price of housing, young adults' income, and parental income on the probability that a young adult lives apart from his/her parents. It shows that the predicted effect of the price of housing is intimately related to the price elasticity of housing demand. It uses longitudinal data on a cohort of Britons born in 1958 (surveyed in the National Child Development Study) to estimate dynamic models of first departure from the parental home and particularly to estimate the impact of housing price on the timing and destination of first departure. Copyright 1997 by The London School of Economics and Political Science