Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of conventional and high-pass resolution perimetry in a prospective study of patients with glaucoma and healthy controls.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether high-pass resolution perimetry detected glaucomatous visual field progression earlier than conventional perimetry. METHODS In a prospective longitudinal study, we observed 113 patients with open-angle glaucoma and with early to moderate visual field damage and 119 healthy control subjects. Each subject underwent testing at 6-month intervals using conventional and high-pass resolution perimetry (program 30-2 of the Humphrey Field Analyzer [Humphrey Instruments, Inc, San Leandro, Calif] and the Ring program of the Ophthimus perimeter [Hi-Tech Vision, Göteborg, Sweden], respectively). Our predetermined criterion for progression with conventional perimetry was the presence of at least 4 overlapping nonedge locations outside the fifth percentile for test-retest variability of threshold deviations (defined by the Glaucoma Change Probability Analysis of the Statpac 2 program) in 2 of 3 consecutive visual fields. We employed the identical criterion for progression with high-pass resolution perimetry using our own test-retest variability data. We repeated this procedure in the controls to measure the false-positive rate of progression. RESULTS Patients were observed for a median of 4.5 years and 11 examinations with each technique. Fifty-seven patients (50.4%) did not show progression with either technique. Twenty-four patients (21.2%) showed progression with high-pass resolution perimetry alone, whereas 6 (5.3%) showed progression with conventional perimetry alone. Of the remaining 26 patients (23.0%) who showed progression with both techniques, 14 (54%) showed progression with high-pass resolution perimetry first (median, 12 months earlier); 5 (19%), with conventional perimetry first (median, 6 months earlier); and 7 (27%), with both techniques at the same time. Controls were observed for a median of 5 years and 11 examinations with each technique. One control (0.8%) showed progression with high-pass resolution perimetry. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that high-pass resolution perimetry detects glaucomatous visual field progression earlier than conventional perimetry in most patients with progression.
What Triggers Reproductive Life? Effects of Adolescent Cohabitation, Social Novelty and Aggression in a Monogamous Mouse

Cohabitation during childhood has been described as a powerful inhibitor of later sexual interest in animals including humans (the ‘Westermarck effect’), serving as a brother‐sister incest avoidance mechanism. Mound-building mice Mus spicilegus display a strong social inhibition of reproduction, responsible for the absence of reproduction in over-wintering tumuli. To better understand the mechanisms responsible for triggering reproduction in this monogamous species, we formed 100 experimental couples of juveniles (35 d) and surveyed reproduction for 45 d. As expected, very few couples reproduced, which confirms the role of social familiarity in the inhibition of reproduction. Temporary separation (1 h or 24 h) of the two partners had little effect on reproductive success. However, pairing with a new partner, with or without prior isolation, significantly triggered reproduction. Observations of the first encounter between new partners revealed more agonistic and less affiliative behaviour than in controls (reunion of familiar partners). Interestingly, when the new partner was a sibling of the previous one, the behavioural analysis revealed an intermediate level of aggression, indicating that kinship with the previous partner was perceived and had consequences on social behaviour. Mice could therefore choose a new partner based on its relatedness to the previous mate. Mutual tolerance between new partners during the dyadic encounter was negatively correlated with subsequent reproduction. These results demonstrate the paramount role of social novelty in triggering reproduction in this monogamous mouse, and suggest a link between agonistic behaviour and sexual motivation. In the field, mound-building mice may need to engage in agonistic interactions so as to overcome the long-lasting social inhibition of reproduction in overwintering mounds.
Fabrication of two-dimensional periodic TiO2 pillar arrays by multi-beam laser interference lithography

Two-dimensional (2D) periodic TiO2 pillar arrays, applicable to photonic crystals and micro-channels, were fabricated by direct patterning of a TiO2-organic hybrid material by multi-beam laser interference lithography and calcination of hybrid patterns. 2D periodic pillars of a TiO2– organic hybrid material were prepared by irra-diation with the interference pattern of femto-second laser beams and removal of the non- irradiated portions. Two types of periodic pillar arrays, standing pillars and top-gathering pillars (four pillars gathered at the top), were obtained, depending on laser irradiation conditions. After calcination of TiO2–organic hybrid pillars, TiO2 pillar arrays were obtained without collapse.
CrisisMMD: Multimodal Twitter Datasets from Natural Disasters

During natural and man-made disasters, people use social media platforms such as Twitter to post textual and multimedia content to report updates about injured or dead people, infrastructure damage, missing or found people, among other information types. Studies have revealed that this online information, if processed timely and effectively, is extremely useful for humanitarian organizations to gain situational awareness and plan relief operations. In addition to the analysis of textual content, recent studies have shown that imagery content on social media can boost disaster response significantly. Despite extensive research that mainly focuses on textual content to extract useful information, limited work has focused on the use of imagery content or the combination of both content types. One of the reasons is the lack of labeled imagery data in this domain. Therefore, in this paper, we aim to tackle this limitation by releasing a large multi-modal dataset from natural disasters collected from Twitter. We provide three types of annotations, which are useful to address a number of crisis response and management tasks for different humanitarian organizations.
A Quasi-Exclusive European Ancestry in the Senepol Tropical Cattle Breed Highlights the Importance of the slick Locus in Tropical Adaptation

Background The Senepol cattle breed (SEN) was created in the early XXth century from a presumed cross between a European (EUT) breed (Red Poll) and a West African taurine (AFT) breed (N’Dama). Well adapted to tropical conditions, it is also believed trypanotolerant according to its putative AFT ancestry. However, such origins needed to be verified to define relevant husbandry practices and the genetic background underlying such adaptation needed to be characterized. Methodology/Principal Findings We genotyped 153 SEN individuals on 47,365 SNPs and combined the resulting data with those available on 18 other populations representative of EUT, AFT and Zebu (ZEB) cattle. We found on average 89% EUT, 10.4% ZEB and 0.6% AFT ancestries in the SEN genome. We further looked for footprints of recent selection using standard tests based on the extent of haplotype homozygosity. We underlined i) three footprints on chromosome (BTA) 01, two of which are within or close to the polled locus underlying the absence of horns and ii) one footprint on BTA20 within the slick hair coat locus, involved in thermotolerance. Annotation of these regions allowed us to propose three candidate genes to explain the observed signals (TIAM1, GRIK1 and RAI14). Conclusions/Significance Our results do not support the accepted concept about the AFT origin of SEN breed. Initial AFT ancestry (if any) might have been counter-selected in early generations due to breeding objectives oriented in particular toward meat production and hornless phenotype. Therefore, SEN animals are likely susceptible to African trypanosomes which questions the importation of SEN within the West African tsetse belt, as promoted by some breeding societies. Besides, our results revealed that SEN breed is predominantly a EUT breed well adapted to tropical conditions and confirmed the importance in thermotolerance of the slick locus.
Four Types of Well-being among Entrepreneurs and Their Relationships with Business Performance

Four types of affective well-being were investigated in a sample of 135 Dutch entrepreneurs: work engagement, job satisfaction, exhaustion and workaholism. Compared to employees, entrepreneurs score extremely high on work engagement. Scores on job satisfaction, exhaustion and working compulsively (CW) are also higher. Scores on working excessively (EW) are lower. When investigating the overlap between the four types of well-being, results were found to vary with the approach chosen. When analysing correlations, overlap appears especially high between workaholism and exhaustion. When analysing cases identified as high scorers, overlap is especially evident between entrepreneurs high on both work engagement and job satisfaction. A final issue studied concerned the relation between well-being and performance. Entrepreneurs scoring high on EW reported the highest turnover, profits and number of employees. Satisfied entrepreneurs also reported relatively high profits and number of employees. Implications of these findings for trainers and researchers interested in well-being and performance in entrepreneurs are discussed.
Crowdsourcing regional variation in speaking rate through the iOS app ‘Dialäkt Äpp’

It is a common stereotype in Switzerland that speakers from Bern speak slowly and speakers from Zurich speak quickly. Are these differences in perception at all mirrored in production? We present a new method of crowdsourcing speaking rate through a free of charge iOS application. Astonishingly, results indicate that the temporal structure of a few words alone – as spoken by a few hundred speakers – are sufficient to tell apart the two dialects in speaking rate. In line with previous literature, females articulate more slowly than males. Further potential fields of application of the introduced method are discussed.
Semantic effects in lexical access: Evidence from single-word naming

Cognitive psychologists have not devoted much attention to semantic and emotional effects early in word recognition, assuming instead that such effects are primarily post-perceptual. Some evidence of such early effects does exist, but it relies exclusively on a less-than-ideal experimental task, the lexical decision task. In the current study, participants heard words over headphones and repeated them into a microphone as quickly as possible (single-word naming). The Danger and Usefulness of word referents were significantly related to naming times, independent of effects such as word length, familiarity, onset characteristics, stress, neighbourhood density, and concreteness. Results are discussed in terms of the adaptive benefit of making quick classifications along these dimensions, and against a backdrop of evidence from several widely divergent areas of research.
Comparison of Prognostic MicroRNA Biomarkers in Blood and Tissues for Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) still keeps up high mortality worldwide with poor prognosis. Efficient and non-invasive prognostic biomarkers are urgently needed. MicroRNAs are non-coding RNAs playing roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation, which contribute to various biological processes such as development, differentiation and carcinogenesis. MicroRNA expression profiles have been associated with the prognosis and outcome in GC. MicroRNA prognostic biomarkers have been identified from blood or tissues samples, but with different prognostic features. Understanding the various roles of microRNAs in different sample sources of GC will provide deep insights into GC progression. In this review, we highlight the distinct prognostic roles of microRNAs biomarkers in blood and tissue according to their relationships with prognostic parameters, survival rates and target pathways. This will be useful for non-invasive biomarker development and selection in prognosis of GC.
Does the Benthos Control Phytoplankton Biomass in South San Francisco Bay ?

South San Francisco Bay, USA, is a shallow coastal embayment that receives large inputs of nutrients (N. P, Si) and small local inputs of freshwater. Phytoplankton dynamics are typically characterized by a spring bloom when surface chlorophyll a increases from < 5 to > 40 mg m-3. The bloom persists for 2 to 4 wk, and then dissipates. Phytoplankton biomass remains low (chlorophyll a < 5 mg m-3) from May through December, although light and nutrient availability are sufficient to sustain growth rates of 1 to 1.5 divisions d-' in the expansive shallows. Transport processes apparently exert a small influence on phytoplankton biomass, and calculated zooplankton grazing accounts for only a small reduction in net rate of phytoplankton population growth in the shallows. However, suspension-feeding bivalves are sufficiently abundant to filter a volume equivalent to the volume of South Bay at least once daily. These observations suggest that grazing by benthos is the primary mechanism controlling phytoplankton biomass during summer and fall.
Neuroprotective activity of Ethanolic Extractof Tinospora cordifolia on LPS inducedNeuroinflammation

Background: Neuroinflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis or the progression of the variety of acute and chronic neurological and neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease. Aim: The present study is to investigate the ethanolic extract of Tinospora cordifolia on LPS induced behavioral alterations, oxidative stress and neuronal damage in rats. Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were divided into five groups six in each. Group I treated with normal saline (0.9% NaCl i.p.), group ii treated with normal saline + LPS (100 μg/kg i.p.), group iii treated with Aspirin (200 mg/kg) + LPS (100 μg/kg), Group IV treated with EETC (200 mg/kg) + LPS (100 μg/kg) and Group V treated with EETC (400 mg/kg) + LPS (100 μg/kg) for 14 days followed by single challenged of LPS to all the groups except control rats. On 15th day onwards, various behavioral assessment such as body weight, rectal temperature, locomotor activity, cognitive and memory assessment were carried out. Rats were sacrificed, and brain was isolated and estimated antioxidant levels (GSH, SOD, TBARS and CAT) and neuronal damage in the region of hippocampus were analyzed. Results: LPS treated rats significantly (P<0.001) decreased the body weight, locomotor activity, latency period in passive avoidance test and anti-oxidant levels in GSH, SOD and CAT and increased the rectal temperature and lipid peroxidase level (TBARS) compare to control rats. Pretreated with Aspirin 200 mg/kg rats and EETC (200 and 400 mg/kg) rats significantly attenuated the LPS induced behavioral alteration, oxidative damage and neuronal damage. Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of Tinospora cordifolia showed neuroprotective activity due to the presence of phytochemical constituents such as alkaloids, glycosides, diterpenoid lactones, berberine, flavonoids, saponins.
InterPreTS: protein Interaction Prediction through Tertiary Structure

SUMMARY InterPreTS (Interaction Prediction through Tertiary Structure) is a web-based version of our method for predicting protein-protein interactions (Aloy and Russell, 2002, PROC: Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 99, 5896-5901). Given a pair of query sequences, we first search for homologues in a database of interacting domains (DBID) of known three-dimensional complex structures. Pairs of sequences homologous to a known interacting pair are scored for how well they preserve the atomic contacts at the interaction interface. InterPreTS includes a useful interface for visualising molecular details of any predicted interaction. AVAILABILITY http://www.russell. embl.de/interprets.
Structure from Neuronal Networks (SfN²)

: Multiple View Geometry (MVG) with its underlying mathematical principle is mainly used for 3D reconstruction. The most common approaches based on MVG are the Structure from Motion (SfM) methods which create 3D point clouds from a collection of images or video frames. The emerging use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in almost every domain leads to the question, if ANNs can learn the underlying mathematical geometric mappings of SfM pipelines? To answer this question, three different ANN architectures based on the three different key point matching strategies of SfM were benchmarked. Since we want to learn the mathematical, geometrical mapping of SfM approaches and not the categories or shapes of natural 3D objects, we trained and tested our ANNs on 2D projections of random 3D shapes built from small random cubes. For 3D shapes with a grid size of 〈3,3,3〉 voxels, all architectures show a high prediction accuracy of the reconstructed shape. When scaling up the grid size of the 3D cubes, we recognize a significant decrease in accuracy. These initial results show that all of the different ANN architectures we considered can learn to reconstruct unknown 3D shapes from images. In a more detailed analysis of our results, we investigate how the choice of architecture influences the prediction accuracy of the 3D shape on voxel and overall shape level and if non-occluded voxels can be predicted independently of scale. Finally, we discuss, if a voxel-based representation of the 3D shape can be scaled to a useful technical resolution due to its high impact on the size of the ANN as well as the required training data.
Optical trapping of particles at the air/water interface for studies in Langmuir monolayers

Optical experimental devices allow to observe and manipulate several micron-sized objects, for instance, condensed phase domains formed in Langmuir monolayers at the air/water interface. In this paper, an experimental instrument designed to trap and manipulate those domains is presented. This instrument consists of optical tweezers, colloidal beads as handles and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) to observe the trapped domains. With this instrument it was possible to trap and observe small domains (20 - 30 µ m) of nervonic acid monolayers.
Price and Performance of Cloud-hosted Virtual Network Functions: Analysis and Future Challenges

The concept of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) has been introduced as a new paradigm in the recent few years. NFV offers a number of benefits including significantly increased maintainability and reduced deployment overhead. Several works have been done to optimize deployment (also called embedding) of virtual network functions (VNFs). However, no work to date has looked into optimizing the selection of cloud instances for a given VNF and its specific requirements. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of VNFs when embedded on different Amazon EC2 cloud instances. Specifically, we evaluate three VNFs (firewall, IDS, and NAT) in terms of arrival packet rate, resources utilization, and packet loss. Our results indicate that performance varies across instance types, departing from the intuition of “you get what you pay for” with cloud instances. We also find out that CPU is the critical resource for the tested VNFs, although their peak packet processing capacities differ considerably from each other. Finally, based on the obtained results, we identify key research challenges related to VNF instance selection and service chain provisioning.
A Critical Analysis on the Security Architectures of Internet of Things: The Road Ahead

Abstract Internet of Things (IoT) has been a most important research area for almost a decade now, where a huge network of billions or trillions of “things” communicating with one another is facing many technical and application challenges. Although there are many uncertainties about its security and privacy, the literature presents different techniques to handle the security issues and challenges in order to develop a well-defined security architecture. This paper reviews 50 research papers that are related to the security of IoT. The security techniques were classified with respect to time consumption, energy consumption, power consumption, lightweight property, reliability, robustness, and smart applicability. Also, the security techniques were analyzed based on the considered attacks, application, utilized simulation tool, security model, and attributes. The objective of the survey is focused on the security loopholes arising out of the information exchange technologies used in IoT. Finally, the important research issues are addressed for the researchers to find the way for further research in the security of IoT. The survey signifies that multilevel and mutual authentication based on attribute-based profile modeling bring more security for access control and authentication.
LPRPG-P: Relaxed Plan Heuristics for Planning with Preferences

In this paper we present a planner, LPRPG-P, capable of reasoning with the non-temporal subset of PDDL 3 preferences. Our focus is on computation of relaxed plan based heuristics that effectively guide a planner towards good solutions satisfying preferences. We build on the planner LPRPG, a hybrid relaxed planning graph (RPG)--linear programming (LP) approach. We make extensions to the RPG to reason with propositional preferences, and to the LP to reason with numeric preferences. LPRPG-P is the first planner with direct guidance for numeric preference satisfaction, exploiting the strong numeric reasoning of the LP. We introduce an anytime search approach for use with our new heuristic, and present results showing that LPRPG-P extends the state of the art in domain-independent planning with preferences.
Importance of calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K for osteoporosis prevention and treatment

Throughout the life cycle the skeleton requires optimum development and maintenance of its integrity to prevent fracture. Bones break because the loads placed on them exceed the ability of the bone to absorb the energy involved. It is now estimated that one in three women and one in twelve men aged >55 years will suffer from osteoporosis in their lifetime and at a cost in the UK of >£1·7×109 per year. The pathogenesis of osteoporosis is multifactorial. Both the development of peak bone mass and the rate of bone loss are determined by key endogenous and exogenous factors. Ca supplements appear to be effective in reducing bone loss in women late post menopause (>5 years post menopause), particularly in those with low habitual Ca intake (<400 mg/d). In women early post menopause (<5 years post menopause) who are not vitamin D deficient, Ca supplementation has little effect on bone mineral density. However, supplementation with vitamin D and Ca has been shown to reduce fracture rates in the institutionalised elderly, but there remains controversy as to whether supplementation is effective in reducing fracture in free-living populations. Re-defining vitamin D requirements in the UK is needed since there is evidence of extensive hypovitaminosis D in the UK. Low vitamin D status is associated with an increased risk of falling and a variety of other health outcomes and is an area that requires urgent attention. The role of other micronutrients on bone remains to be fully defined, although there are promising data in the literature for a clear link between vitamin K nutrition and skeletal integrity, including fracture reduction.