Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Berberine: a plant alkaloid with therapeutic potential for central nervous system disorders

Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid of the protoberberine type found in an array of plants, has been used in Indian and Chinese medicines as an antimicrobial, stomachic, bitter tonic and in the treatment of oriental sores. Although pharmacological investigations of berberine have been reported by many in the past, there is renewed interest in berberine because of its reported beneficial effect in various neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. The alkaloid is reported to modulate neurotransmitters and their receptor systems in the brain. This review attempts to discuss the pharmacological basis of the use of berberine in various central nervous system and related disorders. Its protective effect in Alzheimer's, cerebral ischemia, mental depression, schizophrenia and anxiety are highlighted. However, more detailed clinical trials along with a safety assessment of berberine are warranted for positioning the alkaloid in the treatment of neurological disorders. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
New Types of Keypoints for Detecting Known Objects in Visual Search Tasks

Visual exploration of unknown environments is considered a typical and highly important task in intelligent robotics. Although robots with visual capabilities comparable to human skills (e.g. mushroom-picking robots or bird-viewing robots) are apparently unachievable in the near future, but the concept of robots able to search for known objects in unknown surroundings is one of the ultimate goals for machine vision applications. In the scenarios that are currently envisaged, the expectations should be realistically limited. Nevertheless, one can expect that a robot, after a visual presentation of an object of interest, should be able to “learn” it and, subsequently, to detect the same object in complex scenes which may be degraded by typical effects, i.e. partial visibility of the objects (due to occlusions and/or poor illumination) and their unpredictable locations. The purpose of this chapter is to propose a novel mechanism that is potentially useful (it has been confirmed by promising preliminary results) in such applications. Several theories exist explaining the human perception of objects (e.g. Edelman, 1997). Some researchers promote the importance of multiple model views (e.g. Tarr et al., 1997) others (e.g. Biederman, 1987) postulate viewpoint invariants in the form of shape primitives (geons). From all the theories, however, the practical conclusion is that vision systems detecting objects in a human-like manner should use locally-perceived features as the fundamental tool for matching the scene content to the models of known objects. The idea of using local features (keypoints, local visual saliencies, interest points, characteristic points, corner points – several almost equivalent names exist) in machine vision can be traced back to the 80’s (e.g. Moravec, 1983; Harris & Stephens, 1988). Although stereovision and motion tracking were initially the most typical applications, it was later found that the same approach can be used in more challenging tasks (e.g. matching images in order to detect partially hidden objects). A well-known Harris-Plessey operator (Harris & Stephens, 1988) was combined with local descriptors of detected points to solve object recognition problems in which local features from analysed images are matched against a database of images depicting known objects (e.g. Schmid & Mohr, 1995). The intention was to retrieve images containing arbitrarily rotated and partially occluded objects. Subsequently developed keypoint detectors address the issues of scale changes (this was the weakest point of the original detectors) and perspective distortions. Generally, to achieve
A Dissociation of Number Meanings

We report a study of a patient with selectively preserved sequence meaning of numbers, but impaired access to cardinal number meaning. This limited understanding of number meaning was associated with a severe impairment in calculation tasks, with the inability to apply arithmetic principles and with an inverse distance effect in a number comparison task. In the remission process, better numerical understanding was reflected by better arithmetical competence and a normal distance effect in number comparison. The dissociation of different aspects of number meaning and the gradual development of arithmetical skills is well known in developmental psychology. The present case study suggests that a similar pattern can occur after cerebral lesions.
Bone loss after stroke over 52 weeks at os calcis: influence of sex, mobility and relation to bone density at other sites.

BACKGROUND As life expectancy increases after stroke, skeletal consequences become increasingly important, and patients at risk of fracture require identification. We have investigated peripheral bone mineral density (BMD) measurement at the heel as a possible surrogate for hip dual energy X-ray absorptiometry measurement and we have related bone loss over 52 weeks to balance and mobility. METHODS BMD at the heel (PIXI), proximal femur and whole body (QDR4500A), Tinetti (a measure of mobility and balance) and Barthel (a measure of activities of daily living) scores were measured in 52 patients (27 males and 25 females) within 8 weeks of stroke and repeated in 27 (15 males and 12 females) after 52 weeks. RESULTS BMD was not initially low at the femoral neck (FN). A significant fall occurred on the stroke side (SS) over 52 weeks at the heel, FN and total hip (TH), in both sexes, but was greater in women. On the non-SS, women lost bone at the TH and heel. Patients who were in the lowest Tinetti score tertile initially, showed significant loss of bone in the FN (14.5%) and at the heel (12.2%) on the SS. BMD at the SS heel correlated with the FN at 8 weeks (r = 0.64, P<0.01) and at 52 weeks (r = 0.60, P<0.01) after stroke. Women lost more bone than men on SS but also lost bone on the non-SS at the same sites, suggesting that SS bone loss may result from factors additional to stroke. CONCLUSION Heel BMD was a useful surrogate for hip BMD. Low initial Tinetti scores were an indicator of bone loss and, together with initial BMD measurements, provide a useful indication for those needing early prophylaxis against bone loss.
Biochemical Analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte-binding Antigen-175 (EBA175)-Glycophorin-A Interaction

Background: The GYPA-PfEBA175 interaction is important for erythrocyte invasion by the malaria parasite. Results: The entire ectodomain of EBA175 interacted with GYPA with different biochemical parameters to the previously determined GYPA-binding fragment containing two DBL domains. Conclusion: Regions outside of the tandem DBL domains contribute to GYPA binding by EBA175. Significance: These findings may assist the design of an EBA175-based malaria vaccine. PfEBA175 has an important role in the invasion of human erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum and is therefore considered a high priority blood-stage malaria vaccine candidate. PfEBA175 mediates adhesion to erythrocytes through binding of the Duffy-binding-like (DBL) domains in its extracellular domain to Neu5Acα2–3Gal displayed on the O-linked glycans of glycophorin-A (GYPA). Because of the difficulties in expressing active full-length (FL) P. falciparum proteins in a recombinant form, previous analyses of the PfEBA175-GYPA interaction have largely focused on the DBL domains alone, and therefore they have not been performed in the context of the native protein sequence. Here, we express the entire ectodomain of PfEBA175 (PfEBA175 FL) in soluble form, allowing us to compare the biochemical and immunological properties with a fragment containing only the tandem DBL domains (“region II,” PfEBA175 RII). Recombinant PfEBA175 FL bound human erythrocytes in a trypsin and neuraminidase-sensitive manner and recognized Neu5Acα2–3Gal-containing glycans, confirming its biochemical activity. A quantitative binding analysis showed that PfEBA175 FL interacted with native GYPA with a KD ∼0.26 μm and is capable of self-association. By comparison, the RII fragment alone bound GYPA with a lower affinity demonstrating that regions outside of the DBL domains are important for interactions with GYPA; antibodies directed to these other regions also contributed to the inhibition of parasite invasion. These data demonstrate the importance of PfEBA175 regions other than the DBL domains in the interaction with GYPA and merit their inclusion in an EBA175-based vaccine.
Critical roles of soluble starch synthase SSIIIa and granule-bound starch synthase Waxy in synthesizing resistant starch in rice

Significance Resistant starch (RS) has the potential to protect against diabetes and reduce the incidence of diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, and chronic renal and hepatic diseases. In this study, we identified two critical starch synthase genes which together regulate RS biosynthesis in rice, and we explored their potential interactions as part of a network of starch biosynthetic enzymes. The findings hold promise for applications in breeding varieties with improvement of RS in hot cooked rice and may also have general implications for understanding RS biosynthesis in other major cereal crops. Changes in human lifestyle and food consumption have resulted in a large increase in the incidence of type-2 diabetes, obesity, and colon disease, especially in Asia. These conditions are a growing threat to human health, but consumption of foods high in resistant starch (RS) can potentially reduce their incidence. Strategies to increase RS in rice are limited by a lack of knowledge of its molecular basis. Through map-based cloning of a RS locus in indica rice, we have identified a defective soluble starch synthase gene (SSIIIa) responsible for RS production and further showed that RS production is dependent on the high expression of the Waxya (Wxa) allele, which is prevalent in indica varieties. The resulting RS has modified granule structure; high amylose, lipid, and amylose–lipid complex; and altered physicochemical properties. This discovery provides an opportunity to increase RS content of cooked rice, especially in the indica varieties, which predominates in southern Asia.
Banking of fresh‐frozen prostate tissue: methods, validation and use

The question of banking of fresh frozen human prostatic tissue is addressed by a group of authors who have compared its value with what they call “pseudobanked” tissue. They then validate their methodology by a number of methods, including expression of hepsin, which they found to be significantly higher in malignant than in benign tissue. The theme of prostate cancer is continued by an English group looking at recent trends in the use of radical prostatectomy in England, and they make a number of interesting comments about this. Again in relation to prostate cancer, a group from Boston assess the use of steroids after prostate brachytherapy to reduce the risk of acute urinary retention.
Building sustainable ecosystem-oriented architectures

Currently, organizations are transforming their business processes into e-services and service-oriented architectures to improve coordination across sales, marketing, and partner channels,to build flexible and scalable systems, and to reduce integration-related maintenance and development costs. However, this new paradigm is still fragile and lacks many features crucial for building sustainable and progressive computing infrastructures able to rapidly respond and adapt to the always-changing market and environmental business. This paper proposes a novel frameworkfor building sustainable EcosystemOriented Architectures (EOA) using e-service models. The backbone of this framework is an ecosystem layer comprising several computing units whose aim is to deliveruniversal interoperability, transparent communication, automated management, self-integration, self-adaptation, and security to all the interconnected services, components, and devices in the ecosystem. Overall, the proposed model seeks to delivera comprehensive and a generic sustainable business IT modelfordeveloping agile e-enterprises that are constantly up to new business constraints, trends, and requirements. Future research can improve upon the proposed model so much so that it supports computational intelligence to help in decision making and problem solving.
An agent‐based approach for managing e‐commerce activities

In this article, we propose an agent‐based approach for managing e‐commerce activities. In our approach, an agent is present in each e‐commerce site, managing the information stored there. In addition, another agent is associated with each customer, handling his/her profile. The proposed approach is based on the use of a particular conceptual model called the Behaviour‐Semantic Distance and Relevance (B‐SDR) network, which is capable of uniformly representing and handling information stored in e‐commerce sites and customer profiles. The capabilities of the B‐SDR network model are exploited to let customer and site agents cooperate in such a way in order to support a customer in identifying, whenever he/she accesses an e‐commerce site, those products and services present in the site itself and for better matching his/her interests. The approach has been implemented in a prototype in which its functionalities are discussed here also. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Dimensions of Online Social Support on Social Networking sites and their effects

Social networking sites (SNSs) allow users to connect with each other by overcoming geographical and temporal boundaries and thus empower people to search for social support from online. Social support has been considered a key social value that online users can obtain from social networking sites. Research has shown that social support may reduce stress and promote well-being among diverse populations. Despite its significance to society, the online social support function of SNSs has been surprisingly under-investigated. Some fundamental questions—such as (1) What are the dimensions of online social support on SNSs? and (2) How does online social support influence other factors on SNSs? —have not been answered. This study is one of the first to attempt to answer those questions. Specifically, this study aims to first identify the definitional dimensions of online social support on SNSs through an extensive review of the literature. Second, this study uses these dimensions to model online social support and test its effects on other SNS factors: commitment and continuance intention. Eventually, the results support all proposed hypotheses. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of this study are discussed at the end.
Neural network and fingerprinting-based geolocation on time-varying channels

In a harsh indoor environment, fingerprinting geolocation techniques perform better than the traditional ones, based on triangulation, because multipath is used as constructive information. However, this is generally true in static environments as fingerprinting techniques suffer degradations in location accuracy in dynamic environments where the properties of the channel change in time. This is due to the fact that the technique needs a new database collection when a change of the channel's state occurs. In this paper, a novel solution based on a hierarchy of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is proposed to enhance such a geolocation system. It is shown that the enhanced system detects the change in the channel's properties via geolocation reference points, identifies the new channel state and activates a new database that best represents the current radio environment
Shaping Formal Networks through the Regulatory Process

Recent research has shown that, at the federal level, new or amended programs typically create networks consisting of multiactor structures spanning governments, sectors, and/or agencies. This study examines the implementation structures created through the regulatory process. We find that in a majority of cases the regulatory process adds to the complexity of implementation patterns; previously simple implementation structures often became more complicated and new actors are brought into the process. Rules also serve a key function in clarifying the general language that is often used by Congress. These findings have implications for the study and practice of public administration.
A study on the automatic detection and characterization of emotion in a voice service context

This paper presents a study on the automatic characterization of negative emotion in a context of voice service, based on the calculation of acoustic parameters from the speech signal and a LDA classifier. The novelty of this study lies in the application-specific constraints (type of dialog, ASR connection) imposed on the emotion characterization system, and in the solutions proposed to this problem (notably by taking into account the speaker gender and the type of word). Promising results are achieved with acoustic models that are simultaneously gender-specific and words-specific.
Dynamical Systems: an International Journal Heteroclinic Binding Heteroclinic Binding

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Here we consider a new mechanism of binding between different information modalities in the brain, i.e. heteroclinic binding. The basic model that we propose is able to explain the origin of the coordination of competitive dynamics of active brain modes representing the temporal processing of different sensory and/or intrinsic information (different modalities) in parallel. The model describes the coordination of spatio-temporal patterns in the form of sequential switchings corresponding to different modalities. We formulate the conditions for the existence of a multimodality heteroclinic sequence (MHS) in the phase space of this model. Such a sequence appears due to inhibitory connections between different sensory networks that implement a winnerless competition interaction. Computer simulations illustrate the robustness of the switching of the coordinated sequences for different modalities and their mutual regularization and modulation. 1. Introduction Suppose that we are testing a sample of wine. Although the flavour of wine is typically perceived as a unitary perceptual experience, flavour perception reflects processing of inputs from multiple sensory systems: from gustation (through the stimulation of receptors on the tongue and in the mouth), smell (through the stimulation of receptors in the olfactory mucosa) and oral somato-sensation (through the stimulation of diverse receptors in the oral cavity, providing information about viscosity, temperature, pungency and spiciness). Even though they derive from signals transmitted over several nerves, flavours often appear remarkably coherent in phenomenal perception. Integrating information across the senses can enhance our ability to detect and classify objects in the environment [1–3]. Multi-electrode recordings from various sensory systems in different animals have shown that sensory information is usually encoded dynamically by neural networks that implement a winnerless competition (WLC) interaction of different dynamical modes (variables) [4–7] (Figure 1). This interaction leads to sequential switching …
Seizing on the Latest: Motivationally Driven Recency Effects in Impression Formation

Abstract Though prior studies have consistently demonstrated that the need for closure enhances the magnitude of primacy effects in impression formation (Freund, Kruglanski, & Shpitzajzen, 1985; Heaton & Kruglanski, 1991; Kruglanski & Freund, 1983; Webster, Richter, & Kruglanski, 1996), the present research explored the circumstances under which it may elicit recency effects instead. Unlike the typical experimental paradigm, participants in the present study were given the impression formation goal only subsequent to having viewed the target information with a different (comprehension) goal in mind. It was hypothesized that under such conditions, the later portion of the target information would be more accessible to participants than the earlier. Because individuals under high need for closure are known to “seize” on the most accessible information (Kruglanski & Webster, 1996), participants were expected to exhibit pronounced recency effects under those circumstances. These predictions were supported in an experiment in which time pressure was introduced to increase the need for closure and accuracy instructions were introduced to reduce it.
Caudate nucleus volume in schizophrenia, bipolar, and depressive psychosis

Introduction The caudate nucleus (CN) is a crucial component of the ventral striatum and part of the striatal-thalamic circuits that is modulated by limbic structure to subserve emotional processing. MRI studies examining the CN have yielded equivocal, mixed results. We aimed to examine the CN size and its clinical, cognitive correlates in drug-naive patients with first-episode psychosis. Materials and methods (i) The CN was manually traced on MRI scans from 49 schizophrenic patients, 21 bipolar patients, and 20 patients with depressive psychosis as well as 23 healthy control individuals both at baseline and after 2 years. (ii) Structured SCID interviews of DSM-IV, HDRS, YMRS as well as PANSS were conducted. (iii) WMS-III and WAIS were used to test cognitive function and finally, the Simpson-Angus Scale for extrapyramidal Parkinson features. Results (i) CN size was significantly more reduced in bipolar patients than in healthy controls with a magnitude of around 18.5%. (ii) Schizophrenic and depressive patients showed a modest volume reduction in CN (8.5 and 12.5%, respectively). (iii) Only bipolar patients showed cognitive dysfunction associated with a 1% progressive reduction in CN size after 2 years of follow-up. Clinical importance was unclear for depressive and schizophrenia patients. Conclusion and recommendation CN volume reduction in bipolar psychotic patients may reflect part of the pathophysiology of the illness, but it is unclear whether it is primary or secondary to other structural changes. Study of the shape, functional changes in CN as well as areas connected to it may uncover the primary mechanisms of bipolar psychosis.
The design of a similarity based deduplication system

We describe some of the design choices that were made during the development of a fast, scalable, inline, deduplication device. The system's design goals and how they were achieved are presented. This is the firs deduplication device that uses similarity matching. The paper provides the following original research contributions: we show how similarity signatures can serve in a deduplication scheme; a novel type of similarity signatures is presented and its advantages in the context of deduplication requirements are explained. It is also shown how to combine similarity matching schemes with byte by byte comparison or hash based identity schemes.