Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence of High Mortality and Increasing Burden of Sepsis in a Regional Sample of the New Zealand Population

Abstract Background Sepsis is a life-threatening complication of infection. The incidence of sepsis is thought to be on the increase, but estimates making use of administrative data in the United States may be affected by administrative bias. Methods We studied the population-based incidence of sepsis in the Waikato region of New Zealand from 2007 to 2012 using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification, which lacks a specific code for sepsis. Results Between 2007 and 2012, 1643 patients met coding criteria for sepsis in our hospitals. Sixty-three percent of patients were 65 or over, 17% of cases were admitted to an intensive care unit, and the in-hospital and 1-year mortality with sepsis was 19% and 38%, respectively. Age-standardized rate ratios (ASRRs) demonstrated that sepsis was associated with male sex (ASRR 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23–1.59), Maori ethnicity (ASRR 3.22 compared with non-Maori; 95% CI, 2.85–3.65), study year (ASRR 1.62 comparing 2012 with 2008; 95% CI, 1.18–2.24), and socioeconomic deprivation (ASRR 1.72 comparing the highest with the lowest quintile of socioeconomic deprivation; 95% CI, 1.5–1.97). Multiorgan failure was present in approximately 20% of cases in all age groups. Intensive care unit admission rate fell from 30% amongst 25- to 34-year-olds to less than 10% amongst those aged 75 and over. Conclusions In a 9% sample of the New Zealand population, the incidence of sepsis increased by 62% over a 5-year period. Maori, elderly, and disadvantaged populations were most affected.
The Inverse Autotransporter Intimin Exports Its Passenger Domain via a Hairpin Intermediate*

Background: Intimin exports its C-terminal passenger domain through an N-terminal β-barrel onto the bacterial surface. Results: Insertion of an epitope tag at the very N terminus of the passenger domain stalls the export of the passenger. Conclusion: The intimin passenger adopts a hairpin conformation during translocation. Significance: Our results confirm the hairpin model of inverse autotransport where the passenger is translocated from the N to the C terminus. Autotransporter proteins comprise a large family of virulence factors that consist of a β-barrel translocation unit and an extracellular effector or passenger domain. The β-barrel anchors the protein to the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and facilitates the transport of the passenger domain onto the cell surface. By inserting an epitope tag into the N terminus of the passenger domain of the inverse autotransporter intimin, we generated a mutant defective in autotransport. Using this stalled mutant, we could show that (i) at the time point of stalling, the β-barrel appears folded; (ii) the stalled autotransporter is associated with BamA and SurA; (iii) the stalled intimin is decorated with large amounts of SurA; (iv) the stalled autotransporter is not degraded by periplasmic proteases; and (v) inverse autotransporter passenger domains are translocated by a hairpin mechanism. Our results suggest a function for the BAM complex not only in insertion and folding of the β-barrel but also for passenger translocation.
A minimum entropy approach to rule learning from examples

Learning from examples uses specific instances (examples and counterexamples) to produce general rules. It is a convenient learning scheme in cases where the process of interviewing human experts and analyzing and formalizing their decision is very difficult or time consuming. The system proposed is capable of obtaining the rules that fit a set of examples and counterexamples based on the minimal entropy (ME) criterion. The system proposed can also set various parameters of the rule (e.g., thresholds) in such a way that entropy is minimized. The system can also handle incremental learning from examples. Applications of the proposed system to seismic image analysis are included. >
Network address hopping: a mechanism to enhance data protection for packet communications

This paper proposes a novel mechanism to enhance data protection in communications across untrusted networks. The approach is based on the principle of network address hopping, whereby a data stream is spread across multiple end-to-end connections. The aim is to obscure the data exchange between two peers by shuffling the communication pattern. The hopping pattern - a shared secret between the communication participants - defines the sequence for the address hopping and determines the data spreading. Besides a description of the basic operation of the network address hopping mechanism, the paper evaluates the level of protection it can offer for end-to-end communications. This theoretical analysis is accompanied by a quantitative evaluation of the processing overhead of our prototype implementation on commodity end hosts.
Building diphone database for Arabic text to speech synthesis system

The need to integrate automatic communication systems in daily applications and technology progress has encouraged speech synthesis sector development. Many variety of voice systems synthesis exist but diphones concatenation method appears to be efficient to contribute to speech synthesis of many languages. The first task in any development of speech synthesis system is to prepare the data base used for this aim. This paper describes the process of building an Arabic speech corpus based on diphones. We developed an acoustic data base of arabic diphones by studying the different possible combinations of phonemes to list all the possible diphones.
Life history trade-offs explain the evolution of human pygmies

Explanations for the evolution of human pygmies continue to be a matter of controversy, recently fuelled by the disagreements surrounding the interpretation of the fossil hominin Homo floresiensis. Traditional hypotheses assume that the small body size of human pygmies is an adaptation to special challenges, such as thermoregulation, locomotion in dense forests, or endurance against starvation. Here, we present an analysis of stature, growth, and individual fitness for a large population of Aeta and a smaller one of Batak from the Philippines and compare it with data on other pygmy groups accumulated by anthropologists for a century. The results challenge traditional explanations of human pygmy body size. We argue that human pygmy populations and adaptations evolved independently as the result of a life history tradeoff between the fertility benefits of larger body size against the costs of late growth cessation, under circumstances of significant young and adult mortality. Human pygmies do not appear to have evolved through positive selection for small stature—this was a by-product of selection for early onset of reproduction.
Contribution of the amygdala, but not orbitofrontal or medial prefrontal cortices, to the expression of flavour preferences in marmoset monkeys

The development of food preferences contributes to a balanced diet, and involves both innate and learnt factors. By associating flavour cues with the reinforcing properties of the food (i.e. postingestive nutrient cues and innately preferred tastes, such as sweetness), animals acquire individual preferences. How the brain codes and guides selection when the subject has to choose between different palatable foods is little understood. To investigate this issue, we trained common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) to respond to abstract visual patterns on a touch‐sensitive computer screen to gain access to four different flavoured juices. After preferences were stable, animals received excitotoxic lesions of either the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex or the medial prefrontal cortex. Neither the orbitofrontal nor the medial prefrontal cortex lesions affected pre‐surgery‐expressed flavour preferences or the expression of preferences for novel flavours post‐surgery. In contrast, amygdala lesions caused a shift in the preferences for juices expressed pre‐surgery such that, post‐surgery, juices were chosen according to their overall carbohydrate (simple sugars) content or ‘sweetness’. Subsequent tests revealed that amygdala‐lesioned animals only expressed juice preferences if they differed in ‘sweetness’. Unlike controls, orbitofrontal cortex‐lesioned and medial prefrontal cortex‐lesioned animals, they were unable to display preferences between juices matched for ‘sweetness’ i.e. 5% sucrose solutions aromatised with different essential oils. The most parsimonious explanation is that the amygdala contributes to the expression of food preferences based on learnt cues but not those based on an innate preference for sweetness.
Tics and Tourette syndrome: An adult perspective

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a disorder characterized by childhood onset multiple motor and vocal tics often accompanied by features of obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or other behavioral manifestations. Tics may be simple or complex, and may include motor and vocal components. Abnormal function of the basal ganglia is thought to be an important underlying cause of tics and other movement disorders. Treatment of TS requires a thorough understanding of the phenomenology of the disease for the individual patient, and should focus on symptoms that are especially troubling. Some nonpharmacologic approaches may help to improve tic severity, including conditioning techniques, relaxation training, and hypnosis. Options for pharmacotherapy include dopamine blockers and depleters, benzodiazepines, central alpha-adrenergic blockers, and botulinum toxin. Many patients require therapy for comorbid conditions such as anxiety, depression, or ADHD. In case studies and small patient series, deep brain stimulation has been shown to markedly reduce tic severity and functional impairment associated with TS. While onset is most frequently in childhood, TS should not be considered exclusively a disorder of pediatric patients. The complications and comorbidities that are encountered in children and adolescents often persist into adulthood.
CD40 promotes MHC class II expression on adipose tissue macrophages and regulates adipose tissue CD4+ T cells with obesity

Obesity activates both innate and adaptive immune responses in adipose tissue, but the mechanisms critical for regulating these responses remain unknown. CD40/CD40L signaling provides bidirectional costimulatory signals between antigen‐presenting cells and CD4+ T cells, and CD40L expression is increased in obese humans. Therefore, we examined the contribution of CD40 to the progression of obesity‐induced inflammation in mice. CD40 was highly expressed on adipose tissue macrophages in mice, and CD40/CD40L signaling promoted the expression of antigen‐presenting cell markers in adipose tissue macrophages. When fed a high fat diet, Cd40‐deficient mice had reduced accumulation of conventional CD4+ T cells (Tconv: CD3+CD4+Foxp3−) in visceral fat compared with wild‐type mice. By contrast, the number of regulatory CD4+ T cells (Treg: CD3+CD4+Foxp3+) in lean and obese fat was similar between wild‐type and knockout mice. Adipose tissue macrophage content and inflammatory gene expression in fat did not differ between obese wild‐type and knockout mice; however, major histocompatibility complex class II and CD86 expression on adipose tissue macrophages was reduced in visceral fat from knockout mice. Similar results were observed in chimeric mice with hematopoietic Cd40‐deficiency. Nonetheless, neither whole body nor hematopoietic disruption of CD40 ameliorated obesity‐induced insulin resistance in mice. In human adipose tissue, CD40 expression was positively correlated with CD80 and CD86 expression in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. These findings indicate that CD40 signaling in adipose tissue macrophages regulates major histocompatibility complex class II and CD86 expression to control the expansion of CD4+ T cells; however, this is largely dispensable for the development of obesity‐induced inflammation and insulin resistance in mice.
Social Networks and Organizational Dynamics

In this paper we develop and test a theory of the dynamic behavior of voluntary groups. The theory combines an image of social network structure with the concept of natural selection to model changes in group composition over time. We consider the group to be a population of members subject to natural selection in sociodemographic space. According to the theory, the probability that members will enter or leave the group depends upon the number and strength of social network ties that connect group members to each other and to nonmembers. We analyze an event history dataset constructedfrom interviews using the Life History Calendar method and information on ego-centered social networks developedfrom the General Social Survey Network Module. We test the hypothesis that network connections inside a group are associated with reduced membership turnover, while connections outside the group increase turnover. We find that weak ties and network connections that span greater distances in sociodemographic space are positively correlated with leaving current groups and joining new ones. We conclude that weak ties are a major source of change in group composition.
108 Functional Brain Imaging in Epilepsies

fMRI provides information about how the brain differs in certain epileptic syndromes or it can be used to assess brain abnormalities in an individual patient. fMRI can also highlight the link between abnormal epileptiform activity, network brain activity, and cognitive function. In the clinical situation, fMRI can help to accurately delineate the epileptogenic zone, surrounding eloquent cortex and vital connections between eloquent cortical areas.
The stress response in critical illness.

Under normal, unstressed conditions, the body maintains a dynamic equilibrium known as homeostasis--a complex interplay balancing the conflicting demands presented by many internal and external forces. In the face of threatened or actual disruptions (i.e., stress), molecular, cellular, physiologic, and behavioral responses act to restore homeostasis. These responses can be specific to a particular stressor and relatively circumscribed (e.g., secretion of insulin in response to an increase in blood glucose), or can be generalized and relatively nonspecific (e.g., behavioral manifestations of severe anxiety). Typically, more nonspecific and generalized responses occur in the setting of severe and threatening disruptions in homeostasis, and taken together, these responses are known as the "general adaptation or stress syndrome". We will describe the elements and organization of the generalized stress response with particular attention to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as it interacts with the immune system, and we will review what is known about this interactive network in the setting of critical illness.
A Role for Polysialic Acid in Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule Heterophilic Binding to Proteoglycans*

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is known to participate in both homophilic and heterophilic binding, the latter including mechanisms that involve interaction with proteoglycans. The polysialic acid (PSA) moiety of NCAM can serve as a negative regulator of homophilic binding, but indirect evidence has suggested that PSA can also be involved in heterophilic binding. We have examined this potential positive role for PSA in terms of the adhesion of PSA-expressing mouse F11 cells and chick embryonic brain cells to substrates composed of the purified heparan sulfate proteoglycans agrin and 6C4. This adhesion was specifically inhibited by polyclonal anti-NCAM Fab antibodies, monoclonal anti-PSA antibodies, PSA itself, and enzymatic removal of either PSA or heparan sulfate side chains. By contrast, the adhesion was not affected by chondroitinase, and cell binding to laminin was not inhibited by any of these treatments. A specific NCAM-heparan sulfate interaction in this adhesion was further indicated by its inhibition with monoclonal anti-NCAM Fab antibodies that recognize the known heparin-binding domain of NCAM and with the HBD-2 peptide derived from this region, but not with antibodies directed against other regions of the protein including the homophilic binding region. Together, the results suggest that PSA can act in vitro either as a receptor in NCAM heterophilic adhesion or as a promoter of binding between heparan sulfate proteoglycans and the NCAM heparin-binding domain.
Instrumenting wireless sensor networks for real-time surveillance

On August 30, 2005, we successfully demonstrated a large-scale, real-time, surveillance and control application on a wireless sensor network. The task was to track multiple human targets walking through a 5041 square meter sensor field and dispatch simulated pursuers to capture them. We employed a multi-target tracking algorithm that was a combination of a multi-sensor fusion algorithm for fusing binary detections and a Markov chain Monte Carlo data association (MCMCDA) algorithm that can initiate and terminates tracks autonomously and is robust to a high level of false alarms and missing measurements, a common problem in sensor networks. The tracks were used by a multi-agent coordination and control algorithm to capture the evaders. We were able to demonstrate successful pursuit of two crossing targets and successful tracking of three targets moving through a 144 node sensor field. To the authors' best knowledge, this experiment is the largest demonstration to date of a real-time tracking and control system on a wireless sensor network that does not use classification information
Study of the characteristic impedance of a ridge gap waveguide

This paper presents a study of the characteristic impedance of a ridge gap waveguide. Ridge gap waveguides belongs to a new metamaterial-based waveguide technology for millimeter and submillimeter waves which emerged recently. A formula for the characteristic impedance of an ideal PEC-over-PMC ridge gap waveguide has been derived. A preliminary numerical study of the characteristic impedance of a real ridge gap waveguide where the PMC is realized by a bed of nails is also presented.
Anatomic model of hippocampal encoding of spatial information

Place cells were recorded simultaneously from identified locations along the longitudinal axis of the CA3 and CA1 subregions of hippocampus with a sixteen site electrode array while rats performed a simple pellet chasing task (Deadwyler et al., J Neurosci 1996;16:354–372; Hampson et al., Hippocampus 1996;6:281–293). Cells in CA3 or CA1, separated by 100–300 μm (two electrode locations), exhibited high cross‐correlations with respect to place field firing in a given location in the chamber. This pattern of co‐activity changed abruptly to low cross‐correlations when the longitudinal distance between recording sites increased to 400–1,000 μm. Surprisingly, cells located 1,200–1,400 μm apart again exhibited similar place fields, suggesting a repeating pattern of place field representation within hippocampus. These features were used to construct a model of hippocampal place cell activation using known anatomic connections and projections between CA3 as well as CA1 pyramidal cells. The model provides a topographic representation in hippocampus of the animals' movements around the chamber as different place cells become activated. The model utilizes key landmarks (i.e., corners and walls) to define the animals' movement trajectories through successive place fields and to construct corresponding patterns of place cell firing in hippocampus. This is accomplished via a topological transformation of the chamber's key landmarks projected onto the anatomy of the CA3 and CA1 subregions. The primary feature of the model is that it can, within limited capacity, accurately encode where the animal has been, rather than where it is going. The model, therefore, appears to be more appropriate for memory required to return to particular locations than for initial guidance into those locations. Hippocampus 1999;9:397–412. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
O(1) bilateral filtering with low memory usage

We propose a O(1) algorithm for bilateral filter with low memory usage. Bilateral filter can be converted into weighted histogram operation. Applying line buffers of column histograms, we can reduce the number of calculation needed to construct recursive center-weighted local histogram. Also our method have advantage in terms of memory requirements. We used a 2-GHz CPU with our method and achieved one million pixels per 0.5 sec operation and high PSNR over 40 dB without the need for temporary frame buffers or additional instructions (downsampling, SIMD instructions, or multi-thread operations).
A Preliminary Test of Relationships Between Organization Slack and Theoretically Related Variables.

Theoretical and methodological issues surrounding organization slack are discussed, and results of a perceptual-measure test reported. Theoretical relationships between slack, information flow, and interdependence are supported, and information flow is found to be strongly related to effectiveness, as predicted. Conclusions are that slack can be measured and should be pursued as a research issue.
Adaptive randomized mutual exclusion in sub-logarithmic expected time

Mutual exclusion is a fundamental distributed coordination problem. Shared-memory mutual exclusion research focuses on local-spin algorithms and uses the remote memory references (RMRs) metric. A mutual exclusion algorithm is adaptive to point contention, if its RMR complexity is a function of the maximum number of processes concurrently executing their entry, critical, or exit section. In the best prior art deterministic adaptive mutual exclusion algorithm, presented by Kim and Anderson [22], a process performs O(min(k,log N)) RMRs as it enters and exits its critical section, where k is point contention and N is the number of processes in the system. Kim and Anderson also proved that a deterministic algorithm with o(k) RMR complexity does not exist [21]. However, they describe a randomized mutual exclusion algorithm that has O(log k) expected RMR complexity against an oblivious adversary. All these results apply for algorithms that use only atomic read and write operations. We present a randomized adaptive mutual exclusion algorithms with O(log k/loglog k) expected amortized RMR complexity, even against a strong adversary, for the cache-coherent shared memory read/write model. Using techniques similar to those used in [17], our algorithm can be adapted for the distributed shared memory read/write model. This establishes that sub-logarithmic adaptive mutual exclusion, using reads and writes only, is possible.
Model learning actor-critic algorithms: Performance evaluation in a motion control task

Reinforcement learning (RL) control provides a means to deal with uncertainty and nonlinearity associated with control tasks in an optimal way. The class of actor-critic RL algorithms proved useful for control systems with continuous state and input variables. In the literature, model-based actor-critic algorithms have recently been introduced to considerably speed up the the learning by constructing online a model through local linear regression (LLR). It has not been analyzed yet whether the speed-up is due to the model learning structure or the LLR approximator. Therefore, in this paper we generalize the model learning actor-critic algorithms to make them suitable for use with an arbitrary function approximator. Furthermore, we present the results of an extensive analysis through numerical simulations of a typical nonlinear motion control problem. The LLR approximator is compared with radial basis functions (RBFs) in terms of the initial convergence rate and in terms of the final performance obtained. The results show that LLR-based actor-critic RL outperforms the RBF counterpart: it gives quick initial learning and comparable or even superior final control performance.