Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feasibility and acceptability of time-restricted eating in a group of adults with multiple sclerosis

Introduction Intermittent fasting (IF) has become a popular dietary pattern for adults with multiple sclerosis (MS), and initial studies in animal models and human trials indicate promising results for improving symptoms and slowing disease progression. Most studies published to date have focused on alternate day fasting or fasting mimicking diets including a 5:2 pattern, in which participants greatly restrict calorie intake on two non-consecutive days and eat regularly on other days; however, time restricted eating (TRE) may be equally effective for improving symptoms and may lead to better long term adherence due to its focus only on the time of day in which calories are consumed with no restriction on number of calories or types of food consumed. Methods The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a TRE intervention in adults with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS). Participants (n = 12) were instructed to eat all food within an 8-h window every day and fast the remaining 16 h for 8 weeks. Results The eating pattern was determined to be feasible based on retention rates (n = 11; 92%) and acceptable based on participant feedback. Discussion Exploratory results of changes in cognition, pain, and fatigue, indicate that further study of TRE in this population is warranted. Clinical trial registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04389970; NCT04389970.
Targeted next-generation sequencing for genetic variants of left ventricular mass status among community-based adults in Taiwan

Background: Left ventricular mass is a highly heritable disease. Previous studies have suggested common genetic variants to be associated with left ventricular mass; however, the roles of rare variants are still unknown. We performed targeted next-generation sequencing using the TruSight Cardio panel, which provides comprehensive coverage of 175 genes with known associations to 17 inherited cardiac conditions. Methods: We conducted next-generation sequencing using the Illumina TruSight Cardiomyopathy Target Genes platform using the 5% and 95% extreme values of left ventricular mass from community-based participants. After removing poor-quality next-generation sequencing subjects, including call rate <98% and Mendelian errors, 144 participants were used for the analysis. We performed downstream analysis, including quality control, alignment, coverage length, and annotation; after setting filtering criteria for depths more than 60, we found a total of 144 samples and 165 target genes for further analysis. Results: Of the 12,287 autosomal variants, most had minor allele frequencies of <1% (rare frequency), and variants had minor allele frequencies ranging from 1% to 5%. In the multi-allele variant analyses, 16 loci in 15 genes were significant using the false discovery rate of less than . 1. In addition, gene-based analyses using continuous and binary outcomes showed that three genes (CASQ2, COL5A1, and FXN) remained to be associated with left ventricular mass status. One single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs7538337) was enriched for the CASQ2 gene expressed in aorta artery (p = 4.6 × 10–18), as was another single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs11103536) for the COL5A1 gene expressed in aorta artery (p = 2.0 × 10–9). Among the novel genes discovered, CASQ2, COL5A1, and FXN are within a protein–protein interaction network with known cardiovascular genes. Conclusion: We clearly demonstrated candidate genes to be associated with left ventricular mass. Further studies to characterize the target genes and variants for their functional mechanisms are warranted.
Correlation between neural responses and human perception in figure-ground segregation

Segmentation of a natural scene into objects (figures) and background (ground) is one of crucial functions for object recognition and scene understanding. Recent studies have investigated neural mechanisms underlying figure-ground (FG) segregation and reported neural modulation to FG in the intermediate-level visual area, V4, of macaque monkeys (FG neurons). However, whether FG neurons contribute to the perception of FG segregation has not been clarified. To examine the contribution of FG neurons, we examined the correlations between perceptual consistency (PC), which quantified perceptual ambiguity in FG determination, and the reliability of neural signals in response to FG. First, we evaluated PCs for the images that were used in the previous neural recording in V4; specifically, we measured how consistently FG can be determined across trials and participants for each stimulus. The PCs were widely distributed, so that we identified the ambiguity in FG segregation for each stimulus. Next, we analyzed the correlation between the PCs and the reliability of neural modulation to FG. We found that the stimuli with higher PCs evoked more consistent and greater modulation in the responses of single neurons than those with lower PCs. Since perception is expected to show a greater correlation with responses of neural population compared to those of single neurons, we examined the correlation between the PCs and the consistency of the population responses in FG determination. Stimuli with higher PCs evoked higher population consistency than those with lower PCs. Finally, we analyzed the correlation between the PCs and neural latencies in FG modulation. We found that the stimuli with higher PCs showed shorter reaction times in FG perception and evoked shorter modulation latencies in FG neurons. These results indicate that the responses of FG neurons recorded from macaque monkeys show significant correlations with human FG perception, suggesting that V4 neurons with FG-dependent responses contribute to the perception of FG segregation.
Effect of 1-methylcyclopropene on peel greasiness, yellowing, and related gene expression in postharvest ‘Yuluxiang’ pear

‘Yuluxiang’ pear (Pyrus sinkiangensis) commonly develop a greasy coating and yellowing during storage. In this study, 1.0 μL L–1 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) was applied to ‘Yuluxiang’ pear to investigate its effects on fruit quality, peel wax composition, greasiness index, chlorophyll content, and the expression pattern of related genes during storage at ambient temperature (25°C). The results showed that 1-MCP treatment maintained higher fruit firmness and chlorophyll content, decreased respiration rate, and postponed the peak of ethylene production rate, lowered the greasy index of the peel. The main wax components of peel accumulated during storage, the principal ones being alkenes (C23, C25, and C29), fatty acids (C16, C18:1, and C28), aldehydes (C24:1, C26:1, and C28:1), and esters (C22:1 fatty alcohol-C16 fatty acid, C22:1 fatty alcohol-C18:1 fatty acid, C22 fatty alcohol-C16 fatty acid, C22 fatty alcohol-C18:1 fatty acid, C24:1 fatty alcohol-C18:1 fatty acid, and C24 fatty alcohol-C18:1 fatty acid), and were reduced by 1-MCP. 1-MCP also decreased the expression of genes associated with ethylene biosynthesis and signal transduction (ACS1, ACO1, ERS1, ETR2, and ERF1), chlorophyll breakdown (NYC1, NOL, PAO, PPH, and SGR), and wax accumulation (LACS1, LACS6, KCS1, KCS2, KCS4, KCS10L, KCS11L, KCS20, FDH, CER10, KCR1, ABCG11L, ABCG12, ABCG21L, LTPG1, LTP4, CAC3, CAC3L, and DGAT1L). There were close relationships among wax components (alkanes, alkenes, fatty acids, esters, and aldehydes), chlorophyll content, greasiness index, and level of expression of genes associated with wax synthesis and chlorophyll breakdown. These results suggest that 1-MCP treatment decreased the wax content of ‘Yuluxiang’ pear and delayed the development of peel greasiness and yellowing by inhibiting the expression of genes related to the ethylene synthesis, signal transduction, wax synthesis, and chlorophyll degradation.
Low-OH-content optical fibre fabricated by vapour-phase axial-deposition method

A low-OH-content and long-length optical fibre has been made by the v.a.d. method. The OH content in the rod preform was reduced to about 0.4 p.p.m. utilising the chemical reactions of SOCl2 or CCl4 with OH ions and H2O molecules In the porous glass rod. The minimum loss of the fibre, 20km long, was 1.0±0.1 dB/km at 1.2? m.
Design of RF MEMS Filter for X-Band Frequency Mr .

Increasing demand for more advanced wireless communication system, it is important to have very low-loss characteristics and low power consumption coupled with size reduction. RF MEMS (Radio Frequency Microelectromechanical Systems) is a technology which shows remarkable potential in communication systems with high quality factors and low insertion loss which includes reconfiguration. This paper emphasize the design of RF MEMS filter for X-Band frequency, a parallel coupled resonator which attenuates the frequency exactly at 8-12 GHz. XBand is chosen which provides high spectral efficiency, lower chance for interference, less rain fade and maximum throughput. The design of RF MEMS filter is simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics through RF module. Silicon is used as a substrate material in order to enhance RF performance because of its material properties and copper used for parallel coupled resonator. The designed filter achieve insertion loss of less than -0.6dB and return loss less than 30db at center frequency 10.3 GHz. Analyses of this simulated results assures that it can give excellent mobility which enhance the performance of multiband telecommunication system. Keywords— Microelectromechanical systems, X-Band filter, Parallel-coupled microstrip.
Segment-based automatic language identification

This paper discusses the formulation, development and analysis of a segment-based approach to the automatic language identification (LID) problem. This system utilizes phonotactic, acoustic-phonetic, and prosodic information within a unified probabilistic framework. The implementation of this framework allows the relative contributions of different sources of information to be determined empirically, as well as providing the mechanism for combining them within one system. The system has been evaluated using the Oregon Graduate Institute (OGI) multi-language telephone speech corpus and the results are competitive with other current LID systems. The results have also indicated that, while the phontotactic information of a spoken utterance is the most useful information for LID, acoustic-phonetic and prosodic information can be useful for increasing a system’s accuracy, especially when the utterance is short.
Radiation from a dipole antenna on two-layer grounded Faraday chiral substrates

The generalized spectral domain-exponential matrix technique (GSD-EMT) is used to investigate the radiation characteristics of a dipole antenna placed on various grounded Faraday chiral substrates, and such Faraday chiral materials include chiroferrite and semiconductor chiroplasma. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the combined effects of gyrotropy and chirality on the pattern sharp as well as the main beam direction of dipole antenna, and the influences of different constitutive parameters are taken into consideration carefully. It is believed that the present study provide us much insight into the physical properties of Faraday chiral substrates.
Continuous theta burst stimulation-induced suppression of the right fronto-thalamic-cerebellar circuit accompanies improvement in language performance in poststroke aphasia: A resting-state fMRI study

Background Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) is a specific paradigm of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with an inhibitory effect on cortical excitability for up to 60 min after less than 1 min of stimulation. The right posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG), homotopic to Wernicke’s area in the left hemisphere, may be a potential stimulation target based on its critical role in semantic processing. The objective of this study was to explore whether cTBS over the right pSTG can promote language improvements in aphasic patients and the underlying mechanism. Methods A total of 34 subjects with aphasia were randomly assigned to undergo 15 sessions of either 40-s inhibitory cTBS over the right pSTG (the cTBS group) or sham stimulation (the sham group), followed by 30 min of speech and language therapy. Subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and the aphasia quotient (AQ) of the Chinese version of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) was calculated before and after the intervention. This randomized controlled trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (No. ChiCTR210052962). Results After treatment, the language performance of the cTBS group was higher than that of the sham group in terms of the WAB-AQ score (p = 0.010) and the WAB scores for auditory comprehension (p = 0.022) and repetition (p = 0.035). The fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) was significantly decreased in the pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right middle frontal gyrus, right thalamus, and left cerebellar crus I. Clusters in the left orbitofrontal cortex exhibited increased fALFF. The change in WAB comprehension scores were significantly correlated with the change in the fALFF of the right IFG pars triangularis in both groups. Greatly increased functional connectivity was observed between the right pars triangularis and left paracingulate gyrus and between the right pSTG and right angular gyrus and the posterior cingulate gyrus with pre-and post-treatment between the two groups. Conclusion Our findings indicate that cTBS of the right pSTG may improve language production by suppressing intrinsic activity of the right fronto-thalamic-cerebellar circuit and enhancing the involvement of the right temporoparietal region.
Frequency-dependent functional alterations in people living with HIV with early stage of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder

Background HIV enters the brain soon after seroconversion and causes HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). However, the pathogenesis of this insidious impairment at an early stage remains unclear. Objectives To explore functional integration and segregation changes at the early stages of HAND, voxel-level indices of regional homogeneity (ReHo), the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) under two different frequency bands (slow-5: 0.01–0.027 Hz; slow-4: 0.027–0.073 Hz) were analyzed. Methods Ninety-eight people living with HIV (PLWH) and 44 seronegative controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, all PLWHs underwent neuropsychological and daily functioning tests. The main effect of the group and the interaction between the group and frequency band were investigated. Finally, the relationship between the altered indices and the cognitive domains was explored. Results A significant group-by-frequency interaction was demonstrated in the right thalamus for ReHo; for VMHC, the interaction was observed in the bilateral precuneus and paracentral gyrus. The post hoc Bonferroni test indicated that the alteration of ReHo and VMHC could only be detected in slow-5. PLWH showed significantly reduced ALFF in both the frequency bands in the right occipital gyrus and right calcarine. Moreover, some altered functional integration and segregation indices are related to impaired cognitive function. Conclusion People living with HIV displayed aberrant functional integration and segregation at the early stages of HAND, which is linked to cognitive function. The frequency band of slow-5 might be more sensitive for detecting insidious damage at an early stage.
Delay‐dependent stability criterion and H∞ analysis for Markovian jump systems with time‐varying delays

This paper deals with the problems of stochastic stability and H∞ analysis for Markovian jump linear systems with time‐varying delays. In terms of linear matrix inequalities, a less conservative delay‐dependent stability criterion for Markovian jump systems is proposed by constructing a different Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional and introducing improved integral‐equalities approach, and a sufficient condition is derived from the H∞ performance. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the efficiency and reduced conservatism of the results in this paper.
TEMPORAL COHERENT CONTROL IN THE PHOTOIONIZATION OF CS2: THEORY AND EXPERIMENT

Two identical femtosecond pulses are used to create a coherent superposition of two vibrational wave packets in a bound electronic state of cesium dimers. The oscillations of these two wave packets are further detected after photoionization of the system. Quantum interferences between the two wave packets result in a temporal coherent control of the ionization probability. The interferogram exhibits the following features as a function of the time delay between the two laser pulses: high-frequency oscillation corresponding to Ramsey fringes (at the Bohr frequency of the transition) modulated by a slow envelope corresponding to the oscillations of vibrational wave packets (vibrational recurrences). Here the control parameter is the time delay between the two laser pulses which can be used to control the preparation of a wave packet in a quantum system and monitor its evolution. The detailed theory of this experiment is presented and compared with the pump-probe experiment. The temporal coherent control exp.
Enhancing strict positive realness condition on families of polynomials by filter design

Some results on strict positive realness of families of polynomials are given. The main motivation for these results is the need for design criteria of filters ensuring the convergence of algorithms in the presence of uncertainty in the plant model in the area of identification and adaptive control. Two main results are given. The first provides analytical conditions under which a family of polynomials with zeros in a prescribed region of the complex plane is strict positive real or can be made strict positive real over an assigned region of the complex plane through the use of a suitable filter. The second is a design result providing a parameterization of a family of filters maximizing the region of the complex plane on which strict positive realness is achievable. >
MammoGAN: High-Resolution Synthesis of Realistic Mammograms

We explore whether recent advances in generative adversarial networks (GANs) enable synthesis of realistic medical images that are hard to distinguish from real ones, even by domain experts. High-quality synthetic images can be useful for data augmentation, domain transfer, and out-of-distribution detection. However, generating realistic images is challenging, particularly for Full Field Digital Mammograms (FFDM), due to the highresolution, textural heterogeneity, fine structural details and specific tissue properties. We employ progressive GANs to synthesize mammograms at a resolution of 1280x1024 pixels, the highest reported so far. In order to assess the perceptual realism, we designed a user study where experts are asked to distinguish real and generated images with exciting results.
Exact solution of a 1d asymmetric exclusion model using a matrix formulation

Several recent works have shown that the one-dimensional fully asymmetric exclusion model, which describes a system of particles hopping in a preferred direction with hard core interactions, can be solved exactly in the case of open boundaries. Here the authors present a new approach based on representing the weights of each configuration in the steady state as a product of noncommuting matrices. With this approach the whole solution of the problem is reduced to finding two matrices and two vectors which satisfy very simple algebraic rules. They obtain several explicit forms for these non-commuting matrices which are, in the general case, infinite-dimensional. Their approach allows exact expressions to be derived for the current and density profiles. Finally they discuss briefly two possible generalizations of their results: the problem of partially asymmetric exclusion and the case of a mixture of two kinds of particles.
GRAVITATIONAL PERTURBATIONS AND QUASINORMAL MODES OF BLACK HOLES WITH NON-SPHERICAL TOPOLOGY

In the present work we investigate the physical interpretation of gravitational perturbations of static asymptotically anti-de Sitter black holes with non-spherical topology. For zero wavenumber modes, the axial perturbations yield only small rotations on the system, while the polar perturbations lead to a change in the mass and may also produce gravitational waves. Additionally, it is verified that perturbations with any nonzero wavenumber are able to produce gravitational waves in these space–times. On the basis of these results, the quasinormal frequencies corresponding to polar perturbation modes with null wavenumber are calculated and briefly analyzed.
Patient Outcomes Based on the 2011 CDC Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients drive the destination decision for millions of emergency medical services (EMS)-transported trauma patients annually, yet limited information exists regarding performance and relationship with patient outcomes as a whole. Objective: To evaluate the association of positive findings on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients with hospitalization and mortality. Methods: This retrospective study included all 911 responses from the 2019 ESO Data Collaborative research dataset with complete Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients and linked emergency department dispositions, excluding children and cardiac arrests prior to EMS arrival. Patients were categorized by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients step(s) met. Outcomes were hospitalization and emergency department or inhospital mortality. Results: There were 86,462 records included: n = 65,967 (76.3%) met no criteria, n = 16,443 (19.0%) met one step (n = 1,571 [9.6%] vitals, n = 1,030 [6.3%] anatomy of injury, n = 993 [6.0%] mechanism of injury, and n = 12,849 [78.1%] special considerations), and n = 4,052 (4.7%) met multiple. Compared with meeting no criteria, hospitalization odds increased threefold for vitals (odds ratio [OR]: 3.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.77–3.40), fourfold for anatomy of injury (OR: 3.94, 95% CI: 3.48–4.46), twofold for mechanism of injury (OR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.74–2.29), or special considerations (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 2.36–2.56). Hospitalization odds increased ninefold when positive in multiple steps (OR: 8.97, 95% CI: 8.37–9.62). Overall, n = 84,473 (97.7%) had mortality data available, and n = 886 (1.0%) died. When compared with meeting no criteria, mortality odds increased 10-fold when positive in vitals (OR: 9.58, 95% CI: 7.30–12.56), twofold for anatomy of injury (OR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.28–4.29), or special considerations (OR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.71–2.60). There was no difference when only positive for mechanism of injury (OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.03–1.54). Mortality odds increased 23-fold when positive in multiple steps (OR: 22.7, 95% CI: 19.7–26.8). Conclusions: Patients meeting multiple Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients steps were at greater risk of hospitalization and death. When meeting only one step, anatomy of injury was associated with greater risk of hospitalization; vital sign criteria were associated with greater risk of mortality.