Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimating Time-Evolving Partial Coherence Between Signals via Multivariate Locally Stationary Wavelet Processes

We consider the problem of estimating time-localized cross-dependence in a collection of nonstationary signals. To this end, we develop the multivariate locally stationary wavelet framework, which provides a time-scale decomposition of the signals and, thus, naturally captures the time-evolving scale-specific cross-dependence between components of the signals. Under the proposed model, we rigorously define and estimate two forms of cross-dependence measures: wavelet coherence and wavelet partial coherence. These dependence measures differ in a subtle but important way. The former is a broad measure of dependence, which may include indirect associations, i.e., dependence between a pair of signals that is driven by another signal. Conversely, wavelet partial coherence measures direct linear association between a pair of signals, i.e., it removes the linear effect of other observed signals. Our time-scale wavelet partial coherence estimation scheme thus provides a mechanism for identifying hidden dynamic relationships within a network of nonstationary signals, as we demonstrate on electroencephalograms recorded in a visual-motor experiment.
Emerging Relationships between Exercise, Sensory Nerves, and Neuropathic Pain

The utilization of physical activity as a therapeutic tool is rapidly growing in the medical community and the role exercise may offer in the alleviation of painful disease states is an emerging research area. The development of neuropathic pain is a complex mechanism, which clinicians and researchers are continually working to better understand. The limited therapies available for alleviation of these pain states are still focused on pain abatement and as opposed to treating underlying mechanisms. The continued research into exercise and pain may address these underlying mechanisms, but the mechanisms which exercise acts through are still poorly understood. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of how the peripheral nervous system responds to exercise, the relationship of inflammation and exercise, and experimental and clinical use of exercise to treat pain. Although pain is associated with many conditions, this review highlights pain associated with diabetes as well as experimental studies on nerve damages-associated pain. Because of the global effects of exercise across multiple organ systems, exercise intervention can address multiple problems across the entire nervous system through a single intervention. This is a double-edged sword however, as the global interactions of exercise also require in depth investigations to include and identify the many changes that can occur after physical activity. A continued investment into research is necessary to advance the adoption of physical activity as a beneficial remedy for neuropathic pain. The following highlights our current understanding of how exercise alters pain, the varied pain models used to explore exercise intervention, and the molecular pathways leading to the physiological and pathological changes following exercise intervention.
Rho- and Rac-dependent Assembly of Focal Adhesion Complexes and Actin Filaments in Permeabilized Fibroblasts: An Essential Role for Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin Proteins

The small GTPases Rho and Rac regulate actin filament assembly and the formation of integrin adhesion complexes to produce stress fibers and lamellipodia, respectively, in mammalian cells. Although numerous candidate effectors that might mediate these responses have been identified using the yeast two-hybrid and affinity purification techniques, their cellular roles remain unclear. We now describe a biological assay that allows components of the Rho and Rac signaling pathways to be identified. Permeabilization of serum-starved Swiss 3T3 cells with digitonin in the presence of guanosine 5′-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPγS) induces both actin filament and focal adhesion complex assembly through activation of endogenous Rho and Rac. These responses are lost when GTPγS is added 6 min after permeabilization, but can be reconstituted using concentrated cytosolic extracts. We have achieved a 10,000-fold purification of the activity present in pig brain cytosol and protein sequence analysis shows it to contain moesin. Using recombinant proteins, we show that moesin and its close relatives ezrin and radixin can reconstitute stress fiber assembly, cortical actin polymerization and focal complex formation in response to activation of Rho and Rac.
Paired Associative Plasticity in Human Motor Cortex

Paired Associative Plasticity in Human Motor Cortex Behzad Elahi Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Institute of Medical Sciences University of Toronto 2013 This thesis consists of four chapters. In this thesis we explored associative plasticity of human motor cortex with the use of noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) has grown in popularity because of its potential clinical applications. We used TMS techniques in combination with electromyographic (EMG) measurements to study cortical excitability and kinematic features of arm movement. This work has focused in a cohesive approach to answer certain fundamental questions about a) the rules of cortical plasticity and mechanism of PAS, b) the interaction between the state of neuronal excitability at the targeted cortical network and the effects of PAS, and c) translation of these effects into obvious measurable kinematic changes starting from network level changes and ending up with the behavioral modulation of arm movement. First we explored the role of GABAergic intracortical networks and intracortical facilitation on modulation of cortical excitability by showing for the first time that PAS can be conditioned by these inhibitory and facilitatory intracortical networks. Next, using standard indirect approaches utilizing peripheral EMG measures, we showed a graded excitability response for the PAS technique and showed that interactions of PAS with motor learning depends on the degree as well as the state of cortical excitability. Rules governing the interactions of brain stimulation techniques and motor learning are important because brain stimulation techniques can be used to modify, improve or
Lyapunov Based on Cascaded Non-linear Control of Induction Machine

In this paper is developed Lyapunov based non-linear control to ensure the flux-speed tracking regime of voltage fed induction machine. The control law is determined in two steps, in the first the virtual control, based on Lyapunov function, is obtained in view to impose the flux-speed tracking. After this, is deduced the real control imposing the virtual control law. The simulation results of flux-speed tracking of induction machine show the validity of the proposed method in presence of strong parametric perturbations. Finally, an extension of the proposed method to most voltage alternating current (AC) machines is discussed. This allows to get a unified view for the control of electric AC machines.
Representing ancient books for human science research based on a hypermedia model

This paper describes the human science research field and its reliance on the capability of studying ancient manuscripts. The importance of having a coordinated image and text view is shown. Uses for computer-based tools for this area are discussed and a hypermedia model is developed for representing the ancient manuscripts and the process of human science research on these manuscripts. A prototypical information system based on this model was designed and tested. The paper gives lessons learned in the research project as well as future directions for this research area.
DIOTA: Dynamic Instrumentation, Optimization and Transformation of Applications

In this paper, we describeDIOTA, a novel method for instrumenting binaries. The technique correctly deals with programs that contain traditionally hard to instrument features such as data in code and code in data. The technique does not require reverse engineering, program understanding tools or heuristics about the compiler or linker used. The basic idea is that instrumented code is generated on the fly, while the original process is used for data accesses.DIOTA comes with a number of useful backends to check programs for faulty memory accesses, data races, deadlocks,. and perform basic tracing operations, e.g. tracing all memory accesses, all code being executed, to perform coverage analysis, . DIOTA has been implemented for the IA32 architecture running the Linux operating system.
Validierung des deutschen Addenbrooke´s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R)

Die Validierung des Addenbrooke´s Cognitive Examination (ACE-R) basierte auf der englischsprachigen Ubersetzung der Testbatterie. Die diagnostische Genauigkeit der deutschen Version im Erkennen von Leichten Kognitiven Storungen (LKS), milder Alzheimerdemenz (AD) und Frontotemporaler Lobardegeneration (FTLD) wurde im Vergleich zum konventionellen MMSE bewertet. Das Patientenkollektiv bestand aus 75 LKS-, 56 AD- und 22 FTLD-Patienten und einer Vergleichsgruppe von 76 Probanden. Die statistischen Analysen wurden anhand der ROC-Methode und der Regressionsanalyse erstellt. Der optimale Cut-Off-Wert des ACE-R zur Erkennung von LKS, AD und FTLD lag bei 86/87, 82/83 und 83/84. Der ACE-R stellte sich bei der Erkennung der FTLD gegenuber dem MMSE als uberlegen dar (AUC 0.97 vs. 0.92). Die Werte in den ACE-R-Teilbereichen Gedachtnis und Verbale Flussigkeit trugen signifikant zum Unterscheiden zwischen AD und FTLD bei (optimaler Cut-Off-Wert 2.30/2.31, AUC 0.77), wobei die Gesamtwerte beider Tests keine Unterscheidung ermoglichten.
A generalized multilevel inverter topology with self voltage balancing

Multilevel power converters that provide more than two levels of voltage to achieve smoother and less distorted AC-to-DC, DC-to-AC, and DC-to-DC power conversion, have attracted many contributors. This paper presents a generalized multilevel inverter (converter) topology with self voltage balancing. The existing multilevel inverters such as diode-clamped and capacitor-damped multilevel inverters can be derived from the generalized inverter topology. Moreover, the generalized multilevel inverter topology provides a true multilevel structure that can balance each DC voltage level automatically without any assistance from other circuits, thus in principle providing a complete and true multilevel topology that embraces the existing multilevel inverters. From this generalized multilevel inverter topology, several new multilevel inverter structures can be derived. Some application examples of the generalized multilevel converter are given.
Systemic Cytokine Levels Do Not Predict CD4+ T-Cell Recovery After Suppressive Combination Antiretroviral Therapy in Chronic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Background. Subjects on suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) who do not achieve robust reconstitution of CD4+ T cells face higher risk of complications and death. We studied participants in the Women's Interagency HIV Study with good (immunological responder [IR]) or poor (immunological nonresponder [INR]) CD4+ T-cell recovery after suppressive cART (n = 50 per group) to determine whether cytokine levels or low-level viral load correlated with INR status. Methods. A baseline sample prior to viral control and 2 subsequent samples 1 and 2 years after viral control were tested. Serum levels of 30 cytokines were measured at each time point, and low-level human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral load and anti-HIV antibody levels were measured 2 years after viral suppression. Results. There were minimal differences in cytokine levels between IR and INR subjects. At baseline, macrophage inflammatory protein-3β levels were higher in IR subjects; after 1 year of suppressive cART, soluble vascular endothelial growth factor-R3 levels were higher in IR subjects; and after 2 years of suppressive cART, interferon gamma-induced protein 10 levels were higher in INR subjects. Very low-level HIV viral load and anti-HIV antibody levels did not differ between IR and INR subjects. Conclusions. These results imply that targeting residual viral replication might not be the optimum therapeutic approach for INR subjects.
Plasma urokinase receptor levels in patients with colorectal cancer: relationship to prognosis.

BACKGROUND The proteolytic enzyme plasmin, which is generated from the precursor plasminogen by the action of urokinase plasminogen activator, is thought to play a role in tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is functionally involved in the cell surface activation (i.e., cleavage) of plasminogen. Increased tumor tissue levels of uPAR are associated with poor prognosis in several types of cancer. This retrospective study was undertaken to test the relationship between preoperative plasma levels of soluble uPAR (suPAR) and survival in patients with colorectal cancer. METHODS suPAR levels in preoperative plasma from 591 patients with colorectal cancer were determined by use of a kinetic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and analyzed with respect to associations with postoperative survival, Dukes' stage, age, and serum carcinoembryonic antigen level. Plasma suPAR measurements were log transformed for survival analysis, which employed the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model. All P values reported are two-sided. RESULTS Univariate analysis, using the log-transformed suPAR concentrations, demonstrated that there was an increasing risk of mortality with increasing plasma suPAR level (P<.0001). An arbitrary cut point, the median for all patients (1.37 ng/mL), divided patients with Dukes' stage B, C, or D disease into statistically different prognostic groups. In multivariate Cox analysis including Dukes' stage, age, and carcinoembryonic antigen level, the suPAR concentration independently predicted survival (P<.0001). CONCLUSIONS The preoperative plasma suPAR level independently predicted survival of patients with colorectal cancer. Further studies of plasma suPAR in patients with cancer are needed to evaluate the utility of plasma suPAR measurements and cut points in identifying high-risk patients among those with early stage disease.
Knowledge Management : When will People Enter the Debate

This paper presents an overview of research and literature on Knowledge Management (KM) and argues that to date KM research is limited by its focus primarily on hard information systems. Insufficient attention has been given to the ‘people management’ aspects of KM and the complex, multi-faceted nature of knowledge and knowledge transformation. The results of a survey of KM practice in a wide sample of UK firms is presented in support of these assertions, highlighting the need to develop a more critical and integrated view of IT/IS and people management and organizational issues related to knowledge creation and
Visualizing the marrow of science

This study proposes a new methodology that allows for the generation of scientograms of major scientific domains, constructed on the basis of cocitation of ISI categories, and pruned using Pathfinder Network, with a layout determined by algorithms of the spring-embedder type (Kamada-Kawai), then corroborated structurally by Factor analysis. We present the complete scientogram of the world for the year 2002. It integrates the natural sciences, the social sciences, arts and humanities. Its basic structure and the essential relationships therein are revealed, allowing us to analyze at the same time the macrostructure, microstructure and marrow of worldwide scientific output.
Data-driven guidelines for high quality teacher education

In this paper, key findings of the other papers forming this symposium are examined in terms of implications for teacher education (mainly preservice but with some reference to inservice also). Located in the context of the poor empirical base for teacher education and the contested normative terrain that characterises this field, eight major findings from the SIPA study are addressed with specific implications considered. For instance, demonstrating the relative lack of high quality pedagogy for indigenous students and those from low SES backgrounds highlights a need to ensure that teachers understand and know how to include more challenging and meaningful work for these students. In identifying the relative impact of significance, quality learning environment, and intellectual quality for different groups of students, new ways are identified to focus teachers’ energies to support the high quality achievement of all students. By demonstrating the relationship between teaching quality and student achievement, teachers’ needs in relation to pedagogy are highlighted. Next we return to an adjudication of the normative debate based on the strong empirical data that underpins the findings, arguing that all three key positions in the debate (which emphasise content knowledge, teaching skill or social justice) are necessary components of high quality teacher education.
A role for IgG immune complexes during infection with the intracellular pathogen Leishmania

We examined the role of immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies in mediating host defense to the intracellular parasite, Leishmania. We show that IgG not only fails to provide protection against this intracellular pathogen, but it actually contributes to disease progression. The JH strain of BALB/c mice, which lack IgG because they have a targeted deletion in the Ig heavy chain (J) locus, were more resistant to infection with Leishmania major than were normal BALB/c mice. However, the passive administration of anti-Leishmania IgG caused JH mice to develop large lesions containing high numbers of parasites. Antibody administration correlated with an increase in interleukin (IL) 10 production in lesions, and blocking the murine IL-10 receptor prevented antibody-mediated disease exacerbation. In human patients with active visceral leishmaniasis, high IgG levels are predictive of disease. Patients with ongoing disease had high IgG antibody titers and no delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to Leishmania antigens. This pattern was reversed upon disease resolution after treatment, resulting in a decrease in total IgG, which was accompanied by a progressive increase in DTH responsiveness. We conclude that IgG can cause a novel form of immune enhancement due to its ability to induce IL-10 production from macrophages.
Extramural extension as indicator for postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in Stage IIA (pT3N0) colon cancer

The usefulness of adjuvant chemotherapy (CMT) in patients with Stage IIA colon cancer remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate extramural extension as an indicator for adjuvant CMT. Data were reviewed from 202 consecutive patients with Stage IIA colon cancer that underwent curative surgery between 1995 and 2007. The distance of the extramural extension (DEE) was measured histologically. The optimal prognostic cut‐off point of the DEE for oncologic outcomes was statistically determined. The eligible surviving patients had been followed for a median period of 75 months (range: 2–210 months). Patients were subdivided into two groups according to the optimal cut‐off point; DEE ≤5 mm (pT3a) and DEE >5 mm (pT3b). The pT3b was the most powerful independent risk factor for postoperative recurrence (P = 0.0324, HR: 3.04, 95% CI: 1.098–8.408), and was significantly correlated with distant metastasis (P = 0.0161 HR: 5.19, 95% CI: 1.765–15.239). The recurrence‐free and cancer‐specific 5‐year survival rates in patients with pT3b were significantly lower than in patients with pT3a (81.5% vs. 95.4%, P = 0.0003 and 85.9% vs. 97.4%, P = 0.0007, respectively). pT3b could be an important risk factor for distant metastasis in Stage IIA colon cancer. Postoperative adjuvant CMT may be indicated for patients with pT3b.
Signatures of Environmental Genetic Adaptation Pinpoint Pathogens as the Main Selective Pressure through Human Evolution

Previous genome-wide scans of positive natural selection in humans have identified a number of non-neutrally evolving genes that play important roles in skin pigmentation, metabolism, or immune function. Recent studies have also shown that a genome-wide pattern of local adaptation can be detected by identifying correlations between patterns of allele frequencies and environmental variables. Despite these observations, the degree to which natural selection is primarily driven by adaptation to local environments, and the role of pathogens or other ecological factors as selective agents, is still under debate. To address this issue, we correlated the spatial allele frequency distribution of a large sample of SNPs from 55 distinct human populations to a set of environmental factors that describe local geographical features such as climate, diet regimes, and pathogen loads. In concordance with previous studies, we detected a significant enrichment of genic SNPs, and particularly non-synonymous SNPs associated with local adaptation. Furthermore, we show that the diversity of the local pathogenic environment is the predominant driver of local adaptation, and that climate, at least as measured here, only plays a relatively minor role. While background demography by far makes the strongest contribution in explaining the genetic variance among populations, we detected about 100 genes which show an unexpectedly strong correlation between allele frequencies and pathogenic environment, after correcting for demography. Conversely, for diet regimes and climatic conditions, no genes show a similar correlation between the environmental factor and allele frequencies. This result is validated using low-coverage sequencing data for multiple populations. Among the loci targeted by pathogen-driven selection, we found an enrichment of genes associated to autoimmune diseases, such as celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, and multiples sclerosis, which lends credence to the hypothesis that some susceptibility alleles for autoimmune diseases may be maintained in human population due to past selective processes.
Surface States, Surface Metal-Insulator, and Surface Insulator-Metal Transitions

I present an informal discussion of various cases where two-dimensional surface metal-insulator structural and charge-density-wave instabilities driven by partly filled surface states have been advocated. These include reconstructions of clean semiconductor surfaces and of W(100) and Mo(100), as well as anomalies on the hydrogen-covered surfaces H/W(110) and H/Mo(110), and possibly alkali-covered surfaces such as K/Cu(111). In addition I will also discuss the opposite type of phenomena, namely surface insulator-metal transitions, which can be argued to occur on $\alpha -$% Ga(001), high-temperature Ge(111), and probably Be(0001).
Integrating economics and genetics models in information ecosystems

Multi-agent software systems can be modeled as complex, dynamic systems in which agent adaptation and interaction occur continuously and concurrently. A genetics inspired view has agent adaptation occurring via the exchange of encoded agent characteristics (genes). An economics inspired view has agent adaptation driven by changes in prices and supply and demand. Interactions of economics and genetics models have a long history in evolutionary computation. This paper describes new work towards a synergistic combination of these views, in agent-based settings. The paper includes a re-statement of Holland's (1992) basic theories in an agent-based context, a discussion of different self-organization principles taken from economics, presentation of results from two agent systems that synergize economics and genetics models, and a discussion of future directions.