Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Intra- and Inter-Subject Reliability of the Perturbational Complexity Index (PCI) of Consciousness for Three Brain Regions Using TMS-EEG

Background The perturbational complexity index (PCI) is a useful measure of consciousness that combines transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with electroencephalography (EEG). However, the PCI has not been assessed for reliability between sessions nor is there a clear best stimulation target to acquire a PCI. Objective/Hypothesis We assessed the reliability of within-subject PCIs between 3 sessions with stimulation over the same premotor, motor, and parietal targets between visits, hypothesizing that we could determine a most reliable TMS-EEG target to acquire PCIs in healthy, conscious adults. Methods PCIs were acquired for 9 participants (5 women) over 3 sessions within a week. A 64 channel EEG system was used with all electrode impedances ≤ 10kΩ. Premotor, motor, and parietal stimulation targets were identified using a real-time Matlab graphical user interface (GUI). Neuronavigation using an MRI-template brain ensured that every TMS pulse was delivered within 3.0mm and 5° of the stimulation target. Results Premotor, motor, and parietal PCIs all had significant PCIs (all p < 0.05). However, parietal and motor PCIs had excellent reliability (ICCs = 0.927 and 0.857 respectively) whereas premotor PCIs had good reliability (ICC = 0.737). PCIs were similar between brain sites within each subject in a single visit, but with only a moderate effect (p = 0.024, ICC = 0.480). PCIs on a group level did not differ between brain sites (p = 0.589). Conclusions The PCI is a reliable measure over this timeframe within each subject for single brain targets. PCIs for parietal and motor sites are most similar between visits. Due to only moderate similarity between PCIs from three brain sites within each session, PCIs should be acquired over at least two brain sites, with parietal and motor regions as the top candidates.
Light-inducible generation of membrane curvature in live cells with engineered BAR domain proteins

Nanoscale membrane curvature is now understood to play an active role in essential cellular processes such as endocytosis, exocytosis and actin dynamics. Previous studies have shown that membrane curvatures directly affect protein functions and intracellular signaling. However, few methods are able to precisely manipulate membrane curvature in live cells. Here, we report the development of a new method of generating nanoscale membrane curvature in live cells that is controllable, reversible, and capable of precise spatial and temporal manipulation. For this purpose, we make use of BAR domain proteins, a family of well-studied membrane-remodeling and membrane-sculpting proteins. Specifically, we engineered two optogenetic systems, opto-FBAR and opto-IBAR, that allow light-inducible formation of positive and negative membrane curvature respectively. Using opto-FBAR, blue light activation results in the formation of tubular membrane invaginations (positive curvature), controllable down to the subcellular level. Using opto-IBAR, blue light illumination results in the formation of membrane protrusions or filopodia (negative curvature). These systems present a novel approach for light-inducible manipulation of nanoscale membrane curvature in live cells. Highlights Opto-FBAR enables light-inducible positive membrane curvature formation. Opto-IBAR enables light-inducible negative membrane curvature formation. Light-inducible activation enables precise spatial and temporal control. Opto-BAR systems present a new approach for studying membranes in live cells.
Ecological Response of Plankton to Environmental Change: Thresholds for Extinction

Severe climatic and environmental changes are far more prevalent in Earth history than major extinction events, and the relationship between environmental change and extinction severity has important implications for the outcome of the ongoing anthropogenic extinction event. The response of mineralized marine plankton to environmental change offers an interesting contrast to the overall record of marine biota, which is dominated by benthic invertebrates. Here, we summarize changes in the species diversity of planktic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton over the Mesozoic–Cenozoic and that of radiolarians and diatoms over the Cenozoic. We find that, aside from the Triassic–Jurassic and Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction events, extinction in the plankton is decoupled from that in the benthos. Extinction in the plankton appears to be driven primarily by majorclimatic shifts affecting water column stratification, temperature, and, perhaps, chemistry. Changes that strongly affect the benthos, such as acidification and anoxia, have little effect on the plankton or are associated with radiation. ▪ Fossilizing marine plankton provide some of the most highly temporally and taxonomically resolved records of biodiversity since the Mesozoic. ▪ The record of extinction and origination in the plankton differs from the overall marine biodiversity record in revealing ways. ▪ Changes to water column stratification and global circulation are the main drivers of plankton diversity. ▪ Anoxia, acidification, and eutrophication (which strongly influence total marine fossil diversity) are less important in the plankton.
cAMP-PKA Signaling Plays an Important Role in Augmented Neutrophil Adhesion and Chemotaxis in Sickle Cell Disease.

A chronic inflammatory state is now thought to underlie much of the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD). Increased leukocyte numbers are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in SCD and the adhesion of leukocytes to the vascular endothelium and sickle red cells may play an initiating role in the vaso-occlusive process. We sought to better understand the signaling events that lead to alterations in SCD neutrophil adhesive and chemotactic abilities. Neutrophils were isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy controls and SCD individuals in steady state by separation over a ficoll-paque gradient. Following washing and lysis of contaminating red cells, adhesion to fibronectin (FN) and chemotaxis of control and SCD neutrophils (4×106 cells/ml in RMPI medium) were assessed using static adhesion assays and a 96-well chemotaxis chamber assay (ChemoTX, Neuroprobe). Cell adhesion to FN (20mg/ml; 30 min, 37°C, 5% CO2) or IL-8-induced migration (2h, 37°C, 5% CO2) was calculated using a standard curve of the original cell suspension and expressed as the percentage of cells adhered or the number of cells migrated. As previously shown, SCD neutrophils demonstrate a greater ability to adhere to FN-coated plates than control individual leukocytes (13.1±1.48 % neutrophils adhered compared to 5.0±0.6 %; n=11; P 0.05). Furthermore, activation of primed SCD neutrophils by the chemokine, IL-8 (500ng/ml), resulted in a significant increase in SCD neutrophil adhesion to FN (19.3±2.2 %; P=0.02; n=7) with a concomitant increase in intracellular cAMP levels (335.8±17.1 % increase, P<0.05, n=3) that could also be reverted by co-incubation with the PKA inhibitor, KT5720 (11.8 ± 0.8 %; P=0.02; n=7). Interestingly, in vitro chemotaxis of SCD neutrophils in response to a stimulus of IL-8 (100 ng/ml) was found to be significantly increased when compared to control neutrophil IL-8-stimulated chemotaxis (14.3±1.1 x105 cells/ml migrated compared to 8.8±0.8x105 cells/ml; P=0.005; n=8). Once again, KT5720 (3 μM, pre-incubation for 15 min, 37°C), was able to significantly reverse (8.5±1.1 x105/ml; P=0.03; n=6) this enhanced IL-8-dependent SCD neutrophil chemotaxis. Results suggest that an up-regulated PKA-dependent pathway may play an important role in the altered adhesive and chemotactic properties of SCD neutrophils and their further activation by cytokines/chemokines such as IL-8, found in increased levels in the serum of SCD patients. Thus, upregulation of the cAMP-PKA pathway in SCD neutrophils may have important consequences for the chronic inflammatory state in SCD patients and may characterize a novel target for the control of altered neutrophil function in SCD.
SCHOOL-INDUSTRY COLLABORATION: SUSTAINABILITY TOOL FOR PREPARING BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES FOR E-WORLD CHALLENGES

This study examined school-industry collaboration as a sustainability tool for preparing business education graduates for e-world challenges. Two research questions were answered by the study while two null hypotheses were tested. Survey research design was used and the study was carried out in Enugu State, Nigeria. The population of the study consists of 21 business education lecturers in Federal and State universities that offers Business Education programme in Enugu state, Nigeria. The study had no sampling due to the manageable size of the population. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used and an overall coefficient of . 87 was obtained. The questionnaire was administered and data analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Generally, the study found out that school-industry collaboration is a sustainability tool for preparing business education graduates for e-world challenges. Also, some challenges were identified as hindrances to school-industry collaboration in Enugu State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that business education students should be exposed to industries that will give them practical knowledge while in school; there is need to train and re- train lecturers on the use and application of e-world learning tools and technology so as to be abreast with the trend; there is need to encourage e-learning platforms that provides teaching and learning facilities to learners with opportunities to access information whenever and wherever they want especially with industries that can help them. Also, orientation on the need to promote collaboration among business educators should be encouraged for efficient and effective service delivery through the use of e-world learning platform that promotes school-industry collaboration. Keyword: Business education, Business education graduates, E-world, Sustainability, collaboration
Design of Automated Diabetes Screening System on Blurred Retinal Fundus Image

: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), a common ocular disease where the retina of human eye is damaged due to fluid leaking from blood vessels of the retina. In extreme case, the patient will become blind. Therefore early detection of DR is crucial to prevent blindness. Microaneurysm (MA), small dark round dots on retinal fundus image is the earliest clinical sign of DR disease. MA detection at early stage can help to reduce the blindness. In such cases the retinal fundus images produced by fluorescent oscilloscope are often noisy and low in contrast. Detecting the Microaneurysms using those fundus images is very difficult for ophthalmologist. In the present paper, we propose a method using location based contrast enhancement process, popularly known as Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) for the detection of retinal changes in DR images. CLAHE is an adaptive extension of Histogram Equalization which helps in dynamic preservation of the local contrast characteristics of an image. The proposed algorithm divides the retinal fundus image into a number of small, non-overlapping contextual tiles. Following CLAHE at each tile separately, median filtering of DR images is carried out in order to smooth the background noise. Results of the proposed algorithm show a considerable improvement in the enhancement of DR image quality. The proposed method tested on publicly available datasets, such as DIARETDB0, DIARETDB1, STARE and DRIVE. The result is also verified by medical practitioners of this field. The proposed technique has been tested on 45 images collected from local hospital. Mean Sensitivity of 84.48% and mean Accuracy of 98.94% has been obtained.
Seasonal tropospheric cooling in Northeast China associated with cropland expansion

Large-scale agricultural expansion can influence near-surface climate by altering surface energy fluxes, water, and albedo. It is less clear whether such effects extend through the full troposphere and how such effects vary in time. Here we use a novel dataset documenting the massive land use and land cover change due to agricultural expansion in Northeast China from 1982 to 2010 to assess how such expansion has influenced climate over the full troposphere. Confronting our land classification and climate data with a number of statistical approaches (linear regression, correlation analysis, Granger-causality), we find that cropland significantly increased by ∼28% over the near 30 year period in Northeast China-an average rate of nearly a percentage per year. This massive 30 year agricultural expansion is tightly associated with near-surface cooling identified in station data during the late growing season (August to September). Assuming no cropland expansion over the 30 year period, surface temperature would have increased by 0.93 °C ± 0.4 °C. Furthermore, the fingerprint of cropland-associated cooling extends upward into the atmospheric column, influencing the vertical structure of the regional troposphere and potentially its circulation. For every 10 percentage points increase in cropland fraction over Northeast China, regional full-troposphere temperature and geopotential height significantly decrease by 0.2 °C–0.6 °C and 20 m–80 m, respectively. These observed relationships are remarkably coherent across datasets, methodological choices, atmospheric levels, and theory, suggesting that the observational effects we identify are robust and imply the possibility of detectable land use change effects on regional circulation, with potential consequences for the East Asian monsoon.
Interests in knowledge and assistance of epilepsy

Background: Many problems with differential treatment of epilepsy require further clarification. As far as we are concerned, we have developed therapeutic recommendations which, in our opinion, demonstrated to be effective in certain cases, supporting the results of the treatment of epilepsy at its various stages known in the literature: from premonitory forms to status variants. The main element in the choice of anticonvulsant remedies, besides the clinical markings, was the dynamically derived EEG data as well as the subjective pharmacological response of the patients. The preferential associations of anticonvulsant remedies for various topographies of the epileptic outbreak and oscillation of nicotine paroxysms of sleep-wake cycle were given in the formula and strictly individual dosing. Remarkable advances in the field of perturbation in the last decades of the twentieth century, as well as active research in the uninterrupted process, have made epilepsy now called unequivocally a “hopeful affection”. Conclusions: Normal and abnormal neuronal cells are involved in pathological discharges, the exact genesis of this phenomenon is known to be vague and means the involvement of many factors of cellular, vascular and metabolic disorders. Rehabilitation of patients with epilepsy should be gradual, using compliance between drug treatment, psychosocial rehabilitation depending on the dynamics of the disease and the patients’ reaction to their own condition. The uptake of concepts and rehabilitation programs introduced into many countries’ systems, the formation of the assisted care system, will increase the effectiveness of ambulatory rehabilitation.
How does map use differ in virtual reality and desktop-based environments?

ABSTRACT Maps based on virtual reality (VR) are evolving and are being increasingly used in the field of geography. However, the advantages of VR based on the map use processes of users over desktop-based environments (DEs) are not fully understood. In this study, an experiment was conducted in which 120 participants performed map use tasks using maps and globes in VR and DE. The participants’ eye movements and questionnaires were collected to compare the map use performance differences. We analyzed the general metrics, information searching and processing metrics of participants (e.g. response time, RT; average fixation duration, AFD; average saccade duration, ASD; saccade frequency, SF, etc.) using maps and globes in different environments. We found that the participants using VR processed information more efficiently (AFDDE = 233.34 ms, AFDVR = 173.09 ms), and the participants using DE had both a significantly shorter response time (RTDE = 88.68 s, RTVR = 124.05 s) and a shorter visual search time (ASDDE = 60.78 ms, ASDVR = 112.13 ms; SFDE = 6.30, SFVR = 2.07). We also found similarities in accuracy, satisfaction and readability. These results are helpful for designing VR maps that can adapt to human cognition and reflect the advantages of VR.
Typology of Farms and Farmers’ Perception of the Effects of Soil and Water Conservation Practices in Northern Burkina Faso

The continuous degradation of agroecosystem is a major concern for Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly Burkina Faso. To fight against this agroecosystem degradation, SWC such as stone rows, grass strips, zaï, filtering dikes, half-moons and agroforestry had been introduced in the Yatenga Province in Northern Burkina Faso several decades ago. Decades after introduction of SWC practices, a survey was conducted with 120 farmers equally distributed in four villages in the region to learn the farmers’ perceptions of the effects of these practices on their farms. Results revealed a higher proportion of men in the study sites (63%) compared to women. The largest difference in proportions between surveyed men and women was observed in Bogoya where only 22% of the surveyed persons were women. The average years of the respondents across villages was 53 years with 57% of farmers being members of at least one farmer organization. The proportion of educated farmers was 73% and those who received training in SWC techniques represented 36%. Results indicated that white grain sorghum and pearl millet were the main crops produced by 95% of farmers and stone rows and zaï were the dominant SWC techniques used by 77-80% of farmers. Data from the survey indicated a fairly high proportion of big ruminant breeders and small ruminant breeders as well. In fact, 79% of farmers bred big ruminants and 78% bred small ruminants. The main beneficial and direct effects of SWC techniques perceived by farmers was their capacity to improve soil fertility, recover soil, reduce water run-off, and allow good water infiltration in the field, thus improving soil productivity. Farmers pointed out indirect effects of SWC practices on livestock by the regeneration and increase of grass, tree and small shrub biomass available to improve animal growth and health. However, some farmers commented that the long-term use of zaï could lead to soil degradation. The study showed that farmers did perceive the beneficial effects of SWC practices and that greater extension and adoption will only be achieved if they could still receive training, financial and equipment supports.
Efecto de mallas raschel de colores en el crecimiento de plántulas de Eucalyptus globulus, Eucalyptus nitens y Pinus radiata en condiciones de vivero

Forest plantations in Chile represent 2.5 million hectares, with Eucalyptus spp. and Pinus as the most commonly used species. Worldwide, raschel meshes have been used in fruit, horticultural and ornamental shrubs to improve the production of fruits, leaves and flowers. In Chile, it has been operationally used for nursery protocols; they include raschel color mesh to increase shade, which leads to shoot elongation and protection against freezing. However, the possible effect of these colored meshes on the physiological performance of these seedlings is unknown. The objective of this work was to describe the light environment produced by these colored meshes (black, white, blue, green) and to evaluate their effect on growth and physiological performance of Pinus radiata, Eucalyptus nitens and E. globulus seedlings. To evaluate differences among colored meshes, the quality and intensity of light was determined. Seedlings maintained under each mesh were evaluated through the measurement of growth (increasing height of shoots), biomass distribution and vitality (fluorescence of PSII, Fv/Fm). Results show that black and white mesh influences were not selective on their transmittance spectrum and only provided shade (70 % and 50 %, respectively). Vitality measurements did not show damage in seedlings. Seasonal variation on growth was observed, with the highest values during fall and spring for P. radiata and only in spring for both Eucalyptus spp. White mesh promotes higher growth only on both Eucalyptus species, thus it would be recommended for nursery practices.
LIGHT IN THE PUBLIC REALM

In order to address daylight as a meaningful presence in the urban context, light needs to be understood as a public resource and one that offers a collective engagement with, and biological connection to nature. All those who contribute to the built context of our daily lives might well have a host of ideas about design quality and purpose, but how often do they consider the essential place that our experience and perception of light plays in our lives? Do they consider our dependence on a temporal sense of light, both diurnal and seasonal, both to our physiological and psychological health? Our interest is not so much a didactic approach to providing proven intensities or durations of light necessary to human health. We collaborate with engineers and scientists to have our work embody this knowledge, however our goal is more a poetic and aesthetic approach to place making. Consequently the potential is for design that articulates a powerful sense and perception of light within the very building fabric that makes up the public realm, whether it be in the design of curtain walls or street furniture. At every scale of design there is an opportunity to articulate the presence of light and to unpack the dense information contained within light.
Parasitic Infection Among Foreign Workers: Serological Findings

We describe the results of serology for parasitic infection of 698 foreign workers. The 698 foreign workers participated included 115 Indonesians, 387 Bangladeshis, 101 Burmese, 81 Pakistanis, 6 Indians, 3 Thais, 3 Filipinoes and 2 others. Blood samples were taken from these workers and eight tests (Amoebiasis, Echinococcosis, Filariasis (bm and wb), Leishmaniasis, Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Trypanosomiasis) were performed on serum separated from the blood. Among the 698 sera tested, 38.1% were found to be positive for at least one parasitic infection. The most common antibody detected in the positive sera was antibody for amoebiasis (28.1%), followed by malaria (26.9%), echinococcosis (18.1%) and schistosomiasis (11.6%). Other tests showed a low percentage of infection with leshmaniasis (6.5%), filariasis (Brugia malayi (3%) and Wuchereria bancrofti (1%)) and trypanosomiasis (1%).