Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional dissociation of transient and sustained fMRI BOLD components in human auditory cortex revealed with a streaming paradigm based on interaural time differences

A number of physiological studies suggest that feature‐selective adaptation is relevant to the pre‐processing for auditory streaming, the perceptual separation of overlapping sound sources. Most of these studies are focused on spectral differences between streams, which are considered most important for streaming. However, spatial cues also support streaming, alone or in combination with spectral cues, but physiological studies of spatial cues for streaming remain scarce. Here, we investigate whether the tuning of selective adaptation for interaural time differences (ITD) coincides with the range where streaming perception is observed. FMRI activation that has been shown to adapt depending on the repetition rate was studied with a streaming paradigm where two tones were differently lateralized by ITD. Listeners were presented with five different ΔITD conditions (62.5, 125, 187.5, 343.75, or 687.5 μs) out of an active baseline with no ΔITD during fMRI. The results showed reduced adaptation for conditions with ΔITD ≥ 125 μs, reflected by enhanced sustained BOLD activity. The percentage of streaming perception for these stimuli increased from approximately 20% for ΔITD = 62.5 μs to > 60% for ΔITD = 125 μs. No further sustained BOLD enhancement was observed when the ΔITD was increased beyond ΔITD = 125 μs, whereas the streaming probability continued to increase up to 90% for ΔITD = 687.5 μs. Conversely, the transient BOLD response, at the transition from baseline to ΔITD blocks, increased most prominently as ΔITD was increased from 187.5 to 343.75 μs. These results demonstrate a clear dissociation of transient and sustained components of the BOLD activity in auditory cortex.
Lectin‐induced agglutination method of urinary exosomes isolation followed by mi‐RNA analysis: Application for prostate cancer diagnostic

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Prostate‐specific antigen has, however, insufficient diagnostic specificity. Novel complementary diagnostic approaches are greatly needed. MiRNAs are small regulatory RNAs which play an important role in tumorogenesis and are being investigated as a cancer biomarker. In addition to their intracellular regulatory functions, miRNAs are secreted into the extracellular space and can be found in various body fluids, including urine. The stability of extracellular miRNAs is defined by association with proteins, lipoprotein particles, and membrane vesicles. Among the known forms of miRNA packaging, tumour‐derived exosome‐enclosed miRNAs is thought to reflect the vital activity of cancer cells. The assessment of the exosomal fraction of urinary miRNA may present a new and highly specific method for prostate cancer diagnostics; however, this is challenged by the absence of reliable and inexpensive methods for isolation of exosomes.
Bilateral macular atrophy in blue cone monochromacy (BCM) with loss of the locus control region (LCR) and part of the red pigment gene.

PURPOSE To describe unusual macular abnormalities in a family with blue cone monochromacy (BCM, or X-linked incomplete achromatopsia) and deletion of about 9.5 kb comprising part of the red pigment gene and the region upstream of the red pigment gene. METHODS The molecular structure of the red and green pigment genes and the locus control region (LCR) upstream of the red gene were studied for deletions, rearrangements and point mutations by Southern blot analysis and PCR. Four affected males (ages 33, 45, 51, and 59) and a carrier female (age 58) were examined by funduscopy and fluorescein angiography. Extensive color vision testing as well as rod and cone electroretinography (ERG) were performed on two of them. RESULTS Analysis showed that the 6 kb proximal red gene region, exon 1 and about 3.1 kb of intron 1 of the red gene are deleted in this family. Exons 2-6 of the red gene, all the exons of the green gene and the Tex 28 gene were present. Four affected males had bilateral macular changes, including three with overt atrophy. All had visual acuity of 20/200 and their color vision was typical for BCM, with the absence of long- and middle-wavelength sensitive cone function. The ERG showed normal rod responses, whereas the photopic cone and 30-Hz flicker responses were >95% reduced. CONCLUSIONS We report the unusual association between macular atrophy and BCM resulting from the loss of an approximately 9.5 kb region encompassing the LCR, proximal red gene promoter elements and exon 1 of the red gene. However, loss of the LCR and promoter is not sufficient to explain the phenotype since we have observed other BCM families with similar deletions who do not exhibit macular changes.
Usefulness of the virtual monochromatic image in dual-energy spectral CT for decreasing renal cyst pseudoenhancement: a phantom study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the effect that dual-energy spectral CT has on renal cyst pseudoenhancement with a renal cyst phantom. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two renal compartments within a CT phantom were filled with 40- and 240-HU solutions of diluted contrast material, mimicking the nonenhanced phase and nephrographic phase of MDCT, respectively. A saline-filled tapering cylindric cyst model was used, simulating cysts of varying diameters (range, 0.7-3.0 cm) suspended in the renal compartments. The phantom was scanned using dual-energy CT (DECT) (80 and 140 kVp) and conventional, single-energy CT (120 kVp) with the same 64-MDCT scanner. Attenuation increase was measured for a cyst model within 40- and 240-HU dilutions. We compared the attenuation increase obtained on virtual monochromatic images from DECT with conventional, single-energy MDCT images using a paired Student t test. RESULTS Pseudoenhancement occurred in the conventional single-energy CT acquisitions, with water attenuation increase of 42.44 ± 4.03 HU measured at 120 kVp. In virtual monochromatic images of DECT, we observed less pseudoenhancement with water attenuation increase of 21.51 ± 6.18 HU at 70 keV. Both acquisitions yielded a p value less than 0.0001. CONCLUSION We achieved less pseudoenhancement of renal cysts with virtual monochromatic images of DECT compared with conventional single-energy CT. This method may be useful when an accurate differentiation between small renal cysts and solid masses is critical.
Temperature-Independent Fiber Bending Sensor Based on a Superimposed Grating

A compact fiber bending sensor has been presented by superimposing a uniform fiber Bragg grating (FBG) into a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG). The reflection of FBG is modulated by the same bandwidth of the cladding modes of TFBG, which is sensitive to the bending of fiber. By monitoring the differential Bragg reflection between FBG and TFBG, the sensor is insensitive to ambient temperature changes and power fluctuations from light source or fiber link during the measurement. The sensitivity of the sensor is also doubled because the signal from FBG passes through the TFBG twice.
Hepatitis A epidemics from utility sewage in Ocoee, Florida.

The 1988-1989 hepatitis A epidemic in the Palms section of Ocoee, Florida, followed sewage overflows and involved 39 cases and a fetal death. Of the 18 index cases (i.e., the first hepatitis illness in a household), each had a history of contact with sewage-contaminated stormwater and no other known contact with the infection. Illnesses varied from mild to severe; 20 people reported that diarrhea, abdominal pain, varying degrees of ascites, and other symptoms continued for 2 y after the initial illness. Health injuries up to 20 y of lost life, measured by CEA-Clinical Epidemiological AnalysisSM, were found. Public records of rainfall and sewage flows provide evidence of massive stormwater entry into the utility system, which periodically appears to have flushed sewage from the utility lift station into residential areas.
Segmented proactive flow rule injection for service chaining using SDN

Service chaining is one of the challenges in network function virtualization (NFV), where a sequence of middleboxes apply their service to particular traffic. The challenge of service chaining is that a middlebox may alter the content of packet headers; thus, the context of service chaining for particular traffic gets lost. This paper proposes Segmented Proactive Flow Rule Injection (SPFRI) using Software Defined Networking (SDN). SPFRI maintains the consistency of service chain even though one or more middleboxes may alter the packets at both outbound and inbound directions of a flow. The network configuration of middleboxes must be appropriately set to make them perform in the service chain. The significant benefits of the proposed SPFRI are as fallows: 1) no requirement of modifying to the middlebox operating system or software, 2) longer and more chains and 3) friendliness to non-SDN switches. This paper details the segmentation of the service chain and calculates the required number of flow rules. We also discuss the performance of SPFRI and a realistic approach to practical implementation.
Submission Quality in Open Innovation Contests ‐ an Analysis of Individual‐Level Determinants of Idea Innovativeness

The digital age allows for integration of dispersed groups into the innovation process. These heterogeneous groups of individuals varying in size and knowledge distribution, also referred to as crowds, build the basis for open innovation contests (OIC), one of the most common forms of crowdsourcing innovation. Different from more focused forms of open innovation, at OIC innovation managers often do not identify or evaluate participants ex&#8208;ante. Instead, innovation managers often make use of open calls for participation and assume efficient self&#8208;selection of participants i.e., that only motivated and qualified participants will volunteer and engage in the innovation contest. This behavior reflects one of the key assumption of crowdsourcing in participatory innovation settings. However, not every self&#8208;selected member is in the position to solve the contest task appropriately. Hence, innovation contests often result in large numbers of submissions, covering a wide range of quality levels, causing decision biases and significant workloads for innovation managers to select ideas. This problem is referred to as &#8220;crowding&#8221;. In order to reduce &#8220;crowding&#8221;, open innovation researchers are interested in understanding which types of individuals make the &#8220;best&#8221; contributions and therefore should be preferably encouraged to participate in in OIC. In this paper, we are assessing what characterizes those participants who submit innovative ideas to OIC, in particular those who submit incremental ideas vs. those who have more radical ideas. Drawing on the componential model of creativity and data generated in innovation contest held by chocolate producer Ritter Sport, we analyze the effect of participants&#8216; creativity, domain knowledge, and several motivational factors on the innovativeness of their contributions. We find all of these factors to affect the innovativeness of an idea. However, regarding generating incremental or radical innovations, some factors have opposing roles. Our findings imply for practice that innovation managers must decide which type of innovations they intend to generate and then design contests to attract participants with the required characteristics, if they want to increase the number of appropriate ideas and reduce the problems of &#8220;crowding&#8221;.
Study on the performance of spectrum mobility in cognitive wireless network

Current frequency allocation scheme results in poor spectrum utility. In some frequency bands, the spectrum may not be fully utilized either on geographical or at temporal level. In addition, on some hot spot business frequency bands, spectrum resources become in short supply. Many papers discuss the new spectrum management policies, and the focus is dynamic spectrum access (DSA) technology based on cognitive radio. However, spectrum mobility and spectrum handoff are new challenges for cognitive wireless networks. Little research addresses these fields now. In this paper, we discuss concepts of spectrum mobility/handoff and research probability models of spectrum holes and cognitive user¿s behavior. A time relationship model of spectrum handoff is proposed. We also research the impact of spectrum mobility and service duration of cognitive user on spectrum handoff probability. Finally, theoretical and simulation results of spectrum handoff probability are obtained.
The Role of Institutional Policies in Promoting Agribusiness Development in Rural China

Sustainable agricultural growth has become an area of interest for many researchers in the quest to increase food production in the midst of an escalating population. However, the evidence remains largely scanty, isolated and devoid of an in-depth analysis of how some economic policies promote agribusiness development in mainland China. Using time series data from 1990 to 2013, this paper adopts semi-parametric quantile regression to study the complex relationship between institutional policies in rural areas and agribusiness development. The study revealed the role of family household in promoting agribusiness development at the higher quantiles of the distribution. Moreover, government investment in rural health and education contributed significantly across the quantile distribution. The impact of research and development on agribusiness development is positively significant across the quantile points of the distribution within the study period. The result from the quantile graph clearly shows the disparities between OLS and quantile regression coefficients.
Permissive Finite-State Controllers of POMDPs using Parameter Synthesis

We study finite-state controllers (FSCs) for partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs). The key insight is that computing (randomized) FSCs on POMDPs is equivalent to synthesis for parametric Markov chains (pMCs). This correspondence enables using parameter synthesis techniques to compute FSCs for POMDPs in a black-box fashion. We investigate how typical restrictions on parameter values affect the quality of the obtained FSCs. Permissive strategies for POMDPs are obtained as regions of parameter values, a natural output of parameter synthesis techniques. Experimental evaluation on several POMDP benchmarks shows promising results.
Energetic and cell membrane metabolic products in patients with primary insomnia: a 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy study at 4 tesla.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Primary insomnia (PI) is a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty with sleep initiation, maintenance, and/or the experience of nonrestorative sleep combined with a subsequent impairment of daytime functioning. The hyperarousal hypothesis has emerged as the leading candidate to explain insomnia symptoms in the absence of specific mental, physical, or substance-related causes. We hypothesized that the cellular energetic metabolites, including beta nucleoside triphosphate, which in magnetic resonance spectroscopy approximates adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and phosphocreatine (PCr), would show changes in PI reflecting increased energy demand. DESIGN AND SETTING Matched-groups, cross-sectional study performed at two university-based hospitals. PATIENTS Sixteen medication-free individuals (eight males, eight females; mean ± standard deviation (SD) age = 37.2 ± 8.4 y) with PI and 16 good sleepers (nine males, seven females; mean ± SD age = 37.6 ± 4.7 y). MEASUREMENTS Diagnosis was established for all individuals by unstructured clinical interview, Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (SCID), sleep diary, and actigraphy. Polysomnography was collected in individuals with PI. Phosphorous magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS) data were collected on all individuals at 4 Tesla. We assessed cell membrane (anabolic precursors and catabolic metabolites) and bioenergetic (ATP, phosphocreatine) metabolites in gray matter and white matter to determine their relationship to the presence and severity of PI. RESULTS Individuals with PI showed lower phosphocreatine in gray matter and an unexpected decrease of phosphocholine, a precursor of the cell membrane compound phosphatidylcholine, in white matter. In addition, there was a trend toward a negative association between polysomnographically determined wake after sleep onset and gray matter beta-nucleoside triphosphate and white matter phosphocholine in the primary insomnia group. CONCLUSIONS These results support the hyperarousal hypothesis in PI based on lower phosphocreatine in gray matter in the PI group.
Biologia Plantarum Xx (x): Xxx-xxx, 20xx Sulphur Deficiency Inhibits Nitrogen Assimilation and Recycling in Barley Plants

Sulphur (S) is incorporated into diverse primary and secondary metabolites that play important roles in proper growth and development of plants. In cereals, a fraction of the nitrogen (N) accumulated in developing grains is guaranteed by amino acid remobilization from vegetative tissues, a contribution that becomes critical when soil nutrients are deficient. Glutamine synthetase (GS) and amino acid transporters (AAT) are key components involved in N assimilation and recycling. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of S availability on the expressions of HvGS and several selected HvAAT genes in barley plants and on the phloem exudation rate of amino acids. To this end, two independent experiments were designed to impose low S availability conditions to barley plants. Low S availability caused a decrease in the phloem exudation rate of amino acids as well as in the gene expression of all the HvGS genes and five of the six HvAAT genes analysed. The strong correlation found between the phloem amino acid exudation rate and HvGS1-1, HvGS1-2, HvAAP7, and HvProT1 gene expression may indicate the participation of these genes in the regulation of amino acid remobilization through the phloem.
Aliskiren: review of efficacy and safety data with focus on past and recent clinical trials

Aliskiren is the newest antihypertensive drug and the first orally active direct renin inhibitor to become available for clinical use. Clinical data have substantiated that the antihypertensive effectiveness of aliskiren is similar to that of the other major antihypertensive agents. Furthermore, aliskiren has a similar safety profile to placebo. Combination treatment with aliskiren showed significant blood pressure and proteinuria reductions compared with monotherapy. Aliskiren decreases plasma renin activity in contrast to other renin–angiotensin–aldosterone related drugs. The efficacy of aliskiren in treating major cardiovascular events and the prevention of end-organ damage are being investigated in the ASPIRE HIGHER program. Although the first studies of the ASPIRE HIGHER program such as ALOFT, AVOID, AGELESS showed favorable findings, ASPIRE and AVANT-GARDE studies provided contradictory results. Subsequently, the ALTITUDE study was terminated early because of safety issues and lack of beneficial effects. Most recently, the ASTRONAUT trial showed no reduction in cardiovascular death or heart failure rehospitalization with the addition of aliskiren to standard therapy in patients who were hospitalized for heart failure and with reduced left-ventricular ejection fraction. The results of ongoing studies in other patient groups such as the ATMOSPHERE trial are awaited.
The European Works Council as a management tool to divide and conquer: Corporate whipsawing in the steel sector

In large, highly internationalized companies, local sites of production have to contribute to the competitiveness of the corporation while decision-making is directed ever further away from their influence. The article examines how inter-plant competition, called management whipsawing, has changed at the transnational steel company ArcelorMittal over 12 years. The authors take an explicitly Gramscian perspective, as they study the role of coercion and consent in the staging of inter-plant competition. The analysis is based on 45 qualitative interviews with company managers and employee representatives in Spain, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, carried out in two phases, from 2004 to 2006 and 2014 to 2016. The aim is to understand how management can integrate central arenas for employee involvement into their strategies with regard to inter-plant competition. A central finding of this longitudinal case study is that the European Works Council (EWC) is essential in the construction of employee consent to labour competition.
Assembling Digital Economies: Geographic Information Markets and Intellectual Property Regimes in the United States and the European Union

Author(s): Alvarez Leon, Luis Felipe | Advisor(s): Scott, Allen J; Sheppard, Eric S | Abstract: This dissertation explores how Intellectual Property regimes and information markets shape each other to produce geographically differentiated digital economies. The geographic variations and underlying conditions of this process are investigated through a multi-scalar comparison of various jurisdictions, geographic spaces defined by legal frameworks. The United States and the European Union (with a focus on the UK, Spain and Germany) are taken as leading examples of these spaces and studied through the lens of their respective Intellectual Property regimes to understand the dynamics in the construction of their information markets. The study is centered on the commodification and marketization of a particular good: geographic information stored and distributed through the Internet, also known as the geoweb. Geographic information (publicly financed, private and personal) is chosen as the object of study because it embodies defining features of contemporary capitalism including a) the expansion in size and value of the informational economy, b) new forms of production, distribution and consumption due to digitization and networking c) dramatic rearticulation of activities formerly dominated by the state, such as surveying and cartography. These three trends are synthesized to produce a geographic theory of the spatial and multiscalar construction of geographically variegated digital economies, which centers on the integrating vector of Intellectual Property regimes as a way to bound information within particular territories.
Primary prevention of coronary heart disease in general practice: a cross sectional population study

The aim of this study was to assess the interventions by general practitioners on cardiovascular risk factors among persons without a history of cardiovascular disease attending for a cardiovascular check‐up. All inhabitants of three Belgian towns aged between 45 and 64 years were invited for a cardiovascular check‐up and blood test. Of all the attending persons without a history of cardiovascular disease (n = 898), 51% received at least one prescription, diet or health advice: 28% for hyperlipidaemia, 23% for physical activity, 22% for caloric intake, 9% for blood sugar, 5% for blood pressure and 4% for smoking. Interventions on lipoproteins, blood sugar and smoking habits were significantly more often proposed to persons with a medium or high cardiovascular risk compared to those at low cardiovascular risk. For persons at low cardiovascular risk, therapeutic lifestyle changes are often not advised, and isolated risk factors often remain untreated.