Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
‘Dynamics of neuronal interactions’ cannot be explained by ‘neuronal transients’

In a recent paper, Vaadia et al. demonstrated that patterns of firing correlation between single neurons in the cortex of behaving monkeys can be modified within a fraction of a second. These changes occur in relation to sensory stimuli and behavioral events, and even without modulations of the neurons ’firing rates. These findings call for a revision of prevailing models of neural coding that solely rely on single neuron firing rates. In a defense of these models, Friston put forward an alternative explanation, proposing that the observed correlation dynamics emerge solely from co-modulations of the firing rates of each of the neurons, while the strength of their interaction remains constant. To test this possibility we re-examined the data, adopting Friston’s ‘neuronal transients’ model, and the associated equations and procedures. We found that, to explain the dynamic correlation between a pair of neurons, the alternative interpretation requires that each neuron’s response to a single stimulus is composed of a relatively large number of independent components, which co-vary with their counterparts in the companion neuron. This large number of components and their shapes lead us to conclude that, although in principle possible, the neuronal transients model: (i) does not provide a simpler explanation of the experimental results; and (ii) cannot explain these results without itself deviating significantly from most rate code models.
Radioresistant Sf9 insect cells display efficient antioxidant defence against high dose γ-radiation

Purpose: To investigate the effect of gamma radiation-induced alterations in antioxidant defence of radioresistant Sf9 insect cells. Materials and methods: Sf9 cells were irradiated at doses ranging from 0.5–200 Gy. Lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation levels were observed at 4 h post-exposure along with reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) profile as well as specific activities of redox active enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, ascorbate peroxidase (APOx), and glutathione reductase (GR). Human brain malignant glioma (BMG-1) cells were used for comparing radiation response of mammalian cells. Results: Sf9 cells displayed significantly less radiation-induced reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) generation, protein carbonylation and growth inhibition as compared to mammalian cells. Sf9 cells have higher basal APOx (∼4-fold), catalase (∼1.7-fold), SOD (∼1.3-fold) activity and GSH level (∼2.2-fold) compared to mammalian cells. A radiation dose-dependent increase in SOD, Catalase and APOx activity was found in Sf9 cells at least up to 100 Gy dose, while maximum activity in mammalian cells was achieved by 10 Gy. Conclusion: The present study suggests that Lepidopteran insect cells carry a stronger antioxidant system that protects against radiation-induced macromolecular damage, growth inhibition and cell death.
Microimaging Characterization of a B16-F10 Melanoma Metastasis Mouse Model

Metastatic mouse models of melanoma have been characterized by gross necropsy examination, histopathology, and optical imaging. To determine if the time progression, extent, and metabolism of melanoma metastases could be monitored noninvasively, serial micro-CT and small-animal PET imaging studies were performed by using a mouse model of melanoma. Juvenile female C57BL/6 mice were injected intravenously with syngenic B16-F10 melanoma cells. Serial micro-CT imaging studies were performed on anesthetized mice. Mice were necropsied at the development of adverse clinical signs or at postinjection Day 30, and tissues were collected for histopathology. In a separate study of four mice, tumor viability was assessed with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose ([18F]FDG) and studied by using small-animal PET imaging. A total of 59% of the mice developed metastatic tumors. Micro-CT image analysis was able to identify and follow up to 36% of metastatic lesions. Examples of metastatic lesions identified and followed up by micro-CT imaging included a lung metastasis, mandibular metastasis, subcutaneous metastasis, and tibial/femoral metastasis. Micro-CT and small-animal PET fusion imaging successfully correlated anatomic localization of glucose metabolism of the metastatic tumors. Micro-CT and small-animal PET imaging were found to be highly effective in detection and characterization of lesions produced by this metastatic melanoma model.
TOWARD A THEORY OF LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS

F OR SOME, it may appear quite bizarre and quixotic to speak about the "policical system" of Latin America. Social system refers to pattern, persistence, and regularity in human behavior. Latin American politics appear to be whimsical, unstable, crisis ridden, and unpredictable. It would appear that what is at issue in the political life of this region is failure to establish political systems, the hardening . of a state of crisis when all rules are suspended, into a way of life. However, though the patterns be unfamiliar to the observer who identifies political system with the processes of constitutional democracy, there de seem to be certain recurrent and persistent patterns in Latin American political. lif-e. -The inter vention of the military in politics, the technique of the coup d'etat, the use of violence and terror as political instruments, insecurity . of tenure for constitutionally established governments, are all phenomena that appear over and . over again in the political history of the region. As K. H. Silvert puts it:
Mouse fibroblast (type I) and immune (type II) interferons: pronounced differences in affinity for gangliosides and in antiviral and antigrowth effects on mouse leukemia L-1210R cells.

Different interferons can be obtained from the same animal species depending on the cells and (or) the inducers used. Interferons of type I and type II differ not only antigenically but also in molecular weight and stability at low pH. We have investigated whether mouse type I and type II interferons also differ in properties relating to their biological action. We present evidence which suggests that the molecular mechanism leading to antiviral and antigrowth effects induced by both types of interferon in susceptible cells must differ in at least one important step. Antiviral and antigrowth activities of type I but not of type II interferon are both inhibited when gangliosides are added to cell cultures together with the interferon. Whereas type I interferon strongly binds to ganglioside affinity columns and can be eluted with solutions of N-acetylneuraminyllactose, type II interferon passes through such columns unretarded. L-1210 mouse leukemia cells (L-1210S) respond equally well to antiviral and antigrowth activities of type I and type II interferons. Type I interferon-resistant L-1210 cells (L-1210R), derived from L-1210S cells after continuous culture in the presence of mouse fibroblast interferon, lack antiviral and antigrowth response to mouse type I interferon [Gresser, I. , Bandu, H.T. & Brouty-Boyé, D. (1974) J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 52, 553-559]. However, these cells display the same sensitivity toward type II interferon as do the parent L-1210S cells from which they were derived and respond equally well to its antiviral and antigrowth activities.
Review : Decreasing the Data Leak in Active Service Discovery

The rise of the Internet made people addicted to being online, and with the arrival of mobile devices people became depended on it. This always connected mentality leads to security and privacy concerns. Due to the design of IEEE 802.11, a device which is actively searching for access points broadcasts personal data, which can be accessed by anyone. Researchers have been working on different methods to increase the anonymity and decrease the traceability of actively probing Wi-Fi devices, but most have not been adopted in practise. This research will analyse what data is obtainable by collecting probe requests, how this data can be used for malicious purposes, and what can be done to prevent this data from being publicly broadcasted. This paper will set requirements for defence methods and see how the existing methods perform when compared to these requirements. This paper concludes there is no single option to solve the data leak in active service discovery, but does notice there are several possibilities to solve a part of the problem, which can already be used in practise.
B Cells from Patients with Graves’ Disease Aberrantly Express the IGF-1 Receptor: Implications for Disease Pathogenesis1

Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune process involving the thyroid and connective tissues in the orbit and pretibial skin. Activating anti-thyrotropin receptor Abs are responsible for hyperthyroidism in GD. However, neither these autoAbs nor the receptor they are directed against have been convincingly implicated in the connective tissue manifestations. Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R)-bearing fibroblasts overpopulate connective tissues in GD and when ligated with IgGs from these patients, express the T cell chemoattractants, IL-16, and RANTES. Disproportionately large fractions of peripheral blood T cells also express IGF-1R in patients with GD and may account, at least in part, for expansion of IGF-1R+ memory T cells. We now report a similarly skewed B cell population exhibiting the IGF-1R+ phenotype from the blood, orbit, and bone marrow of patients with GD. This expression profile exhibits durability in culture and is maintained or increased with CpG activation. Moreover, IGF-1R+ B cells produce pathogenic Abs against the thyrotropin receptor. In lymphocytes from patients with GD, IGF-1 enhanced IgG production (p < 0.05) and increased B cell expansion (p < 0.02) in vitro while those from control donors failed to respond. These findings suggest a potentially important role for IGF-1R display by B lymphocytes in patients with GD in supporting their expansion and abnormal Ig production.
Colocalization of CA19‐9 and KL‐6 to epithelial cells in dilated bronchioles in a patient with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis complicated by diffuse alveolar damage

A 73‐year‐old woman with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) had an elevated serum CA19‐9 level, but not KL‐6. Her condition worsened and she subsequently died and this was associated with a rise in the serum KL‐6 level. At autopsy, the lung showed a honeycomb appearance macroscopically and, microscopically, hyaline membrane formation was seen. Immunohistochemical staining revealed partial colocalization of KL‐6 and CA19‐9 to dilated bronchiolar cells. These features suggest that the mechanisms that cause the synthesis and release of CA19‐9 and KL‐6 from damaged lung tissue in IPF are likely to differ from those in diffuse alveolar damage. In addition, serum KL‐6 levels may reflect the severity of disease more sensitively than CA19‐9 levels.
Behaviors and Application Prospects of Superconducting Fault Current Limiters in Power Grids

Based on the development of superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs), theoretical analysis has been carried out to apply a bridge type SFCL to a network 10 kV distribution side and a saturated iron core SFCL is applied to the network 220 kV transmission side. The SFCL performance has been analyzed to reveal the SFCL application prospects for use in the future power grids.
Problem-based learning in physics: Making connections with the real world

Succeeding in today’s world requires college graduates to be able to think critically, solve complex problems, communicate clearly (using both verbal and written skills) and work effectively in teams. Problem-based learning (PBL) helps students develop these crucial skills. Students in a PBL course are challenged to “learn to learn”, working cooperatively in groups, seeking solutions to real world problems by asking and answering their own and their peers’ questions. The components of a PBL algebra-based introductory physics course will be explained and examples of problems will be shown. Student attitudes towards this course and some end-of-course results will be presented.
Dynamic aspects of character rendering in the context of multimodal dialog systems

Virtual characters offer a great potential as intuitive man-machine interface, because they allow simulating non-verbal communicative behavior as well, which requires the coordinated use of various modalities (e.g., speech and gesture). In this sense, multimodal dialogue systems extend current voice response systems, like for instance known from automated support hotlines, to other modalities. While multimodal dialogue systems are an active research area in artificial intelligence (AI) for over twenty years, in computer graphics (CG) further research is still needed. Hence, in this work two basic problems have been identified. On the one hand, there is a gap between the components of AI and CG, which makes it difficult to provide responsive characters in a manageable manner. On the other hand, embedding virtual agents in full 3D applications, particularly in the context of Mixed Reality, still remains problematic. Therefore, in this work a concept for the presentation component of multimodal dialogue systems has been presented, which can be easily integrated into current frameworks for virtual agents. Basically, it consists of a declarative control layer and a declarative execution layer. While the control layer is mainly used for communication with the AI modules, it also provides a declarative language for describing and flexibly controlling communicative behavior. Core technology components are provided in the execution layer. These include a flexible animation system that is integrated into the X3D standard, components for hair simulation, to represent psycho-physiologically caused skin tone changes such as blushing and the simulation of tears, furthermore methods for the declarative control of the virtual camera, and techniques for the realistic visualization of virtual objects in Mixed Reality scenarios. In addition to simplifying the integration into complex 3D applications, the whole environment can thus also be used by the system as another means of communication.
Conditional lethal expression of the vaccinia virus L1R myristylated protein reveals a role in virion assembly

Within vaccinia virus-infected cells, the product of the L1R open reading frame is covalently modified by myristic acid at the penultimate NH2-terminal glycine residue. Previously we have shown that while the L1R protein is a constituent of both intracellular mature virus particles and extracellular enveloped virions which are released from the infected cell, it is associated exclusively with the primary membranes surrounding the virion core. Given this rather specific localization, it was of interest to study the potential role of this essential gene in virus replication and morphogenesis. To this end, we have constructed a recombinant vaccinia virus in which expression of the L1R gene can be transcriptionally repressed. Without the inducer isopropylthiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), synthesis of the L1R protein was blocked, resulting in a total inhibition of plaque formation. Velocity sedimentation of viral particles labeled in the presence of [3H]thymidine, grown in the absence of IPTG, revealed a substantial reduction in viral DNA incorporation into virions. Likewise, proteolysis of the major core proteins p4a, p4b, and p25K, believed to occur during the final stages of virion maturation, was severely impaired. In the absence of L1R expression, only immature virions could be detected by electron microscopy. Transient expression of a plasmid containing the full-length L1R gene driven by its own promoter was able to complement and rescue the defective phenotype. However, a plasmid bearing a mutation in the myristyl acceptor glycine residue was unable to biologically rescue the recombinant, and the protein was not detected in purified virions.trans complementation using a truncated, myristylated form of the L1R protein partially rescued the defective mutant. Collectively, these data suggest that myristic acid mediates essential interactions of the L1R protein with viral membranes and/or other virion components that lead to the productive assembly, maturation, and release of particles.
Biological Variability of Sweat Gland Pores in the Fingerprints of a Fars Iranian Family from Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran

Introduction: Poroscopy is a method of identification in which the characteristics of sweat pores are compared from different aspects. These pore openings are present along the friction ridges found on the distal end of digits, palms and soles in the hands and feet. Materials amd Methods: This study enrolled 100 Iranian males from the Fars family who resided in Khorasan Razavi Province. The average age of participants was 20 years. Pictures of their finger tips and tri-linear A positions of both hands were taken using a Dino-Lite-313 puls and Dino-capture software. Then circle areas of 80l16-5l12 mm2 were considered in all pictures and the numbers of pore ducts of the sweat glands that occurred in these given areas were counted. The results were analyzed by Minitab Statistical Software. The finger and palm printing method was used in order to complete the sampling process. The size, number, position and relative distance of the pores on the fingers and toes were examined in detail. Results: Evaluation of the qualitative results and comparison with the findings of other studies showed morphological variety within the sweat pores of the Fars family of the Iranian population. Conclusion: The variance in morphology and density of these pore canals can probably represent a foundation for classifying humans or applying the same in biological anthropology.
Density of states of doped Hubbard clusters.

Numerical results for the density of states to remove or add electrons to a finite Hubbard cluster are presented for both positive and negative on-site-interactions. The behavior of the filling versus the chemical potential is discussed. At half filling there is a gap in the density of states. When the repulsive-U Hubbard model is doped spectral weight is transferred into the gap, and the chemical potential is found to move across the gap as one goes from electron to hole doping. We discuss the relationship of these results to experiment. For the negative-U Hubbard model, the chemical potential shifts continuously and lies in the middle of the superconducting gap.
Open Distributed Computing-an overview of the architecture

Open Distributed Computing is Hewlett-Packard's solution to cooperative computing in a multi-vendor, heterogeneous environment. A set of architectural specifications we call the overall architecture guides the implementation of such an enterprise information processing system. This document summarizes the three main components of the overall Architecture-User Roles, the Hewlett-Packard Open Distributed Computing Architectural Framework and IT Processes. If introduces the Architectural Framework and Reference Architectures. <<ETX>>
First Detection of a Splice Site β-Thalassemia Mutation, IVS-I-6 (T > C) (HBB: c.92 + 6T > C) in a Chinese Family

Abstract We present the first description of Chinese individuals with the β-thalassemia (β-thal) mutation IVS-I-6 (T > C) (HBB: c.92 + 6T > C). This mutation interferes with mRNA splicing and results in reducing expression of β-globin chains that leads to a β+-thal phenotype. The β-globin haplotype anlaysis revealed the IVS-I-6 mutation in our case was linked with haplotype VI [− + + − − − +] and had Mediterranean characteristics.
A Qualitative Study of Experiences with and Perceptions regarding Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics: Part II—Physician Perspectives

Objective In many countries, including Canada, a small proportion of people with psychotic disorders receive long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics (APs), despite their demonstrated effectiveness and possible advantages for improving adherence rates. Attitudes regarding LAIs among physicians may influence their prescribing practices and thereby contribute to the underuse of LAIs. Here, we report on a qualitative study of perceptions and attitudes toward LAIs among psychiatrists in Canada. Method Focus groups were conducted with 24 psychiatrists in 4 Canadian provinces. The focus groups inquired about experiences with and attitudes toward LAI APs. The sessions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim, and transcripts were coded using a hybrid process of deductive and inductive methods. A brief pre-focus group questionnaire was administered. Results The pre-focus group questionnaires indicated that psychiatrists in our study prescribed the oral formulation of APs most of the time and had limited experience with LAIs. The focus groups yielded 4 main themes: limited knowledge about and experience with LAIs; attitudes toward LAIs (beliefs about negative perceptions of patients regarding LAIs, personal bias against needles, and consensus about some advantages of LAIs); prescribing practices around LAIs (generally seen as a last-resort option for patients with a history of nonadherence); and pragmatic barriers to using LAIs (for example, cost, storage, and staffing). Conclusion Several factors may be contributing to the underuse of LAIs and the continuing stigmatized and coercive image of LAIs. Psychiatrists may benefit from better education about LAIs, and from self-examination of their attitudes to LAIs and their prescribing practices.
6 Melanocortins : Anti-Inflammatory and Neuroprotective Peptides

The melanocortin system includes the melanocortins, their receptors and two endogenous antagonists. This system is involved in several physiological processes in the brain. Melanocortins have potent anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects in the central nervous system (CNS). Therefore, they are suitable candidates for the treatment of inflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders within the brain.
Rebranding Hong Kong “Green”: the potential for connecting city branding with green resources

This paper addresses the dearth of knowledge and theoretical development on how ecological or environmental factors such as green resources can be integrated into the concept of city branding. The gap-branding model used for identifying the perceptual disparities in a city branding process was modified to incorporate the theme of green resources such as parks and green spaces. The dimensions and elements of a green city brand were designated and tested in a study using a questionnaire survey with local and non-local city consumers in Hong Kong. The results explored the potential for branding a metropolis by its green resources and identified two distinctive Green (Resource) Brand Pentagons for each respondent group. A comparative analysis was also conducted to explain how the two groups of city consumers perceived the green resources of Hong Kong similarly and differently. This paper acts as a pilot study to bridge the disciplines of marketing and geography.