julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Listener Detection of Objectively Validated Acoustic Features of Speech in Huntington’s Disease
2021-12-31

Background: Subtle progressive changes in speech motor function and cognition begin prior to diagnosis of Huntington’s disease (HD). Objective: To determine the nature of listener-rated speech differences in premanifest and early-stage HD (i.e., PreHD and EarlyHD), compared to neurologically healthy controls. Methods: We administered a speech battery to 60 adults (16 people with PreHD, 14 with EarlyHD, and 30 neurologically healthy controls), and conducted a cognitive test of processing speed/visual attention, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) on participants with HD. Voice recordings were rated by expert listeners and analyzed for acoustic and perceptual speech features. Results: Listeners perceived subtle differences in the speech of PreHD compared to controls, including abnormal pitch level and speech rate, reduced loudness and loudness inflection, altered voice quality, hypernasality, imprecise articulation, and reduced naturalness of speech. Listeners detected abnormal speech rate in PreHD compared to healthy speakers on a reading task, which correlated with slower speech rate from acoustic analysis and a lower cognitive performance score. In early-stage HD, continuous speech was characterized by longer pauses, a higher proportion of silence, and slower rate. Conclusion: Differences in speech and voice acoustic features are detectable in PreHD by expert listeners and align with some acoustically-derived objective speech measures. Slower speech rate in PreHD suggests altered oral motor control and/or subtle cognitive deficits that begin prior to diagnosis. Speakers with EarlyHD exhibited more silences compared to the PreHD and control groups, raising the likelihood of a link between speech and cognition that is not yet well characterized in HD.
Staged Hybrid Treatment with Branched Endovascular Aneurysm Repair of a Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm in the Presence of a Total Infrarenal Aortoiliac Occlusion
2021-12-31

Aortoiliac occlusive disease may limit the use of branched endovascular aneurysm repair (BEVAR) of thoracoabdominal aneurysms (TAAAs). Thus, infrarenal aortoiliac occlusion may preclude the use of BEVAR. We present a case involving a 67-year-old patient with a fast-progressing TAAA (diameter: 70 mm) and a concomitant total aortoiliac occlusion. A multi-staged treatment concept included the creation of the access and the distal landing zone for the consecutive endovascular procedures through an aorto-right femoral-left popliteal bypass. At six-week intervals, thoracic endovascular aortic repair for the creation of the proximal landing zone and a 4-vessel BEVAR were accomplished. At 36 months, a type III endoleak occurred due to the fracture of the bridging stent-graft to the celiac trunk and the superior mesenteric artery. It was successfully treated with VBX stent-grafts. This case illustrates the importance of a staged hybrid approach in the management of complex aortic pathologies with poor access and insufficient distal landing zone.
The pursuit of happiness: A reinforcement learning perspective on habituation and comparisons
2021-12-31

In evaluating our choices, we often suffer from two tragic relativities. First, when our lives change for the better, we rapidly habituate to the higher standard of living. Second, we cannot escape comparingourselves to various relative standards. Habituation and comparisons can be very disruptive to decision-making and happiness, and till date, it remains a puzzle why they have come to be a part of cognition in the first place. Here, we present computational evidence that suggests that these features might play an important role in promoting adaptive behavior. Using the framework of reinforcement learning, we explore the benefit of employing a reward function that, in addition to the reward provided by the underlying task, also depends on prior expectations and relative comparisons. We find that while agents equipped with this reward function are less happy, they learn faster and significantly outperform standard reward-based agents in a wide range of environments. Specifically, we find that relative comparisons speed up learning by providing an exploration incentive to the agents, and prior expectations serve as a useful aid to comparisons, especially in sparsely-rewarded and non-stationary environments. Our simulations also reveal potential drawbacks of this reward function and show that agents perform suboptimally when comparisons are left unchecked and when there are too many similar options. Together, our results help explain why we are prone to becoming trapped in a cycle of never-ending wants and desires, and may shed light on psychopathologies such as depression, materialism, and overconsumption.
The emerging association of canonical finger patterns and quantity-number linkage in early childhood
2021-12-31

Through repeated use of fingers for counting and representing numerical magnitudes in early childhood, specific finger patterns become associated with mental representations of specific quantities. Although children as young as three years of age already use their fingers for representing numerical quantities, evidence on advantageous recognition of such canonical compared to non-canonical finger patterns as well as its association with numerical skills in young children is scarce. In this study, we investigated the performance of N=101 children aged around four years in canonical vs. non-canonical finger pattern recognition and its concurrent association with skills tapping into children’s’ knowledge about quantity-number linkage. Extending previous findings observed for older children, the present results indicated that despite considerable variability on the individual level performance in canonical finger pattern recognition was better compared to non-canonical finger pattern recognition on the group level. Moreover, both canonical and non-canonical finger pattern recognition was positively correlated with tasks tapping into quantity-number linkage. However, when controlling for verbal counting skills, correlations that remained significant were only found for canonical but not non-canonical finger pattern recognition performance. Overall, these results provide insights into the early onset and significance of the effect of canonicity in finger pattern recognition during early numerical development.
A reward-learning framework of knowledge acquisition: An integrated account of curiosity, interest, and intrinsic–extrinsic rewards.
2022-01-01

Recent years have seen a considerable surge of research on interest-based engagement, examining how and why people are engaged in activities without relying on extrinsic rewards. However, the field of inquiry has been somewhat segregated into three different research traditions which have been developed relatively independently-research on curiosity, interest, and trait curiosity/interest. We identify "long-term development" as a critical factor that links different research traditions, and set out an integrative perspective called the reward-learning framework of knowledge acquisition. This framework takes on the basic premise of existing reward-learning models of information seeking: that knowledge acquisition serves as an inherent reward, which reinforces people's information-seeking behavior through a reward-learning process. Critically, however, the framework reveals how the knowledge-acquisition process is sustained and boosted over a long period of time in real-life settings (i.e., self-boosting effect), allowing us to integrate the different research traditions within reward-learning models. The framework also characterizes the knowledge-acquisition process with three distinct features that are not present in the reward-learning process with extrinsic rewards- (a) selectivity, (b) vulnerability, and (c) under-appreciation. Finally, we discuss implications of the proposed framework regarding the debate over the conceptualization of broad concepts, namely; curiosity, interest, and intrinsic-extrinsic rewards. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
SeaDronesSee: A Maritime Benchmark for Detecting Humans in Open Water
2022-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are of crucial importance in search and rescue missions in maritime environments due to their flexible and fast operation capabilities. Modern computer vision algorithms are of great interest in aiding such missions. However, they are dependent on large amounts of real-case training data from UAVs, which is only available for traffic scenarios on land. Moreover, current object detection and tracking data sets only provide limited environmental information or none at all, neglecting a valuable source of information. Therefore, this paper introduces a large-scaled visual object detection and tracking benchmark (SeaDronesSee) aiming to bridge the gap from land-based vision systems to sea-based ones. We collect and annotate over 54,000 frames with 400,000 instances captured from various altitudes and viewing angles ranging from 5 to 260 meters and 0 to 90° degrees while providing the respective meta information for altitude, viewing angle and other meta data. We evaluate multiple state-of-the-art computer vision algorithms on this newly established benchmark serving as baselines. We provide an evaluation server where researchers can upload their prediction and compare their results on a central leaderboard <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sup> .
MoO3/TiO2/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite based gas sensors for highly sensitive and selective isopropanol detection at room temperature
2022-01-01

The MoO 3 /TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x composite was synthesized by a simple one-step hydrothermal method. Due to the formation of more active centers and heterojunctions, the sensor has excellent performance for VOCs and has a unique response to isopropanol.
Green synthesis of spinel copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) nanoparticles and their toxicity
2022-01-01

Abstract In this study, magnetic spinel copper ferrite (CuFe 2 O 4 ) nanostructures were eco-friendly synthesized using Nasturtium officinale extract. Physicochemical properties of these nanostructures were determined by transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry, and energy dispersive X-ray mapping analysis. XRD patterns conform to the CuFe 2 O 4 formation. SEM results demonstrated ceramic spinel CuFe 2 O 4 nanostructures with spherical surface morphologies. The cytotoxicity effect of CuFe 2 O 4 nanostructures against rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells was evaluated based on MTT assay. The magnetic nanostructures had low toxicity at a concentration of 250 μg/mL. It appears that these nanostructures can be considered as suitable candidates for drug delivery and other biomedical applications, because of their low toxicity effects.
The role of selective contacts and built-in field for charge separation and transport in photoelectrochemical devices
2022-01-01

The principal driving force for charge carrier separation in a PEC cell is given by the QFL gradients. Upon illumination the E-field is reduced by the amount of photovoltage delivered. Selective contacts are thus decisive for device performance.
RNA-based therapies in inherited retinal diseases
2022-01-01

Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous group of genetic eye disorders. There are more than 300 disease entities, and together this group of disorders affects millions of people globally and is a frequent cause of blindness or low-vision certification. However, each type is rare or ultra-rare. Characteristically, the impaired vision in IRDs is due to retinal photoreceptor dysfunction and loss resulting from mutation in a gene that codes for a retinal protein. Historically, IRDs have been considered incurable and individuals living with these blinding conditions could be offered only supportive care. However, the treatment landscape for IRDs is beginning to evolve. Progress is being made, driven by improvements in understanding of genotype–phenotype relationships, through advances in molecular genetic testing and retinal imaging. Alongside this expanding knowledge of IRDs, the current era of precision medicine is fueling a growth in targeted therapies. This has resulted in the first treatment for an IRD being approved. Several other therapies are currently in development in the IRD space, including RNA-based therapies, gene-based therapies (such as augmentation therapy and gene editing), cell therapy, visual prosthetics, and optogenetics. RNA-based therapies are a novel approach within precision medicine that have demonstrated success, particularly in rare diseases. Three antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) are currently in development for the treatment of specific IRD subtypes. These RNA-based therapies bring several key advantages in the setting of IRDs, and the potential to bring meaningful vision benefit to individuals living with inherited blinding disorders. This review will examine the increasing breadth and relevance of RNA-based therapies in clinical medicine, explore the key features that make AONs suitable for treating genetic eye diseases, and provide an overview of the three-leading investigational AONs in clinical trials.
On Algorithmic Fairness in Medical Practice
2022-01-01

Abstract The application of machine-learning technologies to medical practice promises to enhance the capabilities of healthcare professionals in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, of medical conditions. However, there is growing concern that algorithmic bias may perpetuate or exacerbate existing health inequalities. Hence, it matters that we make precise the different respects in which algorithmic bias can arise in medicine, and also make clear the normative relevance of these different kinds of algorithmic bias for broader questions about justice and fairness in healthcare. In this paper, we provide the building blocks for an account of algorithmic bias and its normative relevance in medicine.
Mapping of a N-terminal α-helix domain required for human PINK1 stabilization, Serine228 autophosphorylation and activation in cells
2022-01-01

Autosomal recessive mutations in the PINK1 gene are causal for Parkinson's disease (PD). PINK1 encodes a mitochondrial localized protein kinase that is a master-regulator of mitochondrial quality control pathways. Structural studies to date have elaborated the mechanism of how mutations located within the kinase domain disrupt PINK1 function; however, the molecular mechanism of PINK1 mutations located upstream and downstream of the kinase domain is unknown. We have employed mutagenesis studies to define the minimal region of human PINK1 required for optimal ubiquitin phosphorylation, beginning at residue Ile111. Inspection of the AlphaFold human PINK1 structure model predicts a conserved N-terminal α-helical extension (NTE) domain forming an intramolecular interaction with the C-terminal extension (CTE), which we corroborate using hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry of recombinant insect PINK1 protein. Cell-based analysis of human PINK1 reveals that PD-associated mutations (e.g. Q126P), located within the NTE : CTE interface, markedly inhibit stabilization of PINK1; autophosphorylation at Serine228 (Ser228) and Ubiquitin Serine65 (Ser65) phosphorylation. Furthermore, we provide evidence that NTE and CTE domain mutants disrupt PINK1 stabilization at the mitochondrial Translocase of outer membrane complex. The clinical relevance of our findings is supported by the demonstration of defective stabilization and activation of endogenous PINK1 in human fibroblasts of a patient with early-onset PD due to homozygous PINK1 Q126P mutations. Overall, we define a functional role of the NTE : CTE interface towards PINK1 stabilization and activation and show that loss of NTE : CTE interactions is a major mechanism of PINK1-associated mutations linked to PD.
Muscle Mass and Inflammation in Older Adults: Impact of the Metabolic Syndrome
2022-01-01

&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Background:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Inflammatory processes are a cause of accelerated loss of muscle mass. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a highly prevalent age-related condition, which may promote and be promoted by inflammation. However, whether inflammation in MetS (metaflammation) is associated with lower muscle mass is still unclear. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Complete cross-sectional data on body composition, MetS, and the inflammatory markers interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were available for 1,377 BASE-II participants (51.1% women; 68 ± 4 years old). Appendicular lean mass (ALM) was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Low muscle mass (low ALM-to-BMI ratio [ALMBMI]) was defined according to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Sarcopenia Project. Regression models, adjusted for an increasing number of confounders (sex, age, physical activity, morbidities, diabetes mellitus type II, TSH, albumin, HbA1c, smoking habits, alcohol intake, education, and energy intake/day), were used to calculate the association between low ALMBMI and high inflammation (tertile 3) according to MetS. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; MetS was present in 36.2% of the study population, and 9% had low ALMBMI. In the whole study population, high CRP (odds ratio [OR]: 2.7 [95% CI: 1.6–4.7; &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.001]) and high IL-6 (OR: 2.1 [95% CI: 1.2–1.9; &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.005]) were associated with low ALMBMI. In contrast, no significant association was found between TNF, IL-10, or IL-1β with low ALMBMI. When participants were stratified by MetS, results for IL-6 remained significant only in participants with MetS. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Among BASE-II participants, low ALMBMI was associated with inflammation. Low-grade inflammation triggered by disease state, especially in the context of MetS, might favor loss of muscle mass, so a better control of MetS might help to prevent sarcopenia. Intervention studies to test whether strategies to prevent MetS might also prevent loss of muscle mass seem to be promising.
Expected passes
2022-01-01

Abstract Passes are by far football’s (soccer) most frequent event, yet surprisingly little meaningful research has been devoted to quantify them. With the increase in availability of so-called positional data, describing the positioning of players and ball at every moment of the game, our work aims to determine the difficulty of every pass by calculating its success probability based on its surrounding circumstances. As most experts will agree, not all passes are of equal difficulty, however, most traditional metrics count them as such. With our work we can quantify how well players can execute passes, assess their risk profile, and even compute completion probabilities for hypothetical passes by combining physical and machine learning models. Our model uses the first 0.4 seconds of a ball trajectory and the movement vectors of all players to predict the intended target of a pass with an accuracy of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>93.0</mml:mn> <mml:mo>%</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> for successful and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>72.0</mml:mn> <mml:mo>%</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> for unsuccessful passes much higher than any previously published work. Our extreme gradient boosting model can then quantify the likelihood of a successful pass completion towards the identified target with an area under the curve (AUC) of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>93.4</mml:mn> <mml:mo>%</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> . Finally, we discuss several potential applications, like player scouting or evaluating pass decisions.
Testing the Kerr Black Hole Hypothesis with GRS 1716-249 by Combining the Continuum Fitting and the Iron-line Methods
2022-01-01

Abstract The continuum-fitting and the iron-line methods are currently the two leading techniques for measuring the spins of accreting black holes. In the past few years, these two methods have been developed for testing fundamental physics. In the present work, we employ state-of-the-art models to test black holes through the continuum-fitting and the iron-line methods and we analyze three NuSTAR observations of the black hole binary GRS 1716-249 during its outburst in 2016–2017. In these three observations, the source was in a hard-intermediate state and the spectra show both a strong thermal component and prominent relativistic reflection features. Our analysis confirms the Kerr nature of the black hole in GRS 1716-249 and provides quite stringent constraints on possible deviations from the predictions of general relativity.
German Guidelines on Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders: Update 2021
2022-01-01

&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Introduction:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Alcohol consumption in Germany is associated with considerable health and economic consequences. In addition to prevention, the early detection and differential treatment of those affected play an important role. The guideline “Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders” forms the basis of this care for people suffering from alcohol use disorders. Regular updates integrate the current state of research evidence and clinical expertise. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Under the auspices of the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics, and Neurology and the German Society for Addiction Research and Addiction Therapy e.V. (DG-Sucht), the 2019–2020 S3 guideline on alcohol was revised by eight working groups. Thirty-five professional societies participated in a structured consensus process to deliberate the recommendations. Potential conflicts of interest were examined in advance, documented, and taken into account during the voting on the recommendations. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; The guideline provides recommendations on screening and brief interventions for different groups of people, as well as on treatment of individuals in the acute and post-acute phases of withdrawal. Special emphasis was placed on the treatment of comorbid somatic and psychological disorders. In addition, recommendations for specific groups of people (e.g., children and adolescents, pregnant women) have been made and adapted to the German care landscape.
Risk and Protective Factors of College Students’ Psychological Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emotional Stability, Mental Health, and Household Resources
2022-01-01

Colleges and universities have increasingly worried in recent decades about college students’ well-being, with the COVID-19 pandemic aggravating these concerns. Our study examines changes to undergraduate emotional sentiments and psychological well-being from before to after the onset of the pandemic. In addition, we explore whether certain risk factors (i.e., prior mental health impairments, trait emotional stability) and protective factors (i.e., subjective socioeconomic status, parental education, household resources) predicted students’ emotions and their intraindividual changes due to the pandemic onset. We compared experience sampling method data from 120 students from before and after the pandemic onset, examining intraindividual trajectories. There was only little change in students’ emotions. Prior mental health impairment and trait emotional stability predicted students’ emotions, averaged across time points, but not emotion changes. Few associations with emotions were found for subjective socioeconomic status and parental education, but study-related household resources predicted levels and changes in emotions.