julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Sensorimotor rhythm modulation depends on resting-state oscillations and cortex integrity in severely paralyzed stroke patients
2019-03-01

Alpha oscillatory activity and its dynamics have a key role in motor and sensory functions. Stroke affects different brain structures, which can result in pathological changes in alpha oscillations. We studied the relationship between the amplitude of alpha oscillations in resting state and their modulation during the attempt of movement in 37 patients with severe paralysis after stroke. As previously observed in healthy subjects, resting-state alpha activity significantly correlated with the alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) during the attempt of movement of the paralyzed hand. Further, alpha ERD correlated with the presence or absence of damage in cortical structures, but resting-state alpha power did not. This result provides new insights on the understanding of the brain changes after stroke, which may help in future therapies to help the patients to recover their lost motor function.
Electromyographic indices of muscle fatigue of a severely paralyzed chronic stroke patient undergoing upper limb motor rehabilitation
2019-03-01

Modern approaches to motor rehabilitation of severe upper limb paralysis in chronic stroke decode movements from electromyography for controlling rehabilitation orthoses. Muscle fatigue is a phenomenon that influences these neurophysiological signals and may diminish the decoding quality. Characterization of these potential signal changes during movement patterns of rehabilitation training could therefore help improve the decoding accuracy. In the present work we investigated how electromyographic indices of muscle fatigue in the Deltoid Anterior muscle evolve during typical forward reaching movements of a rehabilitation training in healthy subjects and a stroke patient. We found that muscle fatigue in healthy subjects changed the neurophysiological signal. In the patient, however, no consistent change was observed over several sessions.
Therapeutic targets and microenvironment in sequential biopsies of classical Hodgkin lymphoma at diagnosis and relapse
2019-03-01

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is dominated by the non-neoplastic microenvironment, while the neoplastic Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg cells compose only a minority of cells in the lymphoma tissue. Both the Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg cells due to their expression of CD30 and PD-L1 and the microenvironment with abundant T cells and expression of PD1 are specifically targeted by new treatment concepts. We aimed to understand the dynamics of therapeutic targets in patients treated with conventional chemotherapy. We analyzed sequential biopsy specimens obtained at diagnosis and at relapse from the same patient for morphology, immunophenotype, and microenvironmental components. The morphological subtype changed between primary and relapse biopsy in 20% of cases. The immunophenotype was stable with respect to CD30, CD3, and LMP1 but variable with respect to CD15 and CD20 expression. Gene expression revealed 8 upregulated and 20 downregulated genes at relapse (p ≤ 0.05) with a consistent logarithmic fold change direction in at least 75% of all cases. For PD1, we found discrepant results between gene expression analysis (decrease at relapse) and number of PD1-positive cells assessed by immunohistochemistry (unchanged at relapse). PD-L1 in the neoplastic cells appeared unchanged between primary diagnosis and relapse. The expression of the therapeutic targets CD30, PD1, and PD-L1 can reliably be assessed in tumor specimen at first diagnosis and is unchanged under conventional chemotherapy.
Exchange Rate Undershooting: Evidence and Theory
2019-03-01

We run local projections to estimate the effect of US monetary policy shocks on the dollar. We find that monetary contractions appreciate the dollar and establish two results. First, the spot exchange rate undershoots: the appreciation is smaller on impact than in the longer run. Second, forward exchange rates also appreciate on impact, but their response is flat across tenors. Next, we develop and estimate a New Keynesian model with information frictions. In the model, investors do not observe the natural rate of interest directly. As a result, they learn only over time whether an interest rate surprise represents a monetary contraction. The model accurately predicts the joint dynamics of spot and forward exchange rates following a monetary contraction.
Social Cognition in Children Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Eye Tracking Study
2019-03-01

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is characterized by impairment in social interaction and communication, restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviors or interests. ASD individuals show diminished orientation towards faces and deficits in face recognition. Recently, by using the “Face-n-Food” paradigm, it had been shown that ASD individuals exhibit deficient face tuning in face-like nonface images (Pavlova et al, Sci Report 2017). For better understanding of the origins of this deficit, we implemented eye tracking methodology.
Quantifying the effect of trans-spinal magnetic stimulation on spinal excitability
2019-03-01

During the last decades, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has attracted much attention due to its capability to modulate the motor and sensory networks. The potential of this technique has been proved, and several investigations have focused on applying it for restoring lower limb function. The majority of SCS approaches are based on electrical stimulation, and few studies have explored magnetic fields for non-invasive SCS. This paper presents a trans-spinal magnetic stimulation (ts-MS) protocol and studies its effects on spinal circuits with seven healthy subjects, considering central and peripheral nervous systems. Motor evoked potentials (MEP) and trans-spinal motor evoked potentials (ts-MEP) were assessed before and after the ts-MS intervention to characterize excitatory responses. After the intervention, we found an increase of almost 30% (not statistically significant) in MEP amplitude, but no changes in ts-MEP amplitude. Further research is required to confirm, in a larger population of subjects, the potential of this technology, which could be used to improve rehabilitation therapies for patients with motor disabilities.
First Steps Towards Understanding How Non-Invasive Magnetic Stimulation Affects Neural Firing at Spinal Cord
2019-03-01

Magnetic stimulation using commercial transcranial magnetic stimulators (TMS) and coils is becoming an established tool for neurostimulation. However, when applied at the lumbar region it is not clear which neural structures are stimulated and especially, if the spinal cord (SC) can be stimulated. Computational modeling with realistic human body models is a promising tool to understand better the basic mechanisms of the stimulation. In this study we have used a realistic model to calculate the current density (J) distribution and magnitude under different output power levels of a commercial stimulator to describe the electromagnetic effects on the different tissues. Our results suggest that spinal cord stimulation with TMS is possible. However, significant muscle contraction is produced due to the high stimulation needed, which might make this stimulation non-practical. The spatial resolution of this technology is very poor to stimulate specific parts of the SC only. Although the stimulation aims at SC structures, we observed that most of the current does not reach the SC, but the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). All together, these results represent a first step towards understanding and optimizing magnetic transpinal stimulation.
Consideration of wave optical phenomena for retinal images in laser safety evaluations
2019-03-01

Laser systems emitting in the visible and near infrared wavelength range between 400 nm and 1400 nm represent a potential hazard for the retina. The accessible emission limits depend on the angular subtense of the apparent source which is determined by the size of the retinal image. Usually, the retinal image is calculated using geometric optical propagation methods, e.g. ray tracing techniques. In case of coherent laser radiation this might be insufficient since wave optical phenomena can influence the retinal image. Especially by the presence of apertures, diffraction needs to be taken into account. In this paper we analyse the impact of wave optics for laser safety evaluations and show the difference to geometric optical calculations. Both propagation methods are compared for relevant examples.
First Identification and Quantification of Detached Tip VorticesBehind a WEC Using Fixed Wing UAS
2019-03-01

Abstract. Quantifying blade tip vortices helps to understand the process of vortices detaching from the wind converter blade and their development in the wake until finally dissipating in the far wake, contributing to overall turbulence. This is especially interesting for set-ups of numerical simulations when setting the spatial resolution of the simulation grid. The MASC MK 3 (Multi-purpose Airborne Sensor Carrier Mark 3) UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) by the University of Tübingen measured atmospheric and meteorological quantities during the HeliOW campaign in July 2018 data behind a wind energy converter (WEC) (Enercon E-112) north of Wilhelmshaven, Germany, at the Jade Wind Park. Aside turbulence distribution, air temperature, humidity and the three wind components u, v, w in front of the WEC and in the wake were measured. By evaluation of the wind components, detached blade tip vortices were identified in the time series. The presented data were captured under a dominating marine stratification about 2 km from the North Sea coast line with northern wind direction. The measured vortices are compared to the analytical Burnham-Hallock model for two vortices spinning in opposite direction. The model has its origin in aviation, where it describes two aircraft wake vortices. It will be shown that the BH model can be used to describe wake vortices behind a WEC. An evaluation method is presented to measure detached tip vortices with a fixed wing UAS. Also an improvement for the model in WEC wake use will be proposed.
Head and eye movements influence the decoding of different reaching directions from EEG
2019-03-01

Electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain-machine interfaces (BMI) have been proven effective for motor rehabilitation of severely paralyzed patients. The brain activity is classified and translated into a go vs no-go feedback (i.e., mobilizing, or not, the paralyzed limb). Patients performing the same movements but unrelated to their brain activity showed poorer or no recovery, which suggests that an accurate feedback expedites motor recovery. Being able to decode different movements from the EEG would allow providing a more accurate feedback, maximizing the rehabilitative potential. However, a dynamic rehabilitative environment with different types of movements would likely be accompanied by involuntary motions with the eyes and the head, which can contaminate the measured EEG signals. In this study we analyze how external movements associated with the task (i.e., eye or head movements) influence the performance of an EEG-based decoder of reaching movements. Our results reveal that different reaching directions could only be decoded when eye and head movements occur and only using low frequency features (delta band). In summary, this paper highlights the importance of carefully designing protocols to avoid eye and head movements to contaminate EEG signals.
Tracking Event-Related Potentials during BMI driven Rehabilitation
2019-03-01

Current brain-machine-interface (BMI) rehabilitation approaches typically focus on a specific aspect of neural activity. Auxiliary signals, derived from independent measures of neural activity and recorded in parallel might be useful in quantifying and tracking a subjects mental state and performance. In this work, we demonstrate that event-related potentials can be reliably observed in stroke survivors with chronic paralysis during a BMI intervention. The averaged evoked response remains stable over sessions and varies between subjects. A prominent negativity, positivity complex emerges whose features can be tracked across subjects and sessions.
Negativity and Wisdom as Part of Philosophy Education
2019-03-01

Negativity is understood here as the theoretical insight into the limits of knowledge as well as the practical, even existential consequences of this insight. The tradition of philosophical wisdom reflects negativity in this sense since antiquity. The concepts of negativity in Nietzsche, Hegel, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger are also reconstructed in the article as part of this tradition. The text tries to make these philosophies accessible to philosophy education. The starting point here is the question about a way of life that has dissociated itself from ideological certainties.
A quantum-chaotic cesium-vapor magnetometer
2019-03-01

Quantum-enhanced measurements represent the path towards the best measurement precision allowed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Known protocols usually rely on the preparation of entangled states and promise high or even optimal precision, but fall short in real-word applications because of the difficulty to generate entangled states and to protect them against decoherence. Here, we refrain from the preparation of entangled states but supplement the integrable parameter-encoding dynamics by non-linear kicks driving the system in the dynamical regime of quantum chaos. We show that large improvements in measurement precision are possible by modeling a spin-exchange relaxation-free alkali-vapor magnetometer where the non-linear kicks are realized by exploiting the ac Stark effect.
Temperature dependence of the ferromagnetic response in CrxSb2-xTe3 topological insulator thin films investigated using terahertz spectroscopy and magneto-transport.
2019-03-01

Introducing a magnetic dopant into a topological insulator can give rise to ferromagnetic ordering which can break timereversal symmetry, realizing dissipationless electronic states in the absence of an external magnetic field. Assessment and control of the magnetic state can translate into novel future applications in quantum computing. We provide a detailed study of the magnetic state in Cr doped Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> thin films using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and electrical transport. The temperature dependent behavior of the THz conductance of Cr<sub>x</sub>Sb<sub>2-x</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> thin films with <i>x</i> = 0.15 exhibits a clear insulator-metal transition at 40 K, indicating the onset of ferromagnetic order in the Cr<sub>x</sub>Sb<sub>2-x</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> at the TC (40 K). Moreover, the magneto-transport measurements showed anomalous Hall behavior below 40 K, demonstrating the consistency between the electrical and optical measurements. The direct correlation obtained between the carrier density and ferromagnetism in the magnetically doped topological insulators films, using the THz optical technique, strongly suggests a carrier-mediated RKKY coupling scenario. Our non-contact method of using THz radiation to investigate ferromagnetism and the consistency between optical and electrical measurements pave the way to realise exotic quantum states for spintronic and low energy magneto-electronic device applications.
Correction of stray magnetic fields caused by cable currents is essential for human in-vivo brain magnetic resonance current density imaging (MRCDI)
2019-03-01

Accurate mapping of current flows in the human brain is important for many neuroscientific applications. MRCDI is an emerging method, which combines MRI with externally applied alternating currents to derive current flow distributions based on measurements of the current-induced magnetic fields. However, inaccurate and inconsistent measurements occur unless the stray magnetic fields ca used by the currents flowing in the feeding cables are corrected [1] . Here, we explore the influences of the stray magnetic fields due to the cable - currents in realistic experimental MRCDI set - ups.
Inter-site variability of quality control procedures and NEMA image quality in PET/MRI systems
2019-03-01

This work aims at collecting relevant information on QC procedures and PET quantification across a European PET/MRI network, including the assessment of variations of PET(/MR) quantification using NEMA image quality phantom scans.
Impact of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT on treatment in patients with recurrent prostate cancer: comparison with 11C-choline PET and diagnostic CT
2019-03-01

The superior diagnostic accuracy provided by 68Ga-PSMA PET could potentially improve treatment stratification in patients with biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer. Therefore, we evaluated the impact of 68Ga-PSMA and 11C-choline PET/CT with diagnostic contrast enhanced CT in regards to curative radiotherapy (RT) options including local treatment of oligometastases.
Translational immunoPET/MR imaging of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis
2019-03-01

The ubiquitous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus (AF) can cause life-threatening invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in immunocompromised patients. Current non-invasive diagnostics lack specificity and sensitivity, while invasive biopsy or bronchoalveolar lavage and subsequent culture of the fungus is slow and carries risks for the patient. Through radiolabeling of an AF specific humanized antibody (JF5), we propose a specific non-invasive method to diagnose IPA in vivo.
Approaches for Interference-proof Future Radar Systems
2019-03-01

Automated driving reveals various shortcomings of today's commercial automotive radar systems. We address them by proposing a noise modulated pulse-Doppler radar system that uses a subset of usually required correlation filters at the receiver stage. With a validated phenomenological radar sensor model we evaluated the radar performance in various conditions such as low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and interference and compared it against a commercial frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar.
Does More Math in High School Increase the Share of Female Stem Workers? Evidence from a Curriculum Reform
2019-03-01

This paper studies the consequences of a curriculum reform of the last two years of high school in one of the German federal states on the share of male and female students who complete degrees in STEM subjects and who later work in STEM occupations. The reform had two important aspects: (i) it equalized all students' exposure to math by making advanced math compulsory in the last two years of high school; and (ii) it roughly doubled the instruction time and increased the level of instruction in math and the natural sciences for some 80 percent of students, more so for females than for males. Our results provide some evidence that the reform had positive effects on the share of men completing STEM degrees and later working in STEM occupations but no such effects for women. The positive effects for men appear to be driven by a positive effect for engineering and computer science, which was partly counteracted by a negative effect for math and physics.
Where are the missing gene defects in inherited retinal disorders? Intronic and synonymous variants contribute at least to 4% of CACNA1F ‐mediated inherited retinal disorders
2019-03-02

Inherited retinal disorders (IRD) represent clinically and genetically heterogeneous diseases. To date, pathogenic variants have been identified in ~260 genes. Albeit that many genes are implicated in IRD, for 30-50% of the cases, the gene defect is unknown. These cases may be explained by novel gene defects, by overlooked structural variants, by variants in intronic, promoter or more distant regulatory regions, and represent synonymous variants of known genes contributing to the dysfunction of the respective proteins. Patients with one subgroup of IRD, namely incomplete congenital stationary night blindness (icCSNB), show a very specific phenotype. The major cause of this condition is the presence of a hemizygous pathogenic variant in CACNA1F. A comprehensive study applying direct Sanger sequencing of the gene-coding regions, exome and genome sequencing applied to a large cohort of patients with a clinical diagnosis of icCSNB revealed indeed that seven of the 189 CACNA1F-related cases have intronic and synonymous disease-causing variants leading to missplicing as validated by minigene approaches. These findings highlight that gene-locus sequencing may be a very efficient method in detecting disease-causing variants in clinically well-characterized patients with a diagnosis of IRD, like icCSNB.
The immune-nutrition interplay in aging – facts and controversies
2019-03-02

Nutrition influences immunity in multiple ways, with different nutrients affecting many immune parameters. Aging also affects immunity, making the outcome of the interplay between nutrition, age and immunity complex. Moreover, a particular nutrient may alter the whole immune constellation as deficiency of one nutrient may affect the proper metabolism of another nutrient and elicit a chain reaction of secondary malnutrition. In this article, we review these interactions and the possible mechanisms mediating such relationships.
Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia: recommendations for evidence‐based practice, an international approach
2019-03-03

Abstract Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia ( FNAIT ) may result in severe bleeding, particularly fetal and neonatal intracranial haemorrhage ( ICH ). As a result, FNAIT requires prompt identification and treatment; subsequent pregnancies need close surveillance and management. An international panel convened to develop evidence‐based recommendations for diagnosis and management of FNAIT . A rigorous approach was used to search, review and develop recommendations from published data for: antenatal management, postnatal management, diagnostic testing and universal screening. To confirm FNAIT , fetal human platelet antigen ( HPA ) typing, using non‐invasive methods if quality‐assured, should be performed during pregnancy when the father is unknown, unavailable for testing or heterozygous for the implicated antigen. Women with a previous child with an ICH related to FNAIT should be offered intravenous immunoglobulin ( IVIG ) infusions during subsequent affected pregnancies as early as 12 weeks gestation. Ideally, HPA ‐selected platelets should be available at delivery for potentially affected infants and used to increase the neonatal platelet count as needed. If HPA ‐selected platelets are not immediately available, unselected platelets should be transfused. FNAIT studies that optimize antenatal and postnatal management, develop risk stratification algorithms to guide management and standardize laboratory testing to identify high risk pregnancies are needed.