motilitAI: a machine learning framework for automatic prediction of human sperm motility

In this article, human semen samples from the Visem dataset are automatically assessed with machine learning methods for their quality with respect to sperm motility. Several regression models are trained to automatically predict the percentage (0–100) of progressive, non-progressive, and immotile spermatozoa. The videos are adopted for unsupervised tracking and two different feature extraction methods—in particular custom movement statistics and displacement features. We train multiple neural networks and support vector regression models on the extracted features. Best results are achieved using a linear Support Vector Regressor with an aggregated and quantized representation of individual displacement features of each sperm cell. Compared to the best submission of the Medico Multimedia for Medicine challenge, which used the same dataset and splits, the mean absolute error (MAE) could be reduced from 8.83 to 7.31. We provide the source code for our experiments on GitHub (Code available at: https://github.com/EIHW/motilitAI)

Recommendations for collaborative paediatric research including biobanking in Europe: a Single Hub and Access point for paediatric Rheumatology in Europe (SHARE) initiative

Innovative research in childhood rheumatic diseases mandates international collaborations. However, researchers struggle with significant regulatory heterogeneity; an enabling European Union (EU)-wide framework is missing. The aims of the study were to systematically review the evidence for best practice and to establish recommendations for collaborative research. The Paediatric Rheumatology European Single Hub and Access point for paediatric Rheumatology in Europe (SHARE) project enabled a scoping review and expert discussion, which then informed the systematic literature review. Published evidence was synthesised; recommendations were drafted. An iterative review process and consultations with Ethics Committees and European experts for ethical and legal aspects of paediatric research refined the recommendations. SHARE experts and patient representatives vetted the proposed recommendations at a consensus meeting using Nominal Group Technique. Agreement of 80% was mandatory for inclusion. The systematic literature review returned 1319 records. A total of 223 full-text publications plus 22 international normative documents were reviewed; 85 publications and 16 normative documents were included. A total of 21 recommendations were established including general principles (1-3), ethics (4-7), paediatric principles (8 and 9), consent to paediatric research (10-14), paediatric databank and biobank (15 and 16), sharing of data and samples (17-19), and commercialisation and third parties (20 and 21). The refined recommendations resulted in an agreement of >80% for all recommendations. The SHARE initiative established the first recommendations for Paediatric Rheumatology collaborative research across borders in Europe. These provide strong support for an urgently needed European framework and evidence-based guidance for its implementation. Such changes will promote research in children with rheumatic diseases

A SINE Insertion in ATP1B2 in Belgian Shepherd Dogs Affected by Spongy Degeneration with Cerebellar Ataxia (SDCA2).

Spongy degeneration with cerebellar ataxia (SDCA) is a genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance in Malinois dogs, one of the four varieties of the Belgian Shepherd breed. Using a combined linkage and homozygosity mapping approach we identified a ~10.6 Mb critical interval on chromosome 5 in a Malinois family with four puppies affected by cerebellar dysfunction. Visual inspection of the 10.6 Mb interval in whole genome sequencing data from one affected puppy revealed a 227 bp SINE insertion into the ATP1B2 gene encoding the β2 subunit of the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase holoenzyme (ATP1B2:c.130_131insLT796559.1:g.50_276). The SINE insertion caused aberrant RNA splicing. Immunohistochemistry indicated a reduction of ATP1B2 protein expression in the central nervous system of affected puppies. Atp1b2 knock-out mice had previously been reported to show clinical and neurohistopathological findings similar to the affected Malinois puppies. Therefore, we consider ATP1B2:c.130_131ins227 the most likely candidate causative variant for a second subtype of SDCA in Malinois dogs, which we propose to term spongy degeneration with cerebellar ataxia subtype 2 (SDCA2). Our study further elucidates the genetic and phenotypic complexity underlying cerebellar dysfunction in Malinois dogs and provides the basis for a genetic test to eradicate one specific neurodegenerative disease from the breeding population in Malinois and the other varieties of the Belgian Shepherd breed. ATP1B2 thus represents another candidate gene for human inherited cerebellar ataxias, and SDCA2 affected Malinois puppies may serve as naturally occurring animal model for this disorder

Brain simulation as a cloud service: The Virtual Brain on EBRAINS

The Virtual Brain (TVB) is now available as open-source services on the cloud research platform EBRAINS (ebrains.eu). It offers software for constructing, simulating and analysing brain network models including the TVB simulator; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) processing pipelines to extract structural and functional brain networks; combined simulation of large-scale brain networks with small-scale spiking networks; automatic conversion of user-specified model equations into fast simulation code; simulation-ready brain models of patients and healthy volunteers; Bayesian parameter optimization in epilepsy patient models; data and software for mouse brain simulation; and extensive educational material. TVB cloud services facilitate reproducible online collaboration and discovery of data assets, models, and software embedded in scalable and secure workflows, a precondition for research on large cohort data sets, better generalizability, and clinical translation

About Thucydides ' Use of Aitia' and ΠPΟϕAΣIΣ

Schuller Sandra. About Thucydides ' Use of Aitia' and ΠPΟϕAΣIΣ. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 34, fasc. 4, 1956. pp. 971-984

Berendsen (Egon), Visch (Ellis) en Zonneveld (Wim). Generatieve Fonologie en de linkerkant van de grammatica.

Schuller Sandra. Berendsen (Egon), Visch (Ellis) en Zonneveld (Wim). Generatieve Fonologie en de linkerkant van de grammatica.. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 64, fasc. 3, 1986. Langues et littératures modernes - Moderne taal- en letterkunde. pp. 563-566

Responsabilidad penal de la empresa adquirente: análisis del artículo 130.2 del Código Penal

El legislador español introdujo en 2010 la responsabilidad penal de las personas jurídicas (art. 31 bis del Código Penal), disponiendo que su responsabilidad no se extinguirá en caso de transformación, fusión o escisión, sino que se trasladará a la entidad o entidades en que se transforme, quede fusionada o absorbida, y se extenderá a la entidad o entidades que resulten de la escisión; dispone, asimismo, que tampoco extingue la responsabilidad penal la “disolución encubierta o meramente aparente” (art. 130.2 CP). En consecuencia, bajo el actual régimen de RPPJ, la empresa adquirente puede resultar responsable, cuando concurren ciertos presupuestos y requisitos, de los delitos de los que era originariamente responsable la empresa adquirida. El precepto, pese a su indudable impacto en los procesos de reestructuraciones y adquisiciones de empresas, ha sido, todavía a día de hoy, objeto de escasa atención por parte de la doctrina penal. Las voces que se han dejado oír, además, no hacen sino ahondar en la polémica que suscita todo lo relacionado con el régimen de RPPJ, desde su fundamento, encaje constitucional, interpretación o efectos. Las posiciones van desde el abierto rechazo, por considerar que establece un supuesto de responsabilidad objetiva, contrario a los principios constitucionales que rigen en materia penal, a las que proponen una interpretación restrictiva, limitando la aplicación del precepto a las operaciones diseñadas con el propósito de eludir la responsabilidad penal, sin que falten otras que rechazan algunos de los supuestos, pero no todos. La necesaria integración del precepto con conceptos e instituciones extra penales explica la gran confusión que ha generado hasta el momento y obliga, antes de abordar su análisis, a realizar un recorrido, siquiera breve, por el marco normativo al que hace referencia. El Derecho penal no puede ser ajeno a la “realidad jurídica” (GIERKE, FERRARA, LACRUZ) a la que impone unas obligaciones y, como consecuencia de su incumplimiento, una responsabilidad penal; el Ordenamiento jurídico es un sistema completo, que reconoce derechos e impone deberes, y sus distintas partes deben resultar coherentes entre sí. Por ello, la interpretación del art. 130.2 CP, conforme al art. 3 CC, ha de partir de los conceptos de transformación, fusión, escisión, disolución y extinción del Derecho mercantil y, en particular, del derecho de sociedades. Partiendo de dicho planteamiento, se aborda el estudio de la cuestión en el orden siguiente: 1. Dedicamos el primer bloque a la exposición de los presupuestos de Derecho privado en los que se asientan las adquisiciones de empresas y su engarce con el Derecho penal. Dado que esta es una tesis penal, no mercantil, el examen se reduce a las cuestiones básicas que resultan de interés para el estudio del art. 130.2 CP. Al término de cada capítulo sintetizamos aquellas ideas que entendemos más relevantes. 2. En el segundo bloque revisamos los orígenes y antecedentes del precepto, acudiendo al Derecho comparado para estudiar el tratamiento de la cuestión en otros países cuya experiencia puede resultar de interés; continuamos con un recorrido por las distintas posturas mantenidas por la doctrina española; cerramos el bloque con una referencia a las doctrinas que sirven de fundamento a la responsabilidad penal de la empresa “sucesora” (EE.UU, “successor liability”) o que “continúa económica y funcionalmente” la empresa originariamente responsable del delito (TJUE, TEDH y, últimamente, la Cour de Cassation en Francia). 3. El tercer bloque propone la sucesión universal como fundamento y criterio rector interpretativo del artículo 130.2 del Código Penal y analiza su aplicación a las adquisiciones que tienen lugar con anterioridad al inicio del procedimiento penal. Tras ello, sometemos nuestra tesis a un test de validación desde los planos político-criminal, constitucional y técnico-jurídico. 4. En el cuarto bloque se incluyen las resoluciones juridiciales que han abordado la cuestión hasta el momento. 5. El quinto y último bloque recoge nuestras conclusiones y propuestas.The Spanish legislator introduced in 2010 the criminal liability of legal persons (art. 31 bis of the Criminal Code), providing that their liability will not be extinguished in the event of transformation, merger or division, but will be transferred to the entity or entities into which it is transformed, merged or absorbed, and will extend to the entity or entities resulting from the division. It also provides that "dissolution concealed or merely apparent" does not extinguish criminal responsibility (art. 130.2 CP). Consequently, under the current RPPJ regime, the acquiring company may be liable, when certain assumptions and requirements are met, for the crimes for which the acquired company was originally responsible. The precept, despite its undoubted impact on the processes of restructuring and acquisitions of companies, has been, even today, the subject of little attention by the criminal doctrine. The voices that have been heard, in addition, do nothing but delve into the controversy that arouses everything related to the RPPJ regime, from its foundation, constitutional fit, interpretation or effects. The positions range from the open rejection, considering that it establishes a case of strict responsibility, contrary to the constitutional principles that govern criminal matters, to those that propose a restrictive interpretation, limiting the application of the precept to operations designed with the purpose of avoiding criminal responsibility, without missing others that reject some of the assumptions, but not all. The necessary integration of the precept with extra-penal concepts and institutions explains the great confusion it has generated so far and obliges, before addressing its analysis, to make a tour, even brief, by the normative framework to which it refers. Criminal law cannot be alien to the "legal reality" (GIERKE, FERRARA, LACRUZ) on which it imposes obligations and, as a consequence of its non-compliance, criminal liability; the legal system is a complete system, which recognizes rights and imposes duties, and its different parts must be consistent with each other. Therefore, the interpretation of art. 130.2 CP, pursuant to art. 3 CC, must be based on the concepts of transformation, merger, division, dissolution and termination of commercial law and, in particular, company law. Based on this approach, the study of the issue is addressed in the following order: 1. The first block is dedicated to review private law issues regarding mergers and acquisitions and their impact in criminal law. Since this is a criminal thesis, not a commercial one, the examination is reduced to the basic questions that are of interest to study art. 130.2 CP. At the end of each chapter, we synthesize the most relevant ideas. 2. The second block reviews the origins and background of the article 130.2 CP, including a comparative law study of the responsibility of the successor in other countries; the different positions maintained by Spanish doctrine and closes with a reference to the doctrines of the "successor" company in the USA) and the doctrine of responsibility of the entity that "continues economically and functionally" the company originally responsible for the crime (CJEU, ECHR and, lately, the Cour de Cassation in France). 3. The third block proposes universal succession as the basis and guiding criterion for interpreting article 130.2 of the Spanish Criminal Code and analyzes its application to acquisitions that take place prior to the initiation of criminal proceedings. After that, we submit our thesis to a validation test from the political-criminal, constitutional and technical-legal planes. 4. The fourth block includes the judicial decisions that have addressed the issue so far. 5. The fifth and final block contains our conclusions and proposals