Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dendritic Arborization and Spine Dynamics Are Abnormal in the Mouse Model of MECP2 Duplication Syndrome

MECP2 duplication syndrome is a childhood neurological disorder characterized by intellectual disability, autism, motor abnormalities, and epilepsy. The disorder is caused by duplications spanning the gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein-2 (MeCP2), a protein involved in the modulation of chromatin and gene expression. MeCP2 is thought to play a role in maintaining the structural integrity of neuronal circuits. Loss of MeCP2 function causes Rett syndrome and results in abnormal dendritic spine morphology and decreased pyramidal dendritic arbor complexity and spine density. The consequences of MeCP2 overexpression on dendritic pathophysiology remain unclear. We used in vivo two-photon microscopy to characterize layer 5 pyramidal neuron spine turnover and dendritic arborization as a function of age in transgenic mice expressing the human MECP2 gene at twice the normal levels of MeCP2 (Tg1; Collins et al., 2004). We found that spine density in terminal dendritic branches is initially higher in young Tg1 mice but falls below control levels after postnatal week 12, approximately correlating with the onset of behavioral symptoms. Spontaneous spine turnover rates remain high in older Tg1 animals compared with controls, reflecting the persistence of an immature state. Both spine gain and loss rates are higher, with a net bias in favor of spine elimination. Apical dendritic arbors in both simple- and complex-tufted layer 5 Tg1 pyramidal neurons have more branches of higher order, indicating that MeCP2 overexpression induces dendritic overgrowth. P70S6K was hyperphosphorylated in Tg1 somatosensory cortex, suggesting that elevated mTOR signaling may underlie the observed increase in spine turnover and dendritic growth.
Machiavellianism, Social Norms, and Taxpayer Compliance

This study is the first to examine the relationships among Machiavellianism, social norms and taxpayer intentions to fraudulently overstate their deductions. We theorize and empirically document that (a) high Machiavellian taxpayers report significantly less ethical social norms, suggesting that reported social norms are influenced by cognitive biases such as social projection and Machiavellian cynicism; (b) reported social norms are, in general, significantly associated with tax evasion intentions; (c) social norms partially mediate the relationship between Machiavellianism and evasion intentions. Our findings imply that experimental research that controls for key personality traits such as Machiavellianism will be necessary to test the effectiveness of potential interventions designed to enhance social norms and tax compliance. Our findings also raise questions regarding the validity of certain social norm measures used in recent studies, particularly in the case of high Machiavellians. In contrast to much prior research, gender was not associated with the likelihood of committing tax fraud in our multivariate models, suggesting that the higher levels of tax compliance often associated with females may be eroding.
A three-dimensional hydrodynamical line profile analysis of iron lines and barium isotopes in HD 140283

Context. Heavy-elements, i.e. those beyond the iron peak, mostly form via two neutron capture processes: the slow (s-) and the rapid (r-) process. Metal-poor stars should contain fewer isotopes that form via the s-process, according to currently accepted theory. It has been shown in several investigations that theory and observation do not agree well, raising questions on the validity of either the methodology or the theory. Aims. We analyse the metal-poor star HD 140283, for which we have a high quality spectrum. We test whether a three-dimensional (3D) local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) stellar atmosphere and spectrum synthesis code permits a more reliable analysis of the iron abundance and barium isotope ratio than a one-dimensional (1D) LTE analysis. Methods. Using 3D hydrodynamical model atmospheres, we examine 91 iron lines of varying strength and formation depth. This provides us with the star’s rotational speed. With this, we model the barium isotope ratio by exploiting the hyperfine structure of the singly ionised 4554 A resonance line, and study the impact of the uncertainties in the stellar parameters. Results. The star’s rotational speed was found to be 1:65 0:05 km s 1 . Barium isotopes under the 3D paradigm show a dominant r-process signature as 77 6 17% (fodd = 0:38 0:02 0:06) of barium isotopes form via the r-process, where errors represent the assigned random and systematic errors, respectively. We find that 3D LTE fits reproduce iron line profiles better than those in 1D, but do not provide a unique abundance (within the uncertainties). However, we demonstrate that the isotopic ratio is robust against this shortcoming. Conclusions. Our barium isotope result agrees well with currently accepted theory regarding the formation of the heavy-elements during the early Galaxy. The improved fit to the asymmetric iron line profiles suggests that the current state of 3D LTE modelling provides excellent simulations of fluid flows. However, the abundances they provide are not yet self-consistent. This may improve with non-LTE considerations and higher resolution models.
A Hybrid Approach to Natural Language Web Search

We describe a hybrid approach to improving search performance by providing a natural language front end to a traditional keyword-based search engine. The key component of the system is iterative query formulation and retrieval, in which one or more queries are automatically formulated from the user's question, issued to the search engine, and the results accumulated to form the hit list. New queries are generated by relaxing previously-issued queries using transformation rules, applied in an order obtained by reinforcement learning. This statistical component is augmented by a knowledge-driven hub-page identifier that retrieves a hub-page for the most salient noun phrase in the question, if possible. Evaluation on an unseen test set over the www.ibm. com public website with 1.3 million webpages shows that both components make substantial contribution to improving search performance, achieving a combined 137% relative improvement in the number of questions correctly answered, compared to a baseline of keyword queries consisting of two noun phrases.
Young people with intellectual disabilities and sport as a leisure activity: notions from the Finnish welfare society

Abstract Although disability sports have recently received positive attention, little concern has been directed towards them in youth research. In this article, we discuss the free-time sports in which youth with intellectual disabilities engage as a part of their leisure and their association with their peers. We maintain that every young person has a principal right to leisure and question what kinds of access youth with intellectual disabilities have to local sports communities in the Finnish context. Our empirical data consist of notes collected during sports training; interviews with young sports participants, their supervisors, and their parents; and online survey responses. Almost all sports are equally accessible to everyone; however, practical engagement in sports is not equally easy for everyone because long distances, lack of transportation, unsuitable sporting occasions and teams, or incapable coaches limit individuals’ participation possibilities. Furthermore, symbolic structures, such as neglectful attitudes, restrict the visibility of youth with intellectual disabilities in leisure sports. In many ways, supporting networks become significant when access to sport is under scrutiny. The most important enabling and restricting factors are families’ symbolic and material capital, as well as the unequal, poorly guided, and occasional leisure possibilities in different localities.
Event and community involvement of sport event volunteers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential interrelationship between different types of volunteer involvement (event involvement and community involvement) and their impact on the behavioural intentions of different types of events. Design/methodology/approach By means of a survey, data from an one-off sport event (n=316), including volunteer tourists, and from annual sport events (n=278) in Germany were collected. Structural equation modelling was employed for data analysis. Findings Findings show that event involvement and community involvement are significantly correlated. Both influence future behavioural intentions for one-off events. But only event involvement and not community involvement influences behavioural intentions for annual events. Research limitations/implications The findings are underpinning the rationale of social identity theory from a theoretical perspective. Practical implications Volunteer managers learn that not only the volunteers’ involvement with event organisations, but also with the community (i.e. hosting destination) seems to be a key contributor of behavioural intentions and should therefore be fostered during the recruitment process and prior to the event. Originality/value This study is the first to compare involvement with two objects for different types of events. Therefore, this study adds to the rare literature looking at different event types in which an individual can volunteer.
How Supply Chain Governance Influences Information Sharing Behaviors: A Multiple Case Study Approach

Information sharing within the supply chain is an important factor for effective supply chain management. Having access to the right information allows firms to coordinate activities and collaboratively manage supply chains to realize higher performance. Despite this, there exists significant difference in information sharing behaviors among supply chain members. Using an exploratory case study approach, this research identifies the factors that determine differences in information sharing. Classifying the supply chain governance competencies of supply chain members along three dimensions, technical, advanced technical and relational, we analyze the implications of these three dimensions on the overall information sharing behavior of the firm. Based on an in-depth analysis and comparison of four retail supply chains, we identify different information sharing patterns and the factors contributing to the identified patterns. In particular, it was found that while the technical competency (primarily derived from the use of information technology applications) is necessary, it is not a sufficient condition for collaborative information sharing behavior. Relational competencies play a more important role in facilitating information sharing. Based on the findings from the four cases, we come up with propositions outlining different information sharing patterns in supply chains.
Snake Venomics and Antivenomics of Bothrops diporus, a Medically Important Pitviper in Northeastern Argentina

Snake species within genus Bothrops are responsible for more than 80% of the snakebites occurring in South America. The species that cause most envenomings in Argentina, B. diporus, is widely distributed throughout the country, but principally found in the Northeast, the region with the highest rates of snakebites. The venom proteome of this medically relevant snake was unveiled using a venomic approach. It comprises toxins belonging to fourteen protein families, being dominated by PI- and PIII-SVMPs, PLA2 molecules, BPP-like peptides, L-amino acid oxidase and serine proteinases. This toxin profile largely explains the characteristic pathophysiological effects of bothropic snakebites observed in patients envenomed by B. diporus. Antivenomic analysis of the SAB antivenom (Instituto Vital Brazil) against the venom of B. diporus showed that this pentabothropic antivenom efficiently recognized all the venom proteins and exhibited poor affinity towards the small peptide (BPPs and tripeptide inhibitors of PIII-SVMPs) components of the venom.
Robust blind channel equalization based on input decision information

This paper presents two new blind learning algorithms to achieve robust convergence for linear or nonlinear equalization. Rather than only using the output information contained in equalizer's output signals, the input decision information involved in the input signals is employed to assist the blind learning procedure. Based on this input information, two blind algorithms, Benveniste-Goursat input-output-decision (BG-IOD) and Stop-and-Go input-output-decision (SAG-IOD) are proposed. Extensive simulations show that the proposed algorithms are superior to existing algorithms such as stochastic quadratic distance (SQD) and dual mode constant modulus algorithm (DM-CMA) in terms of preventing local convergence for linear equalization with random initial conditions or nonlinear equalization using neural works.
Computational complexity of higher type functions

The customary identification of feasible with polytime is discussed, Next, higher type functions are presented as a way of giving computational meaning to theorems. In particular, if a theorem has a "feasibly constructive" proof, the associated functions should be polytime. However examples are given to illustrate the difficulty of capturing the notion of polytime for higher type functions. Finally, Konig's Lemma is used to illustrate a theorem whose compu­ tational meaning is naturally expressed by functions of type level 3.
Incentives for Boundedly Rational Agents

This paper develops a theoretical framework for analyzing incentive schemes under bounded rationality. It starts from a standard principal-agent model and then superimposes an assumption of boundedly rational behavior on the part of the agent. Boundedly rational behavior is modeled as an explicit optimization procedure, which combines gradient dynamics with imitation and experimentation. The results predict the underprovision of optimal incentives and deviation from a standard sufficient statistics result from the agency literature. It also allows us to address the question of creating the optimal incentives in a multicultural environment.
The Effect of Children's Comic Strip Stories on Beginners' English Vocabulary Retention

The effect of children's comic strip stories on incidental vocabulary learning is the aim of this study. To this end, two groups including twenty beginners as an experimental group and twenty students as a control group were participated. A vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS) was given to all participants as a pre-test and post-test to measure learners’ knowledge rest on 18 unknown target vocabularies. An experimental group listened to comic strip stories with watching photos of stories, whereas the control group just listened to comic strip stories without watching any photos of stories. The results showed that both groups had a significant improvement after treatment, and listening to stories had an effect on vocabulary learning. In addition, to compare both groups’ performance on post-test, an Independent Samples t-test was administered which indicated that there was a significant difference between experimental group and control group whilst, experimental group learners almost outperformed the control group learners which conveys watching stories’ comic photos can affect on incidental vocabulary learning remarkably.
Interactions of Seedborne Bacterial Pathogens with Host and Non-Host Plants in Relation to Seed Infestation and Seedling Transmission

The ability of seed-borne bacterial pathogens (Acidovorax citrulli, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, Xanthomonas euvesicatoria, and Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea) to infest seeds of host and non-host plants (watermelon, tomato, pepper, and soybean) and subsequent pathogen transmission to seedlings was investigated. A non-pathogenic, pigmented strain of Serratia marcescens was also included to assess a null-interacting situation with the same plant species. Flowers of host and non-host plants were inoculated with 1×106 colony forming units (CFUs)/flower for each bacterial species and allowed to develop into fruits or umbels (in case of onion). Seeds harvested from each host/non-host bacterial species combination were assayed for respective bacteria by plating on semi-selective media. Additionally, seedlots for each host/non-host bacterial species combination were also assayed for pathogen transmission by seedling grow-out (SGO) assays under greenhouse conditions. The mean percentage of seedlots infested with compatible and incompatible pathogens was 31.7 and 30.9% (by plating), respectively and they were not significantly different (P = 0.67). The percentage of seedlots infested with null-interacting bacterial species was 16.8% (by plating) and it was significantly lower than the infested lots generated with compatible and incompatible bacterial pathogens (P = 0.03). None of the seedlots with incompatible/null-interacting bacteria developed symptoms on seedlings; however, when seedlings were assayed for epiphytic bacterial presence, 19.5 and 9.4% of the lots were positive, respectively. These results indicate that the seeds of non-host plants can become infested with incompatible and null-interacting bacterial species through flower colonization and they can be transmitted via epiphytic colonization of seedlings. In addition, it was also observed that flowers and seeds of non-host plants can be colonized by compatible/incompatible/null-interacting bacteria to higher populations; however, the level of colonization differed significantly depending on the type of bacterial species used.
The Relationship between Job and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from a Remote Mining Community

Although the relationship between job and life satisfaction has attracted much attention, little research has been undertaken in geographically remote settings. The present study addresses this deficiency by testing a causal model that incorporates job-related, personal, environmental, and community-related variables. The LISREL results, based on a sample of 286 male employees from an open-cut coal mine in remote central Queensland, Australia, indicate that the community variables of family isolation and kinship support have the largest total (direct and indirect) effects on life satisfaction. Job satisfaction is found to be the next most important factor, and mediates the impact of routinization, industrial relations (IR) climate, promotional opportunity, work overload, family isolation, kinship support, positive affectivity, community participation, and negative affectivity on life satisfaction. In addition, job satisfaction is observed to have a stronger effect on life satisfaction than vice versa. The implications of these findings for organizations operating in remote regions are discussed.
Not All Forms of Misbehavior are Created Equal: Differential Personality Facet–Counterproductive Work Behavior Relations

We examined whether four personality traits&#8212;trait aggression, trait industriousness, trait deceptiveness, and trait self&#8208;control&#8212;were differentially related to 11 narrow&#8208;bandwidth CWB facets: (a) property destruction, (b) inappropriate verbal actions, (c) inappropriate physical actions, (d) poor attendance, (e) poor quality work, (f) unsafe behavior, (g) theft and related behavior, (h) misuse of information, (i) misuse of time and resources, (j) alcohol use, and (k) drug use. Based on responses from 404 employed participants recruited using Mechanical Turk, we found that each narrow&#8208;bandwidth personality trait often yielded stronger relationships with overall CWB than with narrow&#8208;bandwidth CWB facets.
Do differences in the scale of irrigation projects generate different impacts on poverty and production

This paper investigates differences in household production and consumption among small- and large-scale irrigators to assess whether the scale of an irrigation project increases household welfare in Mali. Much of the evidence of the impact of irrigation does not use counterfactual analysis to estimate such impact or distinguish between the scale of the irrigation projects to be evaluated. In the dataset collected by the author, both a large-scale irrigation project and small-scale projects are used to construct counterfactual groups. Propensity score matching is used to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated for small and large irrigators relative to nonirrigators on agricultural production, agricultural income, and consumption per capita. Small-scale irrigation has a larger effect on agricultural production and agricultural income than large-scale irrigation, but large-scale irrigation has a larger effect on consumption per capita. This suggests that market integration and nonfarm externalities are important in realizing gains in agricultural surplus from irrigation.
The Evolutionary History of Galactic Bulges: Photometric and Spectroscopic Studies of Distant Spheroids in the GOODS Fields

We report on the first results of a new study aimed at understanding the diversity and evolutionary history of distant galactic bulges in the context of now well-established trends for pure spheroidal galaxies. To this end, bulges have been isolated for a sample of 137 spiral galaxies within the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1.2 in the GOODS fields. Using proven photometric techniques, we determine the characteristic parameters (size, surface brightness, profile shape) of both the disk and bulge components in our sample. In agreement with earlier work that utilized aperture colors, distant bulges show a broader range of optical colors than would be the case for passively evolving populations. To quantify the amount of recent star formation necessary to explain this result, we used DEIMOS to secure stellar velocity dispersions for a sizeable fraction of our sample. This has enabled us to compare the fundamental plane of our distant bulges with that for spheroidal galaxies in a similar redshift range. Bulges of spiral galaxies with a bulge-to-total luminosity ratio (B/T) >0.2 show similar patterns of evolution to those seen for pure spheroidals such that the stellar populations of all spheroids with M > 1011 M☉ are consistent with a single major burst of star formation at high redshift (zf≳ 2), while bulges with M < 1011 M☉ must have had more recent stellar mass growth (~10% in mass since z ∼ 1). Although further data spanning a wider range of redshift and mass are desirable, the similarity between the assembly histories of bulges and low-mass spheroidals seems difficult to reconcile with the picture whereby the majority of large bulges form primarily via secular processes within spiral galaxies.
Finite sample properties of multiple imputation estimators

Finite sample properties of multiple imputation estimators under the linear regression model are studied. The exact bias of the multiple imputation variance estimator is presented. A method of reducing the bias is presented and simulation is used to make comparisons. We also show that the suggested method can be used for a general class of linear estimators.