Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impaired prioritization of novel onset stimuli in autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND Deficiency in the adaptive allocation of attention to relevant environmental stimuli is an associated feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent evidence suggests that individuals with ASD may be specifically impaired in attentional prioritization of novel onsets. METHOD We investigated modulation of attention by novel onset stimuli in 22 children with ASD and 22 age- and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children using a preview visual search task (Donk & Theeuwes, 2003). In preview search, a subset of search stimuli (old) is presented briefly before the remaining stimuli (new) with the effect that search times for targets appearing among the new elements are typically shorter than for those appearing among the old elements. RESULTS Whereas the TD group exhibited faster reaction time (RT) to targets occurring as novel search elements, the ASD group performed similarly in target new and old conditions, indicating impaired attentional prioritization of novel onsets. Group differences in eye-movement behavior, including fixation frequency and saccadic error for novel onset stimuli, were consistent with the RT findings. Attentional modulation by novel onsets varied inversely with social-communicative symptom severity in the ASD group. CONCLUSIONS The results provide further evidence of reduced sensitivity to novel onsets in ASD, and suggest that impaired processing of dynamic stimuli, possibly associated with abnormalities in the dorsal visual processing stream, may be implicated in the core symptoms of ASD.
Effects of Cognitive and Affective Conflict Between Hotel's Top Managers on Firm Performance in China

The conflict between top managers has been identified as a key factor of team process of top management teams (TMTs). This study examined the influence of team conflict on firm performance and attempted to understand how team process influences firm performance. Based on the investigation of 107 Chinese hotels, cognitive and affective conflict was found to be in correlation with TMTs' decision quality and firm performance. The relationship between team conflict and decision quality was negatively significant, which indicates that the positive influence of conflict was not confirmed in China.
On the Turnpike Property of the Modified Golden Rule

Stationary and ergodic probability distribution is derived and the stochastic balanced path of capital accumulation is defined via corresponding martingale path. Moreover, stochastic version of asymptotic turnpike theorem is established in the sense of uniform topology and also neighborhood type of stochastic turnpike theorem is demonstrated in the sense of ergodic measure.
Evidence That the ZNT3 Protein Controls the Total Amount of Elemental Zinc in Synaptic Vesicles

The ZNT3 protein decorates the presynaptic vesicles of central neurons harboring vesicular zinc, and deletion of this protein removes staining for zinc. However, it has been unclear whether only histochemically reactive zinc is lacking or if, indeed, total elemental zinc is missing from neurons lacking the Slc30a3 gene, which encodes the ZNT3 protein. The limitations of conventional histochemical procedures have contributed to this enigma. However, a novel technique, microprobe synchrotron X-ray fluorescence, reveals that the normal 2- to 3-fold elevation of zinc concentration normally present in the hippocampal mossy fibers is absent in Slc30a3 knockout (ZNT3) mice. Thus, the ZNT3 protein evidently controls not only the “stainability” but also the actual mass of zinc in mossy-fiber synaptic vesicles. This work thus confirms the metal-transporting role of the ZNT3 protein in the brain.
Does Atlas Shrug? The Economic Consequences of Taxing the Rich

Since the introduction of the income tax in 1913, controversy has raged about how heavily to tax the rich. Opponents of high tax rates claim that heavy assessments have negative incentives on the productivity of some of our most talented citizens; supporters stress the importance of the rich shouldering their "fair share," and decry the loopholes that permit many to escape their obligations. Notably absent from this debate is hard evidence about the actual impact of taxes on the behavior of the affluent. This book presents evidence by leading economists of the effects of taxes on the formation of businesses, the supply of labor, the form of executive compensation, the accumulation of wealth, the allocation of portfolios, and the realization of capital gains. Among its findings are that the labor supply of the rich remained unchanged in the face of large tax cuts in 1986, and that in late 1992 executives exercised billions of dollars' worth of stock options in order to beat the tax increases expected in 1993. The book also presents a history of efforts to tax the rich, a demographic snapshot of the financially affluent, and a road map to widely used tax-avoidance strategies. Does Atlas Shrug? will be of great interest to policymakers and interested citizens who want to know how much tax revenue could really be gained by increasing tax rates on the rich, or whether low capital gains tax rates really spur economic growth.
Gut Microbiota Composition in Male Rat Models under Different Nutritional Status and Physical Activity and Its Association with Serum Leptin and Ghrelin Levels

Background Several evidences indicate that gut microbiota is involved in the control of host energy metabolism. Objective To evaluate the differences in the composition of gut microbiota in rat models under different nutritional status and physical activity and to identify their associations with serum leptin and ghrelin levels. Methods In a case control study, forty male rats were randomly assigned to one of these four experimental groups: ABA group with food restriction and free access to exercise; control ABA group with food restriction and no access to exercise; exercise group with free access to exercise and feed ad libitum and ad libitum group without access to exercise and feed ad libitum. The fecal bacteria composition was investigated by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and real-time qPCR. Results In restricted eaters, we have found a significant increase in the number of Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, Clostridium, Enterococcus, Prevotella and M. smithii and a significant decrease in the quantities of Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, B. coccoides-E. rectale group, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium with respect to unrestricted eaters. Moreover, a significant increase in the number of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and B. coccoides–E. rectale group was observed in exercise group with respect to the rest of groups. We also found a significant positive correlation between the quantity of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus and serum leptin levels, and a significant and negative correlation among the number of Clostridium, Bacteroides and Prevotella and serum leptin levels in all experimental groups. Furthermore, serum ghrelin levels were negatively correlated with the quantity of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and B. coccoides–Eubacterium rectale group and positively correlated with the number of Bacteroides and Prevotella. Conclusions Nutritional status and physical activity alter gut microbiota composition affecting the diversity and similarity. This study highlights the associations between gut microbiota and appetite-regulating hormones that may be important in terms of satiety and host metabolism.
On an emotional node: Modeling sentiment in graphs of action verbs

Neuroimaging studies have over the past decades established that language is grounded in sensorimotor areas of the brain. Not only action verbs related to face and hand motion but also emotional expressions activate premotor systems in the brain. Hypothesizing that patterns of neural activation might be reflected in the latent semantics of words, we apply hierarchical clustering and network graph analysis to quantify the interaction of emotion and motion related action verbs based on two large-scale text corpora. Comparing the word topologies to neural networks we suggest that the co-activation of associated word forms in the brain resemble the latent semantics of action verbs, which may in turn reflect parameters of force and spatial differentiation underlying action based language.
The Anterolateral Ligament: An Anatomic Study on Sex-Based Differences

Background: The anterolateral ligament (ALL) has been shown to have an important role in rotatory stability of the knee. While there is abundant research on sex-based differences related to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture, there is a paucity of literature related to such differences in the ALL. Purpose: To define any sex-based differences in the ALL with regard to length, width, and thickness. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: The ALL was initially evaluated in 165 unpaired knees (92 males and 65 females after exclusion criteria applied). The length, width, and thickness of the ALL were measured using a digital caliper. Width and thickness were measured at the joint line just superior to the lateral meniscus. The Mann-Whitney test and Student t tests were used to compare measurements between males and females. The Pearson product-moment correlation was subsequently used to determine the correlation between height and weight and the statistically different morphometric variables. Results: The mean (±SD) thickness of the ALL in males was 2.09 ± 0.56 mm, almost twice as thick as females (1.05 ± 0.49 mm; P = 8.8 × 10−20). There was also a statistically significant difference in ALL length (P = 3.8 × 10−7), but no significant difference was found for width. A moderate association was found between donor height and ALL thickness and length. Conclusion: The anatomic measurements of the ALL demonstrate a difference between sexes, and the ALL is significantly thicker in males than females. Clinical Relevance: As the role of the ALL in rotatory stability of the knee becomes better understood, the difference in the thickness of the ALL we have found between the sexes may be another factor why female athletes have an increased incidence of ACL rupture compared with males. This may also help explain why females have issues with knee laxity and rotatory instability.
Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Parotid: Extracapsular Dissection Compared with Superficial Parotidectomy—A 10-Year Retrospective Cohort Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the complication rates and effectiveness of extracapsular dissection compared with superficial parotidectomy for pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland from 2002 to 2012. The authors carried out a retrospective cohort study of 198 patients with pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland. Extracapsular dissection (ED) or superficial parotidectomy (SP) was performed. The recurrence rate and complications of the two surgical techniques were measured with a univariate analysis of each variable using the appropriate statistical analysis (chi-squared test or t-test). A total of 198 patients were enrolled between January 2003 and December 2012. The study included 97 females (48.99%) and 101 males (51.01%) whose mean age was 50.97 years (range 14–75). The type of surgery performed was ED in 153 patients (77.27%, 80 males and 73 females) and SP in 45 patients (22.73%, 21 males and 24 females). The mean follow-up time was 61.02 +/− 4.9 months for the patients treated with ED and 66.4 +/− 4.5 months for the patients treated with SP. Transient facial nerve injury and facial paralysis were significantly more frequent after SP than after ED (P = 0.001 and P = 0.065, resp.). No significant differences in capsular rupture, recurrence, and salivary fistula were observed after SP or ED: 2.2% versus 3.9%, 2.2% versus 3.3%, and 2.2% versus 0.65%, respectively. Extracapsular dissection may be considered the treatment of choice for pleomorphic adenomas located in the superficial portion of the parotid gland because this technique showed similar effectiveness and fewer side effects than superficial parotidectomy.
Construction of a Database of CMB Spectrum Observations

We present the complete set of the measures of the CMB absolute temperature on the basis on the works published in the literature, recognize the main causes of error with the aim of estimating separately the magnitude of the systematic and statistical errors, by focussing in particular on the most recent observations. The main purpose of this work is to create a complete and reasoned database of CMB absolute temperatures. The simple database format permits a reading of the data through any text editor or through programs for data handling. This is the first step for a statistical analysis of CMB spectrum data and their comparison with the theoretical predictions for the distorted spectra in order to derive constraints on physical processes at very high redshifts.
Effects of Agricultural Subsidy Policies on Comparative Advantage and Production Protection in China

China has recently implemented a series of agricultural policy reforms to expand its agricultural sector and increase farm income. Subsidies supporting agricultural sector growth are the favored policy even though they are known to exert a distorting effect on markets. Using a Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) model, we estimated the extent to which subsidies have distorted domestic markets and whether they have positively influenced China's comparative advantages in crop production and increased farm income. Results suggest that the effective protection of soybean and corn production has not significantly enhanced comparative advantage with respect to these commodities, while the effective protection of production factors used to produce wheat increased comparative advantage in wheat production.
Characterization of Physical and Functional Anchor Site Interactions in Human Telomerase

ABSTRACT Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase (RT) that processively synthesizes telomeric repeats onto the ends of linear chromosomes to maintain genomic stability. It has been proposed that the N terminus of the telomerase protein subunit, telomerase RT (TERT), contains an anchor site that forms stable interactions with DNA to prevent enzyme-DNA dissociation during translocation and to promote realignment events that accompany each round of telomere synthesis. However, it is not known whether human TERT (hTERT) can directly interact with DNA in the absence of the telomerase RNA subunit. Here we use a novel primer binding assay to establish that hTERT forms stable and specific contacts with telomeric DNA in the absence of the human telomerase RNA component (hTR). We show that hTERT-mediated primer binding can be functionally uncoupled from telomerase-mediated primer extension. Our results demonstrate that the first 350 amino acids of hTERT have a critical role in regulating the strength and specificity of protein-DNA interactions, providing additional evidence that the TERT N terminus contains an anchor site. Furthermore, we establish that the RT domain of hTERT mediates important protein-DNA interactions. Collectively, these data suggest that hTERT contains distinct anchor regions that cooperate to help regulate telomerase-mediated DNA recognition and elongation.
Saving does not finance Investment: Accounting as an indispensableguide to economic theory

The paper analyses the accounting relationships between the financial and the real economy. It will be shown that accounting can clarify the nature of economic phenomena and be an important building block for economic theory. The paper will argue that there is much confusion about key macroeconomic concepts like saving, investment and finance. This confusion is best summarised in the statement "saving finances investment". After clearly defining the accounting relationships between lending, financial saving and physical investment it will be shown that this is a nonsense statement. The theory behind it - the loanable funds theory - will be analysed and critiqued. It will be shown that the loanable funds theory confuses the concepts of income and production, lending and saving, and financial saving and non-financial saving. It will further be shown that this has not only theoretical but also important policy implications.
Majority Vote on Educational Standards

The direct democratic choice of an examination standard, i.e., a performance level required to graduate, is evaluated against a utilitarian welfare function. It is shown that the median preferred standard is inefficiently low if the marginal cost of reaching a higher performance reacts more sensitively to ability for high than for low abilities, and if the right tail of the ability distribution is longer than the left tail. Moreover, a high number of agents who choose not to graduate may imply that the median preferred standard is inefficiently low even if these conditions fail.
Mechanism of Bradykinin-Induced Ca2+ Mobilization in Murine Proximal Tubule Epithelial Cells

Despite the recognized physiological role of bradykinin (BK) in the kidney in maintaining glomerular and tubule function and its role in pathological states such as endotoxemia, diabetes, and other diseases, relatively little is known about the mechanisms by which BK can impact kidney function. Furthermore, the signaling of BK receptors in the murine nephron has not been fully characterized. The present studies were undertaken to examine BK-stimulated Ca2+ signaling using Fura-2 in the murine proximal tubule epithelial cell line TKPTS. BK produced a concentration-dependent rise in intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+])i (pEC50 = 8.39 ± 0.04). Selective antagonists showed the rise in [Ca2+]i was mediated through B2 receptors. The rise in [Ca2+]i was rapid and reversible and was maximally stimulated at 1 μM (697 ± 70 nM above basal level of 115 ± 6 nM). Studies with thapsigargin and EGTA showed Ca2+ mobilization was dependent on two events: release and influx. Both U73122 (1-[6-[[17-β-3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-yl]amino]hexyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione) [a phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor] and genistein (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) partially inhibited BK-stimulated rise in [Ca2+]i. When combined, both agents produced a further decrease, suggesting multiple pathways for PLC activation may be involved. The ability of Ni2+ to inhibit influx indicated the activation of a Ca2+ release-activated channel (CRAC). Ca2+ mobilization did not seem to be affected by cyclic nucleotides or protein kinase C. In summary, the TKPTS murine proximal tubule cell line expresses functional B2 receptors linked to Ca2+ mobilization that is dependent on phospholipase C and activation of CRAC.
Faculty Perceptions about Instructional Technology in Eight Community Colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents Higher Education System.

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty members' perception of the status of technology support and services, their attitudes towards the incorporation of technology in general and with specific applications, and the barriers they perceive to technology use. Additionally, the study focused on the association among the predictor variables of faculty members' gender, age, professional status, years of higher education teaching experience, and tenure versus nontenure status with their degree of technology use. An online survey was designed to collect data to address the research questions in the study. The survey consisted of 44 questions, including areas for comments. Two-hundred ninety faculty members out of a possible 867 responded to the survey. Based on the results, conclusions have been drawn. According to the literature, the results of this study both contradict and support previous studies. Dimension 1, perceived technology support and services, and Dimension 2, perceived barriers to technology use, provided no significant difference when considering the demographic variables of age, gender, years of experience, faculty rank, and tenure versus nontenure status. Though, Dimension 3, attitudes towards the use of technology and specific applications, provided no significant difference when considering the demographic variable of age, faculty rank, and tenure versus nontenure status but there was a slight indication of significance based on years of experience. In addition, gender differences appeared among attitudes toward the use of technology and specific applications. Based on the results, females have been shown to have better attitudes toward the use of technology and specific applications, an area historically dominated by men. Also, faculty members with 1-9 to 10-19 years of experience have better attitudes toward the use of technology. While faculty members with 20 or more years of experience attitude is not significantly affected by years of experience. Additional research needs to be established to include: 1) research faculty members in other southeast states to determine whether or not findings from this study could be generalized, 2) research to include all community colleges within the Tennessee Board of Regents higher education system, and 3) research faculty members responses regarding community colleges role in providing technology training.
Overview of a Surface-Ripened Cheese Community Functioning by Meta-Omics Analyses

Cheese ripening is a complex biochemical process driven by microbial communities composed of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Surface-ripened cheeses are widely consumed all over the world and are appreciated for their characteristic flavor. Microbial community composition has been studied for a long time on surface-ripened cheeses, but only limited knowledge has been acquired about its in situ metabolic activities. We applied metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and biochemical analyses to an experimental surface-ripened cheese composed of nine microbial species during four weeks of ripening. By combining all of the data, we were able to obtain an overview of the cheese maturation process and to better understand the metabolic activities of the different community members and their possible interactions. Furthermore, differential expression analysis was used to select a set of biomarker genes, providing a valuable tool that can be used to monitor the cheese-making process.
Towards an integrated crowdsourcing definition

‘Crowdsourcing’ is a relatively recent concept that encompasses many practices. This diversity leads to the blurring of the limits of crowdsourcing that may be identified virtually with any type of internet-based collaborative activity, such as co-creation or user innovation. Varying definitions of crowdsourcing exist, and therefore some authors present certain specific examples of crowdsourcing as paradigmatic, while others present the same examples as the opposite. In this article, existing definitions of crowdsourcing are analysed to extract common elements and to establish the basic characteristics of any crowdsourcing initiative. Based on these existing definitions, an exhaustive and consistent definition for crowdsourcing is presented and contrasted in 11 cases.
Molecular identification of Trichinella britovi in martens (Martes martes) and badgers (Meles meles); new host records in Poland

Trichinella larvae were detected in a marten (Martes martes) and a badger (Meles meles) in Poland. The animals were found dead following car accidents. All examined animals derived from the Mazurian Lake district, north-east Poland, near the village Kosewo Górne where Trichinella infection were earlier confirmed in wildlife; red foxes and wild boars. The muscle samples were examined by artificial pepsin-HCl digestion method. The parasites were identified as Trichinella britovi by multiplex polymerase chain reaction method. Larvae were found in two out of three martens and one out of seven examined badgers. This is the first report of the identification of Trichinella britovi larvae from martens and badgers in Poland.