Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Minimum Message Length Inference and Parameter Estimation of Autoregressive and Moving Average Models

This technical report presents a formulation of the parameter estimation and model selection problem for Autoregressive (AR) and Moving Average (MA) models in the Minimum Message Length (MML) framework. In particular, it examines suitable priors for both classes of models, and subsequently derives message length expressions based on the MML87 approximation. Empirical results demonstrate the new MML estimators outperform several benchmark parameter estimation and model selection criteria on various prediction metrics. Daniel Schmidt is with Monash University Clayton School of Information Technology Clayton Campus Victoria 3800, Australia Telephone: +61 3 9905 3414, Fax: +61 3 9905 5146 Email: Daniel.Schmidt@csse.monash. edu.au
Inhibition of the olfactory cyclic nucleotide gated ion channel by intracellular calcium

When olfactory receptor neurons are exposed to sustained application of odours, the elicited ionic current is transient. This adaptation-like effect appears to require the influx of Ca2+ through the odour-sensitive conductance; in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ the current remains sustained. Odour transduction proceeds through a G-protein-based second messenger system, resulting finally in the direct activation of an ion channel by cyclic AMP. This channel is one possible site for a negative feedback loop using Ca2+ as a messenger. In recordings of single cyclic AMP gated channels from olfactory receptor neurons, the open probability of the channel in saturating cAMP concentrations was dependent on the concentration of intracellular Ca2+. It could be reduced from 0.6 in 100 nM C a2+ to 0.09 in 3 |4.m Ca2+. However, as neither the single channel conductance nor the mean open time were affected by Ca2+ concentration, this does not appear to be a mechanism of simple channel block. Rather, these results suggest that intracellular Ca2+ acts allosterically to stabilize a closed state of the channel.
GABAergic pump cells of solitary tract nucleus innervate retrotrapezoid nucleus chemoreceptors

The retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) contains chemosensitive neurons that are inhibited by lung inflation via slowly‐adapting pulmonary stretch receptors (SARs). Here we examine whether RTN inhibition by lung inflation could be mediated by a direct projection from SAR second‐order neurons (pump cells). Pump cells (N = 56 neurons, 13 rats) were recorded in the nucleus of solitary tract (NTS) of halothane‐anesthetized rats with intact vagus nerves. Pump cells had discharges that coincided with lung inflation as monitored by the tracheal pressure. Their activity increased when end‐expiratory pressure was raised and stopped instantly when ventilation was interrupted in expiration. Many pump cells could be antidromically activated from RTN (12/36). Nine of those were labeled with biotinamide. Of these 9 cells, eight contained glutamic acid decarboxylase67‐ (GAD67‐) mRNA and seven were found to reside in the lower half of the interstitial subnucleus of NTS (iNTS). Using the retrograde tracer cholera toxin‐B, we confirmed that neurons located in or close to iNTS innervate the RTN (2 rats). Many such neurons contained GAD67‐mRNA and a few contained glycine transporter2 (GLYT2) mRNA. Anterograde tract‐tracing with biotinylated dextranamide (4 rats) applied to iNTS also confirmed that this region innervates RTN via a predominantly GABAergic projection. This work confirms that, in rats many NTS pump cells are located in and around the interstitial subnucleus at area postrema level. We demonstrate that a GABAergic subset of these pump cells innervates the RTN region. We conclude that these inhibitory neurons probably contact RTN chemoreceptors and mediate their inhibition by lung inflation.
Diabetes and oral tumors in Hungary: epidemiological correlations.

OBJECTIVE Numerous publications have already demonstrated that diabetes is a risk factor for the development of periodontal diseases and various inflammatory lesions in the oral mucosa. A possible correlation between diabetes and oral premalignancies and tumors was examined in this study, as no literature data are available concerning this problem. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Stomato-oncological screening was carried out on 200 diabetic patients in the medical departments; the control group included 280 adult dentistry outpatients. The lesions found were classified into three groups: inflammatory lesions, benign tumors, and precancerous lesions. A retrospective diabetes screening of 610 inpatients with histologically confirmed oral malignancies was also performed. The control group comprised 574 complaint- and tumor-free adults. Fasting blood glucose levels were determined in both groups, and the tumor location was registered in the cancer patients. RESULTS Benign tumors were found in 14.5% and precancerous lesions in 8% of diabetic patients. In the control group these values were significantly lower, at 6.4 and 3.2%, respectively (P>0.01). Earlier Hungarian screening studies indicated similar frequency of these lesions in the general population. The proportion of oral cavity lesions was higher among diabetic patients compared with that of the control patients. In the oral cancer patient group, diabetes was present in 14.6% and an elevated blood glucose level in 9.7%. These values are significantly higher than those for the tumor-free control group (P<0.01). The gingival and labial tumor location was significantly more frequent among diabetic cancer patients than in the nondiabetic group (P<0.01). The combination of diabetes and smoking means a higher risk for oral precancerous lesions and malignancies. CONCLUSIONS Diabetes may be a risk factor for oral premalignancies and tumors.
Performance Feedback Drives Caudate Activation in a Phonological Learning Task

Adults have difficulty discriminating nonnative phonetic contrasts, but under certain circumstances training can lead to improvement in this ability. Despite the ubiquitous use of performance feedback in training paradigms in this and many other domains, the mechanisms by which feedback affects learning are not well understood. In this event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we examined how performance feedback is processed during perceptual learning. Thirteen Japanese speakers for whom the English phonemes [r] and [l] were nondistinct performed an identification task of the words road and load that has been shown to be effective in inducing learning only when performance feedback is present. Each subject performed alternating runs of training with and without feedback, followed by performance of a card-guessing task with monetary reward and punishment outcomes. We found that the caudate nucleus was more robustly activated bilaterally when performing the perceptual identification task with feedback than without feedback, and the right caudate nucleus also showed a differential response to positive and negative feedback. Moreover, using a within-subjects design, we found that the caudate nucleus also showed a similar activation pattern to monetary reward and punishment outcomes in the card-guessing task. These results demonstrate that the caudate responds to positive and negative feedback during learning in a manner analogous to its processing of extrinsic affective reinforcers and indicate that this region may be a critical moderator of the influence of feedback on learning. These findings impact our broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying nondeclarative learning and language acquisition.
Comprehensive School Reform Instructional Practices Throughout a School Year: The Role of Subject Matter, Grade Level, and Time of Year

Background/Context The achievement effects of Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) programs have been studied through the use of input-output models, in which type of CSR program is the input and student achievement is the output. Although specific programs have been found to be more effective and evaluated more than others, teaching practices in CSR schools have received less attention. This study focuses on observations of math and reading/language arts lessons in classrooms implementing an array of CSR programs to better understand what occurs in CSR classrooms. Research Question This article describes observed instructional practices and teacher-student dynamics that occurred in CSR classrooms in two different subject areas, reading/language arts and math, in Grades 3–5. Reading/language arts included several literacy-related areas such as spelling, vocabulary, phonetics, and writing. Math primarily consisted of computations and math applications. Our primary research questions were: (1) Does subject matter matter in CSR classrooms? (2) How does instruction in CSR classrooms differ among Grades 3, 4, and 5? (3) Are there major differences in classroom practices between fall and spring? Population Teachers (N = 104) in Grades 3–5 in 16 CSR schools, totaling 248 observation periods in math and reading/language arts lessons. Research Design Observational study using a systematic coding system to observe student/teacher classroom behaviors and dispositions. Data Analysis Data were analyzed using basic descriptive statistics and analysis of variance procedures. Conclusion We found that students were productively involved in assigned tasks and that classrooms were pleasant and task oriented in both mathematics and reading/language arts. Some subject matter differences were notable, particularly that math lessons were more structured and rigid than were reading/language arts lessons. Also of interest, third- and fifth-grade classrooms experienced more positive teacher-student relationships than did fourth-grade classrooms. Furthermore, instruction in the fall was more structured and more focused on basic skills than in the spring. Overall, students appeared to be engaged in learning basic facts/skills in an uninterrupted teacher-directed classroom. Students did what was asked of them, were given little choice about their social and academic tasks, and were in mostly comfortable classroom environments.
Febuxostat in the treatment of gout: 5-yr findings of the FOCUS efficacy and safety study.

OBJECTIVES This 5-yr study assessed urate-lowering and clinical efficacy and safety of long-term febuxostat therapy in subjects with gout. The primary efficacy end-point was reduction to and maintenance of serum urate (sUA) levels < 6.0 mg/dl. METHODS Subjects who completed a previous 28-day study were entered into an open-label extension study and initially received febuxostat 80 mg daily. Between Weeks 4 and 24, dosing could be adjusted to febuxostat 40 or 120 mg. All subjects received gout flare prophylaxis during the first 4 weeks. Gout flares were recorded and treated throughout the study, and sUA, baseline tophi and safety were monitored. RESULTS Among 116 subjects initially enrolled, dose adjustments were made for 44 (38%) subjects. As a result, 8 subjects received febuxostat 40 mg, 79 received 80 mg, and 29 received 120 mg daily maintenance dose. At 5 yrs, 93% (54/58) of the remaining subjects had sUA < 6.0 mg/dl. Fifty-eight subjects (50%) discontinued prematurely; 38 did so in the first year. Thirteen subjects withdrew due to an adverse event. Sustained reduction of sUA was associated with nearly complete elimination of gout flares. In 26 subjects with a tophus at baseline, resolution was achieved in 69% (18/26) by last visit on study drug at any point during the study (Final Visit). There were no deaths reported during the study. CONCLUSIONS Long-term treatment with febuxostat resulted in durable maintenance of sUA < 6.0 mg/dl for most subjects. There was nearly complete abolition of gout flares in patients completing the study. Baseline tophi resolved in a majority of subjects.
Changes in the Frequencies of Abdominal Wall Hernias and the Preferences for Their Repair: A Multicenter National Study From Turkey

Abdominal wall hernias are a common problem in the general population. A Western estimate reveals that the lifetime risk of developing a hernia is about 2%. 1–3 As a result, hernia repairs likely comprise the most frequent general surgery operations. More than 20 million hernias are estimated to be repaired every year around the world.4 Numerous repair techniques have been described to date however tension-free mesh repairs are widely used today because of their low hernia recurrence rates. Nevertheless, there are some ongoing debates regarding the ideal approach (open or laparoscopic),5,6 the ideal anesthesia (general, local, or regional),7,8 and the ideal mesh (standard polypropylene or newer meshes). 9,10
Suicide Acceptability and Religious Well-Being: A Comparative Analysis in African American Suicide Attempters and Non-Attempters

This study was designed to examine the relationship between suicide acceptability and religious well-being, and to investigate the differences that may exist between African American suicide attempters and non-attempters on these two concepts. Two hundred low-income, African Americans were administered self-report questionnaires measuring suicide acceptability and religious well-being. Findings indicated that suicide acceptability was negatively related to religious well-being for both suicide attempters and non-attempters. There was also a significant difference between these two groups on suicide acceptability and religious well-being. Results were consistent with previous research that suggests that African Americans who attempt suicide endorse higher levels of suicide acceptability and lower levels of religious well-being than do their nonattempter counterparts. These findings have important implications for culturally-competent community programming and community mental health programs that serve low-income ethnic minority populations.
Human ageing and the sympathoadrenal system

Over the past three decades the changes in sympathoadrenal function that occur with age in healthy adult humans have been systematically studied using a combination of neurochemical, neurophysiological and haemodynamic experimental approaches. The available experimental evidence indicates that tonic whole‐body sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity increases with age. The elevations in SNS activity appear to be region specific, targeting skeletal muscle and the gut, but not obviously the kidney. The SNS tone of the heart is increased, although this appears to be due in part to reduced neuronal reuptake of noradrenaline (norepinephrine). In contrast to SNS activity, tonic adrenaline (epinephrine) secretion from the adrenal medulla is markedly reduced with age. This is not reflected in plasma adrenaline concentrations because of reduced plasma clearance. Despite widely held beliefs to the contrary, sympathoadrenal responsiveness to acute stress is not exaggerated with age in healthy adults. Indeed, adrenaline release in response to acute stress is substantially attenuated in older men. The mechanisms underlying the age‐associated increases in SNS activity have not been established, but our preliminary data are consistent with increased subcortical central nervous system (CNS) sympathetic drive. These changes in sympathoadrenal function with advancing age may have a number of important physiological and pathophysiological consequences for human health and disease.
OPEN DESIGN OF MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT

In this paper, we discuss open design of manufacturing equipment as an approach to the design, test, and continuous improvement of modular and reconfigurable manufacturing equipment. Open design fosters collaborative efforts by providing a framework for freely sharing information such as design documentation and performance data. This paper presents the principles of open design by introducing the Open Design Definition, outlining the requirements for license agreements, and illustrating the application of open design with two current projects. The first project is the open design for a linear positioning stage intended as a foundational element in modular machines or machine tools. The second project is an aggregate machine being redesigned and reconfigured for micro EDM. Open design may become a beneficial alternative to proprietary development of machinery and manufacturing processes, especially in core or foundational elements of agile systems.
Optimal Taxation in Life-Cycle Economies

We use a very standard life-cycle growth model, in which individuals have a labor-leisure choice in each period of their lives, to prove that an optimizing government will almost always find it optimal to tax or subsidize interest income. The intuition for our result is straightforward. In a life-cycle model the individual’s optimal consumption-work plan is almost never constant and an optimizing government almost always taxes consumption goods and labor earnings at different rates over an individual’s lifetime. One way to achieve this goal is to use capital and labor income taxes that vary with age. If tax rates cannot be conditioned on age, a non-zero tax on capital income is also optimal, as it can (imperfectly) mimic age-conditioned consumption and labor income tax rates.
Data-driven, PCFG-based and Pseudo-PCFG-based Models for Chinese Dependency Parsing

We present a comparative study of transition-, graph- and PCFG-based models aimed at illuminating more precisely the likely contribution of CFGs in improving Chinese dependency parsing accuracy, especially by combining heterogeneous models. Inspired by the impact of a constituency grammar on dependency parsing, we propose several strategies to acquire pseudo CFGs only from dependency annotations. Compared to linguistic grammars learned from rich phrase-structure treebanks, well designed pseudo grammars achieve similar parsing accuracy and have equivalent contributions to parser ensemble. Moreover, pseudo grammars increase the diversity of base models; therefore, together with all other models, further improve system combination. Based on automatic POS tagging, our final model achieves a UAS of 87.23%, resulting in a significant improvement of the state of the art.
Effect of Arm Elevation and Rotation on the Strain in the Repaired Rotator Cuff Tendon

In 14 cadaveric shoulders, a rotator cuff tear (2 cm wide and 1.5 cm long) was created and repaired under a 3-kg tensile force with the arm in adduction. Strain on the repaired tendon was measured at 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45° of elevation in the sagittal, scapular, and coronal planes and from 60° of internal rotation to 60° of external rotation. The strain in all of the planes decreased significantly with the arm elevated more than 30°. With 30° of elevation in the scapular and coronal planes, the strain increased in internal rotation and decreased in external rotation. In all of the positions measured, the strain in the sagittal plane was significantly greater than in the other planes. We concluded that more than 30° of elevation in the coronal or scapular plane and rotation ranging from 0° to 60° of external rotation compose the safe range of motion after repair of the rotator cuff.
Alpha-Theta Effects Associated with Ageing during the Stroop Test

The Stroop effect is considered as a standard attentional measure to study conflict resolution in humans. The response of the brain to conflict is supposed to change over time and it is impaired in certain pathological conditions. Neuropsychological Stroop test measures have been complemented with electroencephalography (EEG) techniques to evaluate the mechanisms in the brain that underlie conflict resolution from the age of 20 to 70. To study the changes in EEG activity during life, we recruited a large sample of healthy subjects of different ages that included 90 healthy individuals, divided by age into decade intervals, which performed the Stroop test while recording a 14 channel EEG. The results highlighted an interaction between age and stimulus that was focused on the prefrontal (Alpha and Theta band) and Occipital (Alpha band) areas. We concluded that behavioural Stroop interference is directly influenced by opposing Alpha and Theta activity and evolves across the decades of life.
Measurement of urinary and fecal steroid metabolites during the ovarian cycle in captive and wild Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata

We measured the concentration of steroid hormones from urine, feces, and blood samples of two captive Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, during nonconceptive ovarian cycles to compare the patterns of the excreted steroids with those of circulating steroids. Urine and feces were analyzed for estrone conjugates (E1C) and pregnanediol‐3‐glucronide (PdG) using enzyme immunoassays (EIAs), while plasma was analyzed for estradiol‐17β(E2), progesterone (P), and luteinizing hormone (LH) using radioimmunoassays (RIAs). Urinary and fecal E1C and PdG levels were approximately parallel to plasma E2 and P levels, respectively. The E1C profiles of daily urinary and fecal samples revealed a midcycle peak, followed by a sustained PdG increase lasting up to two weeks from the E1C peak. A fecal E1C peak was one day later than the urinary E1C peak. One of the captive females exhibited a discrete plasma LH peak, one indicator that ovulation has occurred, on the day following the urinary E1C peak, i.e., the same day of fecal E1C peak. We measured excreted steroids in nine wild females and determined the timing of ovulation by comparing fecal steroid profiles to those obtained in captive monkeys. Data from wild females indicated that eight of nine females conceived during their first ovulatory cycle of the sampling period, whereas the remaining female failed to conceive during the sampling period even though she ovulated. In the eight females that conceived, E1C increased again following the detected or estimated E1C peak, with levels comparable to the preovulatory peak levels, and sustained elevations of PdG for over 40 days. These data illustrate that the urinary and fecal profiles of ovarian steroid excretion obtained through the application of these noninvasive techniques provide an accurate approach for monitoring conceptive and nonconceptive ovarian cycle in captive and free‐living Japanese macaques. Am. J. Primatol. 53:167–176, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.