Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decreased Chloride Channel Expression in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Schizophrenia

Alterations in GABAergic neurotransmission are implicated in several psychiatric illnesses, including schizophrenia. The Na-K-Cl and K-Cl cotransporters regulate intracellular chloride levels. Abnormalities in cotransporter expression levels could shift the chloride electrochemical gradient and impair GABAergic transmission. In this study, we performed Western blot analysis to investigate whether the Na-K-Cl and K-Cl cotransporter protein is abnormally expressed in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex in patients with schizophrenia versus a control group. We found decreased K-Cl cotransporter protein expression in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, but not the anterior cingulate cortex, in subjects with schizophrenia, supporting the hypothesis of region level abnormal GABAergic function in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Subjects with schizophrenia off antipsychotic medication at the time of death had decreased K-Cl cotransporter protein expression compared to both normal controls and subjects with schizophrenia on antipsychotics. Our results provide evidence for KCC2 protein abnormalities in schizophrenia and suggest that antipsychotic medications might reverse deficits of this protein in the illness.
Sensor Deployment for Network-Like Environments

This technical note considers the problem of optimally deploying omnidirectional sensors, with potentially limited sensing radius, in a network-like environment. This model provides a compact and effective description of complex environments as well as a proper representation of road or river networks. We present a two-step procedure based on a discrete-time gradient ascent algorithm to find a local optimum for this problem. The first step performs a coarse optimization where sensors are allowed to be clustered, to move in the plane, to vary their sensing radius and to make use of a reduced model of the environment called collapsed network. The sensors' positions found in the first step are then projected on the network and used in the second finer optimization, where sensors are constrained to move only on the network. The second step can be performed online, in a distributed fashion, by sensors moving in the real environment, and can make use of the full network as well as of the collapsed one. The adoption of a less constrained initial optimization has the merit of reducing the negative impact of the presence of a large number of local optima. The effectiveness of the presented procedure is illustrated by a simulated deployment problem in an airport environment.
Corporate Governance: Effects on Firm Performance and Economic Growth

This paper examines some of the strengths, weaknesses, and economic implications associated with various corporate governance systems in OECD countries. Each country has through time developed a wide variety of mechanisms to overcome the agency problems arising from the separation of ownership and control. We discuss the various mechanisms employed in different systems (e.g. the market for corporate control, executive remuneration schemes, concentrated ownership, cross-shareholdings amongst firms) and assess the evidence on whether or not they are conducive to firm performance and economic growth. For example, we show how the corporate governance framework can impinge upon the development of equity markets, R&D and innovative activity, and the development of an active SME sector, and thus impinge upon economic growth. Several policy implications are identified.
Bounded distortion parametrization in the space of metrics

We present a framework for global parametrization that utilizes the edge lengths (squared) of the mesh as variables. Given a mesh with arbitrary topology and prescribed cone singularities, we flatten the original metric of the surface under strict bounds on the metric distortion (various types of conformal and isometric measures are supported). Our key observation is that the space of bounded distortion metrics (given any particular bounds) is convex, and a broad range of useful and well-known distortion energies are convex as well. With the addition of nonlinear Gaussian curvature constraints, the parametrization problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem, and a solution gives a locally injective map. Our method is easy to implement. Sequential convex programming (SCP) is utilized to solve this problem effectively. We demonstrate the flexibility of the method and its uncompromised robustness and compare it to state-of-the-art methods.
Students’ perception of EdD and PhD programmes in Hong Kong

The aim of this study is to explore the learning experiences of students enrolled on a Doctorate in Education programme in Hong Kong. The main questions are as follows. How do EdD students position themselves as doctoral candidates? How do EdD students experience their education in terms of scholarly expertise and scholarly identity? How do EdD students characterise their relationships with their supervisors? What perceptions do PhD students hold of the field of knowledge of EdD students and the value of an EdD degree? The data obtained from 10 semi-structured interviews in one selected institution are discussed with reference to the four main themes; distinction between EdD and PhD degrees: ‘co-existent’ vs. ‘separate’; positioning of EdD programme: title of doctor as ‘unfair’ vs. ‘deserved’; scholarly value: ‘insightful’ vs. ‘non-academic’; and relationship with supervisor: ‘independent and self-managed’ vs. ‘never equal, unlike the relationship between PhD student and supervisor’.
Fingerprint classification by directional fields

Fingerprint classification provides an important fingerprint index and can reduce fingerprint matching time in a large database. A good classification algorithm can give an accurate index that is able to search a fingerprint database more effectively. We present a fingerprint classification algorithm that is based on directional fields. We compute directional fields of fingerprint images and detect singular points (cores). Then, we extract features that we define from fingerprint images. We also use k-means classifier and 3-nearest neighbor to classify features and distinguish which fingerprint is Arch, Left Loop, Right Loop, or Whorl. Experimental results show a significant improvement in fingerprint classification performance. Moreover, the time required for the classification algorithm is reduced.
A Novel Class of Mitochondria-Targeted Soft Electrophiles Modifies Mitochondrial Proteins and Inhibits Mitochondrial Metabolism in Breast Cancer Cells through Redox Mechanisms

Despite advances in screening and treatment over the past several years, breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the United States. A major goal in breast cancer treatment is to develop safe and clinically useful therapeutic agents that will prevent the recurrence of breast cancers after front-line therapeutics have failed. Ideally, these agents would have relatively low toxicity against normal cells, and will specifically inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancer cells. Our group and others have previously demonstrated that breast cancer cells exhibit increased mitochondrial oxygen consumption compared with non-tumorigenic breast epithelial cells. This suggests that it may be possible to deliver redox active compounds to the mitochondria to selectively inhibit cancer cell metabolism. To demonstrate proof-of-principle, a series of mitochondria-targeted soft electrophiles (MTSEs) has been designed which selectively accumulate within the mitochondria of highly energetic breast cancer cells and modify mitochondrial proteins. A prototype MTSE, IBTP, significantly inhibits mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, resulting in decreased breast cancer cell proliferation, cell attachment, and migration in vitro. These results suggest MTSEs may represent a novel class of anti-cancer agents that prevent cancer cell growth by modification of specific mitochondrial proteins.
Strength of baseline inter-trial correlations forecasts adaptive capacity in the vestibulo-ocular reflex

Individual differences in sensorimotor adaptability may permit customized training protocols for optimum learning. Here, we sought to forecast individual adaptive capabilities in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Subjects performed 400 head-rotation steps (400 trials) during a baseline test, followed by 20 min of VOR gain adaptation. All subjects exhibited mean baseline VOR gain of approximately 1.0, variable from trial to trial, and showed desired reductions in gain following adaptation with variation in extent across individuals. The extent to which a given subject adapted was inversely proportional to a measure of the strength and duration of baseline inter-trial correlations (β). β is derived from the decay of the autocorrelation of the sequence of VOR gains, and describes how strongly correlated are past gain values; it thus indicates how much the VOR gain on any given trial is informed by performance on previous trials. To maximize the time that images are stabilized on the retina, the VOR should maintain a gain close to 1.0 that is adjusted predominantly according to the most recent error; hence, it is not surprising that individuals who exhibit smaller β (weaker inter-trial correlations) also exhibited the best adaptation. Our finding suggests that the temporal structure of baseline behavioral data contains important information that may aid in forecasting adaptive capacities. This has significant implications for the development of personalized physical therapy protocols for patients, and for other cases when it is necessary to adjust motor programs to maintain movement accuracy in response to pathological and environmental changes.
Responding to student mental health concerns in social work education: reflective questions for social work educators

ABSTRACT In this paper, we explore ways in which social work educators might respond to students who report that mental health issues underlie their difficulty in meeting core competencies, or otherwise use the language of mental health to describe their struggles to succeed in social work programs. We discuss various trends in policy responses in Canada, the US, the UK, and Ireland. While there are general policy trends, it is clear that responding to these kinds of issues requires the development of highly flexible and situated policy processes that can respond to student realities, concern for students’ rights and privacy, and an awareness of potential discrimination against students. These processes also need to meet the specificities of practicums, particular institutional policies, the mandates of relevant professional bodies, and the precise local legislative framework that shapes these situations. Given these varying contexts, in this conceptual paper, we used a framework on disability that is informed by critical theory to engage existing school policies and propose a set of reflective questions that can guide schools of social work to create an overall responsive environment. These reflective questions are designed to help social work educators balance the rights and needs of students with the professional and institutional demands that students meet core competencies in their education.
Not at the Dinner Table: Parents' and Children's Perspectives on Family Technology Rules

Parents and children both use technology actively and increasingly, but prior work shows that concerns about attention, family time, and family relationships abound. We conducted a survey with 249 parent-child pairs distributed across 40 U.S. states to understand the types of technology rules (also known as restrictive mediation) they have established in their family and how effective those rules are perceived to be. Our data robustly show that children (age 10-17) are more likely to follow rules that constrain technology activities (e.g., no Snapchat) than rules that constrain technology use in certain contexts (e.g., no phone at the dinner table). Children find context constraints harder to live up to, parents find them harder to enforce, and parents' most common challenge when trying to enforce such rules is that children -can't put it down. - This is consistent with the idea that banning certain technologies is currently easier than setting more nuanced boundaries. Parents and children agree that parents should also unplug when spending time with family, while children alone express frustration with the common parent practice of posting about children online. Together, our results suggest several mechanisms by which designers and families can improve parent-child relationships around technology use.
Now you hear it, now you don't: Malleable illusory vowel effects in Spanish–English bilinguals

Spanish speakers tend to perceive an illusory [e] preceding word-initial [s]-consonant sequences, e.g., perceiving [stið] as [estið] (Cuetos, Hallé, Domínguez & Segui, 2011), but this illusion is weaker for Spanish speakers who know English, which lacks the illusion (Carlson, Goldrick, Blasingame & Fink, 2016). The present study aimed to shed light on why this occurs by assessing how a brief interval spent using English impacts performance in Spanish auditory discrimination and lexical decision. Late Spanish–English bilinguals’ pattern of responses largely matched that of monolinguals, but their response times revealed significant differences between monolinguals and bilinguals, and between bilinguals who had just completed tasks in English vs. Spanish. These results suggest that late bilinguals do not simply learn to perceive initial [s]-consonant sequences veridically, but that elements of both their phonotactic systems interact dynamically during speech perception, as listeners work to identify what it was they just heard.
Metabolic modulation and cellular therapy of cardiac dysfunction and failure

• Introduction • Metabolic modulation ‐ Metabolism in the normal heart ‐ Substrate uptake and oxidation ‐ Oxidative phosphorylation ‐ ATP transport and utilization ‐ Metabolism in heart failure ‐ Changes in substrate utilization ‐ Effects on oxidative phosphorylation ‐ Changes in ATP transport and utilization • Medications that influence metabolism in heart failure ( Table 2 ) • Cell therapy ‐ Skeletal muscle myoblasts ‐ Human embryonic stem cells ‐ Bone marrow derived adult stem cells ‐ Haematopoietic stem cells ‐ Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) ‐ Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) ‐ Cardiac stem cells • Mechanisms of stem cell mediated myocardial regeneration • Clinical applications of stem cells
Towards a rhizo-centric view of plant-microbial feedbacks under elevated atmospheric CO2.

Forum 664 Commentary Commentary Towards a rhizo-centric view of plant-microbial feedbacks under elevated atmospheric CO 2 The stimulatory effects of elevated CO 2 on plant productivity have been reported for many ecosystems (Ainsworth & Long, 2005), but whether such effects will persist in the face of increasing nutrient limitation is unclear. In nitrogen (N)-limited ecosystems, elevated CO 2 has been hypothesized to decrease nutrient availability as the N becomes sequestered in plant and soil pools with slow turnover rates. Alternatively, an elevated CO 2 may increase nutrient availability by stimulating N release from soil organic matter (SOM), resulting in positive feedbacks to primary production. Previous reports on the effects of elevated CO 2 on N cycling have been variable, with reports of increases, decreases or no change in soil N dynamics under elevated CO 2 (Zak et al., 2000). One major source of uncertainty is the degree to which potential changes in root-derived C affect the microbial regulation of soil N availability. In this issue of New Phytologist (pp. 778– 786), de Graaf et al. describe a novel approach to examining the effects of elevated CO 2 on root-derived inputs of N to soil. Their results support an emerging 'rhizo-centric' view, whereby root–microbial interactions may be the central processes in controlling the magnitude and duration of plant productivity responses under elevated CO 2. '… roots and rhizosphere microbes play a more important role than has been previously considered in mediating soil N availability under elevated CO 2 . ' By labeling plants with 15 N via foliar uptake, de Graaf et al. quantified the magnitude and fate of N from rhizo-deposition in wild and cultivated genotypes of wheat and maize exposed to ambient and elevated levels of CO 2. Their study reported that rhizodeposition was a strong sink for foliar-applied N in all plants (5–10% of the total uptake from leaves), and that elevated CO 2 increased this flux in those plants that also increased in total biomass (e.g. wheat but not maize). Moreover, this study reports that CO 2-induced increases in rhizodeposition decreased soil N availability, as greater amounts of root-derived N were immobilized in the rhizosphere of the labeled plants and lesser amounts were taken up by unlabeled, 'receiver' plants growing in the same pots. Increased C fluxes from roots to soil under elevated CO 2 have been reported previously but the consequences of such changes for soil N …
R&D, Innovation, and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis

This paper investigates the main postulations of the R&D based growth models that innovation is created in the R&D sectors and it enables sustainable economic growth, provided that there are constant returns to innovation in terms of R&D. The analysis employs various panel data techniques and uses patent and R&D data for 20 OECD and 10 Non-OECD countries for the period 1981-97. The results suggest a positive relationship between per capita GDP and innovation in both OECD and non-OECD countries, while the effect of R&D stock on innovation is significant only in the OECD countries with large markets. Although these results provide support for endogenous growth models, there is no evidence for constant returns to innovation in terms of R&D, implying that innovation does not lead to permanent increases in economic growth. However, these results do not necessarily suggest a rejection of R&D based growth models, given that neither patent nor R&D data capture the full range of innovation and R&D activities.
Modeling QoS in P2P File-Sharing with Benign and Malicious Peers by Stochastic Activity Networks

This paper proposes a stochastic activity network model for P2P file-sharing to evaluate the quality of service provided. Key characteristics taken into account include the number of peers, fraction of malicious peers, peer churn, endusers' behavior, and security evaluation scheme applied. The results show that security evaluation schemes influence the quality of service significantly, while the fraction of malicious peers is less important. Given the temporal characteristics of the system, it is found that there is an optimal end-user patience before he/she seeks a new peer, which is robust with respect to the previous mentioned characteristics.
Clustering global equity markets with variance ratio tests

This study introduces a new distance measure for clustering financial time series based on variance ratio test statistics. The proposed metric attempts to assess the level of interdependence of time series from the point of view of return predictability. An empirical application of this approach to international stock market returns is presented. The results suggest that this metric discriminates reasonably well stock markets according to size and level of development. Furthermore, despite the substantial evolution of individual variance ratio statistics, the clustering pattern remains fairly stable across different time periods. This version: April 2011 JEL Classification: G14; G15 Key-words: Time series; Cluster analysis; Multidimensional scaling; Variance ratio tests; Emerging and developed equity markets.
Sex Differences in Early Infancy

ABSTRACT— Sex-linked behaviors in infancy have gener-ated a great deal of interest, in part because they offer away of assessing the extent to which sexually dimorphicbehaviors exist before extensive social and educationalexperiences. This article rev iews sex differences in basicand sensory processes, social behavior, and cognitivebehavior that have been reported during the 1st year oflife, and discusses current knowledge about the underlyingbasis for these differences and the extent to which theycontribute to later behavior. Careful investigation of theinteraction between social and biological factors ininfancy will be necessary to fully understand the natureand development of human sex differences. KEYWORDS— sex differences; infant developmentHigher prenatal androgens in males than in females masculinizethe genitalia, the developing neural system, and behavior(Breedlove, Cooke, & Jordan, 1999; Hines, 2002, 2004). Hor-monally dependent, sex-speciﬁc changes in the ultrastructure ofthe developing central nervous system (such as cell prolifera-tion, cell death, patterns of cell migration, dendritic branching;MacLusky, Bowlby, Brown, Peterson, & Hochberg, 1997) ulti-mately affect volumes of the hypothalamus, amygdala, andhippocampus—brain regions that are neural substrates of sexualbehavior, aggression, learning, and memory (Arnold & Gorski,1984; MacLusky & Naftolin, 1981). Through these effects oncomplex biological processes, androgen levels during criticalperiods in early development are thought to contribute to thebetween- and within-sex variability in human social and cogni-tive behavior (Collaer & Hines, 1995). In other primates, hormone-dependent behavioral predisposi-tions are shaped by early social experiences (Wallen, 1996),and sex-typed physical phenotypes at birth prompt differentsocial response to male and female infants (such as the fre-quency of anogenital inspection; Goy, Bercovitch, & McBrair,1988). Similarly, androgen-dependent virilization of externalgenitalia in human infants supports gender labels, social catego-ries that activate a lifelong process of gender socialization thatextends from gender-typed toys for newborns (Pomerleau,Bolduc, Malcuit, & Cossette, 1990) to the daily modeling andreinforcement of “gender-appropriate” behavior (Bussey &Bandura, 1999). Bidirectional relations between sex-linked bio-logical and social processes also exist in early infancy. Forexample, at birth, girls show higher length-to-weight ratios thanboys (Thomas, Peabody, Turnier, & Clark, 2000), a less promi-nent chin, and anteriorly narrower dental arcade (Schutkowski,1993). Consistent with this, adults perceive infant girls as smal-ler, softer, and ﬁner featured (Rubin, Provenzano, & Luria,1974) and handle boys more roughly than girls (Lewis, 1972). These subtle differences in adult–infant interactions are notwithout consequence: Other ﬁndings suggest that boys’ higherrates of head injuries in the ﬁrst 3 months primarily result frombeing dropped (Greenes, Wigotsky, & Schutzman, 2001).