Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonsinusoidal Beta Oscillations Reflect Cortical Pathophysiology in Parkinson's Disease

Oscillations in neural activity play a critical role in neural computation and communication. There is intriguing new evidence that the nonsinusoidal features of the oscillatory waveforms may inform underlying physiological and pathophysiological characteristics. Time-domain waveform analysis approaches stand in contrast to traditional Fourier-based methods, which alter or destroy subtle waveform features. Recently, it has been shown that the waveform features of oscillatory beta (13–30 Hz) events, a prominent motor cortical oscillation, may reflect near-synchronous excitatory synaptic inputs onto cortical pyramidal neurons. Here we analyze data from invasive human primary motor cortex (M1) recordings from patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) implanted with a deep brain stimulator (DBS) to test the hypothesis that the beta waveform becomes less sharp with DBS, suggesting that M1 input synchrony may be decreased. We find that, in PD, M1 beta oscillations have sharp, asymmetric, nonsinusoidal features, specifically asymmetries in the ratio between the sharpness of the beta peaks compared with the troughs. This waveform feature is nearly perfectly correlated with beta-high gamma phase-amplitude coupling (r = 0.94), a neural index previously shown to track PD-related motor deficit. Our results suggest that the pathophysiological beta generator is altered by DBS, smoothing out the beta waveform. This has implications not only for the interpretation of the physiological mechanism by which DBS reduces PD-related motor symptoms, but more broadly for our analytic toolkit in general. That is, the often-overlooked time-domain features of oscillatory waveforms may carry critical physiological information about neural processes and dynamics. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To better understand the neural basis of cognition and disease, we need to understand how groups of neurons interact to communicate with one another. For example, there is evidence that parkinsonian bradykinesia and rigidity may arise from an oversynchronization of afferents to the motor cortex, and that these symptoms are treatable using deep brain stimulation. Here we show that the waveform shape of beta (13–30 Hz) oscillations, which may reflect input synchrony onto the cortex, is altered by deep brain stimulation. This suggests that mechanistic inferences regarding physiological and pathophysiological neural communication may be made from the temporal dynamics of oscillatory waveform shape.
A unique sensitivity verification combined with real-time partial-discharge identification method

The sensitivity verification with the ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) method will be discussed in this paper. The sensitivity line with the UHF method based on the conventional (IEC 60270) one is different in the radial position of the defects inside gas-insulated substation (GIS), because transverse-electromagentic mode can be more weakened while transverse electric (TE)/transverse magnetic (TM) modes can be more enhanced as the defect comes close to the enclosure than the conductor. The result makes it difficult to detect the free particle with IEC 60270. A unique sensitivity verification, which is combined with real-time PD identification method, first enables us to identify the defects and thereafter to calibrate the apparent charge of each specified defect according to the sensitivity line.
Computational complexity and memory usage for multi-frontal direct solvers in structured mesh finite elements

The multi-frontal direct solver is the state-of-the-art algorithm for the direct solution of sparse linear systems. This paper provides computational complexity and memory usage estimates for the application of the multi-frontal direct solver algorithm on linear systems resulting from B-spline-based isogeometric finite elements, where the mesh is a structured grid. Specifically we provide the estimates for systems resulting from $C^{p-1}$ polynomial B-spline spaces and compare them to those obtained using $C^0$ spaces.
Hyaluronan, Inflammation, and Breast Cancer Progression

Breast cancer-induced inflammation in the tumor reactive stroma supports invasion and malignant progression and is contributed to by a variety of host cells including macrophages and fibroblasts. Inflammation appears to be initiated by tumor cells and surrounding host fibroblasts that secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and remodel the extracellular matrix (ECM) to create a pro-inflammatory “cancerized” or tumor reactive microenvironment that supports tumor expansion and invasion. The tissue polysaccharide hyaluronan (HA) is an example of an ECM component within the cancerized microenvironment that promotes breast cancer progression. Like many ECM molecules, the function of native high-molecular weight HA is altered by fragmentation, which is promoted by oxygen/nitrogen free radicals and release of hyaluronidases within the tumor microenvironment. HA fragments are pro-inflammatory and activate signaling pathways that promote survival, migration, and invasion within both tumor and host cells through binding to HA receptors such as CD44 and RHAMM/HMMR. In breast cancer, elevated HA in the peri-tumor stroma and increased HA receptor expression are prognostic for poor outcome and are associated with disease recurrence. This review addresses the critical issues regarding tumor-induced inflammation and its role in breast cancer progression focusing specifically on the changes in HA metabolism within tumor reactive stroma as a key factor in malignant progression.
Social and Personal Factors in Marijuana Use and Intentions to Use Drugs Among Inner City Minority Youth

ABSTRACT. Limited information is available about the etiology of illicit drug use among minority youth. This study examined predictors of marijuana use and intentions to use marijuana, cocaine/crack, and other drugs for African-American and Hispanic seventh graders (N = 757). Self-reports of marijuana use and intentions to use drugs were collected along with data concerning background, social environmental, and individual characteristics hypothesized to be related to drug use. Results indicated that social influences, including adults, friends, and the most admired person's marijuana use, predicted marijuana use. Individual characteristics, such as a lack of knowledge about the prevalence and negative social consequences of marijuana use, positive attitudes toward marijuana use, and inadequate social, communication, and refusal skills increased suspectability to marijuana use. Lack of self-efficacy was related to intentions to use cocaine and other drugs. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the development of effective prevention programs. J Dev Behav Pediatr 16:14–20, 1995. Index terms: illicit drug use, minority youth, social influence
‘‘Ringing in the Ears’’: Narrative Review of Tinnitus and Its Impact

About 10% of the population experiences tinnitus, a common and distressing symptom characterized by the perception of sound in the absence of external stimuli. There is, however, marked heterogeneity in etiology, perception, and extent of distress among those who experience tinnitus. Reactions to tinnitus vary from simple awareness to severe irritation; some people have difficulty in hearing because of the loudness of the noise. Severe tinnitus causes many, often psychological, symptoms (e.g., tension, frustration, impaired concentration, disrupted sleep). For some, tinnitus is temporary, for others it is longstanding. Although many people adjust successfully, others are disabled by tinnitus; approximately 5% experience persistent and severe symptoms affecting their lifestyle and significantly reducing their quality of life. Because tinnitus is poorly understood and no single therapeutic approach is effective for all patients, many patients are told that ‘‘nothing can be done’’ and they must ‘‘learn to live with it. ’’ In spite of these challenges, there is remarkably little relevant nursing literature on tinnitus. This literature review was conducted to explore current knowledge of tinnitus, including prevalence, causes and diagnosis, and assessment. Its psychosocial effects and impact on individuals are considered. Implications for practice are discussed—demonstrating that understanding the full impact of the condition and identifying patients’ needs are essential to effective care.
Source Separation and Localization Using Time-Frequency Distributions: An Overview

In this article, we describe the role of time-frequency distributions (TFDs) in array processing. We particularly focus on quadratic TFDs (QTFDs). We demonstrate how these distributions can be properly integrated with the spatial dimension to enhance individual source signal recovery and angular estimation. The framework that enables such integration is referred to as spatial TFD (STFD). We present the important milestones of STFDs that have been reached during the last 15 years. Most importantly, we show that array processing creates new perspectives of QTFDs and defines new roles to the autoterms and cross-terms in both problem formulation and solution. Multisensor configurations, in essence, establish a different paradigm and introduces new challenges that did not exist in a single-sensor time-frequency distribution.
Testing the Model of Hotel Chain Frequency Program Members' Loyalty Intentions

The present study proposed and tested the role of service performances (core and service encounter performances), satisfaction, switching barriers (relational investment, switching costs, and lack of alternatives' attractiveness), and commitments (continuance and affective commitments) in forming hotel chains' rewards/frequency program members' loyalty intentions. The results from the structural equation modeling revealed that these variables well accounted for the variance of member loyalty intentions, directly/indirectly contributing to determining loyalty intentions. In addition, findings from a series of modeling tests for metric invariance verified the moderating impact of affective commitment on the links from relational investment and continuance commitment to member loyalty intentions. Implications are discussed with study limitations and recommendations for future research.
Methylation of miRNA genes in the response to temperature stress in Populus simonii

DNA methylation and miRNAs provide crucial regulation of the transcriptional and post-transcriptional responses to abiotic stress. In this study, we used methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphisms to identify 1066 sites that were differentially methylated in response to temperature stress in Populus simonii. Among these loci, BLAST searches of miRBase identified seven miRNA genes. Expression analysis by quantitative real-time PCR suggested that the methylation pattern of these miRNA genes probably influences their expression. Annotation of these miRNA genes in the sequenced genome of Populus trichocarpa found three target genes (Potri.007G090400, Potri.014G042200, and Potri.010G176000) for the miRNAs produced from five genes (Ptc-MIR396e and g, Ptc-MIR156i and j, and Ptc-MIR390c) respectively. The products of these target genes function in lipid metabolism to deplete lipid peroxide. We also constructed a network based on the interactions between DNA methylation and miRNAs, miRNAs and target genes, and the products of target genes and the metabolic factors that they affect, including H2O2, malondialdehyde, catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase. Our results suggested that DNA methylation probably regulates the expression of miRNA genes, thus affecting expression of their target genes, likely through the gene-silencing function of miRNAs, to maintain cell survival under abiotic stress conditions.
Political culture as context for evaluation

One way to understand the context of evaluation is in terms of its interaction with political culture. That culture includes citizens' views of the role of government and of evaluation and the history of the polity. This chapter illustrates the relationship of political culture and evaluation by means of two accounts of Danish political culture. The chapter also draws on this analysis to stimulate our thinking on the very idea of how context can be studied. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.
Contributions of consumer-perceived creativity and beauty to willingness-to-pay for design products

Consumer perception of creativity in design products equivalent in function was measured using global single-item ratings of creativity. The measure was found to have a high level of agreement between raters and have discriminant validity to another aesthetic construct, that of beauty. In two experiments using designer lamps and wrist watches as stimuli, the present study shows how creativity and beauty both positively influence consumer willingness-to-pay (WtP) for the designed product, but each explains different parts of the variance. The results show that it is essential to develop separate models of creativity and beauty evaluations in consumer psychology, in that they seem to be distinct factors, explaining different parts of the variance in their consequences on WtP.
The Temperature Dependence of Gamma-Ray Responses of YAG:Ce Ceramic Scintillators

The temperature dependence (from -20 to +20 degrees C) of gamma-ray irradiated light outputs, energy resolutions, and decay time profiles of three YAG:Ce poly-ceramic scintillators are studied. The Ce concentrations are 0.5, 0.05, and 0.005 mol%. The relative light yield of the YAG:Ce with 0.5 mol% with a 2 mus shaping time was measured as 1 : 1.08 : 1.14 at +20, 0, and -20 degrees C, respectively, including the temperature dependence of the phototube (-0.2%/degree). The energy resolution stays almost constant at 7.2% for 662 keV gamma-rays. The ceramic with 0.05 mol% shows the almost same properties, while the light yield of that with 0.005 mol% is 2-4 times lower (hence the energy resolution becomes 14-19%). All the scintillators exhibit good linearities within ~1% between the light output and the irradiated gamma-ray energy from 59.5 keV to 662 keV. The decay time constants of the dominant decay components are about 80 ns and 300 ns at +20 degrees C. As the temperature increases from -20 to +20 degrees C, the effective decay of all the ceramics becomes faster, because the decay time constants and fractions of the slower components shorten and decrease, respectively. This result suggests that carriers which are captured in shallow traps before transferring excitation to Ce ions can escape the traps more easily at higher temperatures. Considering the decrease of the total light yield toward higher temperatures, it is thought that thermal quenching starts to dominate the temperature dependence of the ceramic YAG:Ce around the room temperature. The 0.5 mol% scintillator shows a lower quenching energy than the 0.05 mol% one. This can be explained in terms of self absorption of Ce emission
Causal Reasoning as a Function of Behavioral Consequences.

COHEN, ESTHER A. ; GELFAND, DONNA M. ; and HARTMANN, DONALD P. Causal Reasoning as a Function of Behavioral Consequences. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 514-522. 2 studies examined developmental differences in causal reasoning concerning story characters who were offered various inducements to behave helpfully. Kindergarten, thirdand sixth-grade children, and college-age adults were asked to make causal attributions regarding the helping behavior of story characters when offered a social reward, material reward, or combined social and material reward for helping; disapproval or a threat of punishment for not helping; or no external consequence. Results indicated that external consequences enhanced attributions of internal motivation for kindergartners (additive principle) and reduced attributions of internal motivation for older subjects (discounting principle). Use of the discounting principle increased until grade 6, but not thereafter. Interview data suggested that social role taking deficits may underlie younger children's use of the additive principle.
Cautions on OECD'S Recent Educational Survey (PISA)

A new survey of the educational attainments of 15-year-olds was undertaken by OECD in Spring 2000 (the 'PISA survey'). Surprisingly, British pupils appeared to perform in mathematics much better than in an IEA survey carried out only one year previously. This paper examines four main differences in the objectives and methods adopted in the two surveys. (a) Questions in the previous IEA survey were directed to the mastery of the school syllabus by the relevant age-groups, whereas PISA was ostensibly directed to so-called 'everyday life' problems--which provides less guidance for policy on schooling. (b) The IEA survey was based on samples of whole classes including, for example, older pupils who had entered school late, or had repeated a class: PISA excluded the latter pupils as it was based strictly on a 12-months' period of birth; issues of variability of pupils' attainments within a class--important for a class's teachability--cannot therefore be examined in this OECD survey. (c) England's response rate for schools was particularly low (60%, compared with 95% in leading European countries), raising serious doubts as to the inclusion of low-attaining schools. (d) The response rate of pupils (within participating schools in the PISA survey) was lower in England than in any other country, and lower than in the previous IEA survey, suggesting a greater upward bias in reported average scores. The paper concludes that it is difficult to draw valid conclusions for Britain from this survey and planned repeats should be postponed until the underlying methodological problems have been resolved.
Airtraq™ versus Macintoch laryngoscope in intubation performance in the pediatric population

Purpose: Airtraq™ is an optical laryngoscope that allows viewing of the vocal cords without a direct line of sight. The main objective of this prospective, randomized, controlled trial was to evaluate Airtraq intubation characteristics, mainly intubation time and cardiovascular changes in the pediatric patients. Methods: Fifty children of American Society of Anesthesiologists class I, 2-10 years of age were divided into 2 groups using sealed envelope technique. Children were premedicated with midazolam. Anesthesia was induced with sevoflurane, fentanyl, and atracurium. Patients were randomly allocated to be intubated with either Airtraq (Airtraq group) or Macintosh laryngoscope (Macintosh group). Intubation time, number of intubation attempts, optimization maneuvers, and ease of intubation were recorded. Hemodynamic variables were recorded before and after anesthetic induction, 1, 3, and 5 min after tracheal intubation. Results: The mean age of children was 6.1 years. Compared with Macintosh group, the use of Airtraq was associated with shorter intubation time (51.6±26.7 s vs 22.8±6.1 s, respectively, P=0.001), less median number of intubation attempts 2 (1-2) versus 1 (1-1), P=0.001), more ease of intubation [2 (1-3) versus 1 (1-1), P=0.001] and less increase in the heart rate 5 min after intubation (P=0.007). No optimization maneuvers required for Airtraq laryngoscope (P=0.001). Conclusion: Airtraq decreases intubation time, number of attempts, and optimization maneuvers, less heart rate changes during intubation compared with Macintosh laryngoscope.
Diversity Research in Teaching of Psychology: Summary and Recommendations

We reviewed the body of published research in the journal Teaching of Psychology (ToP) concerning diversity issues (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status). Between 1974 and 2002, approximately 7 of articles published in ToP substantively dealt with diversity issues, with gender issues being the most frequent topic. ToP publications concerning diversity issues have increased across time, especially recently, with the 1999 and 2001 volumes having the highest number of articles. Most of these diversity articles were conceptual in nature rather than empirical studies. The 33 empirical studies published in ToP concerning diversity were largely descriptive, exploratory, and atheoretical. We offer an agenda and recommendations for future research and submissions to ToP focusing on diversity issues.
Comparison of Antral Tap With Endoscopically Directed Nasal Culture

Objectives/Hypothesis The diagnosis of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis continues to generate controversy in critically ill patients. The efficacy of endoscopically directed cultures in these patients is unknown. We compared antral tap (AT) with endoscopic tissue culture (ETC) of the osteomeatal complex in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting.
Reliability and Validity of Bookmark‐Based Methods for Standard Setting: Comparisons to Angoff‐Based Methods in the National Assessment of Educational Progress

Historically, Angoff-based methods were used to establish cut scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In 2005, the National Assessment Governing Board oversaw multiple studies aimed at evaluating the reliability and validity of Bookmark-based methods via a comparison to Angoff-based methods. As the Board considered adoption of Bookmark-based methods, it considered several criteria, including reliability of the cut scores, validity of the cut scores as evidenced by comparability of results to those from Angoff, and procedural validity as evidenced by panelist understanding of the method tasks and instructions and confidence in the results. As a result of their review, a Bookmark-based method was adopted for NAEP, and has been used since that time. This article goes beyond the Governing Board's initial evaluations to conduct a systematic review of 27 studies in NAEP research conducted over 15 years. This research is used to evaluate Bookmark-based methods on key criteria originally considered by the Governing Board. Findings suggest that Bookmark-based methods have comparable reliability, resulting cut scores, and panelist evaluations to Angoff. Given that Bookmark-based methods are shorter in duration and less costly, Bookmark-based methods may be preferable to Angoff for NAEP standard setting.
Plant sterols in “rafts”: a better way to regulate membrane thermal shocks

Specialized lipid domains (rafts) that are generally enriched in sterols and sphingolipids, are most likely present in cell membranes of animals, plants and fungi. While cholesterol and ergosterol are predominant in vertebrates and fungi, plants possess complex sterol profiles, dominated by sitosterol and stigmasterol in Arabidopsis thaliana. Fully hydrated model membranes of composition approaching those found in rafts of mammals, fungi and plants were investigated by means of solid‐state 2H‐NMR, using deuterated dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (2H62‐DPPC). The dynamics of such membranes was determined through measuring of membrane ordering or disordering properties. The presence of the liquid‐ordered, lo, phase, which may be an indicator of rigid sterol‐sphingolipid domains, was detected in all binary or ternary mixtures of all sterols investigated. Of great interest, the dynamics of ternary mixtures mimicking rafts in plants (phytosterol/glucosylcerebroside/ DPPC), showed a lesser temperature sensitivity to thermal shocks, on comparing to systems mimicking rafts in mammals and fungi. This effect was particularly marked with sitosterol. The presence of an ethyl group branched on the alkyl chain of sitosterol and stigmas‐terol is proposed as reinforcing the membrane cohesion by additional attractive van der Waals interactions with the alkyl chains of sphingolipids and phospholip‐ids. As a side result, the elevated resolution of NMR spectra in the presence of sitosterol also suggests domains of smaller size than with other sterols. Finally, the role of phytosterols in maintaining plant membranes in a state of dynamics less sensitive to temperature shocks is discussed. —Johannes G. Beck, Damien Mathieu, Cecile Loudet, Sebastien Buchoux and Erick J. Dufourc. Plant sterols in “rafts”: a better way to regulate membrane thermal shocks. FASEB J. 21, 1714–1723 (2007)