Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depressive symptom severity, stressful life events, and subclinical atherosclerosis in African American adults

Berntson, Jessica. M.S., Purdue University, December 2015. Depressive Symptom Severity, Stressful Life Events, and Subclinical Atherosclerosis in African American Adults. Major Professor: Jesse C. Stewart. Prospective epidemiologic evidence indicates that both stressful life events (SLEs) and depression are associated with an increased risk of subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. Even though stressful life events (SLEs) and depression co-occur and may act together to influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, these psychosocial factors have been mainly examined in isolation. For instance, depression may moderate the relationship between SLEs and CVD outcomes. I hypothesized that depressive symptoms would potentiate the deleterious effect of SLEs on subclinical atherosclerosis. This hypothesis is plausible, given that depressed adults exhibit exaggerated and prolonged sympathetic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis, and inflammatory responses to stress, which in turn could promote atherosclerosis. As compared to their nondepressed counterparts, depressed individuals may also be more likely to engage in maladaptive methods to cope with SLEs (e.g., increased tobacco use, alcohol use, and consumption of low-nutrient, energy dense foods), which could also promote atherosclerosis. I examined cross-sectional data from 274 to 279 (depending on the outcome measure) older, African American adults (mean
Sensitivity of Stream flow and Water Table Depth to Potential Climatic Variability in a Coastal Forested Watershed 1

Dai, Zhaohua, Carl C. Trettin, Changsheng Li, Devendra M. Amatya, Ge Sun, and Harbin Li, 2010. Sensitivity of Streamflow and Water Table Depth to Potential Climatic Variability in a Coastal Forested Watershed. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1–13. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010. 00474.x
fMRI correlates of object-based attentional facilitation vs. suppression of irrelevant stimuli, dependent on global grouping and endogenous cueing

Theories of object-based attention often make two assumptions: that attentional resources are facilitatory, and that they spread automatically within grouped objects. Consistent with this, ignored visual stimuli can be easier to process, or more distracting, when perceptually grouped with an attended target stimulus. But in past studies, the ignored stimuli often shared potentially relevant features or locations with the target. In this fMRI study, we measured the effects of attention and grouping on Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) responses in the human brain to entirely task-irrelevant events. Two checkerboards were displayed each in opposite hemifields, while participants responded to check-size changes in one pre-cued hemifield, which varied between blocks. Grouping (or segmentation) between hemifields was manipulated between blocks, using common (vs. distinct) motion cues. Task-irrelevant transient events were introduced by randomly changing the color of either checkerboard, attended or ignored, at unpredictable intervals. The above assumptions predict heightened BOLD signals for irrelevant events in attended vs. ignored hemifields for ungrouped contexts, but less such attentional modulation under grouping, due to automatic spreading of facilitation across hemifields. We found the opposite pattern, in primary visual cortex. For ungrouped stimuli, BOLD signals associated with task-irrelevant changes were lower, not higher, in the attended vs. ignored hemifield; furthermore, attentional modulation was not reduced but actually inverted under grouping, with higher signals for events in the attended vs. ignored hemifield. These results challenge two popular assumptions underlying object-based attention. We consider a broader biased-competition framework: task-irrelevant stimuli are suppressed according to how strongly they compete with task-relevant stimuli, with intensified competition when the irrelevant features or locations comprise the same object.
Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation of the lumbar and sacral spinal cord: a modelling study

Objective. Our aim was to perform a computational study of the electric field (E-field) generated by transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) applied over the thoracic, lumbar and sacral spinal cord, in order to assess possible neuromodulatory effects on spinal cord circuitry related with lower limb functions. Approach. A realistic volume conductor model of the human body consisting of 14 tissues was obtained from available databases. Rubber pad electrodes with a metallic connector and a conductive gel layer were modelled. The finite element (FE) method was used to calculate the E-field when a current of 2.5 mA was passed between two electrodes. The main characteristics of the E-field distributions in the spinal grey matter (spinal-GM) and spinal white matter (spinal-WM) were compared for seven montages, with the anode placed either over T10, T8 or L2 spinous processes (s.p.), and the cathode placed over right deltoid (rD), umbilicus (U) and right iliac crest (rIC) areas or T8 s.p. Anisotropic conductivity of spinal-WM and of a group of dorsal muscles near the vertebral column was considered. Main results. The average E-field magnitude was predicted to be above 0.15 V m−1 in spinal cord regions located between the electrodes. L2-T8 and T8-rIC montages resulted in the highest E-field magnitudes in lumbar and sacral spinal segments (>0.30 V m−1). E-field longitudinal component is 3 to 6 times higher than the ventral-dorsal and right-left components in both the spinal-GM and WM. Anatomical features such as CSF narrowing due to vertebrae bony edges or disks intrusions in the spinal canal correlate with local maxima positions. Significance. Computational modelling studies can provide detailed information regarding the electric field in the spinal cord during tsDCS. They are important to guide the design of clinical tsDCS protocols that optimize stimulation of application-specific spinal targets.
Intracellular calcium levels do not change during contact-mediated collapse of chick DRG growth cone structure

When the growth cone of a chick dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurite contacts the neurite of a chick retinal ganglion cell in vitro, the growth cone typically responds by withdrawing its lamellipodia and filopodia and collapsing. We have used the fluorescent calcium indicator dye fura-2 and digital imaging microscopy to measure calcium levels within DRG growth cones and to determine whether changes in calcium levels are responsible for the collapse of growth cone morphology when a DRG growth cone contacts a retinal ganglion cell neurite. Calcium levels within DRG growth cones were stable during neurite outgrowth. Calcium was typically distributed homogeneously throughout the growth cone, though occasionally gradients of free calcium were present. When calcium gradients were observed, calcium levels appeared higher in the active veil regions than in the central core region. Calcium levels in DRG growth cones appeared to remain stable during the period of contact-mediated growth cone collapse. Low concentrations of the calcium ionophore ionomycin increased calcium levels two- to threefold without having any observable morphological effects on DRG growth cones. Likewise, depolarization with 15 mM KCl caused a transient two- to threefold increase in calcium levels without having any observable morphological effect. These results suggest that changes in calcium levels are not responsible for contact-mediated collapse of growth cone structure. A growth cone collapsing activity has been solubilized from embryonic chick brain (Raper and Kapfhammer, 1990). Application of this material to cultures of DRG neurons caused growth cones to collapse but had no effect on calcium levels within the growth cones. The crude growth cone collapsing activity was not blocked by the presence of cobalt, nickel, lanthanum, nifedipine, or reduced- calcium medium, suggesting that transmembrane calcium fluxes were not required for growth cone collapse. These results suggest that the morphological changes associated with the collapse of growth cone structure can be independent of changes in growth cone calcium levels, and that second messengers other than calcium are likely to be involved in the regulation of many growth cone behaviors.
Exploring the reliability of social and environmental disclosures content analysis

This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of inter‐coder reliability of annual report social and environmental disclosures content analysis. Using the sentence‐based coding instruments and decision rules from Hackston and Milne (1996), this study reports the co‐agreement levels reached by three coders over five rounds of testing 49 annual reports. The study also provides a commentary on the implications of formal reliability analysis for past and future social and environmental disclosures content analyses, and the complexities of formal reliability measurement. The overall findings suggest that the coded output from inexperienced coders using the Hackston and Milne approach with little or no prior training can be relied on for aggregate total disclosures analysis. For more detailed sub‐category analysis, however, the findings suggest a period of training for the less experienced coders with at least 20 reports appears necessary before their coded output could be relied on.
Effects of short-term on visual functions and ocular surface as LED being the light source

Purpose to investigate the effects of short term reading in the ambient illumination(4000k,300lux) on the visual functions and ocular surface when using the LED as the light source.Methods the usage of white-LED as the light source,the visual function(AC/A,amplitude of accommodation),ocular manifestation and the ocular discomfort questionnaire are investigated before and after different duration of reading(0.5h,1h,2h). Results in-comparion with pre-reading,there is no significant difference for the visual function(P0.05);The TBUT were significant decreased(P0.05);the questionnaire results showed there was a significant difference between the duration of 0.5h and 2h reading(P0.05),but no significant difference between the 0.5h and 1h(P0.05),1h and 2h(P0.05). Conclussion the short-term reading in the ambient illumination with the usage of white-LED as a light source,the light has no significant influence to the readers' visual functions,but has the influence to the tear film quality;the long-term reading effects to the visual function and eye manifestation under the white-LED light source are still not known.
Characteristics of embB mutations in multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Henan, China

Objectives To determine the association between embB mutations and drug resistance, and to further investigate the mechanism of embB mutations involved in the development of ethambutol and multidrug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Methods One hundred and thirty-eight multidrug-resistant clinical M. tuberculosis isolates, including 86 ethambutol-resistant and 52 ethambutol-susceptible strains, were analysed to characterize mutations within the entire coding region of the embB gene. Moreover, a two-step genotyping was performed to identify the genetic lineage. Results In total, 27 embB mutation types were detected in 19 distinct codons. Though a strong association was observed between embB mutations and ethambutol resistance, 19.2% of embB306 mutants and 11.5% of embB406 or embB497 mutants were ethambutol susceptible. Among 39 ethambutol-resistant strains without embB306 mutations, 51.3% harboured mutations at codons 406 or 497. Particularly, three pairs of isolates with identical embB mutations and genotyping features were identified with variant ethambutol susceptibility. Among 77 isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin and ethambutol quadruple drug-resistant isolates, 89.6% carried embB mutations and 83.1% could be identified by detecting 10 embB mutations. Conclusions Our results suggest embB mutations alone are not sufficient for the development of full resistance to ethambutol in M. tuberculosis and mutations other than embB are also needed. Our study confirms the importance of mutations at embB406 and embB497 as hotspots, in addition to embB306, for detecting ethambutol resistance. Ten selected mutations of embB, covered by a short PCR product, can be used as candidate markers for the prediction of quadruple resistance to isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin and ethambutol.
Effective artifact removal in resting state fMRI data improves detection of DMN functional connectivity alteration in Alzheimer's disease

Artifact removal from resting state fMRI data is an essential step for a better identification of the resting state networks and the evaluation of their functional connectivity (FC), especially in pathological conditions. There is growing interest in the development of cleaning procedures, especially those not requiring external recordings (data-driven), which are able to remove multiple sources of artifacts. It is important that only inter-subject variability due to the artifacts is removed, preserving the between-subject variability of interest—crucial in clinical applications using clinical scanners to discriminate different pathologies and monitor their staging. In Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, decreased FC is usually observed in the posterior cingulate cortex within the default mode network (DMN), and this is becoming a possible biomarker for AD. The aim of this study was to compare four different data-driven cleaning procedures (regression of motion parameters; regression of motion parameters, mean white matter and cerebrospinal fluid signal; FMRIB's ICA-based Xnoiseifier—FIX—cleanup with soft and aggressive options) on data acquired at 1.5 T. The approaches were compared using data from 20 elderly healthy subjects and 21 AD patients in a mild stage, in terms of their impact on within-group consistency in FC and ability to detect the typical FC alteration of the DMN in AD patients. Despite an increased within-group consistency across subjects after applying any of the cleaning approaches, only after cleaning with FIX the expected DMN FC alteration in AD was detectable. Our study validates the efficacy of artifact removal even in a relatively small clinical population, and supports the importance of cleaning fMRI data for sensitive detection of FC alterations in a clinical environment.
Alpha band oscillations correlate with illusory self‐location induced by virtual reality

Neuroscience of the self has focused on high‐level mechanisms related to language, memory or imagery of the self. However, recent evidence suggests that low‐level mechanisms such as multisensory and sensorimotor integration may play a fundamental role in self‐related processing. Here we used virtual reality technology and visuo‐tactile conflict to study such low‐level mechanisms and manipulate where participants experienced their self to be localized (self‐location). Frequency analysis and electrical neuroimaging of co‐recorded high‐resolution electroencephalography revealed body‐specific alpha band power modulations in bilateral sensorimotor cortices. Furthermore, alpha power in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was correlated with the degree of experimentally manipulated self‐location. We argue that these alpha oscillations in sensorimotor cortex and mPFC reflect self‐location as manipulated through multisensory conflict.
Maximum Strength‐Power‐Performance Relationships in Collegiate Throwers

Presently the degree to which peak force influences power production or explosive performance such as strength training movements or throwing (shot-put and weight-throw) is unclear. This study describes the relationships between a measure of maximum strength, isometric peak force (IPF), dynamic peak force (PF), peak power (PP), the 1-repetition movement power snatch (SN), and throwing ability over an 8-week training period. Five male and 6 female (n = 11) well-trained collegiate throwers participated. PF was measured using an AMTI force plate; PP was measured using an infrared-ultrasonic tracking device (V-Scope, Lipman Electronics). Clean pulls from the midthigh position were assessed isometrically and dynamically at a constant load, 30% and 60% of IPF. Specific explosive strength was evaluated using an SN and using the shot-put (SP) and weight-throw (WGT) measured under meet conditions. Variables (PF, PP, SN) were assessed 3 times at 0 weeks, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Each measurement period preceded a field meet by 3 days. Peak force, peak rate of force development, and PP increased over the 8 weeks. Correlation coefficients (r) indicate that IPF is strongly related to dynamic PF and PP 30%, 60% of the IPF. Furthermore, strong correlations were found for the SN and the distance for the SP and WGT, and these relationships tended to increase over time. Results suggest that maximum strength (i.e., IPF) is strongly associated with dynamic PF. In addition, maximum strength is strongly associated with PP even at relatively light loads such as those associated with sport-specific dynamic explosiveness (i.e., SN, SP, WGT).
Sparse Adaptive Filtering by an Adaptive Convex Combination of the LMS and the ZA-LMS Algorithms

In practice, one often encounters systems that have a sparse impulse response, with the degree of sparseness varying over time. This paper presents a new approach to identify such systems which adapts dynamically to the sparseness level of the system and thus works well both in sparse and non-sparse environments. The proposed scheme uses an adaptive convex combination of the LMS algorithm and the recently proposed, sparsity-aware zero-attractor LMS (ZA-LMS) algorithm. It is shown that while for non-sparse systems, the proposed combined filter always converges to the LMS algorithm (which is better of the two filters for non-sparse case in terms of lesser steady state excess mean square error (EMSE)), for semi-sparse systems, on the other hand, it actually converges to a solution that produces lesser steady state EMSE than produced by either of the component filters. For highly sparse systems, depending on the value of a proportionality constant in the ZA-LMS algorithm, the proposed combined filter may either converge to the ZA-LMS based filter or may produce a solution which, like the semi-sparse case, outperforms both the constituent filters. A simplified update formula for the mixing parameter of the adaptive convex combination is also presented. The proposed algorithm requires much less complexity than the existing algorithms and its claimed robustness against variable sparsity is well supported by simulation results.
Building a Large Syntactically-Annotated Corpus of Vietnamese

Treebank is an important resource for both research and application of natural language processing. For Vietnamese, we still lack such kind of corpora. This paper presents up-to-date results of a project for Vietnamese treebank construction. Since Vietnamese is an isolating language and has no word delimiter, there are many ambiguities in sentence analysis. We systematically applied a lot of linguistic techniques to handle such ambiguities. Annotators are supported by automatic-labeling tools and a tree-editor tool. Raw texts are extracted from Tuoi Tre (Youth), an online Vietnamese daily newspaper. The current annotation agreement is around 90 percent.
Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development Theory: What are its Implications for Mathematical Teaching?

This article focused on Vygotskian Zone of Proximal Development and its implications to the teaching of Mathematics in the schools. Literature has shown that underachievement and poor performance characterise the learning of Mathematics. Teaching Mathematics in the child’s zone of proximal development is viewed as one way of improving performance in Mathematics. Literature argues that teaching in the Zone of Proximal Development where the child’s learning is mediated and scaffolded by the teacher or expert adult or knowledgeable peer makes learning more meaningful, easier, manageable, effective and efficient. The major challenge that the theory presents to teachers is that it is difficult to identify every learner’s zone of proximal development. Despite this limitation, the ZPD if appropriately applied could improve Mathematics teaching and learning in the schools.
The Effects of Pregabalin on Cerebral Cortical Oxidative Stress of Rats on Pentylenetetrazole Induced Epileptic Seizure

Methods: Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal groups. The first group was used as a control group. The second group received a single dose administration of PTZ. Third and fourth groups were given, via gastric gavage, doses of 100 mg/kg body weight/day of PGB, divided into two, for two days. Seizure is obtained by applying intraperitoneally (ip) 50 mg/kg body weight of PTZ to groups II and IV. After one hour of PTZ administration, all rats were sacrificed and brain cortex tissues were taken. SOD and CAT activities and NO and MDA levels were studied in the brain cortex tissues.
Non-rhizobial nodulation in legumes

β β β subgroup of Proteobacteria such as Methylobacterium, Blastobacter, Devosia, Phyllobacterium, Ochrobactrum, Agrobacterium, Cupriavidus, Herbaspirillum, Burkholderia and some γ-Proteobacteria have been reported to form nodules and fix nitrogen in legume roots. The phylogenetic relationship of these non-rhizobial species with the recognized rhizobial species and the diversity of their hosts are discussed in this review.
Rectangle-packing-based module placement

The first and the most critical stage in VLSI layout design is the placement, the background of which is the rectangle packing problem: Given many rectangular modules of arbitrary site, place them without overlapping on a layer in the smallest bounding rectangle. Since the variety of the packing is infinite (two-dimensionally continuous) many, the key issue for successful optimization is in the introduction of a P-admissible solution space, which is a finite set of solutions at least one of which is optimal. This paper proposes such a solution space where each packing is represented by a pair of module name sequences. Searching this space by simulated annealing, hundreds of modules could be successfully packed as demonstrated. Combining a conventional wiring method, the biggest MCNC benchmark ami49 is challenged.