Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TrkB as a Potential Synaptic and Behavioral Tag

Late-phase long-term potentiation (L-LTP), a cellular model for long-term memory (LTM), requires de novo protein synthesis. An attractive hypothesis for synapse specificity of long-term memory is “synaptic tagging”: synaptic activity generates a tag, which “captures” the PRPs (plasticity-related proteins) derived outside of synapses. Here we provide evidence that TrkB, the receptor of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), may serve as a “synaptic tag. ” TrkB is transiently activated by weak theta-burst stimulation (TBS) that induces only early-phase LTP (E-LTP). This TrkB activation is independent of protein synthesis, and confined to stimulated synapses. Induction of L-LTP by strong stimulation in one synaptic pathway converts weak TBS-induced E-LTP to L-LTP in a second, independent pathway. Transient inhibition of TrkB around the time of weak TBS to the second pathway diminished L-LTP in that pathway without affecting the first one. Behaviorally, weak training, which induces short-term memory (STM) but not LTM, can be consolidated into LTM by exposing animals to novel but not familiar environment 1 h before training. Inhibition of TrkB during STM training blocked such consolidation. These results suggest TrkB as a potential tag for synapse-specific expression of L-LTP and LTM.
The Role of Extra-Role Behaviors and Social Controls in Information Security Policy Effectiveness

Although most behavioral security studies focus on organizational in-role behaviors such as information security policy ISP compliance, the role of organizational extra-role behaviors-security behaviors that benefit organizations but are not specified in ISPs-has long been overlooked. This study examines 1 the consequences of organizational in-role and extra-role security behaviors on the effectiveness of ISPs and 2 the role of formal and social controls in enhancing in-role and extra-role security behaviors in organizations. We propose that both in-role security behaviors and extra-role security behaviors contribute to ISP effectiveness. Furthermore, based on social control theory, we hypothesize that social control can boost both in-and extra-role security behaviors. Data collected from practitioners-including information systems IS managers and employees at many organizations-confirmed most of our hypotheses. Survey data from IS managers substantiated the importance of extra-role behaviors in improving ISP effectiveness. Paired data, collected from managers and employees in the same organizations, indicated that formal control and social control individually and interactively enhance both in-and extra-role security behaviors. We conclude by discussing the implications of this research for academics and practitioners, along with compelling future research possibilities.
Behavioural Observation as a Means of Assessing Sleepiness Related Driving Impairment in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

This study compared the temporal pattern of collateral behaviours (actions not directly related to task performance) in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) drivers under monotonous driving conditions following sleep restriction versus normal sleep. Seventeen patients with untreated severe OSA completed a 90-minute driving simulator task during mid-afternoon under two experimental conditions: prior normal habitual sleep (~8h) and prior sleep restriction (4h time in bed). Steering deviation and crash events were identified using a driving simulator. Collateral behaviours (self-centred gestures, non-verbal facial activities, postural adjustments, ludic activities and eye closures) were identified using video recording and a behavioural ethogram. Participants demonstrated increased steering deviation over the drive (p<0.001) and following sleep restriction (p<0.001). All collateral behaviours, except non-verbal facial activities, increased over the drive (all p<0.01). Compared to normal sleep condition, the incidence rate was 2.1 times higher for eye closures (95%CI 1.75-2.60) and 1.5 times higher for postural adjustments (95%CI 1.29-1.72) following sleep restriction, while ludic behaviours reduced by 50% (IRR 0.53, 95%CI 0.36-0.78), all p<0.01. In the 10 minute period prior to simulator crash events, eye closure frequency increased compared to equivalent periods without a crash event 2.1 (95%CI 1.4-3.8, p<0.01). Kaplain-Meier analyses showed a progressive cessation of non-verbal facial activities leading up to crash events (c²=6.2, p=0.013). Although eye-closure appears to be a more sensitive marker of poor vigilance, behavioural observation could provide a novel further method for assessing vigilance failure in OSA and could assist in the development of novel video-based in-car devices for detection of driver sleepiness/fatigue.
Presence of CD3-positive T-cells in oral premalignant leukoplakia indicates prevention of cancer transformation.

AIM Leukoplakias (LPLs) are lesions in the oral mucosa that have a potential to transform into oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). As the degree of immunosurveillance may be important for this transformation to occur, the aim of this study was to determine the presence of immune cells in LPLs with dysplasia in relation to later development of OSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Biopsies from 16 patients with clinical diagnosis of LPL and histopathological diagnosis of hyperkeratosis with dysplasia were immunostained with antibodies to detect CD3(+) T cells, CD1a(+) LCs, Ki-67(+) and p53-expressing cells. Patients were divided into two groups: LPL with dysplasia that transformed into OSCC (LPL-dys) and that which did not (LPL-ca). RESULTS Quantitative analyses showed significantly lower numbers of CD3(+) T-cells in LPL-ca than in LPL-dys. No significant differences were detected when comparing LPL-dys and LPL-ca regarding CD1a(+), p53(+) and Ki-67(+) cells. CONCLUSION The number of CD3-expressing T-cells may be important for preventing malignant transformation of LPL.
In vivo MR acoustic radiation force imaging in the porcine liver.

PURPOSE High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the abdomen can be sensitive to acoustic aberrations that can exist in the beam path of a single sonication. Having an accurate method to quickly visualize the transducer focus without damaging tissue could assist with executing the treatment plan accurately and predicting these changes and obstacles. By identifying these obstacles, MR acoustic radiation force imaging (MR-ARFI) provides a reliable method for visualizing the transducer focus quickly without damaging tissue and allows accurate execution of the treatment plan. METHODS MR-ARFI was used to view the HIFU focus, using a gated spin echo flyback readout-segmented echo-planar imaging sequence. HIFU spots in a phantom and in the livers of five live pigs under general anesthesia were created with a 550 kHz extracorporeal phased array transducer initially localized with a phase-dithered MR-tracking sequence to locate microcoils embedded in the transducer. MR-ARFI spots were visualized, observing the change of focal displacement and ease of steering. Finally, MR-ARFI was implemented as the principle liver HIFU calibration system, and MR-ARFI measurements of the focal location relative to the thermal ablation location in breath-hold and breathing experiments were performed. RESULTS Measuring focal displacement with MR-ARFI was achieved in the phantom and in vivo liver. In one in vivo experiment, where MR-ARFI images were acquired repeatedly at the same location with different powers, the displacement had a linear relationship with power [y = 0.04x + 0.83 μm (R(2) = 0.96)]. In another experiment, the displacement images depicted the electronic steering of the focus inside the liver. With the new calibration system, the target focal location before thermal ablation was successfully verified. The entire calibration protocol delivered 20.2 J of energy to the animal (compared to greater than 800 J for a test thermal ablation). ARFI displacement maps were compared with thermal ablations during seven breath-hold ablations. The error was 0.83 ± 0.38 mm in the S/I direction and 0.99 ± 0.45 mm in the L/R direction. For six spots in breathing ablations, the mean error in the nonrespiration direction was 1.02 ± 0.89 mm. CONCLUSIONS MR-ARFI has the potential to improve free-breathing plan execution accuracy compared to current calibration and acoustic beam adjustment practices. Gating the acquisition allows for visualization of the focal spot over the course of respiratory motion, while also being insensitive to motion effects that can complicate a thermal test spot. That MR-ARFI measures a mechanical property at the focus also makes it insensitive to high perfusion, of particular importance to highly perfused organs such as the liver.
Oxidative Stress and Histological Changes in a Model of Retinal Phototoxicity in Rabbits

Photochemical damage occurs after an exposure to high energy radiation within the visible spectrum of light, causing morphological changes in the retina and the formation of superoxide anion. In this study we created a model of phototoxicity in rabbits. Animals were exposed to a light source for 120 minutes and were sacrificed immediately or one week after exposure. Outer nuclear layer and neurosensory retina thickness measurements and photoreceptor counting were performed. Caspase-1 and caspase-3 were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Dihydroethidium was used to evaluate in situ generation of superoxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were measured in retinal homogenates as indicators of lipid peroxidation. The total antioxidant capacity and oxidative ratio were also determined. Retinas from rabbits exposed to light showed higher levels of lipid peroxidation than the unexposed animals and a decrease in outer nuclear layer and neurosensory retina thickness. Our study demonstrates that light damage produces an increase in retinal oxidative stress immediately after light exposure that decreases one week after exposure. However, some morphological alterations appear days after light exposure including apoptotic phenomena. This model may be useful in the future to study the protective effect of antioxidant substances or new intraocular lenses with yellow filters.
Embark: Securely Outsourcing Middleboxes to the Cloud

It is increasingly common for enterprises and other organizations to outsource network processing to the cloud. For example, enterprises may outsource firewalling, caching, and deep packet inspection, just as they outsource compute and storage. However, this poses a threat to enterprise confidentiality because the cloud provider gains access to the organization's traffic. We design and build Embark, the first system that enables a cloud provider to support middlebox outsourcing while maintaining the client's confidentiality. Embark encrypts the traffic that reaches the cloud and enables the cloud to process the encrypted traffic without decrypting it. Embark supports a wide-range of middleboxes such as firewalls, NATs, web proxies, load balancers, and data exfiltration systems. Our evaluation shows that Embark supports these applications with competitive performance.
South Tyrol: the importance of boundaries for immigrant integration

ABSTRACT Using South Tyrol as a case study, this article analyses how boundaries between groups and their institutionalisation through power-sharing arrangements affect the politics of immigrant integration. Through a longitudinal qualitative analysis of party manifestos, the article focuses on the period between 1993 and 2013 to evaluate the immigration and integration discourses of political parties, claiming to represent the German and Ladin minorities. It is argued that these parties have deliberately framed immigration as a challenge to the strength of their respective cultures and languages, as well as the array of institutions that support the separate but equal coexistence of South Tyrol's linguistic groups. The consequence of this tendency to ‘think in groups’ is that the main political parties of the German and Ladin minorities are shoring up group boundaries and advancing an assimilationist model of immigrant integration.
Fitting into Academia: Perceived Similarity Mediates Gender Differences in Interest in Post-Graduate Academic Career

This study examined perceived similarity to researchers as a mediator of gender differences in interest in post-graduate academic career. Previous research has shown that male participants are more interested in post-graduate school than female participants. Research has also shown that perceived similarity to students in different academic fields was the best mediator of interest in graduating within that field. The current study examined perceived similarity to researchers on several similarity characteristics including a more specific personality aspect consisting of self-image and researcher-image in relation to interest in post-graduate academic career. Further self-efficacy was also examined as a possible mediator of gender differences in interest in post-graduate academic career. As expected, male participants showed more interest in a post-graduate academic career than female participants and perceived similarity to researchers mediated women’s lower interest in post-graduate academic career. Self-efficacy was not supported as a mediator in the current study. The results are discussed in relation to previous research.
The implementation and use of a generic dataflow behaviour in Erlang

We propose a new "generic" abstraction for Erlang/OTP that aids in the implementation of dataflow programming languages and models on the Erlang VM. This abstraction simplifies the implementation of "processing elements" in dataflow languages by providing a simple callback interface in the style of the gen_server and gen_fsm abstractions. We motivate the use of this new abstraction by examining the implementation of a distributed dataflow programming variant called Lasp.
Fault imaging of Hibernia 3-D seismic data using edge- detection and coherency measures

“Coherency cube” and fault detection technologies have evolved rapidly in recent years as important tools for seismic interpretation. The following paper, developed as a joint project between investigators at Memorial University and the University of Calgary, compares several of the fault detection methods for data from Hibernia field. The results, which are outlined in detail in the Memorial University M.Sc. thesis of Nicholle Carter, support the usefulness of coherency measures prescribed by Marfurt et al. (1998).
Development of A Test Battery for the Assessment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of DSM-IV Based Behavior Disorders Screening and Rating Scale and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Disruptive Behavior Disorders Preschool Screening Scale for discriminating Turkish elementary school children diagnosed as ADHD, ADHD+oppositional defiant disorder, and ADHD+conduct disorder and the control group. Method: 109 subjects diagnosed by two interviewers separately as ADHD (27 subjects) and ADHD+ oppositonal defiant disorder (53 subjects), ADHD+conduct disorder (29 subjects) and 120 subjects for the control group were included in the study. Results: The result of the discrimination analysis revealed significant discriminant functions for four subtests of the DSM-IV Based Behavior Disorders Screening and Ratings Scale and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Disruptive Behavior Disorders Preschool Screening Scale. In addition, item analysis revealed high internal reliability for each scale. Conclusion: These results suggest that the DSM-IV Based Behavior Disorders Screening and Ratings Scale and the recently developed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Disruptive Behavior Disorders Preschool Screening Scale are relaible and valid for diagnostic and scaning purposes.
Hearing dysfunction in heterozygous MitfMi‐wh/+ mice, a model for Waardenburg syndrome type 2 and Tietz syndrome

The human deafness‐pigmentation syndromes, Waardenburg syndrome (WS) type 2a, and Tietz syndrome are characterized by profound deafness but only partial cutaneous pigmentary abnormalities. Both syndromes are caused by mutations in MITF. To illuminate differences between cutaneous and otic melanocytes in these syndromes, their development and survival in heterozygous Microphthalmia‐White (MitfMi‐wh/+) mice were studied and hearing function of these mice characterized. MitfMi‐wh/+ mice have a profound hearing deficit, characterized by elevated auditory brainstem response thresholds, reduced distortion product otoacoustic emissions, absent endocochlear potential, loss of outer hair cells, and stria vascularis abnormalities. MitfMi‐wh/+ embryos have fewer melanoblasts during embryonic development than their wild‐type littermates. Although cochlear melanocytes are present at birth, they disappear from the MitfMi‐wh/+ cochlea between P1 and P7. These findings may provide insight into the mechanism of melanocyte and hearing loss in human deafness‐pigmentation syndromes such as WS and Tietz syndrome and illustrate differences between otic and follicular melanocytes.
The Interrelations between Verbal Working Memory and Visual Selection of Emotional Faces

Working memory (WM) and visual selection processes interact in a reciprocal fashion based on overlapping representations abstracted from the physical characteristics of stimuli. Here, we assessed the neural basis of this interaction using facial expressions that conveyed emotion information. Participants memorized an emotional word for a later recognition test and then searched for a face of a particular gender presented in a display with two faces that differed in gender and expression. The relation between the emotional word and the expressions of the target and distractor faces was varied. RTs for the memory test were faster when the target face matched the emotional word held in WM (on valid trials) relative to when the emotional word matched the expression of the distractor (on invalid trials). There was also enhanced activation on valid compared with invalid trials in the lateral orbital gyrus, superior frontal polar (BA 10), lateral occipital sulcus, and pulvinar. Re-presentation of the WM stimulus in the search display led to an earlier onset of activity in the superior and inferior frontal gyri and the anterior hippocampus irrespective of the search validity of the re-presented stimulus. The data indicate that the middle temporal and prefrontal cortices are sensitive to the reappearance of stimuli that are held in WM, whereas a fronto-thalamic occipital network is sensitive to the behavioral significance of the match between WM and targets for selection. We conclude that these networks are modulated by high-level matches between the contents of WM, behavioral goals, and current sensory input.
The strategies and challenges to promoting awareness of multi-sectoral health care alliances

Abstract Multi-sectoral health care alliances (MHCAs) are organizations that bring together diverse stakeholders to work collaboratively to improve health and health care in local communities. MHCA awareness is a necessary condition for cultivating and sustaining coordinated efforts among participants to improve the quality of care in a community, yet little research has examined whether MHCAs have actually fostered high levels of awareness among participants or how they go about doing so. This mixed method study used quantitative data drawn from three rounds of survey data from MHCA participants to assess the degree of MHCA awareness. It also examined whether perceptions of leadership effectiveness and management style were associated with differences in awareness at the level of the individual alliance participant, member organizations, and the community at large. Interviews with participants examined the approaches undertaken by MHCAs to foster awareness among individuals, organizations, and the community at large as well as the challenges MHCAs confront in raising awareness at each of these different levels. Findings indicate higher levels of awareness among individual participants, while awareness was perceived to be lowest at the community level. Perceptions of leadership effectiveness exhibited the most robust relationships across these three levels; it was positively associated with individual- and community-level awareness. The qualitative analysis identified variations in the strategies being used and the challenges arising at the different levels and indicated that awareness building occurred sequentially across these levels, suggesting a need for more systemic approaches to promoting awareness of these alliances and their efforts.
Status Reporting of “Eyes on” and Peripheral Displays during Tracking

In response to external requests, pilots often orally report status information read from scattered visual displays while simultaneously controlling an aircraft. For an experimentally controlled “status-reporting” task, we found that the input frequency on a concurrent-tracking task and the task stream-related factors of the rate, uncertainty, and timing of requests showed few significant effects on mean performance times and standard deviations. Tracking performance did vary greatly between the different phases of the “status-reporting” task, the different types of displays and their locations, and the different tracking-input frequencies. An elementary manual control model produced conformal tracking error means and standard deviations when parameters corresponding to behavioral changes were varied. These results indicated that both the performance time statistics of the “status-reporting” task and the influence of concurrent performance on tracking error can be estimated using simple methods.
Marital satisfaction among newly married couples: Associations with religiosity and romantic attachment style.

The marriage and family literature has identified a host of factors that contribute to a satisfactory marital union. For example, research on religious congruency has indicated that the more similar partners are in their religious beliefs the higher their reported marital satisfaction. Another construct studied in conjunction with marital satisfaction is adult attachment style. The attachment literature has consistently shown that secure couples tend to report higher marital satisfaction than couples with at least one insecure partner. The purpose of this study was to examine the combined role of religious commitment and attachment in marital satisfaction. Heterosexual couples (N = 184; 92 husbands, 92 wives) without children and married 1-5 years were administered a background information questionnaire, the Religious Commitment Inventory-10, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory. Results indicated that couples with congruent religious commitment reported higher marital satisfaction than couples with large discrepancies in religious commitment. Religious commitment did not mediate the relationship between attachment and marital satisfaction, but instead was found to moderate this relationship. Results of this study will benefit clinicians working in the field to help newly married couples negotiate the marital relationship.