Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuromagnetic Evidence for Early Auditory Restoration of Fundamental Pitch

Background Understanding the time course of how listeners reconstruct a missing fundamental component in an auditory stimulus remains elusive. We report MEG evidence that the missing fundamental component of a complex auditory stimulus is recovered in auditory cortex within 100 ms post stimulus onset. Methodology Two outside tones of four-tone complex stimuli were held constant (1200 Hz and 2400 Hz), while two inside tones were systematically modulated (between 1300 Hz and 2300 Hz), such that the restored fundamental (also knows as “virtual pitch”) changed from 100 Hz to 600 Hz. Constructing the auditory stimuli in this manner controls for a number of spectral properties known to modulate the neuromagnetic signal. The tone complex stimuli only diverged on the value of the missing fundamental component. Principal Findings We compared the M100 latencies of these tone complexes to the M100 latencies elicited by their respective pure tone (spectral pitch) counterparts. The M100 latencies for the tone complexes matched their pure sinusoid counterparts, while also replicating the M100 temporal latency response curve found in previous studies. Conclusions Our findings suggest that listeners are reconstructing the inferred pitch by roughly 100 ms after stimulus onset and are consistent with previous electrophysiological research suggesting that the inferential pitch is perceived in early auditory cortex.
Responses of Neurons in Primary Visual Cortex to Transient Changes in Local Contrast and Luminance

During normal saccadic inspection of natural images, the receptive fields of cortical neurons are bombarded with frequent simultaneous changes in local mean luminance and contrast, yet there have been no systematic studies of how cortical neurons respond to such stimulation. The responses of single neurons in the primary visual cortex of the cat were measured for 200 ms presentations of sine-wave gratings confined to the conventional receptive field. Both local mean luminance and contrast were parametrically and randomly varied over the 1–1.5 log unit ranges that are typical of natural images. We find that responses are strongly modulated by both the local mean luminance and contrast, but in an approximately separable manner: the contrast response function is approximately invariant except for a scale factor that depends on the local mean luminance. The shape of the temporal response profiles were found to be approximately invariant with contrast, but were strongly affected by the local mean luminance. The results suggest that most, if not all, cortical neurons carry substantial local luminance information.
Similarity and diversity of the tumor microenvironment in multiple metastases: critical implications for overall and progression-free survival of high-grade serous ovarian cancer

The tumor microenvironment is pivotal in influencing cancer progression and metastasis. Different cells co-exist with high spatial diversity within a patient, yet their combinatorial effects are poorly understood. We investigate the similarity of the tumor microenvironment of 192 local metastatic lesions in 61 ovarian cancer patients. An ecologically inspired measure of microenvironmental diversity derived from multiple metastasis sites is correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic outcome. We demonstrate a high accuracy of our automated analysis across multiple sites. A low level of similarity in microenvironmental composition is observed between ovary tumor and corresponding local metastases (stromal ratio r = 0.30, lymphocyte ratio r = 0.37). We identify a new measure of microenvironmental diversity derived from Shannon entropy that is highly predictive of poor overall (p = 0.002, HR = 3.18, 95% CI = 1.51-6.68) and progression-free survival (p = 0.0036, HR = 2.83, 95% CI = 1.41-5.7), independent of and stronger than clinical variables, subtype stratifications based on single cell types alone and number of sites. Although stromal influence in ovary tumors is known to have significant clinical implications, our findings reveal an even stronger impact orchestrated by diverse cell types. Quantitative histology-based measures can further enable objective selection of patients who are in urgent need of new therapeutic strategies such as combinatorial treatments targeting heterogeneous tumor microenvironment.
A Highly Potent and Long‐Acting Oral Inhibitor of Human Renin

An orally active renin inhibitor, ES 6864 (JV-(2R)-3-morpholinocarbonyl-2-(l-naphthylmethyl) propionyl]-(4-thiazoIyl)-L-alanyl-cyclostatine-(2-morpholinoethyl)amide), was synthesized. ES 6864 was found to be a highly potent inhibitor of human renin with a value of 7.3 × 10−9 M. The compound competitively inhibited human renin. The inhibitor was also potent against monkey renin but was less effective against renins from pig, goat, dog, rabbit, and rat. ES 6864 did not inhibit cathepsin D, pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin, angiotensin converting enzyme, and urinary kallikrein at a concentration of 10−5 M. ES 6864 was resistant to proteolytic actions of the enzymes in rat tissue homogenates (liver, kidney, pancreas, and small intestine). Oral administration of ES 6864 at 30 mg/kg to conscious, sodium-depleted marmosets produced a significant blood pressure reduction and almost complete inhibition of plasma renin activity, which persisted for 5 hours. Oral administration of ES 6864 also produced dose-related decreases of blood pressure in hog renin-infused rats, but the duration of action was much shorter than that in conscious marmosets. The parent compound in the blood following oral administration of ES 6864 to marmosets was confirmed directly by measuring the plasma concentration of ES 6864. These results enhance the possibility of developing renin Inhibitors that can be used clinically.
Interactions between sub-10-nm iron and cerium oxide nanoparticles and 3T3 fibroblasts: the role of the coating and aggregation state

Recent nanotoxicity studies revealed that the physico-chemical characteristics of engineered nanomaterials play an important role in the interactions with living cells. Here, we report on the toxicity and uptake of cerium and iron oxide sub-10-nm nanoparticles by NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblasts. Coating strategies include low-molecular weight ligands (citric acid) and polymers (poly(acrylic acid), MW = 2000 g mol − 1). Electrostatically adsorbed on the surfaces, the organic moieties provide a negatively charged coating in physiological conditions. We find that most particles were biocompatible, as exposed cells remained 100% viable relative to controls. Only the bare and the citrate-coated nanoceria exhibit a slight decrease in mitochondrial activity at very high cerium concentrations (>1 g l − 1). We also observe that the citrate-coated particles are internalized/adsorbed by the cells in large amounts, typically 250 pg/cell after 24 h incubation for iron oxide. In contrast, the polymer-coated particles are taken up at much lower rates (<30 pg/cell). The strong uptake shown by the citrated particles is related to the destabilization of the dispersions in the cell culture medium and their sedimentation down to the cell membranes. In conclusion, we show that the uptake of nanomaterials by living cells depends on the coating of the particles and on its ability to preserve the colloidal nature of the dispersions.
Perusal the factors affecting on the implementation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in higher education (Mixed Method)

Background and Aims: This study aimed to identify factors affecting on the implementation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in higher education was conducted. Methods: This study was mixed. The population in the qualitative part were Professors of educational technology and e-learning, doctoral students of educational technology and information in education that 18 people among them purposefully were selected for interviews. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews and structural factors were determined with open and axial coding. The validity of the findings with comparative methods by members and peer review was guaranteed. In the quantitative section, the factors affecting on implementation of MOOC period were determined from the viewpoint of 192 user, by using the Self-made questionnaire and the outcome of the quality part (with reliability α=0/86), and were analyzed using Chi-square test and Friedman. Results: The results showed that 73 initial conceptual proposition with 16 sub-categories and 5 main categories Proposition, influencing on the course of MOOC in the form of immediate factors (internal) and intermediate (external) identification and the relationship between them was presented in the form of structural pattern. The results of chi-square and Friedman tests demonstrated that Factor of computers and means of communication and dialogue, managing user interface design, implementation, evaluation and assessment, Surround Factors, notification, acceptance and program management Factors and central learning Factor In order of preference As factors affecting on the implementation MOOC curses Have been identified Conclusion: Many agents are effective on the using of MOOC curses in the higher education in the country and Implementation of these courses requires the use of specialized solutions.
Electrophysiological precursors of social conformity

Humans often change their beliefs or behavior due to the behavior or opinions of others. This study explored, with the use of human event-related potentials (ERPs), whether social conformity is based on a general performance-monitoring mechanism. We tested the hypothesis that conflicts with a normative group opinion evoke a feedback-related negativity (FRN) often associated with performance monitoring and subsequent adjustment of behavior. The experimental results show that individual judgments of facial attractiveness were adjusted in line with a normative group opinion. A mismatch between individual and group opinions triggered a frontocentral negative deflection with the maximum at 200 ms, similar to FRN. Overall, a conflict with a normative group opinion triggered a cascade of neuronal responses: from an earlier FRN response reflecting a conflict with the normative opinion to a later ERP component (peaking at 380 ms) reflecting a conforming behavioral adjustment. These results add to the growing literature on neuronal mechanisms of social influence by disentangling the conflict-monitoring signal in response to the perceived violation of social norms and the neural signal of a conforming behavioral adjustment.
Differential activation of a central inhibition system by motion and colour distractors

ABSTRACT The selection of relevant stimuli is partially achieved through inhibition of irrelevant distractors. Using the distractor induced blindness (DIB) paradigm, we investigated whether these inhibitory processes depend on the feature dimension that is used to define distractors. Following a pilot study that found motion and colour targets to be comparably salient, we analysed distractor effects of those two feature dimensions. In both feature dimensions, an inhibition effect depended on the number of distractors. Colour, however, was more sensitive to distractor episodes as compared to motion: The level of inhibition was more pronounced, and its activation required less distractors. The results of a control experiment provided further evidence that, in fact, the feature dimension -instead of design differences between tasks- is responsible for this observation. The dimension-sensitive bias in the activation of a central inhibition system may be attributed to a differential processing of visual signals, depending on their behavioural relevance.
Postprivatization Corporate Governance: The Role of Ownership Structure and Investor Protection

We investigate the role of ownership structure and investor protection in postprivatization corporate governance. We find that the government relinquishes control over time, mainly to the benefit of local institutions and foreign investors. We also show that private ownership tends to concentrate over time. In addition to firm-level variables, investor protection, political and social stability explain the cross-firm differences in ownership concentration. We find that the positive effect of ownership concentration on firm performance matters more in countries with weak investor protection and that private domestic ownership leads to higher performance.
Lay People Representations on the Common Good and Its Financial Provision

The financial contribution to the common good is a relevant issue to contemporary societies, especially in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. In the economic literature, taxes and monetary donations have been regarded as two complementary ways of financially providing for the common good. In the psychological literature, instead, they have not been studied in conjunction. In-depth interviews have been conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach and a photo-elicitation technique to investigate the representations people share on the financial provision for the common good. Results suggest that both taxes and donations are seen as indirect, rather than direct, ways of providing for the common good. From a formal and cognitive level, paying taxes and making donations can be seen as two sides of the same coin, but they present differences at the affective level. When paying taxes, people are concerned mostly about the effects and expect a material exchange in return; when making a monetary donation, people are concerned mostly about the motivations and expect an emotional exchange in return.
Video capsule endoscopy in left ventricular assist device recipients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding.

AIM To assess whether video capsule endoscopy (VCE) affects the outcomes of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) recipients with gastrointestinal bleeding. METHODS This is a retrospective study of LVAD recipients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) who underwent VCE at a tertiary medical center between 2005 and 2013. All patients were admitted and monitored with telemetry and all VCE and subsequent endoscopic procedures were performed as inpatients. A VCE study was considered positive only when P2 lesions were found and was regarded as negative if P1 or P0 were identified. All patients were followed until heart transplant, death, or the end of the study. RESULTS Between 2005 and 2013, 30 patients with LVAD underwent VCE. Completion rate of VCE was 93.3% and there was no capsule retention. No interference of VCE recording or the function of LVAD was found. VCE was positive in 40% of patients (n = 12). The most common finding was active small intestinal bleeding (50%) and small intestinal angiodysplasia (33.3%). There was no difference in the rate of recurrent bleeding between patients with positive and negative VCE study (50.0% vs 55.6%, P = 1.00) during an average of 11.6 ± 9.6 mo follow up. Among patients with positive VCE, the recurrent bleeding rate did not differ whether subsequent endoscopy was performed (50% vs 50%, P = 1.00). CONCLUSION VCE can be safely performed in LVAD recipients with a diagnostic yield of 40%. VCE does not affect recurrent bleeding in LVAD patients regardless of findings.
Opposing Influences of Affective State Valence on Visual Cortical Encoding

Positive and negative emotional states are thought to have originated from fundamentally opposing approach and avoidance behaviors. Furthermore, affective valence has been hypothesized to exert opposing biases in cognitive control. Here we examined with functional magnetic resonance imaging whether the opposing influences of positive and negative states extend to perceptual encoding in the visual cortices. Based on prior behavioral research, we hypothesized that positive states would broaden and negative states would narrow visual field of view (FOV). Positive, neutral, and negative states were induced on alternating blocks. To index FOV, observers then viewed brief presentations (300 ms) of face/place concentric center/surround stimuli on interleaved blocks. Central faces were attended, rendering the place surrounds unattended. As face and place information was presented at different visual eccentricities, our physiological metric of FOV was a valence-dependent modulation of place processing in the parahippocampal place area (PPA). Consistent with our hypotheses, positive affective states increased and negative states decreased PPA response to novel places as well as adaptation to repeated places. Individual differences in self-reported positive and negative affect correlated inversely with PPA encoding of peripheral places, as well as with activation in the mesocortical prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Psychophysiological interaction analyses further demonstrated that valence-dependent responses in the PPA arose from opponent coupling with extrafoveal regions of the primary visual cortex during positive and negative states. These findings collectively suggest that affective valence differentially biases gating of early visual inputs, fundamentally altering the scope of perceptual encoding.
Optimization of Reflux Conditions for Total Flavonoid and Total Phenolic Extraction and Enhanced Antioxidant Capacity in Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.) Using Response Surface Methodology

Response surface methodology was applied to optimization of the conditions for reflux extraction of Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.) in order to achieve a high content of total flavonoids (TF), total phenolics (TP), and high antioxidant capacity (AC) in the extracts. Central composite experimental design with three factors and three levels was employed to consider the effects of the operation parameters, including the methanol concentration (MC, 40%–80%), extraction temperature (ET, 40–70°C), and liquid-to-solid ratio (LS ratio, 20–40 mL/g) on the properties of the extracts. Response surface plots showed that increasing these operation parameters induced the responses significantly. The TF content and AC could be maximized when the extraction conditions (MC, ET, and LS ratio) were 78.8%, 69.5°C, and 32.4 mL/g, respectively, whereas the TP content was optimal when these variables were 75.1%, 70°C, and 31.8 mL/g, respectively. Under these optimum conditions, the experimental TF and TP content and AC were 1.78, 6.601 mg/g DW, and 87.38%, respectively. The optimized model was validated by a comparison of the predicted and experimental values. The experimental values were found to be in agreement with the predicted values, indicating the suitability of the model for optimizing the conditions for the reflux extraction of Pandan.
Protection Orders for Battered Women in Israel

The aim of the present study is to describe and re-consider the findings obtained from analysis of 260 protection orders that were granted in cases of violence by men against their partners. The Prevention of Domestic Violence Law was enacted in Israel in 1991. The data collection for the study took place 10 years later, after the 1996 amendment was enacted. In this article I revisit the data, the only empirical data on protection orders in Israel, and examine both the process of obtaining protection orders and several attendant issues that are relevant to the procedure, such as the remedies the law offers and the use (or lack of it) judges make of them. The study compares the first ex parte hearings and the second hearings, and the discussion and summary sections provide an insight into the problems emerging from the description of the situation in Israel in light of the current knowledge existing in the world today.
SEROPREVALENCE OF HTLV IN A POPULATION OF HIV1-INFECTED PATIENTS IN MIDWESTERN BRAZIL

SUMMARY Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) may affect the clinical course of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV1). Both infections are common in endemic areas because these viruses share similar routes of transmission. The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of HTLV1/2 in a population of HIV1-infected patients in the state of Goiás, Midwestern Brazil. Of the 505 studied patients, four (0.79%) were positive for anti-HTLV1/2 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), with HTLV1 infection confirmed by line immunoassay (LIA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in all of the ELISA-positive samples. No cases of HTLV2 infection were observed. The prevalence of HTLV1/HIV1 coinfection was 0.79% (4/505; 95% CI: 0.25-2.16). All the coinfected patients reported sexual risk behaviors and only one reported intravenous drug use. Sequencing of the viral long terminal repeat (LTR) region and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the four HTLV1 isolates belonged to the Transcontinental a subgroup of the Cosmopolitan (1a) subtype, the most frequent subgroup detected in Brazil. This study shows a low prevalence of HTLV1/2 in HIV1-infected patients in Midwestern Brazil.
Direct Synthesis of Long Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Strands

In the processes that are used to produce single-walled nanotubes (electric arc, laser ablation, and chemical vapor deposition), the typical lengths of tangled nanotube bundles reach several tens of micrometers. We report that long nanotube strands, up to several centimeters in length, consisting of aligned single-walled nanotubes can be synthesized by the catalytic pyrolysis of n-hexane with an enhanced vertical floating technique. The long strands of nanotubes assemble continuously from arrays of nanotubes, which are intrinsically long.
Portraits and Emotions Developing Emotional Intelligence Through Art School Intervention

Romania Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a relatively new concept in psychology. The theory of multiple intelligences created by Howard Gardner (1993) has been enriched by adding a new and complex concept: Emotional Intelligence (Goleman, 1995; 2004; Salovey & Mayer, 1990; Wood & Tolley, 2003). This concept puts into question the emotional level of personality (feelings, affections, emotions, passions, dispositions, along with motivation, self-control, and the ideal of life) and represents an important basis for structuring and developing the personality of the children. Our paper proposes an art intervention within the school, having as a working hypothesis the positive effect of art in the development of emotional intelligence at school age . Expression through art contributes to the harmonious development of personality, to the refinement of emotional meanings, and to a better communication and interaction with others. It can also contribute to shaping the ideal of life, to a better integration into the community. The correlation between portraits and emotions provides educators with an opportunity to better understand the children’s personality, a precious means of educational intervention. This work proposes an experimental model that can be approached by any educator at different levels of