Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Free Energy and Virtual Reality in Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis: A Complexity Theory of Dreaming and Mental Disorder

The main concepts of the free energy (FE) neuroscience developed by Karl Friston and colleagues parallel those of Freud's Project for a Scientific Psychology. In Hobson et al. (2014) these include an innate virtual reality generator that produces the fictive prior beliefs that Freud described as the primary process. This enables Friston's account to encompass a unified treatment—a complexity theory—of the role of virtual reality in both dreaming and mental disorder. In both accounts the brain operates to minimize FE aroused by sensory impingements—including interoceptive impingements that report compliance with biological imperatives—and constructs a representation/model of the causes of impingement that enables this minimization. In Friston's account (variational) FE equals complexity minus accuracy, and is minimized by increasing accuracy and decreasing complexity. Roughly the brain (or model) increases accuracy together with complexity in waking. This is mediated by consciousness-creating active inference—by which it explains sensory impingements in terms of perceptual experiences of their causes. In sleep it reduces complexity by processes that include both synaptic pruning and consciousness/virtual reality/dreaming in REM. The consciousness-creating active inference that effects complexity-reduction in REM dreaming must operate on FE-arousing data distinct from sensory impingement. The most relevant source is remembered arousals of emotion, both recent and remote, as processed in SWS and REM on “active systems” accounts of memory consolidation/reconsolidation. Freud describes these remembered arousals as condensed in the dreamwork for use in the conscious contents of dreams, and similar condensation can be seen in symptoms. Complexity partly reflects emotional conflict and trauma. This indicates that dreams and symptoms are both produced to reduce complexity in the form of potentially adverse (traumatic or conflicting) arousals of amygdala-related emotions. Mental disorder is thus caused by computational complexity together with mechanisms like synaptic pruning that have evolved for complexity-reduction; and important features of disorder can be understood in these terms. Details of the consilience among Freudian, systems consolidation, and complexity-reduction accounts appear clearly in the analysis of a single fragment of a dream, indicating also how complexity reduction proceeds by a process resembling Bayesian model selection.
Environmental Ethics and Film

1. Environmental Ethics - Literature Review 2. Environmental Ethics and Ecocinema: Core Textual Readings 3. Indigenous Cultures and Ethical Food Consumption: from Hunter Gatherers to Avatars 4. Ecofeminism, Environmental Ethics and Active Engagement in Science Fiction Fantasies 5. Social Responsibility and Anthropomorphising Animals 6. Third World Injustice, Environmental Sustainability and Frugality: A Case Study of Contemporary Hollywood films set in Africa 7. Business Ethics: Sustainability, Frugality and the Environment 8. End of the World Scenarios and the Precautionary Principle 9. Environmental Ethics: Concluding Remarks
Sham Surgery Trial Controls: Perspectives of Patients and Their Relatives

This study reports on qualitative research conducted in the UK with people with Parkinson's Disease and their relatives on the subject of “sham surgery. ” It explores attitudes toward sham surgery and reasoning about hypothetical participation in a sham-controlled trial. Results showed that attitudes toward sham surgery may not necessarily predict trial participation behavior. A small majority of interviewees deemed sham surgery ethically acceptable with certain provisos, but hypothetical participation was driven primarily by disease severity and a lack of standard treatment options, with a preference for receiving the real surgery over sham. Ethical implications for patient equipoise and the autonomy of patients' research participation decisions are discussed.
Promising Loci and Genes for Yolk and Ovary Weight in Chickens Revealed by a Genome-Wide Association Study

Because it serves as the cytoplasm of the oocyte and provides a large amount of reserves, the egg yolk has biological significance for developing embryos. The ovary and its hierarchy of follicles are the main reproductive organs responsible for yolk deposition in chickens. However, the genetic architecture underlying the yolk and ovarian follicle weights remains elusive. Here, we measured the yolk weight (YW) at 11 age points from onset of egg laying to 72 weeks of age and measured the follicle weight (FW) and ovary weight (OW) at 73 weeks as part of a comprehensive genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 1,534 F2 hens derived from reciprocal crosses between White Leghorn (WL) and Dongxiang chickens (DX). For all ages, YWs exhibited moderate single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability estimates (0.25–0.38), while the estimates for FW (0.16) and OW (0.20) were relatively low. Independent univariate genome-wide screens for each trait identified 12, 3, and 31 novel significant associations with YW, FW, and OW, respectively. A list of candidate genes such as ZAR1, STARD13, ACER1b, ACSBG2, and DHRS12 were identified for having a plausible function in yolk and follicle development. These genes are important to the initiation of embryogenesis, lipid transport, lipoprotein synthesis, lipid droplet promotion, and steroid hormone metabolism, respectively. Our study provides for the first time a genome-wide association (GWA) analysis for follicle and ovary weight. Identification of the promising loci as well as potential candidate genes will greatly advance our understanding of the genetic basis underlying dynamic yolk weight and ovarian follicle development and has practical significance in breeding programs for the alteration of yolk weight at different age points.
Nonlinear Appraisal Modeling: An Application of Machine Learning to the Study of Emotion Production

Appraisal theory of emotion claims that emotions are not caused by “raw” stimuli, as such, but by the subjective evaluation (appraisal) of those stimuli. Studies that analyzed this relation have been dominated by linear models of analysis. These methods are not ideally suited to examine a basic assumption of many appraisal theories, which is that appraisal criteria interact to differentiate emotions, and hence show nonlinear effects. Studies that did model interactions were either limited in scope or exclusively theory-driven simulation attempts. In the present study, we improve on these approaches using data-driven methods from the field of machine learning. We modeled a categorical emotion response as a function of 25 appraisal predictors, using a large data set on recalled emotion experiences (5,901 cases). A systematic comparison of machine learning models on these data supported the interactive nature of the appraisal-emotion relationship, with the best nonlinear model significantly outperforming the best linear model. The interaction structure was found to be moderately hierarchical. Strong main effects of intrinsic valence and goal compatibility appraisal differentiated positive from negative emotions, while more specific emotions (e.g., pride, irritation, despair) were differentiated by interactions involving agency appraisal and norm appraisal.
Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 in Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody-Associated Vasculitis: Biomarker Potential and Association with Polymorphisms in the MCP-1 and the CC Chemokine Receptor-2 Gene

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody- (ANCA-) associated vasculitis (AAV) are relapsing-remitting disorders with unpredictable prognosis. There is a need of biomarkers for distinguishing which patients will have a more severe outcome and also for predicting relapses in disease activity. This study confirms the previous results of urinary MCP-1 (uMCP-1) as a prognostic marker and explores its potential as a marker of disease activity. Method. 114 patients with AAV were followed regularly between 2002 and 2011 at Skåne University Hospital. Urine samples, blood samples, and clinical status were registered. The urine samples were analyzed in an in-house-developed ELISA. PCR-RLFP was used to analyze the MCP-1 and CCR2 genes. Results. Patients with severe prognosis had significantly higher levels of uMCP-1 compared to patients with nonsevere prognosis and healthy controls. Patients with renal damage had higher levels compared to patients who did not have renal damage. There was also a tendency of higher uMCP-1 levels in active disease as compared to remission. AA in the -2518 position in the MCP-1 gene was associated with a more severe outcome compared to the A/G or the G/G genotype. The A/A genotype were also associated with higher levels of uMCP-1. No significant associations were seen for the CCR2-V64I. Conclusion. This study confirmed the connection between high uMCP-1 levels and poor prognosis and also disease activity. It also suggests an association of the A/A genotype at position -2518 in the MCP-1 gene and poor prognosis in AAV. uMCP-1 is clearly a candidate biomarker of potential clinical value. The A/A genotype association needs further evaluation.
Young pain patients’ experience in primary care. A qualitative study

Abstract The purpose was to explore interview data from young adults with long-standing pain about their experience of contacts with caregivers in a primary care setting, in order to synthesize and qualitatively analyse their reports about how they were received. Method: An emergent qualitative design was used. Open thematic research interviews were conducted with 11 young people (1 man, 10 women) (aged 20–31 years) with long-term pain. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic content analysis. Result: The analyses resulted in three themes; distrust experienced from care staffs, loneliness and hopelessness forming the main theme Young adult with long-term pain. The informants described how they struggled with living with the pain, fighting with the care system and to obtain help. They reportedly felt they were not trusted and that they were not given any explanations or information why the pain spread and worsened. This left them feeling abandoned and alone and without hope concerning their pain, their feelings; and with doubts concerning their prospects. Much concern and doubt were expressed about their future work situation; whether they would be able to do work for which they had trained, and whether they would ever get any career opportunities. Conclusion: Living with long-term pain as a young adult and experiencing mistrust when in care might lead to feelings of loneliness, dependence and hopelessness and an existence marked by suffering and dependence. The experienced mistrust confined the young adult instead of allowing growth towards an adult identity and opportunities.
Calcium Dobesilate Prevents Neurodegeneration and Vascular Leakage in Experimental Diabetes

ABSTRACT Purpose: The mechanisms involved in the reported beneficial effects of Calcium dobesilate monohydrate (CaD) for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR) remain to be elucidated. The main aim of the present study is to examine whether CaD prevents early events in the pathogenesis of DR such as neurodegeneration and vascular leakage. In addition, putative mediators of both neurodegeneration (glutamate/GLAST, ET-1/ETB receptor) and early microvascular impairment (ET-1/ETA receptor, oxidative stress, VEGF, and the PKC-delta-p38 MAPK pathway) have been examined. Methods: Diabetic (db/db) mice were randomly assigned to daily oral treatment with CaD (200 mg/Kg/day) (n = 12) or vehicle (n = 12) for 14 days. In addition, 12 non-diabetic (db/+) mice matched by age were used as the control group. Functional abnormalities were assessed by electroretinography. Neurodegeneration and microvascular abnormalities were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Glutamate was determined by HPLC. Results: CaD significantly decreased glial activation and apoptosis and produced a significant improvement in the electroretinogram parameters. Mechanistically, CaD prevented the diabetes-induced up-regulation of ET-1 and its cognate receptors (ETA-R and ETB-R), which are involved in microvascular impairment and neurodegeneration, respectively. In addition, treatment with CaD downregulated GLAST, the main glutamate transporter, and accordingly prevented the increase in glutamate. Finally, CaD prevented oxidative stress, and the upregulation of VEGF and PKC delta-p38 MAPK pathway induced by diabetes, thus resulting in a significant reduction in vascular leakage. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate for the first time that CaD exerts neuroprotection in an experimental model of DR. In addition, we provide first evidence that CaD prevents the overexpression of ET-1 and its receptors in the diabetic retina. These beneficial effects on the neurovascular unit could pave the way for clinical trials addressed to confirm the effectiveness of CaD in very early stages of DR.
Age-Related Differences in the Retrieval and Definition of Events from Memory

Older adults often struggle to recall events from a specific time and specific place when presented with a cue word (Piolino et al., 2010). When they are able to successfully retrieve an event, they tend to recall fewer specific details, focusing instead on contextual and factual information (Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, & Moscovitch, 2002). These age differences are not relegated to the retrieval scenario alone; at encoding older adults also show differences in the way they segment ongoing information into discrete events (Zacks, Speer, Vettel, & Jacoby, 2006). The present work investigated age differences in the retrieval and definition of events from memory. First we delineated the age differences in neural activity during autobiographical recall. Second, we established how age alters event definitions during retrieval. Finally, we explored whether a more global change in event understanding could account for age differences in event memory. Our results highlight key differences in brain activity during autobiographical memory retrieval in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate, and in the functional connectivity between these regions and the hippocampus. Further, our results demonstrate age differences in event definitions during perception and retrieval. We conclude by highlighting how these findings relate to the processes of memory retrieval and event segmentation.
Emergence of Rich-Club Topology and Coordinated Dynamics in Development of Hippocampal Functional Networks In Vitro

Recent studies demonstrated that the anatomical network of the human brain shows a “rich-club” organization. This complex topological feature implies that highly connected regions, hubs of the large-scale brain network, are more densely interconnected with each other than expected by chance. Rich-club nodes were traversed by a majority of short paths between peripheral regions, underlining their potential importance for efficient global exchange of information between functionally specialized areas of the brain. Network hubs have also been described at the microscale of brain connectivity (so-called “hub neurons”). Their role in shaping synchronous dynamics and forming microcircuit wiring during development, however, is not yet fully understood. The present study aimed to investigate the role of hubs during network development, using multi-electrode arrays and functional connectivity analysis during spontaneous multi-unit activity (MUA) of dissociated primary mouse hippocampal neurons. Over the first 4 weeks in vitro, functional connectivity significantly increased in strength, density, and size, with mature networks demonstrating a robust modular and small-world topology. As expected by a “rich-get-richer” growth rule of network evolution, MUA graphs were found to form rich-clubs at an early stage in development (14 DIV). Later on, rich-club nodes were a consistent topological feature of MUA graphs, demonstrating high nodal strength, efficiency, and centrality. Rich-club nodes were also found to be crucial for MUA dynamics. They often served as broker of spontaneous activity flow, confirming that hub nodes and rich-clubs may play an important role in coordinating functional dynamics at the microcircuit level.
Measuring Coverage in MNCH: A Validation Study Linking Population Survey Derived Coverage to Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Care Records in Rural China

Background Accurate data on coverage of key maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) interventions are crucial for monitoring progress toward the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. Coverage estimates are primarily obtained from routine population surveys through self-reporting, the validity of which is not well understood. We aimed to examine the validity of the coverage of selected MNCH interventions in Gongcheng County, China. Method and Findings We conducted a validation study by comparing women’s self-reported coverage of MNCH interventions relating to antenatal and postnatal care, mode of delivery, and child vaccinations in a community survey with their paper- and electronic-based health care records, treating the health care records as the reference standard. Of 936 women recruited, 914 (97.6%) completed the survey. Results show that self-reported coverage of these interventions had moderate to high sensitivity (0.57 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.50–0.63] to 0.99 [95% CI: 0.98–1.00]) and low to high specificity (0 to 0.83 [95% CI: 0.80–0.86]). Despite varying overall validity, with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) ranging between 0.49 [95% CI: 0.39–0.57] and 0.90 [95% CI: 0.88–0.92], bias in the coverage estimates at the population level was small to moderate, with the test to actual positive (TAP) ratio ranging between 0.8 and 1.5 for 24 of the 28 indicators examined. Our ability to accurately estimate validity was affected by several caveats associated with the reference standard. Caution should be exercised when generalizing the results to other settings. Conclusions The overall validity of self-reported coverage was moderate across selected MNCH indicators. However, at the population level, self-reported coverage appears to have small to moderate degree of bias. Accuracy of the coverage was particularly high for indicators with high recorded coverage or low recorded coverage but high specificity. The study provides insights into the accuracy of self-reports based on a population survey in low- and middle-income countries. Similar studies applying an improved reference standard are warranted in the future.
Optimal Savings Distortions with Recursive Preferences

This paper derives an intertemporal optimality condition for economies with private information, focusing on a class of recursive preferences. By comparing it to the situation where agents can freely save in a risk-free asset market, we derive the optimal savings distortions necessary for constrained optimality. Our recursive preferences are homogeneous and satisfy a balanced growth condition, while allowing us to separate the role of risk aversion and intertemporal elasticity of substitution. We perform some quantitative exercises that disentangle the respective roles played by these two parameters play in opt8imal distortions and the implied welfare gains.
NF-Protocadherin and TAF1 Regulate Retinal Axon Initiation and Elongation In Vivo

NF-protocadherin (NFPC)-mediated cell–cell adhesion plays a critical role in vertebrate neural tube formation. NFPC is also expressed during the period of axon tract formation, but little is known about its function in axonogenesis. Here we have tested the role of NFPC and its cytosolic cofactor template-activating factor 1 (TAF1) in the emergence of the Xenopus retinotectal projection. NFPC is expressed in the developing retina and optic pathway and is abundant in growing retinal axons. Inhibition of NFPC function in developing retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) severely reduces axon initiation and elongation and suppresses dendrite genesis. Furthermore, an identical phenotype occurs when TAF1 function is blocked. These data provide evidence that NFPC regulates axon initiation and elongation and indicate a conserved role for TAF1, a transcriptional regulator, as a downstream cytosolic effector of NFPC in RGCs.
Distinct Phenotypes Caused by Mutation of MSH2 in Trypanosome Insect and Mammalian Life Cycle Forms Are Associated with Parasite Adaptation to Oxidative Stress

Background DNA repair mechanisms are crucial for maintenance of the genome in all organisms, including parasites where successful infection is dependent both on genomic stability and sequence variation. MSH2 is an early acting, central component of the Mismatch Repair (MMR) pathway, which is responsible for the recognition and correction of base mismatches that occur during DNA replication and recombination. In addition, recent evidence suggests that MSH2 might also play an important, but poorly understood, role in responding to oxidative damage in both African and American trypanosomes. Methodology/Principal Findings To investigate the involvement of MMR in the oxidative stress response, null mutants of MSH2 were generated in Trypanosoma brucei procyclic forms and in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote forms. Unexpectedly, the MSH2 null mutants showed increased resistance to H2O2 exposure when compared with wild type cells, a phenotype distinct from the previously observed increased sensitivity of T. brucei bloodstream forms MSH2 mutants. Complementation studies indicated that the increased oxidative resistance of procyclic T. brucei was due to adaptation to MSH2 loss. In both parasites, loss of MSH2 was shown to result in increased tolerance to alkylation by MNNG and increased accumulation of 8-oxo-guanine in the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, indicating impaired MMR. In T. cruzi, loss of MSH2 also increases the parasite capacity to survive within host macrophages. Conclusions/Significance Taken together, these results indicate MSH2 displays conserved, dual roles in MMR and in the response to oxidative stress. Loss of the latter function results in life cycle dependent differences in phenotypic outcomes in T. brucei MSH2 mutants, most likely because of the greater burden of oxidative stress in the insect stage of the parasite.
Developing mathematical understanding and students with emotional and behavioural disorders: a review of the literature

ABSTRACT Recent shifts in focus on academic interventions for students diagnosed with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) create a need to evaluate existing interventional research in content areas such as mathematics. Literature reviews in the area of mathematics interventions for students with EBD have mostly focused on the outcomes and the rigour of existing studies with limited attention to the quality of the pedagogical methods used in those studies. The purpose of this conceptual review was to use a teaching-for-understanding lens to examine existing research interventions in mathematics for students with EBD. Teaching-mathematics-for-understanding requires pedagogical methods that aim to activate and capture students’ mathematical reasoning and thinking. An iterative electronic and hand search of the literature found 30 studies covering three decades (1985–2015) that met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Results of the analysis include: (1) mathematics assessments utilised ranged from very basic to comprehensive, with most studies applying basic assessments; (2) a majority of the studies focused on intervention strategies targeting procedural and rote knowledge; (3) most studies utilised quantitative inquiry methods; and (4) in more recent years, studies have increasingly examined conceptual mathematical understanding and incorporated qualitative inquiry methods.