Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of an extracellular acidosis on excitatory synaptic transmission and long‐term potentiation in the CA1 region of rat hippocampal slices

The effects of extracellular acidification on the synaptic function and neuronal excitability were investigated on the hippocampal CA1 neurons. A decrease of extracellular pH from 7.4 to 6.7 did not alter either the resting membrane potential or the neuronal membrane input resistance. Extracellularly recorded field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) and population spikes (PSs) were significantly reduced by acidosis. Additionally, the amplitude of presynaptic fiber volley was also reduced. The sensitivity of postsynaptic neurons to N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate, but not to α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methylisoxazole‐4‐propionic acid, was depressed by acidosis. Lowering of extracellular pH did not significantly affect the magnitude of paired‐pulse facilitation (PPF) of synaptic transmission. Acidosis also reversibly limited the sustained repetitive firing (RF) of Na+‐dependent action potentials elicited by injection of depolarizing current pulses into the pyramidal cells. The limitation of RF by extracellular acidification was accompanied by the reduction of the maximal rate of rise (;V̇max) of the action potentials and the amplitude of afterhyperpolarization. Neither the Na +/H + antiporter blocker 5‐(N ‐ethyl ‐N ‐isopropyl)‐amiloride nor the selective adenosine A 1 receptor antagonist 1,3‐dipropyl ‐8‐cyclopentylxanthine, however, affected the acidosis ‐induced synaptic depression. It was also found that acidosis did not affect either the induction r maintenance of long ‐term potentiation (LTP) at Schaffer collateral ‐CA 1 synapses. These results suggest that the extracellular acidosis ‐induced synaptic depression is likely to result from an inhibition of presynaptic Na + conductance, thereby decreasing the amplitude of action potentials in individual afferent fibers or the umber of fferent fiber activation to stimuli and then indirectly affecting the signaling processes contributing to trigger neurotransmitter release. J. Neurosci. Res. 62:403–415, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Psychometric Evaluation and Experimental Validation of the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale

The Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) was adapted into German to examine its psychometric properties (n = 400). Two validation studies (n = 66, n = 96) were conducted to examine its criterion-related validity. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were very similar to those previously reported for the original English version in various countries and other language versions. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated 2 second-order factors: One was more closely related to anxiety and the other was more closely related to negative attitudes toward statistics. Predictive validity of the STARS was shown both in an experimental exam-like situation in the laboratory and during a real examination situation. Taken together, the findings indicate that statistics anxiety as assessed by the STARS is a useful construct that is more than just an expression of a more general disposition to anxiety.
Designing Musically Assisted Rehabilitation Systems

This article reviews the process of designing technology to meet specific needs during rehabilitation-oriented music therapy. Individuals with acquired brain injury have unique needs, many of them involving physical rehabilitation. These needs are evaluated throughout the music therapy processes described and provide the foundational guidelines for new instrument designs. The article suggests that instruments designed with rehabilitation goals in mind may differ from traditional music instruments. Music technologies (musical instrument digital interface [MIDI] instruments and software) developed by the author to facilitate particular interventions during music therapy rehabilitation will be described. An embedded ‘‘Midi-Fly’’ technology that captures quantitative data related to these interventions will be explicated.
Contamination in the Rare-Earth Element Orthophosphate Reference Samples

Several of the fourteen rare-earth element (plus Sc and Y) orthophosphate standards grown at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1980s and widely distributed by the Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Mineral Sciences, are significantly contaminated by Pb. The origin of this impurity is the Pb2P2O7 flux that is derived from the thermal decomposition of PbHPO4. The lead pyrophosphate flux is used to dissolve the oxide starting materials at elevated temperatures (≈1360 °C) prior to the crystal synthesis. Because these rare-earth element standards are extremely stable under the electron beam and considered homogenous, they have been of enormous value to electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA). The monoclinic, monazite structure, orthophosphates show a higher degree of Pb incorporation than the tetragonal xenotime structure, orthophosphates. This paper will attempt to describe and rationalize the extent of the Pb contamination in these otherwise excellent materials.
A Probable Causative Factor for an Old Problem: Selenium and Glutathione Peroxidase Appear to Play Important Roles in Epilepsy Pathogenesis

Summary: Purpose: Only recently has it become known that oxidative stress and generation of reactive oxygen species are the cause and the consequence of epileptic seizures. Due to the protective role of selenium (Se) and selenoproteins against oxidative damage and the ability to promote neuronal cell survival, we compared serum selenium level and red blood cell Glutathione peroxidase activity (RBC GPx) between epileptic and healthy children.
The determinants of adolescents' behavioral intentions towards online services: Empirical evidence from online game industry

This research proposes a conceptual model with perceived value, satisfaction, subjective norm and individual characteristics (i.e., self-esteem, self-efficacy and extraversion) as key predictors of adolescents' intention to play online games. Perceived value is determined by positive factor of perceived benefits and negative factor of perceived risks. A survey was conducted to test the model. Most hypotheses were supported. Moreover, sub-dimensions of perceived benefits (i.e., ability expansion, playfulness and pleasure of control, telepresence and group identification) and perceived risks (i.e., psychosocial, financial, physical, performance and time risks) salient for adolescent online gamers were identified. The effect of perceived value on playing intention is mediated by satisfaction.
Multiple Regulatory Pathways Associated with High-Level Ciprofloxacin and Multidrug Resistance in Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis: Involvement of ramA and Other Global Regulators

ABSTRACT Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance were examined in nalidixic acid-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis field isolates displaying decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and in in vitro-derived ciprofloxacin-resistant mutants (104-cip and 5408-cip). All field isolates harbored a single gyrA mutation (D87Y). Deletion of acrB and complementation with wild-type gyrA increased quinolone susceptibility. Selection for ciprofloxacin resistance was associated with the development of an additional gyrA (S83F) mutation in 104-cip, novel gyrB (E466D) and parE (V461G) mutations in 5408-cip, overexpression of acrB and decreased susceptibility to nonquinolone antibiotics in both mutants, and decreased OmpF production and altered lipopolysaccharide in 104-cip. Complementation of mutated gyrA and gyrB with wild-type alleles restored susceptibility to quinolones in 104-cip and significantly decreased the ciprofloxacin MIC in 5408-cip. Complementation of parE had no effect on quinolone MICs. Deletion of acrB restored susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and other antibiotics tested. Both soxS and marA were overexpressed in 104-cip, and ramA was overexpressed in 5408-cip. Inactivation of each of these global regulators lowered ciprofloxacin MICs, decreased expression of acrB, and restored susceptibility to other antibiotics. Mutations were found in soxR (R20H) and in soxS (E52K) in 104-cip and in ramR (G25A) in 5408-cip. In conclusion, both efflux activity and a single gyrA mutation contribute to nalidixic acid resistance and reduced ciprofloxacin sensitivity. Ciprofloxacin resistance and decreased susceptibility to multiple antibiotics can result from different genetic events leading to development of target gene mutations, increased efflux activity resulting from differential expression of global regulators associated with mutations in their regulatory genes, and possible altered membrane permeability.
Repurposing a wiki for collaborative learning - pedagogical and technical view

Many Web 2.0 tools can be repurposed for the educational context. Wikis, in particular, can be used as support tool for collaborative learning among the members of a team, e.g., for co-writing tasks as well as for creating and organizing knowledge and resources. The first part of the paper features a series of case studies about the use of wikis in educational settings, including our own successful experience in the framework of an undergraduate course taught at the University of Craiova, Romania. The second part of the paper focuses on enhancing an existing wiki platform with some functionalities specifically tailored for the educational context. In particular, these features provide support to the instructor in the evaluation and grading process, as assessment represents a challenge in collaborative pedagogical approaches.
The role of affect and reward in the conflict-triggered adjustment of cognitive control

Adapting to changing task demands is one of the hallmarks of human cognition. According to an influential theory, the conflict monitoring theory, the adaptation of information processing occurs in a context-sensitive manner in that conflicts signal the need for control recruitment. Starting from the conflict monitoring theory, here the authors discuss the role of affect in the context of conflict-triggered processing adjustments from three different perspectives: (1) the affective value of conflict per se, (2) the affective modulation of conflict-triggered processing adjustments, and (3) the modulation of conflict adaptation by reward. Based on the current empirical evidence, the authors stress the importance of disentangling effects of affect and reward on conflict-triggered control adjustments.
Compatibility of LCD Monitors with Frame-Sequential Stereoscopic 3D Visualisation

Historically, LCD monitors have not been able to be used for frame-sequential stereoscopic 3D visualisation due to their slow pixel response rate. With LCD pixel response rates now in the single-digit millisecond range it is natural to ask whether it is now possible to achieve frame-sequential stereoscopic 3D viewing on LCDs.
Strings in $AdS_{3}$ and SL(2,R) WZW Model, 1

In this paper we study the spectrum of bosonic string theory on AdS3. We study classical solutions of the SL(2, R) WZW model, including solutions for long strings with non-zero winding number. We show that the model has a symmetry relating string configurations with different winding numbers. We then study the Hilbert space of the WZW model, including all states related by the above symmetry. This leads to a precise description of long strings. We prove a no-ghost theorem for all the representations that are involved and discuss the scattering of the long string. On leave of absence from University of California, Berkeley.
The Influence of Passion and Empowerment on Organizational Citizenship Behavior of Teachers in Assumption University Mediated by Organizational Commitment

The present research aims to explore the direct and indirect influence of passion and empowerment on organizational citizenship behavior of Teachers in Assumption University of Thailand mediated by organizational commitment. The sample comprises of 124 teachers teaching in the University and the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale, adapted by Podsakoff and Mackenzie (1990), Passion Scale, developed by Vallerand et al. in 2003, School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) developed by Short and Rinehart (1992) and Organizational Commitment Scale which was modified from the original scale of Allen and Meyer (1991) by Meyer, Allen, and Smith (1993) were employed. The path model with the dependent variable organizational citizenship behavior and the independent variables passion, and empowerment and the mediating variable organizational commitment was tested using regression analysis. There are relationships between passion for teaching, teacher empowerment, and organizational commitment on the organizational citizenship behavior of teachers in Assumption University, Thailand. The teachers have high level of organizational citizenship behavior, suggesting that they exhibit behaviors of discretionary nature that are not part of their formal role requirements, but which promote the effective functioning of the University.
Image of Man: The Effect of Religion on Trust: A Research Note

This study examines the effect of religion on the trust and distrust people have in others. Data show that the image people have of others is rooted in a complex array of life experiences which incorporates both religious behavior and theology. The data show that membership in liberal churches is associated with trust and fundamentalist churches with distrust. Yet, increased church attendance, irrespective of denomination, tends to increase one's sense of trust. These findings suggest that social interaction has a greater effect than theology on people's view of human nature.
DIEL AND SEASONAL PATTERNS OF TROPICAL FOREST CO2 EXCHANGE

We used eddy covariance to measure the net exchange of CO2between theatmosphere and an old-growth tropical forest in Para , Brazil from 1 July 2000 to 1 July2001. The mean air temperature and daily temperature range varied little year-round; therainy season lasted from late December to around July. Daytime CO2uptake under highirradiance averaged 16–19mmol·m22·s21. Light was the main controller of CO2exchange,accounting for 48% of the half-hour-to-half-hour variance. The rate of canopy photosyn-thesis at a given irradiance was lower in the afternoon than the morning. This photosyntheticinhibition was probably caused by high evaporative demand, high temperature, an intrinsiccircadian rhythm, or a combination of the three. Wood increment increased from Januaryto May, suggesting greater rates of carbon sequestration during the wet season. However,the daily net CO2exchange measured by eddy covariance revealed the opposite trend, withgreater carbon accumulation during the dry season. A reduction in respiration during thedry season was an important cause of this seasonal pattern. The surface litter was desiccatedin the dry season, and the seasonal pattern of respiration appears to be a direct result ofreduced forest floor decomposition during drought. In contrast, canopy photosynthesis wasnot directly reduced by the dry season, probably because deep rooting allows the forest toavoid drought stress
Prioritized Experience Replay

Experience replay lets online reinforcement learning agents remember and reuse experiences from the past. In prior work, experience transitions were uniformly sampled from a replay memory. However, this approach simply replays transitions at the same frequency that they were originally experienced, regardless of their significance. In this paper we develop a framework for prioritizing experience, so as to replay important transitions more frequently, and therefore learn more efficiently. We use prioritized experience replay in Deep Q-Networks (DQN), a reinforcement learning algorithm that achieved human-level performance across many Atari games. DQN with prioritized experience replay achieves a new state-of-the-art, outperforming DQN with uniform replay on 41 out of 49 games.
Tools for neuroanatomy and neurogenetics in Drosophila

We demonstrate the feasibility of generating thousands of transgenic Drosophila melanogaster lines in which the expression of an exogenous gene is reproducibly directed to distinct small subsets of cells in the adult brain. We expect the expression patterns produced by the collection of 5,000 lines that we are currently generating to encompass all neurons in the brain in a variety of intersecting patterns. Overlapping 3-kb DNA fragments from the flanking noncoding and intronic regions of genes thought to have patterned expression in the adult brain were inserted into a defined genomic location by site-specific recombination. These fragments were then assayed for their ability to function as transcriptional enhancers in conjunction with a synthetic core promoter designed to work with a wide variety of enhancer types. An analysis of 44 fragments from four genes found that >80% drive expression patterns in the brain; the observed patterns were, on average, comprised of <100 cells. Our results suggest that the D. melanogaster genome contains >50,000 enhancers and that multiple enhancers drive distinct subsets of expression of a gene in each tissue and developmental stage. We expect that these lines will be valuable tools for neuroanatomy as well as for the elucidation of neuronal circuits and information flow in the fly brain.
Tag questions across Irish English and British English: A corpus analysis of form and function

Abstract The present study, situated in the area of variational pragmatics, contrasts tag question (TQ) use in Ireland and Great Britain using spoken data from the Irish and British components of the International Corpus of English (ICE). Analysis is on the formal and functional level and also investigates form-functional relationships. Findings reveal many similarities in the use of TQs across the varieties. They also point, however, to a lower use of TQs in Irish English and in a range of variety-preferential features on both the formal and functional levels. The paper shows how an in-depth analysis of form-function relations together with a fine-tuned investigation of sub-functions gives an insight into formal preferences.
A Neural Model of Contour Integration in the Primary Visual Cortex

Experimental observations suggest that contour integration may take place in V1. However, there has yet to be a model of contour integration that uses only known V1 elements, operations, and connection patterns.This article introduces such a model, using orient ation selective cells, local cortical circuits, and horizontal intracortical connections. The model is composed of recurrently connected excitatory neurons and inhibitory interneurons, receiving visual input via oriented receptive fields resembling those found in primary visual cortex. Intracortical interactions modify initial activity patterns from input, selectively amplifying the activities of edges that form smooth contours in the image. The neural activities produced by such interactions are oscillatory and edge segments within a contour oscillate in synchrony. It is shown analytically and empirically that the extent of contour enhancement and neural synchrony increases with the smoothness, length, and closure of contours, as observed in experiments on some of these phenomena. In addition, the model incorporates a feedback mechanism that allows higher visual centers selectively to enhance or suppress sensitivities to given contours, effectively segmenting one from another. The model makes the testable prediction that the horizontal cortical connections are more likely to target excitatory (or inhibitory) cells when the two linked cells have their preferred orientation aligned with (or orthogonal to) their relative receptive field center displacements.
Mitochondrial DNA markers reveal high genetic diversity and strong genetic differentiation in populations of Dendrolimus kikuchii Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)

Dendrolimus kikuchii Matsumura, 1927 is a serious forest pest causing great damage to coniferous trees in China. Despite its economic importance, the population genetics of this pest are poorly known. We used three mitochondrial genes (COI, COII and Cytb) to investigate the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of 15 populations collected from the main distribution regions of D. kikuchii in China. Populations show high haplotype and nucleotide diversity. Haplotype network and phylogenetic analysis divides the populations into three major clades, the central and southeastern China (CC+SEC) clade, the eastern China (EC) clade, and the southwestern China (SWC) clade. Populations collected from adjacent localities share the same clade, which is consistent with the strong relationship of isolation by distance (r = 0.74824, P = 0.00001). AMOVA analysis indicated that the major portion of this molecular genetic variation is found among the three groups of CC+SEC, EC and SWC (61.26%). Of 105 pairwise FST comparisons, 93 show high genetic differentiation. Populations of Puer (PE), Yangshuo (YS) and Leishan (LS) are separated from other populations by a larger genetic distance. Distributions of pairwise differences obtained with single and combined gene data from the overall populations are multimodal, suggesting these populations had no prior population expansion in southern China. The nonsignificant neutral test on the basis of Tajima’ D and Fu’s Fs, and the lack of a star-shaped haplotype network together with the multiple haplotypes support this hypothesis. Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, combined with the host specificity to Pinus species, made these regions of south China into a refuge for D. kikuchii. The high level of population genetic structuring is related to their weak flight capacity, their variations of life history and the geographic distance among populations.
Computer-Aided Diagnosis Scheme for Detection of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms in MR Angiography

The detection of unruptured intracranial aneurysms is a major subject in magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) images. However, it is difficult for radiologists to detect small aneurysms on the maximum intensity projection (MIP) images, because adjacent vessels overlap with the aneurysm. The purpose of this study was to develop an automated computerized detection of aneurysms in order to assist radiologists' interpretation as a "second opinion. " The vessels were first segmented from background by use of gray-level thresholding and region growing technique. The gradient concentrate (GC) filter was then applied to the segmented vessels for enhancement of aneurysm. The initial aneurysm candidate was identified in the GC image with a gray level threshold. For removal of false positives (FPs), we determined three features, i.e., size, sphericity, and mean value of GC image in each of the candidate regions. Finally, the rule-based schemes with these features and quadratic discriminant analysis were applied for distinction between aneurysms and FPs. The sensitivity of our method for detection of aneurysms was 100% (7/7) with 1.85 FPs per patient. With our computerized scheme, all aneurysms were detected correctly with low FP rates, and would be useful in assisting radiologists for identifying correct aneurysms and for reducing the interpretation time