Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disentangling the Role of Cortico-Basal Ganglia Loops in Top–Down and Bottom–Up Visual Attention: An Investigation of Attention Deficits in Parkinson Disease

It is solidly established that top–down (goal-driven) and bottom–up (stimulus-driven) attention mechanisms depend on distributed cortical networks, including prefrontal and frontoparietal regions. On the other hand, it is less clear whether the BG also contribute to one or the other of these mechanisms, or to both. The current study was principally undertaken to clarify this issue. Parkinson disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting the BG, has proven to be an effective model for investigating the contribution of the BG to different brain functions; therefore, we set out to investigate deficits of top–down and bottom–up attention in a selected cohort of PD patients. With this objective in mind, we compared the performance on three computerized tasks of two groups of 12 parkinsonian patients (assessed without any treatment), one otherwise pharmacologically treated and the other also surgically treated, with that of a group of controls. The main behavioral tool for our study was an attentional capture task, which enabled us to tap the competition between top–down and bottom–up mechanisms of visual attention. This task was suitably combined with a choice RT and a simple RT task to isolate any specific deficit of attention from deficits in motor response selection and initiation. In the two groups of patients, we found an equivalent increase of attentional capture but also comparable delays in target selection in the absence of any salient distractor (reflecting impaired top–down mechanisms) and movement initiation compared with controls. In contrast, motor response selection processes appeared to be prolonged only in the operated patients. Our results confirm that the BG are involved in both motor and cognitive domains. Specifically, damage to the BG, as it occurs in PD, leads to a distinct deficit of top–down control of visual attention, and this can account, albeit indirectly, for the enhancement of attentional capture, reflecting weakened ability of top–down mechanisms to antagonize bottom–up control.
Effect of experimental varicocele in rats on testicular oxidative stress status

Summary. The present experiments were undertaken to determine the levels of MDA, SOD and catalase in the testis of adolescent rats with experimental left varicoceles. Male Wistar rats, 7 weeks old and weighing 160–170 g, were randomly allocated into three groups. The first group of rats underwent partial ligation of the left renal vein (n=15). The second group of rats underwent a sham operation (n=7) and the third group acted as controls (n=7). Animals were sacrificed 6 weeks after surgery and dilatation of the internal spermatic veins was observed. Levels of MDA, SOD and catalase activity were measured in testis. The experimental left varicocele group showed severe testicular changes compared to other groups. The mean MDA (SEM) levels in right and left testicular tissues of varicocele bearing rats, sham‐operated rats, and control rats were 0.48 ± 0.24 and 0.31 ± 0.11, 0.22 ± 0.02 and 0.35 ± 0.12, 0.62 ± 0.29 and 0.13 ± 0.05, respectively (P > 0.05). The mean SOD (SEM) levels in right and left testicular tissues of varicocele bearing rats, sham‐operated rats, and control rats were 7790 ± 606 and 6974 ± 574, 7475 ± 1517 and 7020 ± 1106, 8727 ± 1188 and 9019 ± 1129, respectively (P > 0.05). The mean catalase (SEM) levels in right andleft testicular tissues of varicocele bearing rats,sham‐operated rats, and control rats were 75.77 ± 11.5 and 53.82 ± 10.1, 91.94 ± 14 and 94.90 ± 32, 65.40 ± 5.7 and 90.93 ± 16.4, respectively (P > 0.05). Our results suggest that oxidative status, which reflects a relative balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated and ROS scavenged, may not be responsible for the testicular dysfunction associated with experimentally induced varicocele during adolescence in rats.
Intermediate View Synthesis for Multi-view 3D Displays Using Belief Propagation-Based Stereo Matching

Intermediate view synthesis is an important step for Multi-view 3D displays. In this paper we have proposed an intermediate view synthesis approach, which is based on stereo matching process. This makes that multi-view images can be created by only the two-view images, which are captured by two-view camera(stereo camera). In order to obtain accurate disparity map for intermediate view synthesis, Belief Propagation-based stereo matching was be used in this paper. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can provide the intermediate view with high quality.
Associations between childhood refraction and parental smoking.

PURPOSE Motivated by pharmacologic findings linking nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to eye development in chicks, the authors studied whether the refractions of children who were passively exposed to cigarette smoke by their parents differed from those of nonexposed children. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among 323 patients (mean +/- SD age, 8.7 +/- 4.4 years; range, 1-20) in a tertiary care pediatric ophthalmology clinic. Half (162/323) of the subjects had strabismus. The accompanying parent completed a detailed questionnaire on parental smoking history and on putative risk factors for myopia. The results were compared to the subjects' cycloplegic refractions. RESULTS If one or both parents ever smoked, their children had a lower myopia prevalence (12.4% vs. 25.4%; P = 0.004) and more hyperopic mean refractions (1.83 +/- 0.24 vs. 0.96 +/- 0.27 diopters; P = 0.02) than those whose parents never smoked. Smoking by either parent during the mother's pregnancy had a similar effect on the child's refraction. The associations largely persisted, both in multivariate models that included adjustments for the child's age, child's body mass index, child's nearwork activity, parental myopia, and parental education and also in analysis by subgroups stratified by strabismus status. CONCLUSIONS Despite the complex constituents of cigarette smoke, neuropharmacology perspectives may prove useful in the development of new hypotheses to understand the mechanisms governing refractive development, not only in experimental animals but also in children. The associations of less prevalent myopia and a more hyperopic mean refraction with both prenatal and childhood exposures to tobacco smoke suggest that nongenetic, environmental exposures may have long-term influences on refraction and that further study of the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in refractive development is warranted.
Effects of school start times and technology use on teenagers’ sleep: 1999–2008

This study compared sleep patterns of high school students in 1999 and 2008. In 2006, school start times were delayed for senior students (years 12–13) from 09:00 to 10:30. For junior students (years 92–11), start time remained unchanged at 09:00. Questionnaires were completed at school by 212 year 9 and 12 students in 1999, and 455 year 9, 11 and 12 students in 2008. Year 12 students in 2008 were less likely to report sleep loss on school nights (OR = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.01–0.11) and were less sleepy (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.342–0.98) than Year 12 in 1999 or than Year 11 in 2008, after controlling for gender (sleep loss, OR = 0.31, 95%CI = 0.19–0.53; sleepiness, OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.28–0.75). There were no comparable changes for Year 9 students. From 19992–2008, students having technologies in the bedroom rose from 80.7% to 96.4% (P(cχ2) < 0.001). In 2008, having more technologies was associated with less sleep on school nights (Spearman’s rho P = 0.005). In 2008, Year 9 students with more technologies were more likely to report daytime sleepiness (OR = 4.06, 95% CI = 1.44-2-2-11.41) and being evening type (OR = 3.38, 95% CI = 1.272–9.01), after controlling for gender. In 2008 all year groups went to bed earlier than in 1999, possibly due to increased sleep awareness, but only Year 12 students sleep later on school mornings. We conclude that delaying school start time had beneficial effects for Year 12 students, reducing sleep loss on school nights and daytime sleepiness. However, increased presence of technologies is associated with later sleep times and daytime sleepiness among Year 9 students.
Absence of zeros and asymptotic error estimates for airy and parabolic cylinder functions

We derive WKB approximations for a class of Airy and parabolic cylin- der functions in the complex plane, including quantitative error bounds. We prove that all zeros of the Airy function lie on a ray in the complex plane, and that the parabolic cylinder functions have no zeros. We also analyze the Airy and Airy-WKB limit of the parabolic cylinder functions.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA : THE TEACHER OF THE CHILD WITH A HEARING

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to their colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives” Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) -
Mining diabetes complication and treatment patterns for clinical decision support

The fast development of hospital information systems (HIS) produces a large volume of electronic medical records, which provides a comprehensive source for exploratory analysis and statistics to support clinical decision-making. In this paper, we investigate how to utilize the heterogeneous medical records to aid the clinical treatments of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus, simply diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases, which is often accompanied with many complications. We propose a Symptom-Diagnosis-Treatment model to mine the diabetes complication patterns and to unveil the latent association mechanism between treatments and symptoms from large volume of electronic medical records. Furthermore, we study the demographic statistics of patient population w.r. t. complication patterns in real data and observe several interesting phenomena. The discovered complication and treatment patterns can help physicians better understand their specialty and learn previous experiences. Our experiments on a collection of one-year diabetes clinical records from a famous geriatric hospital demonstrate the effectiveness of our approaches.
Gendered fare?

Food and nutrition represents a new frontier of the sociological analyses of gender regimes and structures. This article draws from a qualitative study into the social, ethical and spiritual dimensions of vegetarianism. It explores the impact of hegemonic masculinity upon the adoption of meatless diets, in various social contexts where vegetarianism is characterized as effeminate, and lacking the essential ingredients for being a ‘real’ man. The data suggests that the belief that meat provides strength and vigour to men and the associated enforcement of meat-eating as a social norm is, according to a majority of the informants in the study, a key reason why vegetarianism is not an appealing choice for men. New knowledge about the role of gender norms in human food habits and practices will inform broader theories of gendered eating, and would also be highly useful in multidisciplinary efforts to improve public health.
Prolonged inhibition by X-rays of DNA synthesis in cells obtained by transformation of primary rat embryo fibroblasts with oncogenes H-ras and v-myc.

Transfection of primary rat embryo fibroblasts with the H-ras oncogene plus the cooperating oncogene v-myc results in the development of foci of morphologically altered tumorigenic cells. We examined radiation (X-rays) induced inhibition of DNA synthesis in cell lines derived from such transformed clones and compared the results to those obtained with the nontransformed parental cells, rat embryo fibroblasts, as well as with cells immortalized either spontaneously, or after transfection with nuclear oncogenes (v-myc, E1A). Inhibition by X-rays of DNA synthesis was higher and persisted for longer periods of time in the H-ras- plus v-myc-transformed cell lines as compared to their nontrasformed counterparts. When the rate of DNA synthesis was measured as a function of dose 3 h after irradiation, biphasic curves were observed in all cell lines tested with a radiation sensitive and a radiation resistant component, known to correspond to inhibition of replicon initiation and chain elongation, respectively. A substantially larger inhibition of DNA synthesis was observed between 0 and 30 Gy in H-ras- plus v-myc-transformed cell lines, as compared to their nontransformed counterparts, presumably caused by sustained inhibition of replicon initiation. Hypersensitive DNA synthesis to X-rays was also observed in a transformed cell line obtained by transfection of rat embryo fibroblasts with H-ras in cooperation with the oncogene E1A, but normosensitive DNA synthesis in a rare transformant obtained by transfection with H-ras alone. These results suggest a direct or indirect involvement of the oncogene H-ras in cooperation with the oncogene v-myc (or other nuclear oncogenes such as E1A) in the control of DNA synthesis in irradiated cells. This control of DNA synthesis may be mediated via a trans-acting mechanism that involves the production of a diffusible factor in response to the radiation insult, or, by a cis-acting mechanism that directly affects the replication machinery. Circumstantial evidence for possible involvement of oncogenes of the ras and myc families in DNA synthesis support this hypothesis. There was an inverse correlation between sensitivity to radiation-induced killing and prolonged inhibition by radiation of DNA synthesis, with radioresistant cell lines displaying longer inhibition of DNA synthesis. However, inhibition by radiation of DNA synthesis was similar in normal human fibroblasts (W138) and cells derived from a radiation-resistant human carcinoma cell line (SQ-20B) suspected to carry an abnormal c-raf-1 oncogene. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Experts' beliefs about child testimony: Do they match the research or the recommendations?

The present study examines prosecutors', child investigators', and plaintiff aids' (i.e., important actors during alleged child sexual abuse [CSA] investigations) beliefs about children's testimonies. More specifically, the aim was to examine whether these experts agree (a) with praxis from, for example, the Supreme Court regarding the use of certain credibility criteria when evaluating the reliability of CSA reports; and/or (b) with findings from research on issues of child testimony. The participants (n = 206) were asked to rate how detailed, consistent, and spontaneous they believe children are in their CSA reports; the effects of exposure to repeated abuse; and to indicate their opinion on the optimal number of child interviews. Due to the low response rate, results can only be discussed in terms of possible indications, however, it is interesting to note that the experts had similar opinions on the issues investigated, opinions that were also rather in line with research findings on children's testimony. Although they receive support from the research, some of these opinions are not in line with recommendations made by the Supreme Court or the “Pre-trial Order. ” More research is needed to further examine: (a) the reliability of the credibility criteria recommended by the Swedish Supreme Court; (b) how frequently the Swedish courts actually refer to these credibility criteria; and (c) different experts' (with different functions in the legal process) opinions on these criteria.
Depressão e ansiedade em adolescentes de escolas públicas e privadas

OBJETIVE: To identify depression and anxiety prevalences within adolescents registered and frequenting public and private schools in the city of Recife - Pernambuco. METHODS: According to a population based, prevalence study, admitting a population of 10.414 pupils of public and private schools, depression and depressive upheavals prevalence of 20,3%, precision of 5% and significance level of 0,05, the random and stratified sampling included 243 pupils, of basic and mean levels of 11 schools, aging from 14 to 16 years old. The variables were: age, religion, school type, adscription and size, scholarship, study duration, scholar and labor condition, characteristic of familiar nucleus, sex, marriage status, skin type according to Fitzpatrick scale (investigated by a demographic questionnaire) and depression and anxiety degrees by Hamilton scales. Statistical analysis was performed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences. RESULTS: The prevalences of expressive depressive symptoms and anxiety were equal to 59.9% and 19.9%, respectively. The associations of serious intensity depressive symptoms with female sex and religious belief different from Christianity chain were significant. The suicidal ideation/suicide attempt was related by 34.3% of students. There was significant association of suicidal ideation with light or moderate depressive symptoms and moderate degree of anxiety, as well as of suicide attempt with: serious depressive symptoms, study in private school and severe anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The gravity of psychopathologic characteristics in a so young age is to deserve a psychosocial intervention to reduce its repercussions for the future.
Deliberate Self-Harm: The Interplay Between Attachment and Stress

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between attachment, mood and deliberate self-harm (DSH) in a nonclinical population (n = 114). In addition to a range of risky behaviours, the most commonly reported DSH behaviours were Head-banging (47%), Hitting (46%), Scratching (38%) and Cutting (34%). Those who engaged in DSH had poorer quality of attachment to both parents but not peers, and higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Path analysis was then used to examine the interaction between attachment, mood and DSH. The impact of the quality of attachment on DSH was found to be mediated by stress, which suggests that DSH may be a maladaptive coping mechanism. Attachment to father and peers was found to be more influential than attachment to mother. Our findings suggest that DSH may be more prevalent in the community than previously recognised, and that attachment, which is currently neglected in DSH research, warrants further investigation in both clinical and nonclinical populations.
Validation of the NEO Personality Inventory and the five‐factor model. Can findings from exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis be reconciled?

The aims of the study were (i) to analyse a Norwegian version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO‐PI), using both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA); (ii) to compare the results of the two factor analytic strategies, both within the present study and across different studies; and (iii) to discuss possible causes of discrepant findings (across factor‐analytic methods and across samples). The sample comprised 961 subjects representative of the non‐institutionalized Norwegian adult population. Using an EFA strategy, very high coefficients of factor comparability (r=0.93–0.99) across sexes were found. None of the five main domains turned out to be as homogeneous as suggested by the original five‐factor model, but most of the deviations from the assumed simple structure were comparable to results from recent American studies. However, none of the revised EFA‐based models were supported using CFA methods. Moreover, a large number of modifications were necessary to obtain a model with acceptable fit. It is argued that these discrepant findings can be accounted for, at least in part, by (i) consequences of different model acceptance criteria in the EFA and CFA tradition, (ii) the inherent logical–semantical structure of the NEO‐PI, and (iii) consequences of selection effects (factorial invariance problem). © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Distribution of virulence genes in Salmonella serovars isolated from man & animals.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Pathogenesis of Salmonellosis depends upon a large number of factors controlled by an array of genes that synergise into the actual virulence of Salmonella. A study was undertaken to observe the distribution of three such genes, namely, Salmonella enterotoxin (stn), Salmonella Enteritidis fimbrial (sef and plasmid encoded fimbrial (pef genes, among different serovars of Salmonella enterica isolated from man and animals. METHODS A total of 95 isolates belonging to S. Typhimurium (51), S. Enteritidis (36), S. Bareilly (3), and S. Paratyphi B (5) serovars were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of stnl ssf and pef genes using their specific primers and the PCR products were analysed by 1 per cent agarose gel electrophoresis for the presence of the respective genes. RESULTS Varying distribution pattern of these genes was observed amongst the isolates. While, stn was found in all the 95 strains, sef was found only among the S. Enteritidis isolates. The pef gene was found to be absent in 10 isolates including the three S. Bareilly isolates. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION Findings indicated that the stn gene is widely distributed among Salmonella irrespective of the serovars and source of isolation. However, the sef gene appears to be serovar specific. Since the stn gene is found in all the isolates, it can be a viable target gene to explore the possibility of direct detection of Salmonella from samples from biological sources.
Introduction to the special section on coparenting and child’s development: research in practice

This special section includes four studies of coparenting and children’s development in European families and one concluding paper commenting on the studies and projecting future directions. For two decades, research has shown the central role of coparenting dynamics in child’s development in diverse families systems. Research reported in this section was conducted in four different European countries and highlights focal perspectives both for research and for practice.
Small-Group Reflections: Parallels Between Teacher Discourse and Student Behavior in Peer-Directed Groups

Prior research on small-group collaboration identifies several behaviors that significantly predict student learning, such as exchanging explanations and applying help received. Previous reports focus on student behavior to understand why many students do not engage in behaviors predictive of learning, leaving unexplored how teachers may influence small-group interaction. Consequently, this article describes established teacher practices and examines whether and how students reproduce teacher discourse in the context of a semester-long program of cooperative learning in four middle school mathematics classrooms. This article illustrates changes that emerged and factors that made change difficult. The research concludes that student behavior largely mirrored the discourse modeled by and the expectations communicated by teachers. Teachers tended to give unlabeled calculations, procedures, or answers instead of labeled explanations. Teachers often instructed using a recitation approach in which they assumed primary responsibility for solving the problem, having students only provide answers to discrete steps. Finally, teachers rarely encouraged students to verbalize their thinking or to ask questions. Students adopting the role of help-giver showed behavior very similar to that of the teacher: doing most of the work, providing mostly low-level help, and infrequently monitoring other students' level of understanding. The relatively passive behavior of students needing help corresponded to expectations communicated by the teacher about the learner as a fairly passive recipient of the teacher's transmitted knowledge.