Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internet Abuse

As Internet use has proliferated worldwide, there has been debate whether some users develop disturbed patterns of Internet use (i.e., Internet abuse). This article highlights relevant literature on Internet abuse and computer-mediated communication effects that supports and disputes major questions about Internet abuse. Is the addiction paradigm appropriate for Internet use? Is behavior that has been labeled Internet abuse symptomatic of other problems such as depression, sexual disorders, or loneliness? What are alternative explanations for this phenomenon? Is there adequate research to support Internet abuse as a distinct disorder?
Spinogenesis and Pruning in the Anterior Ventral Inferotemporal Cortex of the Macaque Monkey: An Intracellular Injection Study of Layer III Pyramidal Cells

Pyramidal cells grow and mature at different rates among different cortical areas in the macaque monkey. In particular, differences across the areas have been reported in both the timing and magnitude of growth, branching, spinogenesis, and pruning in the basal dendritic trees of cells in layer III. Presently available data suggest that these different growth profiles reflect the type of functions performed by these cells in the adult brain. However, to date, studies have focused on only a relatively few cortical areas. In the present investigation we quantified the growth of the dendritic trees of layer III pyramidal cells in the anterior ventral portion of cytoarchitectonic area TE (TEav) to better comprehend developmental trends in the cerebral cortex. We quantified the growth and branching of the dendrities, and spinogenesis and pruning of spines, from post-natal day 2 (PND2) to four and a half years of age. We found that the dendritic trees increase in size from PND2 to 7 months of age and thereafter became smaller. The dendritic trees became increasingly more branched from PND2 into adulthood. There was a two-fold increase in the number of spines in the basal dendritic trees of pyramidal cells from PND2 to 3.5 months of age and then a 10% net decrease in spine number into adulthood. Thus, the growth profile of layer III pyramidal cells in the anterior ventral portion of the inferotemporal cortex differs to that in other cortical areas associated with visual processing.
The Moderating Role of Positive Affect in Understanding the Relationship Between Stress and Alcohol Use

Binge drinking among college students presents a significant public health concern given the frequency and the associated negative health and social consequences. There are a variety of reasons why college students decide to binge drink (and to drink more broadly), including drinking to cope with negative emotional experiences, including when stressed. One factor that may be playing a role in the relationships among stress, drinking to cope, and binge drinking is positive emotion. Positive emotion has been found to be linked to the ways in which individuals appraise stressful situations, with those higher in positive emotion being more likely to appraise stressful situations as moments in which they can gain some mastery rather than obstacles that will be difficult to overcome. Further, individuals who endorse drinking to cope have been found to be lower in positive emotions. These positive emotions may be serving as a buffer, limiting experiences of stress or changing the way stress is perceived, and therefore making people less likely to use alcohol to cope with stress. To explore these associations, college students from the University of Rhode Island completed an online survey assessing their self-rated levels of stress, intensity and frequency of experiencing positive emotions, and frequency of binge drinking. Approximately three-quarters of the sample reported having consumed alcohol during the past month and of those, nearly two-thirds reported at least one binge drinking episode during the past month. Stress and positive emotions did not appear to be significantly related to frequency of binge drinking, but were significantly correlated with coping motives for drinking. Regression analyses with all predictors, age, and gender entered into the model revealed the same results: stress and positive emotion were not significantly related to binge drinking, but were significantly related to coping motives. The interaction between stress and positive emotions predicting frequency of binge drinking or coping motives was nonsignificant. Findings of the present study indicate that, among college students, stress may not be a contributing factor to the decision to binge drink. It may be that college students are engaging in other behaviors to manage stress, or that measures included in the current study do not fully capture college students’ experiences of stress or positive emotional experiences. Findings of the present study suggest the potential utility of targeting positive emotions in efforts to decrease coping-related alcohol use among those college students who are receiving treatment due to their alcohol consumption.
Exploring the Genetic Basis of Adaptation to High Elevations in Reptiles: A Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Two Toad-Headed Agamas (Genus Phrynocephalus)

High elevation adaptation offers an excellent study system to understand the genetic basis of adaptive evolution. We acquired transcriptome sequences of two closely related lizards, Phrynocephalus przewalskii from low elevations and P. vlangalii from high elevations. Within a phylogenetic framework, we compared their genomic data along with green anole, chicken and Chinese softshell turtle, and identified candidate genes and functional categories that are potentially linked to adaptation to high elevation environments. More than 100 million sequence reads were generated for each species via Illumina sequencing. A de novo assembly produced 70,919 and 62,118 transcripts for P. przewalskii and P. vlangalii, respectively. Based on a well-established reptile phylogeny, we detected 143 positively selected genes (PSGs) along the P. vlangalii lineage from the 7,012 putative orthologs using a branch-site model. Furthermore, ten GO categories and one KEGG pathway that are over-represented by PSGs were recognized. In addition, 58 GO categories were revealed to have elevated evolutionary rates along the P. vlangalii lineage relative to P. przewalskii. These functional analyses further filter out PSGs that are most likely involved in the adaptation process to high elevations. Among them, ADAM17, MD, and HSP90B1 likely contributed to response to hypoxia, and POLK likely contributed to DNA repair. Many other candidate genes involved in gene expression and metabolism were also identified. Genome-wide scan for candidate genes may serve as the first step to explore the genetic basis of high elevation adaptation. Detailed comparative study and functional verification are needed to solidify any conclusions. High elevation adaptation requires coordinated changes in multiple genes that involve various physiological and biochemical pathways; we hope that our genetic studies will provide useful directions for future physiological or molecular studies in reptiles as well as other poikilothermic species.
Bank Leverage Cycles

We study the cyclical fluctuations of leverage and assets of financial intermediaries and GDP in the United States. Leverage and assets are several times more volatile than GDP, and experience larger fluctuations for unregulated (‘shadow’) intermediaries than for regulated ones. While the leverage of regulated intermediaries is rather acyclical with respect to their assets and to GDP, the leverage of unregulated intermediaries is strongly procyclical in relation to their assets, and mildly procyclical in relation to GDP. We then build a general equilibrium model with both regulated and unregulated financial intermediaries. The latter borrow from investors in the form of short-term collateralized risky debt, and are subject to endogenous leverage constraints. We find that volatility shocks are key to generating fluctuations and comovements similar to those found in the data. Also, in a scenario with lower cross-sectional volatility, output is higher on average but more volatile, due to higher leverage of unregulated banks.
Translation Evaluation-a State of the Art Survey

Measuring translation quality is a subjective process which relies on human judgements. This paper discusses different frameworks used in the process of translation evaluation with special focus on error classification schemes used both in the translation industry and in translation teaching institutions. Such error-based models, like BlackJack or SAE J 2450, allow human judgements to benefit from a consistent and systematic error classification. Apart from offering an overview of the existing error-based translation evaluation systems, this paper describes two recent projects which further the research in this field. This paper does not claim to provide an exhaustive list of existing error-based translation evaluation tools nor does it aim to impose or offer a particular model for translation analysis.
Biochemical and molecular characterization of the chicken cysteine-rich protein, a developmentally regulated LIM-domain protein that is associated with the actin cytoskeleton

LIM domains are present in a number of proteins including transcription factors, a proto-oncogene product, and the adhesion plaque protein zyxin. The LIM domain exhibits a characteristic arrangement of cysteine and histidine residues and represents a novel zinc binding sequence (Michelsen et al., 1993). Previously, we reported the identification of a 23-kD protein that interacts with zyxin in vitro (Sadler et al., 1992). In this report, we describe the purification and characterization of this 23-kD zyxin-binding protein from avian smooth muscle. Isolation of a cDNA encoding the 23-kD protein has revealed that it consists of 192 amino acids and exhibits two copies of the LIM motif. The 23-kD protein is 91% identical to the human cysteine-rich protein (hCRP); therefore we refer to it as the chicken cysteine-rich protein (cCRP). Examination of a number of chick embryonic tissues by Western immunoblot analysis reveals that cCRP exhibits tissue-specific expression. cCRP is most prominent in tissues that are enriched in smooth muscle cells, such as gizzard, stomach, and intestine. In primary cell cultures derived from embryonic gizzard, differentiated smooth muscle cells exhibit the most striking staining with anti-cCRP antibodies. We have performed quantitative Western immunoblot analysis of cCRP, zyxin, and alpha-actinin levels during embryogenesis. By this approach, we have demonstrated that the expression of cCRP is developmentally regulated.
Avoiding Optimal Mean Robust PCA/2DPCA with Non-greedy ℓ1-Norm Maximization

Robust principal component analysis (PCA) is one of the most important dimension reduction techniques to handle high-dimensional data with outliers. However, the existing robust PCA presupposes that the mean of the data is zero and incorrectly utilizes the Euclidean distance based optimal mean for robust PCA with l1-norm. Some studies consider this issue and integrate the estimation of the optimal mean into the dimension reduction objective, which leads to expensive computation. In this paper, we equivalently reformulate the maximization of variances for robust PCA, such that the optimal projection directions are learned by maximizing the sum of the projected difference between each pair of instances, rather than the difference between each instance and the mean of the data. Based on this reformulation, we propose a novel robust PCA to automatically avoid the calculation of the optimal mean based on l1-norm distance. This strategy also makes the assumption of centered data unnecessary. Additionally, we intuitively extend the proposed robust PCA to its 2D version for image recognition. Efficient non-greedy algorithms are exploited to solve the proposed robust PCA and 2D robust PCA with fast convergence and low computational complexity. Some experimental results on benchmark data sets demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approaches on image reconstruction and recognition.
Stem Cell Review Series: Role of neurogenesis in age-related memory disorders

Neuroplasticity is characterized by growth and branching of dendrites, remodeling of synaptic contacts, and neurogenesis, thus allowing the brain to adapt to changes over time. It is maintained in adulthood but strongly repressed during aging. An age‐related decline in neurogenesis is particularly pronounced in the two adult neurogenic areas, the subventricular zone and the dentate gyrus. This age‐related decline seems to be attributable mainly to limited proliferation, associated with an age‐dependent increase in quiescence and/or a lengthening of the cell cycle, and is closely dependent on environmental changes. Indeed, when triggered by appropriate signals, neurogenesis can be reactivated in senescent brains, thus confirming the idea that the age‐related decrease in new neuron production is not an irreversible, cell‐intrinsic process. The coevolution of neurogenesis and age‐related memory deficits – especially regarding spatial memory – during senescence supports the idea that new neurons in the adult brain participate in memory processing, and that a reduction in the ability to generate new neurons contributes to the appearance of memory deficits with advanced age. Furthermore, the age‐related changes in hippocampal plasticity and function are under environmental influences that can favor successful or pathological aging. A better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate neurogenesis is necessary to develop new therapeutic tools to cure or prevent the development of memory disorders that may appear during the course of aging in some individuals.
Abnormal COX2 Protein Expression May Be Correlated with Poor Prognosis in Oral Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Background. The prognostic significance of COX2 for survival of patients with oral cancer remains controversial. Thus, the meta-analysis was performed in order to identify COX2 expression impact on prognosis of oral cancer. Method. Relevant literatures were searched using the following electronic databases without any language restrictions: Web of Science, the Cochrane Library Database, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and CBM. Version 12.0 STATA software (Stata Corporation, College Station, Texas, USA) was used for the current meta-analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) with their corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were also calculated to clarify the correlation between COX2 expression and prognosis of oral cancer. Results. Final analysis of 979 oral cancer patients from 12 clinical cohort studies was performed. The meta-analysis results show that COX2 expression in cancer tissues was significantly higher than those in normal and benign tissues (all P < 0.05). Combined HR of COX2 suggests that positive COX2 expression has a shorter overall survival (OS) than those of negative COX2 expression (P < 0.05). Conclusion. The meta-analysis study shows that elevated COX2 expression may be associated with the pathogenesis of oral cancer and with a worse prognosis in oral cancer patients.
Pengaruh Kepribadian dan Komitmen Organisasi Terhadap Organization Citizenship Behavior (OCB) pada KantorBalaikota Makassar

Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa variabel kepribadian dan komitmen organisasi mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap OCB pegawai Kantor Balaikota Makassar. Dan variabel yang memiliki pengaruh paling dominan terhadap OCB adalah variabel Komitmen Organisasi. Dengan demikian hipotesis pertama dan hipotesis kedua yang di ajukan dapat diterima sedangkan hipotesis ketiga yang diajukan di tolak. Dengan demikian hasil penelitian ini diharapkan dapat bermanfaat dalam memunculkan OCB didalam Kantor Balaikota Makassar, pegawai harus merasa bahwa dia merupakan suatu bagian dari perusahaan yang selalu memunculkan sense of belongings pada diri pegawai sehingga berujung pada munculnya perilaku extra tersebut.
Interactive effects among several stimulus parameters on the responses of striate cortical complex cells.

1. Although neurons within the visual system are often described in terms of their responses to particular patterns such as bars and edges, they are actually sensitive to many different stimulus features, such as the luminances making up the patterns and the duration of presentation. Many different combinations of stimulus parameters can result in the same neuronal response, raising the problem of how the nervous system can extract information about visual stimuli from such inherently ambiguous responses. It has been shown that complex cells transmit significant amounts of information in the temporal modulation of their responses, raising the possibility that different stimulus parameters are encoded in different aspects of the response. To find out how much information is actually available about individual stimulus parameters, we examined the interactions among three stimulus parameters in the temporally modulated responses of striate cortical complex cells. 2. Sixteen black and white patterns were presented to two awake monkeys at each of four luminance-combinations and five durations, giving a total of 320 unique stimuli. Complex cells were recorded in layers 2 and 3 of striate cortex, with the stimuli centered on the receptive fields as determined by mapping with black and white bars. 3. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to these data with the three stimulus parameters of pattern, the luminance-combinations, and duration as the independent variables. The ANOVA was repeated with the magnitude and three different aspects of the temporal modulation of the response as the dependent variables. For the 19 neurons studied, many of the interactions between the different stimulus parameters were statistically significant. For some response measures the interactions accounted for more than one-half of the total response variance. 4. We also analyzed the stimulus-response relationships with the use of information theoretical techniques. We defined input codes on the basis of each stimulus parameter alone, as well as their combinations, and output codes on the basis of response strength, and on three measures of temporal modulation, also taken individually and together. Transmitted information was greatest when the response of a neuron was interpreted as a temporally modulated message about combinations of all three stimulus parameters. The interaction terms of the ANOVA suggest that the response of a complex cell can only be interpreted as a message about combinations of all three stimulus parameters. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Does Amifostine Reduce Metabolic Rate? Effect of the Drug on Gas Exchange and Acute Ventilatory Hypoxic Response in Humans

Amifostine is added to chemoradiation regimens in the treatment of many cancers on the basis that, by reducing the metabolic rate, it protects normal cells from toxic effects of therapy. We tested this hypothesis by measuring the metabolic rate (by gas exchange) over 255 min in 6 healthy subjects, at two doses (500 mg and 1000 mg) of amifostine infused over 15 min at the start of the protocol. We also assessed the ventilatory response to six 1 min exposures to isocapnic hypoxia mid-protocol. There was no change in metabolic rate with amifostine as measured by oxygen uptake (p = 0.113). However in carbon dioxide output and respiratory quotient, we detected a small decline over time in control and drug protocols, consistent with a gradual change from carbohydrate to fat metabolism over the course of the relatively long study protocol. A novel result was that amifostine (1000 mg) increased the mean ± SD acute hypoxic ventilatory response from 12.4 ± 5.1 L/min to 20.3 ± 11.9 L/min (p = 0.045). In conclusion, any cellular protective effects of amifostine are unlikely due to metabolic effects. The stimulatory effect on hypoxic ventilatory responses may be due to increased levels of hypoxia inducible factor, either peripherally in the carotid body, or centrally in the brain.
Teaching and learning perception of anatomy by first MBBS (2014-15) batch students

Introduction: Anatomy forms the backbone of medical education for first year MBBS with maximum number of teaching hours allotted to this subject. Invariably Anatomy is best taught in dissection halls with the specimens but due to reduction in course duration of first MBBS to 1 year and limited number of cadavers available in present time’s demands more innovative techniques to be utilized for teaching Anatomy. The lecture classes as perceived by most of students as boring does not under rule its importance. The adjustments and modifications made by the teachers of Anatomy to impart overall appropriate knowledge of the subject to the first MBBS student as per their requirements needs to be evaluated and assessed at regular intervals for best results. Objectives: To evaluate the teaching and learning methodologies practiced in Department of Anatomy by feedback analysis from 1st MBBS students. Material and Method: 147 first MBBS students were included in the study. Informed consent was taken and they were asked to answer a semi structured questionnaire previously prepared and verified. The questionnaires were collected back from them after 30 minutes. The response was analyzed thoroughly over a period of 6 months and represented in percentages. Results: The responses of students were represented in graphs with percentages. Almost 42% of students preferred PowerPoint teaching and another 39% of students preferred both PowerPoint and chalk and board teaching of theory lectures whereas old conventional method of teaching with chalk and board was preferred by only 4% of students. Almost 64% of students preferred receiving handout of lectures before the class and ultra-small group teaching and demonstrations was favoured strongly for osteology rather than lectures for osteology. For effective learning methodologies almost 54% students preferred student’s subject seminars at end of each region and 71% of students preferred judicious use of audiovisual aids in form of animation, dissection videos, and museum models for demonstration other than regular dissection hall teaching. Students felt clinical anatomy was not sufficiently taught and more emphasis should be given to applied aspects. Conclusion: This study was an extremely useful tool for evaluating student’s preferences for teaching and learning methodologies and thus a self-evaluation for the teachers and thus corrective measures can be taken in future batches. Keywords: Questionnaire, Teaching, Learning, Perception, Students, Feedback
Investor Overconfidence and the Forward Premium Puzzle

We offer an explanation for the forward premium puzzle in foreign exchange markets based upon investor overconfidence. In the model, overconfident individuals overreact to their information about future inflation, which causes greater overshooting in the forward rate than in the spot rate. Thus, when agents observe a signal of higher future inflation, the consequent rise in the forward premium predicts a subsequent downward correction of the spot rate. The model can explain the magnitude of the forward premium bias and several other stylized facts related to the joint behavior of forward and spot exchange rates. Our approach is also consistent with the availability of profitable carry trade strategies.