Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contrasting Activity Profile of Two Distributed Cortical Networks as a Function of Attentional Demands

Recent human functional MRI (fMRI) studies have revealed that two widely distributed groups of cortical areas display inverse changes in activity when attentional demands increase, with one group showing higher (task-on) and the second lower (task-off) blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals. Moreover, task-on and task-off regions also exhibit slow (<0.2 Hz) inversely correlated fluctuations in BOLD signal at rest. However, the neuronal correlates of these reciprocal BOLD signal fluctuations are unknown. Here, we addressed this question using simultaneous recordings of unit activity and local field potentials (LFPs) in the cat homologues of task-on and task-off regions. In all states of vigilance, LFP power was lower in task-off than task-on regions with no difference in firing rates. Both sets of regions displayed slow (0.5–0.15 Hz) cyclical modulations in LFP power in all frequency bands but with large and variable phase differences such that task-on and task-off regions were often anticorrelated. Inversely correlated LFP power fluctuations were state-dependent in that they were much more frequent in waking and paradoxical sleep than in slow-wave sleep. Moreover, consistent with fMRI findings, when attentional demands increased, LFP power in task-on and task-off regions changed in opposite directions, further augmenting and decreasing, respectively. At odds with previous fMRI studies, however, the decreased LFP power in task-off regions was associated with increased firing rates, suggesting that the engagement of task-off regions might not be reduced but in fact enhanced during attention.
A New Color-Based Segmentation Method for Forest Fire from Video Image

This paper proposes a new color-based method for forest fire segmentation from video image. Two kinds of color features including intensity value and color distribution are used. In segmentation based on V value of HSV color model, the lower threshold is defined from experience, and the higher threshold value is computed automatically, thus the possible fire regions can be divided into two subsets accordingly. In segmentation based on color distribution, fire color samples are collected and then projected onto HS, HV and SV planes. One pixel can be decided as fire or not quickly by checking whether its color values lie within the distribution ranges of the three 2D planes at the same time. Final fire regions are generated from these two segmentation results. Our method is tested on some video images with fire and the results are encouraging.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma: A single-center experience in Turkey

Background Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare lethal malignancy caused by asbestos exposure. It is more frequently seen in certain regions in Turkey. In this retrospective study, we aimed to analyse demographic, clinical, and pathological data and treatment-related features in 54 patients. Material/Methods The study included 54 patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma that were followed and treated. Results Of the 54 patients, 34 (55.6%) were male. The median age in men and women were 60.3 (38.2–77.2) and 65.8 (37.7–77.5) years, respectively. In 35 (64.8%), exposure to asbestosis was present. Epithelial type was found in 27 (50.0%), followed by mixed type in 7 (13.0%) patients, and in 20 (37.0%) patients the subtype could not be determined. The disease was staged as IV in 37 (68.5%) patients. In 28 patients (51.9%), it was right-sided and in 1 (1.9%) it was bilateral. The most frequent metastatic sites (in decreasing order) were lungs, mediastinum, diaphragm, liver, and thoracal wall. Of the 54 patients, 36 (66.6%) received 1st-line chemotherapy and 20 (37%) 2nd-line chemotherapy. Eighteen patients (33.3%) received radiotherapy; 11 (20.3%) with palliative intention and 7 (12.9%) with curative intention. Median overall survival (OS) was 12.03 months (95% CI 7.2–16.8). OS was not affected by sex (p=0.32), smoking history (p=0.51), alcohol consumption (p=0.36), family history (p=0.67), pleural effusion presence (p=0.80), operation (p=0.14), clinical stage (p=0.072), symptom at presentation (p=0.66), having mixed type histology (p=0.079), asbestos exposure (p=0.06), and type of 1st-line chemotherapy (p=0.161). On the contrary, it may be positively affected by good ECOG PS (0–1) (p<0.01), age below 65 (p=0.03), left-sided disease (p=0.01), receiving chemotherapy (p<0.01), having unilateral pleural effusion (p=0.018), and type of 2nd-line chemotherapy (p=0.025). Conclusions OS of our patients was better than that found in the literature, seeming to be positively affected by early stages, better ECOG PS, age below 65 years, left side involvement, and having second-line chemotherapy with cisplatin-gemcitabine or 3M. Overall treatment success seems to be comparable to what is currently expected.
A MULTI-MODELS APPROACH OF SAINT-VENANT’S EQUATIONS: A STABILITY STUDY BY LMI

This paper deals with the stability study of Partial Differential nonlinear Equation (PDE) of Saint-Venant. The proposed approach is based on the Multi-Models concept which takes into account some Linear Time Invariant (LTI) models defined around a set of operating points. This method allows to describe the dynamic of this nonlinear system in infinite dimension over a wide operating range. A stability analysis of the nonlinear PDE of Saint-Venant is proposed both by the use of Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) and an Internal Model Boundary Control (IMBC) structures. The method is applied both in simulations and real experimentations through a micro channel, illustrating thus the theoretical results developed in the paper.
Mechanism of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Exclusion from Mycobacterial Phagosomes

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is sensitive to nitric oxide generated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Consequently, to ensure its survival in macrophages, M. tuberculosis inhibits iNOS recruitment to its phagosome by an unknown mechanism. Here we report the mechanism underlying this process, whereby mycobacteria affect the scaffolding protein EBP50, which normally binds to iNOS and links it to the actin cytoskeleton. Phagosomes harboring live mycobacteria showed reduced capacity to retain EBP50, consistent with lower iNOS recruitment. EBP50 was found on purified phagosomes, and its expression increased upon macrophage activation, paralleling expression changes seen with iNOS. Overexpression of EBP50 increased while EBP50 knockdown decreased iNOS recruitment to phagosomes. Knockdown of EBP50 enhanced mycobacterial survival in activated macrophages. We tested another actin organizer, coronin-1, implicated in mycobacterium-macrophage interaction for contribution to iNOS exclusion. A knockdown of coronin-1 resulted in increased iNOS recruitment to model latex bead phagosomes but did not increase iNOS recruitment to phagosomes with live mycobacteria and did not affect mycobacterial survival. Our findings are consistent with a model for the block in iNOS association with mycobacterial phagosomes as a mechanism dependent primarly on reduced EBP50 recruitment.
Effect of extrac purple Ipomoe Batatas cultivar kawi mountain chronic inflammation in Wistar Rats with atherogenic diet

The potential biological functions of purple Ipomoea Batatas cultivar kawi mountain (IBCK). anthocyanin from purple Ipomoea Batatas cultivar Kawi mountain have long been described in traditional system of medicine. However, the protective effect of atherogenensis is still unknown. The present study attempted to investigate the protective effect of extract purple Ipomoea Batatas cultivar kawi mountain against foam cell and chronic inflammation in Wistar rats with atherogenic diet. The biochemical atherogenesis CD40L, NFκβ and histopathological foam cells changes were examined. Our results show that the pretreatment with extract purple Ipomoea Batatas kultivar kawi mountain (20mg/kgBW) orally revealed attenuation of cytokines activities of CD40L, NFκβ and decreased formation of foam cells in wistar rats with atherogenic diet. Keyword: Ipomoea batatas, anthocyanin ,rats,chronic inflamation
Differential engagement of Tim-1 during activation can positively or negatively costimulate T cell expansion and effector function

It has been suggested that T cell immunoglobulin mucin (Tim)-1 expressed on T cells serves to positively costimulate T cell responses. However, crosslinking of Tim-1 by its ligand Tim-4 resulted in either activation or inhibition of T cell responses, thus raising the issue of whether Tim-1 can have a dual function as a costimulator. To resolve this issue, we tested a series of monoclonal antibodies specific for Tim-1 and identified two antibodies that showed opposite functional effects. One anti–Tim-1 antibody increased the frequency of antigen-specific T cells, the production of the proinflammatory cytokines IFN-γ and IL-17, and the severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. In contrast, another anti–Tim-1 antibody inhibited the generation of antigen-specific T cells, production of IFN-γ and IL-17, and development of autoimmunity, and it caused a strong Th2 response. Both antibodies bound to closely related epitopes in the IgV domain of the Tim-1 molecule, but the activating antibody had an avidity for Tim-1 that was 17 times higher than the inhibitory antibody. Although both anti–Tim-1 antibodies induced CD3 capping, only the activating antibody caused strong cytoskeletal reorganization and motility. These data indicate that Tim-1 regulates T cell responses and that Tim-1 engagement can alter T cell function depending on the affinity/avidity with which it is engaged.
Double Bars, Inner Disks, and Nuclear Rings in Early-Type Disk Galaxies

We present results from a survey of an unbiased sample of 38 early-type (S0–Sa), low-inclination, optically barred galaxies in the field, using images both from the ground and from space. Our goal was to find and characterize central stellar and gaseous structures: secondary bars, inner disks, and nuclear rings. We find that bars inside bars are surprisingly common: at least one-quarter of the sample galaxies (possibly as many as 40%) are double barred, with no preference for Hubble type or the strength of the primary bar. A typical secondary bar is ∼12% of the size of its primary bar and extends to 240–750 pc in radius. Secondary bars are not systematically either parallel or perpendicular to the primary; we see cases where they lead the primary bar in rotation and others where they trail, which supports the hypothesis that the two bars of a double-bar system rotate independently. We see no significant effect of secondary bars on nuclear activity: our double-barred galaxies are no more likely to harbor a Seyfert or LINER nucleus than our single-barred galaxies. We find kiloparsec-scale inner disks in at least 20% of our sample; they occur almost exclusively in S0 galaxies. These disks are on average 20% the size of their host bar and show a wider range of relative sizes than do secondary bars. Nuclear rings are present in about a third of our sample. Most of these rings are dusty, sites of current or recent star formation, or both; such rings are preferentially found in Sa galaxies. Three S0 galaxies (8% of the sample, but 15% of the S0's) appear to have purely stellar nuclear rings, with no evidence for dust or recent star formation. The fact that these central stellar structures are so common indicates that the inner regions of early-type barred galaxies typically contain dynamically cool and disklike structures. This is especially true for S0 galaxies, where secondary bars, inner disks, and/or stellar nuclear rings are present at least two-thirds of the time. If we interpret nuclear rings, secondary bars, and (possibly) inner disks and nuclear spirals as signs of inner Lindblad resonances (ILRs), then between one and two-thirds of barred S0–Sa galaxies show evidence for ILRs.
Does stock price synchronicity rep-resent firm-specific information

Much of prior international accounting research imp l citly assumes that stock prices capture similar amounts of firm-specific informatio n across countries. Recent research asserts that stock price synchronicity, defined as the R 2 from asset pricing regressions, is a useful measure of the amount of firm-specific information mpounded in stock prices in international markets. However, the results of our empirical tes ts provide little support for using stock price synchronicity as a measure of firm-specific informa tion internationally. We develop an alternative measure of firm-specific information im pounded in stock price based on the percentage of zero-return days, i.e., the zero-retu rn metric, and repeat the analyses. Overall, our results suggest that the zero-return metric is a be tter measure of firm-specific information impounded into share prices than the synchronicity measure internationally. Does Stock Price Synchronicity Represent Firm-Speci fic Information? The International Evidence
Lawyer, Form Thyself: Professional Identity Formation Strategies in Legal Education, Professional Responsibility, and Experiential Courses

Professional identity formation as a learning objective in law school may appear to be nontraditional and perhaps even innovative. It is likely not a new concept, but at least has not traditionally been an explicit goal of legal education. In informal discussions among law professors, these ideas often emerge: law students develop their professional identities either in their families of origin or through life experiences prior to law school and therefore any such characteristics are set, ingrained, and perhaps immutable; law students develop their professional identities through interactions with supervisors during summer clerkships and after graduation -- “on the job” so to speak; or, finally, professional identity is an unteachable, untrainable, and intangible concept and law professors are unable to address it.
Anharmonic Algebraic Model of Thermodynamic Properties of Diatomic Molecules

An algebraic model based on Lie-algebraic techniques is applied to the analysis of thermodynamic vibrational properties of diatomic molecules. The local anharmonic effects are described by a Morse-like potential and corresponding anharmonic bosons associated with the U(2) algebra. A vibrational high temperature partition function and the related thermodynamic functions are derived in terms of the parameters of the model. The thermal expansion operator is defined and obtained using the renormalized frequency of the model.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication Data Sparse Coding in the Primate Cortex

xl1 rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. The handbook of brain theory and neural networks / Michael A. Arbib, editor. p. cm. " A Bradford book. " Includes bibliographical references and index. Introduction A central goal in the study of cortical function is to understand how states of the environment are represented by firing patterns of cortical neurons. Electrophysiological recordings from single cells have revealed a remarkably close relationship among stimuli, neural activity, and perceptual states. The nature of this relationship and interpretations of experimental results are fiercely debated. Is sensory information represented by the activity of single, individually meaningful cells, or is it only the global activity pattern across a whole cell population that corresponds to interpretable states? There are now strong theoretical reasons and experimental evidence suggesting that the brain adopts a compromise between these extremes which is often referred to as sparse coding.
A detailed heterogeneous agent model for a single asset financial market with trading via an order book

We present an agent based model of a single asset financial market that is capable of replicating most of the non-trivial statistical properties observed in real financial markets, generically referred to as stylized facts. In our model agents employ strategies inspired on those used in real markets, and a realistic trade mechanism based on a double auction order book. We study the role of the distinct types of trader on the return statistics: specifically, correlation properties (or lack thereof), volatility clustering, heavy tails, and the degree to which the distribution can be described by a log-normal. Further, by introducing the practice of “profit taking”, our model is also capable of replicating the stylized fact related to an asymmetry in the distribution of losses and gains.
Empirically Measuring the QoS Sensitivity of Interactive Online Game Players

It is widely assumed that highly interactive online games require a minimum quality of service (QoS) from the network, which suggests that offering premium IP service quality for game players may be a new source of revenue for Internet service providers (ISPs). In order to offer such services, ISPs must know the upper bounds of the performance metrics players are willing to tolerate. This paper reports on our preliminary attempts to experimentally establish performance bounds for different types of online games. First we placed a group of players in a controlled network environment, where artificial network delay and loss is introduced during their games. We logged objective measures (game performance indicators from the game server) and used a questionnaire to establish a subjective measure of user perceived quality as a function of different network conditions. Our paper concludes with an analysis of our results and a comparison with previous work based on indirect measurements.
The Influence of Authentic English Video Clips on Students’ Listening Comprehension

Various methods of teaching English to EFL students in Indonesia have been used to increase their language skills. However, students’ English profi ciency is still not satisfactory. Th erefore, this paper aimed at investigating the eff ects of using authentic English video clips to improve listening comprehension among EFL students in Aceh, Indonesia. A quasi-experimental group design with non-randomized pretest-posttest control was employed in this study. Th e sample of the study were 68 second-year students of State Senior High School 4 Banda Aceh. Th e experimental group was treated by using authentic English video clips and the control group was taught by using audio compact disc (CD). A listening test was used as an instrument to collect data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data collected. Results showed that the use of authentic English video clips signifi cantly improved students’ achievement in listening comprehension in comparison to those taught by using audio compact disc (CD), i.e., there was a signifi cant diff erence between students who were taught by using authentic English video clips and students who were taught by using audio compact disc (CD) in terms of listening comprehension.
Job satisfaction and the psychosocial work environment: Does the relationship vary by hospital patient care workers’ age?

Abstract Increasing job satisfaction of healthcare workers is important for workers themselves, their employers, and their patients. This study draws on a sample of 1,409 patient care workers across two hospitals in the United States to explore the moderating effect of age in associations between job satisfaction and individual-workplace psychosocial exposures. Psychosocial work factors analyzed include job flexibility, job demands, decision latitude, break practices, and meal breaks. Contrary to mainstream management discourse, our findings suggest that most situational determinants of job satisfaction may not vary significantly by age. Findings can be used to inform occupational social work practice and future directions for managing employee behavioral health.
Enterocin P Causes Potassium Ion Efflux from Enterococcus faecium T136 Cells

ABSTRACT Enterocin P is a bacteriocin produced by Enterococcus faecium P13. We studied the mechanism of its bactericidal action using enterocin-P-sensitive E. faecium T136 cells. The bacteriocin is incapable of dissipating the transmembrane pH gradient. On the other hand, depending on the buffer used, enterocin P dissipates the transmembrane potential. Enterocin P efficiently elicits efflux of potassium ions, but not of intracellularly accumulated anions like phosphate and glutamate. Taken together, these data demonstrate that enterocin P forms specific, potassium ion-conducting pores in the cytoplasmic membrane of target cells.
Individuals' perceptions of lifelong learning and the labour market competition: a case study in Shanghai, China

This study aims at understanding how individuals in Shanghai engage in labour market competition and lifelong learning in a newly marketised and competitive context. It probes the individuals’ participation in ‘the Training Programme for Talents in Shortage’ (STTP), their perceptions of the value of lifelong learning and their experience in competing for employment. It takes the position that rather than focusing only on policy-makers’ views, an understanding of people’s perceptions and participation in this programme can provide a proper basis for the formulation and the evaluation of the policy on a learning society (Gerard and Rees, 2002). STTP is a localized education and training programme in the post-compulsory sector, providing qualifications with largely local value. It has been developed and implemented by the Shanghai Municipal Government since 1993 as a means to enhance the city’s stock of human capital and to promote the development of a ‘learning society’. On the one hand, STTP is inspired and designed by straightforward human capital development concerns and has been implemented through a decentralized, semimarketised approach, to maintain the momentum of the city’s development by targeting key skills shortages. On the other hand, significant socio-economic changes, such as the emergence of a labour market, lead individuals to take on full personal responsibility for their own social position and to compete against each other. People seek to obtain all sorts of advantages to manage and construct their employability; this study investigates the role of STTP and its qualifications in building individuals’ portfolio of skills, qualifications and other aspects of their individual human capital. The thesis draws on two sets of literature: that on lifelong learning and employability, and that on sociological theories of engagement with and participation in lifelong learning, notably rational choice theory and theories of positional competition. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data gathering and analysis were applied. A questionnaire was administrated to 279 course participants; and interviews were conducted with 11 course participants, 4 non-participants and 4 course deliverers and policy-makers. Both instruments explored perceptions and experiences of the labour market, reasons for participating (or not) in STTP, their views on lifelong learning and the relationship between STTP, lifelong learning and the labour market. The finding suggests that a full understanding of individuals’ work and learning involves an analysis of a complex of relational interdependence between socially and culturally derived factors and personally subjective views of whom they are. In addition, the finding suggests that certain aspects of STTP, coupled with existing perceptions of formal education in Shanghai on the one hand and various interpretations of the needs of the labour market on the other, may be acting to challenge the original intentions of the programme, especially in terms of building a learning society.