Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Woodward Neuronal responses in the frontal cortico-basal ganglia system during delayed matching-to-sample task : ensemble recording in freely moving rats

Electrophysiological recording of single neu-ron activity has been conducted in rats to investigate the patterns of distributed neuronal responses in the frontal cortico-basal ganglia system that code information during a spatial-delayed matching-to-sample task (DMTSt). Rats were trained to press one of the two retractable levers presented randomly as a sample response. The first valid nose-poke after a delay resulted in the presentation of both levers. Pressing the same lever as the sample lever led to a water reward (match to sample), whereas pressing the lever opposite the sample lever resulted in a time-out (house light turned off). One hundred seventy-one neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), 51 in the dorsal striatum (STR), and 93 in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) were recorded during DMTSt. Different patterns of neuronal responses were observed during different be-havioral episodes (sample, delay, and match phases) in all three recording areas. Space-related neuronal responses specific to the side of the lever pressed were more often found in the sample phase than in the match phase in all three areas studied. Neuronal responses specific to either correct or error trials were observed with similar percentages in the mPFC and the NAc, while the incidence of correct/error-coded activity in the STR was lower. Ensemble neuronal activity that coded sample versus match lever presses was observed in three out of five rats in sets of trials with similar speed and trajectory of lever press. The results reveal specific patterns of neural responses in the frontal cortico-basal ganglia system in rats during the DMTSt and suggest the existence of specific neuronal coding for different behavioral events associated with a learned short-term memory process.
Ecohydrodynamics of Cold-Water Coral Reefs: A Case Study of the Mingulay Reef Complex (Western Scotland)

Ecohydrodynamics investigates the hydrodynamic constraints on ecosystems across different temporal and spatial scales. Ecohydrodynamics play a pivotal role in the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems, however the lack of integrated complex flow models for deep-water ecosystems beyond the coastal zone prevents further synthesis in these settings. We present a hydrodynamic model for one of Earth's most biologically diverse deep-water ecosystems, cold-water coral reefs. The Mingulay Reef Complex (western Scotland) is an inshore seascape of cold-water coral reefs formed by the scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa. We applied single-image edge detection and composite front maps using satellite remote sensing, to detect oceanographic fronts and peaks of chlorophyll a values that likely affect food supply to corals and other suspension-feeding fauna. We also present a high resolution 3D ocean model to incorporate salient aspects of the regional and local oceanography. Model validation using in situ current speed, direction and sea elevation data confirmed the model's realistic representation of spatial and temporal aspects of circulation at the reef complex including a tidally driven current regime, eddies, and downwelling phenomena. This novel combination of 3D hydrodynamic modelling and remote sensing in deep-water ecosystems improves our understanding of the temporal and spatial scales of ecological processes occurring in marine systems. The modelled information has been integrated into a 3D GIS, providing a user interface for visualization and interrogation of results that allows wider ecological application of the model and that can provide valuable input for marine biodiversity and conservation applications.
Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

The success of modern business is apparent, but recently there is much concern in the business-and-society literature and in the general press on whether business fulfils its social role responsibly. Business ethics, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance movements have been developed in recent decades as responses to a growing sense of corporate wrongdoing. This paper attempts to explain why the three movements seem yet to have generated little in the form of widely accepted prescriptions for improvement of business behaviour to the satisfaction of the “constituents” of business, i.e. the major stakeholders. Without denying the usefulness of any of the three movements, the paper suggests that there are weaknesses in all three, especially concerning the way they conceive modern business operation. To this end business pluralism, responsive codes of practice and re-examination of the assumptions (conditions) of business operation could be helpful.
Michigan's School Finance Reform: Initial Pupil-Equity Results.

Michigan culminated 25 years of political debate about school finance reform with passage of a constitutional amendment in March 1994. In the space of the nine months between July 1993 and March 1994 state legislators and Michigan voters acted to both alter the tax structure and to address funding equity for public schools. In 1968, J. Alan Thomas, author of a Michigan school finance study, asserted that "(Ohe most effective way to guarantee that the educational opportunities of children in Michigan would be equitably distributed would be through a shift toward state responsibility in providing revenues for the operation of schools."1 A 1971 case study of decision-making regarding Michigan's educational finances concluded that "it is unlikely that equalization can come about without changes in the tax structure."2 After twelve failed ballot proposals and many efforts to improve equity through various appropriation measures, the Michigan legislature made national headlines in July 1993 when it eliminated local property taxes as a revenue source for school operations. In October 1993 Michigan's Governor Engler issued a finance-reform, revenue-restoration plan in a document entitled "Our Kids Deserve Better." The proposal included (a) a new state property tax, (b) an increase in the state sales tax rate from 4 to 6
The Impact of Misfolding versus Targeted Degradation on the Efficiency of the MHC Class I-Restricted Antigen Processing1

Evidence suggests that most epitopes presented by MHC class I molecules are derived from those newly synthesized proteins that are defective due to errors during manufacture. We examined epitope production from model cytosolic and exocytic proteins modified in various ways. Substrates containing a degradation targeting sequence demonstrated very rapid turnover and enhanced epitope production, as was the case for substrate retargeted from endoplasmic reticulum to cytosol. For less radical alterations, including point mutation and deletion and elimination of glycosylation sites, despite detectable changes in folding, half-life was only moderately decreased and there were no significant increases in epitope production. Puromycin, which causes premature termination of protein synthesis, also had no impact upon epitope production. It appears that most defective proteins are not rapidly dispensed with and the targeting of most nascent proteins for Ag processing is not tied to quality control.
Global House Price Fluctuations : Synchronization and Determinants 1 Prepared by

We examine the properties of house price fluctuations across 18 advanced economies over the past 40 years. We ask two specific questions: First, how synchronized are housing cycles across these countries? Second, what are the main shocks driving movements in global house prices? To address these questions, we first estimate the global components in house prices and various macroeconomic and financial variables. We then evaluate the roles played by a variety of global shocks, including shocks to interest rates, monetary policy, productivity, credit, and uncertainty, in explaining house price fluctuations using a wide range of FAVAR models. We find that house prices are synchronized across countries, and the degree of synchronization has increased over time. Global interest rate shocks tend to have a significant negative effect on global house prices whereas global monetary policy shocks per se do not appear to have a sizeable impact. Interestingly, uncertainty shocks seem to be important in explaining fluctuations in global house prices. JEL Classification Numbers: E32; E43; E52; G15; R31
Specification of Hedonic Price Functions: Guidance for Cross- Sectional and Panel Data Applications

The hedonic pricing model is widely accepted as a method for estimating the marginal willingness to pay for spatially delineated amenities. Empirical applications typically rely on one of three functional forms—linear, semi-log, and double-log—and rarely involve rigorous specification testing. This phenomenon is largely due to an influential simulation study by Cropper, Deck and McConnell (CDM) (1988) that found, among other things, that simpler linear specifications outperformed more flexible functional forms in the face of omitted variables. In the 20 years that have elapsed since their study, there have been major computational advances and significant changes in the way hedonic price functions can be estimated—including panel data methods used in quasi-experimental analyses focused on removing omitted variable bias. The purpose of our paper is to update and extend the CDM (1988) simulations to investigate current issues in hedonic modeling. Three important results obtained from our theoretically consistent and carefully calibrated simulation include: (i) Using larger sample sizes than CDM and including spatial dummy variables appears to “rehabilitate” the more flexible specifications in the face of omitted variables, (ii) Exploring modern quasiexperimental and panel hedonic methods we find that in the presence of time-varying omitted variables that a first-difference specification can perform worse than OLS using pooled crosssections, and (iii) The difference-and-difference model with spatial dummies is most accurate in identifying MWTP in situations where there is a time dimension to the data and we move between equilibria.
Developmental and Genotypic Variation in Leaf Wax Content and Composition, and in Expression of Wax Biosynthetic Genes in Brassica oleracea var. capitata

Cuticular waxes act as a protective barrier against environmental stresses. In the present study, we investigated developmental and genotypic variation in wax formation of cabbage lines, with a view to understand the related morphology, genetics and biochemistry. Our studies revealed that the relative expression levels of wax biosynthetic genes in the first-formed leaf of the highest-wax line remained constantly higher but were decreased in other genotypes with leaf aging. Similarly, the expression of most of the tested genes exhibited decrease from the inner leaves to the outer leaves of 5-month-old cabbage heads in the low-wax lines in contrast to the highest-wax line. In 10-week-old plants, expression of wax biosynthetic genes followed a quadratic function and was generally increased in the early developing leaves but substantially decreased at the older leaves. The waxy compounds in all cabbage lines were predominately C29-alkane, -secondary alcohol, and -ketone. Its deposition was increased with leaf age in 5-month-old plants. The high-wax lines had dense, prominent and larger crystals on the leaf surface compared to low-wax lines under scanning electron microscopy. Principal component analysis revealed that the higher expression of LTP2 genes in the lowest-wax line and the higher expression of CER3 gene in the highest-wax line were probably associated with the comparatively lower and higher wax content in those two lines, respectively. This study furthers our understanding of the relationships between the expression of wax biosynthetic genes and the wax deposition in cabbage lines. Highlight: In cabbage, expression of wax-biosynthetic genes was generally decreased in older and senescing leaves, while wax deposition was increased with leaf aging, and C29-hydrocarbon was predominant in the wax crystals.
IRE1 directs proteasomal and lysosomal degradation of misfolded rhodopsin

IRE1 signaling robustly promoted P23H rhodopsin degradation by both proteasome and lysosome. When one degradation pathway was blocked, IRE1 signaling still promoted misfolded rhodopsin degradation using the remaining pathway. IRE1 signaling reduced levels of other misfolded rhodopsins, with lesser effects on misfolded CFTR.
Acombined stress responseanalysis ofSpirulina platensis in terms ofglobal di ¡ erentiallyexpressed proteins , andmRNA levels and stabilityoffattyacid biosynthesis genes

Acombined stress responseanalysis ofSpirulina platensis in terms ofglobal di¡erentiallyexpressed proteins, andmRNA levels and stabilityoffattyacid biosynthesis genes Wattana Jeamton, Sutada Mungpakdee, Matura Sirijuntarut, Peerada Prommeenate, Supapon Cheevadhanarak, Morakot Tanticharoen & Apiradee Hongsthong Pilot Plant Development and Training Institute; School of Bioresources and Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok Thailand; and BEC Unit, National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Bangkok, Thailand
Telling a (good?) counterstory of aging: natural bodybuilding meets the narrative of decline.

OBJECTIVES In Western society, the narrative of decline dominates the aging process. We know very little about the complexities of how people resist this narrative. The purpose of this article is to understand how a group of mature natural bodybuilders resisted the narrative of decline. METHODS In-depth life story interviews were conducted with 13 natural bodybuilders aged between 50 and 73 years. Verbatim transcripts were produced and the data analyzed using a structural narrative analysis. A dialogical analysis was also utilized. RESULTS The participants' experiences did not fit with stereotypical assumptions about decline and deterioration in older age. They all told counterstories to "natural" aging, yet what differed was how the participants' counterstories resisted the narrative of decline and the level of resistance that they provided. DISCUSSION We advance knowledge in the fields of aging and narrative inquiry by revealing the multidimensionality of resistance. We demonstrated how participants storied resistance in different ways and the important implications this had for the way aging was understood and acted upon-by themselves and potentially by others. In addition to advancing theoretical knowledge, in this article, we also significantly contribute to understandings of the potential of narrative for changing human lives and behavior across the life course in more positive and nuanced ways.
Wenxiang: a web-server for drawing wenxiang diagrams

The wenxiang diagram was proposed to represent α-helices in a 2D (two dimensional) space (Chou, K.C., Zhang, C.T., Maggiora, G.M. Proteins: Struct., Funct., Genet., 1997, 28, 99-108). It has the capacity to provide more information in a 2D plane about each of the constituent amino acid residues in an α-helix, and is particularly useful for studying and analyzing amphiphilic helices. To meet the increasing requests for getting the program of generating wenxiang diagrams, a user-friendly web-server called “Wenxiang” has been established. It is accessible to the public at the web-site http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/wenxiang2 or http://icpr.jci. edu.cn/bioinfo/wenxiang2. Furthermore, for the convenience of users, here we provide a step-to-step guide for how to use the Wenxiang web-server to generate the desired wenxiang diagrams.
An integrated framework of the modeling of failure-detection and fault-correction processes in software reliability analysis

The failure-detection and fault-correction are critical processes in attaining good performance of software quality. In this paper, we propose several improvements on the conventional software reliability growth models (SRGMs) to describe actual software development process by eliminating some unrealistic assumptions. Most of these models have focused on the failure detection process and not given equal priority to modeling the fault correction process. But, most latent software errors may remain uncorrected for a long time even after they are detected, which increases their impact. The remaining software faults are often one of the most unreliable reasons for software quality. Therefore, we develop a general framework of the modeling of the failure detection and fault correction processes. Furthermore, we also analyze the effect of applying the delay-time non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) models. Finally, numerical examples are shown to illustrate the results of the integration of the detection and correction process.
The Behavior of Mutual Fund Investors

We analyze the mutual fund purchase and sale decisions of over 30,000 households with accounts at a large U.S. discount broker for the six years ending in 1996. We document three primary results. First, investors buy funds with strong past performance; over half of all fund purchases occur in funds ranked in the top quintile of past annual returns. Second, investors sell funds with strong past performance and are reluctant to sell their losing fund investments; they are twice as likely to sell a winning mutual fund rather than a losing mutual fund and, thus, nearly 40 percent of fund sales occur in funds ranked in the top quintile of past annual returns. Third, investors are sensitive to the form in which fund expenses are charged; though investors are less likely to buy funds with high transaction fees (e.g., broker commissions or front-end load fees), their purchases are relatively insensitive to a fund’s operating expense ratio. We argue that the representative heuristic leads investors to buy past winners, the disposition effect renders investors reluctant to sell their losers, and framing effects cause investors to react differently to various forms of fund expenses. Given extant evidence on the persistence of mutual fund performance, one can reasonably argue that the purchase of last year’s winning funds is rational. However, we argue that selling winning fund investments and neglecting a fund’s operating expense ratio when purchasing a fund is clearly counterproductive.
Reference time in child English and Polish

The purpose of this research was to investigate the manner in which reference time becomes integrated into the child's emerging systems of temporal reference. The longitudinal data from six children learning English and six children learning Polish were analyzed within the period from about 1;6 to 5;0. The temporal reference within an event time and a reference time system was evaluated. Regarding reference time constructions, we traced the acquisition of the following terms: (1) English,when, then, before, after, yesterday, today and tomorrow, and (2) Polish,potem ‘then’,jak (simultaneous ‘when’),jak (sequential, ‘after’),przed ‘before’,po ‘after’,wczoraj ‘yesterday’,dzisiaj ‘today’ andjutro‘tomorrow’. Entrance into the reference time system followed entrance into the event time system by about one year, i.e., at about 3 years as contrasted with 2 years of age. Children learning English and Polish produced deictic mismatches between tense and adverbs while learning the meaning of ‘yesterday’, ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow’, and they made errors in the co-ordination of tenses in complex sentences. The error patterns that accompany the entrance into the reference time system demonstrate the importance of combining a theory of sentence processing with a theory of clause structure.
The bigger picture: feature on information management systems

Small firms are innovative and flexible and, therefore, vital to the UK economy. They make a major contribution to business activity. Management accounting systems (MAS) is the key information system in small firms and use of MAS is crucial to enhancing performance, surviving in the market and coping with change. This research found that the most common problem-solving/decision-making use of a small firm's information system was in pricing. This emphasizes the revenue side of the profit equation and suggests that a key purpose of using information is to generate profit. But the uses of information cited are diverse.
Deferring Generalizability: Four Classes of Generalization in Social Enquir

Generalization in information systems research is important because of the highly applied and vocational nature of the field. However, the concept is often inappropriately and narrowly confined to one or two views of research. This paper develops the concept of generalizability as a two-stage process. The first stage involves creating a general case from a base case (or cases). The second stage involves applying the general case to a goal case. The predominant concern in the information systems literature regards only stage one generalization. This neglect of the stage two generalization process leads to oversights in the nature of qualitative generalization. These oversights include varying standards of criteria that apply to different classes of generalization.
Seedling performance trade-offs influencing habitat filtering along a soil nutrient gradient in a tropical forest

Recent studies have provided evidence that trade-offs in biomass allocation, resource-use efficiency, and anti-herbivore defense influence seedling performance and distribution across soil types. Our previous research suggested that soil nutrient availability acted as a filter for understory palm community assembly and species coexistence in a lower montane forest in western Panama. Here, we experimentally tested three potential mechanisms that could be driving this filtering of palm communities along a soil nutrient gradient. We examined seedling performance of 13 understory palm taxa with differing distribution patterns transplanted to five sites, where they were both exposed to and protected from herbivores. We found the strongest evidence for habitat filtering at the lowest-nutrient site, where seedlings of locally occurring species had significant performance advantages over those of locally absent species, regardless of protection from herbivores. When transplanted to the lowest-nutrient site, seedl.
Looking Around the Mind's Eye: How Internal Deployments of Attention Can Affect Visual Search Performance

We present a new computational model that explores the role of visual working memory during the process of search, using the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) as an example visual search task. Our model offers new results to show how variations in attention to an internally stored target template can have a substantial effect on measures of search performance. Furthermore, these variations do not necessarily relate to quantitative differences in memory capacity, but in fact can arise through minor changes in sequences of attentional selection over the target template, without changing overall system storage capacities or search processes at all. We discuss the implications of our results for developing new computational models of visual attention and search as well as for the interpretation of human cognition through EFT observations.