Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surround Suppression Sharpens the Priority Map in the Lateral Intraparietal Area

In the visual world, stimuli compete with each other for allocation of the brain's limited processing resources. Computational models routinely invoke wide-ranging mutually suppressive interactions in spatial priority maps to implement active competition for attentional and saccadic allocation, but such suppressive interactions have not been physiologically described, and their existence is controversial. Much evidence implicates the lateral intraparietal area as a candidate priority map in the macaque (Macaca mulatta). Here, we demonstrate that the responses of neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) to a task-irrelevant distractor are strongly suppressed when the monkey plans saccades to locations outside their receptive fields. Suppression can be evoked both by flashed visual stimuli and by a memorized saccade plan. The suppressive surrounds of LIP neurons are spatially tuned and wide ranging. Increasing the monkey's motivation enhances target–distractor discriminability by enhancing both distractor suppression and the saccade goal representation; these changes are accompanied by correlated improvements in behavioral performance.
Modeling Diet-Induced Obesity with Obesity-Prone Rats: Implications for Studies in Females

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic, and the comorbidities associated with obesity are numerous. Over the last two decades, we and others have employed an outbred rat model to study the development and persistence of obesity, as well as the metabolic complications that accompany excess weight. In this review, we summarize the strengths and limitations of this model and how it has been applied to further our understanding of human physiology in the context of weight loss and weight regain. We also discuss how the approach has been adapted over time for studies in females and female-specific physiological conditions, such as menopause and breast cancer. As excess weight and the accompanying metabolic complications have become common place in our society, we expect that this model will continue to provide a valuable translational tool to establish physiologically relevant connections to the basic science studies of obesity and body weight regulation.
California: Rapid Response and Modeling of Fast Rupture on a Dipping Strike-slip Fault

Real-time high-rate geodetic data have been shown to be useful for rapid earthquake response systems during medium to large events. The 2014 M w 6.1 Napa, California earthquake is important because it provides an opportunity to study an event at the lower threshold of what can be detected with GPS. We show the results of GPS-only earthquake source products such as peak ground displacement magnitude scaling, centroid moment tensor (CMT) solution, and static slip inversion. We also highlight the retrospective real-time combination of GPS and strong motion data to produce seismogeodetic waveforms that have higher precision and longer period information than GPS-only or seismic-only measurements of ground motion. We show their utility for rapid kinematic slip inversion and conclude that it would have been possible, with current real-time infrastructure, to determine the basic features of the earthquake source. We supplement the analysis with strong motion data collected close to the source to obtain an improved postevent image of the source process. The model reveals unilateral fast propagation of slip to the north of the hypocenter with a delayed onset of shallow slip. The source model suggests that the multiple strands of observed surface rupture are controlled by the shallow soft sediments of Napa Valley and do not necessarily represent the intersection of the main faulting surface and the free surface. We conclude that the main dislocation plane is westward dipping and should intersect the surface to the east, either where the easternmost strand of surface rupture is observed or at the location where the West Napa fault has been mapped in the past.
Visual presentation of software specifications and designs

Formal methods hold the promise for high dependability in the design of critical software. However, software engineers who employ formal methods need to communicate their design decisions to users, customers, managers, and colleagues who may not be in a position to acquire a full understanding of the formal notation being used. Visualizations derived from formal specifications and designs must be able convey the required information precisely and reliably without the use of formal notation. The paper discusses an attempt to integrate a design methodology based upon specification and program refinement with a state-of-the-art approach to rapid visualization of program executions. The emphasis is placed on how to convey graphically various kinds of formally-stated program properties. The illustrations are extracted from a case study involving the formal derivation of a message router. The ultimate goal is to identify issues fundamental to the use of visualization in conjunction with formal methods and to catalog methods which achieve effective visual communication without compromising formal reasoning.
Functional Gene-Set Analysis Does Not Support a Major Role for Synaptic Function in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite high heritability estimates, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have failed to find significant genetic associations, likely due to the polygenic character of ADHD. Nevertheless, genetic studies suggested the involvement of several processes important for synaptic function. Therefore, we applied a functional gene-set analysis to formally test whether synaptic functions are associated with ADHD. Gene-set analysis tests the joint effect of multiple genetic variants in groups of functionally related genes. This method provides increased statistical power compared to conventional GWAS. We used data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium including 896 ADHD cases and 2455 controls, and 2064 parent-affected offspring trios, providing sufficient statistical power to detect gene sets representing a genotype relative risk of at least 1.17. Although all synaptic genes together showed a significant association with ADHD, this association was not stronger than that of randomly generated gene sets matched for same number of genes. Further analyses showed no association of specific synaptic function categories with ADHD after correction for multiple testing. Given current sample size and gene sets based on current knowledge of genes related to synaptic function, our results do not support a major role for common genetic variants in synaptic genes in the etiology of ADHD.
A Sensitive Indicator of Hemodynamic Changes in The Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Using a Modified Version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" as a Task Load

Previous studies have used a modified rock, paper, scissors (RPS) task to evaluate cerebral function. Normally, this game requires that participants attempt to win. The LOS task (attempting to lose on purpose) demands inhibition of stereotyped behavior, which is one of the important functions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). It has also been shown that more activity is induced in the lateral PFC (LPFC) when playing RPS to lose. Many of these studies have therefore focused on the LPFC. Thus, it would be valuable to establish a method of evaluating cerebral function using the modified version of RPS. This study subdivided the LPFC to investigate the reason for the increased hemodynamic changes in the modified RPS task to lose on purpose. And the hemodynamic changes under various task conditions were examined. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to monitor the hemodynamic changes in the LPFC during the modified RPS task. The subjects were 25 healthy adults. The task was adapted into four versions: ”WIN”, ”LOSE”, ”ALT”, and ”RND” tasks. The goal of the ”ALT” task was to win and lose alternately, and that of the ”RND” task was randomized. The hemodynamic changes during these tasks were compared. The oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) signals were recorded using a block design. The oxy-Hb signals were preprocessed and integrated for analysis. The hemodynamic changes in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) were found to be higher during the LOS task than during the WIN task. This increase was regarded as a logical outcome of VLPFC activation during a task involving the inhibition of stereotyped behavior. This suggested that, when using NIRS to evaluate the LPFC during the modified RPS task, focusing on the coupling of WIN and LOS tasks in the VLPFC may be valuable for evaluating cerebral function.
Structure theorems for constant mean curvature surfaces bounded by a planar curve

The authors prove that a compact, connected, embedded, constant mean curvature surface in R 3 whose boundary is a circle must be part of a sphere, under the additional hypothesis that along the boundary circle the surface meet the plane of the circle transversely. The proof relies on the plane-reﬂection technique of A. D. Alexandrov and on the force-balancing identity which holds for pieces of constant mean curvature surfaces.
Cultural influences on knowledge sharing through online communities of practice

– The purpose of this study is to explore cultural factors influencing knowledge sharing strategies in virtual communities of practice. , – A qualitative research design was employed. Data collection was based on in‐depth interviews. The authors assumed that such factors as degree of collectivism, competitiveness, the importance of saving face, in‐group orientation, attention paid to power and hierarchy, and culture‐specific preferences for communication modes, would explain differences in knowledge seeking and sharing patterns. , – The results showed that these factors had different levels of importance among employees in the three participating countries. The issue of saving face was less important than expected in China. Modesty requirements as well as a high degree of competitiveness among employees were found to be serious barriers to information sharing in China, but not in Russia and Brazil. Perceived differences in power and hierarchy seemed to be less critical in all three countries than initially assumed. , – Since this study was conducted among the online community members of Caterpillar Inc., the results could be affected by factors unique to this specific case. Thus, future research should investigate the influence of other factors such as the organizational culture, or occupational groups on knowledge sharing strategies. , – Before any introduction of country‐specific knowledge sharing systems, a cultural needs assessment should be conducted. , – The impact of national culture factors on knowledge sharing has been largely neglected in the literature, and the findings will assist knowledge managers charged with the design of flexible knowledge management systems.
KÜLTÜRLERARASI YETERLİLİĞİN KAZANILMASINDA KÜLTÜREL FARKLILIK EĞİTİMLERİNİN ÖNEMİ

21. yuzyilda dunya vatandasi olabilmenin onemli kosullarindan birisi diger kulturlerin farkina varmaya ve bu kulturleri anlamaya baglidir. Globallesme ile birlikte yabanci sermayenin uluslararasi dolasim hizinin artmasi, yerel ile uluslararasi olani karsi karsiya getirmistir. Bu durumda kisilerarasi etkilesimlerde kulturler arasindaki farkliliklar on plana cikmistir. Zaman, dil, yemek aliskanliklari, giyim bicimleri vb. unsurlar kulturel ogrenmelerle belirlendigi icin, global ekonomide basarili olmak isteyen kisi ve isletmelerin kulturlerarasi (iletisim) yeterliligini edinmesi sart olmustur. Kulturlerarasi yeterliligin gelismesinde en etkili yontem ise kulturel farklilik egitimidir. Kulturel farklilik egitimleri, kulture iliskin farkindaligin kazanilmasindan kulturlerarasi becerilerin edinildigi asamaya kadar uzun ve kapsamli bir sureci icermektedir. Bu calismada kulturlerarasi yeterliligin kazanilmasinda kulturel farklilik egitimlerinin onemi ve gerekliligi aciklanmaktadir.
Performance Analysis of Naive Bayes and J 48 Classification Algorithm for Data Classification

Classification is an important data mining technique with broad applications to classify the various kinds of data used in nearly every field of our life. Classification is used to classify the item according to the features of the item with respect to the predefined set of classes. This paper put a light on performance evaluation based on the correct and incorrect instances of data classification using Naïve Bayes and J48 classification algorithm. Naive Bayes algorithm is based on probability and j48 algorithm is based on decision tree. The paper sets out to make comparative evaluation of classifiers NAIVE BAYES AND J48 in the context of bank dataset to maximize true positive rate and minimize false positive rate of defaulters rather than achieving only higher classification accuracy using WEKA tool. The experiments results shown in this paper are about classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. The results in the paper on this dataset also show that the efficiency and accuracy of j48 is better than that of |Naïve bayes.
PARP-2 and PARP-3 are selectively activated by 5′ phosphorylated DNA breaks through an allosteric regulatory mechanism shared with PARP-1

PARP-1, PARP-2 and PARP-3 are DNA-dependent PARPs that localize to DNA damage, synthesize poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) covalently attached to target proteins including themselves, and thereby recruit repair factors to DNA breaks to increase repair efficiency. PARP-1, PARP-2 and PARP-3 have in common two C-terminal domains—Trp-Gly-Arg (WGR) and catalytic (CAT). In contrast, the N-terminal region (NTR) of PARP-1 is over 500 residues and includes four regulatory domains, whereas PARP-2 and PARP-3 have smaller NTRs (70 and 40 residues, respectively) of unknown structural composition and function. Here, we show that PARP-2 and PARP-3 are preferentially activated by DNA breaks harboring a 5′ phosphate (5′P), suggesting selective activation in response to specific DNA repair intermediates, in particular structures that are competent for DNA ligation. In contrast to PARP-1, the NTRs of PARP-2 and PARP-3 are not strictly required for DNA binding or for DNA-dependent activation. Rather, the WGR domain is the central regulatory domain of PARP-2 and PARP-3. Finally, PARP-1, PARP-2 and PARP-3 share an allosteric regulatory mechanism of DNA-dependent catalytic activation through a local destabilization of the CAT. Collectively, our study provides new insights into the specialization of the DNA-dependent PARPs and their specific roles in DNA repair pathways.
Novel Endogenous Retrovirus in Rabbits Previously Reported as Human Retrovirus 5

ABSTRACT Human retrovirus 5 (HRV-5) represented a fragment of a novel retrovirus sequence identified in human RNA and DNA preparations. In this study, the genome of HRV-5 was cloned and sequenced and integration sites were analyzed. Using PCR and Southern hybridization, we showed that HRV-5 is not integrated into human DNA. A survey of other species revealed that HRV-5 is present in the genomic DNA of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and belongs to an endogenous retrovirus family found in rabbits. The presence of rabbit sequences flanking HRV-5 proviruses in human DNA extracts suggested that rabbit DNA was present in our human extracts, and this was confirmed by PCR analysis that revealed the presence of rabbit mitochondrial DNA sequences in four of five human DNA preparations tested. The origin of the rabbit DNA and HRV-5 in human DNA preparations remains unclear, but laboratory contamination cannot explain the preferential detection of HRV-5 in inflammatory diseases and lymphomas reported previously. This is the first description of a retrovirus genome in rabbits, and sequence analysis shows that it is related to but distinct from A-type retroelements of mice and other rodents. The species distribution of HRV-5 is restricted to rabbits; other species, including other members of the order Lagomorpha, do not contain this sequence. Analysis of HRV-5 expression by Northern hybridization and reverse transcriptase PCR indicates that the virus is transcribed at a low level in many rabbit tissues. In light of these findings we propose that the sequence previously designated HRV-5 should now be denoted RERV-H (for rabbit endogenous retrovirus H).
A distributed power and rate control scheme for mobile ad hoc networks

The IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) is the medium access protocol widely used for wireless local networks (LAN). Unfortunately, IEEE 802.11 DCF described in the standard faces some challenges when adopted for multi hop networks, which arise from the presence of the so-called hidden stations. This can cause degradation of the network throughput performance and energy consumption. Solving the hidden terminal problem will increase the possibility of the so-called exposed terminal and vice versa. In this paper, we present a novel scheme, called PRAS-CP ( transmission power and rate adaptive scheme with collision prevention), which enhances network performance through balancing the tradeoff between the hidden terminals and the exposed terminals. To accomplish this, PRAS-CP integrates the Physical/MAC attributes ( the carrier sensing range and the interference range) and carrier sensing mechanisms (PCS, VCS) to assign the appropriate data rate and transmission power values to successfully exchange the RTS/CTS DATA/ACK packets. Simulation results under different scenarios are used to demonstrate the significant throughput, energy gains, and fairness that can be obtained by PRAS-CP.
Mitochondria act as a reservoir for the basic amine HIPDM in the lung.

The lungs are a site for the uptake, accumulation, and storage of exogenous basic amines. The compound N-N-N'-trimethyl-N'-(2-hydroxy-3-methyl-5-iodobenzyl)-1,3 propanediamine (HIPDM) is a basic amine that can be labelled with radioactive iodine and detected by external counting. Intravenously injected 123I-HIPDM is extracted by the human lung, where it is retained in a slowly effluxable pool. In the present study, we measured HIPDM lung kinetics and subcellular distribution in rabbits given i.v. 125I-HIPDM. Rabbits were killed from 2 min to 5 h after injection, and the radioactivity retained in their lungs was measured. Subcellular lung fractions (nuclear, mitochondrial, lysosomal, microsomal and postmicrosomal supernatant) were assayed for HIPDM radioactivity, protein content, and distribution of specific marker enzymes. HIPDM lung clearance in rabbits was nearly identical to that of humans. Virtually all the HIPDM radioactivity in lungs (98+/-1%) was associated with subcellular membranous structures. The highest HIPDM specific radioactivity was found in the mitochondrial fraction, and the subcellular distribution profile closely resembled that of the mitochondrial marker enzyme succinate cytochrome c reductase. No redistribution of HIPDM among subcellular compartments was observed over a 5 h period after injection. The data indicate that mitochondria act as reservoir for HIPDM in the lungs and contribute to the pulmonary persistence of this compound. HIPDM can be used to investigate the pulmonary uptake of basic amines in health and in lung disease.
ZERO NOMINAL INTEREST RATES: WHY THEY’RE GOOD AND HOW TO GET THEM

This study shows that in a standard one-sector neoclassical growth model, in which money is introduced with a cash-in-advance constraint, zero nominal interest rates are optimal. Milton Friedman argued in 1969 that zero nominal rates are necessary for efficient resource allocation. This study shows that they are not only necessary but sufficient. The study also characterizes the monetary policies that will implement zero rates. The set of such policies is quite large. The only restriction these policies must satisfy is that asymptotically money shrinks at a rate no greater than the rate of discount.
A Real-Time Haptic/Graphic Demonstration of how Error Augmentation can Enhance Learning

We developed a real-time controller for a 2 degree-of-freedom robotic system using xPC Target. This system was used to investigate how different methods of performance error feedback can lead to faster and more complete motor learning in individuals asked to compensate for a novel visuo-motor transformation (a 30 degree rotation). Four groups of human subjects were asked to reach with their unseen arm to visual targets surrounding a central starting location. A cursor tracking hand motion was provided during each reach. For one group of subjects, deviations from the “ideal” compensatory hand movement (i.e. trajectory errors) were amplified with a gain of 2 whereas another group was provided visual feedback with a gain of 3.1. Yet another group was provided cursor feedback wherein the cursor was rotated by an additional (constant) offset angle. We compared the rates at which the hand paths converged to the steady-state trajectories. Our results demonstrate that error-augmentation can improve the rate and extent of motor learning of visuomotor rotations in healthy subjects. Furthermore, our results suggest that both error amplification and offset-augmentation may facilitate neuro-rehabilitation strategies that restore function in brain injuries such as stroke.
Phase space quantization and loop quantum cosmology: a Wigner function for the Bohr-compactified real line

We give a definition for the Wigner function for quantum mechanics on the Bohr compactification of the real line and prove a number of simple consequences of this definition. We then discuss how this formalism can be applied to loop quantum cosmology. As an example, we use the Wigner function to give a new quantization of an important building block of the Hamiltonian constraint.
Architectures for digital filters using stochastic computing

Stochastic computing has recently gained attention due to its fault-tolerance property. In stochastic computing, numbers are represented by probabilities of sequences. This paper addresses implementation of inner products and digital filters using stochastic logic. Straightforward implementations of stochastic inner products and digital filters lead to significantly large output error. To overcome this, this paper proposes a novel scaling method for efficient stochastic logic implementations of inner products and digital filters. By incorporating the filter coefficients into the probability of the selection signals of the multiplexors, the proposed weighted summation circuit can achieve better signal scaling with lower cost than the one derived from a traditional structure. This paper also presents how to vary the seeds in stochastic filters in order to reduce the correlation. Implementing IIR filters using stochastic logic limits possible pole locations. To overcome this, a new stochastic IIR filter structure is presented that includes a binary multiplier and stochastic-to-binary and binary-to-stochastic converters. Our experimental results show that the proposed architecture for the inner-product unit can lead to more than 12 times reduction in the error-to-power ratio. The stochastic FIR filters can perform the desired filtering function, but their accuracy degrades with the increase of filter order. The direct-form stochastic IIR filters may fail for large filter orders, but their performance can be improved by using cascade-form filter architecture.