Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An investigation of the adaptive functions of overconfidence

The research presented in this thesis explores the question of whether overconfidence provides adaptive benefits. Chapter 1 presents the arguments for three adaptive accounts of overconfidence; that it leads to mental health benefits, increased motivation, and positive social outcomes. It then outlines the forms of measurement needed to properly test these adaptive accounts, and reviews the extant literature. Chapter 2 reports a longitudinal study that tested the effects of two forms of overconfidence (athletic and intellectual) on each of the three adaptive outcomes. Results from this study were mixed, with both forms of overconfidence showing positive cross-sectional associations with mental health outcomes, but largely null effects over time. Overconfidence in sporting ability was strongly associated with increased effort and improvement in sport over time, as well as increased popularity. In contrast, intellectual overconfidence had largely null effects on effort, improvement, or social success over time. Together, the results from Chapter 2 provide evidence that at least one form of overconfidence conferred adaptive benefits to motivation and social success, while results on mental health were more ambiguous. Importantly, this study found no evidence for the oft-cited possibility that overconfidence leads to deleterious outcomes over time. Chapter 3 extends the investigation of the adaptive functions of overconfidence on social success, testing whether overconfidence helps to win potential romantic partners rather than just friends. In Study 1, overconfident people were perceived as more confident in their dating profiles, and this perceived confidence predicted increased romantic desirability. Study 2 revealed that overconfident people also tend to be perceived as arrogant, however, which counteracted the positive effects of perceived confidence. Study 3 supported the idea that overconfidence might confer an advantage in intrasexual competition, as people were less likely to compete with overconfident individuals due to their perceived confidence and arrogance. Study 4 showed that overconfident raters were themselves more likely to choose
Innovations in interventional pain management of chronic spinal pain

ABSTRACT Introduction: Interventional pain management dates back to 1901, with significant innovations, which include the definition, literature synthesis, pathophysiology, and technical interventions. Areas covered: Interventional pain management and interventional techniques include neural blockade, neural ablative procedures, spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation, intrathecal drug delivery systems, minimally invasive lumbar decompression (MILD®), percutaneous endoscopic spinal decompression, and regenerative medicine. In addition, advances are also related to the evidence synthesis of comparative effectiveness research. Expert commentary: Multiple innovations in interventional pain management and potential innovations may reduce costs and improve care and outcomes with proper evidence synthesis and application of principles of evidence-based medicine. Innovations in interventional pain management in managing chronic spinal pain depend on extensive research and appropriate evidence synthesis. Innovations should be developed in conjunction with health care policy based on principles of evidence-based medicine.
Circadian Behavioral Responses to Light and Optic Chiasm-Evoked Glutamatergic EPSCs in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus of ipRGC Conditional vGlut2 Knock-Out Mice

Abstract Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) innervate the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a circadian oscillator that functions as a biological clock. ipRGCs use vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (vGlut2) to package glutamate into synaptic vesicles and light-evoked resetting of the SCN circadian clock is widely attributed to ipRGC glutamatergic neurotransmission. Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is also packaged into vesicles in ipRGCs and PACAP may be coreleased with glutamate in the SCN. vGlut2 has been conditionally deleted in ipRGCs in mice [conditional knock-outs (cKOs)] and their aberrant photoentrainment and residual attenuated light responses have been ascribed to ipRGC PACAP release. However, there is no direct evidence that all ipRGC glutamatergic neurotransmission is eliminated in vGlut2 cKOs. Here, we examined two lines of ipRGC vGlut2 cKO mice for SCN-mediated behavioral responses under several lighting conditions and for ipRGC glutamatergic neurotransmission in the SCN. Circadian behavioral responses varied from a very limited response to light to near normal photoentrainment. After collecting behavioral data, hypothalamic slices were prepared and evoked EPSCs (eEPSCs) were recorded from SCN neurons by stimulating the optic chiasm. In cKOs, glutamatergic eEPSCs were recorded and all eEPSC parameters examined (stimulus threshold, amplitude, rise time or time-to-peak and stimulus strength to evoke a maximal response) were similar to controls. We conclude that a variable number but functionally significant percentage of ipRGCs in two vGlut2 cKO mouse lines continue to release glutamate. Thus, the residual SCN-mediated light responses in these cKO mouse lines cannot be attributed solely to ipRGC PACAP release.
Biomechanical comparison of a novel engine‐driven ridge spreader and conventional ridge splitting techniques

OBJECTIVES Ridge splitting techniques are used for horizontal ridge augmentation in implant dentistry. Recently, a novel engine-driven ridge splitting technique was introduced. This study compared the mechanical forces produced by conventional and engine-driven ridge splitting techniques in porcine mandibles. MATERIAL AND METHODS In 33 pigs, mandibular premolar areas were selected for the ridge splitting procedures, designed as a randomized split-mouth study. The conventional group underwent a chisel-and-mallet procedure (control group, n = 20), and percussive impulse (Newton second, Ns) was measured using a sensor attached to the mallet. In the engine-driven ridge spreader group (test group, n = 23), a load cell was used to measure torque values (Newton centimeter, Ncm). Horizontal acceleration generated during procedures (control group, n = 10 and test group, n = 10) was compared between the groups. RESULTS After ridge splitting, the alveolar crest width was significantly increased both in the control (1.23 ± 0.45 mm) and test (0.98 ± 0.41 mm) groups with no significant differences between the groups. The average impulse of the control group was 4.74 ± 1.05 Ns. Torque generated by rotation in the test group was 9.07 ± 2.15 Ncm. Horizontal acceleration was significantly less in the test group (0.82 ± 1.05 g) than the control group (64.07 ± 42.62 g) (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Narrow edentulous ridges can be expanded by novel engine-driven ridge spreaders. Within the limits of this study, the results suggested that an engine-driven ridge splitting technique may be less traumatic and less invasive than a conventional ridge splitting technique.
An MCMC approach to empirical Bayes inference and Bayesian sensitivity analysis via empirical processes

Consider a Bayesian situation in which we observe $Y \sim p_{\theta}$, where $\theta \in \Theta$, and we have a family $\{ \nu_h, \, h \in \mathcal{H} \}$ of potential prior distributions on $\Theta$. Let $g$ be a real-valued function of $\theta$, and let $I_g(h)$ be the posterior expectation of $g(\theta)$ when the prior is $\nu_h$. We are interested in two problems: (i) selecting a particular value of $h$, and (ii) estimating the family of posterior expectations $\{ I_g(h), \, h \in \mathcal{H} \}$. Let $m_y(h)$ be the marginal likelihood of the hyperparameter $h$: $m_y(h) = \int p_{\theta}(y) \, \nu_h(d\theta)$. The empirical Bayes estimate of $h$ is, by definition, the value of $h$ that maximizes $m_y(h)$. It turns out that it is typically possible to use Markov chain Monte Carlo to form point estimates for $m_y(h)$ and $I_g(h)$ for each individual $h$ in a continuum, and also confidence intervals for $m_y(h)$ and $I_g(h)$ that are valid pointwise. However, we are interested in forming estimates, with confidence statements, of the entire families of integrals $\{ m_y(h), \, h \in \mathcal{H} \}$ and $\{ I_g(h), \, h \in \mathcal{H} \}$: we need estimates of the first family in order to carry out empirical Bayes inference, and we need estimates of the second family in order to do Bayesian sensitivity analysis. We establish strong consistency and functional central limit theorems for estimates of these families by using tools from empirical process theory. We give two applications, one to Latent Dirichlet Allocation, which is used in topic modelling, and the other is to a model for Bayesian variable selection in linear regression.
A sheet of coffee: an event-related brain potential study of the processing of classifier-noun sequences in English and Mandarin

ABSTRACT Comprehension of classifier-noun sequences was examined in separate studies in English and Mandarin by comparing event-related brain potential (ERP) responses to classifier-noun matches (a sheet of paper) and mismatches (a sheet of coffee) embedded in sentences. One goal was to determine which ERP components are sensitive to such mismatches, as a clue about the nature of the underlying combinatorial processes. Another goal was to examine effects of classifier constraint strength (a piece of … vs. a sheet of … ) on anticipation of a subsequent noun. Results were similar in the two languages, which is remarkable given substantial differences between them in classifier usage. In both languages, nouns evoked larger N400s in mismatching classifier-noun sequences, suggesting that combinatorial processing was primarily semantic, and general classifiers evoked a larger sustained frontal negativity than specific classifiers starting 200 milliseconds after classifier onset, reflecting effects of constraint strength on anticipation of the upcoming noun.
Preparation, characterization, and antimicrobial activities of ZnO nanoparticles/cellulose nanocrystal nanocomposites

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized within cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as a new stabilizer by a precipitation method for antimicrobial applications. For fabrication of ZnO/CNC nanocomposites, solutions with different molar ratios of Zn to CNC were prepared in ethanol as the solvent. ZnO/CNC was separated from the suspension and then dried at 120 °C for 1 hour. The nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and thermogravimetric (TG) analyses. According to the XRD and TEM results, the ZnO nanoparticles with a hexagonal wurtzite structure were easily prepared and dispersed in the CNC with an average size of less than 20 nm. The average size of the ZnO nanoparticles increased with increasing molar ratio of ZnO to CNC. The best ratio of Zn:CNC was chosen based on the small size of the ZnO nanoparticles that yielded better antimicrobial and thermal properties. The UV-vis absorption spectra of the ZnO/CNC nanocomposites showed absorption peaks in the UV region that were ascribed to the band gap of the ZnO nanoparticles. The antibacterial effects of ZnO/CNC were stronger compared to ZnO nanoparticles.
Grad-CAM++: Generalized Gradient-Based Visual Explanations for Deep Convolutional Networks

Over the last decade, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models have been highly successful in solving complex vision based problems. However, deep models are perceived as "black box" methods considering the lack of understanding of their internal functioning. There has been a significant recent interest to develop explainable deep learning models, and this paper is an effort in this direction. Building on a recently proposed method called Grad-CAM, we propose Grad-CAM++ to provide better visual explanations of CNN model predictions (when compared to Grad-CAM), in terms of better localization of objects as well as explaining occurrences of multiple objects of a class in a single image. We provide a mathematical explanation for the proposed method, Grad-CAM++, which uses a weighted combination of the positive partial derivatives of the last convolutional layer feature maps with respect to a specific class score as weights to generate a visual explanation for the class label under consideration. Our extensive experiments and evaluations, both subjective and objective, on standard datasets showed that Grad-CAM++ indeed provides better visual explanations for a given CNN architecture when compared to Grad-CAM.
Changes in Gait between Successful Balance Recovery and Fall afterUnexpected Slip

This paper concentrates on the analysis of the human body of lower limb muscles and the effect of the gait motion. Eight human lower limb muscles are selected, containing: hip extensor: (semitendinosus and biceps femoris), hip flexor: (rectus femoris and vastus medialis), knee extensor: (vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, vastus medialis), knee flexor: (lateralis gastrocnemius, medialis gastrocnemius and semitendinosus), ankle plantar flexion: (lateralis gastrocnemius and medialis gastrocnemius), ankle dorsal flexor: (tibialis anterior). The Telemyo 2400 DTS and Vicon MX system is used to collect gait parameters and surface Electromyography (sEMG) of lower limbs when 10 healthy subjects walk on the oil trails recovery or fall from slipping during leg heel contacting trail moment to swing leg heel contacting trail moment (the first double support and single support phase). Moreover, this paper compares and analyzes the muscles reaction and gait parameters change about hip, knee and ankle after subjects suffer the interference and then slip or fall. The results indicate that increasing the stretching hip, the knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion movement contributes to human recovery balance from unexpected slip. The results of this research will explore new ideas and provide a reference value for the formulation of anti-slip strategy, rehabilitation training and the development of lower limb walker.
Altered Activation of Protein Kinase PKR and Enhanced Apoptosis in Dystonia Cells Carrying a Mutation in PKR Activator Protein PACT*

Background: Point mutation P222L in PKR activator PACT causes movement disorder dystonia. Results: PACT mutant P222L causes delayed and prolonged PKR and eIF2α phosphorylation in response to the ER stress. Conclusion: Altered kinetics of PKR activation in response to the ER stress enhances apoptosis in dystonia cells. Significance: This is the first study of molecular mechanisms involved in dystonia 16. PACT is a stress-modulated activator of the interferon-induced double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR). Stress-induced phosphorylation of PACT is essential for PACT's association with PKR leading to PKR activation. PKR activation leads to phosphorylation of translation initiation factor eIF2α inhibition of protein synthesis and apoptosis. A recessively inherited form of early-onset dystonia DYT16 has been recently identified to arise due to a homozygous missense mutation P222L in PACT. To examine if the mutant P222L protein alters the stress-response pathway, we examined the ability of mutant P222L to interact with and activate PKR. Our results indicate that the substitution mutant P222L activates PKR more robustly and for longer duration albeit with slower kinetics in response to the endoplasmic reticulum stress. In addition, the affinity of PACT-PACT and PACT-PKR interactions is enhanced in dystonia patient lymphoblasts, thereby leading to intensified PKR activation and enhanced cellular death. P222L mutation also changes the affinity of PACT-TRBP interaction after cellular stress, thereby offering a mechanism for the delayed PKR activation in response to stress. Our results demonstrate the impact of a dystonia-causing substitution mutation on stress-induced cellular apoptosis.
Tissue Engineering Whole Bones Through Endochondral Ossification: Regenerating the Distal Phalanx

Abstract Novel strategies are urgently required to facilitate regeneration of entire bones lost due to trauma or disease. In this study, we present a novel framework for the regeneration of whole bones by tissue engineering anatomically shaped hypertrophic cartilaginous grafts in vitro that subsequently drive endochondral bone formation in vivo. To realize this, we first fabricated molds from digitized images to generate mesenchymal stem cell-laden alginate hydrogels in the shape of different bones (the temporomandibular joint [TMJ] condyle and the distal phalanx). These constructs could be stimulated in vitro to generate anatomically shaped hypertrophic cartilaginous tissues that had begun to calcify around their periphery. Constructs were then formed into the shape of the distal phalanx to create the hypertrophic precursor of the osseous component of an engineered long bone. A layer of cartilage engineered through self-assembly of chondrocytes served as the articular surface of these constructs. Following chondrogenic priming and subcutaneous implantation, the hypertrophic phase of the engineered phalanx underwent endochondral ossification, leading to the generation of a vascularized bone integrated with a covering layer of stable articular cartilage. Furthermore, spatial bone deposition within the construct could be modulated by altering the architecture of the osseous component before implantation. These findings open up new horizons to whole limb regeneration by recapitulating key aspects of normal bone development.
Measuring Basic Early Literacy Skills amongst Year 1 Students in New Zealand

Literacy is an educational priority in New Zealand. Literacy assessment aims to assist instructional planning, progress monitoring and determination of need for reading support services. To inform educational decision-making, assessment tools should be evidence-based. Before adopting measures developed elsewhere, small-scale field studies are recommended to evaluate their performance in New Zealand. Brief measures developed in the United States to assess developing literacy skills, the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) were administered to Year 1 New Zealand students. DIBELS performance correlated concurrently with book level and Observation Survey, predicted end of year book level, and differentiated students for whom schools did and did not indicate concern about literacy attainment over Year 1 It also linked with performance at beginning of Year 2, and demonstrated growth over time. These results support further evaluation of DIBELS with a broader range of students.
Combining Stem Cells and Biomaterial Scaffolds for Constructing Tissues and Cell Delivery

Combining stem cells with biomaterial scaffolds serves as a promising strategy for engineering tissues for both in vitro and in vivo applications. This updated review details commonly used biomaterial scaffolds for engineering tissues from stem cells. We first define the different types of stem cells and their relevant properties and commonly used scaffold formulations. Next, we discuss natural and synthetic scaffold materials typically used when engineering tissues, along with their associated advantages and drawbacks and gives examples of target applications. New approaches to engineering tissues, such as 3D bioprinting, are described as they provide exciting opportunities for future work along with current challenges that must be addressed. Thus, this review provides an overview of the available biomaterials for directing stem cell differentiation as a means of producing replacements for diseased or damaged tissues.
Scheduled Intravenous Acetaminophen Improves Patient Satisfaction With Postcraniotomy Pain Management: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Study

Background: Postcraniotomy pain can be difficult to manage with opioids due to opioid-related side effects, including drowsiness, nausea/vomiting, confusion, and pupillary changes, potentially masking the signs of postoperative neurological deterioration. Intravenous (IV) acetaminophen, a nonopioid analgesic, has been reported to have opioid-sparing effects after abdominal and orthopedic surgeries. This study investigates whether IV acetaminophen has similar effects after craniotomy. Materials and Methods: In this prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial, 100 adult patients scheduled to undergo supratentorial craniotomy for excision of a brain mass were randomized to receive either IV acetaminophen or placebo preincision and then every 6 hours for a total of 24 hours after surgery. Total 24-hour opioid consumption, pain scores, satisfaction with overall pain management, time to meet postanesthesia care unit discharge criteria, and incidence of opioid-related side effects were compared. Results: There was no difference in the 24-hour postoperative opioid consumption in morphine equivalents between the IV acetaminophen group (median, 11 mg; n=45) and the placebo group (median, 10.1 mg; n=41). No statistically significant difference of visual analog scale pain score was observed between 2 treatment groups. Patient satisfaction with overall postoperative pain management was significantly higher in the IV acetaminophen group than the placebo group on a 1 to 10 scale (8.1±0.4 vs. 6.9±0.4; P=0.03). There was no significant difference in secondary outcomes, including the incidence of opioid-related side effects. Conclusions: IV acetaminophen, as adjunctive therapy for craniotomy procedures, did not show an opioid-sparing effect in patients for the 24 hours after craniotomy; however, it was associated with improved patient satisfaction regarding overall pain control.
Silicone Intubation for Partial and Total Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction in Adults

We performed silicone intubation for both partial and total nasolacrimal duct obstructions in adults. Twenty-three cases with partial obstructions and nine patients with total observations were untubated. The final results were good (73.9%), fair (8.7%), and poor (17.4%) in the partial obstruction group; and good (22.2%) and poor (77.8%) in the total obstruction group. Complications were minimal and did not affect the outcome. We recommend silicone intubation for partial nasolacrimal duct obstructions and dacryocys-torhinostomy for total obstructions.