Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SLOW ACTIVE POTENTIALS IN WALKING-LEG MOTOR NEURONES TRIGGERED BY NON-SPIKING PROPRIOCEPTIVE AFFERENTS IN THE CRAYFISH

Intracellular recordings have been made from walking-leg motor neurones of the crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus , in isolated preparations of the thoracic ganglia. Some motor neurones display slow depolarizations that can drive bursts of spikes and resemble ‘plateau’ potentials described in other invertebrate and vertebrate neurones. Evidence is presented which suggests that the potentials are regenerative and endogenous to the motor neurones, and are not the result of feedback from a neural network. These potentials can be induced by synaptic inputs from the non-spiking afferent neurones of the thoracic-coxal muscle receptor organ, a basal limb proprioceptor. Reflex input from this receptor is augmented during the active depolarization of the motor neurone. The results are discussed in terms of the control of rhythmic motor output and the central modulation of reflexes in the crayfish9s thoracic nervous system.
A ROBUST CHANGE DETECTOR FOR MULTILOOK POLARIMETRIC SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR DATA

Abstract. In this paper, we propose a robust unsupervised change detection algorithm for multilook polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data. The Hotelling-Lawley trace (HLT) statistic is used as a test statistic to measure the similarity of two covariance matrices. The generalized Kittler and Illingworth (K&I) minimum-error thresholding algorithm is then applied on the test statistic image to accurately discriminates changed and unchanged areas. The algorithm, tested on real PolSAR images, provides satisfactory results.
Do parties influence public opinion on immigration? Evidence from Europe

ABSTRACT Despite a rich literature on the factors influencing the public opinion on immigration, less is known about the top-down effects of political parties and policies on the public’s preferences in this domain. We analyse in this paper the impact of political parties’ positions and of immigration policies on citizens’ attitudes toward immigration. We are interested in the effects of public policy understood both in terms of policy regime, that is, country specific regulations on immigration, and policy outcomes, such as the stocks of immigrant population. The results we obtain, based on data covering twenty-three European countries during the period 2002–2011, point to the existence of top-down influences on citizens’ immigration attitudes.
Radiation pressure acceleration by X-rays in active galactic nuclei

We present calculations of the dynamics of highly ionized gas (HIG) clouds that are confined by external pressure, and are photoionized by AGN continuum. We focus on the gas that is seen, in absorption, in the X-ray spectrum of many AGN and show that such gas can reach hydrostatic equilibrium under various conditions. The principal conclusion is that the clouds can be accelerated to high velocities by the central X-ray source. The dynamical problem can be reduced to the calculation of a single parameter, the average force multiplier, 〈M〉. The typical value of 〈M〉 is ∼10 suggesting that radiation pressure acceleration by X-rays is efficient for L/LEdd≳0.1. The terminal velocity scales with the escape velocity at the base of the flow and can exceed it by a large factor. The typical velocity for a HIG flow that originates at R=1017 cm in a source with Lx=1044 erg s−1 is ∼1000 km s−1, i.e. similar to the velocities observed in several X-ray and UV absorption systems. Highly ionized AGN clouds are driven mainly by bound–free absorption, and bound–bound processes are less important unless the lines are significantly broadened or the column density is very small. Pressure laws that result in constant or outward decreasing ionization parameters are most effective in accelerating the flow.
The Impact of Schooling on the Timing of Marriage and Fertility: Evidence from a Change in Compulsory Schooling Law

This paper estimates the impact of schooling on the timing of marriage and early fertility using the 2003 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey and duration analysis methodology. The source of exogenous variation in schooling is the extension of compulsory schooling in Turkey in 1997. The findings indicate that at age 17 –three years after the completion of compulsory schooling –, the proportion of women who are married drops from 15.2 to 10 percent and the proportion of women who have given birth falls from 6.2 to 3.5 percent as a result of the new policy. This implies that the impact of increased schooling on marriage and early fertility persists beyond the completion of compulsory schooling for an important duration. In addition, the delay in the timing of first-birth is driven from the delay in the timing of marriage. After a woman is married, schooling does not have an effect on the duration until her first-birth.
Moduli stabilization in brane gas cosmology with superpotentials

In the context of brane gas cosmology in superstring theory, we show why it is impossible to simultaneously stabilize the dilaton and the radion with a general gas of strings (including massless modes) and D-branes. Although this requires invoking a different mechanism to stabilize these moduli fields, we find that the brane gas can still play a crucial role in the early universe in assisting moduli stabilization. We show that a modest energy density of specific types of brane gas can solve the overshoot problem that typically afflicts potentials arising from gaugino condensation.
The potential and challenge of remote sensing‐based biomass estimation

Remotely sensed data have become the primary source for biomass estimation. A summary of previous research on remote sensing‐based biomass estimation approaches and a discussion of existing issues influencing biomass estimation are valuable for further improving biomass estimation performance. The literature review has demonstrated that biomass estimation remains a challenging task, especially in those study areas with complex forest stand structures and environmental conditions. Either optical sensor data or radar data are more suitable for forest sites with relatively simple forest stand structure than the sites with complex biophysical environments. A combination of spectral responses and image textures improves biomass estimation performance. More research is needed to focus on the integration of optical and radar data, the use of multi‐source data, and the selection of suitable variables and algorithms for biomass estimation at different scales. Understanding and identifying major uncertainties caused by different stages of the biomass estimation procedure and devoting efforts to reduce these uncertainties are critical.
Atmosphere in the home stadium of Hertha BSC (German Bundesliga): melodies of moods, collective bodies, and the relevance of space

ABSTRACT German football stadiums are well known for their atmosphere. It is often described as ‘electrifying,’ or ‘cracking. ’ This article focuses on this atmosphere. Using a phenomenological approach, it explores how this emotionality can be understood and how geography matters while attending a match. Atmosphere in this context is conceptualized based on work by as a mood-charged space, neither object- nor subject-centered, but rather a medium of perception which cannot not exist. Based on qualitative research done in the home stadium of Hertha BSC in the German Bundesliga, this article shows that the bodily sensations experienced by spectators during a visit to the stadium are synchronized with events on the pitch and with the more or less imposing scenery. The analysis of in situ diaries reveals that spectators experience a comprehensive sense of collectivity. The study presents evidence that the occurrence of these bodily sensations is strongly connected with different aspects of spatiality. This includes sensations of constriction and expansion within the body, an awareness of one’s location within the stadium, the influence of the immediate surroundings and cognitive here/there and inside/outside distinctions.
The Evaluation and Comparison of Transcriptionally Targeted Noxa and Puma Killer Genes to Initiate Apoptosis Under Cancer-Specific Promoter CXCR1 in Hepatocarcinoma Gene Therapy

Background Cancerous cells proliferate as fast as possible without a proper surveillance system. This rapid cell division leads to enormous mutation rates, which help a tumor establish. Objectives This study evaluated the potential of inducing apoptosis using Noxa and Puma in a hepatocarcinoma cell line. Methods The current study generated two recombinant lentiviruses, pLEX-GCN and pLEX-GCP, bearing Noxa and Puma, respectively. Transduction of both genes to hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) was verified using fluorescent microscopic analysis, western blotting, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). To evaluate the potential of Noxa and Puma to initiate apoptosis, a caspase-9 real-time, MTT assay, and a 4’, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) reagent were performed to stain apoptotic cells. Results The data verified successful transduction to HepG2 and HEK293T. Higher relative expression of Noxa and Puma rather than the untransduced cell line showed these genes are expressed more in HepG2 in comparison to HEK293T. The results of the real-time PCR, MTT assay, and DAPI reagent illustrated that higher cells initiated apoptosis following Puma transduction rather than Noxa. Conclusions In this approach, the suicide gene was transferred to transformed cells and ignited apoptosis to exterminate them. Puma is a more potent killer gene and has higher capabilities to start intrinsic apoptosis pathway.
The sensitivity of unit root tests to the initial condition and to the lag length selection: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

Abstract While the recent literature has discussed the effect of the deviation of the initial observation of the economic series from its deterministic component (initial condition) on unit root tests, no studies have examined to date the effect of the selection of the lag length on unit root tests in this setting. Our study aims to fill this gap, and provides a recommendation for the practitioner. The objective is to investigate to what extent the sensitivity of the outcome of unit root tests to the initial condition changes with the use of both standard and modified data-dependent methods to select the lag length in the augmented autoregression, even for those tests that have been considered robust in the presence of uncertainty about the initial condition. To do so, we conduct a Monte Carlo simulation study to analyse the finite sample properties (size and power) of unit root tests based on alternative lag selection criteria and different magnitudes of the initial condition.
Quantifying and Predicting the Effect of Exogenous Interleukin-7 on CD4+T Cells in HIV-1 Infection

Exogenous Interleukin-7 (IL-7), in supplement to antiretroviral therapy, leads to a substantial increase of all CD4+ T cell subsets in HIV-1 infected patients. However, the quantitative contribution of the several potential mechanisms of action of IL-7 is unknown. We have performed a mathematical analysis of repeated measurements of total and naive CD4+ T cells and their Ki67 expression from HIV-1 infected patients involved in three phase I/II studies (N = 53 patients). We show that, besides a transient increase of peripheral proliferation, IL-7 exerts additional effects that play a significant role in CD4+ T cell dynamics up to 52 weeks. A decrease of the loss rate of the total CD4+ T cell is the most probable explanation. If this effect could be maintained during repeated administration of IL-7, our simulation study shows that such a strategy may allow maintaining CD4+ T cell counts above 500 cells/µL with 4 cycles or fewer over a period of two years. This in-depth analysis of clinical data revealed the potential for IL-7 to achieve sustained CD4+ T cell restoration with limited IL-7 exposure in HIV-1 infected patients with immune failure despite antiretroviral therapy.
Toward an understanding of the cognitive etiology of depressive reactions to life stressors: An evaluation of the hopelessness theory of depression

Abramson, Metalsky, and Alloy's (1989) theory of hopelessness depression is the most recent model of depression to emerge from the learned helplessness tradition (Seligman, 1975). Hopelessness theory describes an etiological pathway by which a unique subtype of depression--hopelessness depression--is believed to emerge. The most proximal cause of hopelessness depression is the formation of a hopelessness expectancy. Experiencing a significant life stressor and either making stable and global causal attributions, anticipating adverse consequences, or inferring derogatory self-attributes is thought to contribute to hopelessness. In turn, generalized tendencies to make stable and global causal attributions, expect negative consequences, or perceive personal deficiencies in response to life stress purportedly increase the likelihood of making hopelessness-inducing inferences, and thus increase the risk of hopelessness and depressive symptoms. The present research sought to (a) provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed etiological pathway and (b) evaluate the competing predictions made by the hopelessness model and its most immediate theoretical precursor, the reformulated theory of learned helplessness depression (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978). In a two-wave panel design, college undergraduates $(N=247)$ completed measures assessing the constructs of both models. Higher levels of dysfunctional cognitive styles and event-based inferences predicted increases in depressive symptoms only among subjects who experienced an upsetting interpersonal stressor that was also perceived as uncontrollable. Little support was obtained for the hypothesis that hopelessness mediates associations between depressive symptoms and either maladaptive cognitive styles or event-inferences. Consistent with the postulates of hopelessness theory, dysfunctional cognition appeared to render individuals vulnerable to depressive symptomatology in the face of life stress. However, the present findings call into question hopelessness theory's elimination of control perceptions in its etiological pathway. Continued study of the control construct is encouraged as are future tests of hopelessness theory that use more sophisticated assessments of life stress and fine-grained measures of hopelessness expectancies.
Unasked Questions About Stereotype Accuracy

In this paper, we argue that there are many unanswered questions crucial to scientific understanding about stereotypes and stereotype accuracy. Scientists do not always engage in purely impartial search for objective truths, because, like other people, they are subject to biases in thinking, motivations to find certain particular results, and social norms regarding what is and is not an acceptable topic or finding. This paper suggests that these factors conspired to prevent psychologists from asking serious questions about stereotype accuracy for decades, and may help explain why many reviews of stereotypes reach conclusions in the absence of evidence, or, sometimes, in the face of evidence completely disconfirming those conclusions. We review the history of the first unasked question in this area, “Are stereotypes inaccurate? ” which went unaddressed for about 70 years after the initial social science interest in stereotypes. Current unasked questions include: 1. When and how does relying on a stereotype increase the accuracy of person perception? 2. Why are some stereotypes more accurate than others 3. How accurate are implicit stereotypes? 4. Do people ever actually ignore individuals’ personal characteristics when perceiving, evaluating, and judging them? We conclude with testable hypotheses about the sources of not asking certain questions, and with recommendations for overcoming scientific biases and blind spots in research on stereotypes.
Making It Simplext

The way in which a text is written can be a barrier for many people. Automatic text simplification is a natural language processing technology that, when mature, could be used to produce texts that are adapted to the specific needs of particular users. Most research in the area of automatic text simplification has dealt with the English language. In this article, we present results from the Simplext project, which is dedicated to automatic text simplification for Spanish. We present a modular system with dedicated procedures for syntactic and lexical simplification that are grounded on the analysis of a corpus manually simplified for people with special needs. We carried out an automatic evaluation of the system’s output, taking into account the interaction between three different modules dedicated to different simplification aspects. One evaluation is based on readability metrics for Spanish and shows that the system is able to reduce the lexical and syntactic complexity of the texts. We also show, by means of a human evaluation, that sentence meaning is preserved in most cases. Our results, even if our work represents the first automatic text simplification system for Spanish that addresses different linguistic aspects, are comparable to the state of the art in English Automatic Text Simplification.
The HSV-1 Latency-Associated Transcript Functions to Repress Latent Phase Lytic Gene Expression and Suppress Virus Reactivation from Latently Infected Neurons

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) establishes life-long latent infection within sensory neurons, during which viral lytic gene expression is silenced. The only highly expressed viral gene product during latent infection is the latency-associated transcript (LAT), a non-protein coding RNA that has been strongly implicated in the epigenetic regulation of HSV-1 gene expression. We have investigated LAT-mediated control of latent gene expression using chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses and LAT-negative viruses engineered to express firefly luciferase or β-galactosidase from a heterologous lytic promoter. Whilst we were unable to determine a significant effect of LAT expression upon heterochromatin enrichment on latent HSV-1 genomes, we show that reporter gene expression from latent HSV-1 genomes occurs at a greater frequency in the absence of LAT. Furthermore, using luciferase reporter viruses we have observed that HSV-1 gene expression decreases during long-term latent infection, with a most marked effect during LAT-negative virus infection. Finally, using a fluorescent mouse model of infection to isolate and culture single latently infected neurons, we also show that reactivation occurs at a greater frequency from cultures harbouring LAT-negative HSV-1. Together, our data suggest that the HSV-1 LAT RNA represses HSV-1 gene expression in small populations of neurons within the mouse TG, a phenomenon that directly impacts upon the frequency of reactivation and the maintenance of the transcriptionally active latent reservoir.
Supervillin couples myosin-dependent contractility to podosomes and enables their turnover

Podosomes are actin-rich adhesion and invasion structures. Especially in macrophages, podosomes exist in two subpopulations, large precursors at the cell periphery and smaller podosomes (successors) in the cell interior. To date, the mechanisms that differentially regulate these subpopulations are largely unknown. Here, we show that the membrane-associated protein supervillin localizes preferentially to successor podosomes and becomes enriched at precursors immediately before their dissolution. Consistently, podosome numbers are inversely correlated with supervillin protein levels. Using deletion constructs, we find that the myosin II regulatory N-terminus of supervillin [SV(1–174)] is crucial for these effects. Phosphorylated myosin light chain (pMLC) localizes at supervillin-positive podosomes, and time-lapse analyses show that enrichment of GFP–supervillin at podosomes coincides with their coupling to contractile myosin-IIA-positive cables. We also show that supervillin binds only to activated myosin IIA, and a dysregulated N-terminal construct [SV(1–830)] enhances pMLC levels at podosomes. Thus, preferential recruitment of supervillin to podosome subpopulations might both require and induce actomyosin contractility. Using siRNA and pharmacological inhibition, we demonstrate that supervillin and myosin IIA cooperate to regulate podosome lifetime, podosomal matrix degradation and cell polarization. In sum, we show here that podosome subpopulations differ in their molecular composition and identify supervillin, in cooperation with myosin IIA, as a crucial factor in the regulation of podosome turnover and function.
Unequal error protection applied to JPEG image transmission using turbo codes

An investigation of unequal error protection (UEP) methods applied to JPEG image transmission using turbo codes is presented. The JPEG image is partitioned into two groups, i.e., DC components and AC components according to their respective sensitivity to channel noise. The highly sensitive DC components are better protected with a lower coding rate, while the less sensitive AC components use a higher coding rate. Simulation results are given to demonstrate how the UEP schemes outperforms the equal error protection (EEP) scheme in terms of bit error rate (BER) and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR).
Organizing Effects of Testosterone and Economic Behavior: Not Just Risk Taking

Recent literature emphasizes the role that testosterone, as well as markers indicating early exposure to T and its organizing effect on the brain (such as the ratio of second to fourth finger, ), have on performance in financial markets. These results may suggest that the main effect of T, either circulating or in fetal exposure, on economic behavior occurs through the increased willingness to take risks. However, these findings indicate that traders with a low digit ratio are not only more profitable, but more able to survive in the long run, thus the effect might consist of more than just lower risk aversion. In addition, recent literature suggests a positive correlation between abstract reasoning ability and higher willingness to take risks. To test the two hypotheses of testosterone on performance in financial activities (effect on risk attitude versus a complex effect involving risk attitude and reasoning ability), we gather data on the three variables in a sample of 188 ethnically homogeneous college students (Caucasians). We measure a digit ratio, abstract reasoning ability with the Raven Progressive Matrices task, and risk attitude with choice among lotteries. Low digit ratio in men is associated with higher risk taking and higher scores in abstract reasoning ability when a combined measure of risk aversion over different tasks is used. This explains both the higher performance and higher survival rate observed in traders, as well as the observed correlation between abstract reasoning ability and risk taking. We also analyze how much of the total effect of digit ratio on risk attitude is direct, and how much is mediated. Mediation analysis shows that a substantial part of the effect of T on attitude to risk is mediated by abstract reasoning ability.