Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corticostriatal Regulation of Acute Pain

The mechanisms for acute pain regulation in the brain are not well understood. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) provides top-down control of emotional processes, and it projects to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This corticostriatal projection forms an important regulatory pathway within the brain’s reward system. Recently, this projection has been suggested to control both sensory and affective phenotypes specifically associated with chronic pain. As this projection is also known to play a role in the transition from acute to chronic pain, we hypothesized that this corticostriatal circuit can also exert a modulatory function in the acute pain state. Here, we used optogenetics to specifically target the projection from the PFC to the NAc. We tested sensory pain behaviors with Hargreaves’ test and mechanical allodynia, and aversive pain behaviors with conditioned place preference (CPP) test. We found that the activation of this corticostriatal circuit gave rise to bilateral relief from peripheral nociceptive inputs. Activation of this circuit also provided important control for the aversive response to transient noxious stimulations. Hence, our results support a novel role for corticostriatal circuitry in acute pain regulation.
EEG Coherence and Executive Function in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease: An Examination of Resting Coherence and Coherence During Executive Functioning Tasks

Deficits in executive functioning have been reported in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and in mild cognitive impairment (MCI); however, the neural underpinnings of these deficits remain unclear. It has been proposed that AD can be characterized as a disconnection syndrome, where functional connectivity between brain regions is compromised. Therefore, it may be hypothesized that altered functional connectivity may be related to executive functioning in MCI and AD. The research presented in this dissertation examined group differences for MCI and AD patients relative to controls for EEG coherence within a fronto-parietal network measured at rest (Study 1), during a Go/No-go inhibitory control task (Study 2), and during an N-back working memory task (Study 3). The relationships between coherence and measures of cognition and brain integrity (cortical thickness and PiB retention) were also explored. Results indicated that AD patients, but not MCI patients, had reduced resting coherence between cross-hemisphere parietal regions versus normal controls, and that MCI patients who later converted to dementia had higher resting fronto-parietal coherence versus MCI patients who remained stable. Furthermore, both AD and MCI patients showed altered coherence during task performance. During both tasks, AD patients showed reduced coherence and less of a task-related increase in coherence versus controls (for cross-hemisphere electrode pairs during the Go/No-go task and for cross-hemisphere and fronto-parietal pairs during the N-back task). In contrast, in comparison to controls, MCI patients had higher fronto-parietal coherence during the Go/No-go task and a larger task-related increase in fronto-parietal coherence for both tasks, but less of a task-related increase in cross-hemisphere frontal coherence for both tasks. Correlational analyses showed different relationships between EEG coherence and cognition and brain integrity across groups, with some evidence of a potential compensatory mechanism for higher coherence in controls and MCI patients in some conditions. These results demonstrate that functional connectivity within a fronto-parietal network is altered in AD patients and MCI patients during the performance of executive tasks. In AD patients, coherence is decreased, whereas MCI patients show a potential compensatory increase in fronto-parietal coherence. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Private investigators in Britain and America: Perspectives on the impact of popular culture

Presents recent research on private detectives in the UK which raised fascinating differences between British and American investigators. Not only are these evident from analysis of their roles, responsibilities and histories, but also in cultural representations of private investigators in literature, film and factual reporting in the mass media. How private investigators are portrayed in the two countries raises interesting questions about public and private policing and differing attitudes to the politics of order maintenance. Explores private investigators’ British and American history, both in fact and fiction. Develops an original perspective on individual and collective approaches to policing and justice.
Citizen Science for Mining the Biomedical Literature

Biomedical literature represents one of the largest and fastest growing collections of unstructured biomedical knowledge. Finding critical information buried in the literature can be challenging. In order to extract information from freeflowing text, researchers need to: 1. identify the entities in the text (named entity recognition), 2. apply a standardized vocabulary to these entities (normalization), and 3. identify how entities in the text are related to one another (relationship extraction). Researchers have primarily approached these information extraction tasks through manual expert curation, and computational methods. We have previously demonstrated that named entity recognition (NER) tasks can be crowdsourced to a group of nonexperts via the paid microtask platform, Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT); and can dramatically reduce the cost and increase the throughput of biocuration efforts. However, given the size of the biomedical literature even information extraction via paid microtask platforms is not scalable. With our web-based application Mark2Cure (http://mark2cure.org), we demonstrate that NER tasks can also be performed by volunteer citizen scientists with high accuracy. We apply metrics from the Zooniverse Matrices of Citizen Science Success and provide the results here to serve as a basis of comparison for other citizen science projects. Further, we discuss design considerations, issues, and the application of analytics for successfully moving a crowdsourcing workflow from a paid microtask platform to a citizen science platform. To our knowledge, this study is the first application of citizen science to a natural language processing task.
Collective Security Efficacy and Group Security Compliance Research-in-Progress

This paper aims to investigate the antecedents of collective security efficacy and its impact on group security compliance. Prior studies have mainly examined individual security compliance and have indicated that technology-based solutions are not able to eliminate the information security risks that organizations may face since many security related defenses are achieved only through human compliance. However, group level phenomena have been overlooked in research. This paper examines the group phenomena through the lens of collective efficacy. By examining collective efficacy, we expect to understand how group security compliance can be more effective, employee’s deviant behavior can be suppressed, and group cohesiveness toward security issues can be reinforced.
Weakly Connected Quasi-periodic Oscillators, FM Interactions, and Multiplexing in the Brain

We prove that weakly connected networks of quasi-periodic (multifrequency) oscillators can be transformed into a phase model by a continuous change of variables. The phase model has the same form as the one for periodic oscillators with the exception that each phase variable is a vector. When the oscillators have mutually nonresonant frequency (rotation) vectors, the phase model uncouples. This implies that such oscillators do not interact even though there might be physical connections between them. When the frequency vectors have mutual low-order resonances, the oscillators interact via phase deviations. This mechanism resembles that of the FM radio, with a shared feature---multiplexing of signals. Possible applications to neuroscience are discussed.
Self-Interaction, Nucleic Acid Binding, and Nucleic Acid Chaperone Activities Are Unexpectedly Retained in the Unique ORF1p of Zebrafish LINE

ABSTRACT Long interspersed elements (LINEs) are mobile elements that comprise a large proportion of many eukaryotic genomes. Although some LINE-encoded open reading frame 1 proteins (ORF1ps) were suggested to be required for LINE mobilization through binding to their RNA, their general role is not known. The ZfL2-1 ORF1p, which belongs to the esterase-type ORF1p, is especially interesting because it has no known RNA-binding domain. Here we demonstrate that ZfL2-1 ORF1p has all the canonical activities associated with known ORF1ps, including self-interaction, nucleic acid binding, and nucleic acid chaperone activities. In particular, we showed that its chaperone activity is reversible, suggesting that the chaperone activities of many other ORF1ps are also reversible. From this discovery, we propose that LINE ORF1ps play a general role in LINE integration by forming a complex with LINE RNA and rearranging its conformation.
The Early Reading and Mathematics Achievement of Children Who Repeated Kindergarten or Who Began School a Year Late. Statistics In Brief. NCES 2006-064.

This report examines the association between kindergarten enrollment status (repeating kindergarten or delaying entry) and children's first-grade reading and math achievement. Based on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, the authors find that in fall 1998, five percent of all children were repeating kindergarten; six percent were attending kindergarten for the first time even though they were age-eligible to do so a year earlier. At the end of first grade, children who repeated kindergarten had lower reading and math knowledge and skills than those who started on time. At the end of first grade, children whose kindergarten entry was delayed demonstrated slightly higher reading knowledge and skills than those who started on time. In math, these children were behind their classmates who began kindergarten on time.
International Competition in Vertically Differentiated Markets with Innovation and Imitation: Trade Policy Versus Free Trade

The important characteristic of international competition between developed and less developed countries is vertical product differentiation, where firms' quality choices represent strategic decisions. Unlike the previous literature, we allow for a leadership in quality choice and the possibility of imitation and learning by the domestic firm. We compare both positive and normative aspects of this setup in the free trade and the strategic trade policy regime and show that the value of leadership may change dramatically when moving from free trade to trade policy. We also identify conditions under which trade policy can initiate the change in the quality ladders (known as quality reversal) and demonstrate that such a policy has a somewhat limited scope to achieve it. Thus, free trade can still be an optimal trade arrangement.
Child Protection and Early Years Teachers: Coping With Child Abuse

Part 1 Understanding child abuse: children - people or chattels a 20th century childhood what is child abuse and neglect? families and violence why does abuse happen? researching child abuse researching physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect researching sexual and ritualistic abuse. Part 2 Identifying and helping abused children: it doesn't happen here - schools and child protection the listening school - idenfitying child abuse what happens next? proactive work in schools living with uncertainty - teachers thinking and talking working together for children building a more caring society.
Evolution of market heuristics

Abstract The time evolution of aggregate economic variables, such as stock prices, is affected by market expectations of individual investors. Neoclassical economic theory assumes that individuals form expectations rationally, thus forcing prices to track economic fundamentals and leading to an efficient allocation of resources. However, laboratory experiments with human subjects have shown that individuals do not behave fully rationally but instead follow simple heuristics. In laboratory markets, prices may show persistent deviations from fundamentals similar to the large swings observed in real stock prices. Here we show that evolutionary selection among simple forecasting heuristics can explain coordination of individual behavior, leading to three different aggregate outcomes observed in recent laboratory market-forecasting experiments: slow monotonic price convergence, oscillatory dampened price fluctuations, and persistent price oscillations. In our model, forecasting strategies are selected every period from a small population of plausible heuristics, such as adaptive expectations and trend-following rules. Individuals adapt their strategies over time, based on the relative forecasting performance of the heuristics. As a result, the evolutionary switching mechanism exhibits path dependence and matches individual forecasting behavior as well as aggregate market outcomes in the experiments. Our results are in line with recent work on agent-based models of interaction and contribute to a behavioral explanation of universal features of financial markets.
Can personal and environmental factors explain participation of older adults?

Purpose. This study explores the extent to which personal and environmental factors explain participation in daily activities and social roles of older adults with chronic conditions. Method. Two hundred older adults with chronic conditions completed the following assessments: Assessment of Life Habits (participation); Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (social support); Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale (balance confidence); Timed Up and Go Test (mobility capacity); and Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (depression symptomatology). Results. Mobility and balance confidence explained 30% of the level of participation in daily activities and 24% of participation in social roles, whereas social support and depression did not contribute to the explanation of participation. When explaining participation in daily activities, sex had a significant contribution to the model. Conclusions. Participation accomplishment is explained by personal factors related to an elder's physical and mental ability while sex differences had an important role for explaining accomplishment of daily activities. Additional aspects of participation, environmental barriers, and level of disability, are key factors identified for further inquiry.
Formative Assessment in the Secondary Classroom

This highly practical guide focuses on learning objectives, effective questioning and feedback as the key elements of formative assessment - assessment for learning - in the secondary classroom. Taking forward core themes developed in Unlocking Formative Assessment, Shirley Clarke shows how marking and feedback complete the 'learning loop' which starts with learning intentions and success criteria. The ways in which pupils are told what is expected of them, how well they are doing, and how their efforts are appraised, lie at the heart of effective assessment for learning. Shirley Clarke explains first how to formulate, and communicate, clear learning intentions and the types of success criteria to which pupils can relate. She then explores the use of questioning as a tool for effective teaching, before looking at classroom interaction and how pupils respond to written, oral and 'incidental' feedback. Different approaches to marking, including self- and paired marking, are then considered as one aspect of feedback, which in turn can underpin pupil self-evaluation and target setting. Down to earth and direct, and with examples from across the secondary curriculum, this book shows how formative assessment can bring a dramatic culture shift to teaching and learning in your own classroom.
Captopril Improves Hypertension and Cardiomyopathy in Rats With Pheochromocytoma

Hypertension and cardiomyopathy are prominent findings in humans and rats harboring pheochromocytomas, tumors that can secrete enormous quantities of catecholamines. We have previously found that a- and /J-adrenergic receptor antagonists may ameliorate the hypertension and cardiomyopathy found in New England Deaconess Hospital rats implanted with pheochromocytoma. The present studies were designed to determine the possible action of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril on these changes in rats harboring pheochromocytomas. Rats were implanted with transplantable pheochromocytomas and treated with captopril dissolved in the drinking water (1 mg/ml) for 4–6 weeks. Systolic blood pressure was monitored by using the tail-cuff technique. In the rats with pheochromocytoma, blood pressure progressively increased to 184±3 mm Hg after the tumor was implanted. However, in rats with pheochromocytoma treated with captopril in the drinking water before the development of hypertension, blood pressure did not increase (137±3 mm Hg). In rats with pheochromocytoma with established hypertension, captopril normalized the systolic blood pressure. Plasma norepinephrine was markedly elevated to a similar extent in both groups compared with unimplanted control rats. Plasma renin activities were slightly lower in rats with pheochromocytoma compared with unimplanted control rats. Treatment with captopril of rats with pheochromocytoma did not modify contraction of isolated rings of thoracic aorta exposed in vitro to either phenylephrine or angiotensin H, Treatment with captopril markedly attenuated the cardiomyopathy induced by pheochromocytoma. These results demonstrate that captopril prevents the development of hypertension despite markedly elevated concentrations of catecholamines. In addition, captopril attenuates catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy in pheochromocytoma. To what extent these effects of captopril reflect actions on local renin-angiotensin systems or other mechanisms requires further study.
TREATMENT OF CHORDOMAS WITH CYBERKNIFE: GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE AND TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

OBJECTIVETo determine the efficacy and safety of chordoma treatment with CyberKnife (Accuray, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) stereotactic radiosurgery (CK/SRS). METHODSEighteen patients with chordoma were treated with CK/SRS as a primary adjuvant (17 patients) or the only treatment (1 patient). The series included 24 lesions (28 treatments). The median age of the patients was 60 years (range, 24–85 years). Forty-four percent of the tumors were located in the mobile spine, 39% inside the cranium, and 17% in the sacral region. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1. The mean tumor volume was 128.0 mL (range, 12.0–457.3 mL), and the median dose of 35 Gy (range, 24.0–40.0 Gy) was delivered in 5 sessions. The median follow-up period was 46 months (range, 7–65 months). RESULTSThere were 3 significant complications in patients with previous irradiation, including infection in the surgical/radiation site (2 patients) and decreased vision (1 patient). Improvement in pain and quality of life did not reach statistical significance (α = 0.05). Seven patients experienced recurrence at a median of 10 months (range, 5–38 months), and 4 patients with disseminated disease died 7 to 48 months after therapy. Two patients had a partial response, whereas 9 others had stable disease. The local control rate at 65 months was 59.1%, with an overall survival of 74.3% and disease-specific survival of 88.9%. We estimated an α/β ratio of 2.45 for chordomas, which supports hypofractionation. CONCLUSIONThe CK/SRS safety and efficacy profile compares favorably with those of other treatment delivery systems. CK/SRS appears to reduce tumor volume, given an adequate dose. The authors recommend treatment with 40 Gy in 5 sessions to the clinical treatment volume, which includes the gross tumor volume and at least a 1-cm margin.
FinisherSC : A repeat-aware tool for upgrading de-novo assembly using long reads

We introduce FinisherSC, a repeat-aware and scalable tool for upgrading de-novo assembly using long reads. Experiments with real data suggest that FinisherSC can provide longer and higher quality contigs than existing tools while maintaining high concordance. Availability The tool and data are available and will be maintained at http://kakitone.github. io/finishingTool/ Contact dntse@stanford.edu
Influence of Gender on the Monoethylglycinexylidide Test in Normal Subjects and Liver Donors

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of gender on monoethylglycinexylidide (MEGX) formation in normal subjects and cadaveric liver donors. The study included 92 male and female healthy volunteers <45 years of age and 98 age- and sex-matched liver donors from a previous study, whose livers were used for transplantation. Women <45 years not taking contraceptives showed significantly lower MEGX concentrations 30 min after lidocaine administration than men [median (16–84th percentile)]: 59 μg/L (41–70 μg/L) versus 81μg/L (58–98 μg/L)]. The lowest MEGX 30 min values were observed in women taking contraceptives: 39 μg/L (25–48 μg/L). Intraindividual variability of serial MEGX tests was moderate (median: 17.8%, n = 8) when measured in female subjects taking no contraceptives and males. Cadaveric liver donors showed significantly higher MEGX 15 and 30 min values compared with normal subjects (p ≤ 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference between MEGX values obtained in male and female cadaveric donors. The urinary excretion of MEGX was similar in male and female normal subjects. Our results suggest that sex-related differences in MEGX formation as well as the influence of contraceptives have to be taken into account when test results from living related liver donors and patients with less advanced chronic liver disease are evaluated. In cadaveric liver donors, however, sex-related differences do not affect MEGX formation.
Effects of chimerism on graft-versus-host disease, disease recurrence, and survival after HLA-identical marrow transplantation in Iran.

BACKGROUND The coexistence of recipient's and donor's hematopoietic systems after allogeneic marrow transplantation is called mixed chimerism. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of MC on graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), disease recurrence, and survival after HLA identical marrow transplantation in a transplant center in Iran. METHODS The association of MC with acute GVHD, disease recurrence, survival, and relapse-free survival was investigated in 91 patients who underwent either bone (n = 12) or peripheral blood (n = 79) HLA-identical marrow transplantation. Chimerism was assessed using multiplex amplification of short tandem repeats (STR). Patients had thalassemia (n = 19), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) (n = 29), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) (n = 20), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) (n = 18), and other diseases (n = 5). The median age was 21 (range: 3 - 50) years. There were 38 (42%) female and 53 (58%) male participants. Conditioning was made through busulfan plus cyclophosphamide in 34 patients; busulfan plus fludarabin in 51 patients; and busulfan plus fludarabin plus antithymocyte globulin in 6 patients. The median follow-up was 13 months. RESULTS On day +30, complete chimerism (CC) was observed in 72 (79%) patients, MC in 15 (17%), and no chimerism in 4 patients. The incidence of acute GVHD was significantly (P = 0.01) lower in mixed chimeras than in complete chimeras. There was no significant difference in acute GVHD grade (I, II vs. III, IV) between the two groups. The incidence of relapse was 18%. There was no difference in relapse rate between MC and CC groups. Overall survival was 89%. There was no significant difference in the overall survival between MC and CC group (96% vs. 85%, respectively). Relapse-free survival was 80% that was not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION Despite some previous reports, we found no significant difference in the survival and relapse rates between MC and CC groups.