Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polyaxonal amacrine cells of rabbit retina: PA2, PA3, and PA4 cells. Light and electron microscopic studies with a functional interpretation

Polyaxonal (PA) amacrine cells are a new class of amacrine cell bearing one to six branching, axon‐like processes that emerge from the cell body or dendritic trees within 50 μm of the cell body. These slender processes of uniform caliber branch at right angles and in many respects closely resemble the axons of Golgi type II cells found elsewhere in the brain. Of the four types of polyaxonal amacrine cell that we have recognized in rabbit retina, two have been described previously in brief communications. One of these, the PA1 amacrine cell with its interstitially displaced cell body, located in the inner plexiform layer (IPL), has been analyzed extensively in two preceding reports. This paper concerns PA2, PA3, and PA4 amacrine cells.
UV Dust Attenuation in Normal Star-Forming Galaxies. I. Estimating the LTIR/LFUV Ratio

We analyze the dust attenuation properties of a volume-limited, optically selected sample of normal star-forming galaxies in nearby clusters as observed by GALEX. The internal attenuation is estimated using three independent indicators, namely, the ratio of the total infrared to far-ultraviolet emission, the ultraviolet spectral slope β, and the Balmer decrement. We confirm that normal galaxies follow a LTIR/LFUV-β relation offset from the one observed for starburst galaxies. This offset is found to weakly correlate with the birthrate parameter and thus with the galaxy star formation history. We study the correlations of dust attenuation with other global properties, such as the metallicity, dynamical mass, ionized gas attenuation, Hα emission, and mass surface density. Metal-rich, massive galaxies are, as expected, more heavily extinguished in the UV than are small systems. For the same gas metallicity normal galaxies have lower LTIR/LFUV ratios than starbursts, in agreement with the difference observed in the LTIR/LFUV-β relation. Unexpectedly, however, we find that normal star-forming galaxies follow exactly the same relationship between metallicity and ultraviolet spectral slope β determined for starbursts, complicating our understanding of dust properties. This result might indicate a different dust geometry between normal galaxies and starbursts, but it could also be due to aperture effects eventually present in the IUE starbursts data set. The present multiwavelength study allows us to provide some empirical relations from which the total infrared to far-ultraviolet ratio (LTIR/LFUV) can be estimated when far-infrared data are absent.
Varying Intervention Delivery in Response to Intervention: Confronting and Resolving Challenges With Measurement, Instruction, and Intensity

Response to intervention (RTI) involves ongoing evaluation of children's responsiveness to different levels of evidence-based interventions as a basis for eligibility determination. If students fail to make expected rates of progress, instruction is changed and, in most cases, intensified. Based on behavior-analytic models of effective instruction and research emphasizing generalizable basic skill repertoires, this article outlines ways in which educators can improve response to intervention through (a) measurement that is sensitive to students' skill proficiency and how it changes following instruction, (b) the quality of instructional materials and contexts in which students are taught, (c) the quality of practice time, and (d) arrangement of reinforcement to support maintenance and application (i.e., generalization) of basic skills. An approach that links increases in basic skill fluency to other, functional performance criteria provides the conceptual basis for specific strategies that teachers and interventionists can adopt to strengthen instruction, promote transfer of training, and monitor generalized educational outcomes at all levels of response to intervention.
Therapy in the Early Stage: Incretins

The complex pathological mechanisms responsible for development of type 2 diabetes are not fully addressed by conventional drugs, which are also associated with inconvenient side effects such as weight gain or hypoglycemia. Two types of incretin-based therapies are now in use: incretin mimetics (glucagon-like peptide-1 [GLP-1] receptor agonists that bind specific receptors and mimic the action of natural GLP-1) and incretin enhancers (inhibitors of the enzyme that degrade the incretin hormones and thus prolong their activity). Both offer important advantages over previous agents. In addition to the proven glucose-lowering efficacy, they promote weight loss (or are weight neutral) by slowing gastric emptying and inducing satiety, inhibit glucagon secretion with maintenance of counterregulatory mechanisms, and exhibit cardiovascular benefits, while having a low risk profile. Importantly, short-term studies have shown that incretins/incretin-based therapies protect β-cells (by enhancing cell proliferation and differentiation and inhibiting apoptosis) and stimulate their function (by recruiting β-cells to the secretory process and increasing insulin biosynthesis/secretion). These therapies have the opportunity to interfere with the disease progression if used as an early intervention, when enough β-cell mass/function can still be preserved or restored.
The metabolism of aldosterone in normal subjects and in patients with hepatic cirrhosis.

The importance of the liver in the metabolism of cortisol has been amply demonstrated (1-3). There is comparatively little published information, however, on the role of the liver in the metabolism of aldosterone, the most important mineralocorticoid secreted by the adrenal cortex. Chart, Gordon, Helmer and LeSher (4) have demonstrated rapid inactivation of aldosterone by liver slices and impairment of this process under anaerobic conditions. Yates, Urquhart and Herbst (5) demonstrated impairment of enzymatic inactivation of aldosterone by the passively congested rat liver. Ayers, Davis, Liebermann and Carpenter (6) demonstrated that the disappearance of tritiated aldosterone from the plasma was delayed in dogs with passively congested livers. After hepatectomy the disappearance of aldosterone from the circulation was delayed still more. An investigation of aldosterone metabolism necessarily entails the identification and quantitation of the metabolic end products which are excreted in the urine. Very little aldosterone appears in the urine in unaltered form. The major portion of what is commonly called "urinary aldosterone" is actually a water-soluble, biologically inactive metabolite which can be reconverted to aldosterone by acidification of the urine to pH 1. This acidhydrolyzable metabolite is frequently referred to as a "3-oxo-conjugate" of aldosterone, although its exact chemical identity is not yet known. A number of studies have shown that patients with hepatic cirrhosis and ascites have abnormally large quantities of the 3-oxo-conjugate of aldosterone in their urine (7, 8). This is generally considered to be a reflection of the increased secretion of aldosterone in this disorder. The major urinary metabolite of aldosterone is the ring-A reduction product identified as 3a,11,/,21-trihydroxy-20-
Morphometric study of the external and middle ear anatomy in sheep: A possible model for ear experiments

Sheep are a potentially useful model for otologic surgical training and experimentation, currently limited by the scarcity of morphological comparisons between the structure of the ear in sheep and in humans. A detailed morphometric study of the ear in sheep was carried out using computed tomography. Measurements made with AutoCAD Release 14 were compared with measurements for the human ear reported in the literature. In general, ear structures in sheep are two‐thirds the size of those in humans. The important anatomical similarities found in this study between the ear in sheep and in humans suggest that sheep may be a useful model for surgical training and experimentation in some middle ear procedures. Clin. Anat. 19:503–509, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Leveraging Psychology of Virtual Body for Health and Wellness

Information and communication technologies are becoming more present in people’s daily lives. But what is the final purpose of the mass proliferation of digital devices? Are they helpful in fostering personal growth and individual integration in the sociocultural environment, by promoting satisfaction, opportunities for action and self-expression? Recently Riva and colleagues underlined that one of the fundamental objectives for our field—cyberpsychology—in the coming decade will be to create technologies that contribute to enhancement of happiness and psychological well-being (Botella et al., 2012; Riva, Banos, Botella, Wiederhold, & Gaggioli, 2012; Wiederhold & Riva, 2012). In particular, these authors suggested that it is possible to use technology to manipulate the quality of personal experience, with the goal of increasing wellness, and generating strengths and resilience in individuals, organizations, and society. But what is personal experience? According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/experience), it is possible to define experience both as “a: direct observation of or participation in events as a basis of knowledge” (subjective experience) and “b: the fact or state of having been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation” (personal experience). These definitions describe the two faces of our experience: On one side, we can intentionally control the contents of our experience (subjective experience); on the other side, its contents define our future emotions and intentions (personal experience). AQ2 AQ1
The Neural-Cognitive Basis of the Jamesian Stream of Thought

William James described the stream of thought as having two components: (1) a nucleus of highly conscious, often perceptual material; and (2) a fringe of dimly felt contextual information that controls the entry of information into the nucleus and guides the progression of internally directed thought. Here I examine the neural and cognitive correlates of this phenomenology. A survey of the cognitive neuroscience literature suggests that the nucleus corresponds to a dynamic global buffer formed by interactions between different regions of the brain, while the fringe corresponds to a set of mechanisms in the frontal and medial temporal lobes that control the contents of this global buffer. A consequence of this account is that there might be conscious imagistic representations that are not part of the nucleus. I argue that phenomenology can be linked to psychology and neuroscience and a meaningful way that illuminates both.
Liraglutide efficacy and action in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (LEAN): study protocol for a phase II multicentre, double-blinded, randomised, controlled trial

Introduction Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is now the commonest cause of chronic liver disease. Despite this, there are no universally accepted pharmacological therapies for NASH. Liraglutide (Victoza), a human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue, has been shown to improve weight loss, glycaemic control and liver enzymes in type 2 diabetes. There is currently a lack of prospective-controlled studies investigating the efficacy of GLP-1 analogues in patients with NASH. Methods and analysis Liraglutide efficacy and action in NASH (LEAN) is a phase II, multicentre, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trial designed to investigate whether a 48-week treatment with 1.8 mg liraglutide will result in improvements in liver histology in patients with NASH. Adult, overweight (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2) patients with biopsy-confirmed NASH were assessed for eligibility at five recruitment centres in the UK. Patients who satisfied the eligibility criteria were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive once-daily subcutaneous injections of either 1.8 mg liraglutide or liraglutide-placebo (control). Using A'Hern's single stage phase II methodology (significance level 0.05; power 0.90) and accounting for an estimated 20% withdrawal rate, a minimum of 25 patients were randomised to each treatment group. The primary outcome measure will be centrally assessed using an intention-to-treat analysis of the proportion of evaluable patients achieving an improvement in liver histology between liver biopsies at baseline and after 48 weeks of treatment. Histological improvement will be defined as a combination of the disappearance of active NASH and no worsening in fibrosis. Ethics and dissemination The protocol was approved by the National Research Ethics Service (East Midlands—Northampton committee; 10/H0402/32) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Recruitment into the LEAN started in August 2010 and ended in May 2013, with 52 patients randomised. The treatment follow-up of LEAN participants is currently ongoing and is due to finish in July 2014. The findings of this trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and international presentations. Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov NCT01237119.
Block of AMPA Receptor Desensitization by a Point Mutation outside the Ligand-Binding Domain

Desensitization of ionotropic glutamate receptors (GluRs), specifically the AMPA receptor subtype, shapes the postsynaptic response at certain synapses in the brain. All known mechanisms that alter desensitization, either pharmacological or mutational, are associated with the ligand-binding domain. Here we report that substitution of a conserved positively charged arginine (R) with a negatively charged glutamate in the linker between the pore-forming M3 segment and the S2 lobe, a region outside the ligand-binding domain, blocks desensitization in homomeric AMPA receptors composed of GluR-Bi subunits. A charge-reversing substitution of a glutamate adjacent to this conserved R enhanced desensitization, consistent with these effects attributable to electrostatics. Homologous substitutions of the conserved R in GluR-Bo, GluR-Ai and the kainate receptor GluR-6 subunits produced comparable but less visible effects on desensitization. Subunit specificity was also apparent for accessibility of substituted cysteines in the M3–S2 linker, suggesting that this part of the channel is not structurally identical in different GluRs. Additionally, reactivity with a sulfhydryl-specific reagent was state dependent, suggesting that the conformations of the nonconducting closed and desensitized states are different at the level of the M3–S2 linker. Our results therefore represent the first identification of elements outside the ligand-binding domain affecting desensitization in non-NMDA receptor channels and suggest that electrostatic interactions involving charged residues in the M3–S2 linker influence channel gating in a subunit- and subtype-specific manner.
An Examination of the Role of Technological Tools in Relation to the Cognitive Demand of Mathematical Tasks in Secondary Classrooms.

This study investigates the role of digital cognitive technologies in supporting students' mathematical thinking while engaging with instructional tasks. Specifically, the study sought to better understand how the use of technology is related to the cognitive demand of tasks. Data were collected in four secondary mathematics classrooms via classroom observations, collection of student work, and post-lesson teacher interviews. Opportunities for high level thinking by students were evaluated using the Mathematical Tasks Framework (Stein, Smith, Henningsen, & Silver, 2009). Technology use was evaluated with respect to whether it served to amplify students' thinking by making students' work more efficient or accurate without changing the nature of the task, or whether it was used to reorganize students' thinking by supporting a shift to something different or beyond what the technology was doing for them (Pea, 1985). Results indicate that the mere inclusion of technology in a task was not related to the cognitive demand during any of the three phases of implementation, as technology was used in both high and low level tasks. However, results suggested an association between the level of cognitive demand of a task and the way that technology was used. In general, when technology was used as an amplifier, it was not related to the thinking requirements of the task, while the use of technology as a reorganizer was central to the thinking requirements of the task. The decline of tasks set up at high level often corresponded to technology being used as an amplifier and reorganizer during set up, but as only an amplifier during implementation. Overall, the role of technology in the decline or maintenance of high level thinking during implementation seems to depend more on teachers' classroom practice than any particular issues related to the use of technology. How prepared students were to engage in high level thinking tasks in general, how teachers anticipated students' needs while using technology to engage with the task, and how teachers responded to student questions and difficulties were influential factors in the maintenance or decline of these tasks.
Cognitive bias and the development of anxiety in children

The present study examined the cognitive inhibition hypothesis (Kindt, Bierman, & Brosschot, 1997a. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 66, 163-179), which asserts that young children lack the ability to inhibit the processing of threat, but develop this with age. To examine this issue, high spider fearful children (N 170) and low spider fearful children (N 215) aged 7 to 11 years were tested by means of an emotional Stroop task. It was hypothesised that a processing bias for spider-related stimuli would be present in all 8and 9-year-old children. That is, it was expected that responses to spider words would be slower compared to responses to control words. Furthermore, it was hypothesised that this processing bias would decrease with age in low fearful children, whereas it would persist in high fearful children. No support was found for these hypotheses. Instead of the predicted processing bias, data showed the reverse pattern: that is, children responded faster to spider words compared to control words. It is proposed that the reverse bias results from avoidance. More precisely, children may evade the processing of spider stimuli through fast responding. Morren, M. , Kindt, M. , Van den Hout, M. , & Van Kasteren, H. (2003), Anxiety and the processing of threat in children aged 7-11: Further examination of the cognitive inhibition hypothesis. Behaviour Change, 20,131-4142, Acknowledgements. We would like to thank staff and children of the schools for their hospitality and participation in this study. We are also indebted to Bert Hoekzema for the computer programming, Erik Schouten for his statistical advice, and Dr Peter Muris for his comments on previous versions of this paper.
A study of the impact of cooperative small group facilitated case studies on student learning outcomes

A cooperative small group facilitated case-based learning method has been used in the medical college at the researcher’s educational institution since the 2003-2004 academic year. They were designed to be a supplement to a primarily lecture-based curriculum where it was believed that these cooperative cases helped students to develop a better understanding of the material taught in the lectures, although no rigorous investigations had been completed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of these cooperative facilitated small group cases on five specific outcomes which included: 1) achievement, 2) knowledge confidence, 3) student satisfaction, 4) student’s perceived time on task, and 5) the student’s perceptions of the degree to which they believed a facilitator helped them to learn the material. These outcomes for cooperative learning (CL) were compared with individual learning (IL) outcomes. Quantitative data on student achievement and knowledge confidence were collected using a pre-test post-test 10 multiple choice question quiz. A brief questionnaire was also distributed to students to collect data regarding student satisfaction, time on task and perceived helpfulness of the facilitator. Fifty-nine medical students were randomly assigned to either the CL or IL cohort (cooperative cohort, n = 32; individual cohort, n = 27). All students were blinded to the purpose of the study until all data were collected at the end of the investigation. Students completed the 10 multiple choice question pre-test. After each question they rated their level of confidence (on a scale from 1 to 10) that they had chosen the correct answer. Immediately after completion of the pre-test, they worked on the case, either cooperatively or individually. One week after the pre-test and case, the students completed the post-test quiz with the same questions, as well as the questionnaire.
High motion coherence thresholds in children with autism.

BACKGROUND We assessed motion processing in a group of high functioning children with autism and a group of typically developing children, using a coherent motion detection task. METHOD Twenty-five children with autism (mean age 11 years, 8 months) and 22 typically developing children matched for non-verbal mental ability and chronological age were required to detect the direction of moving dots in a random dot kinematogram. RESULTS The group of children with autism showed significantly higher motion coherence thresholds than the typically developing children (i.e., they showed an impaired ability to detect coherent motion). CONCLUSIONS This finding suggests that some individuals with autism may show impairments in low-level visual processing--specifically in the magnocellular visual pathway. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for higher-level cognitive theories of autism, and the suggestion is made that more work needs to be carried out to further investigate low-level visual processing in autism.
Financial Strain and Depressive Symptoms Among Hong Kong Chinese Elderly

Abstract For many Hong Kong Chinese elderly, depression and financial strain are quite common occurrences. This study examines the impact of financial strain on depressive symptoms. The data came from a longitudinal study of a representative community sample of the elderly population in Hong Kong. Using multiple regression models, the authors found that elderly persons with higher financial strain reported more depressive symptoms three years later, even after controlling socio-demographic, physical health status and social support variables. In addition, financial strain influenced the depression equally among men and women. The data do not show evidence of a stress-buffering effect of social support on the negative consequences of financial strain on depression. Among women, poor physical health aggravated the adverse effect of financial strain on depressive symptoms. But among men, poor health moderated the impact of financial strain on depression.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Evaluation Measures for Referring Expression Generation

In this paper we present research in which we apply (i) the kind of intrinsic evaluation metrics that are characteristic of current comparative HLT evaluation, and (ii) extrinsic, human task-performance evaluations more in keeping with NLG traditions, to 15 systems implementing a language generation task. We analyse the evaluation results and find that there are no significant correlations between intrinsic and extrinsic evaluation measures for this task.