Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural Correlates of Visual Motion Prediction

Predicting the trajectories of moving objects in our surroundings is important for many life scenarios, such as driving, walking, reaching, hunting and combat. We determined human subjects’ performance and task-related brain activity in a motion trajectory prediction task. The task required spatial and motion working memory as well as the ability to extrapolate motion information in time to predict future object locations. We showed that the neural circuits associated with motion prediction included frontal, parietal and insular cortex, as well as the thalamus and the visual cortex. Interestingly, deactivation of many of these regions seemed to be more closely related to task performance. The differential activity during motion prediction vs. direct observation was also correlated with task performance. The neural networks involved in our visual motion prediction task are significantly different from those that underlie visual motion memory and imagery. Our results set the stage for the examination of the effects of deficiencies in these networks, such as those caused by aging and mental disorders, on visual motion prediction and its consequences on mobility related daily activities.
Modified Negative Marking Schemes in Multiple Choice Questions in a Health Institution in Nigeria

Background and Objectives: The use of multiple choice questions (MCQs) is an objective method of assessment of knowledge. The true/false pattern of MCQs is often applied in medical schools. Negative marking for the true/false MCQs may influence the overall reliability, validity, and outcome of the assessment. This study was set out to evaluate aspects of negative marking schemes in MCQs in a medical school in Nigeria. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study involving a set of final year medical students. Multiple choice questions comprising of 100 true/false questions and 70 best of five (BOF) options were administered in 2 sessions, 7 days apart, and 3 marking schemes were used. Scheme A: “Informed negative marking but no negative marking” Scheme B: “Informed no negative marking and no negative marking”. Scheme C: “Informed negative marking and negative marking”. Number right scheme was used for the BOF. The results were compared between the 3 marking schemes. Results: The students’ mean score 46.1% for Scheme A was higher than 39.9% for Scheme C (p<0.001), but lower than 57.7% for Scheme B, (p=0.028). The differences in the positive scores, as well as the negative scores between the three schemes were not significant. (df 22, p=0.288) (df=20, p=0.862) There was a near perfect correlation between the mean score for Scheme A and that for Scheme C (r=0.97 p<0.001). However, there was a moderate correlation between the mean score for Scheme A and Scheme B. The mean score for Scheme C was a predictor of the mean score for Scheme A. Conclusion: The Marking Schemes for MCQs “Informed negative marking but no implementation of negative marking” and “Informed negative marking and implementation of negative marking” were closely related, and were more reliable and valid than the Marking Scheme “Informed no negative marking and no implementation of negative marking” for the true/false MCQs. Negative marking should be adopted in true/false options in MCQs in medical schools.
The Ethics of Research Excellence

We here analyse the ethical dimensions of the UK's ‘Research Excellence Framework’ (REF), the latest (2014) version of an exercise which assesses the quality of university research in the UK every seven or so years. We find many of the common objections to this exercise unfounded, such as that it is excessively expensive by comparison with alternatives such as various metrics, or that it turns on the subjective judgement of the assessors. However there are grounds for concern about the crude language in which for example all relevant scholarship becomes called ‘research’ and publications become ‘outputs’. The focus on the impact of research, which was a new feature of the most recent exercise, is particularly problematic, creating as it does a tendency to what Aristotle called alazony, self-aggrandisement, on the part of academics. We conclude that the REF is a mixed good from an ethical point of view, and that more could be done to mitigate its more unfortunate features.
Molecular Analysis of Anaplasma phagocytophilum Isolated from Patients with Febrile Diseases of Unknown Etiology in China

Although anaplasmosis cases have been nationally identified in China, no human isolates of A. phagocytophilum have been obtained, which limits the analysis of any molecular and genetic contributions to patients' severe clinical manifestations and the study of the bacteria's pathogeneses in China. Given this situation, a joint project was conducted in 2009–2010. A total of 421 febrile cases of unknown etiology were collected and the patients' blood samples were collected for laboratory diagnoses including serologic diagnosis based on the four-fold rise in the anti- A. phagocytophilum IgG titer by indirect micro-immunofluorescence assay (IFA), positive PCR assay and confirmation of A. phagocytophilum DNA and positive culture of A. phagocytophilum and confirmed by amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA and ank A genes of the A. phagocytophilum isolates. A total of 570 ticks were collected from the patients' domestic animals (456) and from wild fields (114) for culturing and amplifying and sequencing the 16S rRNA gene of A. phagocytophilum. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on the 16S rRNA and ank A gene sequences of the isolates and the ticks tested in the study. A total of 46 (10.9%) confirmed and 16 (3.8%) probable cases were diagnosed and severe clinical features and higher mortality rates were observed in these Chinese patients. Five isolates were obtained and the 16S rRNA genes of the 5 isolates were conserved but variety for ank A genes. Two human isolates and 1 tick isolate from Shandong Peninsula, where all patients exhibited severe clinical manifestations, were grouped as one clan based on the phylogenetic analyses, while 2 other human isolates were clustered in a second clan. 43.5% of H. longicornis were infected with A. phagocytophilum.The present study is the first to obtain clinical isolates of A. phagocytophilum in China. The diversity of the ank A genes of Chinese isolates will help us to further discern the relationship between the variations in the ank A genes and the severity of the disease's clinical manifestations in China.
Affect and Mindfulness as Predictors of Change in Mood Disturbance, Stress Symptoms, and Quality of Life in a Community-Based Yoga Program for Cancer Survivors

Little attention has been paid to the psychological determinants by which benefits are accrued via yoga practice in cancer-related clinical settings. Using a longitudinal multilevel modeling approach, associations between affect, mindfulness, and patient-reported mental health outcomes, including mood disturbance, stress symptoms, and health-related quality of life (HRQL), were examined in an existing seven-week yoga program for cancer survivors. Participants (N = 66) were assessed before and after the yoga program and at three- and six-month follow-ups. Decreases in mood disturbance and stress symptoms and improvements in HRQL were observed upon program completion. Improvements in mood disturbance and stress symptoms were maintained at the three- and six-month follow-ups. HRQL exhibited further improvement at the three-month follow-up, which was maintained at the six-month follow-up. Improvements in measures of well-being were predicted by initial positive yoga beliefs and concurrently assessed affective and mindfulness predictor variables. Previous yoga experience, affect, mindfulness, and HRQL were related to yoga practice maintenance over the course of the study.
Kanglaite attenuates UVB-induced down-regulation of aquaporin-3 in cultured human skin keratinocytes

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of skin photoaging. Depending on the wavelength of UV, the epidermis is affected primarily by UVB. One major characteristic of photoaging is the dehydration of the skin. Membrane-inserted water channels (aquaporins) are involved in this process. In this study we demonstrated that UVB radiation induced aquaporin-3 (AQP3) down-regulation in cultured human skin keratinocytes. Kanglaite is a mixture consisting of extractions of Coix Seed, which is an effective anti-neoplastic agent and can inhibit the activities of protein kinase C and NF-κB. We demonstrated that Kanglaite inhibited UVB-induced AQP3 down-regulation of cultured human skin keratinocytes. Our findings provide a potential new agent for anti-photoaging. The related molecular mechanisms remain to be further elucidated.
Cost-Effectiveness of Improving Health Care to People with HIV in Nicaragua

Background. A 2010 evaluation found generally poor outcomes among HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy in Nicaragua. We evaluated an intervention to improve HIV nursing services in hospital outpatient departments to improve patient treatment and retention in care. The intervention included improving patient tracking, extending clinic hours, caring for children of HIV+ mothers, ensuring medication availability, promoting self-help groups and family involvement, and coordinating multidisciplinary care. Methods. This pre/postintervention study examined opportunistic infections and clinical status of HIV patients before and after implementation of changes to the system of nursing care. Hospital expenditure data were collected by auditors and hospital teams tracked intervention expenses. Decision tree analysis determined incremental cost-effectiveness from the implementers' perspective. Results. Opportunistic infections decreased by 24% (95% CI: 14%–34%) and 11.3% of patients improved in CDC clinical stage. Average per-patient costs decreased by $133/patient/year (95% CI: $29–$249). The intervention, compared to business-as-usual strategy, saved money while improving outcomes. Conclusions. Improved efficiency of services can allow more ART-eligible patients to receive therapy. We recommended the intervention be implemented in all HIV service facilities in Nicaragua.
Optimal Contracting with Costly State Verification, with an Application to Crowdsourcing

A firm employs workers to obtain costly unverifiable information for example, categorizing the content of images. Workers are monitored by comparing their messages. The optimal contract under limited liability exhibits three key features: (i) the monitoring technology depends crucially on the commitment power of the firm virtual monitoring, or monitoring with arbitrarily small probability, is optimal when the firm can commit to truthfully reveal messages from other workers, while monitoring with strictly positive probability is optimal when the firm can hide messages (partial commitment), (ii) bundling multiple tasks reduces worker rents and monitoring inefficiencies; and (iii) the optimal contract is approximately efficient under full but not partial commitment. We conclude with an application to crowdsourcing platforms, and characterize the optimal contract for tasks found on these platforms.
Once a poor pitch singer, always a poor pitch singer? A bottom up study of factors that may support singing development

Approximately 10% of students have singing difficulties appearing as poor pitch singing. During the period 2012 to 2014, I assessed 2390 recordings from 239 students. 25 students were graded below C, and thus were defined as poor pitch singers (PPS). However, these students showed varying patterns of mastery within their own portfolios of recordings. This raised the initial research question: Are there features within the musical material itself that can explain the varying degrees of mastery? The best and the weakest performances of the PPS were analyzed in terms of musical structures and lyrics. Features of the singing repertoire, self-concept and practice appear to influence singing development with PPS.
Early vocabulary development in deaf native signers: a British Sign Language adaptation of the communicative development inventories.

BACKGROUND There is a dearth of assessments of sign language development in young deaf children. This study gathered age-related scores from a sample of deaf native signing children using an adapted version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI (Fenson et al., 1994). METHOD Parental reports on children's receptive and expressive signing were collected longitudinally on 29 deaf native British Sign Language (BSL) users, aged 8-36 months, yielding 146 datasets. RESULTS A smooth upward growth curve was obtained for early vocabulary development and percentile scores were derived. In the main, receptive scores were in advance of expressive scores. No gender bias was observed. Correlational analysis identified factors associated with vocabulary development, including parental education and mothers' training in BSL. Individual children's profiles showed a range of development and some evidence of a growth spurt. Clinical and research issues relating to the measure are discussed. CONCLUSIONS The study has developed a valid, reliable measure of vocabulary development in BSL. Further research is needed to investigate the relationship between vocabulary acquisition in native and non-native signers.
Substrate-Induced Internalization of the High-Affinity Choline Transporter

Cholinergic neurons are endowed with a high-affinity choline uptake system for efficient synthesis of acetylcholine at the presynaptic terminals. The high-affinity choline transporter CHT1 is responsible for choline uptake, the rate-limiting step in acetylcholine synthesis. However, endogenous physiological factors that affect CHT1 expression or function and consequently regulate the acetylcholine synthesis rate are essentially unknown. Here we demonstrate that extracellular substrate decreases the cell-surface expression of CHT1 in rat brain synaptosomes, primary cultures from the basal forebrain, and mammalian cell lines transfected with CHT1. Extracellular choline rapidly decreases cell-surface CHT1 expression by accelerating its internalization, a process that is mediated by a dynamin-dependent endocytosis pathway in HEK293 cells. Specific inhibitor hemicholinium-3 decreases the constitutive internalization rate and thereby increases cell-surface CHT1 expression. We also demonstrate that the constitutive internalization of CHT1 depends on extracellular pH in cultured cells. Our results collectively suggest that the internalization of CHT1 is induced by extracellular substrate, providing a novel feedback mechanism for the regulation of acetylcholine synthesis at the cholinergic presynaptic terminals.
High-flux ptychographic imaging using the new 55 µm-pixel detector ‘Lambda’ based on the Medipix3 readout chip

The Large Area Medipix-Based Detector Array (Lambda) has been used in a ptychographic imaging experiment on solar-cell nanowires. By using a semi-transparent central stop, the high flux density provided by nano-focusing Kirkpatrick–Baez mirrors can be fully exploited for high-resolution phase reconstructions.
Do We Gossip for Moral Reasons? The Intersection of Moral Foundations and Gossip

ABSTRACT Gossip is comprised of evaluative talk about absent others. Although such evaluations may be moral or non-moral, moral judgments often precede the transmission of gossip. This work explored the salience of moral and non-moral motivations to transmit gossip-like information. Two studies explored the relationships between the general tendency to gossip, transmission of, and interest in gossip, five moral foundations (Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, Purity/sanctity), their sacredness in relational contexts, and moral and non-moral motives to gossip. Results from Studies 1 (negative gossip - infidelity) and 2 (positive gossip - fidelity) indicated that moral motives to gossip were more important than non-moral motives. The contribution of morality in perpetuating gossip was discussed.
Message Order Effects in Persuasion: An Attitude Strength Perspective

Contemporary research on attitude change processes is reviewed for implications regarding the relative influence of successive opposing messages on final judgements. Based on this review, extent of message relevant elaboration is offered as a moderator of primacy versus recency effects in prior research. Support for this view is derived from the ability to explain the results of pervious studies and from two experiments in which message presentation order and personal relevance of the topic are manipulated in a factorial design. We find that situations that foster high levels of message elaboration lead to greater influence of an initial message on final judgments (a primacy effect) whereas situations that foster low levels of message relevant elaboration lead to greater influence of a second message on final judgments (a recency effect). Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.
Price Level Targeting in a Small Open Economy with Financial Frictions: Welfare Analysis

How important are the benefits of low price-level uncertainty? This paper explores the desirability of price-level path targeting in an estimated DSGE model fit to Canadian data. The policy implications are based on social welfare evaluations. Compared to the historical inflation targeting rule, an optimal price level targeting regime substantially reduces the welfare cost of business cycle fluctuations in terms of steady state consumption. The optimal price-level targeting rule performs also better than the optimal inflation targeting rule in minimizing the distortion generated by the presence of nominal debt contracts. The occurrence of financial shocks, which are among the main sources of business cycle fluctuations in the model, significantly contributes to quantify the welfare gains of price level targeting.
New applications of pseudoanalytic function theory to the Dirac equation

In the present work, we establish a simple relation between the Dirac equation with a scalar and an electromagnetic potential in a two-dimensional case and a pair of decoupled Vekua equations. In general, these Vekua equations are bicomplex. However, we show that the whole theory of pseudoanalytic functions without modifications can be applied to these equations under a certain nonrestrictive condition. As an example we formulate the similarity principle which is the central reason why a pseudoanalytic function and as a consequence a spinor field depending on two space variables share many of the properties of analytic functions. One of the surprising consequences of the established relation with pseudoanalytic functions consists in the following result. Consider the Dirac equation with a scalar potential depending on one variable with fixed energy and mass. In general, this equation cannot be solved explicitly even if one looks for wavefunctions of one variable. Nevertheless, for such Dirac equation, we obtain an algorithmically simple procedure for constructing in explicit form a complete system of exact solutions (depending on two variables). These solutions generalize the system of powers 1, z, z2, . in complex analysis and are called formal powers. With their aid any regular solution of the Dirac equation can be represented by its Taylor series in formal powers.
An Optimized Fast Discrete Cosine Transform Approach with Various Iterations and Optimum Numerical Factors for Image Quality Evaluation

In this paper, we have discussed the comparative study of Fast Discrete Cosine Transform (FDCT). The proposed Algorithm investigate the performance evaluation of quantization based Fast DCT and variable block size with different no of iterations based image compression Techniques. This paper has been devoted to improve image compression at low lower no of iterations and higher pixel values. The numerical analysis of such algorithms is carried out by measuring Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Compression Ratio (CR) and CPU processing time. In this paper we have elaborated about the compression ratio with different no iterations. We can evaluate the higher compression ratio results more effectively with lower iteration and higher pixel values than that of quality of image respectively. Image quality will be degraded at higher iteration but compression ratio is better as compare to other algorithms. Different no of iterations and quantized matrix and variable block size are chosen using FDCT for calculating MSE, PSNR and Compression Ratio for achieving the highest image quality and Compression Ratio under the same algorithm. The proposed algorithm significantly raises the PSNR and minimizes the MSE at lower iterations but as above discussion main theory is that Compression Ratio increases at higher iterations and quality of image will not be maintained at higher iterations. We have also calculated the CPU processing time for processing of image compression to find the complexity of algorithm. We have Tested this algorithm two test Images fruit with 512X512 pixel frame and Lena image with 256X256 pixel frames. Thus, we can also conclude that at the same compression ratio the difference between original and decompressed image goes on decreasing, as there is increase in image resolution.
Essays on Place and Punishment in America

This dissertation consists of three essays on the spatial and neighborhood dynamics of incarceration in the United States. In the first essay, I apply theories of social control and urban inequality to study prison admission rates at the census tract level for the state of Massachusetts. Regression analysis yields three findings. First, incarceration is highly spatially concentrated. Census tracts covering 15 percent of the state’s population account for half of all prison admissions. Second, across urban and non-urban areas, incarceration is strongly related to poverty, high school dropout, and minority population, even after controlling for crime. Third, an outlier analysis shows admission rates in small cities and suburbs are among the highest in the sample and far exceed model predictions. The main theoretical implication is that mass incarceration emerged not just to manage distinctively urban social problems but was characteristic of a broader mode of governance evident in communities often far-removed from deep inner-city poverty. The second essay examines the pre-prison neighborhood environment of racial and ethnic subgroups within the Massachusetts prison population. From an analysis of over 13,000 prison admissions in Massachusetts, findings indicate that some of the most disadvantaged pre-prison neighborhoods come from places outside of Boston. Whites and Hispanics who enter prison from smaller city centers in Massachusetts lived in significantly more concentrated
Managerial Incentives and Compensation in a Global Market

This paper embeds a principal-agent firm in an otherwise standard trade model a la Melitz (2003) to investigate the impact of globalization on the provision of managerial incentives and on the distribution of managerial compensation. Facing contractual frictions due to limited liability, firms with heterogeneous productivity endogenously sort into different pay structures to mitigate different levels of agency problems. More productive firms use a higher-powered incentive contract while less productive firms use a lowered- powered one. International trade within an industry enhances market competition, inducing resources reallocated from low productivity domestic firms to high productivity exporting . rms. The uneven effects of international trade on firms that differ in their exporting status and pay structure result in more prevalence of high-powered incentive pay, a larger wage gap between managers and production workers, and a higher level of wage inequality among managers.