Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Neurobiology of Rhyme Judgment by Deaf and Hearing Adults: An ERP Study

We used electrophysiology to determine the time course and distribution of neural activation during an English word rhyme task in hearing and congenitally deaf adults. Behavioral performance by hearing participants was at ceiling and their ERP data replicated two robust effects repeatedly observed in the literature. First, a sustained negativity, termed the contingent negative variation, was elicited following the first stimulus word. This negativity was asymmetric, being more negative over the left than right sites. The second effect we replicated in hearing participants was an enhanced negativity (N450) to nonrhyming second stimulus words. This was largest over medial, parietal regions of the right hemisphere. Accuracy on the rhyme task by the deaf group as a whole was above chance level, yet significantly poorer than hearing participants. We examined only ERP data from deaf participants who performed the task above chance level (n = 9). We observed indications of subtle differences in ERP responses between deaf and hearing groups. However, overall the patterns in the deaf group were very similar to that in the hearing group. Deaf participants, just as hearing participants, showed greater negativity to nonrhyming than rhyming words. Furthermore the onset latency of this effect was the same as that observed in hearing participants. Overall, the neural processes supporting explicit phonological judgments are very similar in deaf and hearing people, despite differences in the modality of spoken language experience. This supports the suggestion that phonological processing is to a large degree amodal or supramodal.
Altered microstructure of brain white matter in females with anorexia nervosa: a diffusion tensor imaging study

Objective Structural studies have reported anorexia nervosa (AN) patients with abnormal gray matter in several brain regions and dysfunction in some connected neural circuits. However, the role of white matter (WM) in AN patients has rarely been investigated. The present study aimed to assess alterations in WM microstructure of the entire brain in females with AN using a voxel-based method on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. Materials and methods The study enrolled 8 female patients with AN and 14 age-matched females as controls (CW). The DTI data was collected from each subject to calculate the fractional anisotropy (FA) maps of the whole brain by the DTI-Studio software. Subsequently, a 2-sample t-test (P<0.05, corrected) was performed to detect the difference in FA maps of AN and CW group, and a Pearson’s correlation analyzed the relationship between mean FA value of brain regions and body mass index (BMI). Results Compared with CW, AN patients revealed a significant decrease in FA maps in the left superior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, thalamus, and bilateral insula. Moreover, significantly positive correlations were established between the mean FA value of the left inferior frontal gyrus, insula as well as thalamus and BMI in AN patients. Conclusions Our findings supported the presence of WM abnormality in patients with AN. The significant differences of FA maps, in patients with AN, were associated with their aberrant BMI. The results further improved our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying AN.
Distressed Stocks in Distressed Times

We partially explain the well-documented distress anomaly by studying the risk/return relation of distressed stocks across market states. We show that the anomaly does not hold in market downturns. The asset beta and financial leverage of distressed stocks rise significantly during bear markets, resulting in a dramatic increase in their equity beta. Hence, a long/short healthy-minus-distressed trading strategy leads to significant losses when the market rebounds. Managing this risk mitigates the severe losses of financial distress strategies and significantly improves their Sharpe ratios. Our results remain strongly significant controlling for the momentum effect and are robust to various estimation procedures. This paper was accepted by Tyler Shumway, finance.
Evolution of Minimal Specificity and Promiscuity in Steroid Hormone Receptors

Most proteins are regulated by physical interactions with other molecules; some are highly specific, but others interact with many partners. Despite much speculation, we know little about how and why specificity/promiscuity evolves in natural proteins. It is widely assumed that specific proteins evolved from more promiscuous ancient forms and that most proteins' specificity has been tuned to an optimal state by selection. Here we use ancestral protein reconstruction to trace the evolutionary history of ligand recognition in the steroid hormone receptors (SRs), a family of hormone-regulated animal transcription factors. We resurrected the deepest ancestral proteins in the SR family and characterized the structure-activity relationships by which they distinguished among ligands. We found that that the most ancient split in SR evolution involved a discrete switch from an ancient receptor for aromatized estrogens—including xenobiotics—to a derived receptor that recognized non-aromatized progestagens and corticosteroids. The family's history, viewed in relation to the evolution of their ligands, suggests that SRs evolved according to a principle of minimal specificity: at each point in time, receptors evolved ligand recognition criteria that were just specific enough to parse the set of endogenous substances to which they were exposed. By studying the atomic structures of resurrected SR proteins, we found that their promiscuity evolved because the ancestral binding cavity was larger than the primary ligand and contained excess hydrogen bonding capacity, allowing adventitious recognition of larger molecules with additional functional groups. Our findings provide an historical explanation for the sensitivity of modern SRs to natural and synthetic ligands—including endocrine-disrupting drugs and pollutants—and show that knowledge of history can contribute to ligand prediction. They suggest that SR promiscuity may reflect the limited power of selection within real biological systems to discriminate between perfect and “good enough. ”
The radial curvature of an end that makes eigenvalues vanish in the essential spectrum I

The concern of this paper is to clarify a relationship between the curvatures at infinity and the spectral structure of the Laplacian. In particular, this paper discusses the question of whether there is an eigenvalue of the Laplacian embedded in the essential spectrum or not. The borderline-behavior of the radial curvatures for this problem will be determined: we will assume that the radial curvature Krad. of an end converges to a constant −1 at infinity with the decay order Krad. + 1 = o(r−1) and prove the absence of eigenvalues embedded in the essential spectrum. Furthermore, in order to show that this decay order Krad. + 1 = o(r−1) is sharp, we will construct a manifold with the radial curvature decay Krad. + 1 = O(r−1) and with an eigenvalue $${\frac{(n-1)^2}{4}+1}$$ embedded in the essential spectrum $${[ \frac{(n-1)^2}{4}, \infty)}$$ of the Laplacian.
Openness, Institutions, and Policies: Determinants of Globalisation and Economic Growth in Developing Countries(Distinguished Lecture)

*Globalisation describes the increasing integration of national economies through international trade, capital transfers, and the exchange of information or knowledge. This paper focuses exclusively on trade integration. Most economists hold that reducing trade barriers has a decisive positive effect on economic growth and poverty reduction (“openness hypothesis”). However, some economists diagnose deficient or weakly enforced non-market institutions as the major cause of slow growth. The main goal of this paper is to show that these two seemingly contrary points of view do not exclude each other. Openness is not only influenced by trade policy but also by other policies and the quality of institutions. Available data show a high negative correlation between the logarithm of tariff rates and indicators of the quality of institutions. Cross-national growth regressions demonstrate that the explanatory power of trade protection and a combined measure of openness, on the one hand, and institutional quality, on the other hand, is comparable. Therefore, it is concluded that liberal trade policies are recommendable, but must be complemented by sound macroeconomic management, micro-policy to strengthen domestic competition, and institutional improvements.
Prostate Cancer in Lymph Nodes Transcription-PCR for the Detection of Micrometastatic Comparison of Immunohistochemistry with Reverse Updated Version

The objective is to compare the performance of immunohistochemistry (IHC) with that of reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for detecting clinically significant micrometastases in histopathologically normal archival pelvic lymph nodes (PLN) removed at radical prostatectomy from men with locally advanced nonmetastatic prostate cancer. We stained 1864 fixed, paraffin-embedded PLNs from 199 pT3N0M0 prostate cancer patients for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and cytokeratin. We also assessed human glandular kallikrein (hK2) expression in a subset of 164 patients. In addition, all PLN specimens were assayed for hK2 mRNA using a previously described RT-PCR assay. PSA and cytokeratin were expressed in the same 13 of 199 (7%) cases; hK2 was expressed in 3 of 164 (2%) cases. PSA/cytokeratin and hK2 expression were associated with cancer involvement of seminal vesicles, higher Gleason sum, and a positive RT-PCR-hK2 assay result. In standard postoperative multivariable models, IHC-PSA/ IHC-Cytokeratin or IHC-hK2 was associated with prostate cancer progression, development of distant metastases, and prostate cancer-specific survival. However, when RT-PCR-hK2 assay result was added to the models, it was the sole predictor of clinical outcomes. Although IHC-PSA/ IHC-Cytokeratin and IHC-hK2 were more specific for identifying patients who would suffer biochemical progression and develop metastases and who would ultimately die of prostate cancer, RT-PCR-hK2 was more sensitive and accurate. Although IHC for PSA, cytokeratin, and hK2 appear to be more specific methods for detecting biologically and clinically significant prostate cancer micrometastases in histopathologically normal PLN, RT-PCR-hK2 appears to be a more sensitive method that maintained a reasonable specificity. In pT3N0 patients, a positive RTPCR-hK2 assay result when performed on PLN was the strongest predictor of clinical outcomes after radical prostatectomy.
Retention of basic sciences knowledge at clinical years of medical curriculum.

AIM To explore the association between the knowledge of basic (physiology and biochemistry) and clinical sciences (internal medicine) among medical students, and determine the level of retained basic science knowledge at the fifth year of medical studies. METHODS Medical students attending the second (n=145, response rate 60%) or the fifth year (n=176, response rate 73%) of medical studies at the Zagreb University School of Medicine in Croatia were given an anonymous knowledge test with 15 pairs of questions developed specifically for this purpose. Each pair consisted of a basic and clinical question, with the correct answer to the basic question explaining the physiological or biochemical background of the clinical question. Three pairs of questions were excludes from the analysis due to poor psychometric characteristics. RESULTS We found statistically significant correlation between basic and clinical tests scores for both groups of students (r=0.47, P<0.001 for the second year and r=0.45, P<0.001 for the fifth year). 2x2 within-between measures ANOVA revealed a significant interaction effect for knowledge test and study year (Wilks lambda=0.55, F(1, 319)=262.7, P<0.001; effect size=0.45), showing that fifth year students scored lower on the basic test than second year students but obtained higher scores on the clinical test. CONCLUSION The core basic science knowledge is lost during the clinical years of medical studies. Although remembering and understanding basic science concepts as a background of clinical statements at the clinical years does not directly affect clinical knowledge, there is a positive correlation between retained basic science concepts and clinical knowledge.
The Home Advantage in Collegiate Basketball

This study substantiates the notion of a home advantage for the sport of basketball. The findings indicate that home teams win 66% of their games and this advantage is as important for game outcomes as team quality. However, the advantage varies according to the quality of home and visiting teams. The paper provides a review of the Durkheimian perspective, which views the home team as a representative of the home collectivity that draws support from its fans. Additionally, the home advantage may be seen as an expression of Goffman, whereby the players are highly motivated to respond in a manner that will maintain their proper demeanor and self-esteem.
Second-Row Transition-Metal Doping of (ZniSi), i = 12, 16 Nanoclusters: Structural and Magnetic Properties

TM@ZniSi nanoclusters have been characterized by means of the Density Functional Theory, in which Transition Metal (TM) stands from Y to Cd, and i = 12 and 16. These two nanoclusters have been chosen owing to their highly spheroidal shape which allow for favored endohedral structures as compared to other nanoclusters. Doping with TM is chosen due to their magnetic properties. In similar cluster-assembled materials, these magnetic properties are related to the Transition Metal-Transition Metal (TM-TM) distances. At this point, endohedral doping presents a clear advantage over substitutional or exohedral doping, since in the cluster-assembled materials, these TM would occupy the well-fixed center of the cluster, providing in this way a better TM-TM distance control to experimentalists. In addition to endohedral compounds, surface structures and the TS’s connecting both isomers have been characterized. In this way the kinetic and thermal stability of endohedral nanoclusters is predicted. We anticipate that silver and cadmium endohedrally doped nanoclusters have the longest life-times. This is due to the weak interaction of these metals with the cage, in contrast to the remaining cases where the TM covalently bond to a region of the cage. The open-shell electronic structure of Ag provides magnetic properties to Ag@ZniSi clusters. Therefore, we have further characterized (Ag@Zn12S12)2 and (Ag@Zn16S16)2 dimers both in the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic state, in order to calculate the corresponding magnetic exchange coupling constant, J.
A new powered ankle-foot prosthesis with compact parallel spring mechanism

This paper presents an innovative powered ankle-foot prosthesis with a compact parallel spring mechanism. The parallel spring mechanism consisting a cam and two linear springs are used to reduce the power and torque requirement of actuators, while improving the system energy efficiency. Herein, the cam profile is designed to generate desired spring torque rather than the stroke versus angle curve. In that case, the spring can reproduce human ankle controlled dorsiflexion stiffness. Finally, for evaluating the proposed prosthesis, clinical trials on a below knee amputee are conducted. The experimental results show that the performances of prosthesis are similar to the normal gait.
Mechanisms for the induction of autoimmunity by infectious agents.

Activation and clonal expansion of autoreactive lymphocytes is a critical step in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. In experimental models of autoimmunity, disease can be transferred by activated, but not resting, autoreactive T cells (1), indicating that activation of autoreactive T cells is required for the development of autoimmune diseases. Infectious agents have long been considered as possible culprits in the activation of autoreactive T cells. Mechanisms by which an infection can lead to an autoimmune process have been examined in experimental animal models, and these concepts as well as their relevance to human diseases will be discussed here.
EU integration and its implications for Asian economies: What we know and what not

In this paper, we analyse effects of EU integration on Asian countries. Since the early 1990s, it is especially the trade creation effect of monetary integration (so-called Rose effect) which is heavily debated in the literature. Recent papers seem to indicate that the Rose effect seems to be significant especially for countries like the old EU members which are already highly integrated in terms of trade and factor mobility. The potential discrimination effect against trade with third countries tends to increase with new member states entering EMU and could also affect Asian economies' exports to Europe. At the same time, so-called overlap or similarity indices for trade patterns show an increasing similarity between EU, US, and Japanese exports to Asia on the one hand and Asian and European exports to industrialized countries on the other hand. These observations are consistent with recent policy responses, i.e., the focus of European contingent protection on Asian competitors, the desire of Asian countries to negotiate free trade agreements (FTA) with the US and Japan, and the EU's response by probably entering into FTA negotiations with Asian countries, including ASEAN.
Brightness Temperature Calculation of Lunar Crater: Interpretation of Topographic Effect on Microwave Data From Chang'E

In order to quantitatively interpret topographic effect on Chang'E (CE) microwave data, a detailed method to compute brightness temperature (TB) over a lunar crater is proposed, which incorporated the effect of surface tilts. The method improves the effective solar irradiance model of the lunar surface to obtain the temperature profile of the lunar crater. The calculated TB at 37 GHz with the proposed computation method, which is based on three digital elevation models (DEMs) from different sources, are consistent with the observed TB from the CE-2 microwave radiometer. The simulated behavior of TB across crater Hercules reproduces the TB undulation observed by CE in a single swath. TB is significantly affected by the lunar dust of a lunar crater and affected by albedo and emissivity in a lesser degree. Based on the explanation with simplified models, the TB variation over a crater is proved to be significantly affected, through physical temperature, by the crater shape described by DEMs. With the simplified crater model, the amplitude of the TB oscillatory curves is proved to depend on the crater shape.
Drying Using Supercritical Fluid Technology as a Potential Method for Preparation of Chitosan Aerogel Microparticles

Supercritical fluid technology offers several advantages in preparation of microparticles. These include uniformity in particle size, morphology, and drug distribution without degradation of the product. One of the recent advantages is preparation of porous aerogel carrier with proper aerodynamic properties. In this study, we aimed to prepare chitosan aerogel microparticles using supercritical fluid (SCF) technology and compare that with microparticles produced by freeze drying (FD). Loading the prepared carriers with a model drug (salbutamol) was also performed. Comparisons of the particle properties and physicochemical characterizations were undertaken by evaluating particle size, density, specific surface area, and porosity. In vitro drug release studies were also investigated. The effect of many variables, such as molecular weight of chitosan oligomers, concentrations of chitosan, and concentrations of tripolyphosphate on the release, were also investigated. Chitosan aerogels were efficiently produced by SCF technology with an average particle size of 10 μm with a tapped density values around 0.12 g/mL, specific surface area (73–103) m2/g, and porosity (0.20–0.29) cc/g. Whereas, microparticles produced by FD method were characterized as cryogels with larger particle size (64 microns) with clear cracking at the surface. Sustained release profile was achieved for all prepared microparticles of salbutamol produced by the aforementioned methods as compared with pure drug. The results also demonstrates that chitosan molecular weight, polymer concentration, and tripolyphosphate concentration affected the release profile of salbutamol from the prepared microparticles. In conclusion, SCF technology was able to produce chitosan aerogel microparticles loaded with salbutamol that could be suitable for pulmonary drug delivery system.
Better detection of Demodex mites by Löffler’s alkaline methylene blue staining in patients with blepharitis

Purpose To determine whether the Löffler’s alkaline methylene blue staining method is better than no staining in detecting Demodex mites in the eyelashes of patients with blepharitis. Materials and methods Eyelashes were collected from 22 patients with blepharitis. The mean age of the patients was 82.5±6.2 years (± SD) with a range from 71 to 93 years. Eyelashes were epilated by forceps and placed individually on microscope slides. The number of Demodex mites was determined by conventional optical microscopy before and immediately after the addition of the methylene blue staining solution. Results The mean Demodex count before the addition of the methylene blue solution was 2.9±2.9, and it was 4.4±3.9 after the addition of the methylene blue solution (P<0.01, Wilcoxon test). Conclusion The methylene blue staining method is a simple and useful method in detecting the presence and quantifying the number of Demodex mites. We recommend the methylene blue staining method not only for the diagnosis of the presence of Demodex mites but also to evaluate the therapeutic effects of medications to eliminate the mite infestation.
Responding to the Inflation Tax∗

We adopt mechanism design to study the effects of inflation on output, trade, and capital accumulation. Our theory captures multiple channels for individuals to respond to inflation: search intensity, market participation, and substitution between money and a higher return asset. We characterize constrained efficient allocations and show inflation has non-monotonic effects on the frequency of trades (extensive margin) and the total quantity traded (intensive margin). The model features monetary superneutrality for low inflation rates, non-linearities in trading frequencies, and substitution of money for capital for higher inflation rates. While these effects are difficult to capture in previous models, we show how they are intimately related by all being features of an optimal trading mechanism. JEL classification: D82, D83, E40, E50.