Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TMS Over V5 Disrupts Motion Prediction

Given the vast amount of sensory information the brain has to deal with, predicting some of this information based on the current context is a resource-efficient strategy. The framework of predictive coding states that higher-level brain areas generate a predictive model to be communicated via feedback connections to early sensory areas. Here, we directly tested the necessity of a higher-level visual area, V5, in this predictive processing in the context of an apparent motion paradigm. We flashed targets on the apparent motion trace in-time or out-of-time with the predicted illusory motion token. As in previous studies, we found that predictable in-time targets were better detected than unpredictable out-of-time targets. However, when we applied functional magnetic resonance imaging-guided, double-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over left V5 at 13–53 ms before target onset, the detection advantage of in-time targets was eliminated; this was not the case when TMS was applied over the vertex. Our results are causal evidence that V5 is necessary for a prediction effect, which has been shown to modulate V1 activity (Alink et al. 2010). Thus, our findings suggest that information processing between V5 and V1 is crucial for visual motion prediction, providing experimental support for the predictive coding framework.
Predicting Military Performance from Specific Personality Measures: A Validity Study

This study examined the criterion-related validity of the dimensions of a customized personality inventory in predicting different aspects of military performance. A cross-validity study was also carried out to establish the stability of the obtained regression weights. The sample consisted of 733 non-commissioned officers who filled out the personality inventory. Three different measures of performance (i.e., commendations, reprimands, and cumulative ranking) were used as the criteria in validating the inventory. Among the 11 dimensions of the inventory, emotional stability, directing and monitoring, self-discipline, and military bearing predicted commendations; determination was the only predictor for reprimands, and cumulative ranking was predicted by determination and adaptability. The cross-validity procedure showed that the obtained regression weights were stable, providing further support for the validity of the personality measures. Results yielded support for the argument that specific personality measures could be respectable predictors of different aspects of military performance.
Non-inherited maternal HLA alleles are associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is strongly associated with a series of HLA-DRB1 alleles that encode a conserved sequence of amino acids ((70)Q/R K/R R A A(74)) in the DRbeta1 chain, known as the shared epitope (SE). However 30% of patients are negative for DRB1*04 and 15% are SE-negative. Exposure to these alleles as non-inherited maternal antigens (NIMA) might explain this discrepancy. We undertook a family study to investigate the role of NIMA in RA. METHODS One hundred families, including the RA proband and both parents, were recruited. HLA-DRB1 genotyping was performed using an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction by standard methods. The frequencies of NIMA and non-inherited paternal antigens (NIPA) were compared using contingency tables and a two-tailed P test. We then reviewed four previously published studies of NIMA in RA and conducted an analysis of the combined data RESULTS We identified 36 families in which the proband was DRB1*04-negative and 13 in which the proband lacked the SE. There was an excess of DRB1*04 and SE NIMA (P=0.05) compared with NIPA. Combined analysis with previous studies showed that 53/231 mothers (23%) versus 25/205 fathers (12%) had a non-inherited DRB1*04 (P=0.003) and 30/99 mothers versus 18/101 fathers had a non-inherited SE allele (P=0.03). CONCLUSION A role for HLA NIMA in RA is suggested by these results.
Developing a 3- to 6-state EEG-based brain-computer interface for a robotic manipulator control

Recent developments in BCI techniques have demonstrated high-performance control of robotic prosthetic systems primarily via invasive methods. In this work we develop an electroencephalography (EEG) based noninvasive BCI system that can be used for a similar, albeit lower-speed robotic control, and a signal processing system for detecting user’s mental intent from EEG data based on up to 6-state motor-imagery BCI communication paradigm. We examine the performance of that system on experimental data collected from 12 healthy participants and analyzed offline. We show that our EEG BCI system can correctly identify different motor imageries in EEG data with high accuracy: 3 out of 12 participants achieved accuracy of 6-state communication in 80-90% range, while 2 participants could not achieve a satisfactory accuracy. We further implement an online BCI system for control of a virtual 3 degree-of-freedom prosthetic manipulator and test it with our 3 best participants. The participants’ ability to control the BCI is quantified by using the percentage of successfully completed BCI tasks, the time required to complete a task, and the error rate. 2 participants were able to successfully complete 100% of the test tasks, demonstrating on average the error rate of 80% and requiring 5-10 seconds to execute a manipulator move. 1 participant failed to demonstrate a satisfactory performance in online trials. Our results lay a foundation for further development of EEG BCI-based robotic assistive systems and demonstrate that EEG-based BCI may be feasible for robotic control by paralyzed and immobilized individuals.
Translating Human Rights of the “Enemy”: The Case of Israeli NGOs Defending Palestinian Rights

This article explores the practices, discourses and dilemmas of the Israeli human rights NGOs that are working to protect and promote the human rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. This case can shed light on the complex process of “triangular translation” of human rights, which is distinct from other forms of human rights localization studied thus far. In this process, human rights NGOs translate international human rights norms on the one hand, and the suffering of the victims on the other, into the conceptions and legal language commonly employed by the state that violates these rights. We analyze the dialectics of change and reproduction embedded in the efforts of Israeli activists to defend Palestinian human rights while at the same time depoliticizing their work and adopting discriminatory premises and conceptions hegemonic in Israeli society. The recent and alarming legislative proposals in Israel aimed at curtailing the work of human rights NGOs reinforce the need to reconsider the role of human rights NGOs in society, including their depoliticized strategies, their use of legal language and their relations with the diminishing peace movement.
Contrasting Preoccupation With Relationships to Preoccupation With Isolative Sex

Relationship preoccupation and preoccupation with isolated sex are not well studied as yet. Sexual Dependency Inventory 4.0 data from people seeking treatment for sex addiction were used to compare groups defined as high preoccupation with relationships (REL), high preoccupation with isolated sex (ISOL), high on both (BOTH), or high on neither (NE). The groups were compared on sex addiction symptoms and consequences of sexual behavior. The 3 elevated groups (REL, ISOL, and BOTH) were used to establish profiles of associated sexual preoccupations. Results found that men and women of the BOTH group had higher scores on all measures of sexual addiction symptoms, consequences, and preoccupations. Contrasting groups elevated on REL to groups elevated on ISOL uncovered some gender differences in symptoms. However, consequences of sexual behaviors associated with high REL and high ISOL were largely similar across genders. The findings of this study suggest that clients scoring high on both the Preoccupation with Relationships and Preoccupation with Isolated Fantasizing are more likely to show high levels of preoccupation with a wide variety of other sexual interests and more likely to report more severe symptoms and consequences related to sexual addiction.
Androgen status in non-diabetic elderly men with heart failure

Abstract Purpose: We aimed at evaluating androgen status (serum testosterone [TT] and estimated free testosterone [eFT]) and its determinants in non-diabetic elderly men with heart failure (HF). Additionally, we investigated its associations with body composition and long-term survival. Methods: Seventy three non-diabetic men with HF and 20 healthy men aged over 55 years were studied. Echocardiography, 6-min walk test, grip strength, body composition measurement by DEXA method were performed. TT, sex hormone binding globulin, NT-proBNP, and adipokines (adiponectin and leptin) were measured. All-cause mortality was evaluated at six years of follow-up. Results: Androgen status (TT, eFT) was similar in elderly men with HF compared to healthy controls (4.79 ± 1.65 vs. 4.45 ± 1.68 ng/ml and 0.409 ± 0.277 vs. 0.350 ± 0.204 nmol/l, respectively). In HF patients, TT was positively associated with NT-proBNP (r= 0.371, p = 0.001) and adiponectin levels (r = 0.349, p = 0.002), while inverse association was noted with fat mass (r = −0.413, p < 0.001). TT and eFT were independently determined by age, total fat mass and adiponectin levels in elderly men with HF (p < 0.05 for all). Androgen status was not predictor for all-cause mortality at six years of follow-up. Conclusions: In non-diabetic men with HF, androgen status is not altered and is not predictive of long-term outcome.
Data Karaoke: Sensory and Bodily Skills in Conference Presentations

At the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD), an interdisciplinary conference dedicated to sonification and the use of non-speech sound to represent information, presenters make use of a variety of bodily skills and representations that appeal to the senses of their audience. In many established disciplines, the conventions that guide the use of these skills and representations are taken for granted; but within ICAD, they are often explicitly negotiated. The practice of ‘data karaoke', in which researchers mimic the sound of a sonification with their own voice, is particularly instructive for understanding these negotiations, and the ICAD community more generally. Data karaoke fulfils five functions: embodiment, highlighting, illustration, authorisation and integration. To make sense of data karaoke, we have to understand the institutional and intellectual environment in which this peculiar practice has emerged; but conversely, an understanding of data karaoke can help us throw new light on epistemological debates about the hierarchy of the senses: data karaoke is a multisensory skill engaging the whole body of the sonification researcher, and thus calls into question the dominant epistemological discourse within the ICAD community, in which the different sensory modalities are framed as competitors. The ICAD case shows that studying conferences as sites where bodies interact, and presentations as performances involving the bodies and senses of scientists, helps us to understand not only the conference cultures, but also the ideals about scientific scholarship and academic authority held by scientific communities.
Classification of Gene Expression Profiles: Comparison of K-means and Expectation Maximization Algorithms

Biomedical research has been revolutionized by high-throughput techniques and the enormous amount of biological data they are able to generate. In particular micro-array technology has the capacity to monitor changes in RNA abundance for thousands of genes simultaneously. The interest shown over microarray analysis methods has rapidly raised. Clustering is widely used in the analysis of microarray data to group genes of interest targeted from microarray experiments on the basis of similarity of expression patterns. In this work we apply two clustering algorithms, K-means and expectation maximization to particular a problem and we compare the groupings obtained on the basis of the cohesiveness of the gene products associated to the genes in each cluster.
Intra population diversity in Rhizocotonia bataticola causing dry root rot of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in India

Fifty isolates of dry root rot pathogen Rhizoctonia bataticola collected from different agro-climatic zones in India were evaluated for the degree of subdivision in isolates level. The isolates showed variability in pathogenicity test. Genetic characteristics were analyzed based on the sequence of the rDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. The phylogenetic tree based on rDNA-ITS analysis showed that the maximum number of R. bataticola isolates were very diverse and did not depend on geographical origin. Both pathological and molecular data correlated each other and supported that the R. bataticola present in India were very diverse and independent to their origin.
Advancement of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Technology through Round Robin Testing and Fundamental Modeling

Growing interest in supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) cycles for advanced reactors is driving the need for corrosion data on candidate plant materials. The S-CO2 Brayton cycle is being considered for power conversion systems for a number of nuclear reactor concepts including the sodium fast reactor, fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor, high temperature gas reactor, and several types of small modular reactors. Multiple organizations have developed test facilities to address the corrosion data knowledge gap in high temperature, high pressure S-CO2 environments but to date, there has been no formal test program among these organizations to validate the consistency of the data they produce. A demonstration of comparable and reproducible results enables a coordinated effort to explore the S-CO2 parameter space relevant to advanced reactor technology. This proposal establishes a round robin test plan for S-CO2 corrosion testing and the organization of a S-CO2 Materials Group to guide future materials testing directions. Furthermore, this proposal outlines efforts to elucidate the mechanisms of S-CO2 corrosion by performing identical tests in supercritical steam, testing model alloys with various composition and environmental conditions, accompanied by modeling efforts to study rate controlling mechanisms of corrosion and to help understanding the effects of impurities.
New Evidence on the Construct Validity of the ASI-3 and the Dimensional Conceptualization of Trait Anxiety Sensitivity From IRT Modeling

Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) denotes the tendency to fear anxiety-related sensations. Trait AS is an established risk factor for anxiety pathology. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) is a widely used measure of AS and its three most robust dimensions with well-established construct validity. At present, the dimensional conceptualization of AS, and thus, the construct validity of the ASI-3 is challenged. A latent class structure with two distinct and qualitatively different forms, an adaptive form (normative AS) and a maladaptive form (AS taxon, predisposing for anxiety pathology) was postulated. Item Response Theory (IRT) models were applied to item-level data of the ASI-3 in an attempt to replicate previous findings in a large nonclinical sample (N = 2,603) and to examine possible interpretations for the latent discontinuity observed. Two latent classes with a pattern of distinct responses to ASI-3 items were found. However, classes were indicative of participant’s differential use of the response scale (midpoint and extreme response style) rather than differing in AS content (adaptive and maladaptive AS forms). A dimensional structure of AS and the construct validity of the ASI-3 was supported.
The Increasing Interest of ANAMMOX Research in China: Bacteria, Process Development, and Application

Nitrogen pollution created severe environmental problems and increasingly has become an important issue in China. Since the first discovery of ANAMMOX in the early 1990s, this related technology has become a promising as well as sustainable bioprocess for treating strong nitrogenous wastewater. Many Chinese research groups have concentrated their efforts on the ANAMMOX research including bacteria, process development, and application during the past 20 years. A series of new and outstanding outcomes including the discovery of new ANAMMOX bacterial species (Brocadia sinica), sulfate-dependent ANAMMOX bacteria (Anammoxoglobus sulfate and Bacillus benzoevorans), and the highest nitrogen removal performance (74.3–76.7 kg-N/m3/d) in lab scale granule-based UASB reactors around the world were achieved. The characteristics, structure, packing pattern and floatation mechanism of the high-rate ANAMMOX granules in ANAMMOX reactors were also carefully illustrated by native researchers. Nowadays, some pilot and full-scale ANAMMOX reactors were constructed to treat different types of ammonium-rich wastewater including monosodium glutamate wastewater, pharmaceutical wastewater, and leachate. The prime objective of the present review is to elucidate the ongoing ANAMMOX research in China from lab scale to full scale applications, comparative analysis, and evaluation of significant findings and to set a design to usher ANAMMOX research in culmination.
Regulatory focus systems and personal values

The present studies sought connections between two highly influential, but separate motivational systems: the regulatory foci and personal values. Study 1 (N = 173) showed that promotion focus was positively associated with Achievement and negatively with Tradition values, whereas prevention focus was positively associated with Conformity and Security values, and negatively with Self-Direction and Stimulation values. Furthermore, interdependent self-construal moderated trait prevention focus' associations with Power, Benevolence, Universalism, and Conformity values. Study 2 (N = 150) showed that a promotion-framed message evoked more compliant behavior among those scoring high on Stimulation, Achievement, and Self-Direction values, but that a prevention-framed message evoked more compliance among those high in Conformity values. The results suggested that the regulatory foci are associated with certain values, and that these values may increase motivation in promotion- versus prevention-relevant situations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Prognostic value of FDG uptake by the bone marrow in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

BackgroundThe appearance of natural suppressor cells and circulating endothelial progenitor cells in tumour tissue has been associated with myelopoetic stimulation by growth factors that may increase fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake by the bone marrow and high FDG uptake by bone marrow in patients suffering from human malignancies is a not uncommon finding. MethodsThis study looked at the relationship between bone marrow FDG uptake, biochemical (Hb level, RBC count, WBC count and platelet count), clinical and radiological findings and outcome in a series of 35 patients suffering from squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), consecutively referred for FDG PET as part of their routine staging procedure. Results and conclusionIn SCCHN, mean FDG standardized uptake values (SUVs) of the primary tumour correlate significantly with blood WBC count (r=0.44; P=0.011, Bonferroni corrected P=0.04) and mean FDG SUVs of bone marrow are significantly correlated to the maximum FDG SUVs of the primary tumour (r=0.523; P=0.002). Finally, FDG uptake by the bone marrow is related to disease-free and overall survival. These findings warrant confirmation in a larger patient series.
Owners or traders? Conceptualizations of institutional investors and their relationship with corporate managers

We draw on a series of in-depth interviews with senior managers from institutional investors and large listed corporations to explore how different conceptualizations of institutional investors, their role in the corporate governance process, and their interactions with corporate management, are reflected in the accounts of the actors concerned. We find that the conceptualizations in terms of ownership and agency that dominate both academic and popular discourses are marginal to the actors’ accounts. Rather, both fund managers and company managers conceptualize institutional investors primarily as financial traders who happen,as a result of their trading, to control key resources, but whose interests are effectively divorced from those of long-term share owners. Our analysis suggests that far from being mitigated by the large share blocks of institutional investors, as some commentators have suggested, the separation of ownership from control has been compounded in the UK by a separation of accountability from responsibility, with the interests of the institutions holding managers accountable being quite different from those of the owner-beneficiaries to whom they feel responsible. This raises significant challenges for corporate governance policy as well as new issues for research into the governance process.
Novel distribution pattern of fibrinolytic components in rabbit tissues extract: a preliminary study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this work was to investigate the distribution pattern of fibrinolytic factors and their inhibitors in rabbit tissues.MethodsThe components of the fibrinolytic system in extracts from a variety of rabbit tissues, including tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), plasminogen (Plg), plasmin (Pl) and α2 plasmin inhibitor (α2PI), were determined by colorimetric assay.ResultsThe tissue extracts in renal, small intestine, lung, brain and spleen demonstrated strong fibrinolytic function, in which high activity of tPA, Plg and Pl was manifested; whereas in skeletal muscle, tongue and stomach, higher activity of PAI-1 and α2PI showed obviously. Also excellent linear correlations were found between levels of tPA and PAI-1, Pl and α2PI, Plg and Pl. In related tissues, renal cortex and renal marrow showed distinctly higher activity of tPA and lower activity of PAI-1, with the levels of Plg and Pl in renal cortex being higher than those in renal marrow, where the α2PI level was higher than that in renal cortex. Similarly, the levels of tPA, Plg and Pl in small intestine were higher than those in large intestine, but with respect to PAI-1 and α2PI, the matter was reverse. In addition, the fibrinolytic activity in muscle tissue was lower, however, the levels of tPA, Plg, and Pl in cardiac muscle were obviously higher than those in skeletal muscles, and the levels of PAI-1 and α2PI were significantly lower than those in skeletal muscle.ConclusionOur data demonstrate that a remarkable difference of the fibrinolytic patterns exists in rabbit tissues, which has probable profound significance in understanding the relationship between the function of haemostasis or thrombosis and the physiologic function in tissues.
Epipsammic diatoms in Ağın Region of Keban Dam Lake in Turkey

In this study, the epipsammic diatoms in Ağın Region of Keban Dam Lake were analyzed at two stations between March-November 2016. As a result, 41 diatom taxa in total were recorded; while two of these taxa belonged to the Centrales, 39 of them belonged to the Pennales ordo. The epipsammic diatoms showed their best growth in early months of autumn and in summer when light and temperatures were high. During the study, at both of the stations, the most significant diatoms in terms of their numbers of individuals and frequency of occurrence were Navicula spp. , Nitzschia spp. and Cymbella spp.