Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Roles of the Central Executive and Visuospatial Storage in Mental Arithmetic: A Comparison across Strategies

Previous research has demonstrated that working memory plays an important role in arithmetic. Different arithmetical strategies rely on working memory to different extents—for example, verbal working memory has been found to be more important for procedural strategies, such as counting and decomposition, than for retrieval strategies. Surprisingly, given the close connection between spatial and mathematical skills, the role of visuospatial working memory has received less attention and is poorly understood. This study used a dual-task methodology to investigate the impact of a dynamic spatial n-back task (Experiment 1) and tasks loading the visuospatial sketchpad and central executive (Experiment 2) on adults’ use of counting, decomposition, and direct retrieval strategies for addition. While Experiment 1 suggested that visuospatial working memory plays an important role in arithmetic, especially when counting, the results of Experiment 2 suggested this was primarily due to the domain-general executive demands of the n-back task. Taken together, these results suggest that maintaining visuospatial information in mind is required when adults solve addition arithmetic problems by any strategy but the role of domain-general executive resources is much greater than that of the visuospatial sketchpad.
Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer and Macular Thinning in Spinocerebellar Ataxia and Cerebellar Multisystem Atrophy

The spinocerebellar ataxias, like all neurodegenerative diseases, lack objective disease- and stage-specific biomarkers. Based on reports of clinically evident optic disc atrophy or retinal disease in some ataxia patients, and the discovery that pre-symptomatic retinal thinning occurs in other neurologic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, we tested the hypothesis that subclinical neuronal or axonal loss in the retina could occur in the degenerative ataxias. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography was performed on 29 ataxia patients with genetically proven spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) 1, 2, 3, or 6, or multisystem atrophy type C (MSA-C) and 27 age-matched normal subjects. Ataxia patients were assessed using the scale for assessment and rating of ataxia. Compared with normal control subjects, retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness was reduced for patients with SCA2 and SCA3, and thickness in the macular region was reduced for all SCAs but SCA2.
A shared dual identity promotes a cardiovascular challenge response during interethnic interactions

We examined the influence of the social identity representation of an ethnic majority-group member on physiological responses during interactions with an ethnic minority-group member. Before engaging in a collaborative task with a Moroccan-Dutch confederate, native Dutch participants studied the advantages of a “one-group” representation that emphasizes their common Dutch nationality or a “dual identity” representation that simultaneously emphasizes their different ethnic subgroups and their overarching “Dutch” nationality. During the task, cardiovascular indices of challenge and threat motivational states were measured in accordance with the biopsychosocial model (Blascovich, 2008). We found that a salient dual identity representation led to more benign cardiovascular arousal (i.e., challenge instead of threat), but only when the minority-group interaction partner also expressed preference for a dual identity. Results are discussed in terms of the fruitfulness of a dual-identity approach for improving intergroup relations, and the importance of social identity factors for turning intergroup threat into challenge.
Spatial Models of Abundance and Habitat Preferences of Commerson’s and Peale’s Dolphin in Southern Patagonian Waters

Commerson’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus c. commersonii) and Peale’s dolphins (Lagenorhynchus australis) are two of the most common species of cetaceans in the coastal waters of southwest South Atlantic Ocean. Both species are listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN, mainly due to the lack of information about population sizes and trends. The goal of this study was to build spatially explicit models for the abundance of both species in relation to environmental variables using data collected during eight scientific cruises along the Patagonian shelf. Spatial models were constructed using generalized additive models. In total, 88 schools (212 individuals) of Commerson’s dolphin and 134 schools (465 individuals) of Peale’s dolphin were recorded in 8,535 km surveyed. Commerson’s dolphin was found less than 60 km from shore; whereas Peale’s dolphins occurred over a wider range of distances from the coast, the number of animals sighted usually being larger near or far from the coast. Fitted models indicate overall abundances of approximately 22,000 Commerson’s dolphins and 20,000 Peale’s dolphins in the total area studied. This work provides the first large-scale abundance estimate for Peale’s dolphin in the Atlantic Ocean and an update of population size for Commerson’s dolphin. Additionally, our results contribute to baseline data on suitable habitat conditions for both species in southern Patagonia, which is essential for the implementation of adequate conservation measures.
Circuit sharing and the implementation of intelligent systems

The paper outlines some of the broad architectural implications of the modularity thesis, and reports on an attempt to test for them. The method involved analysing 472 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments in eight cognitive domains to discover which brain regions co-operated with which others, under what conditions. The results indicate that the same brain regions contribute to functions across various cognitive domains, but in each domain co-operate with one another in different patterns. This does not appear to be compatible with the modularity thesis. The paper discusses the implications of the finding for the best approach to the design and implementation of intelligent systems in general, and of language-using robots in particular. Implications for the best approach to analysing and modelling cognitive functions will also be discussed.
Graph Laplacian Regularization for Inverse Imaging: Analysis in the Continuous Domain

Inverse imaging problems are inherently under-determined, and hence it is important to employ appropriate image priors for regularization. One recent popular prior---the graph Laplacian regularizer---assumes that the target pixel patch is smooth with respect to an appropriately chosen graph. However, the mechanisms and implications of imposing the graph Laplacian regularizer on the original inverse problem are not well understood. To address this problem, in this paper we interpret neighborhood graphs of pixel patches as discrete counterparts of Riemannian manifolds and perform analysis in the continuous domain, providing insights into several fundamental aspects of graph Laplacian regularization. Specifically, we first show the convergence of the graph Laplacian regularizer to a continuous-domain functional, integrating a norm measured in a locally adaptive metric space. Focusing on image denoising, we derive an optimal metric space assuming nonlocal self-similarity of pixel patches, leading to an optimal graph Laplacian regularizer for denoising in the discrete domain. We then interpret graph Laplacian regularization as an anisotropic diffusion scheme to explain its behavior during iterations, e.g., its tendency to promote piecewise smooth signals under certain settings. To verify our analysis, an iterative image denoising algorithm is developed. Experimental results show that our algorithm performs competitively with state-of-the-art denoising methods such as BM3D for natural images, and outperforms them significantly for piecewise smooth images.
Membrane‐binding mechanism of a bacterial phospholipid N‐methyltransferase

The membrane lipid phosphatidylcholine (PC) is crucial for stress adaptation and virulence of the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The phospholipid N‐methyltransferase PmtA catalyzes three successive methylations of phosphatidylethanolamine to yield PC. Here, we asked how PmtA is recruited to its site of action, the inner leaflet of the membrane. We found that the enzyme attaches to the membrane via electrostatic interactions with anionic lipids, which do not serve as substrate for PmtA. Increasing PC concentrations trigger membrane dissociation suggesting that membrane binding of PmtA is negatively regulated by its end product PC. Two predicted alpha‐helical regions (αA and αF) contribute to membrane binding of PmtA. The N‐terminal helix αA binds anionic lipids in vitro with higher affinity than the central helix αF. The latter undergoes a structural transition from disordered to α‐helical conformation in the presence of anionic lipids. The basic amino acids R8 and K12 and the hydrophobic amino acid F19 are critical for membrane binding by αA as well as for activity of full‐length PmtA. We conclude that a combination of electrostatic and hydrophobic forces is responsible for membrane association of the phospholipid‐modifying enzyme.
The Prevalence of Suicidal Behaviours among Secondary School Adolescents in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of suicidal behaviours among secondary school adolescents in the Limpopo Province. The participants in this study were 435 secondary school adolescents from Polokwane and surrounds. Two hundred and forty-three (56%) participants were female, and 192 (44%) were male. They were aged between 15 and 19 years, with a mean age of 17.25 years (SD = 1.34). A questionnaire was used to record participants' demographic data and suicidal behaviours, including suicidal thoughts and threats, plans, and attempts to commit suicide). Thirty-seven percent of the secondary school adolescents surveyed indicated having thought of taking their own lives; 17% had made threats or informed others about their suicidal intentions; 16% had made plans to take their own lives but did not carry them through; 21% reported having attempted to take their own lives. These results indicate that a higher percentage of males than females had attempted suicide. The most frequent method used for attempting suicide was self-poisoning (44% of the attempters), followed by drug overdoses (25.3%), hanging (22%), self-stabbing (2.2%), and other methods, such as, jumping from heights, starvation, and drug abuse (6.6%).
Validation of a tool to measure neonatal nursing workload.

AIMS To test the validity and reliability of the Winnipeg Assessment of Neonatal Nursing Needs Tool (WANNNT). BACKGROUND Workforce planning is increasingly challenging. Existing tools can be inadequate. METHODS Nurses provided estimates of patient care time. Charge nurses assessed overall safety of care. Patient levels were compared between two independent assessors. Total nursing needs was compared between the WANNNT and an independent charge nurse. RESULTS Mean time estimates for levels 1-5 were not significantly different from the WANNNT. Nurses estimated 50% less time than the tool assigned level 6. The tool was 95% reliable in assigning patient levels between two assessors. The mean difference between the total WANNNT assessment and the charge nurse was one nurse. CONCLUSIONS The tool provided a reasonable and reliable estimation of the number of nurses required for a given collection of patients in order to provide the highest quality of care. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Nurse managers incorporating this tool need to determine the additional drivers for nursing time that must be considered which may be unique to their unit or hospital. The WANNNT will be a valuable asset for making staffing decisions on a shift to shift and long-term basis.
Cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide combination as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced nonsmall‐cell lung cancer: A meta‐analytic review

Twenty‐three patients with marginally resectable and unresectable nonsmall‐cell lung cancer (stages IIIA and IIIB) were treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy. All patients received three cycles of preoperative chemotherapy with two alkylating agents, cyclophosphamide 2.5 g/m2 intravenously (i.v.) and ifosfamide 3.5 g/m2 i.v. , mesna 12 g/m2 was given additionally to prevent drug hematuria. Six of 23 patients (26%) had partial response. Of the seven patients who underwent thoracotomy, two were completely resected, but with macroscopic residual disease. Mean time to progression for the whole group was 7 months. Fifteen patients had progression of disease, with local metastases only in six, and distant metastases in eight. After administering 52 chemotherapy cycles, cyclophosphamide‐ifosfamide doses were cut down, as eight of 16 patients required hospitalization for fever during neutropenia nadirs. This two‐ alkylating (non‐cisplatin) regimen, unlike cisplatin‐based regimens, was ineffective, and further trials are not recommended.
The numerical valuation of options with underlying jumps.

A Black-Scholes type model for American options will be considered where the underlying asset price experiences Brownian motion with random jumps. The mathematical problems is an obstacle problem for a linear one-dimensional diffusion equation with a functional source term. The problem is time discretized and solved at each time level iteratively with a Riccati method. Some numerical experiments for a call and put with multiple jumps are presented. Convergence of the iteration at a given time level will be discussed for the simpler problem of a European put where there is no free boundary.
LnQ: Building High Performance Dynamic Binary Translators with Existing Compiler Backends

This paper presents an LLVM+QEMU (LnQ)framework for building high performance and retargetable binary translators with existing compiler modules. Dynamic binary translation is a just-in-time (JIT) compilation from binary code of guest ISA to binary code of host ISA. The quality of translated code is critical to the performance of a dynamic binary translator, which translates code between different IS As, so the translated code is often carefully hand-optimized. As a result, it takes tremendous implementation efforts for software engineers to port an existing dynamic binary translator to anew host ISA. The goal of LnQ framework is to enable the process of building high performance and retarget able dynamic binary translators with existing optimizers and code generation back ends. LnQ framework consists of a translation module and an emulation engine. We deisgn the translation module based on LLVM compiler infrastructure, and use QEMU as our emulation engine. We implement an x86-to-x86 64 dynamic binary translator with our LnQ framework to show that the framework is retarget able, and conduct experiments on SPECCPU2006 benchmarks to show that the resulting binary translator has good perfromance. The experiment results indicate that the x86-to-x86 64 LnQ translator achieves an average speedup of 1.62X in integer benchmarks, and 3.02X in floating point benchmarks than QEMU.
Concerns with Men's Academic Motivation in Higher Education: An Exploratory Investigation of the Role of Masculinity

In the last twenty years, research has indicated that men as a social group are experiencing disproportionate difficulties in higher education. Typically, these problems have been addressed by investigating men as a homogenous sex, rather than employing gender awareness approaches that try to understand how the meaning of masculinity impacts motivation in higher education. This study was specifically interested in the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and academic motivation. Using exploratory canonical correlation analysis, two significant functions were revealed. The first, demonstrated that as conformity to masculine norms predictor variables: primacy of work decreases and playboy and violence increase, three types of intrinsic motivation decrease. The second function indicated that as conformity to masculine norms predictor variables emotional control, disdain for homosexuality, self-reliance, and winning decrease, two intrinsic motivation scores increase. Suggestions are given for further research in this area.
Nebulas: Using Distributed Voluntary Resources to Build Clouds

Current cloud services are deployed on well-provisioned and centrally controlled infrastructures. However, there are several classes of services for which the current cloud model may not fit well: some do not need strong performance guarantees, the pricing may be too expensive for some, and some may be constrained by the data movement costs to the cloud. To satisfy the requirements of such services, we propose the idea of using distributed voluntary resources--those donated by end-user hosts--to form nebulas: more dispersed, less-managed clouds. We first discuss the requirements of cloud services and the challenges in meeting these requirements in such voluntary clouds. We then present some possible solutions to these challenges and also discuss opportunities for further improvements to make nebulas a viable cloud paradigm.
Preferential Translation of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus mRNAs Is Conferred by Transcription from the Viral Genome

ABSTRACT Host protein synthesis is inhibited in cells infected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). It has been proposed that viral mRNAs are subjected to the same inhibition but are predominantly translated because of their abundance. To compare translation efficiencies of viral and host mRNAs during infection, we used an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter expressed from a recombinant virus or from the host nucleus in stably transfected cells. Translation efficiency of host-derived EGFP mRNA was reduced more than threefold at eight hours postinfection, while viral-derived mRNA was translated around sevenfold more efficiently than host-derived EGFP mRNA in VSV-infected cells. To test whether mRNAs transcribed in the cytoplasm are resistant to shutoff of translation during VSV infection, HeLa cells were infected with a recombinant simian virus 5 (rSV5) that expressed GFP. Cells were then superinfected with VSV or mock superinfected. GFP mRNA transcribed by rSV5 was not resistant to translation inhibition during superinfection with VSV, indicating that transcription in the cytoplasm is not sufficient for preventing translation inhibition. To determine if cis-acting sequences in untranslated regions (UTRs) were involved in preferential translation of VSV mRNAs, we constructed EGFP reporters with VSV or control UTRs and measured the translation efficiency in mock-infected and VSV-infected cells. The presence of VSV UTRs did not affect mRNA translation efficiency in mock- or VSV-infected cells, indicating that VSV mRNAs do not contain cis-acting sequences that influence translation. However, we found that when EGFP mRNAs transcribed by VSV or by the host were translated in vitro, VSV-derived EGFP mRNA was translated 22 times more efficiently than host-derived EGFP mRNA. This indicated that VSV mRNAs do contain cis-acting structural elements (that are not sequence based), which enhance translation efficiency of viral mRNAs.
Differential brain activation during response inhibition in bipolar and attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorders

Aim: To identify differential patterns of brain activation between adolescents with bipolar disorder and adolescents with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to better understand the neurophysiology of both disorders. We hypothesized that subjects with ADHD would show altered activation in brain regions involved in executive and sustained attention. In contrast, we hypothesized that bipolar subjects would show altered brain activation in regions responsible for emotionally homeostasis, including the striatum and amygdala.
Cbl-mediated ubiquitination of α5 integrin subunit mediates fibronectin-dependent osteoblast detachment and apoptosis induced by FGFR2 activation

Fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling is an important mechanism regulating osteoblast function. To gain an insight into the regulatory role of FGF receptor-2 (FGFR2) signaling in osteoblasts, we investigated integrin-mediated attachment and cell survival in human calvarial osteoblasts expressing activated FGFR2. FGFR2 activation reduced osteoblast attachment on fibronectin. This was associated with reduced expression of the α5 integrin subunit normally expressed in human calvarial osteoblasts in vivo. Treatment with lactacystin, a potent inhibitor of proteasome, restored α5 integrin levels in FGFR2 mutant osteoblasts. Immunoprecipitation analysis showed that α5 integrin interacts with both the E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl and ubiquitin. Immunocytochemistry revealed that α5 integrin colocalizes with FGFR2 and Cbl at the leading edge in membrane ruffle regions. Transfection with the 70Z-Cbl mutant lacking the RING domain required for Cbl-ubiquitin interaction, or with the G306E Cbl mutant that abolishes the binding ability of Cbl phosphotyrosine-binding domain restored α5 integrin levels. This suggests that Cbl-mediated ubiquitination plays an essential role in α5 integrin proteasome degradation induced by FGFR2 activation. Reduced α5 integrin expression was associated with an increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and increased caspase-9 and -3 activities in FGFR2 mutant osteoblasts. Forced expression of α5 integrin rescued cell attachment and corrected both the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities in FGFR2 mutant osteoblasts. We show that Cbl recruitment induced by FGFR2 activation triggers α5 integrin degradation by the proteasome, which results in reduced osteoblast attachment on fibronectin and caspase-dependent apoptosis. This identifies a functional role of the α5 integrin subunit in the induction of apoptosis triggered by FGFR2 activation in osteoblasts, and reveals that a Cbl-dependent mechanism is involved in the coordinated regulation of cell apoptosis induced by α5 integrin degradation.
Examining the Quality Antecedents and Moderating Effects of Experiential Value in a Mega-Event

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore (1) the underlying dimensions of experiential value (EV), (2) the quality antecedents of EV, and (3) the moderating effects of EV on the relationships between the quality dimensions of Expo 2012, Yeosu, Korea, and visitor satisfaction. Although gaining event experience is a crucial reason why event visitors attend certain events, EV has yet to be fully investigated in event literature. This study offers an expanded view of the event consumption experience from the EV perspective, thus contributing to the event literature, particularly by investigating the unexplored aspect of event visitors’ behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.