Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prominent Schools or Other Active Specialties? A Fresh Look at Some Trends in Psychology

Past studies investigating trends in psychology have reported some conflicting and surprising results. This article critiques and reevaluates these reports, with a particular focus on those related to the cognitive revolution and the place of neuroscience in psychology. Based on a wide variety of indicators, the following trends are demonstrated: (a) Although cognitive psychology has grown in importance, it has not come to dominate psychology; (b) contrary to prior findings, attention to neuroscience in psychology has grown in a pattern similar to that of cognitive psychology; and (c) there are many signs that cognitive neuroscience is in the process of emergence. Trends are interpreted in light of the argument that psychology is a disunified discipline allowing for many different interests, schools, and approaches.
Hankel Iterative Learning Control for residual vibration suppression with MIMO flexible structure experiments

In this paper, we consider residual vibration suppression in flexible structures performing a point-to-point motion, based on Hankel ILC. Initially, design freedom in Hankel ILC is discussed, including different choices for the actuation time window and the observation time window. Subsequently, a three input three output flexible beam is presented as an experimental setup for Hankel ILC. The different practical and theoretical issues related to implementation of Hankel ILC on the setup are discussed extensively. Thereby, versatility in the choice for the time windows is shown to be essential for a successful implementation. Experimental results illustrate the capability of Hankel ILC to suppress the residual vibrations in the flexible beam.
Elevation of Plasma 2-Arachidonoylglycerol Levels in Alzheimer's Disease Patients as a Potential Protective Mechanism against Neurodegenerative Decline.

BACKGROUND Growing evidence suggests that the endocannabinoid system is involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and atherosclerosis. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the activation of the endocannabinoid system in AD in vivo and the possible intermediate role of atherosclerosis. METHODS We enrolled 41 patients with probable AD, and 30 age- and gender-matched controls. All subjects underwent: ultrasound examination of cerebral and neck vessels (including intima-media thickness and plaque stenosis evaluation); blood sampling to measure levels of endocannabinoid [anandamide (AEA), 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG)] and endogenous AEA analogues [N-palmitoyl-ethanolamide (PEA); N-oleoyl-ethanolamide]; neuropsychological evaluation and brain MRI (atrophy, white matter hyperintensity volume). RESULTS 2-AG levels were higher in AD patients compared to controls (Mann-Whitney test p = 0.021). In the AD group, 2-AG correlated to white matter hyperintensity volume (r = 0.415, p = 0.015) and was higher in patients with chronic heart ischemic disease (p = 0.023). In AD patients, 2-AG was also positively related to memory (r = 0.334, p = 0.05) and attention (r = 0.423, p = 0.018) performances. Constructional praxia test scores were lower in patients with higher levels of PEA (r =-0.389, p = 0.019). CONCLUSION AD patients present high plasma 2-AG levels, also in relation to heart ischemic disease and cerebral leukoaraiosis. This may be a protective mechanism hindering neurodegeneration, but it may also play an ambivalent role on cerebrovascular circulation. The increase in 2-AG and PEA levels observed with ongoing pathological processes may differently modulate cognitive performances.
An Analysis of Histogram-Based Thresholding Algorithms

Abstract Eleven histogram-based global thresholding algorithms are presented in a common notational framework. Relationships among them are identified from 654 mixtures of two Gaussian distributions, plus effects of mixed pixels. The iterated version of Kittler and Illingworth′s minimum error algorithm ( Pattern Recognition , 19, 1986, 41-47) is found to be best.
DSP address optimization using a minimum cost circulation technique

This paper presents a new approach to solving the DSP address assignment problem. A minimum cost circulation approach is used to efficiently generate high performance addressing code in polynomial time. Addressing code size improvements of up to 7 times are obtained, accounting for up to 1.6 times improvement in code size and performance of compiler-generated DSP code. Results also show that memory layout has a small effect on code size and performance when optimal addressing is used. This research is important for industry since this value-added technique can improve code size, power dissipation and performance, without increasing cost.
ANTIOXIDANT STATUS AND LIPID PEROXIDATION IN COLORECTAL CANCER

Colon carcinogenesis is a multistep process where oxygen radicals were found to enhance carcinogenesis at all stages: initiation, promotion, and progression. Since insufficient capacity of protective antioxidant system can result in cancer, the aim of this study was to examine the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase) and the levels of reduced glutathione, vitamin C, and vitamin E. The lipid peroxidation products were also determined by measuring malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal levels in colorectal cancer tissue collected from 55 patients. In these cases the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase was significantly increased while the activity of catalase was significantly decreased in cancer tissue. However, the level of nonenzymatic antioxidant parameters (glutathione, vitamin C, and vitamin E) was significantly decreased in cancer tissue. Further lipid peroxidation was enhanced during cancer development, manifested by a significant increase in malondialdehyde and 4- hydroxynonenal levels. The obtained results indicate significant changes in antioxidant capacity of colorectal cancer tissues, which lead to enhanced action of oxygen radicals, resulting in lipid peroxidation.
A Factor Analysis of Items on the MMPI Psychasthenia Scale

FACTOR analyses of items on the Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, and Paranoia scales have already been reported ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in previous studies of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (6). The factorial structure revealed in these investigations prompted a suggested revision in item groupings for the purpose of obtaining scale scores. In some cases, enough items were found in the MMPI
Ex Vivo Priming of Naïve T Cells Into EBV‐Specific Th1/Tc1 Effector Cells by Mature Autologous DC Loaded with Apoptotic/Necrotic LCL

Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) represent life‐threatening complications of bone marrow and solid organ transplantation (SOTx). These are B‐cell malignancies triggered by Epstein‐Barr Virus (EBV) infection in chronically immunosuppressed (IS) recipients. Immunosuppressed EBV seronegative (EBV−) organ recipients are at highest risk of developing PTLD owing to the lack of anti‐EBV memory T cells to control subsequent EBV challenges. Our aim is to establish effective anti‐EBV T‐cell generation protocols for prevention or treatment of PTLD encountered in SOTx. We have used autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with apoptotic/necrotic lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) to evaluate the ability of such an approach to activate naïve T cells in vitro. In EBV− individuals, both CD8+ and CD4+ T‐cell responses were amplified by this approach, as detected by IFN‐γ ELISPOT and cytotoxicity assays. The CD8+ T cells were poly‐specific anti‐EBNA3 A, ‐LMP2 and ‐BMLF1, with uniform reversion to a CD45RO+/RA‐phenotype, decreased CD62L expression, and up‐regulation of the activation markers CD28 and CD69. Addition of rhIL‐12 improved anti‐viral T‐cell responses and reduced the functional differences observed between EBV+ and EBV− responders. In conclusion, the DC/LCL method promotes cross‐presentation of EBV‐associated epitopes and may serve as an effective protocol for the adoptive immunotherapy of PTLD in EBV− SOTx patients.
Musicians' and Nonmusicians' Preferences for World Musics: Relation to Musical Characteristics and Familiarity

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among musical characteristics and musicians' and nonmusicians' preferences for world musics. World musics were drawn from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Musical characteristics included tempo, pitch redundancy, tonal centeredness, consonance, brightness in timbre, percussiveness, loudness, textural complexity, and richness in embellishment. Preference was also examined in relation to familiarity. Subjects were 449 undergraduate students (180 music majors and 269 nonmusic majors). Subjects completed a preference-rating scale that included a total of 36 instrumental excerpts from nine countries. Results showed that all nine musical characteristics were significant sources of variance in world music preferences. The following musical characteristics were preferred by both musicians and nonmusicians: fast tempo, loud, tonal-centered, having many different pitches, consonant, moderately embellished, smooth-sounding, and bright timbre. Musicians preferred excerpts with complex texture, whereas nonmusicians preferred moderately complex textures. A positive relationship between familiarity and preference was found across all musical styles. In general, musicians had significantly higher preference means than did nonmusicians:
Localization of Na+ Channel Isoforms at the Atrioventricular Junction and Atrioventricular Node in the Rat

Background— The electrical activity of the atrioventricular node (AVN) is functionally heterogeneous, but how this relates to distinct cell types and the 3-dimensional structure of the AVN is unknown. To address this, we have studied the expression of Nav1.5 and other Na+ channel isoforms in the AVN. Methods and Results— The rat AVN was identified by Masson’s trichrome staining together with immunolabeling of marker proteins: connexin40, connexin43, desmoplakin, atrial natriuretic peptide, and hyperpolarization-activated and cyclic nucleotide–gated channel 4. Na+ channel expression was investigated with immunohistochemistry with isoform-specific Na+ channel antibodies. Nav1.1 was distributed in a similar manner to Nav1.5. Nav1.2 was not detected. Nav1.3 labeling was present in nerve fibers and cell bodies (but not myocytes) and was abundant in the penetrating atrioventricular (AV) bundle and the common bundle but was much less abundant in other regions. Nav1.5 labeling was abundant in the atrial and ventricular myocardium and the left bundle branch. Nav1.5 labeling was absent in the open node, penetrating AV bundle, AV ring bundle, and common bundle but present at a reduced level in the inferior nodal extension and transitional zone. Nav1.6 was not detected. Conclusions— Our findings provide molecular evidence of multiple electrophysiological cell types at the AV junction. Impaired AV conduction as a result of mutations in or loss of Nav1.5 must be the result of impaired conduction in the AVN inputs (inferior nodal extension and transitional zone) or output (bundle branches) rather than the AVN itself (open node and penetrating AV bundle).
Second-Line Chemotherapy in Recurrent Glioblastoma: A 2-Cohort Study

Background: Glioblastoma (GB) is the most common malignant primary central nervous system tumor in adults. Standard-of-care therapy includes surgical resection, radiotherapy and temozolomide, but nearly all patients experience disease progression. The purpose of this study was to describe 2 cohorts of patients with recurrent GB submitted to second-line treatment with procarbazine/lomustine/vincristine (PCV) or bevacizumab/irinotecan (BI). Material and Methods: Retrospective analysis of GB patients treated in our center with PCV or BI, after progression with temozolomide, between 2004 and 2012. Results: Among 60 patients, 41 were treated with BI and 19 with PCV. According to the Macdonald criteria, the overall response rate in the BI group was 66% (n = 27) while it was 11% (n = 2) in the PCV group. The median progression-free survival was 5 and 3 months in the BI and PCV group, respectively. The median overall survival (OS) since second-line chemotherapy was 9 months in the BI group and 5 months in the PCV group. The latter group had a worse toxicity profile (grade 3-4: 52.6% vs. 22.0%; grade 1-2: 89.5% vs. 68.3%). Conclusions: The BI cohort had higher response rates, almost twice the OS and a lower degree of toxicity in contrast to the PCV group. The small number of patients and historical cohorts limits these comparisons.
Clinical evaluation of cervical dentin sensitivity (CDS) in patients attending general dental clinics (GDC) and periodontal specialty clinics (PSC).

AIM The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence, severity and distribution of CDS in patients attending general dental clinics (GDC) and periodontal specialty clinics (PSC) and to correlate them to possible causal factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS 2 groups of patients aged 20-60 years recruited from GDC (144) and PSC (151) were evaluated for CDS by means of a questionnaire and intraoral clinical examinations. Furthermore, gingival recession and plaque scores were recorded at the same visit. RESULTS The results showed that patients referred to PSC had a significantly higher prevalence of CDS (60.3%) than those examined at GDC (42.4%) (p<0.001). Also, mean plaque scores of PSC patients (1.87 +/- 0.88) was found to be significantly higher than that of GDC (1.44 +/- 0.7) (p<0.01). The occurrence and extent of gingival recession associated with hypersensitive teeth was significantly higher in PSC than GDC patients (p<0.01), with a 5% incidence of severe recession (5 mm) in PSC only. The association of periodontal disease and periodontal treatment to the high prevalence of CDS and gingival recession in PSC patients would suggest their role in predisposition to hypersensitivity. The distribution of CDS in tooth types revealed that upper molars and lower anteriors of PSC patients were mainly affected, and followed by, to a lesser extent, lower right canine and right first molars of GDC patients. CONCLUSION The prevalence of CDS among our periodontal patients appears somewhat lower than that reported in periodontal specialty clinics of earlier studies but still higher than those reported in other dental populations. This indicates that periodontal disease and its treatments may increase the occurrence of hypersensitivity.
The Dark Side of Analyst Coverage: The Case of Innovation

We examine the effects of financial analysts on the real economy in the case of innovation. Our baseline results show that firms covered by a larger number of analysts generate fewer patents and patents with lower impact. To establish causality, we use a difference-in-differences approach that relies on the variation generated by multiple exogenous shocks to analyst coverage, as well as an instrumental variable approach. Our identification strategies suggest a negative causal effect of analyst coverage on firm innovation. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that analysts exert too much pressure on managers to meet short-term goals, impeding firms' investment in long-term innovative projects. We further discuss possible underlying mechanisms through which analysts impede innovation and show that there is a residual effect of analysts on innovation even after controlling for these mechanisms. Our paper offers novel evidence on a previously under-explored adverse consequence of analyst coverage—its hindrance to firm innovation.
Age decreases mitochondrial motility and increases mitochondrial size in vascular smooth muscle

Age is proposed to be associated with altered structure and function of mitochondria; however, in fully‐differentiated cells, determining the structure of more than a few mitochondria at a time is challenging. In the present study, the structures of the entire mitochondrial complements of cells were resolved from a pixel‐by‐pixel covariance analysis of fluctuations in potentiometric fluorophore intensity during ‘flickers’ of mitochondrial membrane potential. Mitochondria are larger in vascular myocytes from aged rats compared to those in younger adult rats. A subpopulation of mitochondria in myocytes from aged, but not younger, animals is highly‐elongated. Some mitochondria in myocytes from younger, but not aged, animals are highly‐motile. Mitochondria that are motile are located more peripherally in the cell than non‐motile mitochondria.
A cooperative reservation protocol for parking spaces in vehicular ad hoc networks

By exchanging events in a vehicular ad hoc network, drivers can receive interesting information while driving. For example, they can be informed of available parking spaces in their vicinity. Obviously, a suitable protocol is needed to disseminate the events efficiently within the area where they are relevant. Moreover, in such a competitive context where each vehicle may be interested in the resource, it is crucial not to broadcast that resource to each driver in the vicinity. Otherwise, those drivers would waste time trying to reach a parking space and only one of them would be satisfied, which would lead to a poor satisfaction in the system. To solve this problem, we detail in this paper a reservation protocol that efficiently allocates parking spaces in vehicular ad hoc networks and avoids the competition among the vehicles. We have integrated our protocol within VESPA, a system designed for vehicles to share information in VANETs.
Cortical Pitch Regions in Humans Respond Primarily to Resolved Harmonics and Are Located in Specific Tonotopic Regions of Anterior Auditory Cortex

Pitch is a defining perceptual property of many real-world sounds, including music and speech. Classically, theories of pitch perception have differentiated between temporal and spectral cues. These cues are rendered distinct by the frequency resolution of the ear, such that some frequencies produce “resolved” peaks of excitation in the cochlea, whereas others are “unresolved,” providing a pitch cue only via their temporal fluctuations. Despite longstanding interest, the neural structures that process pitch, and their relationship to these cues, have remained controversial. Here, using fMRI in humans, we report the following: (1) consistent with previous reports, all subjects exhibited pitch-sensitive cortical regions that responded substantially more to harmonic tones than frequency-matched noise; (2) the response of these regions was mainly driven by spectrally resolved harmonics, although they also exhibited a weak but consistent response to unresolved harmonics relative to noise; (3) the response of pitch-sensitive regions to a parametric manipulation of resolvability tracked psychophysical discrimination thresholds for the same stimuli; and (4) pitch-sensitive regions were localized to specific tonotopic regions of anterior auditory cortex, extending from a low-frequency region of primary auditory cortex into a more anterior and less frequency-selective region of nonprimary auditory cortex. These results demonstrate that cortical pitch responses are located in a stereotyped region of anterior auditory cortex and are predominantly driven by resolved frequency components in a way that mirrors behavior.
Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria in South African Wildlife: Neglected Pathogens and Potential Impediments for Bovine Tuberculosis Diagnosis

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are not only emerging and opportunistic pathogens of both humans and animals, but from a veterinary point of view some species induce cross-reactive immune responses that hamper the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in both livestock and wildlife. Little information is available about NTM species circulating in wildlife species of South Africa. In this study, we determined the diversity of NTM isolated from wildlife species from South Africa as well as Botswana. Thirty known NTM species and subspecies, as well as unidentified NTM, and NTM closely related to Mycobacterium goodii/Mycobacterium smegmatis were identified from 102 isolates cultured between the years 1998 and 2010, using a combination of molecular assays viz PCR and sequencing of different Mycobacterial house-keeping genes as well as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. The NTM identified in this study include the following species which were isolated from tissue with tuberculosis- like lesions in the absence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) implying their potential role as pathogens of animals: Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii, Mycobacterium gastri, Mycobacterium species closely related to Mycobacterium goodii/Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycobacterium brasiliensis, Mycobacterium sinense JMD 601, Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium, Mycobacterium sp. GR-2007, Mycobacterium bouchedurhonense, and Mycobacterium septicum/M. peregrinum. Mycobaterium brasiliensis, Mycobacterium gastri, Mycobacterium sp. GR-2007, and a potential novel Mycobacterium species closely related to Mycobacterium goodii were found for the first time in this study to be potential pathogens of animals. Mycobacterium simiae was isolated from a sample originating from a tuberculin skin test positive reactor, demonstrating its potential to elicit inappropriate immune responses in animals that may interfere with diagnosis of tuberculosis by immunology. Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletti was the most frequently detected NTM identified in 37 of the 102 isolates. Other NTM species were also isolated from animals not showing any pathological changes. Knowledge gained in this study contribute to the understanding of NTM species circulating in wild animals in South Africa and the pathogenic potential of certain species, whose role in disease causation need to be examined, as well as to a certain extent the potential of M. simiae to hamper the diagnosis of bTB.
Creative Productivity Among Secondary School Students: Combining Energy, Interest, and Imagination

This qualitative research study focuses upon 18 highly creative/productive secondary school students. Creative/ productive behavior is examined by studying characteristics of youths who pursued and completed investigations based on their interests. The data sources were the family, the school, and the student. Methods of investigation included document analysis, questionnaires, and a student interview. Reflecting on experiences in their respective programs for the gifted, students revealed insights into the ways they obtained ideas for their projects, how their interest in their investigations was sustained, and what they learned from their efforts.
Measuring and Interpreting Organizational Culture

This article offers a triangulation approach to the study of organizational culture by employing reliably coded interviews to help interpret and place in context the results of statistical analyses from a standardized survey questionnaire. Subjects were 195 government employees representing every level and division in their department. All 195 subjects completed the Organizational Culture Survey and 91 subjects participated in 45-minute critical incident interviews designed to elicit subjects' interpretations of organizational events. From the analyses of these data emerges a description of the organization's culture.
Fuzzy logic based classification for multifunctional upper limb prostheses

This paper investigate a fuzzy logic based high performance surface EMG classification algorithm for multifunctional upper limb prostheses. In this paper, we record 4 channels EMG data with surface electrodes from the forearm and aimed to recognize 8 different upper limb movements using heuristic fuzzy logic methods from these data. We use 50 surface EMG data for every function and evaluate the performance of this method.