Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Source (or Part of the following Source): Type Article Title Mechanisms and Dynamics of Cortical Motor Inhibition in the Stop-signal Paradigm: a Tms Study Author(s) Mechanisms and Dynamics of Cortical Motor Inhibition in the Stop-signal Paradigm: a Tms Study

Copyright It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content licence (like Creative Commons). UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (http://dare.uva.nl) Abstract ■ The ability to stop ongoing motor responses in a split-second is a vital element of human cognitive control and flexibility that relies in large part on prefrontal cortex. We used the stop-signal paradigm to elucidate the engagement of primary motor cortex (M1) in inhibiting an ongoing voluntary motor response. The stop-signal paradigm taps the ability to flexibly countermand ongoing voluntary behavior upon presentation of a stop signal. We applied single-pulse TMS to M1 at several intervals following the stop signal to track the time course of excitability of the motor system related to generating and stopping a manual response. Electromyography recorded from the flexor pollicis brevis allowed quantification of the excitability of the corticospinal tract and the involvement of intracortical GABA B ergic circuits within M1, indexed respectively by the amplitude of the motor-evoked potential and the duration of the late part of the cortical silent period (SP). The results extend our knowledge of the neural basis of inhibitory control in three ways. First, the results revealed a dynamic interplay between response activation and stopping processes at M1 level during stop-signal inhibition of an ongoing response. Second, increased excitability of inhibitory interneurons that drives SP prolongation was evident as early as 134 msec following the instruction to stop. Third, this pattern was followed by a stop-related reduction of corticospinal excitability implemented around 180 after the stop signal. These findings point to the recruitment of GABA B ergic intracortical inhibitory circuits within M1 in stop-signal inhibition and support the notion of stopping as an active act of control. ■
Altered sympathovagal balance and pain hypersensitivity in TNBS-induced colitis

Introduction Pain hypersensitivity, abnormal motility and autonomic dysfunction contribute to functional symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Material and methods The aim of this study was to assess: nociceptive thresholds for mechanical allodynia (MA) and thermal hyperalgesia (TH), intestinal motility (distal colonic transit and emptying), and cardiac autonomic neuropathy (indices of heart rate variability – HRV) in male Wistar rats with experimental trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) induced colitis. To identify a potential vagal contribution the bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy (SDV) was performed. Results Experimental colitis resulted in a significant decrease in pain threshold (MA 23.60 ±2.12, p < 0.001, TH 8.51 ±1.49, p < 0.001), reduced expulsion time (6.2 ±3.5, p < 0,01) and increase in the sympathetic autonomic activity (LFnu 32.54 ±21.16, p < 0.03). The animals with diminished vagal integrity presented with reduced gastrointestinal motility (39.8 ±25.1, p < 0.01) and a decrease in the parasympathetic high-frequency domain of HRV (HFnu 55.37 ±22.80, p < 0.002). The vagotomized rats with colitis showed the strongest nociceptive response (MA 22.46 ±3.02, p < 0.004; TH 7.99 ±1.12, p < 0.003) as well as significant changes in sympatho-vagal balance on HRV testing (LFnu 28.25 ±14.66, p < 0.04; HFnu 71.34 ±14.55, p < 0.04). Conclusions The relationship between the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal system is modulated by neural, hormonal and inflammatory factors. This leads to dysregulation of the brain-gut interactions in the course of IBD. Sensitization and visceral-somatic convergence trigger pain hypersensitivity and autonomic sympathovagal imbalance. While integral vagal innervation impacts analgesic mechanisms via modulation of the immune response, SDV raises sympathetic activity and induces excessive hyperalgesia.
Design and Implementation of an Embedded FPGA Floating Point DSP Block

This paper describes the architecture and implementation, from both the standpoint of target applications as well as circuit design, of an FPGA DSP Block that can efficiently support both fixed and single precision (SP) floating-point (FP) arithmetic. Most contemporary FPGAs embed DSP blocks that provide simple multiply-add-based fixed-point arithmetic cores. Current FP arithmetic FPGA solutions make use of these hardened DSP resources, together with embedded memory blocks and soft logic resources, however, larger systems cannot be efficiently implemented due to the routing and soft logic limitations on the devices, resulting in significant area, performance, and power consumption penalties compared to ASIC implementations. In this paper we analyse earlier proposed embedded FP implementations, and show why they are not suitable for a production FPGA. We contrast these against our solution -- a unified DSP Block -- where (a) the SP FP multiplier is overlaid on the fixed point constructs, (b) the SP FP Adder/Subtracter is integrated as a separate unit, and (c) the multiplier and adder can be combined in a way that is both arithmetically useful, but also efficient in terms of FPGA routing density and congestion. In addition, a novel way of seamlessly combining any number of DSP Blocks in a low latency structure will be introduced. We will show that this new approach allows a low cost, low power, and high density FP platform on current production 20nm FPGAs. We also describe a future enhancement of the DSP block that can support subnormal numbers.
Dating in the Time of #BlackLivesMatter: Exploring Mixed-race Women’s Discourses of Race and Racism

The author explores the discourses and logics that self-identified multiracial and multiethnic female online daters use to explain their own responses to social justice movements around race and racism in the United States. These women mobilize stances on the social movement Black Lives Matter (BLM) as a metric of racial progressiveness, articulating their own political views on race. Furthermore, mixed-black women in particular describe using attitudes toward the BLM movement as a way to vet potential dating partners. The implementation of BLM as a tool in the contemporary dating “toolkit” suggests that the language around, and produced by, social movements (in terms of mainstream media coverage) influences the ways in which some women discuss race, gender, and racism. Using interview data from 30 in-depth interviews, the author shows how mixed-race women navigate racial politics on an interpersonal level during a time when U.S. media and popular culture is focused on issues of racism and state-sanctioned violence. The use of BLM as a rhetorical frame demonstrates how far the logics of colorblindness and antiblackness extend into everyday life and serves as a signifier of where individuals stand on significant social issues. By analyzing the ways multiracial women talk about dating, the author provides a greater understanding of the shifting meanings of race, racism, and the “postracial” in contemporary American society.
Induction of long noncoding RNA MALAT1 in hypoxic mice

Long thought to be “junk DNA”, in recent years it has become clear that a substantial fraction of intergenic genomic DNA is actually transcribed, forming long noncoding RNA (lncRNA). Like mRNA, lncRNA can also be spliced, capped, and polyadenylated, affecting a multitude of biological processes. While the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of lncRNAs have just begun to be elucidated, the conditional regulation of lncRNAs remains largely unexplored. In genome-wide studies our group and others recently found hypoxic transcriptional induction of a subset of lncRNAs, whereof nuclear-enriched abundant/autosomal transcript 1 (NEAT1) and metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) appear to be the lncRNAs most ubiquitously and most strongly induced by hypoxia in cultured cells. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2 rather than HIF-1 seems to be the preferred transcriptional activator of these lncRNAs. For the first time, we also found strong induction primarily of MALAT1 in organs of mice exposed to inspiratory hypoxia. Most abundant hypoxic levels of MALAT1 lncRNA were found in kidney and testis. In situ hybridization revealed that the hypoxic induction in the kidney was confined to proximal rather than distal tubular epithelial cells. Direct oxygen-dependent regulation of MALAT1 lncRNA was confirmed using isolated primary kidney epithelial cells. In summary, high expression levels and acute, profound hypoxic induction of MALAT1 suggest a hitherto unrecognized role of this lncRNA in renal proximal tubular function.
Co-transcriptional formation of DNA:RNA hybrid G-quadruplex and potential function as constitutional cis element for transcription control

G-quadruplex formation in genomic DNA is considered to regulate transcription. Previous investigations almost exclusively focused on intramolecular G-quadruplexes formed by DNA carrying four or more G-tracts, and structure formation has rarely been studied in physiologically relevant processes. Here, we report an almost entirely neglected, but actually much more prevalent form of G-quadruplexes, DNA:RNA hybrid G-quadruplexes (HQ) that forms in transcription. HQ formation requires as few as two G-tracts instead of four on a non-template DNA strand. Potential HQ sequences (PHQS) are present in >97% of human genes, with an average of 73 PHQSs per gene. HQ modulates transcription under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Transcriptomal analysis of human tissues implies that maximal gene expression may be limited by the number of PHQS in genes. These features suggest that HQs may play fundamental roles in transcription regulation and other transcription-mediated processes.
The influence of an extended music curriculum at school on academic self-concept in 9- to 11-year-old children

Cognitive transfer effects of music lessons on several cognitive abilities such as IQ (Schellenberg, 2004) or language skills (Moreno et al., 2009) have been reported. Beyond that, also conative transfer effects (i.e., motivational aspects like perseverance) of music lessons have been revealed. One such conative transfer has been found for academic self-concept (Degé, Wehrum, Stark, & Schwarzer, 2014). Self-concept describes the evaluations a person holds about him/herself. However, this study was correlational. Hence, it remains unclear whether music lessons influence academic self-concept or whether academic self-concept influences the likelihood of taking music lessons. To sort out the matter of causality, we investigated the influence of an extended music curriculum (EMC) at school on academic self-concept longitudinally. We compared the academic self-concept of children between 9 and 11 years of age before they started the EMC and after a year of EMC and compared it to the academic self-concept of children not attending EMC. We tested 30 children (11 male). Thirteen of them participated in the EMC and 17 did not participate. We measured academic self-concept and confounding variables such as gender, age, socioeconomic status, organized nonmusical out-of-school activities, IQ, musical aptitude, and motivation. Children with and without EMC did not differ in confounding variables except for nonmusical out-of-school activities. Hence, the amount of nonmusical out-of-school activities was controlled in further analyses. We found an influence of EMC on academic self-concept. Children attending EMC reported significantly higher academic self-concepts after a year of participation than children not attending EMC.
An empirical study of sample size in ROC-curve analysis of fingerprint data

The fingerprint datasets in many cases may exceed millions of samples. Thus, the needed size of a biometric evaluation test sample is an important issue in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. In this article, an empirical study, namely, using Chebyshev's inequality in combination with simple random sampling, is applied to determine the sample size for biometric applications. No parametric model is assumed, since the underlying distribution functions of the similarity scores are unknown. The performance of fingerprint-image matcher is measured by a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. Both the area under an ROC curve and the True Accept Rate (TAR) at an operational False Accept Rate (FAR) are employed. The Chebyshev's greater-than-95% intervals of using these two criteria based on 500 Monte Carlo iterations are computed for different sample sizes as well as for both high- and low-quality fingerprint-image matchers. The stability of such Monte Carlo calculations with respect to the number of iterations is also explored. The choice of sample size depends on matchers' qualities as well as on which performance criterion is invoked. In general, for 6,000 match similarity scores, 50,000 to 70,000 scores randomly selected from 35,994,000 non-match similarity scores can ensure the accuracy with greater-than-95% probability.
“An Eye for an Eye”? Neural Correlates of Retribution and Forgiveness

Humans have evolved strong preferences for equity and fairness. Neuroimaging studies suggest that punishing unfairness is associated with the activation of a neural network comprising the anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, the ventral striatum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Here, we report the neuronal correlates of retribution and “forgiveness” in a scenario, in which individuals first acted as a recipient in an Ultimatum Game, and subsequently assumed the position of a proposer in a Dictator Game played against the same opponents as in the Ultimatum Game. Most subjects responded in a tit-for-tat fashion, which was accompanied by activation of the ventral striatum, corroborating previous findings that punishing unfair behaviour has a rewarding connotation. Subjects distinguished between the human opponent and computer condition by activation of the ventromedial PFC in the human condition, indicative of mentalising. A substantial number of subjects did not retaliate. Neurally, this “forgiveness” behaviour was associated with the activation of the right (and to a lesser degree left) DLPFC, a region that serves as a cognitive control region and thus may be involved in inhibiting emotional responses against unfairness.
Confidence Intervals for the Scale Parameter of the Power-Law Process

The power-law process (PLP) is a two-parameter model widely used for modeling repairable system reliability. Results on exact point estimation for both parameters as well as exact interval estimation for the shape parameter are well known. In this paper, we investigate the interval estimation for the scale parameter. Asymptotic confidence intervals are derived using Fisher information matrix and theoretical results by Cocozza-Thivent (1997). The accuracy of the interval estimation for finite samples is studied by simulation methods.
Delta-Like-1 Changes the Immunomodulatory Property of OP9 Cells

As stromal cells and recently confirmed mesenchymal stem cells, OP9 cells support hematopoiesis stem cell (HSC) differentiation into the B lymphocyte lineage, yet Delta-like-1 (DL1) overexpressing OP9 (OP9DL1) cells promote the development of early T lymphocytes from HSC. However, the immunomodulatory capacity of OP9 or OP9DL1 on mature B and T cell proliferation has not been elucidated. Here, we show that OP9 and OP9DL1 have similar proliferation capacities and immunophenotypes except DL1 expression. Compared with OP9, OP9DL1 displayed more osteogenesis and less adipogenesis when cultured in the respective induction media. Both OP9 and OP9DL1 inhibited mature B and T cell proliferation. Furthermore, OP9 showed stronger inhibition on B cell proliferation and OP9DL1 exhibited stronger inhibition on T cell proliferation. With stimulation, both OP9 and OP9DL1 showed increased nitrate oxide (NO) production. The NO levels of OP9 were higher than that of OP9DL1 when stimulated with TNFα/IFNγ or LPS/IL4. Taken together, our study reveals a previously unrecognized role of OP9 and OP9DL1 in mature B and T cell proliferation. DL1 overexpression alone changed the properties of OP9 cells in addition to their role in early B cell development.
Mechanism and Repertoire of ASC-Mediated Gene Expression1

Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) is an adaptor molecule that mediates inflammatory and apoptotic signals. Although the role of ASC in caspase-1-mediated IL-1β and IL-18 maturation is well known, ASC also induces NF-κB activation and cytokine gene expression in human cells. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism and repertoire of ASC-induced gene expression in human cells. We found that the specific activation of ASC induced AP-1 activity, which was required for optimal IL8 promoter activity. ASC activation also induced STAT3-, but not STAT1-, IFN-stimulated gene factor 3- or NF-AT-dependent reporter gene expression. The ASC-mediated AP-1 activation was NF-κB-independent and primarily cell-autonomous response, whereas the STAT3 activation required NF-κB activation and was mediated by a factor that can act in a paracrine manner. ASC-mediated AP-1 activation was inhibited by chemical or protein inhibitors for caspase-8, caspase-8-targeting small-interfering RNA, and p38 and JNK inhibitors, but not by a caspase-1 inhibitor, caspase-9 or Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) dominant-negative mutants, FADD- or RICK-targeting small-interfering RNAs, or a MEK inhibitor, indicating that the ASC-induced AP-1 activation is mediated by caspase-8, p38, and JNK, but does not require caspase-1, caspase-9, FADD, RICK, or ERK. DNA microarray analyses identified 75 genes that were induced by ASC activation. A large proportion of them was related to transcription (23%), inflammation (21%), or cell death (16%), indicating that ASC is a potent inducer of inflammatory and cell death-related genes. This is the first report of ASC-mediated AP-1 activation and the repertoire of genes induced downstream of ASC activation.
Lower Adiponectin Levels at First Trimester of Pregnancy Are Associated With Increased Insulin Resistance and Higher Risk of Developing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the associations between adiponectin levels and 1) the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and 2) insulin resistance/sensitivity, β-cell function, and compensation indices in a prospective cohort representative of the general population of pregnant women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We performed anthropometric measurements and collected blood samples at 1st (6–13 weeks) and 2nd (24–28 weeks) trimesters. Diagnosis of GDM was made at 2nd trimester based on a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups criteria). Insulin was measured (ELISA; Luminex) to estimate homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), β-cell function (HOMA-B), insulin sensitivity (Matsuda index), insulin secretion (AUCinsulin/glucose), and β-cell compensation (insulin secretion sensitivity index-2). Adiponectin was measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS Among the 445 participants included in this study, 38 women developed GDM. Women who developed GDM had lower 1st-trimester adiponectin levels (9.67 ± 3.84 vs. 11.92 ± 4.59 µg/mL in women with normal glucose tolerance). Lower adiponectin levels were associated with higher risk of developing GDM (OR, 1.12 per 1 µg/mL decrease of adiponectin levels; P = 0.02, adjusted for BMI and HbA1c at 1st trimester). Adiponectin levels at 1st and 2nd trimesters were associated with HOMA-IR (both: r = −0.22, P < 0.0001) and Matsuda index (r = 0.28, P < 0.0001, and r = 0.29, P < 0.0001). After adjustment for confounding factors, we found no significant association with HOMA-B and AUCinsulin/glucose. CONCLUSIONS Pregnant women with lower adiponectin levels at 1st trimester have higher levels of insulin resistance and are more likely to develop GDM independently of adiposity or glycemic measurements.
The Bayesian Additive Classification Tree Applied to Credit Risk Modelling

We propose a new nonlinear classification method based on a Bayesian ''sum-of-trees'' model, the Bayesian Additive Classification Tree (BACT), which extends the Bayesian Additive Regression Tree (BART) method into the classification context. Like BART, the BACT is a Bayesian nonparametric additive model specified by a prior and a likelihood in which the additive components are trees, and it is fitted by an iterative MCMC algorithm. Each of the trees learns a different part of the underlying function relating the dependent variable to the input variables, but the sum of the trees offers a flexible and robust model. Through several benchmark examples, we show that the BACT shows excellent performance. We apply the BACT technique to classify whether firms would be insolvent. This practical example is very important for banks to construct their risk profile and operate successfully. We use the German Creditreform database and classify the solvency status of German firms based on financial statement information. We show that the BACT is a serious competitor to the logit model, CART, the Support Vector Machine, random forest and gradient boosting.
Motivational factors, well-being and optimal functioning in teams

Grounded in Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BNT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) and integrating theory from the group dynamics literature (i.e., team cohesion; Carron, 1982) this thesis extended current understanding of the determinants of optimal functioning in elite youth athletes and teams. The studies aimed to highlight the roles of task and social cohesion as antecedents and outcomes of basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPNS) in teams and provided supporting evidence of structural invariance across elite and non-elite competitive levels in hockey players. A team-referenced examination of the tenets of BNT in teams was supported providing a novel approach to the conceptualisation of optimal functioning in teams. The mediating role of BPNS in the relationships provided further information explicating the differing associations between the BNT-related variables between and within teams. The examination of rugby players’ perceptions of the coach-created climate revealed that autonomy support was negatively associated with mean rates of change in levels of negative affect over time. The chapters provided a systematic examination of the BNT processes that extends knowledge beyond conceptualisation and measurement of athletes’ perceptions with a focus on youth athletes operating within elite and non-elite teams.
It Happens, Just Not to Me: Hazing on a Canadian University Campus

Abstract Research on hazing in higher education has primarily focused on Greek-letter organizations and athletes, with little research beyond these two subsets of college students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the attitudes of students from the general student population at a Canadian university with regard to hazing and identify how students justify and legitimate hazing activities. The theories of groupthink and cognitive dissonance are used to interpret the results which are presented in three themes: (a) It isn’t hazing or it doesn’t count as hazing, (b) It is hazing, but it’s okay, and (c) It happens, just not to me.