Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COORDINATED WALKING OF STICK INSECTS ON A MERCURY SURFACE

SUMMARY Adult stick insects walk on a mercury surface at step frequencies in the range 1-4 Hz with a coordination similar to that found in free-walking adults at their maximum step frequency of 3 Hz. The amplitude of leg movement covers the same range as that found in free-walking animals. The use of a mercury substrate effectively removes mechanical interactions between the legs, showing that such influences cannot be the cause of the coordinated behaviour observed in this experimental situation. The dependence of the maximum step frequency upon the resistance to retraction provided by the substrate suggests that feedback from the periphery determines the step period. The variation in the anterior extreme position of a leg is less than that of the posterior extreme position, indicating that the latter may be more strongly influenced by coordinating interactions between the legs.
Teachers and the implementation of a new English curriculum in Malaysia

In the light of a recent curriculum reform to improve the teaching of English in primary schools in Malaysia, this study set out to investigate the extent to which teachers are adopting a communicative language teaching (CLT) approach in their teaching. A mixed-method approach incorporating systematic observation, stimulated recall and interviews with teachers was used to study 32 English lessons at Standard 1. Despite being urged to adopt CLT approaches, the data analysis revealed the underlying pedagogy of the teachers was made up of rote, recitation, instruction and exposition, and that it severely restricted opportunities for pupils to participate in dialogue and discussion. Implications for improving the quality of English language teaching in primary schools in Malaysia and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region are considered.
Ventral Tegmental Area Afferents and Drug-Dependent Behaviors

Drug-related behaviors in both humans and rodents are commonly thought to arise from aberrant learning processes. Preclinical studies demonstrate that the acquisition and expression of many drug-dependent behaviors involves the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a midbrain structure comprised of dopamine, GABA, and glutamate neurons. Drug experience alters the excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input onto VTA dopamine neurons, suggesting a critical role for VTA afferents in mediating the effects of drugs. In this review, we present evidence implicating the VTA in drug-related behaviors, highlight the diversity of neuronal populations in the VTA, and discuss the behavioral effects of selectively manipulating VTA afferents. Future experiments are needed to determine which VTA afferents and what neuronal populations in the VTA mediate specific drug-dependent behaviors. Further studies are also necessary for identifying the afferent-specific synaptic alterations onto dopamine and non-dopamine neurons in the VTA following drug administration. The identification of neural circuits and adaptations involved with drug-dependent behaviors can highlight potential neural targets for pharmacological and deep brain stimulation interventions to treat substance abuse disorders.
Ultrasonography methods for predicting malignancy in canine mammary tumors

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of B-mode, Doppler, contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS), and Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) elastography in predicting malignancy in canine mammary masses. This was a prospective cohort study from 2014 to 2016, which included 153 bitches with one or more mammary masses. A total of 300 masses were evaluated by ultrasonography (B-mode, Doppler, CEUS, and ARFI) and subsequently classified as benign or malignant by histopathology. Each ultrasound parameters studied were compared between benign and malignant masses by Chi-square or Student tests and differences were considered significant when P < 0.01. For the variables that proved significant differences were estimated the cut-off point, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under curve (AUC) by receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis in a logistic regression model using histopathological classification as reference, to assess and compare diagnostic performance of each technique. Out of 300 mammary masses evaluated 246 were classified as malignant and 54 as benign. B-mode measurements showed sensitivity 67.9%, and specificity 67.6% as malignancy predictors on canine mammary masses; Doppler indexes systolic (>21.2 m/s) and diastolic velocity (>4.8 m/s) sensitivity 79.2% and specificity 70.8%; CEUS wash-out time (<80.5 s) sensitivity 80.2% and specificity 16.7%; and ARFI elastography shear velocity (SWV > 2.57 m/s) sensitivity 94.7% and specificity 97.2% In conclusion B-mode and Doppler ultrasound evaluations may assist in malignancy prediction of canine mammary masses with moderate sensitivity and specificity, already the SWV was an great accurate predictor. Therefore, ARFI elastography exam inclusion in veterinary clinic oncology and research is highly recommended, since it allows fast, non-invasive, and complication-free malignancy prediction of canine mammary masses.
Avoidance Goals Can Be Beneficial: A Look at Smoking Cessation

This research examined the approach and avoidance goals that people hold when attempting to quit smoking and the behavioral consequences of holding these goals. We predicted that in the domain of smoking cessation, avoidance goals would be beneficial. A community sample of smokers (N = 591) reported their personal goals for quitting smoking prior to participating in an 8-week smoking cessation program. We found that smokers reported a greater percentage of avoidance goals than previously found in educational settings and smokers with a higher proportion of avoidance goals were more likely to quit smoking. The beneficial effect of avoidance goals was largely due to a particular type of avoidance goal, one in which the person is trying to cure a current negative state. This research highlights the value of studying the consequences of avoidance goals in multiple contexts to examine the impact of different types of avoidance goals.
VENTRICULO‐CISTERNAL PERFUSION OF AMINO ACIDS IN CAT BRAIN * ‐I

THE term blood-brain barrier implies a restriction in the penetration of substances into the central nervous system. This restriction is not supported by a unique mechanism; it may depend on regional anatomical differences, on the qualities of the substances under study, as well as on the different boundaries between the blood, the CSF, and the nervous parenchyma. It is generally believed that a substance that does not penetrate into the CNS, when parenterally administered, could reach the nervous tissue if it were injected into the subarachnoid space. However, it is known that this is not the case for some compounds such as glucose (WOLFF and TSCHIRGI, 1956) phosphate (HERLJN, 1958), tri-iodothyronine (FORD, 1959), bromine and iodide (WALLACE and BRODIE, 1940; BRATTGARD and LINDQUIST, 1955), nucleotides (ALTMAN and CHOROVER, 1963), calcium (GRAZIANI, ESCRIVA and KATZMAN, 1965), and amino acids (NOGUEIRA, GARCIA RGIZ and LEVIN, 1965). In this study we have examined the CSF-nervous parenchyma relations of amino acids, as part of a more general plan of studying different aspects of the so-called blood-brain barrier. The CSF flows through two compartments, each of them with different characteristics. The first is covered by the ependyma cells (a kind of modified glial cell) which also contain the choroid plexuses, an epithelium-vascular conglomerate where the CSF is formed. The second is the subarachnoid space, where the fluid flows between two meningeal membranes. One of them, the pia, lies in close relation with blood vessels and capillaries with certain anatomic and permeability peculiarities. On its way to the blood, the CSF traverses the arachnoid villi, which are cluster-like projections of mesothelium cells into the superior sagittal sinus. It is possible that the two compartments have different permeability characteristics depending on their anatomical differences and that the CSF-brain relationship should not be regarded as a single and uniform one with reference to the penetration of substances. The present work is concerned with the ventricular compartment. In the study of the passage of amino acids from the CSF to the brain, we must determine if there * Preliminary results were presented at the International Symposium on Biology of the Neuroglia,
Background and Instructional Effects on Achievement in Eighth-Grade English and Social Studies

This article examines the effects of instruction on achievement in eighth grade English and social studies. It is further concerned with the extent to which instructional variation helps account for achievement inequality among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. The approach to measuring instruction draws on direct-instruction research, which suggests that teacher-led activities and a strong academic focus raise achievement, and on other work suggesting that achievement is encouraged by building on students' ideas within the context of direct-instruction activities. The results show modest but significant effects, in both subjects, of lecture, question-answer, and discussion activities; instructional coherence; and student participation. These effects account for an important part of the impact of background variables on achievement.
Residential attributes, park use, and perceived benefits: An exploration of individual and neighbourhood characteristics

Abstract The authors explore the recreation pattern of Puerto Ricans in Southbridge, Massachusetts; to date, a relatively understudied Latino ethnic group in the field of recreation and leisure studies. The authors employed several OLS regression analyses to identify the individual, residency, and neighbourhood factors associated with patterns of Puerto Rican park use and perceived park use benefits. The findings suggest that factors associated with ethnicity, socio‐economic status, park alternatives, and neighbourhood characteristics do affect park use and perceived benefits, especially when used in combination. Lastly, our findings indicate that objective measures of distance to the resource do not significantly impact park use or perceived park use benefits.
Development of interests and competency beliefs in Italian adolescents: An exploration of circumplex structure and bidirectional relationships.

In a cross-national replication and extension of prior research with American students, Italian middle and high school students completed measures of interests and competency beliefs relative to a variety of school- and nonschool-related activities. Both interests and competency beliefs tended to show greater adherence to circumplex Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (known as RIASEC) structure with increasing age, but this tendency was more pronounced in female than in male students. Interests and competency beliefs were moderately stable over a 1-year interval, with relatively small percentages of participants exhibiting clinically large changes on either variable. Good support was found for a bidirectional model of interest-competency belief relationships in both male and female students. Implications for further efforts to understand how interests and competency beliefs develop over time and across cultures are considered.
A technology-enhanced service for person-centered dementia care: Preliminary results from a field trial

A growing body of empirical data demonstrates the positive health outcomes of person-centered dementia care. There exists, however, a gap in our knowledge about how to provide person-centered care in an efficient way. In this paper, we describe a person-centered activity-based dementia care service, and the ICT tools that we developed to enhance the efficiency of the service. The service supports a group of paid caregivers in providing person-centered dementia care to a group of persons with dementia. We conducted a four-month field trial of the service in a private service provider organization. Here we report our preliminary findings. The organizational model, supported by a structured method of service delivery and ICT tools, demonstrates the potential of cost-effective person-centered dementia care as an alternative to more conventional care organizations.
Rao-Blackwellized particle smoothers for mixed linear/nonlinear state-space models

We consider the smoothing problem for a class of conditionally linear Gaussian state-space (CLGSS) models, referred to as mixed linear/nonlinear models. In contrast to the better studied hierarchical CLGSS models, these allow for an intricate cross dependence between the linear and the nonlinear parts of the state vector. We derive a Rao-Blackwellized particle smoother (RBPS) for this model class by exploiting its tractable substructure. The smoother is of the forward filtering/backward simulation type. A key feature of the proposed method is that, unlike existing RBPS for this model class, the linear part of the state vector is marginalized out in both the forward direction and in the backward direction.
The Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor PCI-32765 blocks B-cell activation and is efficacious in models of autoimmune disease and B-cell malignancy

Activation of the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) signaling pathway contributes to the initiation and maintenance of B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. The Bruton tyrosine kinase (Btk) is specifically required for BCR signaling as demonstrated by human and mouse mutations that disrupt Btk function and prevent B-cell maturation at steps that require a functional BCR pathway. Herein we describe a selective and irreversible Btk inhibitor, PCI-32765, that is currently under clinical development in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We have used this inhibitor to investigate the biologic effects of Btk inhibition on mature B-cell function and the progression of B cell-associated diseases in vivo. PCI-32765 blocked BCR signaling in human peripheral B cells at concentrations that did not affect T cell receptor signaling. In mice with collagen-induced arthritis, orally administered PCI-32765 reduced the level of circulating autoantibodies and completely suppressed disease. PCI-32765 also inhibited autoantibody production and the development of kidney disease in the MRL-Fas(lpr) lupus model. Occupancy of the Btk active site by PCI-32765 was monitored in vitro and in vivo using a fluorescent affinity probe for Btk. Active site occupancy of Btk was tightly correlated with the blockade of BCR signaling and in vivo efficacy. Finally, PCI-32765 induced objective clinical responses in dogs with spontaneous B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These findings support Btk inhibition as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of human diseases associated with activation of the BCR pathway.
Usefulness of serum glycoconjugates in precancerous and cancerous diseases of the oral cavity

Sera from 47 healthy controls, 18 normal individuals with the habit of tobacco chewing, 43 patients with oral precancerous (PC) conditions, and 40 patients with oral cancer (OC) were studied for the levels of total sialic acid (TSA), lipid‐bound sialic acid (LSA), mucoid proteins, and protein‐bound hexoses (PBH) (galactose and mannose). The changes in the glycoconjugate levels were insignificant between the controls and the normal tobacco chewers. All four parameters were significantly elevated in oral PC patients compared with controls. The levels of PBH and LSA showed significant increase in the oral PC patients compared with the normal tobacco chewers. A significant increase was observed in the levels of TSA, LSA, mucoid proteins, and PBH in OC patients compared with controls, normal tobacco chewers, and patients with oral PC. Increasing levels of all the biomarkers were found with progression of the malignant disease. Elevations in the levels of TSA and LSA were statistically significant in Stage IV patients compared with Stage III patients. The patients with metastases had higher levels of the biomarkers than the patients with primary OC. However, elevations only in LSA levels were statistically significant. These results suggest that evaluations of the serum glycoconjugate levels may be useful in diagnosis of the patients with oral PC or OC. In addition to their value in early detection, they can also help in staging of the disease.
Recent developments in pain in dementia

Epidemiological studies show that, worldwide, the number of people aged over 65 will increase substantially in the next decades and that a considerable proportion of this population will develop dementia.1 Ample evidence shows that ageing is associated with a high rate of painful conditions, irrespective of cognitive status.2 The number of patients with dementia who will experience painful conditions is therefore likely to increase. A key question relates to whether and how patients with dementia perceive pain. Patients with dementia may express their pain in ways that are quite different from those of elderly people without dementia.3 Particularly in the more severe stages of dementia, therefore, the complexity and consequent (frequent) inadequacy of pain assessment leads to the undertreatment of pain. The most commonly used pain assessment instruments seem to be selected primarily according to the communicative capacity of the patient (self report pain rating scales for communicative patients and observation scales for non-communicative patients) instead of according to two main aspects of pain—the sensory-discriminative and motivational-affective aspects. In particular, the motivational-affective aspects of pain are assessed by observation scales, which should therefore be applied to every patient, irrespective of ability to communicate. Distinction between the sensory-discriminative and motivational-affective aspects of pain is of great clinical relevance, as the motivational-affective aspects are particularly likely to reflect pain that needs treatment.4 Moreover, differentiating between these two aspects of pain in relation to the neuropathology of the various subtypes of dementia provides insight into the basis of the alterations in the pain experiences of elderly people with dementia. Future experimental and clinical studies should not only focus on subtypes of dementia but should go a step further and assess pain in disorders in which pain is already present at a stage without cognitive impairment and during the course …
Examining Claims of Family Process Differences Ensuing From the Choice to Home-School

Advocates of home-schooling claim a variety of positive educational and familial outcomes. Research is needed to examine possible effects of home-schooling on family relationships. We investigated family environment differences between home-schooling and public-schooling families matched in terms of family-centric orientation. Family cohesion was measured using FACES III, and parent–adolescent interaction styles were measured using the Interaction Styles Profile, an instrument formulated for limited research use by the second author based on previous work done with family interaction styles. Mothers, fathers, and adolescent students in 38 public-schooling and 35 home-schooling families completed the measures. The potential confound of preexisting values and commitment to highly cohesive, emotionally connected, cooperative family life in home-schooling families was controlled for by the selection of public-schooling families matched on this variable (family-centric orientation). Family-centric home-schooling families reported statistically significant, but only moderately higher levels of family cohesion and parent–child parallel interaction than family-centric public-schooling families. There were no significant differences between home-schooling and public-schooling families in self-reported symmetrical and complementary interactions. Thus, when controlling for preexisting family-centric orientation, the institution and practice of home-schooling alone appears to produce only moderate (clinically nonrelevant) shifts in family cohesion or positive parallel interaction, suggesting that family-centric families can realize their goals for family cohesion and positive interaction independent of their choice of schooling.
Activation of Human Basophils by A549 Lung Epithelial Cells Reveals a Novel IgE-Dependent Response Independent of Allergen

Evidence for epithelial cell (EC)–derived cytokines (e.g., thymic stromal lymphopoietin [TSLP]) activating human basophils remains controversial. We therefore hypothesize that ECs can directly activate basophils via cell-to-cell interaction. Basophils in medium alone or with IL-3 ± anti-IgE were coincubated with TSLP, IL-33, or IL-25. Analogous experiments cocultured basophils (1–72 h) directly with EC lines. Supernatants were tested for mediators and cytokines. Abs targeting receptors were tested for neutralizing effects. Lactic acid (pH 3.9) treatment combined with passive sensitization tested the role of IgE. Overall, IL-33 augmented IL-13 secretion from basophils cotreated with IL-3, with minimal effects on histamine and IL-4. Conversely, basophils (but not mast cells) released histamine and marked levels of IL-4/IL-13 (10-fold) when cocultured with A549 EC and IL-3, without exogenous allergen or IgE cross-linking stimuli. The inability to detect IL-33 or TSLP, or to neutralize their activity, suggested a unique mode of basophil activation by A549 EC. Half-maximal rates for histamine (4 h) and IL-4 (5 h) secretion were slower than observed with standard IgE-dependent activation. Ig stripping combined with passive sensitization ± omalizumab showed a dependency for basophil-bound IgE, substantiated by a requirement for cell-to-cell contact, aggregation, and FcεRI-dependent signaling. A yet unidentified IgE-binding lectin associated with A549 EC is implicated after discovering that LacNAc suppressed basophil activation in cocultures. These findings point to a lectin-dependent activation of basophil requiring IgE but independent of allergen or secreted cytokine. Pending further investigation, we predict this unique mode of activation is linked to inflammatory conditions whereby IgE-dependent activation of basophils occurs despite the absence of any known allergen.
Desistance From Crime Without Reintegration

Criminological theories suggest that desistance from crime cannot be considered outside its social context. Few studies, however, have examined the social context and its importance for individuals convicted of a sex offense. Their unique experience during community reentry warrants specific attention to this group. Using prospective longitudinal data, the current study examined desistance from general offending in a sample of 500 adult males convicted of at least one sex offense. Cox proportional hazards models showed that, although desistance is associated with the presence of prosocial social influences, these differences disappeared after controlling for prior involvement in crime and delinquency. Employment and marital status, commonly described as key turning points, were not found to be significant factors associated with desistance. Of importance, aging and the absence of recent substance abuse issues were key factors associated with desistance. Although these findings warrant further investigation, the study suggests that, for some men, desistance may occur in spite of the absence of community reintegration.