Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single and multiple-unit analysis of cortical stage of pyramidal tract activation.

THE EFFECT of exciting motor cortical areas is usually studied by recording muscle contractions or observing limb movements. Such studies yield little information about the central excitatory events which ultimately funnel into the final common motor pathway. Adrian and Moruzzi (1) were the first to recognize the importance of recording activity in the pyramidal tract. Their results were significantly supplemented by Lloyd’s (21) analysis of the effects of pyramidal volleys on spinal cord neurons. The present studies stemmed from a project in which cortically induced pyramidal discharges were to be used to assay cortical inhibitory mechanisms. As an initial step (31), we recorded from the region of pyramidal decussation and confirmed that single units isolated at this site have many of the properties described by Adrian and Moruzzi. Surprisingly, however, essentially different responses were recorded from the bulbar pyramid or the lateral column of the cervical spinal cord (31, 32, 33)~-i.e., above and below pyramidal decussation. The data indicate that records from the “region of pyramidal decussation” are contaminated with, and often dominated by, activity in extrapyramidal neurons. This report presents an analysis of cortically evoked pyramidal tract discharges recorded from sites where such distortion is minimized or absent. The analysis and terminology reported here and previously (31, 32, 33) have recently been confirmed by Wall et al. (37) and by Bertrand (4).
East Asian Financial Contagion Under DCC-GARCH

We reconsider the definition and measurement of contagion by analyzing the 1997 East Asian financial crisis in the equity markets of eight countries using dynamic conditional correlation (DCC). Taking Thailand and Hong Kong as alternative sources of contagion, a total of fourteen source-target pairs is analyzed. We define contagion as the statistical break in the computed DCCs as measured by the shifts in their means and medians. In the DCC process, the parameters of each pair of source-target country contagion are allowed to vary and be dictated by the data. Contagion is tested using DCC means and medians difference tests. Our findings indicate the presence of contagion in the equity markets across all the fourteen pairs of source-target countries that are considered.
Quantitative Pulse-Phase-Thermography for Masonry and Conrete Structures

An advanced quantitative approach of pulse-phase-thermography for nondestructive testing in civil engineering is described in this contribution. The characteristic frequency of the maximum phase-contrast between defects and sound areas is used as a means for the characterization of its depth. The new approach is tested in the laboratory on concrete structures with defects of polystyrene. The surfaces of the structures were heated with IR-radiators for varying time periods. The presented investigations were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and were carried out in co-operation with the Technical University of Berlin (TUB).
The perceived impact of a university outdoor education program on students' environmental behaviors

—Outdoor educators often seek to design programs that infl uence participants’ daily lifestyles, especially environmental behaviors. Research on the impact of outdoor education programs on environmental behaviors has typically focused on schoolchildren and teenagers. Th e purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived impact of a university outdoor education program on the environmental behaviors of program participants. In-depth interviews were conducted with six university students 6 months after they completed a 14-day summer outdoor education course that covered “social, organizational, technical, environmental and educational topics associated with group living, ecology and summer camping skills. ” Almost all participants reported that the course had some impact on their environmental behaviors. Increased participation in outdoor activities, participation in communal environmental action, and environmental behavior transference to daily life were the most frequently mentioned changed behaviors.
Trends in hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions following the implementation of Family Health Teams in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

OBJECTIVES How to provide effective and efficient care to the burgeoning and aging populations of the major cities of low- and middle-income countries constitutes one of the principle public health issues of our times. We evaluated the Family Health Strategy, the Brazilian national health system's public approach to primary health care, in the major city of Belo Horizonte, describing trends and factors associated with hospitalizations for primary care sensitive conditions following the implementation of 506 family health teams, most of which were established in 2002. METHODS We conducted an ecological study covering 2003 to 2006, using mixed models to investigate time trends in public system hospitalizations as well as their association with social vulnerability and primary care team characteristics. RESULTS Sensitive conditions accounted for 115,340 (26.4%) hospitalizations. Over the 4-year period, hospitalizations for sensitive conditions declined by 17.9%, vs only 8.3% for non-sensitive ones (P<0.001). Hospitalization for sensitive conditions declined 22% for women in areas of high social vulnerability vs 9% for women in areas of low vulnerability (P<0.001); for men, 17% vs 10% (P=0.11). CONCLUSIONS Though the ecologic nature of our study limits the confidence with which conclusions can be affirmed, the Family Health Strategy appears to have contributed to a major reduction in hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions in this large Brazilian metropolis, while at the same time promoting greater health equity.
The role of visual landmarks in the avian familiar area map

SUMMARY The question of whether homing pigeons use visual landmarks for orientation from distant, familiar sites is an unresolved issue in the field of avian navigation. Where evidence has been found, the question still remains as to whether the landmarks are used independent of the map and compass mechanism for orientation that is so important to birds. Recent research has challenged the extent to which experiments that do not directly manipulate the visual sense can be used as evidence for compass-independent orientation. However, it is proposed that extending a new technique for research on vision in homing to include manipulation of the compasses used by birds might be able to resolve this issue. The effect of the structure of the visual sense of the homing pigeon on its use of visual landmarks is also considered.
Achievable rates and upper bounds for the interference relay channel

The two user Gaussian interference channel with a full-duplex relay is studied. By using genie aided approaches, two new upper bounds on the achievable sum-rate in this setup are derived. These upper bounds are shown to be tighter than previously known bounds under some conditions. Moreover, a transmit strategy for this setup is proposed. This strategy utilizes the following elements: Block Markov encoding combined with a Han-Kobayashi scheme at the sources, decode and forward at the relay, and Willems' backward decoding at the receivers. This scheme is shown to achieve within a finite gap our upper bounds in certain cases.
HoloClean: Holistic Data Repairs with Probabilistic Inference

We introduce HoloClean, a framework for holistic data repairing driven by probabilistic inference. HoloClean unifies qualitative data repairing, which relies on integrity constraints or external data sources, with quantitative data repairing methods, which leverage statistical properties of the input data. Given an inconsistent dataset as input, HoloClean automatically generates a probabilistic program that performs data repairing. Inspired by recent theoretical advances in probabilistic inference, we introduce a series of optimizations which ensure that inference over HoloClean's probabilistic model scales to instances with millions of tuples. We show that HoloClean finds data repairs with an average precision of ∼ 90% and an average recall of above ∼ 76% across a diverse array of datasets exhibiting different types of errors. This yields an average F1 improvement of more than 2× against state-of-the-art methods.
High performance work systems, workforce productivity, and innovation: a comparison of MNCs and indigenous firms

Previous research has reported conflicting results on whether or not foreign-owned firms diverge from indigenous firms with respect to their human resource policies and practices. Set in the dynamic, globalized economy of the Republic of Ireland, this study examines the relative use of high performance work systems (HPWS) by foreign-owned versus Irish-owned firms. We also investigate the implications of HPWS use for organizational effectiveness. Results suggest substantial differences associated with country of ownership. Relative to Irish-owned firms, foreign-owned firms report higher HPWS utilization and higher rates of workforce productivity and innovation. Results suggest that the relationship between country of ownership and organizational effectiveness is mediated by the use of HPWS.
Coping with chronic complex regional pain syndrome: advice from patients for patients

Objective: To explore what advice people currently living with chronic complex regional pain syndrome would offer to another person coming to terms with a diagnosis of chronic complex regional pain syndrome. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 21 adults (5 male) living with chronic complex regional pain syndrome who had completed a complex regional pain syndrome rehabilitation programme were conducted. Results: Effectively self-managing complex regional pain syndrome required individuals to play an active role. This could only be achieved if they felt they had sufficient control. Means of attaining control involved attaining a level of acceptance, becoming well-informed and accessing the right kind of support. The advice offered by patients for patients largely reflected that offered by healthcare professionals. One area where there was a conflict concerned sleep hygiene. Conclusions: Our study provides support both for the argument put forward by Redman that without appropriate preparation and support, self-management is ineffective, and that by Skuladottir and Hallsdottir that the main challenge of the chronic pain trajectory is that of retaining a sense of control. The clinical implications of this are discussed.
Using the chip as a temperature sensor — The influence of steep lateral temperature gradients on the Vce(T)-measurement

During operation steep lateral temperature gradients evolve in IGBT power semiconductor chips. The influence of these lateral gradients on the measurement of the virtual junction temperature by means of the widely used VCE(T)-method was investigated. In particular we address the question, how the obtained single temperature value is connected to the temperature distribution of the chip. A combination of electrical and thermal measurements together with thermal simulations was performed to understand the implicit averaging mechanisms of the VCE(T)-measurement. It is found that the lateral temperature gradient in the chip results in an inhomogeneous sense current distribution during the measurement. This current distribution is responsible for the formation of the measurement value and its corresponding temperature T∗. A comparison of experimental and simulation results shows that for currently existing IGBTs, T∗ corresponds to the area-weighted average of the chip's active area. The maximum imbalance in sense current density during the VCE(T)-measurement was determined to be 150% and 50% of the average current density for the central and the corner parts of the chip, respectively. Furthermore, the temporal evolution of the temperature profile and its influence on the thermal impedance measurement are discussed. It is shown that the temperature at the chip center evolves with a smaller thermal time constant (i.e. faster evolution) than at the chip corners.
Whistleblowing: The advantages of self-regulation

Although whistleblowers are often portrayed as courageous individuals worthy of respect, the act of whistleblowing can be viewed as a disloyal act which may bring much harm to the whistleblower’s colleagues. We argue that although some whistleblowers have provided a great service to society, the world would be best served if the need for external whistleblowing were to be obviated by appropriate management practices.
Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Display Reduced Expression of CD105 after Culture in Serum-Free Medium

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) present a promising tool for regenerative medicine. However, ex vivo expansion is necessary to obtain sufficient cells for clinical therapy. Conventional growth media usually contain the critical component fetal bovine serum. For clinical use, chemically defined media will be required. In this study, the capability of two commercial, chemically defined, serum-free hMSC growth media (MSCGM-CD and PowerStem) for hMSC proliferation was examined and compared to serum-containing medium (MSCGM). Immunophenotyping of hMSCs was performed using flow cytometry, and they were tested for their ability to differentiate into a variety of cell types. Although the morphology of hMSCs cultured in the different media differed, immunophenotyping displayed similar marker patterns (high expression of CD29, CD44, CD73, and CD90 cell surface markers and absence of CD45). Interestingly, the expression of CD105 was significantly lower for hMSCs cultured in MSCGM-CD compared to MSCGM. Both groups maintained mesenchymal multilineage differentiation potential. In conclusion, the serum-free growth medium is suitable for hMSC culture and comparable to its serum-containing counterpart. As the expression of CD105 has been shown to positively influence hMSC cardiac regenerative potential, the impact of CD105 expression onto clinical use after expansion in MSCGM-CD will have to be tested.
The Role of Hypothalamic Tri-Iodothyronine Availability in Seasonal Regulation of Energy Balance and Body Weight

Seasonal cycles of body weight provide a natural model system to understand the central control of energy balance. Studies of such cycles in Siberian hamsters suggest that a change in the hypothalamic availability of thyroid hormone is the key determinant of annual weight regulation. Uptake of thyroid hormone into the hypothalamus from the peripheral circulation occurs largely through a specific monocarboxylate transporter expressed by tanycyte cells lining the third ventricle. Tanycytes are the principal brain cell type expressing type II and type III deiodinases, so they control the local concentrations of T4, T3, and inactive metabolites. Type III deiodinase mRNA in tanycytes is photoperiodically upregulated in short photoperiod. This would be expected to reduce the availability of T3 in the hypothalamus by promoting the production of inactive metabolites such as rT3. Experimental microimplantation of T3 directly into the hypothalamus during short-days promotes a long-day phenotype by increasing food intake and body weight without affecting the peripheral thyroid axis. Thus, thyroid hormone exerts anabolic actions within the brain that play a key role in the seasonal regulation of body weight. Understanding the precise actions of thyroid hormone in the brain may identify novel targets for long-term pharmacological manipulation of body weight.
On-line adapted transition between locomotion and jump

Motion blending is widely accepted as a standard technique in computer animation, allowing the generation of new motions by interpolation and/or transition between motion capture sequences. To ensure smooth and seamless results, an important property has to be taken into account: similar constraints sequences have to be time aligned. But traditional blending approaches let the user choose manually the transition time and duration. In addition, according to the animation context, blending operations should not be performed immediately. They can only occur during a precise period of time, while preserving specific physical properties. We present in this paper an improved blending technique allowing automatic controlled transition between motion patterns whose parameters are not known in advance. This approach ensures coherent movements over the parameter space of the original input motions. To illustrate our approach, we focus on walking and running motions blended with jumps, where animators may vary the jump length and style. The proposed method specifies automatically the support phases of the input motions, and controls on the fly a correct transition time. Moreover the current locomotion type and speed are smoothly adapted given a specific jump type and length.
Indentifying Emotional Characteristics from Short Blog Texts

Emotion is at the core of understanding ourselves and others, and the automatic expression and detection of emotion could enhance our experience with technologies. In this paper, we explore the use of computational linguistic tools to derive emotional features. Using 50 and 200 word samples of naturally-occurring blog texts, we find that some emotions are more discernible than others. In particular automated content analysis shows that authors expressing anger use the most affective language and also negative affect words; authors expressing joy use the most positive emotion words. In addition we explore the use of co-occurrence semantic space techniques to classify texts via their distance from emotional concept exemplar words: This demonstrated some success, particularly for identifying author expression of fear and joy emotions. This extends previous work by using finer-grained emotional categories and alternative linguistic analysis techniques. We relate our finding to human emotion perception and note potential applications.
Quantitative meta-analysis of fMRI and PET studies reveals consistent activation in fronto-striatal-parietal regions and cerebellum during antisaccades and prosaccades

The antisaccade task is a classic task of oculomotor control that requires participants to inhibit a saccade to a target and instead make a voluntary saccade to the mirror opposite location. By comparison, the prosaccade task requires participants to make a visually-guided saccade to the target. These tasks have been studied extensively using behavioral oculomotor, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging in both non-human primates and humans. In humans, the antisaccade task is under active investigation as a potential endophenotype or biomarker for multiple psychiatric and neurological disorders. A large and growing body of literature has used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) to study the neural correlates of the antisaccade and prosaccade tasks. We present a quantitative meta-analysis of all published voxel-wise fMRI and PET studies (18) of the antisaccade task and show that consistent activation for antisaccades and prosaccades is obtained in a fronto-subcortical-parietal network encompassing frontal and supplementary eye fields (SEFs), thalamus, striatum, and intraparietal cortex. This network is strongly linked to oculomotor control and was activated to a greater extent for antisaccade than prosaccade trials. Antisaccade but not prosaccade trials additionally activated dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices. We also found that a number of additional regions not classically linked to oculomotor control were activated to a greater extent for antisaccade vs. prosaccade trials; these regions are often reported in antisaccade studies but rarely commented upon. While the number of studies eligible to be included in this meta-analysis was small, the results of this systematic review reveal that antisaccade and prosaccade trials consistently activate a distributed network of regions both within and outside the classic definition of the oculomotor network.
Origins of the extragalactic background at 1 mm from a combined analysis of the AzTEC and MAMBO data in GOODS-N

We present a study of the cosmic infrared background, which is a measure of the dust-obscured activity in all galaxies in the Universe. We venture to isolate the galaxies responsible for the background at 1 mm; with spectroscopic and photometric redshifts we constrain the redshift distribution of these galaxies. We create a deep 1.16mm map (σ ~ 0.5 mJy) by combining the AzTEC 1.1 mm and MAMBO 1.2 mm data sets in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North (GOODS-N) region. This combined map contains 41 secure detections, 13 of which are new. By averaging the 1.16 mm flux densities of individually undetected galaxies with 24 μm flux densities >25 μJy, we resolve 31–45 per cent of the 1.16 mm background. Repeating our analysis on the SCUBA 850 μm map, we resolve a higher percentage (40–64 per cent) of the 850 μm background. A majority of the background resolved (attributed to individual galaxies) at both wavelengths comes from galaxies at z > 1.3. If the ratio of the resolved submillimetre to millimetre background is applied to a reasonable scenario for the origins of the unresolved submillimetre background, 60–88 per cent of the total 1.16 mm background comes from galaxies at z > 1.3.
Time Synchronization for Wireless Sensor Networks

Time synchronization is an important problem for wireless sensor networks. In this paper, a novel time synchronization scheme for wireless sensor networks is proposed. First, we create a spanning tree of all the nodes in the network by broadcasting children-find packets. Then, the spanning tree is divided into multiple subtrees, in which two subtree synchronization algorithms can be performed: Two-Way Message Exchange Algorithm or Broadcasting Algorithm. After that, time synchronization of the whole network will be achieved. Performance analyses and simulations are presented in this paper, and demonstrate that our proposed scheme has much better performance than RBS [4] in terms of both synchronization delay and synchronization error.
Fiscal Multipliers and the State of the Economy

Only a few empirical studies have analyzed the relationship between fiscal multipliers and the underlying state of the economy. This paper investigates this link on a country-by-country basis for the G7 economies (excluding Italy). Our results show that fiscal multipliers differ across countries, calling for a tailored use of fiscal policy. Moreover, the position in the business cycle affects the impact of fiscal policy on output: on average, government spending, and revenue multipliers tend to be larger in downturns than in expansions. This asymmetry has implications for the choice between an upfront fiscal adjustment versus a more gradual approach.