Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-Hebbian Long-Term Potentiation of Inhibitory Synapses in the Thalamus

The thalamus integrates and transmits sensory information to the neocortex. The activity of thalamocortical relay (TC) cells is modulated by specific inhibitory circuits. Although this inhibition plays a crucial role in regulating thalamic activity, little is known about long-term changes in synaptic strength at these inhibitory synapses. Therefore, we studied long-term plasticity of inhibitory inputs to TC cells in the posterior medial nucleus of the thalamus by combining patch-clamp recordings with two-photon fluorescence microscopy in rat brain slices. We found that specific activity patterns in the postsynaptic TC cell induced inhibitory long-term potentiation (iLTP). This iLTP was non-Hebbian because it did not depend on the timing between presynaptic and postsynaptic activity, but it could be induced by postsynaptic burst activity alone. iLTP required postsynaptic dendritic Ca2+ influx evoked by low-threshold Ca2+ spikes. In contrast, tonic postsynaptic spiking from a depolarized membrane potential (−50 mV), which suppressed these low-threshold Ca2+ spikes, induced no plasticity. The postsynaptic dendritic Ca2+ increase triggered the synthesis of nitric oxide that retrogradely activated presynaptic guanylyl cyclase, resulting in the presynaptic expression of iLTP. The dependence of iLTP on the membrane potential and therefore on the postsynaptic discharge mode suggests that this form of iLTP might occur during sleep, when TC cells discharge in bursts. Therefore, iLTP might be involved in sleep state-dependent modulation of thalamic information processing and thalamic oscillations.
Translanguaging, learning and teaching in deaf education

ABSTRACT This paper critiques the role of translanguaging in deaf education by examining how, and under what conditions, translanguaging practices can enhance learning and teaching. The paper explores the premise that translanguaging represents an additive view of bilingualism and multilingualism for deaf learners and offers an innovative departure from, and not a re-packing of, traditional teaching methods in deaf education. In this context, the additive aspects of translanguaging are conceptualised as ways of seeing and responding to the language resources of deaf learners and ways of teaching that recognise and promote bilingual and multilingual (sign and spoken/written) language skills. The innovative aspects of translanguaging are explained in terms of the focus on language as a social phenomenon, the emphasis on individual repertoires and attention to the mindful use of languages in the classroom. Examples of learner and teacher translanguaging are given that illustrate what translanguaging offers to deaf education in terms of understanding and supporting the language repertoires of deaf learners and for the development of pedagogy. The paper concludes by suggesting the conditions under which these benefits can be realised.
Modeling the social resilience of mountain communities under volcanic risks

Herein is modeled the social resilience of communities under volcanic risks. The model is based on causal-relationship factors that contribute to the development of social resilience in communities. Resilience in the model is measured by the variable ‘intention to prepare’ and is predicted by factors at personal, community and institutional level. The hypothetical model was then proposed and tested using data from communities living in the southern flanks of Mt. Merapi, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Two significant results were obtained confirming that the social resilience of communities in the study area is mainly predicted by the community-level variables and institutional variables.
Shot Boundary Detection and Keyframe Extraction Based on Scale Invariant Feature Transform

In shot boundary detection, the key technology is to compute the visual content discontinuity values between consecutive video frames. In this paper, a unified framework is proposed to detect the shot boundaries and extract the keyframes of a shot. Firstly, the Scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) is adopted to compute the visual content discontinuity values. Then a new method, which is called the Local Double Threshold Shot Boundary Detection (LDT-SBD), is used to detect shot boundaries. Lastly, two mechanisms are proposed to extract keyframe. Experimental results show the framework is effective and has a good performance.
Fast k nearest neighbour search for R-tree family

A simplified k nearest neighbour (knn) search for the R-tree family is proposed in this paper. This method is modified from the technique developed by Roussopoulos et al. (1995). The main approach aims to eliminate redundant searches when the data is highly correlated. We also describe how MINMAXDIST calculations can be avoided using MINDIST as the only distance metric which gives a significant speed up. Our method is compared with Roussopoulos et al.'s knn search on Hilbert R-trees in different dimensions, and shows that an improvement can be achieved on clustered image databases which have large numbers of data objects very close to each other. However, our method only achieved a marginally better performance of pages accessed on randomly distributed databases and random queries far from clustered objects, but has less computation intensity.
Classroom interactional competence in content and language integrated learning

This chapter problematizes the Classroom Interactional Competence (CIC) of learners and teachers working in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) contexts. Through Multimodal Conversation Analysis (CA), we consider how CIC is enacted in dialogues which focus on both subject content and English. Our analysis reveals that (a) teachers’ deployment of multimodal resources ensures comprehension and self-selection; (b) teachers’ questions and evaluative feedback may play a major role in guiding the students; (c) the scarcity of teacher elicitations aimed at more elaborated learner responses may limit the development of academic discourse; and (d) groupwork may become a privileged environment for students to deploy and develop L2 interactional resources.
Drug and non-drug reward processing in cigarette and cannabis users

Most people who try psychoactive drugs never become addicted. Theoretically, hypersensitivity to drug rewards and hyposensitivity to non-drug rewards may contribute to the development of drug addiction. In chapter 1, I review this literature, focusing on the psychology and neuroscience of reward processing, in nicotine and cannabis addictions. In chapter 2, using a novel task (the DReaM-Choice), I demonstrate that dependent (n=20), compared with occasional smokers (n=20), had greater motivation for and liking of cigarettes, but displayed little evidence of a difference in non-drug reward processing. Surprisingly, I also show the effects of 12 hour abstinence on reward processing were similar in dependent and occasional smokers. I then report a functional magnetic-resonance-imaging (fMRI) experiment (chapter 3), in which dependent smokers (n=22) had greater behavioural motivation for cigarettes and a stronger neural response to winning cigarettes than occasional smokers (n=20). However, there were no differences between the groups in behavioural or neural processing of the non-drug reward (music). I attempted to lessen the motivation to smoke cigarettes in the study reported in chapter 4, by administering a dopamine D2/3 receptor agonist (0.5mg pramipexole) to both dependent (n=20) and occasional (n=20) smokers. Pramipexole had no impact on motivation to smoke cigarettes, though it did impair reward learning and effort-related decision-making for monetary reward. In chapter 5, I found that, in non-dependent cannabis users (n=17), acutely administered cannabis reduced motivation for monetary reward; an effect which was moderated by the presence of cannabidiol in the cannabis. In a separate study, I demonstrate that dependent cannabis users (n=20) had impaired reward learning, but were not amotivated, relative to non-dependent, drug-using controls (n=20). Finally, in chapter 6, I summarise my findings, discuss their theoretical and clinical implications, consider their limitations and suggest future research directions for the field of reward processing in addiction.
A Study of Edge-On Galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. II. Vertical Distribution of the Resolved Stellar Population

We analyze the vertical distribution of the resolved stellar populations in six low-mass (Vmax = 67–131 km s-1), edge-on, spiral galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. In each galaxy we find evidence for an extraplanar stellar component extending up to 15 scale heights (3.5 kpc) above the plane, with a scale height typically twice that of two-dimensional fits to Ks-band Two Micron All Sky Survey images. We analyze the vertical distribution as a function of stellar age by tracking changes in the color-magnitude diagram. The young stellar component (≲108 yr) is found to have a scale height larger than the young component in the Milky Way, suggesting that stars in these low-mass galaxies form in a thicker disk. We also find that the scale height of a stellar population increases with age, with young main-sequence stars, intermediate-age asymptotic giant branch stars, and old red giant branch (RGB) stars having successively larger scale heights in each galaxy. This systematic trend indicates that disk heating must play some role in producing the extraplanar stars. We constrain the rate of disk heating using the observed trend between scale height and stellar age and find that the observed heating rates are dramatically smaller than in the Milky Way. The color distributions of the RGB stars well above the midplane indicate that the extended stellar components we see are moderately metal-poor, with peak metallicities around [Fe/H] = -1 and with little or no metallicity gradient with height. The lack of metallicity gradient can be explained if a majority of extraplanar RGB stars were formed at early times and are not dominated by a younger heated population. Our observations suggest that, like the Milky Way, low-mass disk galaxies also have multiple stellar components. In its structure, mean metallicity, and old age, the RGB component in these galaxies seems analogous to the Milky Way thick disk. However, without additional kinematic and abundance measurements, this association is only circumstantial, particularly in light of the clear existence of some disk heating at intermediate ages. Finally, we find that the vertical dust distribution has a scale height somewhat larger than that of the main-sequence stars.
Network Evolution and Interpersonal Dynamics : An Empirical Investigation of Online Communication

This research draws on longitudinal network data from an online community to examine patterns of social interaction and infer the mechanisms shaping interpersonal dynamics. The online community represents a prototypical example of a complex evolving network in which connections between users are established over time by online messages. Results indicate that the network topology is compact, densely connected, with a higher clustering than would be expected by chance, and dominated by a minority of users that preside over a disproportionately large amount of connections. The network follows a power-law scaling behaviour that is governed by preferential linking mechanisms. Connections between users are not established at random, but are more likely to originate from users that have already created many connections, and to be directed towards users that have already received many connections. The effects of preferential linking on interpersonal dynamics, however, are mediated by the degree to which users share the same demographic characteristics and affiliation to the same groups. We discuss the implications of the findings for research on evolving social networks. We also describe the managerial implications of our results for a host of applications, from information diffusion to the security and robustness of electronic information systems.
Quality of Life of People with Disabilities from Sport Participation Point of View

Summary The aim of the study was to compare the satisfaction with quality of life indicators (QoLI) and quality of life domains (QoLD) scores between people with physical disabilities (PPD) and people who are deaf or hard of hearing (PD/HH) from sport participation point of view. The study included 315 individuals with PPD (n = 150; male = 76) and PD/HH (n = 165; male = 85) divided into two groups of those who are regularly participating in sport and those who are not participating in any sport activity in their leisure. The second part of the Subjective Quality of Life Analysis (S.QUA.L.A.) was used. The Pearson chi-square test was used to determine the differences in 23 QoLI and 5 QoLD between PPD and PD/HH from sport participation point of view and student’s two-sample t-test was used to compare overall quality of life (QoL). We found that PD/HH who are participating regularly in sport presented significantly higher satisfaction with 7 evaluated QoLI and with all 5 QoLD. Overall QoL score was significantly higher (p < .01) in PD/HH. In the group of people who are not participating in sport we found significantly higher satisfaction with 13 QoLI in PD/HH and with 8 QoLI in PPD. Satisfaction with 4 QoLD was significantly higher in PD/HH and only with domain (physical health) were significantly higher satisfied PPD (p < .01). Overall QoL score did not show significant differences between groups of people with disabilities who are not participating in any sport. The results of our study confirmed that PD/HH have significantly higher QoL comparing PPD no matter if they participating in sport or not. This evaluation measured by S.QUA. L.A shows that it is a suitable tool to asses QoL in people with different kinds of disabilities.
The Hubble diagram of the Calan/Tololo type IA supernovae and the value of HO

The Calan/Tololo supernova survey has discovered ~30 Type Ia supernovae out to z~0.1. Using BVI data for these objects and nearby SNe Ia, we have shown that there exists a significant dispersion in the intrinsic luminosities of these objects. We have devised a robust chisquare minimization technique simultaneously fitting the BVI light curves to parametrize the SN event as a function of (tb,m, m15(B)) where tb is the time of B maximum, m is the peak BVI magnitude corrected for luminosity variations, and m15(B) is a single parameter describing the whole light curve morphology. When properly corrected for m15(B), SNe Ia prove to be high precision distance indicators,yielding relative distances with errors 7-10%. The corrected peak magnitudes are used to construct BVI Hubble diagrams (HD), and with Cepheid distances recently measured with the HST to four nearby SNe Ia (37C, 72E, 81B, 90N) we derive a value of the Hubble constant of 63.1+/-3.4 (internal) km/s/Mpc. This value is ~10-15% larger than the value obtained by assuming that SNe Ia are perfect standard candles. As we have shown in Paper V, there is now strong evidence that galaxies with younger stellar population appear to host the slowest-declining, and therefore most luminous SNe Ia. Hence, the use of Pop I objects such as Cepheids to calibrate the zero point of the SNe Ia HD can easily bias the results toward luminous SNe Ia, unless the absolute magnitude-decline relation is taken into account.
Section Ii-exercise Physiology & Sports Medicine Comparisons of a Multi-frequency Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to the Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry Scan in Healthy Young Adults Depending on Their Physical Activity Level

This study aimed at comparing BIA and DXA results in assessing body composition in young adults depending on their physical activity level. Eighty healthy 19-30 years old subjects were enrolled and their body composition (Fat Mass and Fat-Free Mass) was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and by a newly developed Bioelectrical Impedance Analyzer (BIA-Tanita MC780). A seven-day physical activity level was assessed using a 3-axial accelerometer. DXA-FM% and BIA-FM% were correlated (p<0.001; r= 0.852; ICC [IC95%]: 0.84 [0.75 – 0.90]; concordance coefficient: 0.844). DXA-FFM and BIA FFM were correlated (p<0.001; r=0.976; ICC [IC95%]: 0.95 [0.93 – 0.97], concordance coefficient: 0.955). DXA and BIA measurements of FM% and FFM were highly correlated in both boys and girls regardless of the physical activity level. Compared with DXA scans, newly developed bioelectrical impedance analyzers provide satisfactory fat mass and lean mass measures in healthy young women and men, despite their physical activity level.
Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series Toronto and Vancouver, 1981-2001 and Changing Housing Careers in Montreal, Advertisement Immigrant Home Ownership Drops Sharply

Home ownership rates among immigrant families in Canada's three largest cities have dropped significantly in the last 20 years, a new study shows. The study by Statistics Canada released Thursday found that, in 1981, more immigrant families of working age (25 to 54) owned their own homes in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver than Canadian-born families in the same age group. That had changed by 2001, however. "In fact, rates had actually fallen below those of Canadian-born families in Montreal and Toronto," the study's author, Michael Haan, of Statistics Canada's Business and Labour Market Analysis Division, said. Thursday's release is the first in a four-part series looking at the decline in home ownership by immigrants in Canada. Mr. Haan told globeandmail.com in an interview that his analysis has a relation to a number of other studies, some conducted by Statistics Canada, on the declining prosperity and quality of life of immigrants over the past few decades. The basic reasons are a drop in immigrant rates and a rise in the popularity of home ownership among Canadian-born citizens, Mr. Haan said. He examines, however, a number of other factors that are related to the drop. Most surprising, he said, was that income and wealth was not the main reason for buying a home among those new to Canada. "Money didn't explain everything," he said. "I expected that it would be a simple function of income, and it wasn't. " For example, part of the reason immigrants might be propelled to purchase a home is the emergence of ethnic neighbourhoods in a particular city. By the numbers, in 1981,52 per cent of immigrant families in Montreal owned their own homes, compared with 46 per cent of their Canadian counterparts. In 2001, the percentage of immigrant home owners was down to 42 per cent, while for Canadian-born, it was up to 55 per cent. Montreal's immigrant population has remained around 20 per cent of the city's total population for two decades. In Toronto in 1981, 65 per cent of immigrant families owned their own homes, compared with 55 per cent of Canadian-born families. By 2001, however, the number of immigrants owning houses had dropped to 61 per cent, while the number of Canadian-born homeowners had risen to 64 per cent. Toronto's immigrant population has also hovered around the same percentage over the past two decades, with just under half (49 per cent) of the city …
The Changing Returns to Crime: Do Criminals Respond to Prices?

In economic models of crime individuals respond to changes in the potential value of criminal opportunities. We analyse this issue by estimating crime-price elasticities from detailed data on criminal incidents in London between 2002 and 2012. The unique data feature we exploit is a detailed classification of what goods were stolen in reported theft, robbery and burglary incidents. We first consider a panel of consumer goods covering the majority of market goods stolen in the crime incidents and find evidence of significant positive price elasticities. We then study a particular group of crimes that have risen sharply recently as world prices for them have risen, namely commodity related goods (jewellery, fuel and metal crimes), finding sizable elasticities when we instrument local UK prices by exogenous shifts in global commodity prices. Finally, we show that changes in the prices of loot from crime have played a role in explaining recent crime trends.
GENDER AND SOCIALLY DESIRABLE RESPONDING AS MODERATORS OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT SELF-ESTEEM

Pelham, Koole, Hardin, Hetts, Seah, and DeHart (2005) found that implicit and explicit selfesteem correlated more strongly among women than men. The goal of this study was to replicate this finding and test whether it was due to gender differences in socially desirable responding (SDR). Ninety-nine German students completed measures of implicit self-esteem (Implicit Association Test and name-letter technique), explicit self-esteem, and SDR. Contrary to the Pelham et al. study, the implicit-explicit correlation was stronger for men than women. SDR (especially its self-deception component) moderated the implicit-explicit correlation independently from gender, albeit in different directions for the two implicit measures.
Does public reporting improve the quality of hospital care for acute myocardial infarction? Results from a regional outcome evaluation program in Italy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether public reporting of performance data was associated with a change over time in quality indicators for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Italian hospitals. DESIGN Pre-post evaluation of AMI indicators in the Lazio region, before and after disclosure of the Regional Outcome Evaluation Program, and a comparative evaluation versus other Italian regions not participating in the program. SETTING/DATA SOURCES Nationwide Hospital Information System and vital status records. PARTICIPANTS 24 800 patients treated for AMI in Lazio and 39 350 in the other regions. INTERVENTION Public reporting of the Regional Outcome Evaluation Program in the Lazio region. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Risk-adjusted indicators for AMI. RESULTS The proportion of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients treated with percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) within 48 h in Lazio changed from 31.3 to 48.7%, before and after public reporting, respectively (relative increase 56%; P < 0.001). In the other regions, the proportion increased from 51.5 to 58.4% (relative increase 13%; P < 0.001). Overall 30-day mortality and 30-day mortality for patients treated with PCI did not improve during the study period. The 30-day mortality for STEMI patients not treated with PCI in Lazio was significantly higher in 2009 (29.0%) versus 2006/07 (24.0%) (P = .002). CONCLUSIONS Public reporting may have contributed to increasing the proportion of STEMI patients treated with timely PCI. The mortality outcomes should be interpreted with caution. Changes in AMI diagnostic and coding systems should also be considered. Risk-adjusted quality indicators represent a fundamental instrument for monitoring and potentially enhancing quality of care.