Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ventral Midbrain NMDA Receptor Blockade: From Enhanced Reward and Dopamine Inactivation

Glutamate stimulates ventral midbrain (VM) N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptors (NMDAR) to initiate dopamine (DA) burst firing activity, a mode of discharge associated with enhanced DA release and reward. Blockade of VM NMDAR, however, enhances brain stimulation reward (BSR), the results can be explained by a reduction in the inhibitory drive on DA neurons that is also under the control of glutamate. In this study, we used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) in anesthetized animals to determine whether this enhancement is associated with a change in phasic DA release in the nucleus accumbens. Rats were implanted with a stimulation electrode in the dorsal-raphe (DR) and bilateral cannulae above the VM and trained to self-administer trains of electrical stimulation. The curve-shift method was used to evaluate the effect of a single dose (0.825 nmol/0.5 μl/side) of the NMDAR antagonist, (2R,4S)-4-(3-Phosphopropyl)-2-piperidinecarboxylic acid (PPPA), on reward. These animals were then anesthetized and DA release was measured during delivery of electrical stimulation before and after VM microinjection of the vehicle followed by PPPA. As expected, phasic DA release and operant responding depended similarly on the frequency of rewarding electrical stimulation. As anticipated, PPPA produced a significant reward enhancement. Unexpectedly, PPPA produced a decrease in the magnitude of DA transients at all tested frequencies. To test whether this decrease resulted from excessive activation of DA neurons, we injected apomorphine 20 min after PPPA microinjection. At a dose (100 μg s.c.) sufficient to reduce DA firing under control conditions, apomorphine restored electrical stimulation-induced DA transients. These findings show that combined electrical stimulation and VM NMDARs blockade induce DA inactivation, an effect that indirectly demonstrates that VM NMDARs blockade enhances reward by potentiating stimulation-induced excitation in the mesoaccumbens DA pathway.
Accruals contábeis, persistência dos lucros e retorno das ações

This research was developed to evaluate investors’ ability to interpret Accounting data, more specifically, to examine its ability to effectively understand earnings information. As a complement, we have analyzed the existence of economic opportunities to obtain abnormal returns through investment strategies based on accruals. The sample was composed by nonfinancial companies with available information in Economatica database from 1995 to 2010. We’ve excluded firms with negative equity, missing data, as well as outliers. In countries in which profits importance to market price is lower, pricing of shares would be less influenced by the bottom line functional attachment, which in turn, would decrease the Accruals Anomaly (El MEHDI, 2011). Since Accounting numbers in Brazilian stock market have demonstrated low impact (LOPES, 2005) we previously expect a lower presence of the Accrual Anomaly. To assess whether persistence of accruals was significantly lower than cash flow component, we’ve estimated a panel data regression, in which it was possible to prove our first hypothesis, that accrual’s exhibit a lower persistence with a 0.43 estimated parameter, while the cash flows have presented a 0.53 parameter, both significantly different from 0 at the 0.05 level. The lack of statistical significance between current accruals and future abnormal returns among studied companies and the absence of significant abnormal returns in strategies based on accruals have demonstrated that a low quality of current earnings due to a high level of accruals did not result in a negative abnormal return, thereafter. Adding proxies to IFRS adoption and investment level can be considered as an additional contribution. Although these variables have shown no statically significance, we’ve found a relationship, explicit by T-test, between accruals level and inventory growth, providing evidences that both variables would capture the same effect, namely, investments activity by firms (WEIK; XIE, 2007; ZACH, 2007). The results are consistent with Cupertino (2010) research, have increased evidences about market behavior to Accounting information in emerging markets, and explicit the absence of the Accrual Anomaly in Brazilian stock market.
Production of Porous β-Type Ti–40Nb Alloy for Biomedical Applications: Comparison of Selective Laser Melting and Hot Pressing

We used selective laser melting (SLM) and hot pressing of mechanically-alloyed β-type Ti–40Nb powder to fabricate macroporous bulk specimens (solid cylinders). The total porosity, compressive strength, and compressive elastic modulus of the SLM-fabricated material were determined as 17% ± 1%, 968 ± 8 MPa, and 33 ± 2 GPa, respectively. The alloy’s elastic modulus is comparable to that of healthy cancellous bone. The comparable results for the hot-pressed material were 3% ± 2%, 1400 ± 19 MPa, and 77 ± 3 GPa. This difference in mechanical properties results from different porosity and phase composition of the two alloys. Both SLM-fabricated and hot-pressed cylinders demonstrated good in vitro biocompatibility. The presented results suggest that the SLM-fabricated alloy may be preferable to the hot-pressed alloy for biomedical applications, such as the manufacture of load-bearing metallic components for total joint replacements.
Examining short-term stability of the Mealtime Interaction Coding System (MICS).

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the stability of ratings on the McMaster Mealtime Interaction Coding System (MICS), an observational measure of family functioning, across three typical evening meals. METHODS Participants included families of infants and toddlers with cystic fibrosis (n = 33) and with no chronic illness (n = 33). Three meals were videotaped across a 3-week period (M = 17.4 days) and involved a secondary data analysis from a larger study. RESULTS Across both groups, test-retest reliability (paired correlation coefficients) was generally moderate, but significant, for all scales at each time point comparison. Analyses revealed no significant within-or between-group differences across time periods on healthy versus unhealthy ratings. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the limitations of coding a single mealtime observation or interpreting multiple observations using the MICS. Findings highlight that family, meal, illness, and assessment factors may impact variability in ratings over time.
A comparative analysis of relative occurrence of transcription factor binding sites in vertebrate genomes and gene promoter areas

MOTIVATION The detection of transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) in genomic sequences is a basic task for elucidating the transcriptional aspects of gene regulation. Evaluation procedures applicable to the TFBS prediction outputs need improvement. Predicted TFBS located outside of the transcription associated areas are often neglected from the functional and the evolutionary points of view, therefore deserving a systematic overview. RESULTS We calculated theoretical occurrences of 184 TFBS according to their position weight matrices and the dinucleotide statistics of the completed vertebrate genomes, then performed a TFBS prediction in the corresponding complete genomic sequences and their repeat-free, repetitive and regulatory fractions. Repeat-free fractions of the closely related mammalian genomes were characterized by strong similarities in TFBS occurrences. A significant over-representation of multiple TFBS was found in both repetitive and non-repetitive genome fractions. AVAILABILITY F-values and real TFBS occurrences calculated for human, chimp, mouse, rat, zebrafish and fugu genomes are available for free download at http://www.gmu. edu/departments/mmb/baranova/pages/bioinformatics
Tumor necrosis factor plays a protective role in experimental murine cutaneous leishmaniasis

The ability of mice to resist infection with L. major correlated directly with the capacity of their LNC to produce TNF in response to in vitro parasite challenge. Blocking TNF in vivo by passively administering anti-TNF antibodies exacerbated the course of L. major infection, resulting in substantially larger cutaneous lesions and elevated numbers of parasites within those lesions. In addition, treatment of infected mice with exogenous rHuTNF afforded host protection as evidenced by smaller lesion size and decreased parasite counts. Taken together, these results suggest a central role for TNF in resistance to L. major.
Traffic Signal Phase and Timing Estimation From Low-Frequency Transit Bus Data

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of estimating traffic signal phase and timing from statistical patterns in low-frequency vehicular probe data. We use a public feed of bus location and velocity data in the city of San Francisco, CA, USA, as an example data source. We show that it is possible to estimate, fairly accurately, cycle times and the duration of reds for fixed-time traffic lights traversed by buses using a few days' worth of aggregated bus data. Furthermore, we also estimate the start of greens in real time by monitoring the movement of buses across intersections. The results are encouraging, given that each bus sends an update only sporadically ( $\approx$ every 200 m) and that bus passages are infrequent (every 5-10 min) . When made available on an open server, such information about the traffic signals' phase and timing can be valuable in enabling new fuel efficiency and safety functionalities in connected vehicles. Velocity advisory systems can use the estimated timing plan to calculate velocity trajectories that reduce idling time at red signals and therefore improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Advanced engine management strategies can shut down the engine in anticipation of a long idling interval at red. Intersection collision avoidance and active safety systems could also benefit from the prediction.
Choline Kinase Alpha (CHKα) as a Therapeutic Target in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Expression, Predictive Value, and Sensitivity to Inhibitors

Choline kinase α (CHKα) plays a crucial role in the regulation of membrane phospholipid synthesis and has oncogenic properties in vitro. We have analyzed the expression of CHKα in cell lines derived from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and have found increased CHKα expression, associated with differentiation. CHKα protein expression was directly correlated with sensitivity to MN58b, a CHKα inhibitor that reduced cell growth through the induction of apoptosis. Accordingly, CHKα knockdown led to reduced drug sensitivity. In addition, we found that gemcitabine-resistant PDAC cells displayed enhanced sensitivity to CHKα inhibition and, in vitro, MN58b had additive or synergistic effects with gemcitabine, 5-fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin, three active drugs in the treatment of PDAC. Using tissue microarrays, CHKα was found to be overexpressed in 90% of pancreatic tumors. While cytoplasmic CHKα did not relate to survival, nuclear CHKα distribution was observed in 43% of samples and was associated with longer survival, especially among patients with well/moderately differentiated tumors. To identify the mechanisms involved in resistance to CHKα inhibitors, we cultured IMIM-PC-2 cells with increasingly higher concentrations of MN58b and isolated a subline with a 30-fold higher IC50. RNA-Seq analysis identified upregulation of ABCB1 and ABCB4 multidrug resistance transporters, and functional studies confirmed that their upregulation is the main mechanism involved in resistance. Overall, our findings support the notion that CHKα inhibition merits further attention as a therapeutic option in patients with PDAC and that expression levels may predict response. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(2); 323–33. ©2016 AACR.
Sugar Sweetened Beverage Consumption among Adults with Gout or Type 2 Diabetes

Background Current guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes and gout recommend that people with these conditions limit their sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) intake. We examined self-reported SSB intake among New Zealand adults with gout or type 2 diabetes, including those on hemodialysis. Method 1023 adults with gout and 580 adults (including 206 receiving hemodialysis) with type 2 diabetes, participated in this study of between 2009 and 2012. Participants completed an interviewer-administered SSB intake question “how many sugar sweetened drinks (including fruit juice), but not including diet drinks, do you normally drink per day? ” SSB consumption was recorded as a circled number 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or >5, cans or large glasses (300mL) per day. Results Consuming one or more SSB per day was reported by 64% (622/1023) of subjects with gout, 49% (176/374) with type 2 diabetes without dialysis, and 47% (96/206) with diabetes on dialysis. Consuming four or more SSBs per day was reported by 18% (179/1023), 9% (31/374) and 9% (18/206), respectively. Such high consumers of SSB were characterized after multivariable analysis to be more likely to be male (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.8; 95% confidence interval 1.1–2.9), younger in age (40 vs 65 years: 1.6; 1.1–2.3), current smoker (5.2; 2.7–10.1), obese (BMI 41 vs 26kg/m2: 1.4; 1–1.9), and report Māori (1.8; 1.2–2.8) or Pacific (1.6; 1.1–2.5) ancestry, compared to Caucasian. People with gout were more likely to report heavy SSB intake compared to people with diabetes (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.5–3.9). Heavy SSB consumption reported by people with diabetes was similar if they did or did not require dialysis. Conclusion A high proportion of patients with gout and type 2 diabetes, including those on haemodialysis, are not responding to health messages to abstain from SSB consumption.
PENGARUH TINGKAT SUKU BUNGA, TINGKAT INFLASI, NILAI KURS DOLLAR DAN INDEKS STRAIT TIMES TERHADAP INDEKS HARGA SAHAM GABUNGAN (Studi Pada Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode Januari 2010-Juni 2013)

The purpose of this research is to test the interest rate, inflation rate, Dollar exchange rate , and the Straits Times Index (STI) simultaneously and partially significant influence on the Jakarta Composite Index ( JCI ) . This study is included into explanatory research. S ample s used in this study are monthly data of interest rates, inflation rates, D ollar exchange rates and STI during the period January 2010 to June 2013 . The method used is multiple linear regression . The results showed that simultaneously all independent variables influance the JCI from January 2010 to June 2013. The magnitude of the effect caused by the four independent variables is equal to 7 1.4%, while the remaining 28.6% is likely influenced by other variables outside the model of this research. While partially, inflation rate does not affect to JCI, BI rate have negative affect to JCI , the D ollar exchange value negatively affect to stock index, and the STI has a positive effect on JCI. The most dominant variable affecting JCI is BI Ra te . Based on this research, stock investors should pay attention to interest rates, inflation rates, D ollar exchange rates and ST I before settling on their investment decisions , so they can make the right decisions to get maximum benefit. Keyword: Interest rate (BI Rate ) , Inflation, Dollar Exchang e , the Straits Times Index, JCI ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji apakah tingkat suku bunga, tingkat inflasi, nilai tukar kurs Dollar dan indeks Strait Times (STI) secara simultan maupun parsial signifikan pengaruhnya terhadap Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG). Penelitian ini termasuk dalam penelitian eksplanasi. Sampel yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu data bulanan tingkat suku bunga, tingkat inflasi, nilai kurs Dollar STI selama periode Januari 2010 hingga Juni 2013. Metode yang digunakan adalah regresi linear berganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa secara simultan semua variabel independen tersebut berpengaruh terhadap indeks harga saham gabungan periode Januari 2010 hingga Juni 2013. Besarnya pengaruh yang disebabkan oleh keempat variabel independen tersebut adalah sebesar 71,4%, sedangkan sisanya sebesar 28,6% kemungkinan dipengaruhi oleh variabel lain diluar model penelitian ini. Sedangkan secara parsial, tingkat inflasi tidak berpengaruh terhadap IHSG, tingkat BI Rate berpengaruh negatif terhadap IHSG, nilai kurs dollar berpengaruh negatif terhadap IHSG, dan indeks STI berpengaruh positif terhadap IHSG. Variabel yang berpengaruh paling dominan terhadap IHSG adalah tingkat BI Rate . Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, investor saham selayaknya memperhatikan tingkat suku bunga, tingkat inflasi, nilai kurs Dollar dan STI sebelum menetapkan keputusan investasinya, sehingga investor saham mengambil keputusan yang tepat untuk mendapatkan keuntungan yang maksimal. Kata kunci: Suku Bunga (BI Rate ), Tingkat Inflasi, Nilai Kurs Dollar, Indeks Strait Times, IHSG
Price discovery on traded inflation expectations: does the financial crisis matter?

We analyze contributions of different markets, related by an approximate arbitrage relationship, to price discovery on traded inflation expectations and how it changed during the financial crisis. We use a new high-frequency data-set on inflation-indexed and nominal government bonds as well as inflation swaps to calculate information shares of break-even inflation rates in the euro area and the USA. In the euro area, for maturities up to 5 years new information comes from both the swap and the bond markets. For longer maturities, the swap market provides less and less information in the euro area. In the USA, the bond market dominates the price discovery process for all maturities. The severe financial crisis that spread out in Autumn 2008 drove a wedge between bond and swap break-even inflation rates in both currencies. Price discovery ceased to take place on the swap market. Disruptions coming from the short-end of the market even separated price formation on both segments for maturities of up to 6 years in the USA. Against the backdrop of the most severe financial crisis in decades, contributions to price formation concentrated a lot more on the presumably safest financial instrument: government bonds.
Scalable multi-dimensional user intent identification using tree structured distributions

The problem of identifying user intent has received considerable attention in recent years, particularly in the context of improving the search experience via query contextualization. Intent can be characterized by multiple dimensions, which are often not observed from query words alone. Accurate identification of Intent from query words remains a challenging problem primarily because it is extremely difficult to discover these dimensions. The problem is often significantly compounded due to lack of representative training sample. We present a generic, extensible framework for learning the multi-dimensional representation of user intent from the query words. The approach models the latent relationships between facets using tree structured distribution which leads to an efficient and convergent algorithm, FastQ, for identifying the multi-faceted intent of users based on just the query words. We also incorporated WordNet to extend the system capabilities to queries which contain words that do not appear in the training data. Empirical results show that FastQ yields accurate identification of intent when compared to a gold standard.
Individual differences in children's memory and reading comprehension: An investigation of semantic and inhibitory deficits

Three experiments compared the verbal memory skills of children with poor reading comprehension with that of same-age good comprehenders. The aims were to determine if semantic and/or inhibitory deficits explained comprehenders’ problems on measures of verbal short-term memory and verbal working memory. In Experiment 1 there were no group differences on word- and number-based measures of short-term storage and no evidence that semantic knowledge mediated word recall. In Experiment 2 poor comprehenders were impaired on word- and number-based assessments of working memory, the greatest deficit found on the word-based task. Error analysis of both word-based tasks revealed that poor comprehenders were more likely to recall items that should have been inhibited than were good comprehenders. Experiment 3 extended this finding: Poor comprehenders were less able to inhibit information that was no longer relevant. Together, these findings suggest that individual differences in inhibitory processing influence the ability to regulate the contents of working memory, which may contribute to the differential memory performance of good and poor comprehenders.
Generalized hough transform and conformal geometric algebra to detect lines and planes for building 3D maps and robot navigation

This paper describes a new approach for building 3D geometric maps using a geometric line and plane detector together with laser range finder and a stereo camera system. This detector is developed in such a way that one can related easily it with the conformal geometric algebra framework, thus detected lines and planes can be used for algebra of incidence computation to find geometric constraints useful to perceive special configurations in the 3D visual space for exploration, navigation and obstacle avoidance.
Strategic responses of foreign subsidiaries to host country corruption: The case of Finnish firms in Russia

Purpose – This paper seeks to discover whether and how a subsidiary located in a high‐corruption host country can pursue its parent's corporate non‐corrupt strategy, rooted in a low‐corruption home country. Theoretically, it aims to apply the construct of institutional duality. It also aims to argue that the subsidiary's strategic response is contingent to the relative strength of two sets of institutional demands: the articulation of the multinational company's (MNC's) corporate policy towards corruption; and the direct influence of the host country corruption on the subsidiary's daily business.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative analysis of interviews with executives of 27 Finnish companies (15 large MNCs and 12 small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs)) with subsidiaries in Russia was conducted.Findings – The subsidiary's strategic response to host country corruption is contingent to the firm size and the respective resources. Large MNCs can implement their non‐corrupt policy also in their Russi.
Remyelination After Cuprizone-Induced Demyelination Is Accelerated in Juvenile Mice

Abstract Remyelination capacity decreases with age in adult mice, but data comparing remyelination capacity after toxic demyelination in developing mice versus adult mice are not available. We treated 3-week-old and adult C57BL/6 mice with cuprizone for 1 to 5 weeks and studied demyelination/remyelination and cellular reactions in the corpus callosum and motor cortex by histology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. We compared results between the 2 treated groups and age-matched controls. In juvenile mice, significant demyelination was detectable in the corpus callosum on Week 2 and in the motor cortex on Week 5. Oligodendrocyte loss, microglial activation, and acute axonal damage peaked on Week 2. Increased numbers of oligodendrocyte precursor cells were evident on Week 1, and remyelination was detectable on Week 3. Juvenile mice showed more rapid demyelination than adult mice, which may be related to greater vulnerability of oligodendrocytes, lower myelin content, or dose-dependent cuprizone effects. Earlier activation of microglia and proliferation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells probably contributed to accelerated remyelination and less pronounced axonal damage. Our data indicate that oligodendroglial regeneration and remyelination are enhanced in the maturing rodent brain compared with the young-adult rodent brain.