Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Compliance without pressure: the foot-in-the-door technique.

2 experiments were conducted to test the proposition that once someone has agreed to a small request he is more likely to comply with a larger request. The 1st study demonstrated this effect when the same person made both requests. The 2nd study extended this to the situation in which different people made the 2 requests. Several experimental groups were run in an effort to explain these results, and possible explanations arc discussed. How can a person be induced to do something he would rather not do? This question is relevant to practically every phase of social life, from stopping at a traffic light to stopping smoking, from buying Brand X to buying savings bonds, from supporting the March of Dimes to supporting the Civil Rights Act. One common way of attacking the problem is to exert as much pressure as possible on the reluctant individual in an effort to force him to comply. This technique has been the focus of a considerable amount of experimental research. Work on attitude change, conformity, imitation, and obedience has all tended to stress the importance of the degree of external pressure. The prestige of the communicator (Kelman & Hovland, 1953), degree of discrepancy of the communication (Hovland & Pritzker, 19S7), size of the group disagreeing with the subject (Asch, 1951), perceived power of the model (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963), etc., are the kinds of variables that have been studied. This impressive body of work, added to the research on rewards and punishments in learning, has produced convincing evidence that greater external pressure generally leads to greater compliance with the wishes of the experimenter. The one exception appears to be situations involving the arousal of cognitive dissonance in which, once discrepant behavior has been elicited from the subject, the greater
Land Values, Market Forces, and Declining Dairy Herd Size: Evidence from an Urban-Influenced Region

The role of land values in the dairy industry of an urban-influenced region is investigated by estimating a dairy herd equation based on pooled cross-section and time-series data from counties in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. The use of cross-terms between hypothesized causal variables and a dummy variable capturing the effect of location allowed the estimation of the differences across states in the effects of milk, feed, and land prices. Results confirm the important role of rising land values in the decline of the dairy industry in the tri-state area, and suggest greater vulnerability of dairy enterprises in urban-influenced areas to rising adverse economic forces. The adverse effects of declining milk prices and higher land values are greatest in New Jersey. The results support the notion that programs such as price support, farmland preservation, farmland assessment, and right-to-farm may have to be maintained in order to retain dairy farms at the urban fringe, where land values are rising rapidly.
Differences in hip bone mineral density may explain the hip fracture pattern in osteoarthritic hips

Introduction In patients with osteoarthritis of the hip (OAH), trochanteric fractures are much more common than femoral neck fractures. One reason may be altered bone composition in the proximal femurs. OAH often leads to a fixed external rotation of the hip, leading to difficulties in positioning during DXA measurements. We compared BMD in OAH-affected legs and healthy legs. Patients and methods 40 patients with strictly unilateral OAH were cross-sectionally investigated with DXA at the hips and heels bilaterally as well as body composition of the legs. 3 regions of interest in the proximal femur were measured: femoral neck (FN), trochanter (TR), and total hip (TH). The design of the study allowed us to perform paired t-test between the OAH side and the healthy side. Results BMD was increased by 4.1% in FN, and reduced by 8.3% in TR and 4.1% in TH (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Interpretation The differences in BMD, with decrease in the trochanter and increase in the femoral neck, may offer an explanation for the pattern of hip fractures seen in osteoarthritis. External rotation of the hip cannot explain the differences in BMD.
Valuing Travel Time Variability within a Rank-Dependent Utility Framework and an Investigation of Unobserved Taste Heterogeneity

Attitude towards risk is important to individual decision making. Rank-dependent utility theory is an appealing framework within which to study decision making under risk. This paper specifies Rank-Dependent Utility (RDU) models in the context of a stated choice experiment of commuter's risky route choice to (a) estimate willingness to pay for travel time, and (b) understand the risk attitudes of sampled respondents and their socioeconomic characteristics. We also allow for unobserved taste heterogeneity within an RDU framework using a mixed multinomial logit model. The findings provide a new set of empirical estimates of the value of travel time savings that allow for travel time variability combined into a single measure, referred to as the value of expected travel time savings. © 2012 LSE and the University of Bath
Sodium Channel Expression Within Chronic Multiple Sclerosis Plaques

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by focal destruction of myelin sheaths, gliotic scars, and axonal damage that contributes to the accumulation of nonremitting clinical deficits. Previous studies have demonstrated coexpression of sodium channel Nav1.6 and the sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX), together with &bgr;-amyloid precursor protein (&bgr;-APP), a marker of axonal damage, in degenerating axons within acute MS lesions. Axonal degeneration is less frequent within chronic MS lesions than in acute plaques, although current evidence suggests that axonal loss in chronic lesions ("slow burn") is a major contributor to accumulating disability. It is not known, however, whether axonal degenerations in chronic and acute lesions share common mechanisms, despite radically differing extracellular milieus. In this study, the expression of sodium channels Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 and of NCX was examined in chronic MS plaques within the spinal cord. Nav1.2 immunostaining was not observed along demyelinated axons in chronic lesions but was expressed by scar and reactive astrocytes within the plaque. Nav1.6 immunoreactivity, which was intense at nodes of Ranvier in normal appearing white matter in the same sections, was present in approximately one-third of the demyelinated axons within these plaques in a patchy rather than continuous distribution. NCX was not detected in demyelinated axons within chronic lesions, although it was clearly present within the scar astrocytes surrounding the demyelinated axons. &bgr;-APP accumulation occurred in a small percentage of axons within chronic lesions within the spinal cord, but &bgr;-APP was not preferentially present in axons that expressed Nav1.6. These observations suggest that different mechanisms underlie axonal degeneration in acute and chronic MS lesions, with axonal injury occurring at sites of coexpression of Nav1.6 and NCX in acute lesions but independent of coexpression of these 2 molecules in chronic lesions.
Autism spectrum disorders: clinical and research frontiers

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are common neurodevelopmental disorders that occur along a broad continuum of severity with impairments in social interactions, communication and behaviour. This review highlights recent advances in autism research that shed light on the causes of the disorder and that have implications for clinical practice. It focuses on (1) the rising prevalence of ASD with attention given to recent epidemiological studies, (2) important genetic discoveries that may affect clinical evaluation of children with ASD, (3) active areas of research in cognitive neuroscience that seek to explain the underlying mechanisms of a complex disorder and (4) important studies on clinical populations with implications for screening and early identification of infants and toddlers with ASD.
Writer identification using edge-based directional probability distribution features for arabic words

A system for writer identification based on Arabic handwritten words was built. First a database of words was gathered and used as a test base. Then, features vectors were extracted from writers' word images. Prior to feature extraction, normalization operations were applied to a word or text line. In this research, we studied the feature extraction and recognition operations on Arabic text, on the identification rate of writers. Since there is no well known database containing Arabic handwritten words for researchers to test, we built a new database of off-line Arabic handwriting text to be used for writer identification research. The proposed database is meant to provide training and testing sets for Arabic writer identification research. Arabic handwritten words were collected from 100 writers. We evaluated the performance of edge-based directional probability distributions as features and other features in Arabic writer identification.
A microfluidic phenotype analysis system reveals function of sensory and dopaminergic neuron signaling in C. elegans electrotactic swimming behavior

The nematode (worm) C. elegans is a leading multicellular animal model to study neuronal-basis of behavior. Worms respond to a wide range of stimuli and exhibit characteristic movement patterns. Here we describe the use of a microfluidics setup to probe neuronal activity that relies on the innate response of C. elegans to swim toward the cathode in the presence of a DC electric field (termed “electrotaxis”). Using this setup, we examined mutants affecting sensory and dopaminergic neurons and found that their electrotactic responses were defective. Such animals moved with reduced speed (35–80% slower than controls) with intermittent pauses, abnormal turning and slower body bends. A similar phenotype was observed in worms treated with neurotoxins 6-OHDA (6- hydroxy dopamine), MPTP (1-methyl 4-phenyl 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) and rotenone (20–60% slower). We also found that neurotoxin effects could be suppressed by pre-exposing worms to a known neuroprotective compound acetaminophen. Collectively, these results show that microfluidic electrotaxis can identify alterations in dopamine and amphid neuronal signaling based on swimming responses of C. elegans. Further characterization has revealed that the electrotactic swimming response is highly sensitive and reliable in detecting neuronal abnormalities. Thus, our microfluidics setup could be used to dissect neuronal function and toxin-induced neurodegeneration. Among other applications, the setup promises to facilitate genetic and chemical screenings to identify factors that mediate neuronal signaling and neuroprotection.
Stimulating Online Reviews by Combining Financial Incentives and Social Norms

In hopes of motivating consumers to provide larger volumes of useful reviews, many retailers offer financial incentives. Here, we explore an alternative approach, social norms. We inform individuals about the volume of reviews authored by peers. We test the effectiveness of using financial incentives, social norms, and a combination of both strategies in motivating consumers. In two randomized experiments, one in the field conducted in partnership with a large online clothing retailer based in China and a second on Amazon Mechanical Turk, we compare the effectiveness of each strategy in stimulating online reviews in larger numbers and of greater length. We find that financial incentives are more effective at inducing larger volumes of reviews, but the reviews that result are not particularly lengthy, whereas social norms have a greater effect on the length of reviews. Importantly, we show that the combination of financial incentives and social norms yields the greatest overall benefit by motivating review.
CONSTRUCTION OF NONCOMMUTATIVE INSTANTONS IN 4k DIMENSIONS

We consider generalized self-duality equations for U(2r) Yang–Mills theory on ℝ4k with quaternionic structure and self-dual Moyal deformation. We employ the extended ADHM method in 4k dimensions to construct new noncommutative generalizations of the 't Hooft as well as of the BPST instantons. It is shown that in the commutative limit the BPST-type configurations coincide with the standard instantons on ℍPk written in local coordinates.
The risk of monozygotic twins after assisted reproductive technology: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND It is estimated that there is at least a 2-fold rise in the incidence of monozygotic twinning after assisted reproductive technology compared with natural conception. This can result in adverse pregnancy outcomes. METHODS We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and SCISEARCH for studies that estimated the risk of monozygotic twinning and its association with any particular assisted reproductive technique. Monozygotic twinning was defined by ultrasound or Weinberg criteria. A meta-analysis of the proportion of monozygotic twins was performed using both fixed and random effects models. RESULTS The search revealed 37 publications reporting on the incidence of monozygotic twins after assisted reproductive techniques. Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The summary incidence of monozygotic twins after assisted conception was 0.9% (0.8-0.9%). The incidence of monozygotic twins in natural conception is 0.4%. Blastocyst transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection are associated with 4.25 and 2.25 times higher risk of monozygotic twins. CONCLUSIONS The risk of monozygotic twins in assisted conception is 2.25 times higher than the natural conceptions. Larger studies reporting on monozygotic twinning following single-embryo transfer or after post-natal confirmation of zygosity with DNA analysis are warranted before definitive conclusions can be drawn and guidelines produced. In order to provide adequate pre-conceptional counselling, it is important to monitor the incidence of monozygotic twins in both natural and assisted conceptions. We suggest building a national multiple pregnancy database based on accurate diagnosis of zygosity.
Differences of inter-tract correlations between neonates and children around puberty: a study based on microstructural measurements with DTI

The human brain development is a complicated yet well-organized process. Metrics derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), including fractional anisotropy (FA), radial (RD), axial (AxD), and mean diffusivity (MD), have been used to noninvasively access the microstructural development of human brain white matter (WM). At birth, most of the major WM tracts are apparent but in a relatively disorganized pattern. Brain maturation is a process of establishing an organized pattern of these major WM tracts. However, how the linkage pattern of major WM tracts changes during development remains unclear. In this study, DTI data of 26 neonates and 28 children around puberty were acquired. 10 major WM tracts, representing four major tract groups involved in distinctive brain functions, were traced with DTI tractography for all 54 subjects. With the 10 by 10 correlation matrices constructed with Spearman's pairwise inter-tract correlations and based on tract-level measurements of FA, RD, AxD, and MD of both age groups, we assessed if the inter-tract correlations become stronger from birth to puberty. In addition, hierarchical clustering was performed based on the pairwise correlations of WM tracts to reveal the clustering pattern for each age group and pattern shift from birth to puberty. Stronger and enhanced microstructural inter-tract correlations were found during development from birth to puberty. The linkage patterns of two age groups differ due to brain development. These changes of microstructural correlations from birth to puberty suggest inhomogeneous but organized myelination processes which cause the reshuffled inter-tract correlation pattern and make homologous tracts tightly clustered. It opens a new window to study WM tract development and can be potentially used to investigate atypical brain development due to neurological or psychiatric disorders.
Multiresolution Compressive Sensing algorithm to detect off-grid direction of arrival

Direction of Arrival (DOA) techniques have been widely used in a variety of applications such as radar, sonar and image processing. Especially in military communication, precise estimation of the DOA, incorporated with smart beam-forming techniques, can provide useful solutions for interference mitigation and jammer identification. Traditional DOA estimation techniques require large number of snapshots of the incoming signal to accurately deduce the DOA of an impinging wave, which can significantly increase the computational complexity of the algorithm. We propose a novel Compressive Sensing (CS) based DOA detection algorithm, which is independent of the transmitter being located at a quantized grid point and uses fewer snapshots than Beam-Scan algorithm to detect the DOA. We evaluated the Mean Square Error (MSE) in estimating the off-grid DOA. Simulation results suggest that the proposed algorithm achieves a reduction in MSE by a factor of ten, when compared to the high resolution Beam-Scan technique.
Discrete Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy models: Reduced number of stabilization conditions

Abstract Takagi-Sugeno's fuzzy models enable to represent a wide class of non linear models in a compact set of the state variables. According to this representation stabilization conditions can be obtained and are usually written as Linear Matrix Inequalities. Since the obtained conditions are only sufficient, current researches try to lower the conservatism of the results. In this paper several matrix properties are used with the help of the elimination lemma for discrete TS models.
Intussusceptive Angiogenesis: A Biologically Relevant Form of Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis, i.e. the development and growth of blood vessels, is a major topic of research as it plays an important role in normal development and in various pathologies. Recent evidence revealed the existence of different mechanisms of blood vessel growth, including sprouting and intussusceptive angiogenesis, vascular mimicry, and blood vessel cooption. The latter two have only been observed in tumor growth, but sprouting and intussusceptive angiogenesis also occur in healthy, physiologically growing tissues. Despite this variety of angiogenic mechanisms, most of the current research is focused on the mechanism of sprouting angiogenesis because this mechanism was first described and because most existing experimental models are related to sprouting angiogenesis. Consequently, the mechanism of intussusceptive angiogenesis is often overlooked in angiogenesis research. Here, the mechanism of intussusceptive angiogenesis is reviewed and the current techniques and models for investigating intussusceptive angiogenesis are summarized. In addition, other mechanisms of vascular growth are briefly reviewed.
An Approach to Biometric Identification by Using Low-Frequency Eye Tracker

Biometric identification is one of the most secure existing identification methods. Algorithms based on eye tracking techniques are being studied now by many authors as eye trackers had become more accessible during the last few years. This paper is related to a biometric identification approach and a problem of providing accurate identification results by using low-frequency eye tracker. This paper presents a review of the related works in the field as well as a general classification of different identification types. We stated a formal description of a saccade and an analyzed fragment of the gaze trajectory containing a saccade, which is based on the finite differences method, and revealed features of the eye movements that can be used for the identification purpose. Two classifiers are proposed and compared based on the experimental results obtained for them.
Insights on the Neuromagnetic Representation of Temporal Asymmetry in Human Auditory Cortex

Communication sounds are typically asymmetric in time and human listeners are highly sensitive to this short-term temporal asymmetry. Nevertheless, causal neurophysiological correlates of auditory perceptual asymmetry remain largely elusive to our current analyses and models. Auditory modelling and animal electrophysiological recordings suggest that perceptual asymmetry results from the presence of multiple time scales of temporal integration, central to the auditory periphery. To test this hypothesis we recorded auditory evoked fields (AEF) elicited by asymmetric sounds in humans. We found a strong correlation between perceived tonal salience of ramped and damped sinusoids and the AEFs, as quantified by the amplitude of the N100m dynamics. The N100m amplitude increased with stimulus half-life time, showing a maximum difference between the ramped and damped stimulus for a modulation half-life time of 4 ms which is greatly reduced at 0.5 ms and 32 ms. This behaviour of the N100m closely parallels psychophysical data in a manner that: i) longer half-life times are associated with a stronger tonal percept, and ii) perceptual differences between damped and ramped are maximal at 4 ms half-life time. Interestingly, differences in evoked fields were significantly stronger in the right hemisphere, indicating some degree of hemispheric specialisation. Furthermore, the N100m magnitude was successfully explained by a pitch perception model using multiple scales of temporal integration of auditory nerve activity patterns. This striking correlation between AEFs, perception, and model predictions suggests that the physiological mechanisms involved in the processing of pitch evoked by temporal asymmetric sounds are reflected in the N100m.
Retinal Damage in Multiple Sclerosis Disease Subtypes Measured by High-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography

Background. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has facilitated characterisation of retinal alterations in MS patients. Only scarce and in part conflicting data exists on different MS subtypes. Objective. To analyse patterns of retinal changes in different subtypes of MS with latest spectral-domain technology. Methods. In a three-centre cross-sectional study 414 MS patients and 94 healthy controls underwent spectral-domain OCT examination. Results. Eyes of MS patients without a previous optic neuritis showed a significant reduction of both retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness and total macular volume (TMV) compared to healthy controls independent of the MS subtype (P < 0.001 for all subtypes). RNFL thickness was lower in secondary progressive MS (SPMS) eyes compared to relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) eyes (P = 0.007), and TMV was reduced in SPMS and primary progressive MS (PPMS) eyes compared to RRMS eyes (SPMS: P = 0.039, PPMS: P = 0.005). Independent of the subtype a more pronounced RNFL thinning and TMV reduction were found in eyes with a previous optic neuritis compared to unaffected eyes. Conclusion. Analysis of this large-scale cross-sectional dataset of MS patients studied with spectral-domain OCT confirmed and allows to generalize previous findings. Furthermore it carves out distinct patterns in different MS subtypes.