Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Individual differences in visual perception capacity and related brain morphology

Limited capacity for perception results in various phenomena of inattentional blindness in task conditions that load perceptual capacity. These effects have been extensively studied under the load theory framework, with numerous demonstrations spanning a wide variety of perceptual load manipulations. Research also established contrasting effects of loading perception versus cognitive control functions (e.g. working memory). The convergence of findings across different manipulations of perceptual load together with the contrasting effects of cognitive control load suggests a generalised capacity for perception, which is distinct from general cognitive capacity. The purpose of this thesis was to examine this hypothesis further, using an individual differences approach and relating traditional visual perception and awareness paradigms to the phenomenon of subitizing: the ability to detect a limited number of items in parallel from a brief exposure that has traditionally been studied within the enumeration literature. The research first extended perceptual load effects to measures of unattended processing in an enumeration paradigm, demonstrating that distractor effects are only found within subitizing capacity but not in set sizes that exceed capacity (Chapter 2). A series of individual differences experiments then revealed significant correlations between tasks involving subitizing, motion tracking, ‘change blindness’ and ‘inattentional blindness’. These relationships were furthermore established to withstand controls for non-perceptual factors, establishing perceptual capacity as distinct from working memory capacity or general cognitive effort (Chapters 3-4). Finally, voxel-based morphometry analyses of structural brain images established distinct correlates of grey matter density for perceptual capacity across tasks (Chapter 5). Taken together, the results of this thesis establish individual differences in perceptual capacity across a diverse range of paradigms and stimuli, demonstrating a common, general capacity limit for perception which correlates with individual differences in performance and grey-matter density and is independent from other cognitive constructs such as number estimation abilities and executive working memory.
The Complex Interplay of Genetic and Lifestyle Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes: An Overview

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the scourges of modern times, with many millions of people affected by the disease. Diabetes occurs most frequently in those who are overweight or obese. However, not all overweight and obese persons develop diabetes, and there are those who develop the disease who are lean and physically active. Certain ethnicities, especially indigenous populations, are at considerably higher risk of obesity and diabetes than those of white European ancestry. The patterns and distributions of diabetes have led some to speculate that the disease is caused by interactions between genetic and obesogenic lifestyle factors. Whilst to many this is a plausible explanation, remarkably little reliable evidence exists to support it. In this review, an overview of published literature relating to genetic and lifestyle risk factors for T2D is provided. The review also describes the concepts and rationale that have motivated the view that gene-lifestyle interactions cause diabetes and overviews the empirical evidence published to date to support this hypothesis.
Incidence of Apoptosis in the Lymphoid Organs of Normal or Malaria Infected Mice is Decreased in CD18 and Urokinase - Receptor (UPAR, CD87) Deficient Mice

Incidence of apoptosis was investigated in the spleen and lymph nodes of +/+, CD18 -/- and urokinase receptor (uPAR, CD87) -/- mice, untreated or Plasmodium Berghei Anka (PbA) infected. In non infected mice, incidence of apoptosis was lower in the lymph nodes of CD18 -/- and uPAR -/- than in +/+ mice, as seen by FACS analysis to count the number of hypodiploid and Annexin-V binding cells. Infection of mice with PbA resulted in a marked increase in the size of spleen and lymph nodes 7–8 days after infection, which was slightly higher in uPAR -/- and CD18 -/- than in +/+ mice. PbA infection increased about 7 fold the incidence of apoptosis in the lymphoid organs of +/+, especially in the white pulp and germinal centers of the spleen and lymph nodes, while in contrast it was unchanged in PbA infected CD18 -/- or uPAR -/- mice. Serum IgG levels, and number of circulating leukocytes were significantly higher in both uPAR and CD18 -/- than in +/+ mice. These results indicate that the CD18 and uPAR surface molecules, which are known to be associated in the cell membrane, have an important influence upon the incidence of cell survival in both normal or stimulated lymphoid organs.
Examining lexical tonal contrast in Norwegian using intonation modelling

The lexical accents of one dialect of East Norwegian were examined using a parametric intonation model. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the tonal contrast using a different method, whereby analyses can be done automatically and additional acoustic cues examined. The disyllabic contrast of the Trøndersk dialect had been previously described using F0-measurements in Praat, but the current investigation uses a parametric intonation model, PaIntE [21]. The results support the description of accent 1 and accent 2 having a HL contour, with accent 2 having a later alignment with the segmental string. Moreover, accent 2 was found to have a higher maximum and a smaller amplitude of the fall following the peak. The accents did not differ with respect to their rise or the steepness of the rise or fall. This research demonstrates how different approaches to linguistic analyses can inform one another.
Plasticity of GABAergic synapses in the neonatal rat hippocampus

While the development and plasticity of excitatory synaptic connections have been studied into detail, little is known about the development of inhibitory synapses. As proposed for excitatory synapses, recent studies have indicated that activity‐dependent forms of synaptic plasticity, such as long‐term potentiation and long‐term depression, may play a role in the establishment of functional inhibitory synaptic connections. Here, I review these different forms of plasticity and focus on their possible role in the developing neuronal network.
Network In Network

We propose a novel deep network structure called "Network In Network" (NIN) to enhance model discriminability for local patches within the receptive field. The conventional convolutional layer uses linear filters followed by a nonlinear activation function to scan the input. Instead, we build micro neural networks with more complex structures to abstract the data within the receptive field. We instantiate the micro neural network with a multilayer perceptron, which is a potent function approximator. The feature maps are obtained by sliding the micro networks over the input in a similar manner as CNN; they are then fed into the next layer. Deep NIN can be implemented by stacking mutiple of the above described structure. With enhanced local modeling via the micro network, we are able to utilize global average pooling over feature maps in the classification layer, which is easier to interpret and less prone to overfitting than traditional fully connected layers. We demonstrated the state-of-the-art classification performances with NIN on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100, and reasonable performances on SVHN and MNIST datasets.
Targeting ERK1/2-bim signaling cascades by BH3-mimetic ABT-737 as an alternative therapeutic strategy for oral cancer

To date, many different chemotherapeutic agents have been widely used as common treatments for oral cancers. However, their therapeutic effects have been disappointing, and these agents may have unwanted side effects. Among the many regulatory factors, overexpression of pro-survival Bcl-2 family members may promote resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs in many tumors. The BH3 domain-only proteins effectively antagonize their apoptotic activities. Therefore, there is substantial interest in developing chemotherapeutic drugs that directly target pro-survival Bcl-2 proteins by mimicking the BH3 domain and unleashing pro-apoptotic molecules in tumor cells. Among the numerous available small molecule BH3 mimetics, ABT-737, a potent small molecule that binds to Bcl-2/Bcl-xL with high affinity, has anti-tumor activity in a wide variety of cancer cells. However, the effects of ABT-737 on human oral cancers and the underlying molecular mechanisms have not previously been elucidated. In the present study, we observed that inactivation of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway using ABT-737 dramatically increased the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bim via transcriptional and/or posttranslational regulation, in a cell type-dependent manner, inducing mitochondria-mediated apoptosis of human oral cancer cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the antitumor effects of ABT-737 on human oral cancers.
Estimating Conservative Loss Given Default

The new Basel Capital Accord (Basel II) is going to be embedded in the risk management practices at many financial institutions shortly, but the academic and financial world are still discussing about several topics related to the new capital adequacy rules. One of the most important and prominent examples among these topics is the link between loss given default (LGD) and the economic cycle. If this link exists, which is suggested by an extensive literature, the Vasicek model used in the Basel Accord does not take into account systematic correlation between probability of default (PD) and LGD and, to compensate for this deficiency, downturn LGD estimates are required to be used as an input to the model. However, often banks lack an extensive LGD data history covering a full economic cycle, especially for retail assets. In this paper, we propose a simple and realistic solution that can be adopted in order to derive conservative estimates of LGD. Using data covering a set of retail loans (secured and unsecured), we investigate the relation between LGD and the credit cycle over the period from 2002 to 2007. Our results show that when ultimate recoveries instead of recoveries over a few days immediately after the default event are used, the linkage between LGD and the credit cycle is often insignificant (e.g., for two out of three retail asset classes). This implies that the conservatism required by the supervisory authorities should not always be added to LGD estimates used to estimate banks' capital requirements.
Generating Ekpyrotic Curvature Perturbations Before the Big Bang

We analyze a general mechanism for producing a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of cosmological curvature perturbations during a contracting phase preceding a big bang, which can be entirely described using 4D effective field theory. The mechanism, based on first producing entropic perturbations and then converting them to curvature perturbations, can be naturally incorporated in cyclic and ekpyrotic models in which the big bang is modeled as a brane collision, as well as other types of cosmological models with a pre-big bang phase. We show that the correct perturbation amplitude can be obtained and that the spectral tilt n{sub s} tends to range from slightly blue to red, with 0.97<n{sub s}<1.02 for the simplest models, a range compatible with current observations but shifted by a few percent towards the blue compared to the prediction of the simplest, large-field inflationary models.
The role of incentives, preferences and personality in decision making

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Language Context in the Willingness to Communicate Research Works : A Review

Introduction In the past three decades, since the concept of willingness to communicate (WTC) was first proposed, re5earch in this area has accumulated to a great extent. Our goal is to produce an overview of the many lines of research related to the WTC. Firstly, we will introduce the reader to tht' definition of the WTC and it's historical development; next, we will make a clear distinction between WTC in the context of second and foreign language learning, and present empirical studies accounting for either context, with special attention to the various Asian, and in particular Japanese studies of the WTC in foreign language; furthermore, we will introduce sume studies on WTC in Japanese language. Overall findings will be discussed from the language context point of view. Finally, we will give some directives for further study.
Intraoperative endoscopy of the anterior epitympanum recess through the posterior tympanotomy

Introduction The anterior epitympanum recess (AER) is a common place of the development of the cholesteatoma, which is why removal of the matrix from this area plays a key role in the surgical treatment of chronic otitis media. Aim To evaluate the intraoperative visibility of AER in endoscopic optics in comparison to microscopic optics and to determine the prevalence of cholesteatoma in various types of construction of the AER. Study design: retrospective analysis of intraoperative search. Material and methods The study included 55 patients treated in the Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Warsaw within the years 2009–2011, who underwent endoscopy-assisted canal wall up tympanoplasty with posterior tympanotomy. The type of construction of the AER – cellular or dome-shaped – was determined. Results Cellular type of recess was found intraoperatively in 32% of ears and dome-shaped in 68% of the study group. The population with chronic otitis media does not differ significantly compared to the general population in terms of the construction of the anterior epitympanum recess (p = 0.668108; χ2 = 0.1838235, df = 1). Among the ears with cholesteatoma a cellular AER was found in 48.3% of cases and a dome-shaped AER was found in 51.7%. Conclusions The cellular type of AER was significantly more frequent in ears with cholesteatoma (p < 0.01, χ2 = 29.86492, df = 1). Level of evidence: 1b.
Morphological and Structural Control of Organic Monolayer Colloidal Crystal Based on Plasma Etching and Its Application in Fabrication of Ordered Gold Nanostructured Arrays

The organic monolayer colloidal crystals, which are usually prepared by self-assembling, could be used as templates, due to their interstitial geometry, for the periodically arranged nanostructured arrays, which have important applications in many fields, such as photonic crystals, information storage, super-hydrophobicity, biological and chemical sensing. Obviously, the structures of the obtained arrays mainly depend on those of the templates. However, the self-assembled monolayer colloidal crystal is exclusive in structure and for its hexagonal close-packed colloidal arrangement, leading to the limitation of the monolayer colloidal crystal as the template for the nanostructured arrays. Therefore, structural diversity is important in order for colloidal crystals to be used as the templates for various nanostructured arrays. Recently, there have been some reports on the morphological and structural manipulation of the organic monolayer colloidal crystals. In this review article, we focus on the recent progress in morphological and structural manipulation of polystyrene monolayer colloidal crystals based on plasma etching, and its application in the fabrication of the ordered gold nanostructured arrays with different structures, mainly including close-packed monolayer colloidal crystal and its transferrable property; structural manipulation based on plasma etching; and fabrication of gold nanostructured arrays based on varied monolayer colloidal crystals as template.
Short-Term Changes in Light Distortion in Orthokeratology Subjects

Purpose. Quantifying adaptation to light distortion of subjects undergoing orthokeratology (OK) for myopia during the first month of treatment. Methods. Twenty-nine healthy volunteers (age: 22.34 ± 8.08 years) with mean spherical equivalent refractive error −2.10 ± 0.93D were evaluated at baseline and days 1, 7, 15, and 30 of OK treatment. Light distortion was determined using an experimental prototype. Corneal aberrations were derived from corneal topography for different pupil sizes. Contrast sensitivity function (CSF) was analyzed for frequencies of 1.50, 2.12, 3.00, 4.24, 6.00, 8.49, 12.00, 16.97, and 24.00 cpd under photopic conditions. Results. Average monocular values of all light distortion parameters measured increased significantly on day 1, returning to baseline after 1 week (P < 0.05 in all cases). Spherical-like aberration stabilized on day 7 for all pupil diameters, while coma-like for smaller pupils only. CSF was significantly reduced on day 1 for all spatial frequencies except for 1.5 cpd, returning to baseline afterwards. Significant correlation was found between light distortion and contrast sensitivity for middle and high frequencies (P < 0.05) after 15 days. Conclusion. Despite consistently increased levels of corneal aberrations, light distortion tends to return to baseline after one week of treatment, suggesting that neural adaptation is capable of overcoming optical quality degradation.
Classification Models for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

We investigate the performance of different classification models and their ability to recognize prostate cancer in an early stage. We build ensembles of classification models in order to increase the classification performance. We measure the performance of our models in an extensive cross-validation procedure and compare different classification models. The datasets come from clinical examinations and some of the classification models are already in use to support the urologists in their clinical work.
Constraints on the ionizing flux emitted by T Tauri stars

We present the results of an analysis of ultraviolet observations of T Tauri stars (TTs). By analysing emission measures taken from the literature, we derive rates of ionizing photons from the chromospheres of five classical TTs in the range ∼10 41 ‐10 44 photon s −1 , although these values are subject to large uncertainties. We propose that the He II/C IV line ratio can be used as a reddening-independent indicator of the hardness of the ultraviolet spectrum emitted by TTs. By studying this line ratio in a much larger sample of objects, we find evidence for an ionizing flux which does not decrease, and may even increase, as TTs evolve. This implies that a significant fraction of the ionizing flux from TTs is not powered by the accretion of disc material on to the central object, and we discuss the significance of this result and its implications for models of disc evolution. The presence of a significant ionizing flux in the later stages of circumstellar disc evolution provides an important new constraint on disc photoevaporation models. Ke yw ords: accretion, accretion discs ‐ planetary systems: protoplanetary discs ‐ stars: premain-sequence ‐ ultraviolet: stars.
Effect of Emamectin Benzoate on Root-Knot Nematodes and Tomato Yield

Southern root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is an obligate, sedentary endoparasite of more than 3000 plant species, that causes heavy economic losses and limit the development of protected agriculture of China. As a biological pesticide, emamectin benzoate has effectively prevented lepidopteran pests; however, its efficacy to control M. incognita remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to test soil application of emamectin benzoate for management of M. incognita in laboratory, greenhouse and field trials. Laboratory results showed that emamectin benzoate exhibited high toxicity to M. incognita, with LC50 and LC90 values 3.59 and 18.20 mg L-1, respectively. In greenhouse tests, emamectin benzoate soil application offered good efficacy against M. incognita while maintaining excellent plant growth. In field trials, emamectin benzoate provided control efficacy against M. incognita and resulted in increased tomato yields. Compared with the untreated control, there was a 36.5% to 81.3% yield increase obtained from all treatments and the highest yield was received from the highest rate of emamectin benzoate. The results confirmed that emamectin benzoate has enormous potential for the control of M. incognita in tomato production in China.
The Physics of Charm: Recent Experimental Results

We review the most recent results from experiments studying systems containing charmed quarks. The selection reflects the presenter's bias, and there is an emphasis on decays of open charm. We discuss precision measurements of various sorts, various new states in the charmonium system, measurements aimed at testing Lattice QCD, and the latest searches for charm mixing. We conclude with a discussion of upcoming experiments at existing and future facilities.
Nutritional quality and safety of organic food. A review

Food security, nutritional quality and safety vary widely around the world. Reaching these three goals is one of the major challenges for the near future. Up to now, industrialized production methods have clearly shown severe limitations such as a worldwide contamination of the food chain and water by persistent pesticide residues, and reduced nutrient and flavor contents through low-cost intensive food production and/or processing. In line with several published literature reviews, the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) performed under my coordination an up-to-date exhaustive and critical evaluation of the nutritional and sanitary quality of organic food. This review is based on the AFSSA report issued and recently published studies. The major points are: 1/ organic plant products contain more dry matter and minerals (Fe, Mg); and contain more anti-oxidant micronutrients such as phenols and salicylic acid, 2/ organic animal products contain more polyunsaturated fatty acids, 3/ data on carbohydrate, protein and vitamin levels are insufficiently documented, 4/ 94–100% of organic food does not contain any pesticide residues, 5/ organic vegetables contain far less nitrates, about 50% less; and 6/ organic cereals contain overall similar levels of mycotoxins as conventional ones. Thus, organic agricultural systems have already proved able to produce food with high quality standards. I propose also improvements of organic production to achieve sustainable food production for humans in the near future.