Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory Target Detection Is Affected by Implicit Temporal and Spatial Expectations

Mechanisms of implicit spatial and temporal orienting were investigated by using a moving auditory stimulus. Expectations were set up implicitly, using the information inherent in the movement of a sound, directing attention to a specific moment in time with respect to a specific location. There were four conditions of expectation: temporal and spatial expectation; temporal expectation only; spatial expectation only; and no expectation. Event-related brain potentials were recorded while participants performed a go/no-go task, set up by anticipation of the reappearance of a target tone through a white noise band. Results showed that (1) temporal expectations alone speeded reaction time and increased response accuracy; and (2) implicit temporal expectations alone independently enhanced target detection at early processing stages, prior to motor response. This was reflected at stages of perceptual analysis, indexed by P1 and N1 components, as well as in task-related stages indexed by N2; and (3) spatial expectations had an effect at later response-related processing stages but only in combination with temporal expectations, indexed by the P3 component. Thus, the results, in addition to indicating a primary role for temporal orienting in audition, suggest that multiple mechanisms of attention interact in different phases of auditory target detection. Our results are consistent with the view from vision research that spatial and temporal attentional control is based on the activity of partly overlapping, and partly functionally specialized neural networks.
Mood stabilizers in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE The efficacy of mood stabilizers in children and adolescents has not been studied adequately. This article will review existing studies and highlight some important issues in designing future studies on these agents. METHOD Electronic databases including Medline, Psycholnfo, and CRISP were searched for data in children receiving compounds that have mood-stabilizing properties in adults. RESULTS Some open clinical data and an extremely modest amount of controlled research data suggest lithium, carbamazepine, and valproate may be effective mood stabilizers in children and adolescents. There are no controlled data on other potential mood stabilizers in children. CONCLUSIONS The disorders that may be responsive to mood stabilizers are among the most morbid in child psychiatry. More studies are needed to clarify the efficacy of these compounds in children and adolescents and to provide a rational basis for choosing among them.
Guidelines for usable cybersecurity: Past and present

Usability is arguably one of the most significant social topics and issues within the field of cybersecurity today. Supported by the need for confidentiality, integrity, availability and other concerns, security features have become standard components of the digital environment which pervade our lives requiring use by novices and experts alike. As security features are exposed to wider cross-sections of the society, it is imperative that these functions are highly usable. This is especially because poor usability in this context typically translates into inadequate application of cybersecurity tools and functionality, thereby ultimately limiting their effectiveness. With this goal of highly usable security in mind, there have been a plethora of studies in the literature focused on identifying security usability problems and proposing guidelines and recommendations to address them. Our paper aims to contribute to the field by consolidating a number of existing design guidelines and defining an initial core list for future reference. Whilst investigating this topic, we take the opportunity to provide an up-to-date review of pertinent cybersecurity usability issues and evaluation techniques applied to date. We expect this research paper to be of use to researchers and practitioners with interest in cybersecurity systems which appreciate the human and social elements of design.
Mesh Router Placement Exploiting Obstacles for Mitigating Interference

The performance (such as throughput) of wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are affected by many factors such as routing protocols and interferences. To improve the throughput, several studies have proposed efficient routing protocols to find better paths and new link state metrics to accurately represent the wireless link qualities. Most of these works assume that the locations of the mesh routers are pre-defined. In this paper, we propose a mesh router placement scheme based on genetic algorithm accounting for dynamic location for all the mesh routers, and indoor obstacles that can minimize the interferences among the mesh routers. Through extensive simulations, we find that the existence of obstacles such as walls can be exploited to decrease the interferences to improve the performance of the indoor wireless mesh networks. We show that the proposed scheme improves the performance by 30-40% compared to the random selection scheme. Furthermore, the existence of walls improves the performance by as much as 50% compared to the cases without walls.
Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Tennis Performance 1

Theoretical and methodological aspects of self-efficacy theory are assessed in this study, and the tennis performance of 40 active players (M age = 26. 6 years) serves as the criterion variable. On a theoretical level, only selfefficacy beliefs, and not response-outcome expectations or the valence thereof, were consistently and significantly related to 12 dimensions of tennis performance. This phenomenon pertained to the relationship of the self-rating of performance as well as to the average of two judges" external ratings of performance and efficacy beliefs, even though the 12 behavioral criteria used were different from the items on the self-efficacy scale. AIthough Pearson correlations rather than microanalyses were computed to assess the relationship between self-efficacy and performance, the correlations were all positive and significant. Theoretical and empirical implications are suggested.
Impact of macrolide therapy on mortality for patients with severe sepsis due to pneumonia

Recent studies suggest that macrolides may have beneficial effects for patients at risk for certain infections. The current authors examined the effect of macrolide therapy on 30- and 90-day mortality for patients with severe sepsis caused by pneumonia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted at two tertiary teaching hospitals. Eligible subjects were admitted with a diagnosis of, had chest radiography consistent with, and had a discharge diagnosis of pneumonia and clinical criteria of severe sepsis. Subjects were considered to be on macrolides if they received at least one dose within 48 h of admission. Severe sepsis was present in 237 (30.1%) subjects, out of whom 104 (43.9%) received macrolides. Mortality was 20.3% at 30 days and 24.5% at 90 days. In the multivariable analysis, the use of macrolide was associated with decreased mortality at 30 days (hazard ratio (HR) 0.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2–0.7) and at 90 days (HR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2–0.6) in patients with severe sepsis and in patients with macrolide-resistant pathogens (HR 0.1, 95% CI 0.02–0.5). Macrolide use was associated with decreased mortality in patients with severe sepsis due to pneumonia and macrolide-resistant pathogens. Confirmatory studies are needed to determine whether macrolide therapy may be protective for patients with sepsis.
Dmesh: a Diagonally-linked Mesh Network-on-chip Architecture

— In this paper, we propose a new mesh-typed NoC architecture which aims at enhancing network performance while keeping implementation cost feasible. The result is a diagonally-linked mesh (DMesh) NoC that uses wormhole packet switching technique. Together with the proposed adaptive quasi-minimal routing algorithm, DMesh improves average latency and saturation traffic load. In addition, logic synthesis results show that adding diagonal links is a more area-efficient way for increasing network performance than using large buffers.
Towards the classification of DYT6 dystonia mutants in the DNA-binding domain of THAP1

The transcription factor THAP1 (THanatos Associated Protein 1) has emerged recently as the cause of DYT6 primary dystonia, a type of rare, familial and mostly early-onset syndrome that leads to involuntary muscle contractions. Many of the mutations described in the DYT6 patients fall within the sequence-specific DNA-binding domain (THAP domain) of THAP1 and are believed to negatively affect DNA binding. Here, we have used an integrated approach combining spectroscopic (NMR, fluorescence, DSF) and calorimetric (ITC) methods to evaluate the effect of missense mutations, within the THAP domain, on the structure, stability and DNA binding. Our study demonstrates that none of the mutations investigated failed to bind DNA and some of them even bind DNA stronger than the wild-type protein. However, some mutations could alter DNA-binding specificity. Furthermore, the most striking effect is the decrease of stability observed for mutations at positions affecting the zinc coordination, the hydrophobic core or the C-terminal AVPTIF motif, with unfolding temperatures ranging from 46°C for the wild-type to below 37°C for two mutations. These findings suggest that reduction in population of folded protein under physiological conditions could also account for the disease.
Background Synaptic Activity Is Sparse in Neocortex

Neurons are continually exposed to background synaptic activity in vivo. This is thought to influence neural information processing, but background levels of excitation and inhibition remain controversial. Here we show, using whole-cell recordings in anesthetized rats, that spontaneous depolarizations (“Up states”) in neocortical pyramidal neurons are driven by sparse, mostly excitatory synaptic activity (less than five inputs per millisecond; ∼10% inhibitory). The mean synaptic conductance change is small (<10 nS at the soma) and opposed by anomalous rectification, resulting in a net increase in input resistance during Up states. These conditions enhance the effectiveness of each synapse at depolarized potentials. Hence, neocortical networks are relatively quiet at rest, and the effect of synaptic background is weaker than previously thought.
Do we really need to start from scratch?1

This paper presents views and believes of the authors on the relevance of the current economic theory for the understanding of the complex world we live in. Has the crisis indeed demonstrated that as profession we are misled by the beauty of the mathematical models and the only useful, workable solutions at hand were provided in early 1930s? The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the current state-of-theart literature from the perspective of its usefulness in the context of economic crises. We argue that although we might be unable to answer many questions or to “predict” crises, the path we are following is the right one. Furthermore, going back to Keynes would not solve any of the identified problems and would generate problems on its own. Analysing the state of economics after the crisis it is argued that (i) we need models with micro-foundations, (ii) we need better models with microfoundations and already existing and promising directions for future research are discussed.
Modulation of Parietal Activation by Semantic Distance in a Number Comparison Task

The time to compare two numbers shows additive effects of number notation and of semantic distance, suggesting that the comparison task can be decomposed into distinct stages of identification and semantic processing. Using event-related fMRI and high-density ERPs, we isolated cerebral areas where activation was influenced by input notation (verbal or Arabic notation). The bilateral extrastriate cortices and a left precentral region were more activated during verbal than during Arabic stimulation, while the right fusiform gyrus and a set of bilateral inferoparietal and frontal regions were more activated during Arabic than during verbal stimulation. We also identified areas that were influenced solely by the semantic content of the stimuli (numerical distance between numbers to be compared) independent of the input notation. Activation tightly correlated with numerical distance was observed mainly in a group of parietal areas distributed bilaterally along the intraparietal sulci and in the precuneus, as well as in the left middle temporal gyrus and posterior cingulate. Our results support the assumption of a central semantic representation of numerical quantity that relies on a common parietal network shared among notations.
The relationship between intelligence, working memory, academic self-esteem, and academic achievement

ABSTRACT Academic achievement is crucial for life and long-term outcomes. The aim of the present study is to examine the joint role of cognitive (intelligence and working memory) and non-cognitive (academic self-esteem) factors in predicting academic achievement (mathematics and reading literacy) in a sample of Italian sixth and eighth graders. The results showed that within the cognitive factors considered, intelligence was the best predictor of achievement. As regards to non-cognitive factors, academic self-esteem was effective at predicting achievement after controlling for cognitive measures. Academic self-esteem was also found to have an indirect effect, mediated by intelligence, on academic achievement. Both theoretical and practical implications of the present results are discussed.
Acute Hormonal and Force Responses to Combined Strength and Endurance Loadings in Men and Women: The “Order Effect”

Purpose To examine acute responses and recovery of serum hormones and muscle force following combined strength (S) and endurance (E) loading sessions in which the order of exercises is reversed (ES vs. SE). Methods This cross-over study design included recreationally endurance trained men and women (age 21–45 years, n = 12 men n = 10 women) who performed both loadings. Maximal bilateral isometric strength (MVC), isometric rate of force development (RFD) and serum concentrations of testosterone (T), cortisol (C), growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured during and after both loadings. Results Both of the present combined (ES and SE) loadings led to a greater acute decrease in MVC in men than in women, while RFD was slightly affected only in men. Recovery of MVC and RFD to baseline was complete at 24 h regardless of the order of exercises. In men, neuromuscular fatigue was accompanied by increased C concentrations observed post SE. This was followed by decreased concentrations of T at 24 h and 48 h that were significantly lower than those observed following ES. GH response in men also differed significantly post loadings. In women, only a significant difference in T between ES and SE loadings was observed at post. Conclusion These observed differences in hormonal responses despite similarities in neuromuscular fatigue in men indicate the presence of an order effect as the body was not fully recovered at 48 h following SE. These findings may be applicable in training prescription in order to optimize specific training adaptations.
The effects of regional socioeconomic and cultural characteristics on the spatial patterns of the Second Demographic Transition in Finland Tapani Valkonen Jenni Blomgren

The article studies to what extent regional socioeconomic and cultural characteristics explain spatial patterns in the Second Demographic Transition in Finland. The country’s 75 functional regions are used as area units. A summary indicator of the transition based on divorce and cohabitation is used as the dependent variable. The results show that the spatial pattern is mainly determined according to the regional level of urbanization, but the effect is mediated by cultural characteristics (secularization and support for the socialist and green parties). The cultural characteristics have only a modest independent effect. 1 Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 18, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. Tel. +358 9 191 23893. Fax +358 9 191 23957. E-mail: tapani.valkonen@helsinki.fi 2 National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, 00300 Helsinki, Finland 3 National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, P.O. Box 220, 00531 Helsinki, Finland 4 Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 18, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland 5 Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 18, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Valkonen et al.: The spatial patterns of the Second Demographic Transition in Finland 2044 http://www.demographic-research.org
Value Fulfillment and Bicultural Identity Integration

What can facilitate bicultural identity integration (BII)? To answer this question, we introduce a new relevant construct—subjective value fulfillment. We contend that the subjective feeling of value fulfillment within a social identity can enhance the motivation to integrate this social identity with other identities. Furthermore, after distinguishing between central, peripheral, and conflictual identities that differ in level of identification, we contend that perceiving a conflictual identity as allowing value fulfillment is especially important to BII. We examine these hypotheses in four studies. Three examined Arab-Israelis (a total of N = 399), while the fourth study investigated Druze-Arab-Israelis (N = 212). Our findings indicate that value fulfillment contributes to elevated BII, that manipulation of perceived value fulfillment elevates BII, and that perceived value fulfillment–BII relations are contingent on type of identity. More specifically, we found that perceived value fulfillment within a conflictual identity was more relevant to BII than perceived value fulfillment in a central identity. Last, we found that perceived value fulfillment predicted BII over and above identification.
Wage Rigidity, Collective Bargaining, and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from French Agreement Data

Abstract Using data sets on wage agreements at both industry and firm levels in France, we document stylized facts on wage stickiness. The average duration of wages is a little less than one year, and 10% of wages are modified each month by a wage agreement. The frequency of wage change agreements is staggered over the year, but the frequency of effective wage changes is seasonal. The national minimum wage has a significant impact on the probability and the seasonality of wage changes. Negotiated wage increases are correlated with inflation, minimum wage increases, and firm profitability.
The Effects and Interactions of Data Quality and Problem Complexity on Data Mining

Data quality remains a persistent problem in practice and a challenge for research. In this study we focus on four of the most important dimensions of data quality accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness. Definitions and conceptual models for these dimensions have not been collectively considered with respect to data mining in general and a key determinant of data mining outcomes, problem complexity, in particular. Conversely, these four dimensions of data quality have only been indirectly addressed by data mining research. Using definitions and constructs of data quality dimensions, our research shows for the first time that data quality and problem complexity have significant interaction effects on data mining outcomes. It also shows that the dimension of consistency can be concluded to have the largest effects of all four. Our results help address an important research challenge noted by March and Smith [15]. They also enable practitioners to assess data quality, prioritize efforts to improve it, and increase the performance of data mining for better decisions.
Determinants of Governance Structure For The Electronic Value Chain: Resource Dependency and Transaction Costs Perspectives

This paper investigates boundary decisions that determine governance structures,particularly intermediaries and external contractors, for executing theprimary functions of procurement, sales, and information technology supportfunctions in the value chain model. Utilizing data from 113 firms doing businesson the Internet, the findings indicate that firm resources have a significantimpact on decisions to outsource or internalize electronic value chain functions.Specifically, firms with a greater reliance on sales intermediaries were found todeploy fewer technical e-commerce resources than firms less dependent on salesintermediaries. Moreover, the number of intermediary procurement functionswas positively related to investment in web-based human resources. The resultsalso suggest that firms experiencing lower levels of transaction frequency utilizemore types of Internet sales methods.
Inhibited growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by dextran- and polyacrylic acid-coated ceria nanoparticles

Ceria (CeO2) nanoparticles have been widely studied for numerous applications, but only a few recent studies have investigated their potential applications in medicine. Moreover, there have been almost no studies focusing on their possible antibacterial properties, despite the fact that such nanoparticles may reduce reactive oxygen species. In this study, we coated CeO2 nanoparticles with dextran or polyacrylic acid (PAA) because of their enhanced biocompatibility properties, minimized toxicity, and reduced clearance by the immune system. For the first time, the coated CeO2 nanoparticles were tested in bacterial assays involving Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the most significant bacteria responsible for infecting numerous medical devices. The results showed that CeO2 nanoparticles with either coating significantly inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by up to 55.14%, after 24 hours compared with controls (no particles). The inhibition of bacterial growth was concentration dependent. In summary, this study revealed, for the first time, that the characterized dextran- and PAA-coated CeO2 nanoparticles could be potential novel materials for numerous antibacterial applications.
Nitric oxide signals are interlinked with calcium signals in normal pancreatic stellate cells upon oxidative stress and inflammation

The mammalian diffuse stellate cell system comprises retinoid-storing cells capable of remarkable transformations from a quiescent to an activated myofibroblast-like phenotype. Activated pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) attract attention owing to the pivotal role they play in development of tissue fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. However, little is known about the actual role of PSCs in the normal pancreas. These enigmatic cells have recently been shown to respond to physiological stimuli in a manner that is markedly different from their neighbouring pancreatic acinar cells (PACs). Here, we demonstrate the capacity of PSCs to generate nitric oxide (NO), a free radical messenger mediating, for example, inflammation and vasodilatation. We show that production of cytosolic NO in PSCs is unambiguously related to cytosolic Ca2+ signals. Only stimuli that evoke Ca2+ signals in the PSCs elicit consequent NO generation. We provide fresh evidence for the striking difference between signalling pathways in PSCs and adjacent PACs, because PSCs, in contrast to PACs, generate substantial Ca2+-mediated and NOS-dependent NO signals. We also show that inhibition of NO generation protects both PSCs and PACs from necrosis. Our results highlight the interplay between Ca2+ and NO signalling pathways in cell–cell communication, and also identify a potential therapeutic target for anti-inflammatory therapies.