Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dissociable Effects of Lesions to Orbitofrontal Cortex Subregions on Impulsive Choice in the Rat

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is implicated in a variety of adaptive decision-making processes. Human studies suggest that there is a functional dissociation between medial and lateral OFC (mOFC and lOFC, respectively) subregions when performing certain choice procedures. However, little work has examined the functional consequences of manipulations of OFC subregions on decision making in rodents. In the present experiments, impulsive choice was assessed by evaluating intolerance to delayed, but economically optimal, reward options using a delay-discounting paradigm. Following initial delay-discounting training, rats received bilateral neurotoxic or sham lesions targeting whole OFC (wOFC) or restricted to either mOFC or lOFC subregions. A transient flattening of delay-discounting curves was observed in wOFC-lesioned animals relative to shams—differences that disappeared with further training. Stable, dissociable effects were found when lesions were restricted to OFC subregions; mOFC-lesioned rats showed increased, whereas lOFC-lesioned rats showed decreased, preference for the larger-delayed reward relative to sham-controls—a pattern that remained significant during retraining after all delays were removed. When locations of levers leading to small–immediate versus large–delayed rewards were reversed, wOFC- and lOFC-lesioned rats showed retarded, whereas mOFC-lesioned rats showed accelerated, trajectories for reversal of lever preference. These results provide the first direct evidence for dissociable functional roles of the mOFC and lOFC for impulsive choice in rodents. The findings are consistent with recent human functional imaging studies and suggest that functions of mOFC and lOFC subregions may be evolutionarily conserved and contribute differentially to decision-making processes.
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health and aging: trends in aging--United States and worldwide.

THE MEDIAN AGE OF THE WORLD’S POPUlation is increasing because of a decline in fertility and a 20-year increase in the average life span during the second half of the 20th century. These factors, combined with elevated fertility in many countries during the 2 decades after World War II (i.e., the “Baby Boom”), will result in increased numbers of persons aged 65 years during 2010-2030. Worldwide, the average life span is expected to extend another 10 years by 2050. The growing number of older adults increases demands on the public health system and on medical and social services. Chronic diseases, which affect older adults disproportionately, contribute to disability, diminish quality of life, and increased healthand long-term–care costs. Increased life expectancy reflects, in part, the success of public health interventions, but public health programs must now respond to the challenges created by this achievement, including the growing burden of chronic illnesses, injuries, and disabilities and increasing concerns about future caregiving and health-care costs. This report presents data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations on U.S. and global trends in aging, including demographic and epidemiologic transitions, increasing medical and social costs related to aging, and the implications for public health. U.S. Trends In the United States, the proportion of the population aged 65 years is projected to increase from 12.4% in 2000 to 19.6% in 2030. The number of persons aged 65 years is expected to increase from approximately 35 million in 2000 to an estimated 71 million in 2030, and the number of persons aged 80 years is expected to increase from 9.3 million in 2000 to 19.5 million in 2030. In 1995, the most populous states had the largest number of older persons; nine states (California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas) each had more than one million persons aged 65 years. In 1995, four states had 15% of their population aged 65 years; Florida had the largest proportion (19%). By 2025, the proportion of Florida’s population aged 65 years is projected to be 26% and 15% in 48 states (all but Alaska and California). The sex distribution of older U.S. residents is expected to change only moderately. Women represented 59% of persons aged 65 years in 2000 compared with an estimated 56% in 2030. However, larger changes in the racial/ethnic composition of persons aged 65 years are expected. From 2000 to 2030, the proportion of persons aged 65 years who are members of racial minority groups (i.e., black, American Indian/ Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander) is expected to increase from 11.3% to 16.5%; the proportion of Hispanics is expected to increase from 5.6% to 10.9%.
Research Interests

The ability of stem cells to self-renew and produce multiple daughter cell lineages requires the expression of certain sets of genes,repression of other loci, and transcriptional ? plasticity? of many others. In normal development, such genome-wide transcriptional programs are in part regulated by chromatin structure ? the ? packaged? state of DNA with histone proteins. Genomic studies of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders have revealed mutations in many chromatin regulators. Furthermore, chromatin regulators are frequently mutated or aberrantly expressed in brain tumors.
Moving Object Localization Using Sound-Based Positioning System with Doppler Shift Compensation

Sound-based positioning systems are a potential alternative low-cost navigation system. Recently, we developed such an audible sound-based positioning system, based on a spread spectrum approach. It was shown to accurately localize a stationary object. Here, we extend this localization to a moving object by compensating for the Doppler shift associated with the object movement. Numerical simulations and experiments indicate that by compensating for the Doppler shift, the system can accurately determine the position of an object moving along a non-linear path. When the object moved in a circular path with an angular velocity of 0 to 1.3 rad/s, it could be localized to within 25 mm of the actual position. Experiments also showed the proposed system has a high noise tolerance of up to −25 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) without compromising accuracy.
Causal attribution and counterfactual thinking - when does performing one facilitate performance of the other

When do causal attribution and counterfactual thinking facilitate one another, and when do the two responses overlap? Undergraduates (N = 78) both explained and undid, in each of two orders, events that were described either with their potential causes or not. The time to perform either response was recorded. Overall, mutation response times were shorter when performed after an attribution was made than before, while attribution response times did not vary as a consequence of sequence. Depending on whether the causes of the target events were described in the scenario or not, respondents undid the actor and assigned causality to another antecedent, or pointed to the actor for both responses. These findings suggest that counterfactual mutation is most likely to be facilitated by attribution, and that mutation and attribution responses are most likely to overlap when no information about potential causes of the event is provided.
Time trend of the prevalence of hepatitis E antibodies among farmers and blood donors: a potential zoonosis in Denmark.

BACKGROUND Antibody to hepatitis E virus (anti-HEV) is prevalent in Western countries, where clinical hepatitis E is rarely reported. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anti-HEV among Danish blood donors and Danish farmers. In addition, we compared the prevalence among 2 sets of serum samples obtained from blood donors 20 years apart. METHODS Samples from 291 Danish farmers and 169 blood donors that were collected in 1983 and samples from 461 blood donors that were collected in 2003 were tested for anti-HEV. Relevant information on HEV exposure was collected by self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS Anti-HEV testing was performed on samples after 20 years of storage at -20 degrees C. The prevalence of anti-HEV was 50.4% among farmers and 32.9% among donors in 1983 and 20.6% among donors in 2003 (P < .05). Presence of anti-HEV was significantly correlated with increasing age in all 3 groups (P < .05). Among donors who had serum samples obtained in 2003, age, contact with horses, and the presence of antibody to hepatitis A virus were associated with the presence of anti-HEV in multivariate analysis. Among farmers, only age was independently associated with the presence of anti-HEV. CONCLUSION Anti-HEV was highly prevalent among Danes but has decreased in prevalence over the past 50 years. Our study supports the hypothesis that HEV infection in Denmark may be an asymptomatic zoonotic infection.
Optimal design of a soft robotic gripper with high mechanical advantage for grasping irregular objects

This study presents a soft robotic gripper for grasping irregular objects. The optimal design is based on the proposed topology optimization and size optimization methods with the objective to maximize the mechanical advantage (MA, which is defined as the ratio of output force to the input force) of the analyzed compliant mechanism. The optimal design is prototyped using silicon rubber material. Experimental tests including MA test, geometric advantage (GA, which is defined as the ratio of output displacement to the input displacement) test, adaptability test, and grasping test are carried out to investigate the design. A performance index has also been proposed to evaluate the grasping performance of the grippers. The results show the developed gripper is with the highest performance index, which represents the developed gripper is with better adaptability, faster response, higher payload and stability in overall.
Induction of mammary tumors by expression of polyomavirus middle T oncogene: a transgenic mouse model for metastatic disease

The effect of mammary gland-specific expression of the polyomavirus middle T antigen was examined by establishing lines of transgenic mice that carry the middle T oncogene under the transcriptional control of the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter/enhancer. By contrast to most transgenic strains carrying activated oncogenes, expression of polyomavirus middle T antigen resulted in the widespread transformation of the mammary epithelium and the rapid production of multifocal mammary adenocarcinomas. Interestingly, the majority of the tumor-bearing transgenic mice developed secondary metastatic tumors in the lung. Taken together, these results suggest that middle T antigen acts as a potent oncogene in the mammary epithelium and that cells that express it possess an enhanced metastatic potential.
Physiological Pineal Effects on Female Reproductive Function of Laboratory Rats: Prenatal Development of Pups, Litter Size and Estrous Cycle in Middle Age

The present study investigates whether and how the pineal or its hormone melatonin influences female reproductive functions, namely the litter size, prenatal development of offsprings, and estrous cyclicity, especially its age‐related cessation in a non‐seasonal breeder, the laboratory rat. Wistar rats were maintained under a 24 h light‐dark (12L∶12D) cycle. Female rats were divided into 3 groups: non‐operated (NO), sham‐operated (SX), and pinealectomized (PX). Surgeries were performed in 35–40 day‐old females. Starting at an age between 70 days and 7 months, female rats of all 3 groups were repeatedly mated with intact males. PX mothers more frequently delivered pups with malformations (e.g., taillessness, hydronephrosis, 7 out of 1263 pups) than control rats (0/1323; p<0.007). In the first delivery at 3 months of age, but not at later ages, PX mothers delivered more pups of lower body weight than control animals (p<0.001). Examination of vaginal smears showed that almost all female rats of the NO, SX, and PX groups had 4‐day estrous cyclicity when they were young–between 60 days and 5 months of age. At an age of 17 to 18 months, most female rats of the NO and SX groups showed irregular, continuously diestrous or pseudopregnancy‐like patterns, and 4‐day estrous cyclicity was found in only 10% of the NO or SX animals. In contrast, about 50% of the PX rats showed 4‐day estrous cyclicity at this older age (p< 0.001). Melatonin, when added to drinking water (0.4 mg/L) for 16 days during the dark phase increased the frequency of diestrous phase, except in continuously diestrous rats and very few others. This melatonin effect was strong in PX rats but relatively weak in SX rats. In conclusion, the pineal hormone appears to influence various reproductive functions and developmental processes, especially pregnancy and the timing of reproductive aging in rats. The effects of pinealectomy are more prominent at an age of 60 to 80 days (i.e., shortly after puberty) and at the beginning of the cessation of cycles in middle‐aged females.
More Sinned Against Than Sinning

Eighteen years ago, Mordechai Vanunu, an Israeli scientist working at Dimona nuclear facility, revealed that Israel had an atomic bomb project, a secret that had clouded US—Israeli relations since the days of Kennedy and Ben Gurion, and might have involved collusion between the countries. Vanunu was kidnapped in Italy, returned to Israel and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment, nearly 12 of which he spent in solitary confinement. In April this year, James Thackara went to Israel for Index on Censorship to greet Vanunu on his release from Ashkelon Prison. Ursula Owen interviewed Thackara on his return.James Thackara has had a long involvement in nuclear issues and the Vanunu case, and is the author of America's Children (Chatto & Windus, 1984), a novel dealing with the Manhattan Project and the fate of Robert Oppenheimer
Need fulfillment, need importance, and depressive symptoms of residents over the first eight months of living in a nursing home

ABSTRACT Background: Based on self-determination theory and adaptation theories, the study aim was to investigate the relationship between need fulfillment (of autonomy, relatedness, and competence), need importance, and depressive symptoms during the first months of living in a nursing home. Methods: Eight-month longitudinal questionnaire study in which 75 persons newly admitted to units for physically frail residents participated at baseline. Twenty-three longitudinal participants were remaining at the third and final measurement wave. Results: The results show a main effect of need fulfillment and an interaction effect of need fulfillment and need importance on depressive symptoms over time. A prototypical plot shows that residents with low need fulfillment had higher initial levels of depressive symptoms that decreased modestly over time, regardless of their need importance. Residents with high need fulfillment had lower initial levels of depressive symptoms, but their trajectories differed for participants with low and high need importance. Residents with low need importance started with lower levels of depressive symptoms but remained stable over time, whereas residents with high need importance had more depressive symptoms at T1 that decreased slightly over time. Conclusions: In general, depressive symptoms do not change over time. However, individual trajectories of depressive symptoms seem to depend on individual need fulfillment and need importance. The residents that consider need fulfillment to be highly important but experience low need fulfillment had higher initial levels of depressive symptoms that decreased modestly over time, although the level of depressive symptoms remained higher as compared to the other residents.
Expression of Interferon Gamma by a Recombinant Rabies Virus Strongly Attenuates the Pathogenicity of the Virus via Induction of Type I Interferon

ABSTRACT Previous animal model experiments have shown a correlation between interferon gamma (IFN-γ) expression and both survival from infection with attenuated rabies virus (RABV) and reduction of neurological sequelae. Therefore, we hypothesized that rapid production of murine IFN-γ by the rabies virus itself would induce a more robust antiviral response than would occur naturally in mice. To test this hypothesis, we used reverse engineering to clone the mouse IFN-γ gene into a pathogenic rabies virus backbone, SPBN, to produce the recombinant rabies virus designated SPBNγ. Morbidity and mortality were monitored in mice infected intranasally with SPBNγ or SPBN(−) control virus to determine the degree of attenuation caused by the expression of IFN-γ. Incorporation of IFN-γ into the rabies virus genome highly attenuated the virus. SPBNγ has a 50% lethal dose (LD50) more than 100-fold greater than SPBN(−). In vitro and in vivo mouse experiments show that SPBNγ infection enhances the production of type I interferons. Furthermore, knockout mice lacking the ability to signal through the type I interferon receptor (IFNAR−/−) cannot control the SPBNγ infection and rapidly die. These data suggest that IFN-γ production has antiviral effects in rabies, largely due to the induction of type I interferons. IMPORTANCE Survival from rabies is dependent upon the early control of virus replication and spread. Once the virus reaches the central nervous system (CNS), this becomes highly problematic. Studies of CNS immunity to RABV have shown that control of replication begins at the onset of T cell entry and IFN-γ production in the CNS prior to the appearance of virus-neutralizing antibodies. Moreover, antibody-deficient mice are able to control but not clear attenuated RABV from the CNS. We find here that IFN-γ triggers the early production of type I interferons with the expected antiviral effects. We also show that engineering a lethal rabies virus to express IFN-γ directly in the infected tissue reduces rabies virus replication and spread, limiting its pathogenicity in normal and immunocompromised mice. Therefore, vector delivery of IFN-γ to the brain may have the potential to treat individuals who would otherwise succumb to infection with rabies virus.
A perceptual account of symbolic reasoning

People can be taught to manipulate symbols according to formal mathematical and logical rules. Cognitive scientists have traditionally viewed this capacity—the capacity for symbolic reasoning—as grounded in the ability to internally represent numbers, logical relationships, and mathematical rules in an abstract, amodal fashion. We present an alternative view, portraying symbolic reasoning as a special kind of embodied reasoning in which arithmetic and logical formulae, externally represented as notations, serve as targets for powerful perceptual and sensorimotor systems. Although symbolic reasoning often conforms to abstract mathematical principles, it is typically implemented by perceptual and sensorimotor engagement with concrete environmental structures.
Produção de sentidos sobre a maternidade: uma experiência no Programa Mãe Canguru

*# RESUMO. Este artigo analisa, sob a perspectiva da relacao entre a familia e instituicoes de saude, os sentidos produzidos sobre a maternidade em um programa de saude neonatal desenvolvido na rede publica ‐ o Programa Mae Canguru. A partir de entrevistas e observacoes feitas com usuarias durante sua participacao no programa, buscamos apreender como as praticas discursivas e nao discursivas sobre maternidade e maternagem, difundidas nesse processo, se articulam com as experiencias concretas dessas mulheres para produzir novas configuracoes subjetivas. Na interpretacao dos dados, realizada atraves de analise do discurso, os aspectos mais significativos das falas das entrevistadas foram agrupados em quatro nucleos de sentido: familia e religiao; o impacto do nascimento prematuro; desconfianca e resistencia nas relacoes com instituicoes e profissionais de saude; e a experiencia com o Programa Mae Canguru. Ao final, procurou-se identificar as principais estrategias e formas de singularizacao utilizadas por essas mulheres ao atribuirem sentidos ao papel materno. Palavras-chave: maternidade, praticas de saude, Programa Mae Canguru.
A Space-Time Petrov-Galerkin Certified Reduced Basis Method: Application to the Boussinesq Equations

We present a space-time certified reduced basis method for long-time integration of parametrized parabolic equations with quadratic nonlinearity which admit an affine decomposition in parameter but with no restriction on coercivity of the linearized operator. We first consider a finite element discretization based on discontinuous Galerkin time integration and introduce associated Petrov--Galerkin space-time trial- and test-space norms that yield optimal and asymptotically mesh independent stability constants. We then employ an $hp$ Petrov--Galerkin (or minimum residual) space-time reduced basis approximation. We provide the Brezzi--Rappaz--Raviart a posteriori error bounds which admit efficient offline-online computational procedures for the three key ingredients: the dual norm of the residual, an inf-sup lower bound, and the Sobolev embedding constant. The latter are based, respectively, on a more round-off resistant residual norm evaluation procedure, a variant of the successive constraint method, and .
Effects of action observation treatment in recovery after total knee replacement: a prospective clinical trial

Objective: We hypothesized that self-administered action observation treatment can increase the effectiveness of inpatient rehabilitation of patients after a primary total knee replacement. Design: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Setting: Thirty-one inpatients, admitted to our Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Department. Subjects: After a primary total knee replacement were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n=14) or control (n=17) group. Intervention: All subjects received conventional physiotherapy and were required to perform additional self-administered exercises explained in a written informative brochure. Subjects in the experimental group were asked to watch a video showing a person exercising whilst the control group watched a nature video without exercises being shown. Main outcomes measure: Changes in Visual Analogue Scale, active and passive range of motion of knee, Barthel index, Short Form-36 Health Survey, Tinetti scale, Lequesne index measurements. Results: At the end of the intervention period, the increase of the active range of motion over the active flexion and extension in the experimental group was higher than in the control group; the difference between groups was 15.6° (95%CI 5.3–24.8) and 3.4° (95%CI 1.1–5.6), for active flexion and active extension respectively; between-group effect sizes were large at post-treatment period (d>1.3). Conclusions: adding action observation training to conventional inpatient physiotherapy is associated with a greater degree of recovery in patients who have undergone a primary total knee replacement.