Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural characterization of α‐synuclein in an aggregation prone state

The relation of α‐synuclein (αS) aggregation to Parkinson's disease has long been recognized, but the pathogenic species and its molecular properties have yet to be identified. To obtain insight into the properties of αS in an aggregation‐prone state, we studied the structural properties of αS at acidic pH using NMR spectroscopy and computation. NMR demonstrated that αS remains natively unfolded at lower pH, but secondary structure propensities were changed in proximity to acidic residues. The ensemble of conformations of αS at acidic pH is characterized by a rigidification and compaction of the Asp and Glu‐rich C‐terminal region, an increased probability for proximity between the NAC‐region and the C‐terminal region and a lower probability for interactions between the N‐ and C‐terminal regions.
The Relationship between Task Performance, Reaction Time, and Perceived Urgency in Nonverbal Auditory Warnings

Two experiments are described in which participants were required to respond to auditory warnings known to vary in their perceived urgency. In the first, they simply responded to a warning of high, medium or low urgency whilst performing a simultaneous tracking task. Responses to the high urgency warning were faster than to the others. In the second experiment participants carried out an addition task on hearing the warning, and the warnings were either matched or mismatched to the difficulty of the task. Results show that responses to the most urgent warnings were again faster, and also that the degree of mismatching between warning and task degraded performance in some conditions.
A Review of Trends in Visual Instructional Media for the Deaf -or- What Do You Do If Your Budget Is Cut?

A brief overview of various trends in captioned instructional media is given, focusing on the development of captioned films, the use of captioned television, the availability of nonverbal films, and the state of captioned filmstrips. The appropriateness of these materials for the deaf learner is discussed. Some predictions are made as to future trends based on the current economic situation. A list of sources for captioned films and filmstrips is included.
Intra-individual variability of penetrating keratoplasty outcome after excimer laser versus motorized corneal trephination.

PURPOSE To assess the intra-individual variability of outcomes after penetrating keratoplasty by comparing mechanical and nonmechanical corneal trephination. METHODS Fifteen patients (30 eyes, 16 with keratoconus and 14 with Fuchs' dystrophy; median age at penetrating keratoplasty 56.3/53.5 years) were assessed whose trephination was performed using a motor trephine in one eye and the 193-nm excimer laser (MEL 60, Carl Zeiss-Meditec) in the other eye by one experienced surgeon. Subjective refractometry, standard keratometry, and corneal topography were used to assess best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA); spherical equivalent refraction; keratometric and topographic central corneal power; refractive, keratometric, and topographic astigmatism; surface regularity index; surface asymmetry index; and potential visual acuity preoperatively, before first suture removal (at 1 year), and at last available follow-up after final suture removal but before additional surgery (1.3 and 1.9 years, respectively). RESULTS Before first suture removal BSCVA was significantly higher (0.7 vs 0.5; P=.008) after excimer laser trephination. At the end of follow-up, refractive/ keratometric/topographic astigmatism (2.20/2.10/2.40 diopters [D] vs 5.00/6.00/7.10 D) and surface regularity index (0.8 vs 1.1) were significantly lower (P=.02, P=.005, P=.01, and P=.03, respectively) and potential visual acuity was significantly higher (0.9/0.6; P=.02) after excimer laser trephination. CONCLUSIONS During long-term follow-up, all-sutures-out postkeratoplasty astigmatism and surface regularity are superior in the eye where nonmechanical excimer laser was applied in contrast to the fellow eye with motor trephination in the same individual.
Social creativity: A cross-sectional study of 6- to 11-year-old children

We assessed children’s social creativity through interviews during which participants imagined original solutions to interpersonal problems. In addition, we compared performances in the social domain with those obtained in object-oriented problem-solving tasks such as the Unusual Uses of a Box creativity test designed by Torrance (1974) and the Similarities subtest of the WISC (1996). A total of 88 French children participated in this study. First, we observed links between social creativity tasks as well as consistent developmental trends showing that social creativity can be considered as a unitary construct. Second, with regard to the integration or differentiation of creative abilities in children’s development, results showed a distinct creative ability in the social domain for younger children and the emergence of a more general creative ability in older children. Third, the relationship between fluency and originality indices was stable across age groups and task domains, supporting Simonton’s constant-probability-of-success model (1990) for children. Implications for the study of creative abilities in the social domain and for understanding how children interact with others in various social settings are discussed.
Fantasy Processes and Mild Physical Activity

To determine the effects of physical exercise on the process of fantasizing, 40 college and graduate students gave responses to Holtzman inkblot cards in two counterbalanced conditions while seated in a comfortable lounge chair and pedaling a stationary exercise bicycle at a mild level of exertion. Responses were scored for verbal fluency, as determined by word count; human, animal, inanimate, and total movement; and for measurement of primary-process thinking. The results lead to the conclusion that low levels of physical activity exert dramatic effects upon perceptual and cognitive functioning which are probably relevant to the outcome of exercise-oriented programs of psychotherapy.
Young lives, diverse choices and imagined futures in an education and training market

In the UK, policy developments in vocational and further education have created a market in post-16 education and training. This paper reports on an Economic and Social Research Council study and one small cohort of young people entering and moving through one such urban market. They enter with very different learning identities, aspirations and motivations, and their ‘educational inheritances’ prepare them differently for participation. Some young people simply want ajob and awage and ‘nomore learning’, others come with alongterm commitment to gaining higher qualifications. The authors both describe and explore a number of ways of conceptualizing these differences. Both despite and because of the changes in the local labour market ‘deep sub-structures of inequality’ re-emerge. The differentiation of routes and ‘spaces’ of opportunity confronting these young people are reproductive of social class divisions.
Effective and efficient compound feature vectors applicable to discrimination of any conceivable bandpass modulated waveforms

This article describes a simple scheme for developing effective, distinct and efficient compound feature vectors, utilizing high-order direct cumulants, cyclostationary and Fourier of Wavelet transform feature extraction techniques, found appropriate for performing discrimination of any conceivable band-pass modulated waveforms common in software radio communications. The proposed feature vectors are constructed by concatenation of adjusted sub-vectors obtained through the application of the 3 listed extraction techniques along with Principal Component Analysis and data compressed through removal of vector elements for which the variance across all studied modulated waveforms utilized in generation of the feature vectors was below appropriate threshold. Nine representative received waveforms were used to assess the performance of the proposed feature vectors: five common commercial modulated waveforms [Quaternary Amplitude Shift Keying (QASK), Quaternary Frequency Shift Keying (QFSK), Quaternary Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-Point Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM-4, 4), Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK)], (Cosine) Binary Offset Carrier — BOC(1, 1) — waveforms employed in developed European Galileo Navigation System and three waveforms used in defense systems [Quaternary Linear Frequency Modulation (QLFM), Quaternary Pulse Width and Pulse Position Modulations (QPWM and QPPM)]. Generated compound test feature vectors are classified by neural network to match them with corresponding stored feature patterns. The feature vectors proposed in this paper are superior in performance and efficiency to the feature vectors used in earlier research performed by the authors.
Randomised controlled trial of intensive cognitive behaviour therapy for patients with chronic schizophrenia

Abstract Objectives: To investigate whether intensive cognitive behaviour therapy results in significant improvement in positive psychotic symptoms in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Design: Patients with chronic schizophrenia were randomly allocated, stratified according to severity of symptoms and sex, to intensive cognitive behaviour therapy and routine care, supportive counselling and routine care, and routine care alone. Setting: Adjunct treatments were carried out in outpatient clinics or in the patient's home. Subjects: 87 patients with persistent positive symptoms who complied with medication; 72 completed treatment. Outcome measures: Assessments of positive psychotic symptoms before treatment and 3 months after treatment. Number of patients who showed a 50% or more improvement in symptoms. Exacerbation of symptoms and rates of readmission to hospital. Results: Significant improvements were found in the severity (F=5.42, df =2,86; P=0.006) and number (F=4.99, df=2,86; P=0.009) of positive symptoms in those treated with cognitive behaviour therapy. The supportive counselling group showed a non-significant improvement. Significantly more patients treated with cognitive behaviour therapy showed an improvement of 50% or more in their symptoms (χ2=5.18, df=1; P=0.02). Logistic regression indicated that receipt of cognitive behaviour therapy results in almost eight times greater odds (odds ratio 7.88) of showing this improvement. The group receiving routine care alone also experienced more exacerbations and days spent in hospital. Conclusions: Cognitive behaviour therapy is a potentially useful adjunct treatment in the management of patients with chronic schizophrenia.
Further developments in summarising and meta-analysing single-case data: An illustration with neurobehavioural interventions in acquired brain injury

Data analysis for single-case designs is an issue that has prompted many researchers to propose a variety of alternatives, including use of randomisation tests, regression-based procedures, and standardised mean difference. Another option consists in computing unstandardised or raw differences between conditions: the changes in slope and in level, or the difference between the projected baseline (including trend) and the actual treatment phase measurements. Apart from the strengths of these procedures (potentially easier interpretation clinically, separate estimations and an overall quantification of effects, reasonable performance), they require further development, such as (a) creating extensions for dealing with methodologically strong designs such as multiple baseline, (b) achieving comparability across studies and making possible meta-analytical integrations, and (c) implementing software for the extensions. The proposals are illustrated herein in the context of a meta-analysis of 28 studies on (neuro)behavioural interventions in adults who have challenging behaviours after acquired brain injury.
Genetic characterization of cassava (Manihot esculenta) landraces in Brazil assessed with simple sequence repeats

Based on nine microsatellite loci, the aim of this study was to appraise the genetic diversity of 42 cassava (Manihot esculenta) landraces from selected regions in Brazil, and examine how this variety is distributed according to origin in several municipalities in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Amazonas and Mato Grosso. High diversity values were found among the five above-mentioned regions, with 3.3 alleles per locus on an average, a high percentage of polymorphic loci varying from 88.8% to 100%, an average of 0.265 for observed heterozygosity and 0.570 for gene diversity. Most genetic diversity was concentrated within the regions themselves (HS = 0.52). Cluster analysis and principal component based scatter plotting showed greater similarity among landraces from São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Amazonas, whereas those from Minas Gerais were clustered into a sub-group within this group. The plants from Mato Grosso, mostly collected in the municipality of General Carneiro, provided the highest differentiation. The migration of human populations is one among the possible reasons for this closer resemblance or greater disparity among plants from the various regions.
Eating at Fast‐Food Restaurants: An Analysis Using Two Behavioral Intention Models

Eating at fast-food restaurants is becoming increasingly popular. However, little research has been conducted examining the determinants of this behavior. A subjective probability model and Fishbein's behavioral intention model were used to examine this behavior. Both models were significant predictors of the individual's intention to eat at these restaurants and both were used to identify psychologically important beliefs that determine this behavior. Intention was found to be a significant and sufficient predictor of behavior. Finally, the use of these findings for both applied and basic researchers is presented.
An active membrane model of the cerebellar Purkinje cell II. Simulation of synaptic responses.

1. Both excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic channels were added to a previously described complex compartmental model of a cerebellar Purkinje cell to examine model responses to synaptic inputs. All model parameters remained as described previously, leaving maximum synaptic conductance as the only parameter that was tuned in the studies described in this paper. Under these conditions the model was capable of reproducing physiological recorded responses to each of the major types of synaptic input. 2. When excitatory synapses were activated on the smooth dendrites of the model, the model generated a complex dendritic Ca2+ spike similar to that generated by climbing fiber inputs. Examination of the model showed that activation of P-type Ca2+ channels in both the smooth and spiny dendrites augmented the depolarization during the complex spike and that Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels in the same dendritic regions determined the duration of the spike. When these synapses were activated under simulated current-clamp conditions the model also generated the characteristic dual reversal potential of the complex spike. The shape of the dendritic complex spike could be altered by changing the maximum conductance of the climbing fiber synapse and thus the amount of Ca2+ entering the cell. 3. To explore the background simple spike firing properties of Purkinje cells in vivo we added excitatory "parallel fiber" synapses to the spiny dendritic branches of the model. Continuous asynchronous activation of these granule cell synapses resulted in the generation of spontaneous sodium spikes. However, very low asynchronous input frequencies produced a highly regular, very fast rhythm (80-120 Hz), whereas slightly higher input frequencies resulted in Purkinje cell bursting. Both types of activity are uncharacteristic of in vivo Purkinje cell recordings. 4. Inhibitory synapses of the sort presumably generated by stellate cells were also added to the dendritic tree. When asynchronous activation of these inhibitory synapses was combined with continuous asynchronous excitatory input the model generated somatic action potentials in a much more stochastic pattern typical of real Purkinje cells. Under these conditions simulated inter-spike interval distributions resembled those found in experimental recordings. Also, as with in vivo recordings, the model did not generate dendritic bursts. This was mainly due to inhibition that suppressed the generation of dendritic Ca2+ spikes. 5. In the presence of asynchronous inhibition, changes in the average frequency of excitatory inputs modulated background simple spike firing frequencies in the natural range of Purkinje cell firing frequencies (30-100 Hz). This modulation was very sensitive to small changes in the average frequency of excitatory inputs. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Comparative Evaluation of Three Teaching Methods of Quantitative Techniques: Traditional Lecture, Socratic Dialogue, and PSI Format.

AbstractThe methods of analysis of most personalized systems of instruction (PSI) have left several questions unanswered: How much of the difference is reflected in (a) content learned vs. methods of grading and (b) in examination practices? One of the purposes of the present paper was to more rigorously examine these two questions. A second purpose was to compare a third alternate class structure, the Socratic dialogue method, to the traditional lecture and PSI formats on the grounds that much educational theory assumes that techniques that actively involve the student in learning are superior to those that do not. In this study, PSI was viewed more positively by students on subjective ratings and performance outcomes were higher with this method. Further, the treatments offering the multiple testing option produced more positive subjective and performance ratings than the treatments without this option.
Philosophical Accounts of Learning

There is an influential story about learning that retains a grip on the public mind. Main elements of this story include: the best learning resides in individual minds not bodies; it centres on propositions (true, false; more certain, less certain); such learning is transparent to the mind that has acquired it; so the acquisition of the best learning alters minds not bodies. Implications of these basic ideas include: the best learning can be expressed verbally and written down in books, etc.; the process and product of learning can be sharply distinguished; and, though residing in minds and books, the best learning can be applied, via bodies, to alter the external world. The pervasive influence of this story is apparent in many writings about learning, including philosophical writings. A number of basic assumptions about learning underpin this story. The central purpose of this paper is to further delineate and then challenge each of these basic assumptions. The main implication of challenging these basic assumptions is that a somewhat different philosophical understanding of learning emerges. This different understanding of learning may offer fresh insights on current educational issues.
Suppressing allostery in epitope mapping experiments using millisecond hydrogen / deuterium exchange mass spectrometry

ABSTRACT Localization of the interface between the candidate antibody and its antigen target, commonly known as epitope mapping, is a critical component of the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. With the recent availability of commercial automated systems, hydrogen / deuterium eXchange (HDX) is rapidly becoming the tool for mapping epitopes preferred by researchers in both industry and academia. However, this approach has a significant drawback in that it can be confounded by ‘allosteric’ structural and dynamic changes that result from the interaction, but occur far from the point(s) of contact. Here, we introduce a ‘kinetic’ millisecond HDX workflow that suppresses allosteric effects in epitope mapping experiments. The approach employs a previously introduced microfluidic apparatus that enables millisecond HDX labeling times with on-chip pepsin digestion and electrospray ionization. The ‘kinetic’ workflow also differs from conventional HDX-based epitope mapping in that the antibody is introduced to the antigen at the onset of HDX labeling. Using myoglobin / anti-myoglobin as a model system, we demonstrate that at short ‘kinetic’ workflow labeling times (i.e., 200 ms), the HDX signal is already fully developed at the ‘true’ epitope, but is still largely below the significance threshold at allosteric sites. Identification of the ‘true’ epitope is supported by computational docking predictions and allostery modeling using the rigidity transmission allostery algorithm.
Structure of layer II in cat primary auditory cortex (AI)

The cytoarchitecture, myeloarchitecture, neuronal architecture, and intrinsic and laminar organization of layer II were studied in the primary auditory cortex (AI) of adult cats. The chief goal was to describe the different types of cells and axons to provide a framework for experimental studies of corticocortical connections or of neurons accumulating putative neurotransmitters. A further goal was to differentiate layer II from layer III. Layer II extends from 150–200 μm to about 400 μm beneath the pia and has two subparts. The superficial stratum, layer IIa, has many small, chiefly non‐pyramidal neurons, primarily with round or oval perikarya, and a sparse, fine, and irregularly arranged axonal plexus. Layer IIb somata are larger and more densely packed and there is a more developed vertical and lateral axonal plexus. The border with layer III was marked by numerous large pyramidal cells with a thicker apical dendrite with more developed basal dendrite arbors than those of layer II pyramidal cells. Eight varieties of neurons were recognized in Golgi‐impregnated material. These included (1) small and (2) medium‐sized pyramidal cells, whose apical dendrites often ramified in layer I; (3) bipolar and bitufted cells with polarized, sparse dendrite arbors; (4) small smooth or sparsely spinous multipolar cells with radiating dendrites and small dendritic fields; (5) spinous multipolar cells, whose large dendritic fields had more extensive apical than basal arbors; (6) large sparsely spinous multipolar cells with smooth, robust apical dendrites; (7) tufted multipolar cells with highly developed apical dendrites and some dendritic appendages; and (8) extroverted multipolar cells with a broad, candelabra‐shaped dendritic configuration, and with most dendrites oriented at right angles to the pia. The axons of the different cell types had the following general dispositions: those arising from the pyramidal cells could often be traced into the white matter but had many local branches as well; those of the other neurons had more or less extensive local axonal collateral systems and fewer branches which appeared to be corticofugal. However, the complete trajectory of the axons was not always impregnated in the adult material. Several types of layer II neurons, including non‐pyramidal cells, project to layer III (or other cortical layers), and various kinds of neurons in layers II, IV, and V in AI send their axons to layer II.