Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Caesium blocks depolarizing after‐potentials and phasic firing in rat supraoptic neurones

1 The effects of Cs+ on the action potential, post‐train after‐hyperpolarization (AHP), Ca2+‐dependent post‐spike depolarizing after‐potential (DAP) and phasic firing were examined during intracellular recordings from magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) in superfused rat hypothalamic explants. 2 Extracellular Cs+ reversibly inhibited (IC50, ≈1 mM) DAPs, and associated after‐discharges, that followed brief spike trains in each of sixteen cells tested. Although bath application of Cs+ also provoked a small reversible depolarization, inhibition of the DAP was retained when membrane voltage was kept constant by current injection. 3 Application of Cs+ had no significant effects on spike duration (n= 8), frequency‐dependent spike broadening (n= 8), spike hyperpolarizing after‐potentials (n= 14), or the amplitude of the isolated AHP (n= 7). Caesium‐evoked inhibition of the DAP, therefore, does not result from diminished spike‐evoked Ca2+ influx, and may reflect direct blockade of the conductance underlying the DAP. 4 Inhibition of the DAP was associated with an enhancement of the amplitude and duration of the AHP, indicating that the currents underlying the AHP and the DAP overlap in time following a train of action potentials, and that the relative magnitude of these currents is an important factor in determining the shape and time course of post‐train after‐potentials. 5 Bath application of Cs+ reversibly abolished phasic firing in each of seven cells tested. This effect was reversible and persisted at all subthreshold voltages tested. These results indicate that the current underlying the DAP is necessary for the genesis of plateau potentials and phasic firing in MNCs.
Effect of age and tumor grade on BOLD functional MR imaging in preoperative assessment of patients with glioma.

PURPOSE To retrospectively determine if there was a combined effect of advanced age and increased tumor grade on blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging signal intensity (SI) in patients with gliomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS The institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant study, and the informed consent requirement was waived. Data from 39 patients (27 men, 12 women; age range, 19-78 years) who had histopathologically confirmed gliomas and who underwent surgery after preoperative functional MR imaging were analyzed. Fourteen patients had grade II or grade III gliomas, and 25 patients had grade IV gliomas. A change in BOLD SI was measured in motor cortices of tumor-containing and non-tumor-containing hemispheres. The effect of age and tumor grade, both individually and together, on BOLD functional MR SI was assessed with t tests and regression analysis. RESULTS In patients with grade IV gliomas, SI change was lower in the tumor-containing hemisphere than in the non-tumor-containing hemisphere (P = .012). SI change decreased with increased age in the tumor-containing hemisphere in patients with grade II or III gliomas (P = .032) and in the non-tumor-containing hemisphere in patients with grade IV gliomas (P = .026). While advanced age and increased glioma grade reduced SI change, the combined effect of these factors was not additive. In patients with grade IV gliomas, tumor presence reduced SI change, but the level of reduction was uniform across all ages and did not correlate with age (P = .541). CONCLUSION In older patients with grade IV gliomas, BOLD SI is equivalent to that measured in younger patients with grade IV gliomas. Advanced age and tumor grade do not have a combined effect for reduction of BOLD SI. Rather, in patients with grade IV gliomas, tumor grade played a dominant role in reduction of SI change, whereas in patients with grade II and III gliomas, reduction of SI change correlated with only advanced age.
Criminal Victims, Victimized Criminals, or Both? an Econometric Analysis of the Victim‐offender Overlap

Offenders are more likely than non‐offenders to be victims, and victims are more likely than non‐victims to be offenders. So far, the overlap between offenders and victims is not well understood in criminology, and in the economics of crime this stylized empirical fact is even widely ignored. One of the major limiting problems seems to be the lack of adequate individual data. This paper tries to fill this gap by, a) summarizing previous theoretical arguments underlying the overlap found in the criminological and economic literature, and, b) by analyzing a unique survey data set, originally collected as control group to the German Inmate Survey. Bivariate Probit results show that both criminal and victimization risks are partly driven by common observed and unobserved factors. Moreover, exogeneity tests are in line with the hypothesis that the joint bivariate process can be characterized by exogenous variation of offending and an endogenous role of victimization.
Sposensor: A Whole-Bacterial Biosensor That Uses Immobilized Bacillus subtilis Spores and a One-Step Incubation/Detection Process

A generic whole-cell bacterial sensor called sposensor was developed with immobilized sporesfrom engineered Bacillus subtilis. Sposensor contains two different types of spores: reporting spores that contain a reporter gene fused to a promoter responding to a compound to be detected, and control spores use to monitor cell germination and viability. A one-step incubation/detection process was developed to meet the constraints of on-site analysis. Spores were directly incubated with culture medium containing the compound to be detected. β-Galactosidase was chosen as a reporter protein in both cases and its activity followed by a colorimetric assay. Results showed that sposensor was efficient in detecting two different compounds, a metal (Zn2+) and a peptidic antibiotic (bacitracin). Owing to the stability and robustness of spores, sposensor is a very efficient and easy tool to manipulate for analyzing the presence of toxic compounds in natural settings.
School Reform Through a Highly Specified Curriculum: Implementation and Effects of the Core Knowledge Sequence

This article reports on the first systematic national study of Core Knowledge Sequence implementation and effects. The Core Knowledge Sequence is a list of curricular topics to teach in the elementary grades. This study employed a mixed-method design involving longitudinal case studies of Core Knowledge schools combined with a quasi-experimental, untreated control group design. Findings showed that the Core Knowledge Sequence was implemented successfully in 3 of 4 schools and that consistent relationships existed between improved implementation and improved test scores. Core Knowledge students' basic skills standardized tests scores were about the same as, or slightly better than, demographically matched control students' scores. Students in Core Knowledge schools, however, scored significantly higher than control students on tests of Core Knowledge content. Core Knowledge implementation also led to increased curricular coordination and the use of project-based instruction and contributed positively to teachers' professional lives. However, the reform was work intensive and was accompanied by negative political attributes. Implications for curricular reform are discussed.
Perception of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions in a post-merger South African tertiary institution

A merger can be considered both a phenomenological and signifcant life event for an organisation and its employees, and how people cope with and respond to a merger has a direct impact on the institutional performance in the short to medium term. It is within this context that post-merger perceptions of a tertiary institution were investigated. A predictive model (determined the “best” of 15 predefned models) of turnover intentions was developed for employees of a South African tertiary institution (having undergone its own recent merging process). A systematic model-building process was carried out incorporating various techniques, among others structural equation modelling and step-wise linear regression. The fnal predictive model explained 47% of the variance in turnover intentions. Contrary to expectations, commitment does not correlate more strongly than satisfaction does with turnover intentions.
A compartmental approach to the mechanism of calcification in hermatypic corals

Ca2+ compartments, Ca2+ transport and the calcification process were studied by using 45Ca as a tracer. The biological model used was clones of Stylophora pistillata developed into microcolonies whose skeleton is entirely covered by tissues, thus avoiding direct radioisotope exchange between the sea water and the skeleton. The study of Ca2+ compartments was performed by measuring two complementary parameters: Ca2+ influx and Ca2+ efflux kinetics. Kinetic analysis of 45Ca uptake revealed three exchangeable and one non-exchangeable Ca2+ compartments in these microcolonies. The first compartment was saturable with a short half-time (4 min), correlated to external Ca2+ concentration and insensitive to metabolic or ion transport inhibitors. This compartment (72.88 nmol Ca2+ mg-1 protein) has been previously attributed to sea water present in the coelenteron. The second Ca2+ compartment (7.12 nmol Ca2+ mg-1 protein) was soluble in NaOH, saturable with a half-time of 20 min and displayed a combination of Michaelis-Menten kinetics and diffusional entry. It was insensitive to a variety of inhibitors but its loading was stimulated by Ca2+ channel inhibitors. On the basis of uptake experiments, the existence of a third compartment with a rapid turnover rate (about 2 min) and a very small size is predicted. It is suggested that this compartment corresponds to the calicoblastic epithelium. Ca2+ flux through this compartment was facilitated by voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (with L-type characteristics) and Ca2+-ATPase and was coupled to an anion carrier. Transcellular Ca2+ movement was dependent on the cytoskeleton. The rate of Ca2+ flux across this epithelium was about 975 pmol mg-1 protein min-1. The fourth calcium compartment, corresponding to the skeleton, was soluble in HCl and non-exchangeable. After a short lag phase (about 2 min), the rate of Ca2+ deposition was linear over a period of at least 5 h. The calcification rate was 975 pmol mg-1 protein h-1 at an irradiance of 175 µmol photons m-2 s-1. It followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics and saturated at levels (9 mmol l-1) close to the Ca2+ concentration of sea water. Wash-out (efflux) experiments employing several different protocols allowed identification of six compartments. The first two compartments were extracellular (bulk extracolonial water and coelenteron). The third compartment may be part of the second Ca2+ compartment identified by influx experiments. A fourth compartment was sensitive to the Ca2+ channel inhibitor D600 and appeared to be associated with the NaOH-soluble (tissue) Ca2+ pool. Two compartments were identified during skeletal efflux, the first being small and due to either tissue carry-over or a labile skeletal compartment. The second compartment corresponded to bulk skeletal deposition. The various efflux protocols produced varying estimates of tissue Ca2+ levels and calcification rates and, thus, coral post-incubation processing has a profound impact on experimental interpretation.
How People With Serious Mental Illness Seek Help After Leaving Jail

In this study, I examined how people with serious mental illness defined and prioritized their service needs when released from jail and how these service priorities shaped the sequencing of help-seeking activities after their release. Data included ethnographic observations and interviews with the staff and clients of a mental health reentry program and responses to an open-ended questionnaire that was given to the program’s clients (N = 115). Sixty-three percent of the clients identified housing and 35% identified financial assistance as one of their two most important service needs, whereas only 12% selected treatment services. These service priorities reflect a hierarchy in help-seeking activities postrelease in which clients’ access to treatment services was predicated on their ability to first find sustainable economic and material support. I conclude that reentry programs need to have the resources required to meet both the basic and treatment needs of people with serious mental illness leaving jail.
An Overview of Attention: Behavior and Brain

The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of attention as it has been studied in the field of psychology. Broad themes in terms of theory are highlighted, focusing on concepts of attentional resources and attentional effort. In addition, a functional approach to understanding attention is presented, describing attention in terms of the task contexts in which it may operate: selective attention, divided attention, attention switching, and sustained attention. Factors promoting and impairing good task performance in each of these contexts are introduced. Posner's attentional network and Mesulam's attentional matrix are also briefly reviewed in support of the point that attentional functions appear to be distributed throughout the human brain. Topics covered provide a foundation for understanding attention and its role in everyday behavior, as well as a rubric for thinking about and understanding attentional behavior that would be useful in practice.
Greenpeace v. Shell: media exploitation and the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF)

This paper examines the usefulness of the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF) in understanding the media's role in risk communication. Since the SARF was created in 1988, it has been both further developed and critiqued for (amongst other things) its: static conception of communication; lack of attention towards how key actors use the media; lack of systematic attention towards the media as an amplification station; and simplistic assumptions of how the media operate as an amplification station. A complex heavily‐mediated risk communication case study—the battle between Greenpeace and Shell over the deep‐sea disposal of the Brent Spar oil rig (1995)—is used to explore whether the SARF in its current stage of development stands up to these critiques. It is concluded that these critiques are more a consequence of how researchers have used the SARF rather than a fault of the SARF itself. Using the SARF framework with a qualitative case study methodology enabled systematic analysis of the role of relevant media in the social amplification of risk in the Spar issue, exposing how Greenpeace used the media to successfully communicate three risk signals, together with the inadequacies of Shell's reactions; and revealing the layering within amplification stations, including the media itself.
The patterning of work meanings which are coterminous with work outcome levels for individuals in Japan, Germany and the USA

L'analyse des donnees relatives a la signification du travail fournies par des echantillons representatifs des travailleurs allemands, japonais et americains montre qu'il existe une relation etroite entre les modeles individuals de signification du travail et les scores sur des variables dependantes generale-ment considerees comme importantes pour l'individu (le revenu, la qualite du travail, la satisfaction professionnelle et la satisfaction liee au poste). On fait l'hypothese que ces resultats convaincants s'observent en raison des “effets cohesifs” de certains modeles de signification du travail sur la “mobilisation motivationnelle” qui elle-meme influence les niveaux de performances. Selon ce type de raisonnement, les significations du travail sont des dimensions cognitives de la personnalite en rapport avec les niveaux de performances a travers leurs effets sur la motivation. Une possibilite de causalite reciproque entre personnalite et performance est mentionnee et on souligne la necessite d‘etudier plus avant la raison de cette relation etroite. Analysis of work meaning data from representative national labour force samples in Germany, Japan, and the United States shows that there is a strong contingency between work meaning pattern membership of individuals and levels of outcome realisation on outcomes generally considered important to the individual (income, quality of work, occupational satisfaction, and job satisfaction). These strong findings are hypothesised to occur because of the “cohesive effects” of certain meaning of working patterns on “effort outlay” which in turn influences the level of outcome(s). This line of reasoning sees work meanings as personality constructs which are related to outcome levels through their effects on effort outlay. The possibility of reciprocal causation occurring between work personality and work outcomes is noted and the need to study further the causality of this strong contingency is highlighted.
Communication Satisfaction and Topics of Conversation in Grandparent-Grandchild Communication in Russia

This study surveyed Russian university-aged grandchildren and their grandparents and investigated their reports of topics of conversation with each other. For grandchildren and grandparents, education and family were identified as the most frequently reported topics. Occupation, health, friends, current events, and historical events were also reported as common topics of conversation. For Russian grandparents, three reported conversational topics (education, family, and history) were significantly and positively associated with communication satisfaction, whereas one reported conversational topic (current events) was negatively associated with communication satisfaction. For Russian grandchildren, reported conversations with grandparents about family were positively associated with communication satisfaction, while reported discussions about health negatively correlated with communication satisfaction. The study was aimed at finding cultural differences between grandparent-grandchild communication in Russia and identified several of them.
Differences in the Treatment Response to Antithyroid Drugs versus Electroconvulsive Therapy in a Case of Recurrent Catatonia due to Graves' Disease

We reported a case which presented recurrent episodes of catatonia as a result of Graves' disease with hyperthyroidism. The patient showed different treatment response in each episodes; in the first episode, psychiatric and physical symptoms were resolved by a combination of antithyroid and anxiolytic therapies, while in the second episode, the combination therapy did not ameliorate her symptoms and ECT was indicated. We postulated that decreased CSF level of TTR and the resulting susceptibility to the derangement of peripheral thyroid function might be involved in this different treatment response.
A Publication of the Association of Management THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION SECURITY BREACHES ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE BREACHED FIRMS : AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION MYUNG KO DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN

This study investigates the impact of information security breaches on firm performance. Unlike previous studies that used an event study methodology, we used a matched-sample comparison analysis to investigate the impact of security breaches on firm performance. To investigate this impact, we considered subsequent four quarters following the security breach and determine if the breached firms’ performance decreased compared to that of the peer firms (control group). Although the breached firms’ sales and operating income did not decrease in the subsequent quarters following the breach, return on assets decreased in the third quarter. Also, performance of the control firms was higher compared to that of the treatment firms in general. However, the breached firms’ sales increased significantly in the fourth quarter compared to those of the control firms.
Differential Association of Generalized and Abdominal Obesity With Diabetic Retinopathy in Asian Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

IMPORTANCE The association between obesity and diabetic retinopathy (DR) is equivocal, possibly owing to the strong interrelation between generalized and abdominal obesity leading to a mutually confounding effect. To our knowledge, no study in Asia has investigated the independent associations of these 2 parameters with DR to date. OBJECTIVE To investigate the associations of generalized (defined by body mass index [BMI], calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) and abdominal obesity (assessed by waist to hip ratio [WHR]) with DR in a clinical sample of Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional clinic-based study was conducted at the Singapore National Eye Centre, a tertiary eye care institution in Singapore, from December 2010 to September 2013. We recruited 498 patients with diabetes. After exclusion of participants with ungradable retinal images and type 1 diabetes, 420 patients (mean [SD] age, 57.8 [7.5] years; 32.1% women) were included in the analyses. EXPOSURES Body mass index and WHR as waist/hip circumference (in centimeters). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The presence and severity of DR were graded from retinal images using the modified Airlie House Classification into none (n = 189), mild-moderate (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study scale score, 20-41; n = 125), and severe DR (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study scale score ≥53; n = 118). The associations of BMI and WHR with DR were assessed using multinomial logistic regression models adjusting for age, sex, traditional risk factors, and mutually for BMI and WHR. RESULTS Among the total of 420 patients, the median (interquartile range) for BMI and WHR were 25.7 (5.7) and 0.94 (0.08), respectively. In multivariable models, BMI was inversely associated with mild-moderate and severe DR (odds ratio [OR], 0.90 [95% CI, 0.84-0.97] and OR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.85-0.99] per 1-unit increase, respectively), while WHR was positively associated with mild-moderate and severe DR (OR, 3.49 [95% CI, 1.50-8.10] and OR, 2.68 [95% CI, 1.28-5.62] per 0.1-unit increase, respectively) in women (P for interaction = .006). No sex-specific associations were found between BMI and DR (P for interaction >.10). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In Asian patients with type 2 diabetes, a higher BMI appeared to confer a protective effect on DR, while higher WHR was associated with the presence and severity of DR in women. Our results may inform future clinical trials to determine whether WHR is a more clinically relevant risk marker than BMI for individuals with type 2 diabetes.
UrbanMatch - linking and improving Smart Cities Data

Urban-related data and geographic information are becoming mainstream in the Linked Data community due also to the popularity of Location-based Services. In this paper, we introduce the UrbanMatch game, a mobile gaming application that joins data linkage and data quality/trustworthiness assessment in an urban environment. By putting together Linked Data and Human Computation, we create a new interaction paradigm to consume and produce location-specic linked data by involving and engaging the nal user. The UrbanMatch game is also oered as an example of value proposition and business model of a new family of linked data applications based on gaming in Smart Cities.