Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-Organization of Dynein Motors Generates Meiotic Nuclear Oscillations

Meiotic nuclear oscillations in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe are crucial for proper chromosome pairing and recombination. We report a mechanism of these oscillations on the basis of collective behavior of dynein motors linking the cell cortex and dynamic microtubules that extend from the spindle pole body in opposite directions. By combining quantitative live cell imaging and laser ablation with a theoretical description, we show that dynein dynamically redistributes in the cell in response to load forces, resulting in more dynein attached to the leading than to the trailing microtubules. The redistribution of motors introduces an asymmetry of motor forces pulling in opposite directions, leading to the generation of oscillations. Our work provides the first direct in vivo observation of self-organized dynamic dynein distributions, which, owing to the intrinsic motor properties, generate regular large-scale movements in the cell.
Contrasting Effects of Climate Change on Rabbit Populations through Reproduction

Background Climate change is affecting many physical and biological processes worldwide. Anticipating its effects at the level of populations and species is imperative, especially for organisms of conservation or management concern. Previous studies have focused on estimating future species distributions and extinction probabilities directly from current climatic conditions within their geographical ranges. However, relationships between climate and population parameters may be so complex that to make these high-level predictions we need first to understand the underlying biological processes driving population size, as well as their individual response to climatic alterations. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the influence that climate change may have on species population dynamics through altering breeding season. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a mechanistic model based on drivers of rabbit reproductive physiology together with demographic simulations to show how future climate-driven changes in breeding season result in contrasting rabbit population trends across Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, where rabbits are a native species of high ecological and economic value, breeding seasons will shorten and become more variable leading to population declines, higher extinction risk, and lower resilience to perturbations. Whereas towards north-eastern countries, rabbit numbers are expected to increase through longer and more stable reproductive periods, which augment the probability of new rabbit invasions in those areas. Conclusions/Significance Our study reveals the type of mechanisms through which climate will cause alterations at the species level and emphasizes the need to focus on them in order to better foresee large-scale complex population trends. This is especially important in species like the European rabbit whose future responses may aggravate even further its dual keystone/pest problematic. Moreover, this approach allows us to predict not only distribution shifts but also future population status and growth, and to identify the demographic parameters on which to focus to mitigate global change effects.
Correlation of passivity symptoms and dysfunctional visuomotor action monitoring in psychosis

Passivity experiences are hallmark symptoms of schizophrenia that can be characterized by the belief that one's thoughts or actions are controlled by an external agent. It has recently been suggested that these psychotic experiences result from defective monitoring of one's own actions, i.e. disturbed comparison of actions and perceived outcomes. In this study, we examined the function of the previously characterized action monitoring network of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), medial (mPFC) and lateral prefrontal cortices in patients with different levels of passivity symptoms with an fMRI task. The visuomotor fMRI task demanded control of visually perceived object movements by alternating button presses with the left and the right index finger. In the monitoring condition of this task subjects stopped their actions whenever they detected visuomotor incongruence. fMRI and behavioural data from 15 patients were tested for correlation with passivity symptoms using standardized Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS)- and AMDP- passivity symptom ratings. Both types of data were tested for differences between the patients group and 15 healthy controls. In the patient group we found the expected correlation of passivity symptoms and visuomotor monitoring performance. There was a significant positive correlation of passivity symptoms with increased latency of incongruence detection and a negative correlation of SAPS-passivity with the number of detected events. fMRI data revealed correlations of passivity symptoms with activation in bilateral IPL, primary motor and sensory cortices in the action monitoring condition. A correlation of passivity symptoms with the main experimental effect (actions with – actions without monitoring) was found in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and in the left IPL. No group differences or group by task interactions were found within the visuomotor-action-monitoring network. Our results demonstrate the association between passivity symptoms and the dysfunction of visuomotor action monitoring and support the idea that psychotic passivity experiences result from dysfunctions of central action monitoring mechanisms: According to pre-existing concepts of parietal cortex function, IPL-hyperactivation may represent an increase in false detections of visuomotor incongruence while the correlation between passivity and the differential effect of monitoring on PCC-activation assumedly represents greater self-monitoring effort in passivity experiences.
The subtropical deacon cells

The circulation of the subtropical gyres can be decomposed into a horizontal recirculation along contours of constant Bernoulli potential and an overturning circulation across these contours. While the geometry and topology of Bernoulli contours is more com-plicated in the subtropical gyres than in the Southern Ocean, these subtropical over- 5 turning circulations are very much analogous to the Deacon cell found in the Southern Ocean. This analogy is formalised through an exact integral constraint, including the rectiﬁed e ﬀ ects of transient eddies. The constraint can be interpreted either in terms of vertical ﬂuxes of potential vorticity, or equivalently as an integral buoyancy budget for an imaginary ﬂuid parcel recirculating around a closed Bernoulli contour. Under condi- 10 tions of vanishing buoyancy and mechanical forcing, the constraint reduces to a generalised non-acceleration condition, under which the Eulerian-mean and eddy-induced overturning circulations exactly compensate. The terms in the integral constraint are diagnosed in an eddy-permitting ocean model in both the North Paciﬁc subtropical gyre and the Southern Ocean. The extent to which the Eulerian-mean and eddy-induced 15 overturning circulations compensate is discussed in each case.
A new "critical-current at linear-threshold" method for direct extraction of deep-submicron MOSFET effective channel length

A novel method for direct extraction of deep-submicron MOSFET effective channel length is proposed, which requires only a single measurement of the "critical-current at linear-threshold" ("I/sub crit/@V/sub t0/") based on the maximum-g/sub m/ definition. With a simple calibration of the channel sheet resistance from the long-channel I/sub crit/ data, the effective channel length of any short-channel device on the same wafer can be determined with one measurement of I/sub crit/@V/sub t0/. Meanwhile, an averaged (modeled) effective channel length can be obtained from the same data set with a simple algorithm, which can be used for device/circuit modeling.
Recovery of hippocampus-related functions in chronic alcoholics during monitored long-term abstinence.

AIMS The hippocampus (HC) is characterized by high vulnerability to noxious influence, but also by a considerable regenerative potential. Although deficits in HC-related functions are among the most commonly reported cognitive sequelae in alcoholism, little and conflicting information is available concerning regeneration upon abstinence. The present study has been designed to evaluate (i) the frequency of measurable dysfunction in so called HC tests and (ii) its predictive value for risk to relapse in a cohort of 50 severely affected chronic alcoholic patients and (iii) to monitor recovery of HC-related functions upon strict abstention from alcohol. METHODS Patients underwent a 2-year neuropsychological follow-up including HC-associated tests (Verbal Learning Test, VLT; Nonverbal Learning Test, NVLT; 'City Map Test' of Learning and Memory Test, LGT-3), as well as tests of intelligence and attention in the framework of OLITA (Outpatient Long-Term Intensive Therapy for Alcoholics), a programme with careful abstinence monitoring. RESULTS At study entry, 30/50 (60%) alcoholics had HC dysfunction which tended to predict a lower long-term abstinence probability (P = 0.058). Of the subgroup that could be followed under conditions of strictly monitored alcohol abstinence (n = 32; age 44.7 +/- 6.2 years; 23 men, 9 women), 53% (17/32) exhibited distinct HC dysfunction at inclusion which returned to normal after 2 years. Patients with initially normal HC function (9/32) and patients with additional brain damage of different aetiologies (6/32) failed to show improvement on HC-related tests. While the former displayed stably normal HC test performance, the latter remained on a performance level below normal. CONCLUSIONS Demonstrating slow but remarkable regeneration of HC functions upon strict abstention from alcohol, our data strongly support abstinence-oriented long-term treatment of alcoholics. The absence of functional recovery in patients with additional causes of brain damage might be explained by the 'dual hit' exhausting the regenerative potential of the HC.
The moderating role of identification and campaign exposure in party cueing effects

Abstract In a democracy, citizens are expected to have political opinions. Previous research has shown that citizens, in part, form their opinions by following cues from political parties. Building on this literature, this article argues that these cueing effects are the result of individuals identifying with political parties, leading to parties as credible sources and alignment of attitudes to maintain in-group coherence (motivated reasoning). However, party cues can only be successful when individuals are actually exposed to these cues, which previous research has not explicitly studied. Using survey data (N = 20,893) collected from 21 EU member states, this study shows that cueing effects indeed depend on the strength of party identification and the degree of exposure. These results demonstrate the contingent nature of party cueing effects which are also changing as party loyalties decrease.
The Emotional and Social Effects of Dyslexia

Dyslexia, is one of the disorders with a greater prevalence among the group of the learning disorders. With the passing years many studies (observations) to explain the causes of dyslexia and to show the newest interventions in this field has been made. People withdyslexia have to overcome quite a few barriersduring theirlivesin order to be able to fulfiltheir dreams and achieve their targets. The fact that some of themare not assessedat an earlyage can affect their self-esteemand theirself-concept. Once theyare assessedresearch has proved that people with dyslexia learnbetter once they aretaught in their preferred learning style(Mortimore, 2003). In dyslexia one of the most commonly missed areas is the emotional side. Teachers and parents are very good at noticing problems with reading, writing, spelling and even maths. They can miss the growing element of lack of motivation, low self-esteem and upset which develops as the child goes through school and the pressures grow greater and greater. The frustration of children with dyslexia often centers on their inability to meet expectations. Their parents and teachers see a bright, enthusiastic child who is not learning to read and write. Time and again, dyslexics and their parents hear, "He's such a bright child; if only he would try harder. " Ironically, no one knows exactly how hard the dyslexic is trying. The pain of failing to meet other people's expectations is surpassed only by dyslexics' inability to achieve their goals. This is particularly true of those who develop perfectionistic expectations in order to deal with their anxiety. They grow up believing that it is "terrible" to make a mistake. However, their learning disability, almost by definition means that these children will make many "careless" or "stupid" mistakes. This is extremely frustrating to them, as it makes them feel chronically inadequate. Thisinthe long termcan cause thema lot ofproblems in their personaland social life.
Evolutionary Monte Carlo for protein folding simulations

We demonstrate that evolutionary Monte Carlo (EMC) can be applied successfully to simulations of protein folding on simple lattice models, and to finding the ground state of a protein. In all cases, EMC is faster than the genetic algorithm and the conventional Metropolis Monte Carlo, and in several cases it finds new lower energy states. We also propose one method for the use of secondary structures in protein folding. The numerical results show that it is drastically superior to other methods in finding the ground state of a protein.
Sampling theorems and compressive sensing on the sphere

We discuss a novel sampling theorem on the sphere developed by McEwen & Wiaux recently through an association between the sphere and the torus. To represent a band-limited signal exactly, this new sampling theorem requires less than half the number of samples of other equiangular sampling theorems on the sphere, such as the canonical Driscoll & Healy sampling theorem. A reduction in the number of samples required to represent a band-limited signal on the sphere has important implications for compressive sensing, both in terms of the dimensionality and sparsity of signals. We illustrate the impact of this property with an inpainting problem on the sphere, where we show superior reconstruction performance when adopting the new sampling theorem.
Systems thinking in geography: can high school students do it?

ABSTRACT An increasing interconnectedness of people and goods enhances the complexity of many geographical problems. For students to understand geography, systems thinking is a promising approach. It helps to understand increasing complexity by looking at the entire system and at the interconnectedness between the elements in the system. In order to develop adequate systems oriented teaching and learning the current state of the art of students’ systems thinking ability needs to be better understood. The authors developed a measuring tool in the form of a paper-and-pencil test in which 735 students in the last or penultimate year of secondary school (age 16–18 year) in Flanders, Belgium, took part. The main findings reveal a rather poor general level of students’ systems thinking ability. Students have many difficulties recognizing relationships between variables when several elements of systems thinking come together such as in feedback loops, interactions between human and physical environment, and a combination of different information sources. Rather great differences were found according to the students’ study background as well as an interaction effect between grade and gender of the students.
Permutations fixing a k-set

Let $i(n,k)$ be the proportion of permutations $\pi\in\mathcal{S}_n$ having an invariant set of size $k$. In this note we adapt arguments of the second author to prove that $i(n,k) \asymp k^{-\delta} (1+\log k)^{-3/2}$ uniformly for $1\leq k\leq n/2$, where $\delta = 1 - \frac{1 + \log \log 2}{\log 2}$. As an application we show that the proportion of $\pi\in\mathcal{S}_n$ contained in a transitive subgroup not containing $\mathcal{A}_n$ is at least $n^{-\delta+o(1)}$ if $n$ is even.
Inductive Learning of Fuzzy Regression Trees

In this paper we present a novel approach to datadriven fuzzy modeling which aims to create highly accurate but also easily comprehensible models. This goal is obtained by defining a flexible but expressive language automatically from the data. This language is then used to inductively learn fuzzy regression trees from the data. Finally, we present a detailed comparison study on the performance of the proposed method and an outlook to future developments.
Enzymes for Pancreatic Islet Isolation Impact Chemokine-Production and Polarization of Insulin-Producing β-Cells with Reduced Functional Survival of Immunoisolated Rat Islet-Allografts as a Consequence

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether normal variations in enzyme-activities of collagenases applied for rat-islet isolation impact longevity of encapsulated islet grafts. Also we studied the functional and immunological properties of rat islets isolated with different enzyme preparations to determine whether this impacts these parameters. Rat-islets were isolated from the pancreas with two different collagenases with commonly accepted collagenase, neutral protease, and clostripain activities. Islets had a similar and acceptable glucose-induced insulin-release profile but a profound statistical significant difference in production of the chemokines IP-10 and Gro-α. The islets were studied with nanotomy which is an EM-based technology for unbiased study of ultrastructural features of islets such as cell-cell contacts, endocrine-cell condition, ER stress, mitochondrial conditions, and cell polarization. The islet-batch with higher chemokine-production had a lower amount of polarized insulin-producing β-cells. All islets had more intercellular spaces and less interconnected areas with tight cell-cell junctions when compared to islets in the pancreas. Islet-graft function was studied by implanting encapsulated and free islet grafts in rat recipients. Alginate-based encapsulated grafts isolated with the enzyme-lot inducing higher chemokine production and lower polarization survived for a two-fold shorter period of time. The lower survival-time of the encapsulated grafts was correlated with a higher influx of inflammatory cells at 7 days after implantation. Islets from the same two batches transplanted as free unencapsulated-graft, did not show any difference in survival or function in vivo. Lack of insight in factors contributing to the current lab-to-lab variation in longevity of encapsulated islet-grafts is considered to be a threat for clinical application. Our data suggest that seemingly minor variations in activity of enzymes applied for islet-isolation might contribute to longevity-variations of immunoisolated islet-grafts.
Role of GABA in generating the 10‐Hz rhythm in sympathetic nerve discharge

The 10‐Hz rhythm in SND of the cat is dependent on neurons located in the caudal and rostral ventral lateral medulla (VLM) and medullary raphe (Barman and Gebber, J Biol Rhythms 15: –379, 2000). We sought to determine whether GABA‐mediated synaptic transmission in these regions is involved in 10‐Hz rhythm generation. For this purpose, we recorded the discharges of the left and right inferior cardiac or the left vertebral and right inferior cardiac postganglionic sympathetic nerves in baroreceptor‐denervated cats anesthetized with urethane. Unilateral microinjection of GABA‐A receptor antagonists (50 nl of 1‐ mM solution of either SR‐95531 or bicuculline) into the VLM eliminated the 10‐Hz rhythm bilaterally. This was the case for injections made in single or multiple tracks in the VLM between the obex and 6 mm rostral. Recovery occurred within 3 h, and 10‐Hz SND was unchanged after microinjection of vehicle (phosphate buffered saline). In contrast, the 10‐Hz rhythm in SND was enhanced by multiple microinjections of the GABA antagonists into the raphe from 0 to 6 mm rostral to the obex. These results indicate that GABA‐mediated synaptic inhibition in the VLM is critical for 10‐Hz rhythm generation. Moreover, the data support the view that networks of neurons located bilaterally throughout the VLM act as a unit to generate the 10‐Hz rhythm in SND.
Global Financial Conditions, Country Spreads and Macroeconomic Fluctuations in Emerging Countries

This paper uses a panel structural vector autoregressive (VAR) model to investigate the extent to which global financial conditions, i.e., a global risk-free interest rate and global financial risk, and country spreads contribute to macroeconomic fluctuations in emerging countries. The main findings are: (1) Global financial risk shocks explain about 20 percent of movements both in the country spread and in the aggregate activity in emerging economies. (2) The contribution of global risk-free interest rate shocks to macroeconomic fluctuations in emerging economies is negligible. Its role, which was emphasized in the literature, is taken up by global financial risk shocks. (3) Country spread shocks explain about 15 percent of the business cycles in emerging economies. (4) Interdependence between economic activity and the country spread is a key mechanism through which global financial shocks are transmitted to emerging economies.
Targeting Top Terrorists: How Leadership Decapitation Contributes to Counterterrorism

Several states, including Israel and the United States, have put decapitation tactics, which seek to kill or capture leaders of terrorist organizations, at the forefront of their counterterrorism efforts. The vast majority of scholarly work on decapitation suggests, however, that leadership decapitation is ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. Contrary to this conventional wisdom, leadership decapitation significantly increases the mortality rate of terrorist groups, although the results indicate that the effect of decapitation decreases with the age of the group, even to a point where it may have no effect at all. This finding helps to explain the previously perplexing mixed record of decapitation effectiveness. Terrorist groups are especially susceptible to leadership decapitation because their organizational characteristics (they are violent, clandestine, and values based) amplify the difficulties of leadership succession. Additionally, in contrast to the conventional wisdom regarding the durability of terrorist groups, politically relevant terrorist groups (defined as those with at least four attacks including one attack resulting in a fatality) endure significantly longer than previously believed.
Managing Conflict in a South African Non-Profit Organization : An Analysis of Conflict Generating Factors and Conflict Management Styles

The purpose of this article is to examine the conflict generating factors in a medium-sized municipality and the conflict management styles employees apply in conflict situations. Considering the fact that transformation and affirmative action has taken place at an accelerated rate during the past decade in municipalities in South Africa, it is assumed that interpersonal conflict in these institutions could be the result of unique causes and that it affects employees in different ways. Consequently various styles are used to manage conflict. Addressing this problem of conflict dynamics in a new environment, the purpose of this paper is to examine what factors generate interpersonal conflict, and what conflict-management styles are applied in conflict situations. The findings of this exploratory study revealed that affirmative action played the most important role in conflict and that the conflict-handling styles used turned out to be a function of different variables such as age-status, gender, tenure, academic qualifications, and language.