Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corticospinal Plasticity in Bilateral Primary Motor Cortices Induced by Paired Associative Stimulation to the Dominant Hemisphere Does Not Differ between Young and Older Adults

Older adults have been shown to exhibit a reduction in the lateralization of neural activity. Although neuroplasticity induced by noninvasive brain stimulation has been reported to be attenuated in the targeted motor cortex of older adults, it remains possible that the plasticity effects may instead manifest in a more distributed (bilateral) network. Furthermore, attention, which modulates neuroplasticity in young adults, may influence these effects. To address these questions, plasticity was induced in young (19–32 years) and older (65–78 years) adults using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) paired with peripheral nerve stimulation. The plasticity effects induced by this paired associative stimulation (PAS) protocol in the targeted and nontargeted hemispheres were probed using TMS-induced motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) recorded from the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscle of each hand. PAS-induced effects were highly variable across individuals, with only half of the participants in each group demonstrating the expected increase in MEP amplitude. Contrary to predictions, however, PAS-induced corticospinal plasticity manifests predominately in the targeted hemisphere for both young and older adults. Attention to the target hand did not enhance corticospinal plasticity. The results suggest that plasticity does not manifest differently across bilateral corticospinal pathways between young and older adults.
Transcriptional regulation of genes encoding insulin, glucagon, and angiotensinogen by sodium butyrate in a rat islet cell line

The state of differentiation of various neoplastic cell lines is inversely correlated with the rate of cellular growth. To delineate the changes in hormone gene expression associated with an induced decrease in the growth rate of rat insulinoma cells, we studied the effects of sodium butyrate on the expression of the genes encoding insulin, glucagon, and angiotensinogen. Sodium butyrate inhibited cellular proliferation and decreased levels of c-myc mRNA. Concomitantly, steady-state levels of mRNAs encoding insulin and glucagon increased by 10- and 8.5-fold, respectively, as a result of a specific increase in the transcription of both genes. Sodium butyrate also inhibited angiotensinogen gene expression, which was ectopic in the insulinoma cells. These observations suggest that sodium butyrate induces a pattern of events leading to the differentiation of the rat insulinoma cells.
Preroughening, diffusion, and growth of a fcc(111) surface.

Preroughening of close-packed fcc(111) surfaces, found in rare gas solids, is an interesting, but poorly characterized phase transition. We introduce a restricted solid-on-solid model, named FCSOS, which describes it. Using mostly Monte Carlo, we study both statics, including critical behavior and scattering properties, and dynamics, including surface diffusion and growth. In antiphase scattering, it is shown that preroughening will generally show up at most as a dip. Surface growth is predicted to be continuous at preroughening, where surface self-diffusion should also drop. The physical mechanism leading to preroughening on rare gas surfaces is analysed, and identified in the step-step elastic repulsion.
A plea for abandonment of the term "highly sensitive" for thyrotropin assays.

Makar and Tephly, in a recent Letter (1), questioned the validity of analyses for serum formate in a case of methanol ingestion by an eight-monthold boy (2). My Letter (3) that was meant to address modification of a blanking procedure for formate assay was, however, taken to be, and published as, a response to their Letter. Here, I would like to respond to their comments (1). The infant’s total body mass was 8.6 kg. Assuming a body water content of 700 mL/kg, maximum methanol concentration of 18 mmol/L could have been achieved. This assumes that no further methanol was absorbed 6 h after the first ingestion. According to Figure 1 in ref. 2, the methanol concentration was 9.7 mmolJL, which corresponds to a totalof 58 mxnol. Because at least 109 mmol of methanol was ingested by the infant, nearly 50 mmol of formatemust have been produced 8 h after the ingestion-when one considers that methanol is rapidly absorbed and converted to formate, and further noting that formate oxidation to carbon dioxide is probably the ratelimiting step in the overall metabolism of methanol in humans (4, 5). (This again assumes no further ingestion of methanol after the first dose.)This corresponds to a formate concentration of 8.5 mmolJL. Although this concentration of formate is significantly lower than the reported value of 23 mmol/L, overestimation of the formate concentration by a factor of 10-100 as suggested by Makar and Tephly (1) is highly unlikely. Overestimation by a factorof 100 would imply that the actual peak concentration of serum formate is only 0.3 mmol/L. This concentration is not only less than the upper reference limit of 0.7 mmol/L (31 mg/L) reported by Tephly et al. (6), it is also inconsistent with the apparent metabolic acidosis observed 18 h after the first ingestion (total C02, 6.8 mmol/L; reference range, 18-26 mmol/L). Significant increases in formate must have taken place if one is to accept the contentions of Tephly et al. (4) and others (7) that formate is a major, if not the sole, contributor of methanol acidosis. In their concluding remark, Makar and Tephly stated (1): ‘Fhe reason that they observed no ocular toxicity may be that formate concentrations were verylow during the period of measurement. ” The lack of ocular toxicity with reported high concentrations of blood formate is not without precedence, however, and in fact has been documented in one of Tephly’s publications (4). Ten patients with plasma formate concentrations of up to 14.7 mmol/L (mean, 9 mmolJL) (7) and one patient with serum formate concentration of 11.1 mmol/L (4) all had complete, uneventful recoveries.
Processos de formação do sambaqui Jabuticabeira-II: interpretações através da análise estratigráfica de vestígios vegetais carbonizados

Este trabalho apresenta a analise antracologica de uma area funeraria do sitio Jabuticabeira-II, a qual e comparada aos resultados da analise da camada de cobertura do mesmo perfil realizada por Scheel-Ybert (2001). Todo o sedimento foi coletado de acordo com as feicoes arqueologicas. A identificacao dos fragmentos foi feita em microscopio de luz refletida a partir da estrutura anatomica da madeira. Foram evidenciadas diferencas significativas entre a camada de cobertura e a area funeraria e apresentados dados que sugerem a ocorrencia de selecao de alguns elementos relacionados ao ritual funerario.
Tourism and Economic Growth

Whether international tourism can lead to economic growth is an important macroeconomic question for both policy makers and investors. We extend the literature by investigating if tourism development is an additional determinant of income in the presence of the standard income determinants (such as capital accumulation), or if the effects of tourism development on economic growth work through the standard income determinants, instead. Empirically, we develop a tourism-growth model that is an extension of Solow (1956) and estimate our model with a cross-section of 109 countries. Our findings indicate that investments in tourism in and of itself appear to be insufficient for economic growth. Instead, tourism’s contribution to the long-term growth of an economy comes through its role as an integral part of a broader development strategy that is more generally focused on standard income determinants.
Learn to manage an online team — Mediating effects of Crews' affective commitment in an online collaboration environment

Because of the evolution of community supported collaborative learning (CSCL), the online community has become a necessary aspect of most companies and organizations. Previous research has indicated that employee community commitment is the fundamental function of an organization, which has proven to affect a person's teamwork performance. However, research focused on how the online community-supported collaborative virtual environment, such as enterprise social network (e.g., Yammer) or virtual working space (e.g., SUN's Wonderland) might alter community commitment to affect a person's teamwork self-efficacy is scant. We examine the mediating role of community commitment with emotional social support as an independent variable and teamwork performance as an output variable. World of Warcraft (WOW), a dynamic high-fidelity virtual environment that can support hundreds to thousands of people collaborating together, serves as the research platform in this study. We conducted hierarchical regression analysis to explore the causal-effect relationship among the factors of emotional social support, community commitment, and teamwork self-efficacy. In total, 558 current company employees selected from WOW participated in an online survey. Our findings showed that individual commitment positively influences teamwork self-efficacy. To increase individual commitment, the online community can provide a high level of emotional social support to members.
Etiology of acute diarrhea among children in Ribeirão Preto-SP, Brazil.

To study the main enteropathogens causing diarrhea in the region of Ribeirão Preto regarding serogroups and serotypes, the feces of 1836 children under 10 years old, from both sexes, attack of acute gastroenteritis, were analysed during a period of 4 years in Adolfo Lutz Institute - Ribeirão Preto, SP. The pathogens identified by standard methods were the following: Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. , Shigella spp. , Campylobacter spp. , Yersinia spp. , and Cryptosporidium spp. Positive samples were 22.8% (419) with 1.7% association of pathogens. Larger isolates were mainly from children 0 to 11 months old. Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) was most frequent (8.7%) with predominance of serogroup O119 (40.2%), followed by Shigella (6.2%), 63.6% of which S. sonnei.
Murine cytomegalovirus retinitis during MAIDS: Susceptibility correlates with elevated intraocular levels of interleukin-4 mRNA

Purpose. To determine if murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV)- infected eyes of mice with murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS) that are destined to develop MCMV retinitis display elevated intraocular levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) mRNA when compared with uninfected eyes of mice with MAIDS and unmanipulated, uninfected, eyes of normal healthy mice. Methods. Groups of C57BL/6 mice with MAIDS and normal C57BL/6 mice were infected uniocularly with MCMV by subretinal MCMV injection. IL-4 levels in individual spleens collected five days later from groups of MAIDS mice and normal mice were assessed by quantitative ELISA. MCMV-infected eyes and uninfected contralateral eyes from another group of mice with MAIDS were also collected at five days postinfection and individually subjected to competitive RT-PCR assay and real-time RT-PCR assay for detection and quantification of IL-4 mRNA. Unmanipulated eyes from normal C57BL/6 mice served as controls. Results. IL-4 mRNA was detected at a level of 9.7 ± 3.4 pg mRNA per 1000 ng total RNA in 100% of MCMV-infected eyes of mice with MAIDS by competitive RT-PCR assay, but could not be detected in any of the uninfected eyes of MAIDS mice. In comparison, the more sensitive technique of real-time RT-PCR assay detected copies of IL-4 cDNA in both MCMV-infected eyes and uninfected eyes of MAIDS mice. MCMV-infected eyes showed a 16-fold increase in the number of IL-4 cDNA copies when compared with uninfected eyes. Neither technique detected IL-4 mRNA in unmanipulated eyes of normal mice. As expected, spleen cells from mice with MAIDS expressed significantly greater levels of IL-4 when compared with spleen cells from normal mice. Conclusions. MCMV-infected mice with MAIDS exhibited an expected preferential activation of Th2 cells as determined by increased levels of IL-4 in spleen cells when compared with spleen cells of normal mice. MCMV-infected eyes destined to develop retinitis during MAIDS also showed increased levels of detectable IL-4 mRNA when compared with uninfected eyes of mice with MAIDS. It is therefore possible that IL-4 synthesis by Th2 CD4+ T cells during retrovirus-induced immunosuppression serves to inhibit the perforin cytotoxic pathway that subsequently allows susceptibility to MCMV retinitis during MAIDS.
A city-planning system based on augmented reality with a tangible interface

This demonstration shows a city-planning system based on augmented reality with tangible user interface. Miniature models, illustrations and graphical computer displays have been used for the comparison and consideration in city-planning process. Augmented reality technology enables users to consider city plans more effectively and easily. One important issue of the augmented reality environment is how user can manipulate 3D structures that are displayed as virtual objects. It has to be intuitive and easy so that it may not disturb user's thought. We propose a new direct manipulation method based on the concept called tangible user interface. User holds a transparent cup upside down and can pick up, move or delete a virtual object by using it.
Automatic Emotion Induction and Assessment Framework - Enhancing user Interfaces by Interperting users Multimodal Biosignals

Emotion's definition, identification, systematic induction and efficient and reliable classification have been themes to which several complementary knowledge areas such as psychology, medicine and computer science have been dedicating serious investments. This project consists in developing an automatic tool for emotion assessment based on a dynamic biometric data acquisition set as galvanic skin response and electroencephalography arc practical examples. The output of standard emotional induction methods is the support for classification based on data analysis and processing. The conducted experimental sessions, alongside with the developed support tools, allowed the extraction on conclusions such as the capability of effectively performing automatic classification of the subject's predominant emotional state. Self assessment interviews validated the developed tool's success rate of approximately 75%. It was also experimentally strongly suggested that female subjects are emotionally more active and easily induced than mates.
The Gut Bacteria-Driven Obesity Development

It is now well established that a healthy gut flora is largely responsible for the overall health of the host, while a perturbation in gut microbial communities can contribute to disease susceptibility. Obesity is a complex process involving genetic and environmental factors with an epidemiological burden that makes it a major public health issue. Studies of germ-free or gnotobiotic mice provided evidence that the diversity, as well as the presence and relative proportion of different microbes in the gut play active roles in energy homeostasis. Similarly, human studies showed that both the diversity of the microbiota and the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio are decreased in obese individuals. The ‘obese microbiota' seems to be able to increase dietary energy harvest and favor weight gain and fat deposition. Although research in this field has just started and many of the available data are still conflicting, the results are providing exciting perspectives, and gut microbiota manipulation has already become a new target for both prevention and treatment of obesity.
Developmental Change in the Neurophysiological Correlates of Self-Regulation in High- and Low-Emotion Conditions

One of the most important tasks of childhood is learning to self-regulate in the presence of negative emotions. Until recently, almost no research has examined the neurophysiological correlates of emotional self-regulation as it develops over childhood and adolescence. We were interested in plotting a fine-grained developmental profile of the neural underpinnings of self-regulation, in the context of negative emotion, for 7- to 14-year-old children. We predicted that children would recruit less cortical activation with age in the service of self-regulation, reflecting increased neural efficiency with development. We also predicted that children would recruit more cortical activation with increased negative emotion, possibly reflecting greater demand on cortical resources. We administered a Go No-Go task with an emotion induction block and we measured the amplitude of the N2, an event related potential associated with inhibitory control, as it varied with block and with age. Furthermore, we estimated activation for a ventral prefrontal region of interest (ROI; suggestive of orbital frontal, ventromedial prefrontal, or rostral anterior cingulate activation) and a dorsomedial prefrontal ROI (suggestive of dorsal anterior cingulate activation) frequently modeled as cortical generators underlying the N2. Results revealed a marginal decrease in mediofrontal scalp activation, but a more pronounced decrease in activation of the ventromedial prefrontal ROI, with age. There were no age-related changes in dorsomedial prefrontal ROI activation. Lastly, as predicted, we found increased ventral prefrontal ROI activation during the negative emotion induction, possibly reflecting greater recruitment of frontocortical resources underlying emotion regulation, but developmental change in this activation was no different than for the other conditions. Thus, both self-regulation in general and emotion regulation in particular recruited less cortical activation with age, suggesting more efficient cortical mechanisms of response inhibition.
Theoretical Priors for BVAR Models & Quasi-Bayesian DSGE Model Estimation

We build upon the work of Ingram and Whiteman (1994), De Jong et al. (1993) and Del Negro and Schorfheide (2004) to propose a methodology of constructing Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) consistent prior distributions for Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (BVAR) models. Further, motivated by the studies of Del Negro and Schorfheide (2004), Christiano et al. (2010) and the theoretical results developed by Chernozhukov and Hong (2003) we illustrate how the posterior moments of the BVAR parameter vector can be used to obtain the posterior inference with respect to the DSGE model. The moments of the assumed Normal-Inverse Wishart prior distribution of the VAR parameter vector are derived using the results developed by Fernandez-Villaverde et al. (2007), Christiano et al. (2006) and Ravenna (2007) regarding structural VAR (SVAR) models and the prior density of the DSGE parameter vector. Two data driven hyper-parameters unwind the "intensity" of these theoretical priors avoiding bimodality problems that could possibly arise from the strong disagreement between "tight" priors and the data (see, De Jong et al., 1993). The combination of the VAR marginal likelihood function - approximated using the "Laplace" transform - with the prior distribution of the DSGE parameter vector delivers the posterior distribution of the latter. In line with the results from previous studies, BVAR models with theoretical priors seem to achieve forecasting performance that is comparable - if not better - with the one obtained using theory free "Minnesota" priors (Doan et al., 1984). Finally, a small monte carlo experiment and an empirical exercise reveals very supportive results for the quasi bayesian estimator proposed in this study relatively to the standard full information bayesian maximum likelihood estimator.
Birdshot retinochoroidopathy

Birdshot retinochoroidopathy is a rare, chronic, bilateral, posterior uveitis with a distinctive clinical presentation and a strong genetic association. Middle aged white people of northern European extraction are most commonly aZicted. The pathogenesis is unknown, but HLA-A29 positivity appears to confer predisposition, and retinal autoimmunity seems to play a role. This review provides an updated summary of the current state of knowledge about birdshot retinochoroidopathy. It includes results of visual field and electrophysiological testing from markedly more patients than previous reports of these data. Furthermore, it provides prognostic information regarding visual acuity based on nearly twice the number of patients than the one previous report of this aspect of the disease. Such information is of special interest to patients. The paper is based on a chart review of the 59 birdshot patients evaluated at the National Eye Institute (NEI) and from a comprehensive review of the literature.
Compliance with long-term dietary salt restriction in hypertensive outpatients.

Eighty hypertensive outpatients were recruited for a dietary salt restriction program to examine long-term compliance. Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected repeatedly (7.9 +/- 2.6 times, mean +/- s.d.) during a follow-up period of 6.4 +/- 1.7 years. After initial urine collection, nutritional education was carried out by dietitians to reduce dietary salt intake to 8 g/day or less. After every urine collection, the subjects were given advice by doctors on salt restriction, if necessary. The mean 24-hour urinary salt excretion (U-NaCl) and the mean urinary salt/creatinine ratio (U-NaCl/U-Cr) varied considerably both among and within individuals. U-NaCl/U-Cr, but not U-NaCl, in females was significantly higher than that in males, and in middle-aged subjects than in young subjects. U-NaCl and U-NaCl/U-Cr tended to decrease in the summer. In spite of the repeated educational effort, neither U-NaCl nor U-NaCl/U-Cr was different in the first control samples from that in the last samples. When 57 subjects were divided into three groups according to the urinary salt excretion level, U-NaCl was consistently higher during a follow-up period in the high-salt excretion group than in the mid-salt excretion group, while U-NaCl in the low-salt excretion group was initially lower than, but finally similar to, that in the mid-salt excretion group. These results suggest that: (1) multiple 24-hour urine samplings are required to assess urinary salt excretion in individuals; (2) the influence of age and sex should be taken into account in interpreting U-NaCl/U-Cr; and (3) it seems difficult to achieve long-term dietary salt restriction as a non-pharmacologic treatment of hypertension in an outpatient clinic.
Patient-Centredness, Job Satisfaction and Psychological Distress: a Brief Survey Comparing Oncology Nurses and Doctors.

BACKGROUND We aimed to explore whether levels of patient-centredness, job satisfaction and psychological distress varied between oncology nurses and doctors. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires, a total of 24 nurses and 43 doctors were assessed for patient-centredness, psychological distress, and job satisfaction using the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Job Satisfaction Scale. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test and MANCOVA, with p<0.05 considered significant. RESULTS Overall response rate was 95.6% (43/45) for physicians and 85.7% (24/28) for nurses. Even after adjusting for known covariates, our principal finding was that doctors reported greater psychological distress compared to nurses (p=0.009). Doctors also reported lower job satisfaction compared to nurses (p = 0.017), despite higher levels of patient-centredness found in nurses (p=0.001). Findings may be explained in part by differences in job characteristics and demands. CONCLUSIONS Mental health is an important concern not just in cancer patients but among healthcare professionals in oncology.