Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor potentiate excitatory synaptic transmission in the rat visual cortex.

1. The effect of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) on excitatory synaptic transmission in the developing visual cortex was studied by whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings from rat brain slices. 2. Both neurotrophins induced a rapid increase in the amplitude of impulse‐evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs). BDNF also increased the frequency of spontaneous EPSCs. 3. Analysis of the currents revealed that alpha‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) and N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor‐mediated components contributing to the EPSC peak amplitude were equally potentiated by the neurotrophins. 4. When synaptic transmission was studied by minimal stimulation of intracortical afferents, neurotrophins induced a decrease in the occurrence of release failures. 5. A number of neurones were insensitive to the effects of the neurotrophins, possibly related to the considerable heterogeneity of neuronal types and to the uneven distribution of neurotrophin receptors in the visual cortex. 6. The probability of neurotransmitter release represents a rapidly modifiable synaptic feature by which neurotrophins can potentiate the efficacy of excitatory synaptic transmission in the visual cortex.
Political Technologies in Modern Information Society

Political analysts believe that historically we can observe two interrelated phenomena in the society development. The first is related to the introduction of new content in conventional political forms; the second is associated with the filling of new forms with the traditional content. In our view, the conclusion of political analysts may be practised in the case of political technologies. Political technologies that use different types of effects on individuals and social groups are considered to be a relatively new phenomenon in the world of politics in modern information society. The aim of the article is to clarify whether all the components of modern political technologies are fundamentally new.
DENSE GAS TRACERS AND STAR FORMATION LAWS IN ACTIVE GALAXIES: APEX SURVEY OF HCN J = 4 → 3, HCO+ J = 4 → 3, AND CS J = 7 → 6

We report HCN J = 4 → 3, HCO+ J = 4 → 3, and CS J = 7 → 6 observations in 20 nearby star-forming galaxies with the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment 12 m telescope. Combined with four HCN, three HCO+, and four CS detections from the literature, we probe the empirical link between the luminosity of molecular gas () and that of infrared emission (LIR), up to the highest gas densities (∼106 cm−3) that have been probed so far. For nearby galaxies with large radii, we measure the IR luminosity within the submillimeter beam size (14″–18″) to match the molecular emission. We find linear slopes for –LIR and –LIR, and a slightly super-linear slope for –LIR. The correlation of –LIR even extends over eight orders of luminosity magnitude down to Galactic dense cores, with a fit of log(LIR) =1.00(± 0.01) ×log() + 4.03(± 0.04). Such linear correlations appear to hold for all densities >104 cm−3, and indicate that star formation rate is not related to the free-fall timescale for dense molecular gas.
PROLONGED INHIBITION OF OBLITERATIVE AIRWAY DISEASE IN MURINE TRACHEAL ALLOGRAFTS BY BRIEF TREATMENT WITH ANTI-LEUKOCYTE FUNCTION-ASSOCIATED ANTIGEN-1 (CD11a) MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY1

Background. We have previously shown that anti-leukocyte function-associated antigen (LFA)-1 (CD11a) monoclonal antibody (mAb) prevents acute rejection and produces donor-specific unresponsiveness in murine recipients of heterotopic heart allografts. Here, we investigate the ability of this mAb to prevent the development of obliterative airway disease (OAD) in murine recipients of tracheal allografts. Methods and Results. BALB/c tracheae were heterotopically transplanted into C3H mice. OAD developed by day 28 after transplantation and was characterized histologically by a loss of epithelial cell coverage and luminal obliteration of the tracheal allograft with a proliferation of fibrogenic mesenchymal cells, which is a lesion comparable to obliterative bronchiolitis in human lung transplant recipients. Monotherapy with anti-LFA-1 mAb preserved graft epithelium, prevented the development of OAD, and maintained unresponsiveness to donor antigen for more than 42 days after the final mAb administration. Conclusion. These findings suggest the potential for anti-LFA-1 mAb therapy to suppress both acute and chronic rejection in clinical lung transplantation.
The funding and organization of infection control in NHS hospital trusts: a study of infection control professionals' views

The problems associated with hospital-acquired infection have been causing increasing concern in England in recent years. This paper reports the results of a nationwide survey of hospital infection control professionals' views concerning the organizational structures used to manage and obtain funding for control of infection. A complex picture with significant variation between hospitals emerges. Although government policy dictates that specific funding for hospital infection control is formally made available, it is not always the case that infection control professionals have adequate resources to undertake their roles. In some cases this reflects the failure of hospitals' infection control budgetary mechanisms; in others it reflects the effects of decentralizing budgets to directorate or ward level. Some use was made of informal mechanisms either to supplement or to substitute for the formal ones. But almost all infection control professionals still believed they were constrained in their ability to protect the hospital population from the risk of infectious disease. It is clear that recent government announcements that increased effort will be made to support local structures and thereby improve the control of hospital acquired infection are to be welcomed.
Weed Resistance to Herbicides in the Czech Republic: History, Occurrence, Detection and Management

In the Czech Republic, herbicide resistance has been reported in 16 weed species, mostly found on non-arable land (railways) and in orchards with a history of intensive herbicide use. In maize and sugar beet, Echinochloa cruss-galli, Chenopodium album, Chenopodium rigidum and Solanum nigrum have been identified with resistance to photosystem 2 inhibitors. Seven Kochia scoparia biotypes resistant to chlorsulfuron have been found on railways, roadsides and car parks in the Czech Republic since 1996 (Salava et al., 2004). Alopecurus myosuroides is the weed with local importance in the Czech Republic. However, the poor weed control had been reported in several fields and the tested populations showed sulfonylurea resistant phenotype (Slavikova et al., 2011). On arable land, the most important seems to be ALS-resistant Apera spica-venti (Hamouzova et al., 2011). ALS-resistant A. spica-venti was first documented in 2005, in populations collected from fields in western and southern part of the Czech Republic that had continuous chlorsulfuron treatment for at least 5 years (Hamouzova et al., 2011). To date A. spica-venti resistant to ALS herbicides has been reported in several countries in Europe (Heap, 2011).
Comparison of the effects of remifentanil and alfentanil on intraocular pressure in cataract surgery

Background: Anesthesia for ophthalmic surgery requires management of intraocular pressure (IOP) during perioperative period. In an open eye, in conditions such as after traumatic injury or during cataract surgery, IOP increase can lead to permanent vision loss. Administration of narcotics concomitant with anesthetics has the ability to reduce this increase of IOP. This clinical trial aims to compare the efficacy of remifentanil and alfentanil in preventing an increase in IOP after administration of succinylcholine, intubation and during anesthesia. Methods: This double-blind clinical trial was conducted on 50 patients undergoing elective general surgery for cataracts. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. Alfentanil (20 μg/kg in 30 s) for group 1 and remifentanil (1 μg/kg in 30 s) for group 2 were injected before induction of anesthesia, and 0.5 μg/kg/min alfentanil for group 1 and 0.1 μg/kg/min remifentanil for group 2 were infused during the anesthesia. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and IOP from normal eye were measured before the induction, after administration of thiopental and succinylcholine, after tracheal intubation, and 2 min later, and were repeated in 2-min intervals until the end of operation. Results: IOP decreased after injection of anesthetics and remained lower all through the operation in both groups, but IOP decreased after injection of succinylcholine in remifentanil group while it increased in alfentanil group (P<0.05). Conclusions: Results of this study indicate benefits of both remifentanil and alfentanil in managing IOP after induction and during anesthesia. It seems that remifentanil is better than alfentanil in controlling the IOP after injection of succinylcholine.
Delocalization of quantum chaos by weak nonlinearity.

The destruction of quantum localization of chaos by weak nonlinearity is analyzed on the basis of the Chirikov criterion of overlapping resonances. It is shown that for the nonlinear coupling constant there is a delocalization border above which localization is destroyed. In this delocalized phase, excitation is described by a universal anomalous subdiffusion law. Applications of this phenomenon to nonlinear wave propagation in disordered media and Anderson localization are discussed
Hearing and middle-ear function in patients with inflammatory rheumatoid joint diseases.

The hearing and the middle-ear function in 48 patients with inflammatory rheumaoid joint diseases were tested by means of pure-tone audiometry and relative impedance measurements. As a control group, 50 healthy subjects with the same sex and age distribution were used. In 13 patients a moderate hearing loss (5-35 dB) was found. Abnormal middle-ear function, resulting in a hearing loss of the conductive type, was demonstrated in 8 of the 13 patients. In the remaining 5 patients, a sensori-neural hearing loss was found.Gisle Djupesland E.N. T. Department Rikshospitalet Oslo Norway
Sore throat and hoarseness after total intravenous anaesthesia.

BACKGROUND Sore throat and hoarseness are common complications, but these have not been studied after total i.v. anaesthesia. METHODS We prospectively studied 418 surgical patients, aged 15-92 yr, after total i.v. anaesthesia with propofol, fentanyl and ketamine to assess possible factors associated with sore throat and hoarseness. RESULT We found sore throat in 50% and hoarseness in 55% of patients immediately after surgery. This decreased to 25% for sore throat and 24% for hoarseness on the day after surgery. Both sore throat and hoarseness were more common in females and when lidocaine spray had been used. Cricoid pressure during laryngoscopy was inversely associated with the risk of sore throat. CONCLUSION Knowledge of these factors may reduce postoperative throat complications, and improve patient satisfaction.
Aspects of the Circus at Lepcis Magna

By kind permission of the Department of Antiquities and of Professor Antonino Di Vita, Director of the Italian Mission, and with the financial support of the Society for Libyan Studies, the Oxford Craven Committee and the Cambridge Faculty Board of Classics, the authors spent three weeks in the early summer of 1974 studying the circus at Lepcis Magna. During the sixty years in which Italian archaeologists have been working at Lepcis, parts of the circus have been cleared or excavated on several different occasions. Work was begun in 1924-5 by R. Bartoccini at the monumental arch at the eastern end of the arena and on the seating on the north-east curve. He also uncovered the meta prima and the adjacent east end of the spina. Since 1960 a much larger area has been uncovered successively by E. Vergara-Caffarelli, F. Russo and A. Di Vita, as part of the larger project of clearing and restoring the whole of the amphitheatre-circus complex. Although work in most recent years has concentrated upon the complete clearance and restoration of the amphitheatre (which is cut into the hillside immediately south of the circus), two-thirds of the long south side of the circus has been revealed together with about half of the spina and most of the starting gates (carceres) at the west end.
Does salience matter in investment decision?

Purpose The paper takes a behavioral approach by making use of the prospect theory to unveil the impact of salience on short-term and long-term investment decisions. This paper aims to investigate the group differences for two types of investors’ groups, i.e. individual investors and professional investors. Design/methodology/approach The study uses partial least square-based structural equation modeling technique, measurement invariance test and multigroup analysis test on a unique data set of 277 active equity traders which included professional money managers and individual investors. Findings Results showed that salience has a significant positive impact on both short-term and long-term investment decisions. The impact was almost 1.5 times higher for long-term investment decision as compared to short-term decision. Furthermore, multigroup analysis revealed that the two groups (individual investors and professional investors) were statistically significantly different from each other. Research limitations/implications The study has implications for financial regulators, money managers and individual investors as it was found that individual investors suffer more with salience heuristic and may end up with sub-optimal portfolios due to inefficient diversification. Thus, investors should be cautious in fully relying on salience and avoid such bias to improve investment returns. Practical implications The study concludes with a discussion of policy and regulatory implications on how to minimize salience bias to achieve optimum and diversified portfolios. Originality/value The study has significantly contributed to the growing body of applied behavioral research in the discipline of finance.
Risk behaviors to psychoactive substances use in children and young people in Lisbon

Objective: To characterize the risk behavior of the psychoactive substances use in a youth population of Lisbon. Method: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. Participants were 113 children and young people who responded to the Portuguese version of the Risk and Health Behavior questionnaire Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results: Participants with regard to age were between 9-13, most attending the 5th grade, living with parents, had good school performance, good relationship with colleagues while 1⁄4 refer problems. When concerned, recourse to the mother, but it is significant the attention of peers. As for the trial of psychoactive substances was found: 9.7% tobacco, 19.5% alcohol, other substances 5.3%. Conclusion: With regard to risk behavior stands primarily to early alcohol testing. Emerged as protective factors: family relationship and relationship with the school space. This age group may constitute the ideal time for prevention.
Application of AL-FEC to HbbTV DVB-T2 systems for the provision of VoD services in portable and fixed TV reception

Interactive TV services have grown significantly in recent years thanks to the standardization of several approaches such as Hybrid broadcast and broadband TV (HbbTV) technology. HbbTV applied to portable and fixed DVB-T2 reception, allows TV channels broadcast via terrestrial channels to publish interactive applications in addition to their TV programs. Video-On-Demand (VoD) provided via Push-VoD service, represents one of these applications. However the provision of HbbTV Push-VoD services in portable and fixed DVB-T2 reception is challenged by severe propagation conditions of the static multipath scenarios. In this paper, we provide a first reference addressing the question of how HbbTV DVB-T2 systems enables a reliable delivery of Push-VoD services in portable and fixed broadcast reception, in absence of broadband networks. We analyze the coexistence of HbbTV standard and DVB-T2 standard. We investigate the solution based on the LDPC-Staircase AL-FEC scheme for improving the portable and fixed broadcast reception of Push-VoD service in HbbTV DVB-T2 systems. Simulation results show that LDPC-Staircase AL-FEC code enables to enhance the delivery of HbbTV Push-VoD services over DVB-T2 systems with portable and fixed TV reception.
Encoding and retrieval along the long axis of the hippocampus and their relationships with dorsal attention and default mode networks: The HERNET model

The encoding of sensory input is intertwined with external attention, whereas retrieval is intrinsically related to internal attention. This study proposes a model in which the encoding of sensory input involves mainly the anterior hippocampus and the external attention network, whereas retrieval, the posterior hippocampus and the internal attention network. This model is referred to as the HERNET (hippocampal encoding/retrieval and network) model. Functional neuroimaging studies have identified two intrinsic large‐scale networks closely associated with external and internal attention, respectively. The dorsal attention network activates during any externally oriented mental activity, whereas the default mode network shows increased activity during internally oriented mental activity. Therefore, the HERNET model may predict the activation of the anterior hippocampus and the dorsal attention network during the encoding and activation of the posterior hippocampus and the default mode network during retrieval. To test this prediction, this study provides a meta‐analysis of three memory‐imaging paradigms: subsequent memory, laboratory‐based recollection, and autobiographical memory retrieval. The meta‐analysis included 167 individual studies and 2,856 participants. The results provide support for the HERNET model and suggest that the anterior–posterior gradient of encoding and retrieval includes amygdala regions. More broadly, humans continuously oscillate between external and internal attention and thus between encoding and retrieval processes. These oscillations may involve repetitive and spontaneous activity switching between the anterior hippocampus/dorsal attention network and the posterior hippocampus/default mode network. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Taming the Energy Rise of the Total Proton-Proton Cross-Section

Steep rise of parton densities in the limit of small parton momentum fraction x poses a challenge for describing the observed energy-dependence of the total and inelastic proton-proton cross sections σ p p tot / inel : considering a realistic parton spatial distribution, one obtains a too-strong increase of σ p p tot / inel in the limit of very high energies. We discuss various mechanisms which allow one to tame such a rise, paying special attention to the role of parton-parton correlations. In addition, we investigate a potential impact on model predictions for σ p p tot, related to dynamical higher twist corrections to parton-production processes.
The effects of market and service-orientation on the success of solution providers in the German manufacturing sector

As a central aspect of the marketing concept is market orientation. However, the concept has been criticized, e.g. by pointing out that market orientation mainly concentrates on customer-focused activities, rather than on competitor-focused activities, what indicates towards an individualized product with high customer involvement. Especially in the manufacturing industry individualization in regard of a combination of products and services offers a huge differentiation factor. There has been a debate about the need for a shift from a product-centric view towards a service-dominant perspective. Hence, the concept of market-orientation has to be evaluated against this background. In addition, the authors argue that service-orientation has to be integrated in the concept, because of the growing importance especially for so-called solution provides with a focus on product/service-combinations. This study analyzes 173 companies in the German manufacturing industry to measure the effects of market- and service-orientation. In addition, we widened the well-known scale of Narver and Slater [57] including service-orientation. The results show that some aspects of market orientation can explain success of services. However, service-orientation seems not to have an effect on the success of new products, whereas implicit success factors of services a highly effected.
Modelling the underlying behavioural antecedents of the digital divide from the ability, motivation and opportunity framework

This paper proposes a model to explain the underlying behavioural antecedents of the digital divide in terms of the usage of digital technology. The increasing accessibility to digital technology has triggered major changes to users’ behaviour. Some users have leveraged the technologies in enhancing productivities, while others have recorded little or negative impact. Thus, by integrating the social cognitive theory with the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) framework we posit an encompassing determinant of individual’s engagement with digital technology. Specifically, we identify ability and motivation as the determinants of individual’s usage of digital technology and suggest technology accessibility in terms of opportunity, as the moderator of the relationships. The proposed theoretical model will be tested using data to be collected from the Bottom 40 segments in Malaysia.
Repeated evolution of flightlessness in Dryolimnas rails (Aves: Rallidae) after extinction and recolonization on Aldabra

The Aldabra rail, Dryolimnas cuvieri subsp. aldabranus, endemic to the Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles, is the last surviving flightless bird in the Indian Ocean. Aldabra has undergone at least one major, total inundation event during an Upper Pleistocene (Tarantian age) sea-level high-stand, resulting in the loss of all terrestrial fauna. A flightless Dryolimnas has been identified from two temporally separated Aldabran fossil localities, deposited before and after the inundation event, providing irrefutable evidence that a member of Rallidae colonized the atoll, most likely from Madagascar, and became flightless independently on each occasion. Fossil evidence presented here is unique for Rallidae and epitomizes the ability of birds from this clade to successfully colonize isolated islands and evolve flightlessness on multiple occasions.