Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuropeptide orphanin FQ inhibits dendritic morphogenesis through activation of RhoA

Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a facilitatory role in neuronal development and promotion of differentiation. Mechanisms that oppose BDNF's stimulatory effects create balance and regulate dendritic growth. However, these mechanisms have not been studied. We have focused our studies on the BDNF‐induced neuropeptide OrphaninFQ/ Nociceptin (OFQ); while BDNF is known to enhance synaptic activity, OFQ has opposite effects on activity, learning, and memory. We have now examined whether OFQ provides a balance to the stimulatory effects of BDNF on neuronal differentiation in the hippocampus. Golgi staining in OFQ knockout (KO) mice revealed an increase in primary dendrite length as well as spine density, suggesting that endogenous OFQ inhibits dendritic morphology. We have also used cultured hippocampal neurons to demonstrate that exogenous OFQ has an inhibitory effect on dendritic growth and that the neuropeptide alters the response to BDNF when pre‐administered. To determine if BDNF and OFQ act in a feedback loop, we inhibited the actions of the BDNF and OFQ receptors, TrkB and NOP using ANA‐12 and NOP KO mice respectively but our data suggest that the two factors do not act in a negative feedback loop. We found that the inhibition of dendritic morphology induced by OFQ is via enhanced RhoA activity. Finally, we have evidence that RhoA activation is required for the inhibitory effects of OFQ on dendritic morphology. Our results reveal basic mechanisms by which neurons not only regulate the formation of proper dendritic growth during development but also control plasticity in the mature nervous system. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 73: 769–784, 2013
Receding Horizon Control for Convergent Navigation of a Differential Drive Mobile Robot

A receding horizon control (RHC) algorithm for convergent navigation of a differential drive mobile robot is proposed. Its objective function utilizes a local-minima-free navigation function to measure the cost-to-goal over the robot trajectory. The navigation function is derived from the path-search algorithm over a discretized 2-D search space. The proposed RHC navigation algorithm includes a systematic procedure for the generation of feasible control sequences. The optimal value of the objective function is employed as a Lyapunov function to prove a finite-time convergence of the discrete-time nonlinear closed-loop system to the goal state. The developed RHC navigation algorithm inherits fast replanning capability from the $D$ * search algorithm, which is experimentally verified in changing indoor environments. The performance of the developed RHC navigation algorithm is compared with the state-of-the-art sample-based motion planning algorithm based on lattice graphs, which is combined with a trajectory tracking controller. The RHC navigation algorithm produces faster motion to the goal with significantly lower computational costs and it does not need any controller tuning to cope with diverse obstacle configurations.
The Audio-Motor Unit: A Listening Comprehension Strategy That Works

The audio-motor unit, a ten-minute lesson involving the interplay of visual, auditory, and motor skills, shows promise as an effective device for the teaching of listening comprehension. Each lesson, composed of a series of oral commands, elicits physical responses which demonstrate student comprehension of meaning. One hundred eighty students and their teachers who used this multisensory strategy acknowledged its positive impact upon development of aural skill. They also saw inherent in the motor activity a number of psychological factors which stimulate learning, and a vivid expression of cultural elements.
Commentary: On the Integration of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship: Views of a Contrarian

“Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. Quid enim est aetas hominis, nisi ea memoria rerum veterum cum superiorum aetate contexitur? (To be ingorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it be woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history? )” —Cicero: Oratur ad M. Brutum A new generation now leads. President Barack Hussein Obama straddles what Tom Brokaw called the “greatest generation” and the Baby Boomers (b. 1946–1964). Academia is now populated by “Millenials” (b. 1980–2000) and increasingly led by Generation X (b. 1960–1980). This Commentary purposively intends to create deeper conversation about the origins and tendencies in the small but interesting academic discipline of entrepreneurship. I accept my role as an aging curmudgeon and hope that you will also. My intent is to surface several operative ideologies, reveal a few egoistic tendencies, and perfectly (quack, quack) predict the future of academic entrepreneurship. Please place this Commentary in your 2039 tickler file titled “foolhardy predictions from 2009. ”
Ancient DNA: Do It Right or Not at All

At the recent 5th International Ancient DNA Conference in Manchester, U.K., reported by Erik Stokstad in his News Focus article “Divining diet and disease from DNA” (28 Jul., p. [530][1]), one presentation boldly opened with the claim that the field was now mature and could move ahead with
Morphological Awareness Intervention

We investigated the effect of a morphological awareness intervention on the morphological awareness and reading skills of a 6-year-old student who was struggling with early reading skills and had a history of speech and language impairment. We conducted a 7-week intervention designed to increase the student’s awareness of affixes and the meaning relations between base words and their inflected and derived forms. The student received twenty-five, 35-min sessions, typically receiving three to four sessions per week. Results revealed clinically relevant gains in morphological awareness abilities and word-level (sight word) reading skills. Gains were noted in pseudoword reading and reading comprehension, but they did not reach clinically relevant levels. The results of our case study suggest that our relatively short, but somewhat intensive, morphological awareness intervention led to clinically relevant gains in morphological awareness skills and word-level reading abilities for our 6-year-old student with a history of speech and language impairment. Initial clinical implications, limitations of the study, and research suggestions are discussed.
The moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the reduction of corruption in the Nigerian Police

This study investigated the moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the reduction of corruption in the Nigerian Police. Three hundred police officer participants (mean age, 35.4) purposively and randomly selected from three State Police Command areas participated in a six‐week quasi‐experiment in which two existential–phenomenological counselling techniques (focusing on locus of control and self‐efficacy) were used as interventions. Two instruments, the Police Emotional Intelligence Scale and the Police Ethical Behaviour Scale, were utilized in the study. The data collected were analysed using analysis of covariance and t‐test statistics treating emotional intelligence as a moderator at two levels (high and low). Findings showed that emotional intelligence could effectively moderate attitudinal measures on police corruption. These findings support the use of emotional intelligence as a catalyst in promoting integrity‐based policing in Nigeria.
Transition and Transformation: The Influence of a Learning Package on Student Performance in Soils Geography Studies

Recent political and economic developments in Slovenia, especially its accession to the European Union in 2004, have led to a significant reappraisal of the geography curriculum in higher education, and particularly those elements dealing with the teaching of soils. Physical geography, and especially soils geography, has long been an important part of the geographical curriculum in Slovenian universities, and it is also regarded as its most demanding element. This paper describes a 10-year project that sought to make the learning of soils geography more accessible to geography undergraduates, principally those undergoing teacher training. The project has created a new, student-centred soils geography learning resource called the Pedo-Geographical Package (PGP). Users report that the package has increased learner knowledge recall, the quality of acquired knowledge and interest in soils geography. Improvements were also reported in learners’ skills in independent, creative and critical thinking and confidence, resulting in students no longer considering the subject so demanding. The package helped students acquire more soils geography knowledge, and to understand, use and explore this knowledge through their own research. The results of an evaluation survey reveal a statistically significant difference between PGP-using and non-PGP using groups.
A biomechanical analysis of intra- and interspecific scaling of jumping and morphology in Caribbean Anolis lizards

SUMMARY Scaling models predict how functional variables change as animals grow or increase in size evolutionarily. However, few experimental studies have found support for the predictions of these models. Here, we use a force plate to investigate the scaling of functional variables associated with jumping within (for three species) and across adults of 12 species of Anolis lizards. Both ontogenetically (with the exception of Anolis carolinensis) and across the 12 species examined, limb dimensions increased geometrically, making Anolis lizards an ideal study system to test the predictions of geometric scaling models. However, both the ontogenetic and interspecific scaling of functional variables deviated in several aspects from model predictions. Unexpectedly, the scaling of functional variables such as acceleration differed for different species. Whereas acceleration capacity increases with hindlimb length for A. carolinensis, no relationship was detected for the other two species. Interspecifically, the inclusion of two large species in our analysis appears to drive the absence of a correlation between acceleration capacity and hindlimb length across species. These data suggest that selection for enhanced jumping performance is relaxed in larger anoles and support the notion that no scaling model seems to be able to comprehensively predict changes in function with size across species; rather, natural selection seems to drive changes in the scaling relationships of some key variables such as force output or acceleration capacity.
The attractiveness and connectedness of ruthless brands: the role of trust

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate the impact of ruthless image on the attractiveness and connectedness of corporate brands. It proposes a model that trust mediates the influence of a ruthless image on these outcomes. The study aims to build upon previous theory which suggests that not all brands with negative aspects to their images are destined to receive negative consumer responses.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method approach was adopted to examine consumer responses to ruthless brand image, including five focus groups to uncover successful brands with strong ruthless associations and 680 personal face‐to‐face surveys in which respondents were interviewed about one of four brands.Findings – The paper provides empirical support that the mediating role of trust is critical to the development of favourable outcomes where negative brand associations exist. No significant direct links between ruthlessness, attractiveness and connectedness were identified – only an indirect effect via trust.Res.
The Leverage Effect on Stock Returns

This paper examines the relation between abnormal stock returns and leverage. Expanding on Modigliani and Miller’s (1958) Proposition II, abnormal returns are estimated using the asset pricing models of Sharpe and Lintner (the traditional Capital Asset Pricing Model, CAPM), of Fama and French and of Carhart. The findings indicate that returns are decreasing in firm leverage. This paper tests this relation empirically with other risk factors and finds that the results remain robust. The results show that leverage is a firm characteristic that loads on a risk factor. This evidence suggests that leverage should be priced as a risk factor and requires adequate incorporation into common asset pricing models.
Information-centric VANETs: A study of content routing design alternatives

Information-Centric Networks (ICN) are network architectures aiming at decoupling locator and identifier of contents, the primary objective of communication. It has been widely assumed that pervasive network caching and name-based forwarding, the most important characteristics of ICN, are beneficial in VANETs. However, these potential benefits have not been examined carefully enough to justify the shift from traditional routing design to ICN name routing and caching in VANETs. In this paper, we challenge this assumption and investigate the potential benefits of ICN in the VANET use case. We consider the two most important ICN-specific design options: caching policies and data source selection policies. Our results show that pervasive caching is indeed a major benefit of the ICN VANET while performance improvement of retrieving content from the nearest cache rather than from the original data producer is negligible, suggesting a return to legacy shortest path routing.
Client discourses on the process of seeking same-sex couple counselling

How same-sex couples manage the process of seeking help for their relationships is an under-researched area. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 people who had engaged in same-sex couple counselling, and were analysed using discourse analysis. The ways in which the couples positioned themselves as part of a ‘minority group’, or part of a generic group of couples struggling with relationship issues, impacted on how they discussed seeking help. We conclude that counsellors and psychotherapists need to be aware of the ways in which couples construct their relationships, and mindful of the tricky navigations around similarity to, and difference from, different-sex relationships. The impact of this on couples seeking therapeutic help is considered.
Alcohol and Cigarette Use Among Warsaw Adolescents: Factors Associated With Risk and Resilience

ABSTRACT Background: Youth in Poland are at notable risk for substance use. Guided by resiliency theory, we examine if developmental risk and promotive factors are associated with substance abuse risk. Objectives: We examined the association between adolescent cigarette and alcohol use and related risk and promotive factors including maternal support, neighbors' informal social control, friends' acceptance of substance use, and alcohol and cigarette use by nonparental adults. Method: Data were collected from a random sample of 13- to 14-year-old students attending Warsaw middle schools (N = 3029). We used hierarchical regression models and examined compensatory and protective models of resilience, controlling for sociodemograhic factors. Results: Our results indicated that friends' acceptance of substance use and perceived drug use among nonparental adults was associated with increased risk cigarette and alcohol use among youth. We found that maternal support moderated the relationship between friends' acceptance of substance use and cigarette use (protective model of resilience). Thus, mother support buffered the negative effects of friends' acceptance of substance use on youths' cigarette use. Neighbor's informal social control and maternal support were associated with reduced risk of alcohol use (compensatory model of resilience). Conclusion: Collectively, results of the study support compensatory and protective models of resilience in a large representative sample of Warsaw adolescents.
Eye movement as an interaction mechanism for relevance feedback in a content-based image retrieval system

Relevance feedback (RF) mechanisms are widely adopted in Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) systems to improve image retrieval performance. However, there exist some intrinsic problems: (1) the semantic gap between high-level concepts and low-level features and (2) the subjectivity of human perception of visual contents. The primary focus of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of inferring the relevance of images based on eye movement data. In total, 882 images from 101 categories are viewed by 10 subjects to test the usefulness of implicit RF, where the relevance of each image is known beforehand. A set of measures based on fixations are thoroughly evaluated which include fixation duration, fixation count, and the number of revisits. Finally, the paper proposes a decision tree to predict the user's input during the image searching tasks. The prediction precision of the decision tree is over 87%, which spreads light on a promising integration of natural eye movement into CBIR systems in the future.
Light scattering by size-shape distributions of randomly oriented axially symmetric particles of a size comparable to a wavelength.

The ? matrix method, as extended recently to randomly oriented scatterers [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 8, 871 (1991)], is used to calculate rigorously light scattering by size-shape distributions of randomly oriented axially symmetric particles. The computational scheme is described in detail along with a newly developed convergence procedure that enables one to substantially reduce computer time and storage requirements. It is demonstrated that the elements of the Stokes scattering matrix for a power law size distribution of randomly oriented moderately aspherical spheroids are much smoother than and differ substantially from those of equivalent monodisperse spheroids, and thus averaging over orientations does not eliminate the necessity of averaging over particle sizes. Numerical calculations are reported for volume-equivalent polydispersions of spheres and size-shape distributions of moderately aspherical spheroids with the index of refraction 1.5 + 0.02 i, which is typical of some maritime aero ls. The angular-scattering behavior of the ensembles of nonspherical particles is found to be greatly different from that of the equivalent polydisperse spheres. The size-shape distributions of spheroids exhibit stronger side scattering near 120° and weaker backscattering, the ratio F(22)/F(11), of the elements of the scattering matrix substantially deviates from unity, and the element F(33) is greatly different from F(44). For size distributions of oblate and prolate spheroids of the same aspect ratio, the ratios F(22) /F(11), F(33) /F(11), and F(34)/F(11), can differ substantially and, thus, are indicators of particle shape, whereas the angular patterns of the intensity (F(11)) and linear polarization (-F(12)/F11) are similar. For the size-shape distributions of moderately aspherical spheroids, the optical cross sections, the single-scattering albedo, and the asymmetry parameter of the phase function do not differ substantially from those of equivalent spheres. In general, the elements of the scattering matrix and optical cross sections are more shape dependent for larger particles.
Mindfulness in Context: A Historical Discourse Analysis

‘Mindfulness’ has become a buzzword, yet its meaning and origins have received relatively little critical consideration. This article places the current ‘mindfulness movement’ in context, examining the evolving discourse surrounding the concept of mindfulness. Through the first systematic etymology of the term, drawing from old Western and Buddhist writings, contemporary psychology and popular media, it is established that the contemporary understanding of mindfulness has been substantially simplified and divorced from its origins. However, quantitative data suggests that this manoeuvre was essential for the mainstreaming of the concept. Moreover, the resulting momentum has stimulated a new and dynamic discourse about the relationship between ‘secular’ mindfulness and Buddhism, sparking questions about ‘McMindfulness’, ‘stealth’ Buddhism and cultural imperialism. Therefore, this article argues that the recontextualisation of mindfulness created the scaffolding that supported the emergence of a deeper and more meaningful conversation about its implications for Buddhism and society that we see today.
RAD18 and RAD54 cooperatively contribute to maintenance of genomic stability in vertebrate cells

Translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) and homologous DNA recombination (HR) are two major pathways that account for survival after post‐replicational DNA damage. TLS functions by filling gaps on a daughter strand that remain after DNA replication caused by damage on the mother strand, while HR can repair gaps and breaks using the intact sister chromatid as a template. The RAD18 gene, which is conserved from lower eukaryotes to vertebrates, is essential for TLS in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To investigate the role of RAD18, we disrupted RAD18 by gene targeting in the chicken B‐lymphocyte line DT40. RAD18−/− cells are sensitive to various DNA‐damaging agents including ultraviolet light and the cross‐linking agent cisplatin, consistent with its role in TLS. Interestingly, elevated sister chromatid exchange, which reflects HR‐ mediated post‐replicational repair, was observed in RAD18−/− cells during the cell cycle. Strikingly, double mutants of RAD18 and RAD54, a gene involved in HR, are synthetic lethal, although the single mutant in either gene can proliferate with nearly normal kinetics. These data suggest that RAD18 plays an essential role in maintaining chromosomal DNA in cooperation with the RAD54‐dependent DNA repair pathway.
Voices for the Voiceless: Testimonial Literature in Latin America

All forms of political domination depend on the human construction of social and cultural differences among persons and peoples, for without differences there would be no basis for distinguishing those who wield power from those who are subject to it. The most potent political ideas about difference are those that are "naturalized" such that they seem to be created not by humans themselves but by nature. Such ideas are ideologically powerful because they assert that, for example, men are naturally superior to women or that white people are naturally superior to dark people. Such ideas justify the conditions of domination that they reflect so that ideas dialectically create difference. Naturalized ideas are hegemonic to the degree that they pervade different areas of culture from figures of speech to formal education, religion, law, and literature. Literature is usually produced by members of the dominant classes in society who tend to represent and naturalize difference as it is seen from their social and cultural position. In colonial situations major authors tend to write not only from positions of class superiority but also from the centers of empire. Writing from this skewed "subject position" within the global context, such authors presume to represent to write about and to write for subaltern peoples who are relatively powerless to represent themselves either symbolically or by more immediate political means. ' Such literature, as one of the forms of the cultural construction of difference, is better seen not as representation, but as an epistemological and political misrepresentation. From the vantage point of the late twentieth century it is easy to appreciate the ideological dimensions of colonialism that flowed from the quest for "God, gold, and glory," or in the words of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "the Bible,