Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cellular Plasticity for Group I mGluR-Mediated Epileptogenesis

Stimulation of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) by the agonist (S)-dihydroxyphenylglycine in the hippocampus transforms normal neuronal activity into prolonged epileptiform discharges. The conversion is long lasting in that epileptiform discharges persist after washout of the inducing agonist and serves as a model of epileptogenesis. The group I mGluR model of epileptogenesis took on special significance because epilepsy associated with fragile X syndrome (FXS) may be caused by excessive group I mGluR signaling. At present, the plasticity mechanism underlying the group I mGluR-mediated epileptogenesis is unknown. ImGluR(V), a voltage-gated cationic current activated by group I mGluR agonists in CA3 pyramidal cells in the hippocampus, is a possible candidate. ImGluR(V) activation is associated with group I mGluR agonist-elicited epileptiform discharges. For ImGluR(V) to play a role in epileptogenesis, long-term activation of the current must occur after group I mGluR agonist exposure or synaptic stimulation. We observed that ImGluR(V), once induced by group I mGluR agonist stimulation in CA3 pyramidal cells, remained undiminished for hours after agonist washout. In slices prepared from FXS model mice, repeated stimulation of recurrent CA3 pyramidal cell synapses, effective in eliciting mGluR-mediated epileptiform discharges, also induced long-lasting ImGluR(V) in CA3 pyramidal cells. Similar to group I mGluR-mediated prolonged epileptiform discharges, persistent ImGluR(V) was no longer observed in preparations pretreated with inhibitors of tyrosine kinase, of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, or of mRNA protein synthesis. The results indicate that ImGluR(V) is an intrinsic plasticity mechanism associated with group I mGluR-mediated epileptogenesis.
Addressing Individual Differences in the Classroom: Are We Up to the Job?

Kenneth Kavale is chair and professor of Special Eduction in the College of Education of the University of lowa at lowa City. In one sense, individualization is the reason for the existence of special education and has even been formalized as part of the Individualized Education Rlan. I a certain there ould be little disagreement with this perception about individualization, but why then is it a oal so difficult to achieve? Each of the papers in this Focus section has provided a partial answer, but I would suggest that the problem might be even more fundamental. Special education appears to have missed the essence of individualization; that is, meeting individual differ-
Three zones adaptive characteristic of the mho distance relay by KU method

This paper presents the three zones adaptive characteristic of the mho distance relay for compensate of the phase to phase fault with fault resistance by KU method. Generally, the characteristic of mho distance relay is suitable for the phase fault protection and in the case of a low fault resistance. But, the fault in case of the phase to phase fault with fault resistance are a trajectory of impedance outside the protection zone of the R-X diagram and the circuit breaker does not trip. In this paper, we present an analysis of the three zones adaptive characteristic of R-X diagram of the mho distance relay for compensate of the phase to phase fault with fault resistance in the radial transmission line. The KU method has been shown an extent protection zone for the compensation of phase to phase fault with fault resistance. The algorithm of proposed system is verified by simulation and results.
The life-cycle approach to performance management: Implications for public management and evaluation

This article discusses how performance-management systems may be conceptualized as tools with a life cycle consisting of several stages. Studies on public-sector performance management generally concern the question of how management can design these systems or address dysfunctional effects when they are used. This article, however, argues that the research in this field should cover the entire life cycle of performance-management systems: it should focus on both their benefits and costs and needs to recognize a broader spectrum of actors involved in the life cycle than that normally associated with the hierarchical conception of principals and agents. The life-cycle approach facilitates a comprehensive mapping of the various performance-management stages and their contingencies from invention to assessment and re-design, including their interdependence. The framework enables policymakers, managers, evaluators, and researchers to better understand performance-management systems, to identify relevant research areas and to communicate the practical problems and solutions related to the systems’ specific stages.
Associations of Childhood Maltreatment with Hopelessness and Depression among Adolescent Primary Care Patients

Abstract Previous research has indicated that childhood maltreatment may contribute to elevated risk for the development of depressive disorders. However, few studies have investigated the associations of emotional abuse and harsh punishment with depressive symptoms. This study was conducted to investigate whether emotional abuse and harsh punishment are associated with hopelessness and depressive symptoms, as hypothesized by the authors of the hopelessness theory of depression. Childhood maltreatment, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms were assessed in a multisite sample of 195 adolescent primary care patients. Reports of childhood emotional abuse and harsh punishment were associated with elevated levels of hopelessness and depressive symptoms. Consistent with the hypotheses that were investigated, hopelessness significantly mediated the associations of emotional abuse and harsh punishment with depressive symptoms.
Two Large, Related, Cryptic Plasmids from Geographically Distinct Isolates of Sulfobacillus thermotolerans

ABSTRACT Two large cryptic plasmids (59.2 and 65.9 kb) from isolates of Sulfobacillus thermotolerans from Yellowstone National Park (United States) and the Caribbean island of Montserrat were isolated and sequenced. This analysis revealed a common “backbone” region coding for a potential plasmid stability system plus a nonpheromone conjugation system containing homologues of both type IV and type II (tight adherence, or Tad-like) secretion systems.
The quantum dynamics of an excess proton in water

The quantum dynamics and energetics of an excess proton in water have been studied computationally. Comparison of a quantum mechanical treatment of the transferring proton and the water solvent is made with a classical treatment of the same system. The exchange of the proton between two water molecules is found to be an activationless quantum process. Analysis of the microscopic structure of the solvent around the proton transfer complex is also carried out, and the quantum infrared spectrum of the transferring proton is calculated and analyzed in terms of Zundel polarization. The Grotthus mechanism for proton migration in water is also examined within the context of the model. Grotthus behavior is suggested to depend critically on the dynamics of water molecules in the second solvation shell of the H5O+2 complex, as well as the inward fluctuations of the oxygen–oxygen distance of water molecules that hydrogen bond to the H5O+2 complex in the first solvation shell. The quantum effects on the nuclear dynam.
On affirmations of the realities of religion and atheism

An explosion of recent research suggests that religious beliefs and behaviors are universal, arise from deep-seated cognitive mechanisms, and were favored by natural selection over human evolutionary history. However, if a propensity towards religious beliefs is a fundamental characteristic of human brains (as both by-product theorists and adaptationists agree), and/or an important ingredient of Darwinian fitness (as adaptationists argue), then how do we explain the existence and prevalence of atheists even among ancient and traditional societies? The null hypothesis is that like other psychological traits due to natural variation among individuals in genetics, physiology, and cognition, there will always be a range of strengths of religious beliefs. Atheists may therefore simply represent one end of a natural distribution of belief. However, an evolutionary approach to religion raises some more interesting adaptive hypotheses for atheism, which I explore here. Key among them are: (1) frequency dependence may mean that atheism as a ‘‘strategy’’ is selected for (along with selection for the ‘‘strategy’’ of belief), as long as atheists do not become too numerous; (2) ecological variation may mean that atheism outperforms belief in certain settings or at certain times, maintaining a mix in the overall population; (3) the presence of atheists may reinforce or temper religious beliefs and behaviors in the face of skepticism, boosting religious commitment, credibility, or practicality in the group as a whole; and (4) the presence of atheists may catalyze the functional advantages of religion, analogous to the way that loners or non-participants can enhance the evolution of cooperation. Just as evolutionary theorists ask what religious beliefs are ‘‘for’’ in terms of functional benefits for Darwinian fitness, an evolutionary approach suggests we should also at least consider what atheists might be for.
What Is Right with ‘Bayes Net Methods’ and What Is Wrong with ‘Hunting Causes and Using Them’?

Nancy Cartwright's recent criticisms of efforts and methods to obtain causal information from sample data using automated search are considered. In addition to reviewing that effort, I argue that almost all of her criticisms are false and rest on misreading, overgeneralization, or neglect of the relevant literature. 1. Introduction2. Cartwright's Claims, and Their Errors3. Problems of Causal Inference4. Context5. Graphical Causal Models and Markov Properties6. Interventions, Experiments, and Randomization7. Search for Causal Explanations 7.1. The PC algorithm7.2. The Fast Causal Inference algorithm7.3. ION and iMAGES7.4. Build pure clusters and MimBuild7.5. Measurement error and mixed methods7.6. Time series7.7. LiNGAM8. Cartwright's Objections Again9. Conclusion Introduction Cartwright's Claims, and Their Errors Problems of Causal Inference Context Graphical Causal Models and Markov Properties Interventions, Experiments, and Randomization Search for Causal Explanations 7.1. The PC algorithm7.2. The Fast Causal Inference algorithm7.3. ION and iMAGES7.4. Build pure clusters and MimBuild7.5. Measurement error and mixed methods7.6. Time series7.7. LiNGAM The PC algorithm The Fast Causal Inference algorithm ION and iMAGES Build pure clusters and MimBuild Measurement error and mixed methods Time series LiNGAM Cartwright's Objections Again Conclusion
A 61-dB SNDR 700 µm2 second-order all-digital TDC with low-jitter frequency shift oscillators and dynamic flipflops

We present a small-area second-order all-digital time-to-digital converter (TDC) with two frequency shift oscillators (FSOs) comprising inverter chains and dynamic flipflops featuring low jitter. The proposed FSOs can maintain their phase states through continuous oscillation, unlike conventional gated ring oscillators (GROs) that are affected by transistor leakage. Our proposed FSOTDC is more robust and is eligible for all-digital TDC architectures in recent leaky processes. Low-jitter dynamic flipflops are adopted as a quantization noise propagator (QNP). A frequency mismatch occurring between the two FSOs can be canceled out using a least mean squares (LMS) filter so that second-order noise shaping is possible. In a standard 65-nm CMOS process, an SNDR of 61 dB is achievable at an input bandwidth of 500 kHz and a sampling rate of 16 MHz, where the respective area and power are 700 μm2 and 281 μW.
Chromatic Enhancement Technique for JPEG Images

Different color artifacts introduced by DCT based engines, like standard JPEG compression, have been studied in last years. Among them, blocking and ringing distortions have been deeply investigated. On the other side, other kinds of distortions, like chromatic color bleeding effects, only recently received proper attention. The goal of this paper is to propose an innovative adaptive algorithm to overcome this kind of color artifacts.
Psychometrics of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and its subscales: validation of the Taiwanese version of the MoCA and an item response theory analysis

ABSTRACT Background: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is an instrument for screening mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This study examined the psychometric properties and the validity of the Taiwan version of the MoCA (MoCA-T) in an elderly outpatient population. Methods: Participants completed the MoCA-T, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Chinese Version Verbal Learning Test. The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was made based on the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria, and MCI was diagnosed through the criteria proposed by Petersen et al. (2001). Results: Data were collected from 207 participants (115 males/92 females, mean age: 77.3 ± 7.5 years). Ninety-eight participants were diagnosed with AD, 71 with MCI, and 38 were normal controls. The area under the receiver operator curves (AUC) for predicting AD was 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.97–1.00) for the MMSE, and 0.99 (95% CI = 0.98–1.00) for the MoCA-T. The AUC for predicting MCI was 0.81 (95% CI = 0.72–0.89) using the MMSE and 0.91 (95% CI = 0.86–1.00) using the MoCA-T. Using an optimal cut-off score of 23/24, the MoCA-T had a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 78% for MCI. Item response theory analysis indicated that the level of information provided by each subtest of the MoCA-T was consistent. The frontal and language subscales provided higher discriminating power than the other subscales in the detection of MCI. Conclusion: Compared to the MMSE, the MoCA-T provides better psychometric properties in the detection of MCI. The utility of the MoCA-T is optimal in mild to moderate cognitive dysfunction.
The Effect of Task Demands on Attention Allocation in Children of Different Ages.

SCHIFF, ANDREW R. , and KNOPF, IRWIN J. The Effect of Task Demands on Attention Allocation in Children of Different Ages. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 621-630. In order to study the effect of task demands on attention allocation, 20 9-year-olds and 20 13-year-olds were presented with a primary and secondary task. Subjects were instructed either to respond to the primary task or to respond to both tasks. The stimulus display was the same for all subjects and consisted of a set of symbols presented in the center of a display panel and a set of letters presented in the corners. The primary task was to detect 1 symbol by pushing a response key, while the secondary task was to remember the letters. In order to improve upon the manner in which attention has previously been measured, the eye movements of subjects were recorded. Older subjects were found to perfonn better than younger subjects on all tasks that they were instructed to complete. 13-year-olds had significantly more correct detections than 9-year-olds, even though under single-task instructions the age groups did not significantly differ in the time spent fixating the central symbols. 13-year-olds spent less time fixating the letters, but when instructed to complete both tasks, they recalled and recognized significantly more letters than 9-year-olds. Overall, these findings were interpreted as indicating that the ability to allocate attention in accordance with task demands improves with age.
Electoral and Biracial Coalition

African Americans comprise approximately 30% of the population in Louisville, Kentucky. In other cities with relatively small Black populations, African American candidates have won mayoral races by stressing deracialized platforms and by forming biracial coalitions. This article analyzes the factors that most adversely affected the candidacies of serious Black contenders in Louisville elections. It also examines the possibility of a Black candidate winning a mayoral election through the use of the strategy of deracialization and through a biracial coalition. Specifically, this article examines the campaigns of 1985 mayoral candidate Darryl Owens and 1990 congressional candidate Al Brown. Owens was the first and only serious Black candidate for the mayor's office in Louisville history. Despite vigorous efforts for Black mobilization, he was defeated by White candidate and current mayor Jerry Abramson in the primary election of May 1985. In 1990, Black Republican Al Brown had strong funding and support from White Republicans. This included active campaigning on his behalf by members of the Republican National Committee. Yet Brown only defeated White candidate Timothy Hardy by 394 votes to win the Republican nomination to Congress from Kentucky's third district. Also, despite massive Republican aid, Brown lost the November election for U.S. representative to incumbent Romano Mazzoli.
Profile of water content and degree of polymerisation in the solid insulation of power transformers

A large number of the power transformers in service today have reached an age of 30 years or more. Thus, they might have reached a critical condition. The ageing rate is determined by the thermal load and to a considerable degree also by the water content in the solid insulation material. For an estimation of the total amount of water in a transformer, knowledge about the typical profile of the water content in a transformer as it is created after a certain time of operation is extremely helpful. The decision about drying of the active part of a transformer as a value conserving measure is based finally on the total amount of water in a transformer. In This work results of the investigation of the profiles of water content and degree of polymerisation before and after performing the active part drying procedure will be presented based on data from a 31.5 MVA transformer (110 kV) manufactured in 1955.
Dynamics of Acquired Firm Pre-Acquisition Employee Reactions

Based on a qualitative, large-scale, interview-based inductive study of eight acquisitions conducted by Finnish multinationals, this article develops a grounded model of the dynamics of acquired firm employee reactions preceding related, industrial cross-border acquisitions. In contrast to most merger and acquisition (M&A) research portraying employee reactions in times of M&A in a negative, stressful light, the present findings shed a contradictory light on this discourse. In six of the studied acquisitions, pre-acquisition employee reactions tended toward motivation rather than uncertainty. The underlying reason was that these acquisitions were perceived as opportunities instead of threats in the target firms. As a result, target firm management became proactively involved in promoting the acquisition’s success. The author terms this target behavioral responsiveness and found it to result from (a) “static” factors (partner organizational attractiveness and target cognitive responsiveness) as well as (b) “dynamic” factors (partner behavioral attractiveness and target strategic responsiveness). Intriguingly, the dynamic factors were found to have a stronger predictive impact on target behavioral responsiveness. Indeed, in two of the acquisitions, their low ranking on static factors was countered by a high ranking on dynamic factors, namely, attractive partner behaviors and a strategically responsive target. Employee reactions to a forthcoming acquisition are thus not the deterministic result of the change itself, but can be influenced through buying firm behaviors and positive future intentions as well as the target experiencing a need to be acquired. Implications for M&A research are discussed, and a model and propositions to guide future research are suggested.
On choosing the digital document's file format for long-term preservation

Digital libraries have been built all over the world. One of the main challenges in maintaining digital libraries is the digital preservation. The aim of digital preservation is to ensure that digital records are filed and are made available throughout time. Each digital library consists of different documents with different file formats. Due to rapid obsolescence in hardware and software technology it is necessary for the libraries to look into the details of the file formats. Thus the file format for long-term preservation plays a very important role during the practices of digital preservation. The article tries to analyzing the current situation of the file formats, then points out the standards in choosing the file format for long-term preservation based on generalizing the researches by scholars. After comparing the PDF and XML, the author thinks the XML file format is more suitable for long-term preservation.
Implementation of LDM/ISDB-T broadcast system using diversity at reception

This paper presents the scenario of terrestrial broadcast services, the needed adaptations for the next generation television and proposes an adapted ISDB-T system which makes use of diversity at reception through the MRC method as well as uses LDM, LDPC and SDR/GRC, in order to improve performance, spectral efficiency and useful bit rate to UHDTV applications, while using a layer still compatible with the traditional ISDB-T system.
Prediction and indexing of moving objects with unknown motion patterns

Existing methods for peediction spatio-temporal databases assume that objects move according to linear functions. This severely limits their applicability, since in practice movement is more complex, and individual objects may follow drastically diffferent motion patterns. In order to overcome these problems, we first introduce a general framework for monitoring and indexing moving objects, where (i) each boject computes individually the function that accurately captures its movement and (ii) a server indexes the object locations at a coarse level and processes queries using a filter-refinement mechanism. Our second contribution is a novel recursive motion function that supports a broad class of non-linear motion patterns. The function does not presume any a-priori movement but can postulate the particular motion of each object by examining its locations at recent timestamps. Finally. we propse an efficient indexing scheme that faciliates the processing of predicitive queries without false misses.
Development of replication-competent adenovirus for bladder cancer by controlling adenovirus E1a and E4 gene expression with the survivin promoter

Survivin is a member of the inhibitors of apoptosis protein family. Here, we examined survivin expression and confirmed abundant survivin expression in bladder cancer cells. This expression pattern indicated that the transcriptional regulatory elements that control survivin expression could be utilized to discriminate cancer from normal cells. We therefore generated a novel adenovirus termed Ad5/35E1apsurvivinE4 with the following characteristics: 1) E1A and E4 protein expression was dependent on survivin promoter activity; 2) the green fluorescence protein gene was inserted into the genome under the control of the CMV promoter; 3) most of the E3 sequences were deleted, but the construct was still capable of expressing the adenovirus death protein with potent cytotoxic effects; and 4) the fiber knob was from serotype 35 adenovirus. As expected from the abundant survivin expression observed in bladder cancer cells, Ad5/35E1apsurvivinE4 replicated better in cancer cells than in normal cells by a factor of 106 to 102. Likewise, Ad5/35E1apsurvivinE4 exerted greater cytotoxic effects on all bladder cancer cell lines tested. Importantly, Ad5/35E1apsurvivinE4 inhibited the growth of Ku7-Luc orthotopic xenografts in nude mice. Taken together, Ad5/35E1apsurvivinE4 indicates that the survivin promoter may be utilized for the development of a replication-competent adenovirus to target bladder cancers.