Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Voluntary Exercise Decreases Amyloid Load in a Transgenic Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there are few therapeutics that affect the underlying disease mechanism. Recent epidemiological studies, however, suggest that lifestyle changes may slow the onset/progression of AD. Here we have used TgCRND8 mice to examine directly the interaction between exercise and the AD cascade. Five months of voluntary exercise resulted in a decrease in extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques in the frontal cortex (38%; p = 0.018), the cortex at the level of the hippocampus (53%; p = 0.0003), and the hippocampus (40%; p = 0.06). This was associated with decreased cortical Aβ1-40 (35%; p = 0.005) and Aβ1-42 (22%; p = 0.04) (ELISA). The mechanism appears to be mediated by a change in the processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) after short-term exercise, because 1 month of activity decreased the proteolytic fragments of APP [for α-C-terminal fragment (α-CTF), 54% and p = 0.04; for β-CTF, 35% and p = 0.03]. This effect was independent of mRNA/protein changes in neprilysin and insulin-degrading enzyme and, instead, may involve neuronal metabolism changes that are known to affect APP processing and to be regulated by exercise. Long-term exercise also enhanced the rate of learning of TgCRND8 animals in the Morris water maze, with significant (p < 0.02) reductions in escape latencies over the first 3 (of 6) trial days. In support of existing epidemiological studies, this investigation demonstrates that exercise is a simple behavioral intervention sufficient to inhibit the normal progression of AD-like neuropathology in the TgCRND8 mouse model.
The Rice Haptic Rocker: Skin stretch haptic feedback with the Pisa/IIT SoftHand

Myoelectric prostheses have seen increased application in clinical practice and research, due to their potential for good functionality and versatility. Yet, myoelectric prostheses still suffer from a lack of intuitive control and haptic feedback, which can frustrate users and lead to abandonment. To address this problem, we propose to convey proprioceptive information for a prosthetic hand with skin stretch using the Rice Haptic Rocker. This device was integrated with the myo-controlled version of Pisa/IIT SoftHand and a size discrimination test with 18 able bodied subjects was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Results show that the Rice Haptic Rocker can be successfully used to convey proprioceptive information. A Likert survey was also presented to the experiment participants, who evaluated the integrated setup as easy to use and effective in conveying proprioception.
Australia Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics Empirical Information Criteria for Time Series Forecasting Model Selection Empirical Information Criteria for Time Series Forecasting Model Selection Empirical Information Criteria for Time Series Forecasting Model Selection

In this paper, we propose a new Empirical Information Criterion (EIC) for model selection which penalizes the likelihood of the data by a function of the number of parameters in the model. It is designed to be used where there are a large number of time series to be forecast. However, a bootstrap version of the EIC can be used where there is a single time series to be forecast. The EIC provides a data-driven model selection tool that can be tuned to the particular forecasting task. We compare the EIC with other model selection criteria including Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) and Schwarz's Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). The comparisons show that for the M3 forecasting competition data, the EIC outperforms both the AIC and BIC, particularly for longer forecast horizons. We also compare the criteria on simulated data and find that the EIC does better than existing criteria in that case also.
The Issue of Globalization through the Theory of Imperialism and the Periodization of Modes of Production

The aim of this article is to illustrate why the notions of mode of production and of social formation are still necessary for understanding the transformations taking place in the modern phase of imperialism. The basic object is to demonstrate the enduring significance of the Leninist theory of imperialism as a method used to analyse the current era of the capitalist development. What we have been witnessing over the last years is not the emergence of a new mode of production or the transition to a new stage of capitalism, so-called globalization, but merely imperialism in its modern phase.
The shift needed for sustainability

Purpose – The purpose of this action research is to begin to assess to what extent organizations have in practice begun to make the shift towards triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability.Design/methodology/approach – A definition of TBL sustainability is provided, and key elements of TBL sustainability considered necessary to success are identified based on current literature and public commentary. An assessment is made via published surveys and an action research study of how these components are being addressed now and for the future. The action research study involved the design and launching of a Zoomerang survey that was posted both in the USA and on international websites and blogs.Findings – The synthesis from the research reveals a lack of a clear definition of sustainability which sets in motion a whole systemic dynamic. The data from the action research exemplify this dynamic. First, there is a pattern of adopting a short‐term focus and expediency in decision making. Second, problem solving favor.
The Facet Joint and Its Role in Spine Pain: Management With Facet Joint Injections

Mechanical derangements of the lumbar spine, causing predominantly back pain with the absence of nerve root irritation or compromise, present a difficult treatment challenge to the average physician. The author suggests that facet joint injections offer a simple, safe, and often dramatically effective means for managing these problems. The historic background and technique are described in detail. The author presents his personal experience with 99 patients receiving a total of 117 facet joint injections in this retrospective, uncontrolled review. Results were classified as excellent in 17%, good in 25%, fair in 9%, mediocre in 4%, and no change in symptoms occurred in 44%. The procedure is recommended for diagnostic and conservative therapy.
CIVIL DISPUTES AND CRIME RECORDING Refusals, Disinterest And Power In Police Witcraft

Nick Lynn* and Susan J. LeaThis paper explores the rhetorical skills or witcraft of police ofﬁcers as they adjudicate on disputesand crimes reported to them. The ﬁrst author accompaniedofﬁcers ‘on the beat’ to record these inter-actions with members of the public. A discourse analysis of the data revealed ofﬁcers regularly usea discursive strategy that we term the that’s civil device. Exploiting an epistemological imbalancethat exists in police/public interactions, the device not only allows ofﬁcers to externalize their judg-ments as matters of law; it also assists them to manage the conversationally and operationally dif-ﬁcult task of refusing. Moreover, it allows ofﬁcers to resist claims of disinterestedness or neglect ofduty as they limit or disbar their involvement in potentially insoluble disputes.Keywords: police, crime recording, witcraft, refusals, stake, powerIntroductionUniformed police work has a reputation for being exciting (Holdaway 1977). On a dailybasis, the media present ‘front-line’ policing as both thrilling and risky. But, while thenature of policing means that it is always prone to the unexpected, dramatic events aregenerally the exception rather than the rule (Sykes and Brent 1983; McConville et al.1991; Reiner 2000). The day-to-day reality for uniformed ofﬁcers is that much of whatthey do is mundane(Chan etal.2003). A substantial amount of time is spent resolving oradjudicating petty ‘disputes’ (Kemp et al. 1992), dealing with ‘nuisance’ children, de-terring ‘anti-social’ behaviour, locating missing persons, checking the welfare of vulner-able individuals, acting on behalf of the Coroner in dealing with so-called ‘sudden’deaths and recording crimes that members of the public report to them (Banton1964; Shapland and Vagg 1988). The banal nature of this work is often overlooked;yet, if we are to increase our understanding of how police ofﬁcers do policing, it is fromstudyingthecommonplaceandtheapparentlyuninterestingthatwemaygainourgreat-est insights (Billig 1995). In this paper, we concentrate our attention on how ofﬁcers evaluate and categorizethe disputes they deal with and how it is that some are recorded as crimes and others arenot.Whileonemightassumethatsuchdecisionswould,ingeneral,be relativelystraight-forward, the combination of professional expertise, discretion and a mix of pragmatic,situational and ideological considerations mean that the recording of crime is more ofan art rather than a dry bureaucratic task (Shapland and Vagg 1988). The police, asCicourel found, will account for how they deal with an event, ‘in such a way that theirpresence or interference can be warranted now and later on if further justiﬁcation isrequired’ (Cicourel 1968: 112).
Minimizing the Spread of Contamination by Blocking Links in a Network

We address the problem of minimizing the propagation of undesirable things, such as computer viruses or malicious rumors, by blocking a limited number of links in a network, a dual problem to the influence maximization problem of finding the most influential nodes in a social network for information diffusion. This minimization problem is another approach to the problem of preventing the spread of contamination by removing nodes in a network. We propose a method for efficiently finding a good approximate solution to this problem based on a naturally greedy strategy. Using large real networks, we demonstrate experimentally that the proposed method significantly outperforms conventional link-removal methods. We also show that unlike the strategy of removing nodes, blocking links between nodes with high out-degrees is not necessarily effective.
User Feedback in Mobile Development

Developers need to obtain feedback early to build applications that fit to the users needs. In this paper we show how the combination of two approaches enables developers to continuously improve usability and user experience of mobile applications. The Tornado model is a light-weight scenario-based approach for producing executable prototypes. Rugby, an agile process model based on Scrum, allows the developer to continuously deliver these prototypes at any time during a sprint to obtain feedback.
Inverse Scattering Internal Multiple Attenuation Algorithm: an Analysis of the Pseudo-depth And Time Monotonicity Requirements

Pseudo-depth monotonicity condition is an important assumption of the inverse scattering internal multiple attenuation algorithm. Analysis reveals that this condition is equivalent to a vertical-time monotonicity condition which is different than the total traveltime monotonicity suggested in recent literature/discussions. For certain complex media, the monotonicity condition can be too restrictive and, as a result, some multiples will not be predicted by the algorithm. Those cases have to be analyzed in the forward scattering series to determine how the multiples are modeled and to establish if an analogy between the forward and the inverse process would be useful to expand the algorithm to address these kind of events.
Modified filtered-x dichotomous coordinate descent recursive affine projection algorithm

In this paper, we propose a new multichannel filtered-x affine projection algorithm based on dichotomous coordinate descent (DCD) iterations for active noise control (ANC) systems. It includes a fast recursive filtering procedure with the filter update incorporated in the DCD iterations. It is shown that the proposed algorithm has a lower complexity, and superior convergence properties than the multichannel filtered-x LMS algorithm. Also, it compares favorably to a previously published DCD based algorithm for ANC systems.
Contribution to the Petrography, Geochemistry, and Petrogenesis of Zarqa-Ma'in Pleistocene Alkali Olivine Basalt Flow of Central Jordan

The Zarqa-Ma’in basalt (MB) occurs near a plateau basalt (wadi fills) covering about 15 km2 of Makawir, Ataruz, and Hammat um Hasana cone areas in central Jordan. The tectonic evolution occurred through intraplate volcanism and erupted through fissure systems along the Dead Sea, transforming the fault during Miocene to Pleistocene period. Three stages of eruption of MB have been recorded during Pleistocene from 6 to 0.6 Ma. The petrographic analyses data show that the MB rocks are composed of plagioclase, olivine, pyroxene, and magnetite, including secondary minerals calcite, iddingsite, serpentine, and zeolite. Furthermore, the MB rocks have narrow ranges of major and trace element concentrations, and are of under saturated silica type and belong to sodic alkaline magma series. The geochemical characteristics of MB indicate that MB was derived from a slightly fractionated magma as reflected by its high MgO (6.3 - 11.7 ppm) concentration with Mg number from 0.41 to 0.61, low silica content (40.83 - 47.55 wt%), and high Cr and Ni concentrations (115 - 475 and 105 - 553 ppm, respectively). This basalt exhibited low degree of partial melting (10%) for garnet peridotite mantle source. The model mineral fractionation showed that the MB could be fractionated to clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, olivine, and plagioclase.
Are emotion recognition skills related to autism symptom severity in children with autism?

Abstract Objectives: This study aimed to assess the relationship between degree of autism symptom severity (as measured by the ADOS and the SRS) and emotion recognition ability in young children with autism. Methods: The sample consisted of 55 children with Autistic Disorder aged 4–7 years with a range of cognitive ability. Participants completed emotion identification and matching tasks for facial expressions of happiness, sadness, anger and fear, as well as situation-based and desire-based emotion tasks. Results: Regression analyses controlled for the influence of age and IQ on results, demonstrating that higher autism severity scores were associated with reduced accuracy in the recognition of facial expressions of fear and anger, as well as decreased accuracy in the identification of desire-based but not situation-based emotions. Discussion: Results suggest that autism symptomatology may be related to less accurate recognition of expressions of anger and fear.
Ordinary magic, extraordinary performance: Psychological resilience and thriving in high achievers.

Although resilience has been referred to as “ordinary magic” (Masten, 2001, p. 227) that is more common than once thought, the majority of research in this area has sampled individuals who have been required to react to potentially traumatic events outside of their control. The findings of this work, however, are not easily applicable to those who actively seek to engage with challenging situations that present opportunities for them to raise their performance level. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to identify and explore resilient qualities that enable high achievers to thrive and perform at extraordinary levels. Thirteen high achievers (9 male and 4 female) from 11 professions were interviewed in the United Kingdom, and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to identify resilient qualities that enabled the participants to thrive in pressured environments. Results revealed 6 superordinate themes that characterized resilience and thriving: positive and proactive personality, experience and learning, sense of control, flexibility and adaptability, balance and perspective, and perceived social support. The data highlights the multifaceted nature of resilience comprising a constellation of personal qualities that enable high achievers to excel in demanding contexts. The themes are discussed in relation to previous research findings and in terms of their implications for practicing psychologists. It is anticipated that these themes will provide practitioners with an insight into the distinct features of resilience and thriving in high achievers and help individuals to attain success and well-being in their careers.
The best of intentions for the education of teachers

A sample of tutors in pre‐service teacher education was surveyed to establish their teaching goals, their teaching strategies and the attributes they believed essential for success in school teaching. Results indicate that the tutors use a limited range of instructional techniques, and that their goals are not related to their views about the desirable attributes of successful teachers.
Computational molecular phenotyping of retinal sheet transplants to rats with retinal degeneration

Retinal progenitor sheet transplants have been shown to extend neuronal processes into a degenerating host retina and to restore visual responses in the brain. The aim of this study was to identify cells involved in transplant signals to retinal degenerate hosts using computational molecular phenotyping (CMP). S334ter line 3 rats received fetal retinal sheet transplants at the age of 24–40 days. Donor tissues were incubated with slow‐releasing microspheres containing brain‐derived neurotrophic factor or glial cell‐derived neurotrophic factor. Up to 265 days after surgery, eyes of selected rats were vibratome‐sectioned through the transplant area (some slices stained for donor marker human placental alkaline phosphatase), dehydrated and embedded in Eponate, sectioned into serial ultrathin datasets and probed for rhodopsin, cone opsin, CRALBP (cellular retinaldehyde binding protein), l‐glutamate, l‐glutamine, glutathione, glycine, taurine, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and DAPI (4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole). In large transplant areas, photoreceptor outer segments in contact with host retinal pigment epithelium revealed rod and cone opsin immunoreactivity whereas no such staining was found in the degenerate host retina. Transplant photoreceptor layers contained high taurine levels. Glutamate levels in the transplants were higher than in the host retina whereas GABA levels were similar. The transplant inner nuclear layer showed some loss of neurons, but amacrine cells and horizontal cells were not reduced. In many areas, glial hypertrophy between the host and transplant was absent and host and transplant neuropil appeared to intermingle. CMP data indicate that horizontal cells and both glycinergic and GABAergic amacrine cells are involved in a novel circuit between transplant and host, generating alternative signal pathways between transplant and degenerating host retina.
Heroin Maintenance Treatment - Are the Further Investigation Needed?

Abstract The aim of this review is to give new emphasis to key aspects of the proposed treatment of drug addiction. Surveys for so called “second-line” treatment of drug addiction, with heroin (diacetylmorphine) as a pharmaceutical preparation, started since 1990, but this issue is becoming particularly popular in the last period. Drug addiction according to WHO and International Classification of Diseases (ICD10) is chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences as well as neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. Drugs generate crime, violence and other social problems that are damaging society as a whole. Drug addiction is medical disorder to which contributes more factors and it is necessary to implement the treatment in multi disciplinary manner - from pharmacological, psychiatric, and social aspect. In recent periods studies are carrying out in several countries in the European region, to provide justification, with the scientific medical evidence, for use of heroin as a pharmaceutical dosage form, for treatment of drug addictions for previously unresponsive group. This review paper is focused on maintenance treatment with heroin, retention of the patients into treatment, whether the dose that is expected to be effective at the same time is safe, which organ (systems) are involved in eliminating the drug from the body, whether the injection is the best way for application of the drug. Purpose of this review paper is not to be supporter or opponent, but to inform, transparently to discuss all aspects and to set conclusions about this type of treatment, within national strategy context.
Measurement of Vertical and Horizontal Idiocentrism and Allocentrism in Small Groups

A new conceptual framework of collective orientation in team contexts has recently been proposed in terms of vertical and horizontal dimensions of idiocentrism and allocentrism. A two-phase longitudinal study of 270 university students engaged in 86 academic groups partly confirmed the conceptualization by identifying four interpretable factors: vertical and horizontal idiocentrism, horizontal allocentrism, and avoiding arguments. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and a structural model of relationships between the four dimensions in both phases of the study are reported in this article.
Formal and executable contracts for transaction-level modeling in SystemC

Transaction-Level Modeling (TLM) for systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) has become a standard in the industry, using SystemC. With SystemC/TLM, it is possible to develop an executable virtual prototype of a hardware platform, so that software developers can start writing code long before the actual chip is available. A hardware model in SystemC/TLM can be very abstract, compared to the detailed RTL model. It is clearly component-based, with guidelines defining how components should be designed for use in any TLM context. However, these guidelines are quite informal for the moment. In this paper, we establish a structural correspondence between functional SystemC/TLM models and a formal component-model for embedded systems called 42, for which we have defined a notion of control contract, and an execution mode for systems made of components' contracts. This is a way of formalizing the principles of functional SystemC/TLM. Moreover, it allows the combined use of SystemC/TLM components with 42 components. Demonstrating that such a combined use is possible is key to the adoption of formal components' definitions in the community of TLM users.
Generating unique IDs from patient identification data using security models

Background: The use of electronic health records (EHRs) has continued to increase within healthcare systems in the developed and developing nations. EHRs allow for increased patient safety, grant patients easier access to their medical records, and offer a wealth of data to researchers. However, various bioethical, financial, logistical, and information security considerations must be addressed while transitioning to an EHR system. The need to encrypt private patient information for data sharing is one of the foremost challenges faced by health information technology. Method: We describe the usage of the message digest-5 (MD5) and secure hashing algorithm (SHA) as methods for encrypting electronic medical data. In particular, we present an application of the MD5 and SHA-1 algorithms in encrypting a composite message from private patient information. Results: The results show that the composite message can be used to create a unique one-way encrypted ID per patient record that can be used for data sharing. Conclusion: The described software tool can be used to share patient EMRs between practitioners without revealing patients identifiable data.