Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GABAergic modulation of DC stimulation‐induced motor cortex excitability shifts in humans

Weak transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS) of the human motor cortex results in excitability shifts during and after the end of stimulation, which are most probably localized intracortically. Anodal stimulation enhances excitability, whereas cathodal stimulation reduces it. Although the after‐effects of tDCS are NMDA receptor‐dependent, nothing is known about the involvement of additional receptors. Here we show that pharmacological strengthening of GABAergic inhibition modulates selectively the after‐effects elicited by anodal tDCS. Administration of the GABAA receptor agonist lorazepam resulted in a delayed, but then enhanced and prolonged anodal tDCS‐induced excitability elevation. The initial absence of an excitability enhancement under lorazepam is most probably caused by a loss of the anodal tDCS‐generated intracortical diminution of inhibition and enhancement of facilitation, which occurs without pharmacological intervention. The reasons for the late‐occurring excitability enhancement remain unclear. Because intracortical inhibition and facilitation are not changed in this phase compared with pre‐tDCS values, excitability changes originating from remote cortical or subcortical areas could be involved.
Seed and Plant Breeding for Wisconsin’s Organic Vegetable Sector: Understanding Farmers’ Needs

Plant breeding and seed issues are of growing importance in organic farming, but more regionally specific information is needed. In 2012, we surveyed Wisconsin organic vegetable growers regarding: a) general characteristics and farm practices; b) challenges in accessing organic seed; c) plant breeding priorities; and d) improving access to appropriate plant breeding and seed systems. Results suggest that growers had more difficulty accessing satisfactory genetics than seed quality, and that seed access was more problematic for growers with larger farming operations. Diverse plant breeding priorities, combined with prevalent variety trialing and seed saving, suggest a good fit with participatory plant breeding.
THE PRICE ADJUSTMENT PROCESS OF BONDS TO RATING RECLASSIFICATIONS: A TEST OF BOND MARKET EFFICIENCY

THE STOCK MARKET has been the subject of voluminous "random walk-efficient market" studies.1 These studies have investigated the efficiency of the equityexchange markets on essentially three levels, weakly efficient, semi-strong efficient, and strongly efficient. Furthermore, these studies can be categorized as being "time-horizon" oriented wherein the random walk nature of price changes has been inferred from demonstrated statistical independence of successive security price changes over time and "event" oriented whereby price reaction to specific kinds of new information is investigated. Curiously, the bond market has not been adequately scrutinized along these lines. The purpose of this study is to develop an event-oriented procedure for testing the efficiency of the bond market. Specifically, the price adjustment process of bonds to rating reclassifications will be analyzed. Essentially, we are looking for "unusual behavior" in a bond's yield to maturity twelve months prior to and five months after a rating change. Regression models are developed to forecast the expected yield to maturity of a reclassified bond for both its old and new rating class in each of the eighteen months under consideration. The actual yield to maturity will then be compared to the two expected yields to determine to what degree an adjustment has taken place. It is shown that there is no anticipation at all to a rating reclassification. Furthermore, there appears to be a lag of between six and ten weeks subsequent to a rating reclassification before a 100% adjustment to the new rating class prevails.
An Optimal Taxation Approach to Fiscal Federalism

In a Federal system of government, each unit of government decides independently how much of each type of public good to provide, and what types of taxes, and which tax rates, to use in funding the public goods. In this paper we explore what types of problems can arise from this decentralized form of decision-making. In particular, we describe systematically the types of externalities that one unit of government can create for nonresidents, through both its public goods decisions and its taxation decisions. The paper also explores briefly what the central government might do to lessen the costs of decentralized decision-making.
Absorption, disposition and metabolism of di‐isononyl phthalate (DINP) in F‐344 rats

Di‐isononyl phthalate (DINP; CAS no. 68515‐48‐0) is a general‐purpose plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride. It produced liver and kidney effects when given to rodents at high oral doses, but there were no target organ effects in primates treated under similar conditions. To assist in understanding the basis for these species differences, the pharmacokinetic properties of DINP were evaluated in rodents following both oral and dermal administration. These studies demonstrated that the pharmacokinetic properties of DINP are similar to those of other high‐molecular‐weight phthalates. When orally administered to rodents, DINP is rapidly metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract to the corresponding monoester, absorbed and excreted, primarily in the urine. Shortly after administration, DINP is found primarily in liver and kidneys, but it does not persist or accumulate in any organ or tissue. It is very poorly absorbed from the skin, but once absorbed it behaves in the same way as the orally administered material. The results of these rodent studies contrast with data from studies involving humans or other primates, which indicate low absorption at low oral doses and much more limited total absorption at high doses. It appears that many, if not all, of the effects of DINP in rodent studies are associated with internal doses that would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in humans under any circumstances. Thus, the results of rodent studies may not be very useful in assessing the potential risks to humans from high‐molecular‐weight phthalates. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Pay Differentials in the People’s Republic of China

interested in three types of equity: internal equity, external equity, and individual equity (merit). A pay differential based on internal equity is the salary at one level divided by the salary at the next lower level, irrespective of job content or function. Pay differentials reflect the relative worth of these positions to the organization and are not related to the individual’s or job incumbent’s knowledge, skills and abilities. Pay differentials can be compared across organizations to reveal external competitiveness. The pay differential of the average U.S. CEO/average worker has changed from 41 in 1960, to 79 in 1970, 42 in 1980, 157 in 1992, 152 in 1993, 109 in 1994, 141 in 1995, 209 in 1996, and about 326 in 1997. The pay differential of the highest-paid CEO/average worker also has changed from 3,190 in 1991, to 5,203 in 1992, 8,019 in 1993, 983 in 1994, 2,461 in 1995, 3,704 in 1996, and about 8,130 in 1997.1 The highest-paid CEO earned $230,750,000, whereas the average worker earned $28,381 in 1997. In 1998, Michael Eisner, CEO of Walt Disney Company, made $575,592,000. If we examine Eisner’s pay and the average worker’s pay ($30,000), the pay differential is more than 19,320. As CEO pay keeps soaring, leaving everyone else further behind, the “trust gap” between management and employees also widens. This may lead to trust, justice and loyalty problems in an organization that, in turn, may have a direct or indirect effect on the quality of service and productivity. In this study, we compare pay differentials within internal (vertical) organizational structures and the ratio across organizations in
Geometric aspects of representation theory for DG algebras: answering a question of Vasconcelos

We apply geometric techniques from representation theory to the study of homologically finite differential graded (DG) modules M over a finite dimensional, positively graded, commutative DG algebra U . In particular, in this setting we prove a version of a theorem of Voigt by exhibiting an isomorphism between the Yoneda Ext group YExtU1(M,M) and a quotient of tangent spaces coming from an algebraic group action on an algebraic variety. As an application, we answer a question of Vasconcelos from 1974 by showing that a local ring has only finitely many semidualizing complexes up to shift‐isomorphism in the derived category D(R) .
Risk analysis of information-leakage through interest packets in NDN

Information-leakage is one of the most important security issues in the current Internet. In Named-Data Networking (NDN), Interest names introduce novel vulnerabilities that can be exploited. By setting up a malware, Interest names can be used to encode critical information (steganography embedded) and to leak information out of the network by generating anomalous Interest traffic. This security threat based on Interest names does not exist in IP network, and it is essential to solve this issue to secure the NDN architecture. This paper performs risk analysis of information-leakage in NDN. We first describe vulnerabilities with Interest names and, as countermeasures, we propose a name-based filter using search engine information, and another filter using one-class Support Vector Machine (SVM). We collected URLs from the data repository provided by Common Crawl and we evaluate the performances of our per-packet filters. We show that our filters can choke drastically the throughput of information-leakage, which makes it easier to detect anomalous Interest traffic. It is therefore possible to mitigate information-leakage in NDN network and it is a strong incentive for future deployment of this architecture at the Internet scale.
Identifying Private Content for Online Image Sharing

I present the outline of my dissertation work, Identifying Private Content for Online Image Sharing. Particularly, in my dissertation, I explore learning models to predict appropriate binary privacy settings (i.e., private, public) for images, before they are shared online. Specifically, I investigate textual features (user-annotated tags and automatically derived tags), and visual semantic features that are transferred from various layers of deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Experimental results show that the learning models based on the proposed features outperform strong baseline models for this task on the Flickr dataset of thousands of images.
TRANSPLANTATION OF ALLOGENEIC AND XENOGENEIC (RAT) MARROW IN IRRADIATED MICE AS AFFECTED BY RADIATION EXPOSURE RATES

SUMMARY Mice were given 900-R or 1200-R total body irradiation at varying exposure rates with a 137Cs or 60Co irradiator. Groups of mice from each exposure rate received i.v. allogeneic or xenogeneic (rat) bone marrow cells. Of those receiving 900 R and allogeneic marrow, increased survival above the radiation controls was not obtained in those irradiated at a rate of 3.75 R/min or 19.8 R/min; increased survival was obtained in those irradiated at a rate of 39.7 R/min or 53.4 R/min. In none of the four radiation exposure rate groups was a donor marrow graft detected in the 60-day survivors. In those mice receiving 1200 R and allogeneic marrow, increased survival above the radiation controls was obtained for the three different exposure rates studied, 3.75 R/min, 39.7 R/min, and 53.4 R/min. Only in the two higher exposure rate groups, however, was a permanent transplant of donor marrow effected. Mice receiving 1200 R at varying exposure rates followed by xenogeneic marrow treatment showed essentially the same results as in the allogeneic groups, i.e., the absence of a permanent graft in the low exposure rate group. Antibody formation directed against graft antigens (rat red blood cells) was detected in the survivors following loss of the marrow graft. In a group of experiments involving specific pathogen-free mice, evidence for a “midlethal killing effect” as a function of radiation exposure rate was obtained. Animals receiving 1050 or 1100 R at the low exposure rate of 3.67 R/min and then treated with rat bone marrow showed greater 30-day mortality than the radiation control groups. When the same total exposures were given at the rate of 53.4 R/min, however, the marrow caused increased survival above that of the controls. Furthermore, the low exposure rate groups showed formation of antibody directed against graft antigen following loss of the graft and also a decrease in the persistence of donor granulocytes in the bone marrow and spleen. The data strongly suggest the immune mechanism of mice to be sensitive to rates of radiation exposure; i.e., the lower the exposure rate, the greater the ability of the irradiated animal to mount an immune response leading to an incomplete take or loss of the graft and subsequent formation of antibody. These phenomena can occur even though the animal has received a 100% lethal dose and the difference in expose time has ranged from a few minutes to a few hours. The relevance of these finding to clinical trials of marrow transplantation in irradiated patients is discussed.
An RIP-Based Performance Guarantee of Covariance-Assisted Matching Pursuit

An OMP-like covariance-assisted matching pursuit (CAMP) method has recently been proposed. Given a prior knowledge of the covariance and mean of the sparse coefficients, CAMP balances the least squares estimator and the prior knowledge by leveraging the Gauss–Markov theorem. In this letter, we study the performance of CAMP in the framework of restricted isometry property (RIP). It is shown that under some conditions on RIP and the minimum magnitude of the nonzero elements of the sparse signal, CAMP with sparse level <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$</tex-math></inline-formula> can recover the exact support of the sparse signal from noisy measurements. <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$l_2$</tex-math></inline-formula> bounded noise and Gaussian noise are considered in our analysis. We also discuss the extreme conditions of noise (e.g., the noise power is infinite) to simply show the stability of CAMP.
POLYGENIC INHERITANCE OF A BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPE: INTERSPECIFIC GENETICS OF SONG IN THE HAWAIIAN CRICKET GENUS LAUPALA

The Hawaiian cricket genus Laupala (family Gryllidae) is one of several native genera of flightless crickets found in rain‐forest habitat across the Hawaiian archipelago. Species in this genus are morphologically quite similar, but the songs produced by adult males are acoustically distinct. I examined the nature of song variation found within Laupala paranigra and between Laupala kohalensis and L. paranigra, both endemic to the island of Hawaii. Variation within and among species was most notable in the temporal structure of the song, as quantified by the pulse rate. The variation in pulse rate present in natural populations of L. paranigra bred true through the F1 laboratory generation, suggesting that the intraspecific variation in this species has a genetic basis. Interspecific hybridizations between L. kohalensis and L. paranigra successfully produced F1, F2, and backcross generations. Hybrid F1 males from reciprocal crosses sang with significantly different pulse rates, implicating an X chromosomal contribution to the phenotypic difference between these species. Interspecific patterns of inheritance are most consistent with a type‐I genetic architecture. Polygenic inheritance of the interspecific pulse‐rate variation was observed, and approximately eight genetic factors were estimated to underlie the difference in pulse rate between L. kohalensis and L. paranigra.
Virtuous volunteer tourism: Towards a uniform code of conduct

Abstract The expanding body of research on volunteer tourism has generally assessed the merits of these programmes in positive terms, although it has also identified some negative impacts on host communities. In this paper it is proposed that a set of industry-wide guidelines could inform the largely unregulated volunteer tourism market and help it to achieve the right balance between encouraging positive impacts and minimizing negative side effects. A qualitative analysis was conducted of the guiding principles for 12 not-for-profit sending organizations with a view to identifying emergent themes. Ranked from most to least frequent, the themes emanating from the data were: local needs; participant-focused; consideration towards continuity; community; issues; interaction; and organizational goals. The seven themes were then compared with the international standards that have been developed to guide the parent fields of volunteerism and tourism. It was found that six recurring themes could be readily matched against four categories of the Universal Declaration of Volunteering, and against six of the United Nations World Tourism Organization's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. The findings suggest that the principles applied by sending organizations to their volunteer tourism programmes generally align with the best practice standards prevailing in the broader volunteering and tourism sectors. The paper concludes by proposing an agenda for future research relating to global guidelines for volunteer tourism.
Inflammatory Cytokines and the Pathogenesis of Periodontal Disease

Periodontal inflammation which begins as an acute inflammatory response after host-bacterial interaction, progresses into a chronic stage dominated by B lymphocytes and macrophages, following intense T lymphocytes stage [3]. Transition between these stages, accumulation and differentiation of immune cells in the inflammatory site are mediated by “cytokines. ” Cytokines are soluble mediators contributing many biologic processes such as hematopoiesis, wound healing, systemic and local inflammatory responses [4] Many cell types other than immune cells like epithelial cells, gingival and periodontal ligament fibroblasts, and keratinocytes are shown to produce cytokines upon stimulation [5,6]. Cytokines show pleiotropic effects on different target cells by regulating cell activation, proliferation and function [4]. Therefore the net effect of cytokines is directing the intensity and duration of immune response which may serve as a critical determinant of tissue destruction in many inflammatory chronic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory osteoarthritis and periodontitis. A considerable number of studies demonstrated that the persistent host inflammatory response against bacterially derived factors results in the destruction of soft and mineralized periodontal tissues [7-10].
Determinants on Rural-Urban Labor Migration in China: Empirical Analysis on the Effect of Rural Cooperate Medical Insurance based on Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data

Abstract This paper studies factors influencing rural-urban labor migration in China, particularly the implementation of rural cooperative medical insurance (RCMI) in the year 2003. With the support of data analysis from the year 2000, 2004 and 2006, clear linear correlations are found between gender, income, health condition and rural-urban labor flow, whereas the impact of education and employment status are more complicated. More importantly, results from regression show that the establishment of RCMI in countryside of China not only inhibits rural residents from seeking employment outside the village, but also pulls back rural people who have already worked in cities. When regional dimension is concerned, the pure composite effect of RCMI on rural labor flow is less significant in coastal areas with better economic performance and medical service.
Coordination topology and stability for the native and binding conformers of chymotrypsin inhibitor 2

We demonstrate that the stabilization of the binding region is accomplished at the expense of a loss in the stability of the rest of the protein. A novel molecular mechanics (MM) approach is introduced to distinguish residue stabilities of proteins in a given conformation. As an example, the relative stabilities of folded chymotrypsin inhibitor 2 (CI2) in unbound form, and CI2 in complex with subtilisin novo is investigated. The conformation of the molecule in the two states is almost identical, with an ∼0.6‐Å root‐mean‐square deviation (RMSD) of the Cα atoms. On binding, the packing density changes only at the binding loop. However, residue fluctuations in the rest of the protein are greatly altered solely due to those contacts, indicating the effective propagation of perturbation and the presence of remotely controlling residues. To quantify the interplay between packing density, packing order, residue fluctuations, and residue stability, we adopt an MM approach whereby small displacements are inserted at selected residues, followed by energy minimization; the displacement of each residue in response to such perturbations are organized in a perturbation‐response matrix L. We define residue stability λi = ∑jLij/∑j Lji as the ratio of the amount of change to which the residue is amenable, to the ability of a given residue to induce change. We then define the free energy associated with residue stability, ΔGλ = −RT ln λ. ΔGλ intrinsically selects the residues that are in the folding core. Upon complexation, the binding loop becomes more resistant to perturbation, in contrast to the α‐helix that favors change. Although the two forms of CI2 are structurally similar, residue fluctuations differ vastly, and the stability of many residues is altered upon binding. The decrease in entropy introduced by binding is thus compensated by these changes. Proteins 2001;45:62–70. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Understanding influences of culture and history on mtDNA variation and population structure in three populations from Assam, Northeast India

Positioned at the nexus of India, China, and Southeast Asia, Northeast India is presumed to have served as a channel for land‐based human migration since the Upper Pleistocene. Assam is the largest state in the Northeast. We characterized the genetic background of three populations and examined the ways in which their population histories and cultural practices have influenced levels of intrasample and intersample variation.
An empirical test for parities between metal prices at the LME

A stock price parity reflects the known resources of the commodities, while a flow parity concerns short-term supplies. Prices may not only converge in the long-run to a fixed stock parity, but also move toward sequences of short-run flow equilibria. Cointegration analysis is used in an empirical test for price parities at the London Metal Exchange (LME). The analysis focuses on the behavior of 5 nonferrous metals in 1981. One cointegration relationship, or parity, is found to exist between the 5 forward metal prices on the LME over 251 trading days in 1981. The kurtosis of the cointegration relationship may come close to the normality value, while those of the individual returns may not. Unreported calculations show that this is indeed the case.
A low phase-noise microwave oscillator using a substrate integrated waveguide resonator based on complementary split ring resonator

In this paper, a low phase-noise oscillator using a complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) based on a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) has been proposed and developed for microwave applications. The substrate integrated concept is applied to implement an oscillator circuit. The unloaded Q factor of the SIW cavity is increased by loading a complementary split ring resonator (CSRR). A detailed explanation for generation of the resonant frequency has been illuminated. It is shown that the low phase-noise oscillator is developed by taking advantage of the high Q factor of the CSRR-loaded SIW structure. An unloaded Q-factor (QU) of the designed resonator is 1960. Measured results show that the oscillation frequency is located at 9.3 GHz. The amplitude of output power is able to deliver 11.3 dBm and phase-noise of −122.3 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset. The implementation of this type oscillator can be easily realized and appropriate for low cost microwave and millimeter-wave applications.