Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multivesicular Release at Schaffer Collateral–CA1 Hippocampal Synapses

Whether an individual synapse releases single or multiple vesicles of transmitter per action potential is contentious and probably depends on the type of synapse. One possibility is that multivesicular release (MVR) is determined by the instantaneous release probability (Pr) and therefore can be controlled by activity-dependent changes in Pr. We investigated transmitter release across a range of Pr at synapses between Schaffer collaterals (SCs) and CA1 pyramidal cells in acute hippocampal slices using patch-clamp recordings. The size of the synaptic glutamate transient was estimated by the degree of inhibition of AMPA receptor EPSCs with the rapidly equilibrating antagonist γ-d-glutamylglycine. The glutamate transient sensed by AMPA receptors depended on Pr but not spillover, indicating that multiple vesicles are essentially simultaneously released from the same presynaptic active zone. Consistent with an enhanced glutamate transient, increasing Pr prolonged NMDA receptor EPSCs when glutamate transporters were inhibited. We suggest that MVR occurs at SC–CA1 synapses when Pr is elevated by facilitation and that MVR may be a phenomenon common to many synapses throughout the CNS.
Adaptive Internal Model Control scheme for a Pneumatic Artificial Muscle

In this article, the model identification and control problem of a Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) is being considered. The identification of the PAM's model parameters is being carried out by a Recursive Least Square (RLS) based algorithm, while an Internal Model Control (IMC) structure is being synthesized. Experimental studies are being utilized to prove the overall efficiency of the suggested control scheme, regarding: a) set-point tracking performance through selected positioning scenarios, b) adaptability through hysteresis shift compensation and c) robustness through disturbance cancellation.
Evaluating Different Bases for Market Segmentation

Abstract While market segmentation has become a major approach to understanding the nature of tourists and their travel behaviour, there exists considerable debate over which bases and statistical approaches provide the best segmentation solutions. Morrison (1996) has offered eight criteria for evaluating the success or value of a segmentation result. This paper used these eight criteria to evaluate two different segmentation approaches used with the same survey sample. An a priori geographic segmentation of visitors to the Wet Tropics region of Australia was compared to an activity based a posteriori segmentation approach. There was evidence that the activity segmentation approach fulfilled the eight criteria more adequately than the geographic approach. It was further suggested that for large samples a multi-stage methodology might be a desirable approach for meeting all eight marketing segmentation effectiveness criteria.
Analytics for Education

This article presents an overview of the development and use of analytics in the context of education. Using Buckingham Shum's three levels of analytics, the authors present a critical analysis of current developments in the domain of learning analytics, and contrast the potential value of analytics research and development with real world educational implementation and practice. The article also focuses on the development of education content analytics and considers the legal and ethical implications of collecting and analysing educational data. Looking to the future, the authors also highlight new developments including exploration of data from massive open online courses (MOOCs).
Evaluation of Fluid Responsiveness: Is Photoplethysmography a Noninvasive Alternative?

Background. Goal-directed fluid therapy reduces morbidity and mortality in various clinical settings. Respiratory variations in photoplethysmography are proposed as a noninvasive alternative to predict fluid responsiveness during mechanical ventilation. This paper aims to critically evaluate current data on the ability of photoplethysmography to predict fluid responsiveness. Method. Primary searches were performed in PubMed, Medline, and Embase on November 10, 2011. Results. 14 papers evaluating photoplethysmography and fluid responsiveness were found. Nine studies calculated areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for ΔPOP (>0.85 in four, 0.75–0.85 in one, and <0.75 in four studies) and seven for PVI (values ranging from 0.54 to 0.98). Correlations between ΔPOP/PVI and ΔPP/other dynamic variables vary substantially. Conclusion. Although photoplethysmography is a promising technique, predictive values and correlations with other hemodynamic variables indicating fluid responsiveness vary substantially. Presently, it is not documented that photoplethysmography is adequately valid and reliable to be included in clinical practice for evaluation of fluid responsiveness.
A Secure Access Code Technique for Remote Data Integrity on Public Cloud

The present business trend highly demands more sophisticated techniques for remote data storage to stay alive in the competition among the business holders. The situation is more critical when the data to be stored is confidential information such as business policies, business rules and statistical data about the organization that is often needed to be shared with in the trusted enclave. Inevitably this scenario forces the need for the remote data integrity on mistrusted public cloud where the integrity of the data is not only being checked by the owner of the file but also by the people in the trusted enclave. This paper addresses new solution for remote data integrity using access code by implementing data level dynamics without the need for third party auditors.
Being a Culturally Relevant Teacher

This paper is about how teachers should be more culturally relevant when it comes to teaching their students of different ethnicities, races, and cultures. Our schools are constantly increasing in diversity. Having the skills of incorporating students' cultures, ethnicities, languages, experiences, etc. into teachings is becoming more and more essential for student success. Being a culturally relevant teacher will help address all students and the different experiences and ideas they bring to the classroom.
Understanding variation in length of hospital stay for COPD exacerbation: European COPD audit

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care across Europe has high heterogeneity with respect to cost and the services available. Variations in length of stay (LOS) may be attributed to patient characteristics, resource and organisational characteristics, and/or the so-called hospital cluster effect. The European COPD Audit in 13 countries included data from 16 018 hospitalised patients. The recorded variables included information on patient and disease characteristics, and resources available. Variables associated with LOS were evaluated by a multivariate, multilevel analysis. Mean±sd LOS was 8.7±8.3 days (median 7 days, interquartile range 4–11 days). Crude variability between countries was reduced after accounting for clinical factors and the clustering effect. The main factors associated with LOS being longer than the median were related to disease or exacerbation severity, including GOLD class IV (OR 1.77) and use of mechanical ventilation (OR 2.15). Few individual resource variables were associated with LOS after accounting for the hospital cluster effect. This study emphasises the importance of the patients' clinical severity at presentation in predicting LOS. Identifying patients at risk of a long hospital stay at admission and providing targeted interventions offers the potential to reduce LOS for these individuals. The complex interactions between factors and systems were more important that any single resource or organisational factor in determining differences in LOS between hospitals or countries. LOS determined by COPD exacerbation severity and interactions within hospitals constituting effective patient care http://ow.ly/XD9hy
Stress-Related Methylation of the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Val158 Allele Predicts Human Prefrontal Cognition and Activity

DNA methylation at CpG dinucleotides is associated with gene silencing, stress, and memory. The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158 allele in rs4680 is associated with differential enzyme activity, stress responsivity, and prefrontal activity during working memory (WM), and it creates a CpG dinucleotide. We report that methylation of the Val158 allele measured from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of Val/Val humans is associated negatively with lifetime stress and positively with WM performance; it interacts with stress to modulate prefrontal activity during WM, such that greater stress and lower methylation are related to reduced cortical efficiency; and it is inversely related to mRNA expression and protein levels, potentially explaining the in vivo effects. Finally, methylation of COMT in prefrontal cortex and that in PBMCs of rats are correlated. The relationship of methylation of the COMT Val158 allele with stress, gene expression, WM performance, and related brain activity suggests that stress-related methylation is associated with silencing of the gene, which partially compensates the physiological role of the high-activity Val allele in prefrontal cognition and activity. Moreover, these results demonstrate how stress-related DNA methylation of specific functional alleles impacts directly on human brain physiology beyond sequence variation.
An Ontology-Based Approach for Designing Web Usability Evaluation Questionnaires

Questionnaires are widely used instruments to carried out usability evaluations, but their correct construction is often a complex task since a lot of previous real administrations are required to obtain a fine-tuned version of the questionnaire. In this work a new approach to design questionnaires is proposed. The approach is based on an ontology and it supplies for some new features useful for novel designers.
The Large Country Effect and Contagion in the Gulf Region: Empirical Evidence

This paper envisages the existence of contagion in the Arabian Gulf economies. It examines whether there has been contagion in the region following the 1987 U.S. stock market crash and the 1997 Thai exchange rate devaluation. Results from annual data and tests based on correlation coefficients, ARCH/GARCH estimates and direct change (regression) propagation effects suggest the existence of contagion transmitted mainly through Saudi Arabia, the largest economy of the region, to smaller Gulf countries. Such results are supportive of diversification in trade and production by smaller countries of the region. The results also indicate that countries with similar economic and demographic structures, such as the Gulf economies, are likely to benefit from a complete economic integration.
Passive avoidance in syndromes of disinhibition: psychopathy and extraversion.

According to the physiological animal model proposed by Gorenstein and Newman (1980; see also Newman, Gorenstein, & Kelsey, 1983), psychopaths and extraverts may be characterized by a common psychological diathesis related to behavioral inhibition (see also Fowles, 1980; Gray, 1982). One aspect of this diathesis involves deficient passive avoidance learning, which has been central to explanations of "unsocialized" (e.g., Trasler, 1978) and antisocial behavior (e.g., Hare, 1970). Results from three experiments supported our prediction that psychopaths and extraverts would exhibit deficient passive avoidance relative to nonpsychopaths and introverts, respectively. In addition, the passive avoidance deficit was particularly evident in tasks that required subjects to inhibit a rewarded response in order to avoid punishment. The latter finding may be important for explaining the inconsistent results regarding passive avoidance learning in psychopaths (e.g., Chesno & Kilmann, 1975; Schmauk, 1970). Discussion of the results focuses on the importance of reward in mediating the passive avoidance deficit of "disinhibited" individuals and on the existence of an indirect relationship between psychopathy and extraversion: one that is consistent with the observed experimental parallels as well as with the more ambiguous evidence regarding a direct correlation between measures of the two syndromes.
Normative Aspects of Fiscal Policy in an Economic Union: a Theoretical Review

This paper reviews recent theories that address cooperation and coordination issues in the conduct of fiscal policy in an economic union. This is done by discussing these issues in a complete, logically consistent framework that connects the various problems concerning fiscal policy in an economic and monetary union. The focus is on normative issues within the Europena Union.
Analysis of Statistical Data on Social Resources Dimension of Occupational Status Attainment: A Rational Choice Approach

Abstract — The aim of the present study is to analyze empirical researches on the social resources dimension of occupational status attainment process and relate them to the rational choice approach. The analysis suggests that the existing data on the strength of ties aspect of social resources is insufficient and does not allow any implication concerning rational actor ’s behavior. However, the results concerning work relation aspect are more encouraging. Keywords — Social resources, status attainment, rational choice, weak ties, work-related ties. I. I NTRODUCTION N the past several decades, numerous studies have been made to investigate the role of personal relationships in occupational status attainment. One of the core lines of research relates this process to the strength of ties possessed and mobilized by job-seekers. The significance of weak ties in job mobility was first highlighted by Granovetter in [2], [3]. He argued that ties inside a social clique are likely to be strong (defined as frequent, intimate, emotionally intense and characterized by reciprocal services) while outside ties are likely to be weak. These weak ties often link socially distant cliques and thus provide a source of unique information and resources. An extension of weak tie theory soon followed. Social resources theory by Lin et al [5] considers weak ties in the framework of hierarchical society structure. The theory argues that the weakness of a tie conveys advantage due to the fact that only such kind of ties is likely to reach contacts higher up in the hierarchy. These contacts have greater access and control to positions and therefore can easier benefit ego’s interest. Subsequent empirical analysis provided mixed support for the importance of weak ties advocated by Granovetter and his followers. Some researchers even conclude that “the net effect of the social resource variables here (for wage outcome of an instrumental action) can be summarized simply: there are none” [7]. Inconsistency in statistical evidences is not only problem in
Progressive Postnatal Motoneuron Loss in Mice Lacking GDF-15

Growth/differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a widely expressed distant member of the TGF-β superfamily with prominent neurotrophic effects on midbrain dopaminergic neurons. We show here that GDF-15-deficient mice exhibit progressive postnatal losses of spinal, facial, and trigeminal motoneurons. This deficit reaches a ∼20% maximum at 6 months and is accompanied by losses of motor axons and significant impairment of rotarod skills. Similarly, sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia (L4, L5) are reduced by 20%, whereas sympathetic neurons are not affected. GDF-15 is expressed and secreted by Schwann cells, retrogradely transported along adult sciatic nerve axons, and promotes survival of axotomized facial neurons as well as cultured motor, sensory, and sympathetic neurons. Despite striking similarities in the GDF-15 and CNTF knock-out phenotypes, expression levels of CNTF and other neurotrophic factors in the sciatic nerve were unaltered suggesting that GDF-15 is a genuine novel trophic factor for motor and sensory neurons.
Seasonality Revisited - Statistical Testing for Almost Periodically Correlated Stochastic Processes

This article aims at constructing a new method for testing the statistical significance of seasonal fluctuations for non-stationary processes. The constructed test is based on a method of subsampling and on the spectral theory of Almost Periodically Correlated (APC) time series. In the article we consider an equation of a nonstationary process, containing a component which includes seasonal fluctuations and business cycle fluctuations, both described by an almost periodic function. We build subsampling test justifying the significance of frequencies obtained from the Fourier representation of the unconditional expectation of the process. The empirical usefulness of the constructed test is examined for selected macroeconomic data. The article studies survey indicators of economic climate in industry, retail trade and consumption for European countries.
TRIM: Triangulating Images for Efficient Registration

—With the advancement in the digital camera technology, the use of high resolution images and videos has been widespread in the modern society. In particular, image and video frame registration is frequently applied in computer graphics and ﬁlm production. However, the conventional registration approaches usually require long computational time for high quality images and video frames. This hinders the applications of the registration approaches in the modern industries. In this work, we propose a novel approach called TRIM to accelerate the computations of the registration by triangulating the images. More speciﬁcally, given a high resolution image or video frame, we compute an optimal coarse triangulation which captures the important features of the image. Then, the computation of the registration can be simpliﬁed with the aid of the coarse triangulation. Experimental results suggest that the computational time of the registration is signiﬁcantly reduced using our triangulation-based approach, meanwhile the accuracy of the registration is well retained when compared with the conventional grid-based approach.
Research on Inventory Sharing and Pricing Strategy of Multi- channel Retailer with Channel Preference in Internet Environment

With the development of the computer technology, many retailers sale the products not only in the entity shop, but also in the online shop. The network channel brings a lot of convenience. However, it also produces the channel conflict. In the dual channel supply chain, the retailers are in a passive position. Therefore, they begin to use the optimal dynamical pricing strategy to determine the price of the products. At the same time, the retailers obtain the greater benefits according to reduce the inventory cost. Thereby, in this paper, considering the online channel preference, we study the inventory strategy and the pricing strategy of the products in the dual channel. And then we propose a shared inventory and a dynamical pricing strategy. In addition, we study the influence of the related parameters on the profit of the retailers. At last, the numerical analysis shows that the shared inventory and the dynamical pricing strategy can bring more profits for the retailers.
The Cost of Price Incentives: An Empirical Analysis of Motivation Crowding-Out

Twenty-six years ago, Richard M. Titmuss (1970) claimed that monetary compensation tends to undermine an individual’s sense of civic duty. He illustrated his claim with blood donations, contending that paying donors negatively affects their willingness to donate blood. This thesis attracted considerable attention. Among others, Robert S. Solow (1971) and Kenneth J. Arrow (1972) discussed the proposition, both assuming that the effects of price incentives can simply be addedto those of altruistic donation. Contrary to Titmuss, economists therefore generally predicted that if the price of bloodis raised, the total quantity offered would increase in accordance with a normal supply function of blood. This discussion subsided rather quickly because there was neither an analytical framework nor convincing empirical evidence to support Titmuss’s case. Today, new theoretical developments suggest that economists should considerpossible detrimental effects of using price incentives. In this paper, we present such a theory whichis derived from social psychology and focuses on the crowding-out of intrinsic motivation.It stipulates that intrin-
Natural‐resource institutions and property rights in inland African fisheries: The case of the Lake Chad Basin region

Although there exists a rich literature on fisheries traditional management systems in North and South America, Caribbean, Asia and Pacific islands, much less information is available on inland African fisheries. Presents the first regional‐scale survey of traditional management systems operated within the Lake Chad Basin. The survey focused on the status and organization of the local (de facto) management systems and their interactions with the modern (de jure) regulations. The results show that fishing activities within the whole Basin are still largely under the control of the traditional local authorities. The few open‐access fishing grounds are areas that traditional authorities have never controlled or water‐bodies that they have had to “give up” in recent times due to the presence of armed groups. These areas are also areas where illegal taxation systems operated by non‐legitimated governement agents have developed, essentially as a consequence of the remoteness and political instability of the whole Basin.
Detection of DDoS attack and defense against IP spoofing

This paper provide the way of finding the legitimacy of a packet by analyzing the number of hops that packet gone through before reaching at the destination. Problem with IP packet is that the contents of the packet can be changed easily. This is called IP spoofing, which is being very much used in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. they are very hard to detect, there is no comprehensive solution. But attacker cannot control hop count. Since after sending the packet, he can not tamper TTL field, which is modified by every hop. By generating an IP to Hop-Count mapping table and inspecting it, spoofed packets can be identified. It is called HCF (Hop Count Filter). It is used to classify legitimate and spoofed packets with little collateral damage. HCF causes delay in critical path of packet processing in the kernel because of enormous IP2HC mapping table. This overhead is reduced by identifying the attackers in learning state and then drop spoofed packets in filtering state. It is implemented in the Linux kernel so as to reduce the CPU overhead in terms of interrupts which saves the resources.
Designing adaptive humanoid robots through the FARSA open-source framework

We introduce FARSA, an open-source Framework for Autonomous Robotics Simulation and Analysis, that allows us to easily set up and carry on adaptive experiments involving complex robot/environmental models. Moreover, we show how a simulated iCub robot can be trained, through an evolutionary algorithm, to display reaching and integrated reaching and grasping behaviours. The results demonstrate how the use of an implicit selection criterion, estimating the extent to which the robot is able to produce the expected outcome without specifying the manner through which the action should be realized, is sufficient to develop the required capabilities despite the complexity of the robot and of the task.