Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-time functional connectivity-based neurofeedback of amygdala-frontal pathways reduces anxiety

Deficient emotion regulation and exaggerated anxiety represent a major transdiagnostic psychopathological marker. On the neural level these deficits have been closely linked to impaired, yet treatment-sensitive, prefrontal regulatory control over the amygdala. Gaining direct control over these pathways could therefore provide an innovative and promising strategy to regulate exaggerated anxiety. To this end the current proof-of-concept study evaluated the feasibility, functional relevance and maintenance of a novel connectivity-informed real-time fMRI neurofeedback training. In a randomized within-subject sham-controlled design high anxious subjects (n = 26) underwent real-time fMRI-guided training to enhance connectivity between the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and the amygdala (target pathway) during threat exposure. Maintenance of regulatory control was assessed after three days and in the absence of feedback. Training-induced changes in functional connectivity of the target pathway and anxiety ratings served as primary outcomes. Training of the target, yet not the sham-control, pathway significantly increased amygdala-vlPFC connectivity and decreased subjective anxiety levels. On the individual level stronger connectivity increases were significantly associated with anxiety reduction. At follow-up, volitional control over the target pathway and decreased anxiety level were maintained in the absence of feedback. The present results demonstrate for the first time that successful self-regulation of amygdala-prefrontal top-down regulatory circuits may represent a novel strategy to control anxiety. As such, the present findings underscore both the critical contribution of amygdala-prefrontal circuits to emotion regulation and the therapeutic potential of connectivity-informed real-time neurofeedback.
Effects of Mobile Information Sharing in Natural Parks

This paper addresses the use of ICT (in particular of Mobile location-aware information systems) to facilitate information access, exchange and provision in natural areas, especially as concerns two user groups: the visitors and the park managers. Online interviews were carried out among different protected area administrators in order to understand and identify important issues related with the tourism management. Alternatively, the needs and wishes of the visitors were assessed through surveys and participant observation. A system called WebPark has been designed based on these user needs and tested in the Swiss National Park and in the Wadden Sea. The main result was that the WebPark application is able to satisfy user needs and to provide park managers with a tangible benefit.
3-Ethyl-6-{1-[4-(2-methylpropyl)phenyl]ethyl}-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazole

In the molecule of the title compound, C17H22N4S, the triazolothiadiazole ring system is essentially planar and forms a dihedral angle of 74.34 (6)° with the benzene ring. In the crystal structure, molecules are linked into chains running along the b axis by C—H⋯π interactions; adjacent chains are cross-linked via C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds and short S⋯N contacts [3.2694 (14) and 3.2953 (14) Å].
NATIONAL MODELS. IN: HANDBOOK OF TRANSPORT MODELLING

National models as a procedure for forecasting traffic at a national scale have been constructed for a number of European countries in recent years. A national model for a given country will cover the modes of transport that are relevant for that country: air travel is important in Norway, but not for travel within The Netherlands. It may cover either or both passenger travel and freight transport. In principle, quite simple methods may be used (e.g., trend projections), while at the other extreme large-scale computer models may be needed to make detailed forecasts. The objective of this paper is to describe those models, their objectives, common features, and major differences. Attention is restricted to models that are capable of forecasting the use of specific transport links (roads, railway lines, air connections, etc.), rather than project gross statistics such as total passenger miles. In practice this implies the incorporation of a fair amount of detail and the necessity for making an assignment of traffic to road and rail networks, taking account of the limited capacity of network links, at for the road network.
New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Advances in Pure and Applied Sciences

Current health guidelines aim to increase the responsibility of people with chronic conditions to self-care. Literature studies highlight educational programmes for self-management of chronic conditions as a holistic approach, involving special health needs and emotional, psychological and social needs. Lorig and Holman (with adults and the elderly population) and Malheiro (with adolescent’s with spina bifida) have proposed self-management educational programmes, using ‘Lay-leds’, as mentors on programmes. These programmes have proven effective, with positive health outcomes, such as improvement on adherence to therapy, functionality and decrease of use of emergency services and hospitalisations and reducing health costs. Thus, we propose to adapt and implement this education programme for self-management of adolescents with diabetes type 1, using Lay-leds as educators
International Financial Adjustment

We explore the implications of a country’s external constraint for the dynamics of net foreign assets, returns, and exchange rates. Deteriorations in external accounts imply future trade surpluses (trade channel) or excess returns on the net foreign portfolio (valuation channel). Using a new data set on U.S. gross external positions, we find that stabilizing valuation effects contribute 27 percent of the cyclical external adjustment. Our approach has asset-pricing implications: external imbalances predict net foreign portfolio returns one quarter to two years ahead and net export growth at longer horizons. The exchange rate is forecastable in and out of sample at one quarter and beyond.
Reduced backscattering cross section (Sigma degree) data from the Skylab S-193 radar altimeter

Backscattering cross section per unit scattering area data, reduced from measurements made by the Skylab S-193 radar altimeter over the ocean surface are presented. Descriptions of the altimeter are given where applicable to the measurement process. Analytical solutions are obtained for the flat surface impulse response for the case of a nonsymmetrical antenna pattern. Formulations are developed for converting altimeter AGC outputs into values for the backscattering cross section. Reduced data are presented for Missions SL-2, 3 and 4 for all modes of the altimeter where sufficient calibration existed. The problem of interpreting land scatter data is also discussed. Finally, a comprehensive error analysis of the measurement is presented and worst case random and bias errors are estimated.
The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide

The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide is a thorough guide to the indigenous languages of this part of the world. With more than a third of the linguistic diversity of the world (in terms of language families and isolates), South American languages contribute new findings in most areas of linguistics. Though formerly one of the linguistically least known areas of the world, extensive descriptive and historical linguistic research in recent years has expanded knowledge greatly. These advances are represented in this volume in indepth treatments by the foremost scholars in the field, with chapters on the history of investigation, language classification, language endangerment, language contact, typology, phonology and phonetics, and on major language families and regions of South America.
Structural Properties of Prokaryotic Promoter Regions Correlate with Functional Features

The structural properties of the DNA molecule are known to play a critical role in transcription. In this paper, the structural profiles of promoter regions were studied within the context of their diversity and their function for eleven prokaryotic species; Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella Typhimurium, Pseudomonas auroginosa, Geobacter sulfurreducens Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Synechocystis sp. , Synechoccocus elongates, Bacillus anthracis, and the archaea Sulfolobus solfataricus. The main anchor point for these promoter regions were transcription start sites identified through high-throughput experiments or collected within large curated databases. Prokaryotic promoter regions were found to be less stable and less flexible than the genomic mean across all studied species. However, direct comparison between species revealed differences in their structural profiles that can not solely be explained by the difference in genomic GC content. In addition, comparison with functional data revealed that there are patterns in the promoter structural profiles that can be linked to specific functional loci, such as sigma factor regulation or transcription factor binding. Interestingly, a novel structural element clearly visible near the transcription start site was found in genes associated with essential cellular functions and growth in several species. Our analyses reveals the great diversity in promoter structural profiles both between and within prokaryotic species. We observed relationships between structural diversity and functional features that are interesting prospects for further research to yet uncharacterized functional loci defined by DNA structural properties.
Greater Sage-Grouse Response to Coal-Bed Natural Gas Development and West Nile Virus in the Powder River Basin, Montana and Wyoming, USA

: Understanding how population dynamics respond to landscape-scale disturbance and disease are crucial for effective wildlife management and conservation. Two new potential stressors on greater sage-grouse grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ) populations in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming are coal-bed natural gas (CBNG) development and West Nile virus (WNv). I first examined how CBNG development, habitat, and other landscape features influenced trends in the abundance of displaying males and the status of sage-grouse leks. Second, I used rates of WNv-induced mortality and seroprevalence from radio-marked birds to estimate rates of WNv infection. Third, I studies the influence of female characteristics, season, and environmental variables on nest, brood, and female survival. I then used population models to estimate potential impacts of WNv on population growth. From 2001-2005, numbers of males on leks in CBNG fields declined more rapidly than leks outside CBNG. Of leks active in 1997 or later, only 38% within CBNG remained active by 2004-2005, compared to 84% of leks outside CBNG. By 2005, leks in CBNG had 46% few males per active lek than leks outside CBNG. Persistence of 110 leks was positively influenced by proportion sagebrush habitat with 6.4 km of the lek and negatively affected by CBNG development at multiple scales. Prohibiting CBNG development within 0.4 km of sage-grouse leks is inadequate to ensure lek persistence. From 2003-2005, minimum WNv-related mortality rates from 1 July -15 September ranged from 2.4-13.3% and maximum possible rates ranged from 8.2-28.9%. In spring 2005 and 2006, 10.3% and 1.8% respectively, of newly-captured females tested seropositive for neutralizing antibodies to WNv. Annual WNv infection rates were lower in habitats without CBNG development. Summer mortality from WNv occurred every year, decreased annual female survival rates by 0-27
Detecting and mapping Gonipterus scutellatus induced vegetation defoliation using WorldView-2 pan-sharpened image texture combinations and an artificial neural network

Abstract. Defoliation induced by the weevil Gonipterus scutellatus is causing significant damage to South Africa’s eucalyptus plantations. Therefore, the ability of remote sensing to detect and map G. scutellatus defoliation is essential for monitoring the spread of the weevil so that precautionary measures are set in place. In our study, an integrated approach using image texture in various processing combinations and an artificial neural network (ANN) were developed to detect and map G. scutellatus induced vegetation defoliation. A 0.5-m WorldView-2 pan-sharpened image was used to compute texture parameters from the gray-level occurrence matrix and gray-level co-occurrence matrix, using optimal moving windows for specific levels of G. scutellatus induced vegetation defoliation. In order to improve the accuracy of detecting and mapping G. scutellatus induced vegetation defoliation, a method involving a three-band texture processing combination was proposed and tested. Using a sequential forward selection algorithm allowed for the selection of optimal texture combinations, which were subsequently input into a backpropagation ANN. The results showed an improvement in detecting vegetation defoliation using single texture bands [R2 = 0.82, root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.95 (1.82% of the mean measured defoliation)] when compared to single spectral reflectance bands [R2 = 0.60, RMSE = 1.79 (3.43% of the mean measured defoliation)], two-band spectral reflectance combination model [R2 = 0.74, RMSE = 1.48 (2.83% of the mean measured defoliation)], and the three-band spectral reflectance combination model [R2 = 0.80, RMSE = 1.35 (2.59% of the mean measured defoliation)]. Further improvements were obtained using the two-band texture combination model [R2 = 0.85, RMSE = 1.05 (2.01% of the mean measured defoliation)] and the most promising result was obtained using the proposed three-band texture combination model [R2 = 0.90, RMSE = 0.85 (1.63% of the mean measured defoliation)]. Overall, our study highlights the potential of image texture combinations in improving the detection and mapping of vegetation defoliation.
Amplitude modulation between multi-scale turbulent motions in high-Reynolds-number atmospheric surface layers

Long-term measurements were performed at the Qingtu Lake Observation Array site to obtain high-Reynolds-number atmospheric surface layer flow data ( $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}\sim O(10^{6})$ ). Based on the selected high-quality data in the near-neutral surface layer, the amplitude modulation between multi-scale turbulent motions is investigated under various Reynolds number conditions. The results show that the amplitude modulation effect may exist in specific motions rather than at all length scales of motion. The most energetic motions with scales larger than the wavelength of the lower wavenumber peak in the energy spectra play a vital role in the amplitude modulation effect; the small scales shorter than the wavelength of the higher wavenumber peak are strongly modulated, whereas the motions with scales ranging between these two peaks neither contribute significantly to the amplitude modulation effect nor are strongly modulated. Based on these results, a method of decomposing the fluctuating velocity is proposed to accurately estimate the degree of amplitude modulation. The corresponding amplitude modulation coefficient is much larger than that estimated by establishing a nominal cutoff wavelength; moreover, it increases log-linearly with the Reynolds number. An empirical model is proposed to parametrize the variation of the amplitude modulation coefficient with the Reynolds number and the wall-normal distance. This study contributes to a better understanding of the interaction between multi-scale turbulent motions and the results may be used to validate and improve existing numerical models of high-Reynolds-number wall turbulence.
Mapping and decomposing scale-dependent soil moisture variability within an Inner Bluegrass landscape

OF DISSERTATION MAPPING AND DECOMPOSING SCALE-DEPENDENT SOIL MOISTURE VARIABILITY WITHIN AN INNER BLUEGRASS LANDSCAPE There is a shared desire among public and private sectors to produce more reliable predictions, accurate mapping, and appropriate scaling of soil moisture and associated parameters across landscapes. A discrepancy often exists between the scale at which soil hydrologic properties are measured and the scale at which they are modeled for management purposes. Moreover, little is known about the relative importance of hydrologic modeling parameters as soil moisture fluctuates with time. More research is needed to establish which observation scales in space and time are optimal for managing soil moisture variation over large spatial extents and how these scales are affected by fluctuations in soil moisture content with time. This research fuses high resolution geoelectric and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) as auxiliary measures to support sparse direct soil sampling over a 40 hectare inner BluegrassKentucky (USA) landscape. A Veris 3100 was used to measure shallow and deep apparent electrical conductivity (aEC) in tandem with soil moisture sampling on three separate dates with ascending soil moisture contents ranging from plant wilting point to near field capacity. Terrain attributes were produced from 2010 LiDAR ground returns collected at ≤1 m nominal pulse spacing. Exploratory statistics revealed several variables best associate with soil moisture, including terrain features (slope, profile curvature, and elevation), soil physical and chemical properties (calcium, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, clay and sand) and aEC for each date. Multivariate geostatistics, time stability analyses, and spatial regression were performed to characterize scale-dependent soil moisture patterns in space with time to determine which soil-terrain parameters influence soil moisture distribution. Results showed that soil moisture variation was time stable across the landscape and primarily associated with long-range (~250 m) soil physicochemical properties. When the soils approached field capacity, however, there was a shift in relative importance from long-range soil physicochemical properties to short-range (~70 m) terrain attributes, albeit this shift did not cause time instability. Results obtained suggest soil moisture’s interaction with soil-terrain parameters is time dependent and this dependence influences which observation scale is optimal to sample and manage soil moisture variation.
Microvascular Angina A Women ’ s Affair ?

With the widespread clinical use of angiography in the 70s of the last century, it became apparent that a sizeable proportion of patients referred for anginal symptoms had angiographically normal coronary arteries. These findings stimulated a hot debate among clinicians and scientists on the mechanisms and significance of this condition that seemed to be by far more frequent in women. For many years, there was uncertainty on the real significance of this condition that was often accompanied by electrocardiographic evidence of ischemia during stress. The situation began to unravel when myocardial perfusion studies demonstrated that many of these patients had evidence of abnormal perfusion. Cannon and Epstein introduced the term microvascular angina (MVA) for this patient population, in view of what appeared to be heightened sensitivity of the coronary microcirculation to vasoconstrictor stimuli associated with a limited microvascular vasodilator capacity. They proposed that dysfunction of small intramural prearteriolar coronary arteries might be the pathogenetic cause of this syndrome.
Evaluation of the ground-water flow model for northern Utah Valley, Utah, updated to conditions through 2002

This report evaluates the performance of a numerical model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah, that originally simulated ground-water conditions during 1947–1980 and was updated to include conditions estimated for 1981–2002. Estimates of annual recharge to the ground-water system and discharge from wells in the area were added to the original ground-water flow model of the area. The files used in the original transient-state model of the ground-water flow system in northern Utah Valley were imported into MODFLOW-96, an updated version of MODFLOW. The main model input files modified as part of this effort were the well and recharge files. Discharge from pumping wells in northern Utah Valley was estimated on an annual basis for 1981–2002. Although the amount of average annual withdrawals from wells has not changed much since the previous study, there have been changes in the distribution of well discharge in the area. Discharge estimates for flowing wells during 1981–2002 were assumed to be the same as those used in the last stress period of the original model because of a lack of new data. Variations in annual recharge were assumed to be proportional to changes in total surface-water inflow to northern Utah Valley. Recharge specified in the model during the additional stress periods varied from 255,000 acre-feet in 1986 to 137,000 acre-feet in 1992. The ability of the updated transient-state model to match hydrologic conditions determined for 1981–2002 was evaluated by comparing water-level changes measured in wells to those computed by the model. Water-level measurements made in February, March, or April were available for 39 wells in the modeled area during all or part of 1981–2003. In most cases, the magnitude and direction of annual water-level change from 1981 to 2002 simulated by the updated model reasonably matched the measured change. The greater-than-normal precipitation that occurred during 1982–84 resulted in period-of-record high water levels measured in many of the observation wells in March 1984. The model-computed water levels at the end of 1982–84 also are among the highest for the period. Both measured and computed water levels decreased during the period representing ground-water conditions from 1999 to 2002. Precipitation was less than normal during 1999–2002. The ability of the model to adequately simulate climatic extremes such as the wetter-than-normal conditions of 1982–84 and the drier-than-normal conditions of 1999–2002 indicates that the annual variation of recharge to the ground-water system based on streamflow entering the valley, which in turn is primarily dependent upon precipitation, is appropri-ate but can be improved. The updated transient-state model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley can be improved by making revisions on the basis of currently available data and information.
Concentration and transport data for dissolved inorganic constituents in water collected during seven cruises on the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries, July 1987-June 1990

Concentration and corresponding transport values for selected dissolved constituents were determined for samples collected on the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries at three low-water discharges from July 18, 1987, to June 7,1988 and four high-water discharges from March 9, 1989, to June 27, 1990. Data were obtained for major elements-calcium, magnesium, potassium, silicon (as SiO2), and sodium; trace elements-aluminum, arsenic, barium, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, strontium, thallium, uranium, vanadium, and zinc; alkalinity, and major anions-chloride, sulfate, and nitrate as nitrogen for selected cruises. Analytical techniques used were inductively coupled plasmaatomic emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and ion chromatography. Protocols were designed and implemented to separate suspended sediment from whole water, ensure sample preservation, and estimate sample collection and sample processing errors.