Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrophysiological properties and glucose responsiveness of guinea‐pig ventromedial hypothalamic neurones in vitro.

The membrane properties of neurones in the guinea‐pig ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (v.m.h.) were studied in in vitro brain slice preparations. The average resting potential was ‐62.9 +/‐ 5.4 mV (mean +/‐ S.D.), input resistance was 155 +/‐ 58 M omega, and action potential amplitude was 69.9 +/‐ 6.3 mV. Three types of neurone were identified. The type A neurones were characterized by a short membrane time constant (7.3 +/‐ 2.0 ms) and a small after‐hyperpolarization (a.h.p.) (2.0 +/‐ 1.2 mV) with a short half decay time of 67 +/‐ 55 ms after stimulation with a long outward current pulse. Type B had a long time constant (18.8 +/‐ 5.7 ms) and a large a.h. p. (6.9 +/‐ 2.4 mV) with a medium half decay time of 203 +/‐ 90 ms. Type C was characterized by a long time constant (14.3 +/‐ 2.3 ms) and a large a.h. p. (6.5 +/‐ 1.5 mV) with a long half decay time of 478 +/‐ 230 ms. The slopes of the frequency‐current (f‐I) plots of the three types were different, particularly for the first spike interval. The slopes for the type A (414 +/‐ 102 impulses s‐1 nA‐1) and type B neurones (480 +/‐ 120 impulses s‐1 nA‐1) were steeper than that for the type C neurones (178 +/‐ 41 impulses s‐1 nA‐1). This difference is probably related to the relatively long first interval observed in the type C neurones. In all type B and a few type C neurones, when the membrane potential was hyperpolarized beyond‐‐65 mV the application of orthodromic or direct stimulation generated a burst of spikes, consisting of a low‐threshold response (l.t.r.) of low amplitude and superimposed high‐frequency spikes. At the original resting potential, outward current pulses produced a train of low‐frequency spikes. In type C neurones maintained in a depolarized state (about ‐50 mV), inward current pulses produced a specific delay of the return to the original membrane potential. This delayed return was thought to be generated by activation of a transient K+ (IA) conductance. Stimulation at the lateral edge of the v.m. h. produced excitatory post‐synaptic potentials (e.p.s.p.s) in type A neurones, e.p.s.p.s with l.t. r. in type B neurones and e.p.s.p.‐inhibitory post‐synaptic potential sequences in type C neurones. About 20% of v.m. h. neurones, particularly the type C cells, were depolarized by glucose application with an associated increase in the input membrane resistance. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Multiple‐profile homogeneous image combination: Application to phase‐cycled SSFP and multicoil imaging

Signal inhomogeneities in MRI often appear as multiplicative weightings due to various factors such as field‐inhomogeneity dependencies for steady‐state free precession (SSFP) imaging or receiver sensitivities for coil arrays. These signal inhomogeneities can be reduced by combining multiple data sets with different weights. A sum‐of‐squares combination is typically used due to its simplicity and near‐optimal signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). However, this combination may lead to residual signal inhomogeneity. Alternatively, an optimal linear combination of the data can be performed if the weightings for individual data sets are estimated accurately. We propose a nonlinear combination to improve image‐based estimates of the individual weightings. The signal homogeneity can be significantly increased without compromising SNR. The improved performance of the method is demonstrated for SSFP banding artifact reduction and multicoil (phased‐array and parallel) image reconstructions. Magn Reson Med 60:732–738, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Randomized controlled trial of rituximab in patients with Graves' orbitopathy.

CONTEXT Graves' orbitopathy (GO) is a potentially sight-threatening disease for which available medical therapy is not uniformly successful. Multiple case series suggest that rituximab (RTX) may be effective therapy for GO patients. OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of RTX in GO. DESIGN It is a prospective, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING The study was conducted at a large academic private practice. PATIENTS Twenty five patients with active moderate to severe GO were enrolled, and 21 completed the study to the primary endpoint. INTERVENTIONS Two RTX infusions (1000 mg each) or two saline infusions were given 2 weeks apart. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary endpoint was a reduction in clinical activity score (CAS) assessed as a continuum and separately as improvement by ≥ 2 points at 24 weeks. Secondary endpoints included success and failure rates, proportions showing clinically significant improvement in proptosis, lid fissure width, diplopia score, lagophthalmos and disease severity, and changes in those parameters, orbital fat/ muscle volume and quality-of-life. RESULTS The treatment groups were similar in all parameters at baseline. The last observation was carried forward if the patient discontinued prematurely. No differences were found in the proportions of patients showing CAS improvement at 24 weeks (25% placebo; 31% RTX, P = .75) or in CAS decrease from baseline to 24 or 52 weeks [mean 1.5 points (1.8 SD) placebo; 1.2 (2 SD) RTX at 24 weeks, P = . 73]. Similarly, there were no differences between groups in any of the secondary endpoints at either 24 or 52 weeks. There were four adverse events (AE) in 3/12 placebo patients and 11 AE in 8/13 RTX-treated patients; 5/6 moderate or severe AE occurred in the RTX group. CONCLUSION RTX offered no additional benefit over placebo to our patients with active and moderate to severe GO and carried with it non-negligible adverse effects.
Examining the guest experience in themed amusement parks

This study aims to identify the perceived important attributes of themed amusement parks in China and to assess any gaps between the levels of importance and satisfaction with regard to guests’ experiences. The theme park attributes, developed by the previous research, were adapted as a theoretical basis for this study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in six major Chinese theme parks to domestic visitors who ranked the levels of importance and satisfaction of Chinese theme park attributes during their visit. The results indicated that the most important attributes impacting visitors’ satisfaction were staff’s knowledge of the theme park, safety of roller coasters, security of the park, and ticket price. An importance–satisfaction analysis divided all the attributes into four categories proposed by Martilla and James. The majority of the attributes fell into the category of “Concentrate Here. ” Managerial and marketing implications regarding the results were discussed.
Screening Program for Dancers Administered by Dancers

Students enrolled in a dance kinesiology class were trained to administer a screening protocol on younger dancers in the same department. The dance kinesiology students gained experience assessing alignment and functional symmetry in their peers, and then recommended exercises for gaining awareness and developing balanced patterns of movement. This “low stakes” assessment created both dialogue and peer support centered on helping the screened dancers understand and effectively work with their individual capacities and limitations. The project was designed to contribute to a culture of wellness and education within the dance department.
Country Case Study: Malaysia

Malaysia has been frequently put forward as a model for developing countries, including those in Africa, and it is easy to see why. First, Malaysia has had a recent history of sustained growth and structural adjustment, has been successful in attracting foreign investment from a variety of sources. Building on a strong agricultural sector it has achieved significant levels of industrialisation and has become a strong exporter, especially in the electronics sector. Its experience in dealing with the impact of the Asian financial crisis of 1997 is also instructive, even if it was extremely controversial at the time. Secondly, it has had to face the challenge of managing a complex multiethnic society, attempting to balance the rights of the Malay majority with those of a large Chinese minority that controls much of the economy, especially in the industrial and services sector. Thirdly, it has faced the inherent difficulties of managing access to resources, incomes and opportunities for advancement in a situation of strong growth, including coping with the new demands of a significant emerging middle class. As part of this process it has also had to meet the needs of the less well-off, especially those in the rural areas. It has also faced demands for increased freedoms, while at the same time ensuring continued stability in an often fraught political and social environment. Fourthly, there have been some interesting experiences with strikingly different styles of leadership, and some useful lessons about different forms of governance. Fifthly, the ways in which Malaysia has managed it relationships with a range of regional organisations has been a significant factor in both the development of these organisations and in the country's standing in the regional and international communities. Finally, and especially more recently,
Birman-Wenzl-Murakami Algebra and Logarithmic Superconformal Minimal Models Master of Science , October 2012

Two-dimensional exactly solvable loop models, built on the Temperley-Lieb algebra, have previously been introduced to study statistical systems with non-local degrees of freedom such as polymers and percolation. In the continuum scaling limit, these models describe logarithmic minimal Conformal Field Theories (CFTs). In this thesis, we introduce and study new two-dimensional exactly solvable superconformal loop models generalising the logarithmic minimal models. These models include superconformal polymers and superconformal percolation as the first members. The superconformal loop models are constructed using the generators of a one-parameter specialization of the Birman-WenzlMurakami (BMW) algebra arising from fusion of the Temperley-Lieb algebra. The BMW algebra extends the Temperley-Lieb algebra by allowing overand under-crossings of loop segments. Since the BMW is non-commutative and unwieldy, a computer system is implemented in Mathematica to carry out general algebraic calculations in the full two-parameter BMW algebra. In particular, the program produces matrix representations by acting on suitable vector spaces of link states. The face weights of the superconformal loop models are built algebraically by moving to compound 2 × 2 face weights constructed by a fusion process. In the continuum scaling limit, the new models describe logarithmic superconformal minimal Conformal Field Theories (CFTs). Finite-size corrections are studied to obtain the central charges, conformal dimensions and finitised conformal characters associated with the corresponding superconformal logarithmic minimal models. The analytic and numerical findings are in agreement with general theory giving these logarithmic CFTs as a “logarithmic limit” of the rational superconformal minimal models.
The effect of test protocol instructions on the measurement of muscle function in adult women.

Consideration of the anatomy of the nervous system and events (ie., age, physical training, motor learning) that invoke changes in neural regulatory mechanisms and other bodily systems renders the impact of the type of instruction used to elicit a maximal effort in the assessment of muscle function across age, among different muscle groups, and for different parameters of muscle function tenuous. Hence, the efficacy and effect of using two types of instructions (rate vs. strength) on the assessment of the isometric functional capacity of six muscle groups were examined in women (N = 143) aged 25-74 years. The subjects were categorized by age into 10, 5-year groups. Measures of maximal force (MF), maximal rate of force increase (MR), total impulse (TI), time to MF (MFT), time to MR (MRT), and plateau time (PLT, time between 90% MF and MF) were obtained from the force-time recordings of maximal voluntary isometric contractions of the finger flexors, thumb extensors, elbow flexors and extensors, and ankle dorsiflexors and plantar flexors. Repeated measures analyses of variance indicated that instruction type influenced (p < .05) the magnitude and pattern of the force-time recordings, with the degree of difference dependent upon the muscle group and parameter of muscle function examined. Use of the rate instruction yielded greater MRs (40.9-541.0 N/sec) than the strength instruction. The strength instruction elicited greater MFs (6.4-326.7 N), longer MFTs (0.72-1.50 sec), MRTs (0.05-0.15 sec) and PLTs (0.31-0.79 sec), and greater TIs (25.1-1,079.8 N-sec) than the rate instruction. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Procedural Entrepreneurship: Enacting Alternative Channels to Administrative Effectiveness

What do administrators do when established procedures get in the way of getting work done? They change the procedures. Because procedures, however, may have been originally installed to impose controls that ensure neutrality and obedience to political masters or equity in the delivery of public services, such procedural entrepreneurship tends to be hidden. To what extent to administrators engage in procedural entrepreneurship? What are the consequences of their actions? This investigation, surveying 71 managers, concludes that procedural entrepreneurship is the "everyday" practical activity of skilled and committed administrators who possess "ordinary competence" rather than heroic or deviant individual characterstics. Moreover, the analysis reveals that informal networks, which the procedural entrepreneur must mobilize to achieve success, provide the basis for legitimizing the actions they take and for protecting the public interest.
Cerebral normoxia in the rhesus monkey during isofluraneor propofol‐induced hypotension and hypocapnia, despite disparate blood‐flow patterns

Background: Due to a few reports of cerebral dysfunction in connection with isoflurane‐induced hypotension and concomitant hypocapnia, positron emission tomography (PET) was used to measure cerebral oxygenation and blood flow during similar conditions with isoflurane or propofol.
How to predict return to the community after fractured proximal femur in the elderly.

BACKGROUND There are numerous studies about morbidity and mortality, technical complications and in-hospital factors after proximal femoral fracture surgery in the elderly. Although experienced clinicians are often able to make an accurate prediction, little information is available about the factors that allow early determination of whether a patient may return to the community. The present study aimed to provide that information and, hence, allow better use of health resources. METHODS At Westmead Hospital a prospective study was conducted of 304 patients with a proximal femoral fracture who were previously residing at home. A number of different factors were analysed using statistical methods to determine their effect on outcome, which was defined simply in terms of whether the patient was able to return to the community or whether they needed institutional care. RESULTS Factors that had an adverse influence on return to the community were: a low activities of daily living (ADL) score on admission; increasing age; dementia; the use of regional analgesia; and the occurrence of postoperative complications. Other factors such as gender, fracture type, delay to surgery and length of stay were not significant. CONCLUSIONS Consideration of the ADL score, age and mental state at the time of admission to hospital is all that is needed to determine return to the community. This is helpful to the patient and their family, and allows an early and appropriate referral pattern to either community services or a nursing home.
Reconceiving Decision-Making in Democratic Politics: Attention, Choice, and Public Policy

Most models of political decision-making maintain that individual preferences remain relatively constant. Why, then, are there often sudden abrupt changes in public opinion on political issues? Or total reversals in congressional support for specific legislation, as happened with the voting on the Superconducting Supercollider? Bryan D. Jones answers these questions by connecting insights from cognitive science and rational choice theory to political life. Individuals and political systems alike, Jones argues, tend to be attentive to only one issue at a time. Using numerous examples from elections, public-opinion polls, congressional deliberations and bureaucratic decision-making, he shows how shifting attentiveness can and does alter choices and political outcomes - even when underlying preferences remain relatively fixed. An individual, for example, may initially decide to vote for a candidate because of her stand on spending, but change his vote when he learns of her position on abortion, never really balancing the two options.
An internal model of head kinematics predicts the influence of head orientation on reflexive eye movements

Our sense of self-motion and self-orientation results from combining information from different sources. We hypothesize that the central nervous system (CNS) uses internal models of the laws of physics to merge cues provided by different sensory systems. Different models that include internal models have been proposed; we focus herein on that referred to as the sensory weighting model (Zupan et al 2002 Biol. Cybern. 86 209–30). For simplicity, we isolate the portion of the sensory weighting model that estimates head angular velocity: it includes an inverse internal model of head kinematics and an ‘idiotropic’ vector aligned with the main body axis. Following a post-rotatory tilt in the dark, which is a rapid tilt following a constant-velocity rotation about an earth-vertical axis, the inverse internal model is applied to conflicting vestibular signals. Consequently, the CNS computes an inaccurate estimate of head angular velocity that shifts toward alignment with an estimate of gravity. Since reflexive eye movements known as vestibulo–ocular reflexes (VOR) compensate for this estimate of head angular velocity, the model predicts that the VOR rotation axis shifts toward alignment with this estimate of gravity and that the VOR time constant depends on final head orientation. These predictions are consistent with experimental data.
Metabolic oligosaccharide engineering with N‐Acyl functionalized ManNAc analogs: Cytotoxicity, metabolic flux, and glycan‐display considerations

Metabolic oligosaccharide engineering (MOE) is a maturing technology capable of modifying cell surface sugars in living cells and animals through the biosynthetic installation of non‐natural monosaccharides into the glycocalyx. A particularly robust area of investigation involves the incorporation of azide functional groups onto the cell surface, which can then be further derivatized using “click chemistry. ” While considerable effort has gone into optimizing the reagents used for the azide ligation reactions, less optimization of the monosaccharide analogs used in the preceding metabolic incorporation steps has been done. This study fills this void by reporting novel butanoylated ManNAc analogs that are used by cells with greater efficiency and less cytotoxicity than the current “gold standard,” which are peracetylated compounds such as Ac4ManNAz. In particular, tributanoylated, N‐acetyl, N‐azido, and N‐levulinoyl ManNAc analogs with the high flux 1,3,4‐O‐hydroxyl pattern of butanoylation were compared with their counterparts having the pro‐apoptotic 3,4,6‐O‐butanoylation pattern. The results reveal that the ketone‐bearing N‐levulinoyl analog 3,4,6‐O‐Bu3ManNLev is highly apoptotic, and thus is a promising anti‐cancer drug candidate. By contrast, the azide‐bearing analog 1,3,4‐O‐Bu3ManNAz effectively labeled cellular sialoglycans at concentrations ∼3‐ to 5‐fold lower (e.g., at 12.5–25 µM) than Ac4ManNAz (50–150 µM) and exhibited no indications of apoptosis even at concentrations up to 400 µM. In summary, this work extends emerging structure activity relationships that predict the effects of short chain fatty acid modified monosaccharides on mammalian cells and also provides a tangible advance in efforts to make MOE a practical technology for the medical and biotechnology communities. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109:992–1006. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Stadium Game

The intangible benefits of sports teams are a source of social value that cannot be captured completely by teams through ticket sales and other revenues. A model is developed in which teams attempt to capture social value through stadium subsidies. The number of teams in the league, determined endogenously, increases when subsidies to teams are permitted. The size of the subsidy paid by a city depends on the threat point of teams based on the social value of a team to the largest city without one. Larger cities pay smaller subsidies and may not pay anything. Cartelized leagues substantially increase subsidies by reducing the number of teams, but subsidies are not eliminated in the case of free entry.
Board performance and firm performance of Malaysian listed companies

This study explores the roles of the board of directors (BOD) (as a proxy for board performance) in Malaysian listed companies and examines the relationship between board roles and firm performance. Four board roles (strategy, service, monitoring, and resource dependence) are considered in this study. Questionnaires are used to ascertain the extent of the BOD participation in the board roles in the financial year 2006. The sample of the study is 109 directors, which represents a 20.96% response rate. The results of the component factor analysis produce six roles. The strategy and service roles remain as one factor but monitoring and resource dependence has been refactorised into two categories. Results of the regression analysis between board roles and firm performance found that management oversight roles are positively related to ROA and Tobin's Q, which supports the need to have greater management oversight in companies characterised by concentrated ownership in enhancing the shareholders' wealth. The negative relationship between protecting shareholders' interests and ROA and between strategy and dependency on the expertise of outside directors and Tobin's Q are not consistent with the agency theory and resource dependency theory.
A model for induction motor with stator faults

A transient MATLAB/SIMULINK model of induction motor with stator winding turn faults is developed. The model has features of simulating variable load level, stator winding turn faults in each phase and different number of short turns. The transient response is examined in terms of current under variable load level. The harmonic frequency in simulated stator current indicates stator winding turn fault. The model is validated by comparing simulated and measured stator current with different number of short turns and load levels. The model can be further used in model-aid induction motor fault diagnosis system.