Short-term facilitation, a form of synaptic plasticity, takes place at GABAergic synapses between cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs). We studied the mechanism of this short-term facilitation by directly patch-clamp recording from a PC axon terminal in cerebellar cultures. We show that the Ca2+ currents elicited by high-frequency action potentials were augmented depending on intracellular [Ca2+] on the terminal. The facilitation of synaptic transmission showed 4-5th power dependence on the Ca2+ current facilitation, and was abolished when the Ca2+ current facilitation was supressed. We conclude that short-term facilitation of Ca2+ currents predominantly mediates short-term facilitation at synapses between PCs. / 博士(理学) / Doctor of Philosophy in Science / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

This thesis examines the effects of prosody on serial recall. Serial recall is an experimental task commonly used to evaluate the capacity of short-term memory. The Working Memory model by Baddeley and Hitch is a theoretical framework that describes the inner operation of short-term memory. Its hierarchies are supported by empirical evidence, but details of the core mechanisms remain unclear. In an attempt to refine the framework, this thesis investigated prosody as a factor in serial recall accuracy. Two behavioural experiments were conducted on native speakers of Canadian English. In the first experiment, the explicit awareness of word stress was examined. Results showed a main effect of word stress type, where iambic words received higher stress identification scores compared to trochaic words. In the second experiment, an immediate serial recall task was used to examine serial recall of word lists. The lists consisted of disyllabic words from Canadian English sources. The lists had mixed or uniform stress patterns. A main effect of list stress patterns was found, where mixed lists elicited better recall of the order of list items compared to uniform lists. Overall, the present thesis offers a new interpretation on how word stress is represented in the short-term memory. It adds support to the proposed interaction between short-term and long-term memory. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Many daily experiences require us to remember a list of items, such as drafting a grocery list and reciting phone numbers. How well we can remember a list can be influenced by various characteristics of the list. This thesis looks at a seldom studied characteristic: prosody. Prosody in the English language can be realized via word stress, which is the amount of emphasis we place on certain parts of a word. This thesis explores the impact of word stress on our ability to remember a list of common English words. It reports data from an online survey and a laboratory experiment. Results show that mixed word stress patterns in a list lead to better memory for said list. Overall, this thesis offers new suggestions on the role of prosody in memory. As well, it offers a novel set of data that supports current theories in memory.

No description available.

<p> This study investigates the use of large scale ensemble weather predictions provided by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) medium range forecast (MRF) modeling system, for short-term hydrologic forecasting. The weather predictors are used to downscale daily precipitation and temperature series at two meteorological stations in the Saguenay watershed in northeastern Canada. Three data-driven methods, namely, statistical downscaling model (SDSM), time lagged feedforward neural network (TLFN), and evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR), are used as downscaling models and their downscaling results are compared. The downscaled results of the best models are used as additional inputs in two hydrological models, Hydrologiska Byrans Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) and Bayesian neural networks (BNN), for up to 14 day ahead reservoir inflow and river flow forecasting. The performance of the two hydrological forecasting models is compared, the ultimate objective being to improve 7 to 14 day ahead forecasts. </p> <p> The downscaling results show that all the three models have good performance in downscaling temperature time series, the correlation between the observed and downscaled data is more than 0.90, however the downscaling results are less accurate for precipitation, the correlation coefficient is no more than 0.62. TLFN and EPR models have quite close performance in most cases, and they both perform better than SDSM. </p> <p> Therefore the TLFN downscaled meteorological data are used as predictors in the HBV and BNN hydrological models for up to 14 day ahead reservoir inflow and river flow forecasting, and the forecasting results are compared with the case where no downscaled data is included. The results show that for both reservoir inflow and river flow, HBV models have better performance when including downscaled meteorological data, while there is no significant improvement for the BNN models. When comparing the performance of HBV and BNN models through scatter plots, it can be found that BNN models perform better in low flow forecasting than HBV models, while less good in peak flow forecasting. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

This dissertation examines the characterization of transient investors by financial analysts. Transient investors have been portrayed in the literature as either 1) informed investors or 2) poor monitors. No research to date, however, has examined how financial analysts, who are important information intermediaries, characterize transient investors. A view of transient investors through the lens of a financial analyst is obtained through examining how the presence of transient owners in a firm affects financial analysts' decision making. Specifically, this study examines how transient ownership affects both the propensity of analysts to herd when issuing earnings forecasts for a given firm as well as the incidence with which analysts revise their forecasts when the firm issues earnings guidance. Empirical tests show that financial analysts exhibit a greater propensity to herd when there are transient investors present. The proposed reason for this effect is analysts are herding due to reputational concerns. Further testing, however, does not show that the relation between transient ownership and analyst herding is owed to poor monitoring behavior of transient-owned firms. In contrast, evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the firm information environment of transient-owned firms is an important cause of analyst herding. In summary, evidence is consistent with the informed investor portrayal of transient investors and there is no evidence indicating financial analysts view transient owners as poor monitors. Finally, when the decision of analysts to issue revised forecasts is examined, it is found that having a higher percentage of the firm owned by dedicated or long-term investors increased the propensity of analysts to issue a revised forecast. Thus, while my analysis is inconsistent with a poor monitoring portrayal of transient investors, results suggest that a dedicated investor base can enhance the perceived credibility of firm disclosures. / Ph. D.

There is evidence that language ability is related to a number of cognitive processes, including memory. As children become more proficient language-users, they develop the ability to use language as a memory attribute. This study used EEG coherence to investigate the extent to which verbal encoding strategies account for individual differences in two short-term recognition memory tasks in 50 3-year-olds. Children with better expressive and receptive language performed better on the picture memory task (which contains stimuli that can easily be labeled) but not the abstract memory task, indicating that language may support memory processes for some types of stimuli more than for others. Analyses of EEG coherence at the hypothesized electrode pairs (F7-T3 and F8-T4) at baseline and encoding were not significant, indicating that verbal encoding does not account for individual differences in short-term memory performance. When these electrode pairs were examined at baseline and retrieval for the picture memory task, EEG coherence analyses indicated that it may be the use of language as a retrieval cue rather than an encoding strategy that explains individual differences in short-term recognition memory. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Recent research suggests that increased demands placed upon working memory elicit elevated symptoms of hyperactivity in children diagnosed with ADHD. Such findings suggest that demands placed on working memory processing may influence motor activity. To investigate this relationship further, 43 undergraduate students from the University of Central Florida were given three versions of a visuo-spatial working memory task (including low, moderate, and high demand conditions). As the participants were engaged in these tasks, activity level was measured and recorded using 3-axis accelerometers. Participants also were given a continuous performance task (CPT) and the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale Self Report, Screening Version (CAARS-S:SV) to assess symptoms of ADHD. Activity level of participants was found to increase as visuo-spatial working memory demands were increased. When those participants who reported symptoms of ADHD were statistically removed from the sample, a significant increase in activity between tasks remained. However, participants who reported elevated ratings of ADHD symptoms showed significantly more activity than those participants who did not report elevated ratings of ADHD as visuo-spatial working demands were increased. Implications for these findings are discussed.

This dissertation innovatively extends the hedonic value model by crafting a comprehensive and novel econometric framework to analyze the mediating role of financial performance in the valuation of vacation rental properties. The study not only conducts an empirical analysis of the fundamental hedonic determinants of vacation rentals’ performance and value but also examines the influence of vacation rental performance on their valuation by leveraging the capitalization rate theory, a prevalent metric for evaluating commercial real estate value, to ascertain its applicability in forecasting the worth of vacation rentals. The core contribution of this study is the discovery of how short-term rentals are assessed in Central Florida, the key factors contributing to their performance and value, and whether the current valuation methods are suited to the current market needs. The methodology is grounded in robust panel data analysis, encompassing annual performance metrics from the Central Florida market between 2014 and 2023. This approach integrates short-term rentals' extended property-level information and monthly performance databases from AirDNA with the comprehensive real estate database offered by Stellar-MLS, which includes property listing history, market sales, and property details available exclusively to licensed realtors in Central Florida. To integrate these two datasets, a location-based tool was developed using Python and Google API resources to match property addresses and calculate the total distance and driving time to main attractions in the area. Results confirmed the influence of performance on vacation rental valuation and the mediation effect of performance on the relationship between property attributes and value. The findings revealed that the valuation of vacation rentals in Central Florida is better suited to commercial-oriented real estate assessments rather than traditional residential appraisals. These transformative insights provide a robust econometric tool for better predicting the value and performance of vacation rentals, benefiting a range of stakeholders, including vacation rental owners, investors, and policymakers.

The impact of a short-term training program upon learned helplessness among nursing home staff and residents was studied. Learned helplessness among staff was defined in terms of depression, self-monitoring, short-term memory, absenteeism, and turnover. Among residents, urinary incontinence was the selected measure of helplessness.