Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On feedback vertex sets and nonseparating independent sets in cubic graphs

Let G be an undirected connected graph with n nodes. A subset F of nodes of G is a feedback vertex set (fvs) if G − F is a forest and a subset J of nodes of G is a nonseparating independent set (nsis) if no two nodes of J are adjacent and G − J is connected. f(G), z(G) denote the cardinalities of a minimum fvs and a maximum nsis, respectively, of G. The equation f(G) = n/2 − z(G) + 1 and two new upper bounds on f(G) are derived for cubic graphs G.
Data dissemination based on mobile agent in wireless sensor networks

Recently, mobile agents have been proposed for efficient data dissemination in sensor networks. In the traditional client/server-based computing architecture, data at multiple sources is transferred to a destination; whereas, a task-specific executable code traverses the relevant sources to gather data in the mobile-agent based computing paradigm. As described in Hairong Qi, et al. (2003), many inherent advantages (e.g. scalability, extensibility, energy awareness, reliability) of the mobile agent architecture make it more suitable for sensor networks than the client/server architecture. In this paper, a mobile agent is exploited in three levels (e.g. node level, task level, and combined task level) to reduce the information redundancy and communication overhead
A Comparative Treatment Study of Intravitreal Voriconazole and Liposomal Amphotericin B in an Aspergillus fumigatus Endophthalmitis Model.

PURPOSE To compare the effects of voriconazole (VCZ) and liposomal amphotericin B (Amp-B) in an experimental model of Aspergillus fumigatus endophthalmitis. METHODS Thirty guinea pigs received an intravitreal injection of A. fumigatus to induce endophthalmitis. The animals were randomly divided into three groups, including control (0.02 mL balanced salt solution intravitreal injection) and experimental (20 μg VCZ/0.02 mL or 20 μg liposomal Amp-B/0.02 mL intravitreal injection) groups. Corneal opacity, aqueous flare, and vitreous opacity were graded, and electroretinographic examinations were performed at multiple time points. At 28 days post treatment, histopathology was performed to examine the retinal architecture. RESULTS The inflammation in the VCZ and liposomal Amp-B groups was milder than that in the control group. Corneal opacity, aqueous flare, and vitreous opacity scores, as well as electroretinographic recording, showed significantly less inflammation in the VCZ group compared with the liposomal Amp-B group during the early and middle stages of endophthalmitis (P < 0.05). Normal histologic structure of the retina was observed in eyes treated with VCZ and liposomal Amp-B. CONCLUSIONS Both intravitreal VCZ and liposomal Amp-B were effective treatments for A. fumigatus-induced endophthalmitis in guinea pigs. Voriconazole was superior to liposomal Amp-B at doses similar to the initial therapy for acute infections. Further experimental and clinical studies are required to confirm the efficacy of these two antifungal drugs. Chinese Abstract.
Preferences for Non-Instrumental Information and Skewness∗

We present experimental results from a broad investigation of intrinsic preferences for information. We examine whether people prefer negatively skewed or positively skewed information structures when they are equally informative, whether people prefer Blackwell more informative information structures, and how individual preferences over the skewness and the degree of information relate to one another. The wide scope of our investigation not only reveals new insights regarding intrinsic preferences for information, but as we show, also allows for testing of existing models in this domain. We find that models based on the framework of Kreps and Porteus (1978) and Caplin and Leahy (2001), are the most consistent with the data we observe. ∗We thank the Michigan Institute for Teaching and Research in Economics, Ross School of Business Faculty Grant Fund, and the University of Oxford John Fell Fund for support. We thank seminar participants at Microsoft, University of Michigan, University of Pittsburgh, Risk, Uncertainty and Decision 2015, FICS, as well as David Dillenberger, Kfir Eliaz, David Gill, David Huffman and John Leahy for helpful comments. Remaining errors are ours alone. †Email: yusufcan@umich.edu ‡Email: aorhun@umich.edu §Email: collinbraymond@gmail.com.
Identification of major common extracellular proteins secreted by Aeromonas salmonicida strains isolated from diseased fish

Ten different strains of Aeromonas salmonicida that were isolated from diseased fish were grown under identical conditions (24 h at 25 degree C) in 3% (wt/vol) tryptone soya broth medium supplemented with vitamins and inorganic ions. In each case the extracellular proteins that were formed were compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and it was found that there were two significant common components, one with a molecular weight of 70,000 and the other with a weight of 56,000. Application of enzyme purification techniques to the supernatant fraction proteins of a culture of one of the strains resulted in the isolation of a 70-kilodalton (kDa) component, which was found to be a serine protease, and a 56-kDa component, which was hemolytic to trout erythrocytes. Rocket immunoelectrophoresis with rabbit antibodies to the isolated protease and hemolysin showed the same antigenic components in the supernatant fractions of all the cultures. These activities were assayed, and protease activity was found to vary by a factor of three, from 59 to 195 U/ml, while the range of hemolytic activity was over a narrow band, from 28 to 43 U/ml. There was an inconsistency between the immunoelectrophoretic and direct assay data in only one case. This indicated the presence of additional hemolytic activity, in addition to the 56-kDa component. The detection of large amounts of the same protease and hemolysin, two potent degradative activities, in a random series of strains of A. salmonicida suggests that they may be obligatory virulence factors in the development of furunculosis.
Perseverance in solving Sudoku: role of grit and cognitive flexibility in problem solving

ABSTRACT Problem solving is a higher order cognitive capacity with implications for everyday functioning. Although Grit predicts academic outcomes, the relation between facets of Grit, Consistency and Perseverance, and problem solving remain unknown. We report the results of two studies conducted to examine the impact of facets of grit on problem solving within the context of solving Sudoku puzzles. In Study 1, Grit-Perseverance predicted performance on the hard versus easy puzzle. In Study 2, we increased the difficulty level of the puzzles and assessed cognitive flexibility using the Wisconsin Card Sort Test. Grit-Perseverance was associated with effort on both the hard and very hard puzzles. Further, mediation analyses revealed that Grit-Perseverance indirectly predicted increased effort on the very hard puzzle through decreased cognitive flexibility. Overall our results demonstrate that Grit-Perseverance, not Consistency, impacts problem solving and highly gritty individuals may be most successful in solving challenging problems that are moderately constrained.
Do steroids increase lymphoma risk? A case–control study of lymphoma risk in polymyalgia rheumatica/giant cell arteritis

Background: Recent studies indicate increased risks of malignant lymphomas among individuals treated with corticosteroids, but have not taken into account the underlying reasons for steroid use, so the increased risks might be attributable to the underlying disease or concomitant treatments other than steroids. Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and temporal arteritis (giant cell arteritis, GCA) are common inflammatory conditions treated with steroids as single immunosuppressive therapy, but data on lymphoma risk in GCA/PMR are limited. Objective: To assess the risk of lymphoma associated with steroid treatment of GCA/PMR. Methods: The association between GCA/PMR and malignant lymphomas (overall, and separately for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and chronic lymphatic leukaemia) was examined in a nationwide, population based, case–control study of 42 676 lymphoma cases and 78 487 matched population controls, using prospectively recorded data on lymphomas from the Swedish cancer register 1964–2000 and data on pre-lymphoma hospital admissions for GCA/PMR from the Swedish inpatient register 1964–2000. Odds ratios (OR) associated with a pre-lymphoma hospital admission for GCA/PMR were calculated using conditional logistic regression. Results: 153 lymphoma cases and 345 population controls had a history of GCA/PMR, resulting in an overall OR for malignant lymphomas of 0.81 (95% confidence interval, 0.67 to 0.98). The OR varied little with lymphoma type, sex, age, and calendar period. The OR for GCA was 0.67 (0.48 to 0.98) and for PMR, 0.83 (0.67 to 1.04). Conclusions: Treated GCA is not associated with increased lymphoma risks, which suggests that even at considerable cumulative doses, steroids may not appreciably increase lymphoma risk.
Attenuation of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Using Large-Scale Random Codon Re-encoding

Large-scale codon re-encoding (i.e. introduction of a large number of synonymous mutations) is a novel method of generating attenuated viruses. Here, it was applied to the pathogenic flavivirus, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) which causes febrile illness and encephalitis in humans in forested regions of Europe and Asia. Using an infectious clone of the Oshima 5–10 strain ("wild-type virus"), a cassette of 1.4kb located in the NS5 coding region, was modified by randomly introducing 273 synonymous mutations ("re-encoded virus"). Whilst the in cellulo replicative fitness of the re-encoded virus was only slightly reduced, the re-encoded virus displayed an attenuated phenotype in a laboratory mouse model of non-lethal encephalitis. Following intra-peritoneal inoculation of either 2.105 or 2.106 TCID50 of virus, the frequency of viraemia, neurovirulence (measured using weight loss and appearance of symptoms) and neuroinvasiveness (detection of virus in the brain) were significantly decreased when compared with the wild-type virus. Mice infected by wild-type or re-encoded viruses produced comparable amounts of neutralising antibodies and results of challenge experiments demonstrated that mice previously infected with the re-encoded virus were protected against subsequent infection by the wild-type virus. This constitutes evidence that a mammalian species can be protected against infection by a virulent wild-type positive-stranded RNA virus following immunisation with a derived randomly re-encoded strain. Our results demonstrate that random codon re-encoding is potentially a simple and effective method of generating live-attenuated vaccine candidates against pathogenic flaviviruses.
Success of a lactation education program on NICU nurses' knowledge and attitudes.

OBJECTIVES To test an educational intervention designed to improve lactation knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of NICU nurses and to improve their intentions to provide mothers with lactation support. DESIGN Quasi-experimental, time-series pretest/posttest. SETTING NICU of a Midwestern, free-standing, tertiary-care children's hospital. PARTICIPANTS Convenience sample of 64 NICU nurses and 2 separate convenience samples of mothers of infants hospitalized in the NICU (n=19 and 13, respectively). METHODS Nurses were measured on study outcomes at multiple time points, beginning with 2 weeks before and ending at 3 months after attendance to a 4-hour educational program. Mothers were sampled before and 3 months after the intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Nurses' lactation knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and intentions to support lactation and mothers' perceptions of lactation support in the NICU. RESULTS Findings suggest that this educational intervention was effective for improving NICU nurses' lactation knowledge and attitudes, and that these improvements were maintained over time. Further, the supportive atmosphere for lactation in this NICU significantly improved following the implementation of the educational intervention for nurses. CONCLUSION Intermittent, short educational programs which include practical how-to's and motivational encouragement for staff may provide the empowerment nurses need in order to be supportive of lactation.
Neural Stem Cells Derived by Small Molecules Preserve Vision.

PURPOSE The advances in stem cell biology hold a great potential to treat retinal degeneration. Importantly, specific cell types can be generated efficiently with small molecules and maintained stably over numerous passages. Here, we investigated whether neural stem cell (NSC) derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) by small molecules can preserve vision following grafting into the Royal College Surgeon (RCS) rats; a model for retinal degeneration. METHODS A cell suspension containing 3 × 104 NSCs or NSCs labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) was injected into the subretinal space or the vitreous cavity of RCS rats at postnatal day (P) 22; animals injected with cell-carry medium and those left untreated were used as controls. The efficacy of treatment was evaluated by testing optokinetic response, recording luminance threshold, and examining retinal histology. RESULTS NSCs offered significant preservation of both photoreceptors and visual function. The grafted NSCs survived for long term without evidence of tumor formation. Functionally, NSC treated eyes had significantly better visual acuity and lower luminance threshold than controls. Morphologically, photoreceptors and retinal connections were well preserved. There was an increase in expression of cillary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in Müller cells in the graft-protected retina. CONCLUSIONS This study reveals that NSCs derived from hESC by small molecules can survive and preserve vision for long term following subretinal transplantation in the RCS rats. These cells migrate extensively in the subretinal space and inner retina; there is no evidence of tumor formation or unwanted changes after grafting into the eyes. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE The NSCs derived from hESC by small molecules can be generated efficiently and provide an unlimited supply of cells for the treatment of some forms of human outer retinal degenerative diseases. The capacity of NSCs migrating into inner retina offers a potential as a vehicle to delivery drugs/factors to treat inner retinal disorders.
Maturity and change in personality: Developmental trends of temperament and character in adulthood

Abstract We studied the developmental trends of temperament and character in a longitudinal population-based sample of Finnish men and women aged 20–45 years using the Temperament and Character Inventory model of personality. Personality was assessed in 1997, 2001, and 2007 (n = 2,104, 2,095, and 2,056, respectively). Mean-level changes demonstrated qualitatively distinct developmental patterns for character (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence) and temperament (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence). Character developed toward greater maturity, although self-transcendence decreased with age. However, self-transcendence was the strongest predictor of overall personality change. Cohort effects indicated lower level of self-transcendence and higher level of self-directedness and cooperativeness in younger birth cohorts. Regarding temperament, novelty seeking decreased and persistence increased slightly with age. Both high novelty seeking and high persistence predicted overall personality change. These findings suggest that temperament and character traits follow different kinds of developmental trajectories.
Fatness Is a Better Predictor of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Profile Than Aerobic Fitness in Healthy Men

Background—The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is partly attributable to an inactive and/or overweight population. However, the independent association of body fatness and aerobic fitness with CVD risk factors is uncertain. We sought to determine whether fatness or fitness better predicted traditional CVD risk factors in men with broad fatness, aerobic fitness, and age ranges using 3 expressions of adiposity. Methods and Results—In 135 carefully screened healthy men, we measured 18 established CVD risk factors, body mass index, total percent body fat, waist circumference, and maximal aerobic capacity. Body mass index, percent body fat, and waist circumference were consistently associated with all metabolic risk factors (r=−0.44 to 0.51, P<0.05) after partialling out the effects of aerobic fitness and age. Body mass index and waist circumference were also independently associated with selective hemodynamic risk factors (r=0.20 to 0.30, P≤0.01). In contrast, aerobic fitness was independently associated with only selective metabolic risk factors (r=−0.21 to 0.19, P<0.05) and was not associated with any hemodynamic risk factors (P>0.05). Both aerobic fitness and body fatness were independently associated with selective hemostatic risk factors (r=−0.22 to −0.26, P≤0.01; r=−0.32 to 0.48, P<0.05, respectively). Overall, fatness was more strongly and consistently associated with CVD risk factors than aerobic fitness. Conclusions—Body fatness is a better predictor of CVD risk factor profile than aerobic fitness in healthy men. Although habitual physical activity is an effective strategy for preventing CVD, elevated body fatness is associated with an adverse CVD risk factor profile independently of aerobic fitness.
Algebra extensions and nonsingularity

This paper is concerned with a notion of nonsingularity for noncommutative algebras, which arises naturally in connection with cyclic homology. Let us consider associative unital algebras over the complex numbers. We call an algebra A quasi-free, when it behaves like a free algebra with respect to nilpotent extensions in the sense that any homomorphism A -+ R/I, where I is a nilpotent ideal in R, can be lifted to a homomorphism A -+ R. If we restrict to the category of finitely generated commutative algebras, then this lifting property characterizes smooth algebras, the ones corresponding to nonsingular affine varieties. In this way quasi-free algebras appear as noncommutative analogues of smooth algebras. Stretching the analogy, we can even regard quasi-free algebras as analogues of manifolds. One of the aims of this paper is to develop the analogy further by showing that quasi-free algebras provide a natural setting for noncommutative versions of certain aspects of manifolds. To give an example, let us consider the analogue of an embedding: an extension A = R/I, where A and R are quasi-free algebras playing the role of the submanifold and ambient manifold respectively. In the manifold situation, I/I2 is the module of linear functions on the nor2 mal bundle, and the symmetric algebra SA(III ) is the algebra of polynomial functions. Now in passing from commutative to noncommutative algebras, the symmetric algebra of a module is replaced by the tensor algebra of a bimodule.
Lossless color image compression using chromatic correlation

[Summary form only given] Typically, the lossless compression of color images is achieved by separately compressing the three RGB monochromatic image components. The proposed method takes into account the fact that high spatial correlations exist not only within each monochromatic frame but also between similar spatial locations in adjacent monochromatic frames. Based on the observation that the prediction errors produced by the JPEG predictor in each RGB monochromatic frame present very similar structures, we propose two new chromatic predictors, called chromatic differential predictor (CDP) and classified CDP (CCDP), to capture the spectral dependencies between the monochromatic frames. In addition to prediction schemes, we consider context modeling schemes that take into account the prediction errors in spatially and/or spectrally adjacent pixels in order to efficiently encode the prediction errors. In order to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed lossless color image compression scheme, 5 different types of images are selected from the KODAK image set. All images are RGB 24 bpp color images with resolution 768/spl times/512. The experimental results demonstrate significant improvement in compression performance. Its fast implementation and high compression ratio may be a promising approach for the application of real-time color video compression.
Evidence from Individual Inference for High-Dimensional Coexistence: Long-Term Experiments on Recruitment Response

Background For competing species to coexist, individuals must compete more with others of the same species than with those of other species. Ecologists search for tradeoffs in how species might partition the environment. The negative correlations among competing species that would be indicative of tradeoffs are rarely observed. A recent analysis showed that evidence for partitioning the environment is available when responses are disaggregated to the individual scale, in terms of the covariance structure of responses to environmental variation. That study did not relate that variation to the variables to which individuals were responding. To understand how this pattern of variation is related to niche variables, we analyzed responses to canopy gaps, long viewed as a key variable responsible for species coexistence. Methodology/Principal Findings A longitudinal intervention analysis of individual responses to experimental canopy gaps with 12 yr of pre-treatment and 8 yr post-treatment responses showed that species-level responses are positively correlated – species that grow fast on average in the understory also grow fast on average in response to gap formation. In other words, there is no tradeoff. However, the joint distribution of individual responses to understory and gap showed a negative correlation – species having individuals that respond most to gaps when previously growing slowly also have individuals that respond least to gaps when previously growing rapidly (e.g., Morus rubra), and vice versa (e.g., Quercus prinus). Conclusions/Significance Because competition occurs at the individual scale, not the species scale, aggregated species-level parameters and correlations hide the species-level differences needed for coexistence. By disaggregating models to the scale at which the interaction occurs we show that individual variation provides insight for species differences.
Molecular and Metabolic Characterization of Cold-Tolerant Alpine Soil Pseudomonas Sensu Stricto

ABSTRACT Alpine soils undergo dramatic temporal changes in their microclimatic properties, suggesting that the bacteria there encounter uncommon shifting selection gradients. Pseudomonads constitute important members of the alpine soil community. In order to characterize the alpine Pseudomonas community and to assess the impact of shifting selection on this community, we examined the ability of cold-tolerant Pseudomonas isolates to grow on a variety of carbon sources, and we determined their phylogenetic relationships based on 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing. We found a high prevalence of Pseudomonas in our soil samples, and isolates from these soils exhibited extensive metabolic diversity. In addition, our data revealed that many of our isolates form a unique cold-adapted clade, representatives of which are also found in the Swedish tundra and Antarctica. Our data also show a lack of concordance between the metabolic properties and 16S phylogeny, indicating that the metabolic diversity of these organisms cannot be predicted by phylogeny.