Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Tentative Determination of Upwelling Influence on the Paleo-Surficial Marine Water Reservoir Effect in Southeastern Brazil

Previous work has suggested that seasonal and interannual upwelling of deep, cold, radiocarbon-depleted waters from the South Atlantic has caused variations in the reservoir effect (R) through time along the southern coast of Brazil. This work aims to examine the possible upwelling influence on the paleoreservoir age of Brazilian surficial coastal waters based on paired terrestrial/marine samples obtained from archaeological remains. On the Brazilian coast, there are hundreds of shell middens built up by an ancient culture that lived between 6500 to 1500 yr ago, but there are few shell middens located on open-coast sites with a known upwelling influence. Three archaeological sites located in a large headland in Arraial do Cabo and Una de Cabo Frio on the southeastern coast of Brazil, with open-ocean conditions and a well-known strong and large upwelling of the Malvinas/Falkland current, were chosen for this study. The 14C age differences between carbonized seed and marine samples varied from 281 ± 44 to 1083 ± 51 14C yr. There are also significant age differences between carbonized seed samples (977 14C yr) and marine samples (200 and 228 14C yr) from the same archaeological layer that cannot be explained by a reservoir effect or an old-wood effect for charcoal. Therefore, the present data from the southeastern Brazilian coast are inconclusive for identifying an upwelling effect on R. To do so, it would be necessary to more precisely define the present–pre-bomb R in upwelling regions, and to analyze paired marine/terrestrial samples that are contemporaneous beyond doubt.
Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Mediated by an ABC Transporter Mutation Increases Susceptibility to Toxins from Other Bacteria in an Invasive Insect

Evolution of pest resistance reduces the efficacy of insecticidal proteins from the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) used widely in sprays and transgenic crops. Recent efforts to delay pest adaptation to Bt crops focus primarily on combinations of two or more Bt toxins that kill the same pest, but this approach is often compromised because resistance to one Bt toxin causes cross-resistance to others. Thus, integration of Bt toxins with alternative controls that do not exhibit such cross-resistance is urgently needed. The ideal scenario of negative cross-resistance, where selection for resistance to a Bt toxin increases susceptibility to alternative controls, has been elusive. Here we discovered that selection of the global crop pest, Helicoverpa armigera, for >1000-fold resistance to Bt toxin Cry1Ac increased susceptibility to abamectin and spineotram, insecticides derived from the soil bacteria Streptomyces avermitilis and Saccharopolyspora spinosa, respectively. Resistance to Cry1Ac did not affect susceptibility to the cyclodiene, organophospate, or pyrethroid insecticides tested. Whereas previous work demonstrated that the resistance to Cry1Ac in the strain analyzed here is conferred by a mutation disrupting an ATP-binding cassette protein named ABCC2, the new results show that increased susceptibility to abamectin is genetically linked with the same mutation. Moreover, RNAi silencing of HaABCC2 not only decreased susceptibility to Cry1Ac, it also increased susceptibility to abamectin. The mutation disrupting ABCC2 reduced removal of abamectin in live larvae and in transfected Hi5 cells. The results imply that negative cross-resistance occurs because the wild type ABCC2 protein plays a key role in conferring susceptibility to Cry1Ac and in decreasing susceptibility to abamectin. The negative cross-resistance between a Bt toxin and other bacterial insecticides reported here may facilitate more sustainable pest control.
The Rho/Rho-associated protein kinase inhibitor fasudil in the protection of endothelial cells against advanced glycation end products through the nuclear factor κB pathway

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the Rho/Rho-associated protein kinase (Rho/ROCK) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic vascular injury. In this study, we investigated the beneficial effects of fasudil, a ROCK inhibitor, on vascular endothelial injury induced by advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in vitro. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were stimulated with AGEs and AGEs plus fasudil in various concentrations for different time periods. Monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression, protein expression and activation of Rho/ROCK, activation of NF-κB and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were evaluated. Fasudil suppressed AGE-induced monocyte-endothelial adhesion. Fasudil also reduced the mRNA and protein expression of VCAM-1 and MCP-1 in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, increases in the protein levels of Rho/ROCK and ROCK activity mediated by AGEs were inhibited by the addition of fasudil. Additionally, fasudil attenuated AGE-induced NF-κB-dependent transcriptional activity and inhibition of NF-κB (IκB) phosphorylation. ROS production induced by AGEs was also reduced by fasudil in HUVECs. The results suggest that ROCK inhibition may protect the vascular endothelium against AGE-induced monocyte-endothelial adhesion in vitro through the reduction of ROS generation and the downregulation of NF-κB signaling. Thus, ROCK inhibition may be a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of vascular complications in diabetes.
Exploring the impacts of fuel price increases on public transport use in Melbourne

“Public transport the ticket as petrol goes crazy Melbourne is facing what could become its greatest petrol crisis as prices surged towards $1.40 this week and motorists, governments and transport experts scrambled to respond. Transport Minister Peter Batchelor yesterday confirmed that petrol prices were causing a jump in public transport use, leading to questions about whether the system could cope with an influx of commuters. ” The Age (September 10, 2005)
Integrated notation for software architecture specifications

Currently, there are many notations to specify software architectures, which address a wide range of formality and completeness. Completely formal notations produce accurate and analyzable software architecture specifications, but the most formal and complete notations are also the most difficult to use and understand. Conversely, informal notations are easier to use and understand, but several design aspects may remain underspecified. This paper presents an integrated notation for specifying software architecture that reduces the complexity to use completely formal notations without resigning the formality required by software architecture specifications. The integrated notation proposes an architectural specification in three levels of abstraction: a graphical box-and-line diagram to specify the structure, a behavioral specification using input/output automata, and a basis of Larch traits describing the domain specific abstract data types. The proposed integrated notation has been used to specify the architecture of a complex mesh management tool and part of the specification is presented. Although more experimentation is required, the obtained results are encouraging.
A Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Measures to Curb Political Corruption

Existing case studies of efforts to control political corruption typically lack a theoretical framework that can provide for systematic empirical research and comparisons between cases and countries. This makes it difficult to assess what combination of preventive and punitive measures that are best suited to work against corruption. By employing principal-agent theory, we develop a framework for the study of different measures to control political corruption. Our framework is suited for qualitative and comparative studies. As an example of an empirical application, we show how this framework can be applied empirically to the United Kingdom's measures to control political corruption. We do so in three identified risk areas: the Parliament, the executive and political parties.
Multiple Sources of Information, Valuation, and Accounting Earnings

Accounting researchers have long debated how to model the relation between eamings and security price. In this paper, we add a scaling dimension to this debate. The scale of an information system is the ordering scheme it uses to represent relations. The language of valuation (e.g., assets, equities, and income) provides accounting's scale. This scaling is restricted, however, by recognition rules that keep some infonnation (e.g., order books) outside the accounting system. Restrictive accounting recognition rules imply that the inferences made using eamings must be conditioned on available other, nonaccounting information. As obvious and innocuous as this seems, the coupling of valuation scaling and restrictive accounting recognition mles implies eamings and price are monotonically (or linearly, a fortiori) related only under very strong conditions. In this paper, we describe these conditions. We also discuss more generally the problems of inference using financial statement numbers based on a valuation scale and restrictive accounting recognition mles. Several other papers have modeled the impact of nonaccounting information on the relation between eamings and price. ' These models typically
Search for Expectancy-Inconsistent Information Reduces Uncertainty Better: The Role of Cognitive Capacity

Motivation and cognitive capacity are key factors in people’s everyday struggle with uncertainty. However, the exact nature of their interplay in various contexts still needs to be revealed. The presented paper reports on two experimental studies which aimed to examine the joint consequences of motivational and cognitive factors for preferences regarding incomplete information expansion. In Study 1 we demonstrate the interactional effect of motivation and cognitive capacity on information preference. High need for closure resulted in a stronger relative preference for expectancy-inconsistent information among non-depleted individuals, but the opposite among cognitively depleted ones. This effect was explained by the different informative value of questions in comparison to affirmative sentences and the potential possibility of assimilation of new information if it contradicts prior knowledge. In Study 2 we further investigated the obtained effect, showing that not only questions but also other kinds of incomplete information are subject to the same dependency. Our results support the expectation that, in face of incomplete information, motivation toward closure may be fulfilled efficiently by focusing on expectancy-inconsistent pieces of data. We discuss the obtained effect in the context of previous assumptions that high need for closure results in a simple processing style, advocating a more complex approach based on the character of the provided information.
Nonlinearities in the U.S. corn-ethanol-oil-gasoline price system: T. Serra et al. / Agricultural Economics xx (2010) 1-11

We use a smooth transition vector error correction model to assess price relationships within the U.S. ethanol industry. Monthly ethanol, corn, oil, and gasoline prices from 1990 to 2008 are used in the analysis. Results indicate the existence of long-run relationships among the prices analyzed. Strong links between energy and food prices are identified.
Rewarding honest taxpayers

1. Lars P. Feld, Philipps-University of Marburg, Public Finance Group, Am Plan 2, D-35037 Mar­ burg (Lahn), Germany; Feld@wiwi.uni-marburg.de; Bruno S. Frey, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich. Bluemlisalpstrasse 10, CH-8006 Zürich, Switzer­ land, e-mail: bsfrey@iew.unizh. ch; Benno Torgler, The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, Leitner Program in International & Comparative Political Economy, New Haven, CT 06520 (USA), e-mail: benno.torgler@yale.edu. All three authors are also associated with CREMA Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts, Switzerland. The authors have benefited from the comments of participants of the Conference on 'Managing and maintaining compliance', Leiden, 9-11 April 2006 (especially Henk Elffers, Erich Kirchler and Willy Rovers).
Formation of electrical synapses between isolated, cultured Helisoma neurons requires mutual neurite elongation

Our previous experiments have suggested the hypothesis that conjoint active neuronal outgrowth may be necessary for formation of new electrical synapses between identified neurons of adult Helisoma buccal ganglia. This growth dependence hypothesis now has been tested by examining the responses of individual pairs of neurons in isolation from the influences of the ganglionic environment. Isolated cell culture of identified neurons (neuron 5) showed that: (i) neurons growing in cell culture undergo a predictable sequence of morphological changes culminating in a stable morphological state (i.e., growth stops); (ii) contact between actively growing neurons in cell culture results in the formation of electrical connections, just as in ganglia; and (iii) when an actively growing neuron encounters a neuron that is morphologically stable, electrical connections do not form or are very weak, even though strong connections are made between pairs of actively growing neurons in the same culture. These results establish that processes closely associated with growth are required for formation of electrical synapses between these neurons.
Sustainability: Human, Social, Economic and Environmental

The four main types of sustainability are human, social, economic and environmental. These are defined and contrasted in Tables 1–4. It is important to specify which type of sustainability one is dealing with as they are all so different and should not be fused together, although some overlap to a certain extent. Specialists in each field best deal with these four types of sustainability. For example, social scientists have a lot to say about social sustainability; economists deal with economic sustainability and biophysical specialists deal with environmental sustainability.
Time allocation, gender and norms: evidence from post-genocide Rwanda

This paper investigates the determinants of time allocation in the post-war setting of a developing country. A decade after the 1994 genocide Rwanda still bears the demographic impact of the war, which killed many more men than women and altered the ideal division of labor across gender. The paper contributes to prior research by providing a careful and nuanced approach to gender and norms on social roles. Results indicate that, first, the division of tasks among household members is driven by very different factors in male and widow-headed households and second, household hierarchy and gender are interrelated.
Le rôle des régions frontales en mémoire épisodique lors de l'encodage et de la récupération de matériel verbal et non-verbal : études à l'aide de stimulations magnétiques transcrâniennes

Data from neuroimaging studies show right and left prefrontal cortex (PFC) activations during episodic encoding and retrieval. However, because functional neuroimaging findings rely on metabolic/hemodynamic indices, even if activations suggest that the activated areas are involved in a cognitive task; this does not necessarily mean that the activated regions are functionally crucial to episodic memory. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a brain stimulation technique that can transiently and safely interfere with ongoing neuronal activity in a targeted region. Depending on the stimulation parameters, it is possible to interfere with, or facilitate, neuronal activity. The first chapter of this thesis reviews current and past literature about on the prefrontal regions and its relation to episodic memory and different technique. This review lays the ground for the main objective (detailed in Chapter 2): to study the critical role of the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) in episodic encoding and retrieval processes, according to the nature of the material (verbal or non-verbal). Two original empirical investigations are included in this thesis. The first article (Chapter 3) highlights how the left and right DLPFC are essential for the encoding and retrieval of verbal and non-verbal information. The second article (Chapter 4) uses the potential facilitation effect of TMS for augmenting memory efficiency in young and healthy adults and actually showed that it is possible to improve the efficiency in episodic memory with TMS. These studies contribute to a better understanding of the role of the DLPFCs in episodic memory and promote TMS as a safe and efficient way to study human memory. Results of both studies are discussed in Chapter 5 in the light of data from other approaches.
A Study of Distance of Manipulation on the Responsive Workbench

Virtual environments such as the Responsive Workbench allow the close manipulation of virtual objects. We define close manipulation as either direct manipulation or manipulation at a relatively small distance. This paper reports on two studies on close manipulation using the Responsive Workbench. The first study investigates the influence of manipulation distance on performance in a 3D location task. The results indicate that direct manipulation and 20 cm distance manipulation are more efficient than for 40 and 55 cm distances. The second study investigates the effect of two factors: the presence or absence of a visual clue, and the scale value, which is a variation of the scale (1 or 1.5) used to map the user's movements to the pointer. Task performance is significantly lower when using the visual clue, and when using the 1.5 scale.
Feature-based survey of model transformation approaches

Model transformations are touted to play a key role in Model Driven DevelopmentTM. Although well-established standards for creating metamodels such as the Meta-Object Facility exist, there is currently no mature foundation for specifying transformations among models. We propose a framework for the classification of several existing and proposed model transformation approaches. The classification framework is given as a feature model that makes explicit the different design choices for model transformations. Based on our analysis of model transformation approaches, we propose a few major categories in which most approaches fit.
Cannabis Use and Psychosis: A Review of Clinical and Epidemiological Evidence ∗

Objective: This paper evaluates evidence for two hypotheses about the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis: (i) that heavy cannabis use causes a ‘cannabis psychosis’, i.e. a psychotic disorder that would not have occurred in the absence of cannabis use and which can be recognised by its pattern of symptoms and their relationship to cannabis use; and (ii) that cannabis use may precipitate schizophrenia, or exacerbate its symptoms. Method: Literature relevant to drug use and schizophrenia is reviewed. Results: There is limited clinical evidence for the first hypothesis. If ‘cannabis psychoses’ exist, they seem to be rare, because they require very high doses of tetrahydrocannabinol, the prolonged use of highly potent forms of cannabis, or a preexisting (but as yet unspecified) vulnerability, or both. There is more support for the second hypothesis in that a large prospective study has shown a linear relationship between the frequency with which cannabis had been used by age 18 and the risk over the subsequent 15 years of receiving a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Conclusions: It is still unclear whether this means that cannabis use precipitates schizophrenia, whether cannabis use is a form of ‘self-medication’, or whether the association is due to the use of other drugs, such as amphetamines, which heavy cannabis users are more likely to use. There is better clinical and epidemiological evidence that cannabis use can exacerbate the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Vicarious Calibration of an Ocean Salinity Radiometer from Low Earth Orbit

Abstract Statistical properties of the brightness temperature (TB) measured by a low-earth-orbiting radiometer operating at 1.4 GHz are considered as a means of calibrating and validating the sensor. Mapping of ocean salinity by such an instrument requires that its calibration be extremely stable over time. Whether certain statistical properties of the measurements are stationary (time invariant) enough to be of value as benchmarks to which the calibration can be referenced is considered. The global minimum, maximum, and average TB are considered, together with a vicarious cold TB statistic that makes use of a sharp lower bound on naturally occurring values for TB. Examination of simulated global distributions of the TB measurements suggests several things about the stationarity (or lack thereof) of the statistics in question. Global minima can vary widely due to instrument noise and are not a reliable calibration reference. Global maxima are strongly influenced by a number of environmental factors as wel.
Drosophila Activin-β and the Activin-like product Dawdle function redundantly to regulate proliferation in the larval brain

The Drosophila Activin-like ligands Activin-β and Dawdle control several aspects of neuronal morphogenesis, including mushroom body remodeling, dorsal neuron morphogenesis and motoneuron axon guidance. Here we show that the same two ligands act redundantly through the Activin receptor Babo and its transcriptional mediator Smad2 (Smox), to regulate neuroblast numbers and proliferation rates in the developing larval brain. Blocking this pathway results in the development of larvae with small brains and aberrant photoreceptor axon targeting, and restoring babo function in neuroblasts rescued these mutant phenotypes. These results suggest that the Activin signaling pathway is required for producing the proper number of neurons to enable normal connection of incoming photoreceptor axons to their targets. Furthermore, as the Activin pathway plays a key role in regulating propagation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells, our observation that it also regulates neuroblast numbers and proliferation in Drosophila suggests that involvement of Activins in controlling stem cell propagation may be a common regulatory feature of this family of TGF-β-type ligands.
Do Workgroup Faultlines Help or Hurt? A Moderated Model of Faultlines, Team Identification, and Group Performance

In this study we examine a moderated model of group faultlines, team identification, and group performance outcomes. We extend research on faultlines by showing how different faultline bases (social category and information-based faultlines) may have differential effects on the performance of groups. In addition to faultline strength (the extent of demographic alignment across members within a group), we examine the distance between faultline-based subgroups (e.g., two members of age 20 are closer in age to two members of an opposing subgroup of age 25 than of two members of age 50). We test our model using an archival field methodology and multiple-source data (qualitative and quantitative) from 76 workgroups in a Fortune 500 information-processing company. Our results revealed that groups with social category faultlines had low team discretionary awards. Faultline distance further exacerbated the negative effects of strength in groups with social category faultlines and produced similarly negative effects in groups with information-based faultlines. Team identification served as a moderator enhancing performance of groups with information-based faultlines.