Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NuSTAR REVEALS AN INTRINSICALLY X-RAY WEAK BROAD ABSORPTION LINE QUASAR IN THE ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXY MARKARIAN 231

We present high-energy (3–30 keV) NuSTAR observations of the nearest quasar, the ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) Markarian 231 (Mrk 231), supplemented with new and simultaneous low-energy (0.5–8 keV) data from Chandra. The source was detected, though at much fainter levels than previously reported, likely due to contamination in the large apertures of previous non-focusing hard X-ray telescopes. The full band (0.5–30 keV) X-ray spectrum suggests the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in Mrk 231 is absorbed by a patchy and Compton-thin ( cm−2) column. The intrinsic X-ray luminosity (L0.5 − 30 keV ∼ 1.0 × 1043 erg s−1) is extremely weak relative to the bolometric luminosity where the 2–10 keV to bolometric luminosity ratio is ∼0.03% compared to the typical values of 2%–15%. Additionally, Mrk 231 has a low X-ray-to-optical power law slope (αOX ∼ −1.7). It is a local example of a low-ionization broad absorption line quasar that is intrinsically X-ray weak. The weak ionizing continuum may explain the lack of mid-infrared [O iv], [Ne v], and [Ne vi] fine-structure emission lines which are present in sources with otherwise similar AGN properties. We argue that the intrinsic X-ray weakness may be a result of the super-Eddington accretion occurring in the nucleus of this ULIRG, and may also be naturally related to the powerful wind event seen in Mrk 231, a merger remnant escaping from its dusty cocoon.
Belief Inconsistency in Conspiracy Theorists

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between conspiratorial beliefs and doublethink. Particularly, it assessed whether conspiratorial ideation (beliefs and theories) was associated with proneness to belief incoherency (doublethink). In total, 257 adults completed online survey measures. Conspiratorial ideation was positively associated with belief incoherency. Study implications and limitations are considered.
Contextos de instrucción y su efecto en la comprensión auditiva y los juicios gramaticales: ¿Son comparables cinco semanas en el extranjero a un semestre en casa?

El presente estudio exploratorio analiza el impacto de dos modalidades de instrucción—-inmersión (cinco semanas en España) y no-inmersión (un semestre en Estados Unidos) en relación a las variables audición y gramática. Participaron 39 estudiantes de español (21 control y 18 experimental) que hicieron una prueba de comprensión auditiva y otra de juicios gramaticales al principio y al final del estudio. El análisis estadístico muestra que cinco semanas intensivas de inmersión produjeron beneficios lingüísticos equivalentes, en términos de adquisición gramatical y comprensión auditiva, a un semestre en contexto de no inmersión, y que el reconocimiento de estructuras se relaciona fuertemente con el nivel de comprensión auditiva del alumno. El estudio apunta a los beneficios de los programas de verano en el extranjero al acelerar el proceso de adquisición, la posibilidad de adquirir incidentalmente gramática potenciando la audición y la importancia de la comprensión auditiva en la adquisición de lenguas.
When sparks get old

Sparks are transient local elevations of Ca ion concentration observed in different types of muscle cells. Such local Ca2+ signals can be provoked in skeletal muscle cells by altering the osmotic pressure of the extracellular solution. In this issue, Weisleder et al. (see p. 639) demonstrate that the Ca2+ response to osmotic stress is substantially altered in aged muscle. The study presents evidence for a link between this finding and a reduced expression of mitsugumin 29 (MG29), a small membrane protein of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR).
Understanding the Mechanism of Panel Attrition

Title of dissertation: UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM OF PANEL ATTRITION Michael Lemay Doctor of Philosophy, 2009 Dissertation directed by: Professor Frauke Kreuter Joint Program in Survey Methodology Nonresponse is of particular concern in longitudinal surveys (panels) for several reasons. Cumulative nonresponse over several waves can substantially reduce the proportion of the original sample that remains in the panel. Reduced sample size increases the variance of the estimates and reduces the possibility for subgroup analysis. Also, the higher the attrition, the greater the concern that error (bias) will arise in the survey estimates. The fundamental purpose of most panel surveys is to allow analysts to estimate dynamic behavior. However, current research on attrition in panel surveys focuses on the characteristics of respondents at wave 1 to explain attrition in later waves, essentially ignoring the role of life events as determinants of panel attrition. If the dynamic behaviors that panel surveys are designed to examine are also prompting attrition, estimates of those behaviors and correlates of those behaviors may be biased. Also, current research on panel attrition generally does not differentiate between attrition through non-contacts and attrition through refusals. As these two source of nonresponse have been shown to have different determinants, they can also be expected to have different impacts on data quality. The goal of this research is to examine these issues. Data for this research comes from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID) conducted by the University of Michigan. The PSID is an ongoing longitudinal survey that began in 1968 and with a focus on the core topics of income, employment, and health. UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM OF PANEL ATTRITION
An Authentication System Based on Palmprint

In this paper, palmprint based authentication is presented. The palmprint image is acquired using an acquisition system developed at IIT Delhi. The Region of interest (ROI) is extracted from the palmprint image by finding a tangent of curves between fingers. The perpendicular bisector of this tangent divides the rectangular area enclosing the palmprint into two equal parts. The features extracted from the ROIs are used for matching. Two approaches are suggested for the feature extraction. In the first approach the ROI is divided into a suitable number of non-overlapping windows from which fuzzy features are extracted. In the second approach multi-scale wavelet decomposition is applied on the ROI and the detail images are combined to yield a superimposed image which is partitioned into non-overlapping windows. From these windows energy feature is extracted. The two sets features are used to determine the genuine and impostor scores. The results on 125 users show 99.2% with fuzzy feature and 94.4% with wavelet based feature.
Further Studies on the Effect of SiNx Refractive Index and Emitter Sheet Resistance on Potential-Induced Degradation

We present the impacts of silicon nitride (SiN<italic><sub>x</sub></italic>) antireflection coating refractive index and emitter sheet resistance on potential-induced degradation of the shunting type (PID-s). Previously, it has been shown that the cell becomes more PID-s-susceptible as the refractive index decreases or the emitter sheet resistance increases. To verify the effect of refractive index on PID-s, we fabricated cells with varying SiN<italic><sub>x</sub> </italic> refractive index (1.87, 1.94, 2.05) on typical p-type base solar cells with ∼60 Ω/sq emitters. However, none of these cells showed output power degradation, regardless of the refractive index. Further investigation of the emitter showed that the PID-s was suppressed at ∼60 Ω/sq due to the extremely high surface phosphorus concentration (6 × 10<sup>21</sup> cm<sup>−3</sup>), as measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Furthermore, PID-s was observed on cells possessing a high emitter sheet resistance (∼80 Ω/sq). The emitter surface phosphorus concentration plays an important role in determining PID-s susceptibility.
Three‐Dimensional Basin and Fault Structure From a Detailed Seismic Velocity Model of Coachella Valley, Southern California

The Coachella Valley in the northern Salton Trough is known to produce destructive earthquakes, making it a high seismic hazard area. Knowledge of the seismic velocity structure and geometry of the sedimentary basins and fault zones is required to improve earthquake hazard estimates in this region. We simultaneously inverted first P wave travel times from the Southern California Seismic Network (39,998 local earthquakes) and explosions (251 land/sea shots) from the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project to obtain a 3‐D seismic velocity model. Earthquakes with focal depths ≤10 km were selected to focus on the upper crustal structure. Strong lateral velocity contrasts in the top ~3 km correlate well with the surface geology, including the low‐velocity (<5 km/s) sedimentary basin and the high‐velocity crystalline basement rocks outside the valley. Sediment thickness is ~4 km in the southeastern valley near the Salton Sea and decreases to <2 km at the northwestern end of the valley. Eastward thickening of sediments toward the San Andreas fault within the valley defines Coachella Valley basin asymmetry. In the Peninsular Ranges, zones of relatively high seismic velocities (~6.4 km/s) between 2‐ and 4‐km depth may be related to Late Cretaceous mylonite rocks or older inherited basement structures. Other high‐velocity domains exist in the model down to 9‐km depth and help define crustal heterogeneity. We identify a potential fault zone in Lost Horse Valley unassociated with mapped faults in Southern California from the combined interpretation of surface geology, seismicity, and lateral velocity changes in the model.
[Identification and cloning of vip3A genes from isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis and their bioactivity analysis].

OBJECTIVE To survey the distribution of vip3A-type genes from isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis in China and to clone novel vip3A genes encoding Vip3A proteins with high insecticidal activity against Lepidopteran insect larvae. METHODS We applied PCR-RFLP method to identify vip3A-type genes from 171 isolates and cloned novel vip3Aa genes. RESULTS The vip3A-type genes appeared in 63 of 117 B. thuringiensis isolates. We cloned 2 novel vip3Aa genes from isolates of TF9 and Bt16. Then, we subcloned vip3Aa26 and vip3Aa27 into vector pQE30 and transformed into Escherichi coli M15, respectively. The results of SDS-PAGE and Western blot analyses showed that an 88 kDa peptide was expressed in E. coli M15 with 1 mmol/L of IPTG induction at 37 degrees C, respectively. The International Nomenclature Committee of Bt nominated these two genes as the novel vip genes of vip3Aa26 and vip3Aa27, respectively. The bioassay results indicated that the Vip3Aa27 proteins were highly toxic to Trichoplusia ni, Spodoptera exigua and Helicoverpa armigera larvae and the LC50 values were 0.1251 microg/mL, 0.238 microg/mL and 9.238 microg/mL, respectively. However, the Vip3Aa26 protein only possessed toxicity to T. ni larvae. CONCLUSIONS The novel Vip3Aa27 protein had higher activity to Lepidopteran insect larvae compared with that for Vip3Aa26 protein. The results demonstrated that some amino acid changes had remarkable effect on the insecticidal activity.
Hinge-Region O-Glycosylation of Human Immunoglobulin G3 (IgG3)*

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is one of the most abundant proteins present in human serum and a fundamental component of the immune system. IgG3 represents ∼8% of the total amount of IgG in human serum and stands out from the other IgG subclasses because of its elongated hinge region and enhanced effector functions. This study reports partial O-glycosylation of the IgG3 hinge region, observed with nanoLC-ESI-IT-MS(/MS) analysis after proteolytic digestion. The repeat regions within the IgG3 hinge were found to be in part O-glycosylated at the threonine in the triple repeat motif. Non-, mono- and disialylated core 1-type O-glycans were detected in various IgG3 samples, both poly- and monoclonal. NanoLC-ESI-IT-MS/MS with electron transfer dissociation fragmentation and CE-MS/MS with CID fragmentation were used to determine the site of IgG3 O-glycosylation. The O-glycosylation site was further confirmed by the recombinant production of mutant IgG3 in which potential O-glycosylation sites had been knocked out. For IgG3 samples from six donors we found similar O-glycan structures and site occupancies, whereas for the same samples the conserved N-glycosylation of the Fc CH2 domain showed considerable interindividual variation. The occupancy of each of the three O-glycosylation sites was found to be ∼10% in six serum-derived IgG3 samples and ∼13% in two monoclonal IgG3 allotypes.
Induced Seismicity Driven by Fluid Diffusion Revealed by a Near‐Field Hydraulic Stimulation Monitoring Array in the Montney Basin, British Columbia

This study presents observations using new data from a deployment of eight broadband seismometers surrounding a horizontal well pad at distances of ~1–3 km for the period before, during, and after a hydraulic fracturing treatment in the Montney Basin, British Columbia, Canada. We use a multistation‐matched filter detection and double‐difference earthquake relocation to develop a catalog of 350 events associated with hydraulic fracturing stimulation, with magnitudes ranging from −2.8 to 1.8 and estimated catalog completeness of approximately −0.2. The seismicity distribution suggests a statistically significant association with injection, and event migration can be described by a hydraulic diffusivity of ~0.2 m2/s. A comparison between daily seismicity rate and analytical stress evolution inferred from daily injection volumes implies that pore pressure diffusion largely controls earthquake nucleation at distances less than 1 km, whereas poroelastic stress transfer likely dominates at intermediate distances of ~1–4 km at time scales shorter than diffusion. Both mechanisms likely have a limited effect on stress perturbation at distances over 5 km.
The Importance of Challenge for the Enjoyment of Intrinsically Motivated, Goal-Directed Activities

Although early interview-based analyses of the enjoyment of intrinsically motivated, goal-directed activities (e.g., chess, rock climbing, art making) suggested the importance of relatively difficult, “optimal” challenges, subsequent findings derived from a wider range of activities have not provided consistent support for this proposition. Two studies were conducted to clarify the relation between challenge and enjoyment. Study 1 focused on a single activity—Internet chess. The importance of challenge was evident at the subjective level (perceived challenge strongly predicted enjoyment) as well as the objective level (games against superior opponents were more enjoyable than games against inferior opponents, and close games were more enjoyable than blowouts). In Study 2, the experience sampling method was used to examine the enjoyment of challenge across a wide range of everyday activities. Activity motivation (intrinsically motivated, non-intrinsically motivated) and activity type (goal directed, non-goal directed) moderated the relation. Implications for theories of intrinsic motivation are discussed.
The contribution of undergraduate palliative care education: does it influence the clinical patient's care?

Purpose of reviewThe aim of this 2-year systematic review is to understand how learner assessment and curriculum evaluation of education in palliative care is being undertaken and to examine whether current undergraduate education influences the clinical patient's care. Recent findingsAlmost half of the 30 studies reviewed used a qualitative approach to evaluate learning experiences. Only three of them were controlled studies and a further one was a cohort study.When students openly express themselves, they agree that there is ‘something’ deep as regards the core or the essence of medical practice or nursing. They feel that they become better professionals and better prepared for the patients, not only in terms of end of life care, but also as regards care, irrespective of the phase of the disease.The inclusion of palliative care in undergraduate education is a way of providing knowledge, skill, and competences about palliative care (especially communication) and also improving attitudes toward caring in advanced disease and at the end of life. Different methods of experiential learning, even brief experiences, which bring students into close contact with palliative care clinical cases or patients, are providing better results. SummaryFrom research studies, there is only indirect evidence that palliative care training at university leads to better clinical care of patients. In the future, long-term cohort or controlled studies might answer that question.
Cross-cultural differences in occupational stress among British and German managers

Abstract A total of 255 managers (133 German and 123 British), predominantly from middle and upper management level working in diverse companies throughout both countries, responded to a survey assessing occupational stress and job satisfaction (Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI)) and leisure preferences (Leisure Interest Inventory (FIF)). A principal-components analysis of the correlation matrix between the 25 OSI subscales produced a 6–7 factor solution similar to that found for the British sample. The internal consistencies of the scales were satisfactory: they were lowest for ‘type A’ and ‘coping’, and highest for ‘job-related stress’ and ‘job satisfaction’. National differences were observed on several of the OSI subscales. German managers expressed higher sources of job-related pressure, particularly in terms of ‘home/work interface’, ‘organizational structure and climate’ and ‘career and achievement’, as well as lower job satisfaction on ‘the job itself and ‘organizational processes’. Furthermore,.
Moral Reasoning in Groups: Leaders Make a Difference

This article reviews a program of research on how groups reason about moral dilemmas, and presents data from two studies. In the first study, discussions of 21 four-member groups were tape recorded, coded, and analyzed to identify the factors that affected group performance. The data indicated that a group's moral reasoning level (as measured by Rest's Defining Issues Test) seemed to depend on whether more principled reasoning members took a task leadership role. The second study attempted to manipulate the leadership variable by assigning the task leadership role to individuals who reasoned at more vs. less principled levels. Results indicated that the reasoning level of the assigned leader impacted group performance while individual performance overall on a subsequent moral reasoning task benefitted from the group experience. The extent of the individual change was influenced by subjects' initial reasoning level. Implications for management are discussed.
No indication for performing sentinel node biopsy in melanoma patients with a Breslow thickness of less than 0.9 mm

In thin melanomas, the involvement of regional nodes is very uncommon. Recent sentinel node (SN) studies have confirmed the absence of positive regional lymph nodes in melanomas < 0.76 mm and a 5% positivity in melanomas between 1.0 and 1.99 mm. The chance of regional lymph node involvement − and therefore whether it is relevant to perform the SN procedure − seems to depend on the Breslow thickness of the primary tumour. However, a Breslow thickness cut-off point has not yet been established. We evaluated a melanoma population that had undergone an SN procedure to determine this point, so that the procedure can be restricted to a smaller group of patients in future. In a total of 348 patients with proven American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stages I or II cutaneous melanoma with a Breslow thickness ⩾0.5 mm the triple technique was used, consisting of preoperative visualization of the lymph channels from the initial site of the melanoma towards the SN by (dynamic) lymphoscintigraphy, intraoperative visualization of those particular lymph channels and nodes with blue dye, and a gamma probe to measure accumulated radioactivity in radiolabelled lymph nodes. In melanomas thinner than 0.90 mm, no positive SN was found (95% confidence interval 0–5%). This group consisted of 75 patients (22%), with a median follow-up of 31 months. Our data suggest that this procedure need no longer be indicated for almost a quarter of the patient population, because the cut-off point for nodal involvement appears to be a Breslow thickness of 0.90 mm.
Characterising expert representations during real-time action: A Skill Theory application to soccer

In various domains, experts are found to possess elaborate domain-specific representations they developed over years. In this study, we provide the first systematic attempt to characterise the short-term representations among individuals with different expertise levels. We showed videos of soccer game plays to expert, near-expert and non-expert soccer players and asked them to describe the actions taking place. Verbalisations were coded based on Fischer's Skill Theory. Monte Carlo permutation tests revealed that players with higher expertise constructed representations of higher complexity (regardless of their specific content). Taking the content of the representations into account, we found that higher expertise soccer players relatively more often included high complexity levels of actions not including the ball and (moving) players on the field. These findings improve our understanding of perceptual-cognitive expertise by demonstrating how actors with different levels of expertise integrate the information they perceive to construct their representations in real time.
Commutability of the First World Health Organization International Standard for Human Cytomegalovirus

ABSTRACT Quantitative detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA has become a standard part of care for many groups of immunocompromised patients; recent development of the first WHO international standard for human CMV DNA has raised hopes of reducing interlaboratory variability of results. Commutability of reference material has been shown to be necessary if such material is to reduce variability among laboratories. Here we evaluated the commutability of the WHO standard using 10 different real-time quantitative CMV PCR assays run by eight different laboratories. Test panels, including aliquots of 50 patient samples (40 positive samples and 10 negative samples) and lyophilized CMV standard, were run, with each testing center using its own quantitative calibrators, reagents, and nucleic acid extraction methods. Commutability was assessed both on a pairwise basis and over the entire group of assays, using linear regression and correspondence analyses. Commutability of the WHO material differed among the tests that were evaluated, and these differences appeared to vary depending on the method of statistical analysis used and the cohort of assays included in the analysis. Depending on the methodology used, the WHO material showed poor or absent commutability with up to 50% of assays. Determination of commutability may require a multifaceted approach; the lack of commutability seen when using the WHO standard with several of the assays here suggests that further work is needed to bring us toward true consensus.
DeepSkeleton: Skeleton Map for 3D Human Pose Regression

Despite recent success on 2D human pose estimation, 3D human pose estimation still remains an open problem. A key challenge is the ill-posed depth ambiguity nature. This paper presents a novel intermediate feature representation named skeleton map for regression. It distills structural context from irrelavant properties of RGB image e.g. illumination and texture. It is simple, clean and can be easily generated via deconvolution network. For the first time, we show that training regression network from skeleton map alone is capable of meeting the performance of state-of-theart 3D human pose estimation works. We further exploit the power of multiple 3D hypothesis generation to obtain reasonbale 3D pose in consistent with 2D pose detection. The effectiveness of our approach is validated on challenging in-the-wild dataset MPII and indoor dataset Human3.6M.