Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two-qubit mixed states more entangled than pure states: Comparison of the relative entropy of entanglement for a given nonlocality

Amplitude damping changes entangled pure states into usually less-entangled mixed states. We show, however, that even local amplitude damping of one or two qubits can result in mixed states more entangled than pure states if one compares the relative entropy of entanglement (REE) for a given degree of the Bell--Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality violation (referred to as nonlocality). By applying Monte Carlo simulations, we find the maximally entangled mixed states and show that they are likely to be optimal by checking the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions, which generalize the method of Lagrange multipliers for this nonlinear optimization problem. We show that the REE for mixed states can exceed that of pure states if the nonlocality is in the range (0,0.82) and the maximal difference between these REEs is 0.4. A former comparison [Phys. Rev. A 78, 052308 (2008)] of the REE for a given negativity showed analogous property but the corresponding maximal difference in the REEs is one order smaller (i.e., 0.039) and the negativity range is (0,0.53) only. For appropriate comparison, we normalized the nonlocality measure to be equal to the standard entanglement measures, including the negativity, for arbitrary two-qubit pure states. We also analyze the influence of the phase-damping channel on the entanglement of the initially pure states. We show that the minimum of the REE for a given nonlocality can be achieved by this channel, contrary to the amplitude-damping channel.
Moiré excitons: From programmable quantum emitter arrays to spin-orbit–coupled artificial lattices

Moiré pattern realizes programmable array of excitonic quantum emitters and exciton lattice with strong spin-orbit coupling. Highly uniform and ordered nanodot arrays are crucial for high-performance quantum optoelectronics, including new semiconductor lasers and single-photon emitters, and for synthesizing artificial lattices of interacting quasiparticles toward quantum information processing and simulation of many-body physics. Van der Waals heterostructures of two-dimensional semiconductors are naturally endowed with an ordered nanoscale landscape, that is, the moiré pattern that laterally modulates electronic and topographic structures. We find that these moiré effects realize superstructures of nanodot confinements for long-lived interlayer excitons, which can be either electrically or strain tuned from perfect arrays of quantum emitters to excitonic superlattices with giant spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Besides the wide-range tuning of emission wavelength, the electric field can also invert the spin optical selection rule of the emitter arrays. This unprecedented control arises from the gauge structure imprinted on exciton wave functions by the moiré, which underlies the SOC when hopping couples nanodots into superlattices. We show that the moiré hosts complex hopping honeycomb superlattices, where exciton bands feature a Dirac node and two Weyl nodes, connected by spin-momentum–locked topological edge modes.
Analysis of K+ accumulation reveals privileged extracellular region in the vicinity of glial cells in situ

Astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in rat and mouse spinal cord slices, characterized by passive membrane currents during de‐ and hyperpolarizing stimulation pulses, express a high resting K+ conductance. In contrast to the case for astrocytes, a depolarizing prepulse in oligodendrocytes produces a significant shift of reversal potential (Vrev) to positive values, arising from the larger accumulation of K+ in the vicinity of the oligodendrocyte membrane. As a result, oligodendrocytes express large tail currents (Itail) after a depolarizing prepulse due to the shift of K+ into the cell. In the present study, we used a mathematical model to calculate the volume of the extracellular space (ECS) in the vicinity of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes (ESVv), defined as the volume available for K+ accumulation during membrane depolarization. A mathematical analysis of membrane currents revealed no differences between glial cells from mouse (n = 59) or rat (n = 60) spinal cord slices. We found that the Vrev of a cell after a depolarizing pulse increases with increasing Itail, expressed as the ratio of the integral inward current (Qin) after the depolarizing pulse to the total integral outward current (Qout) during the pulse. In astrocytes with small Itail and Vrev ranging from −50 to −70 mV, the Qin was only 3–19% of Qout, whereas, in oligodendrocytes with large Itail and Vrev between −20 and 0 mV, Qin/Qout was 30–75%. On the other hand, ESVv decreased with increasing values of Vrev. In astrocytes, ESVv ranged from 2 to 50 μm3, and, in oligodendrocytes, it ranged from 0.1 to 2.0 μm3. Cell swelling evoked by the application of hypotonic solution shifted Vrev to more positive values by 17.2 ± 1.8 mV and was accompanied by a decrease in ESVv of 3.6 ± 1.3 μm3. Our mathematical analysis reveals a 10–100 times smaller region of the extracellular space available for K+ accumulation during cell depolarization in the vicinity of oligodendrocytes than in the vicinity of astrocytes. The presence of such privileged regions around cells in the CNS may affect the accumulation and diffusion of other neuroactive substances and alter communication between cells in the CNS. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Team Factors and Failure Processing Efficiency: An Exploratory Study of Closed and Open Source Software Development

Researchers in the field of software engineering economics have associated team factors, such as team size and team experience, with productivity and quality. Since distributed and open source development have gained significance in the past few years, further empirical investigation is needed. Our study contributes to the empirical body of knowledge by addressing this development. In particular, we investigate the association between team factors and failure processing efficiency for closed source software releases of a large commercial software vendor and for open source software projects registered with SourceForge.net. We find significant links between team experience and the failure processing efficiency. However, our data does not show any evidence for adverse effects of distributed development. Our results further suggest that service level agreements and process governance are good tools to guarantee satisfactory processing times.
A Quantitative Approach to Investigating Spanish HL Speakers' Characteristics and Motivation: A Preliminary Study

The present preliminary study empirically investigated Spanish heritage language (HL) speakers in Spanish for native speakers (SNS) college courses. It focused on their attitudes and motivation to improve their HL and on their varying linguistic competences in that language. A well-established second language acquisition (SLA) motivational model was used as a theoretical framework so that these affective variables could be assessed and discussed in this context. In addition, differences in Spanish competence within the sample were explored in relation to certain socioeducational factors. Three research questions centered on participants' motivational and attitudinal variables whereas the fourth research question investigated differences in Spanish language performance. Results of correlation, regression, and independent t test analyses showed: first, a significant linear relationship between integrativeness, which is defined as a general positive attitude toward the people who speak the language, and motivation to improve Spanish; second, integrativeness was shown to be a significant predictor of motivation; finally, a significant difference in performance on the Spanish test was found for use of Spanish at home and place of schooling. Results from this study and their important theoretical and pedagogical implications for the field of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States are discussed. Furthermore, a future research agenda is provided.
Personality and job satisfaction: their role in work-related psychological well-being

This study investigated the role of work related psychological well-being in the relationship between personality and job satisfaction. Participants were 207 (females = 58.9%, blacks = 20.3%, white = 64.3%, Indian = 7.7% and Coloured = 6.8%) employees of various South African organisations. The participants completed the Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-being, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Basic Traits Inventory. The data were analysed by means of moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Results show self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and purpose in life fully explain extraversion and job satisfaction, and partly explain conscientiousness and job satisfaction. Self-acceptance, environmental mastery and purpose in life also moderated the relationship between neuroticism and job satisfaction. Findings lead to the conclusion that aspects of work related psychological well-being are influenced by personality traits and job satisfaction, growth and development.
The Interferon Regulatory Factor Family in Host Defense: Mechanism of Action*

Transcription factors of the interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family commands the entire type I interferon (IFN) system from induction of IFNs to diverse IFN responses, thereby providing a principal basis for host resistance against pathogens. However, the family has various additional roles. Regulating the development of the immune system, IRFs shape the establishment and execution of innate and adaptive immunity. IRFs also regulate growth and differentiation of many cell types, thus playing a role in leukemia and other cancers. In addition, evidence indicates that IRFs confer antiviral mechanisms not directly ascribed to the IFN system. This review deals with the diverse roles of IRFs in host defense and discusses the molecular mechanisms by which they regulate target gene transcription.
Journal of Financial and Strategic Decisions Volume 11 Number 2 Fall 1998 51 THE INFORMATION CONTENT OF THE ADOPTION OF CLASSIFIED BOARD PROVISIONS

The purpose of this study is to analyze the information content of a frequently used anti-takeover amendment, the classified board provision. If information regarding the intrinsic value of the firm is imbedded in this decision, the information should be reflected by the existence of abnormal returns. If managers are signaling private information, the change in available information should be reflected by changes in the relationship between bid and ask prices. Managers who combine classified boards and insider trading provide a unique opportunity to study signaling, financial decisions, and anti-takeover defenses. Prior studies have found that managers propose anti-takeover strategies because they have private information that the firm is undervalued, and thus is a potential takeover target. Researchers indicated that these actions benefit the shareholder, while others assert that anti-takeover provisions lead to entrenched management and lower shareholder wealth. We document empirically that the announcement of board classification significantly depresses share prices following the event day during the event interval (days +2, +45) and is a signal of potential takeover activity. We also find that dealer spread reacts to the adoption of classified boards dependent upon insider trading activity. The difference in reaction is due to changes in the level of adverse information cost.
Primary aldosteronism among newly diagnosed and untreated hypertensive patients in a Swedish primary care area

Abstract Objective. To evaluate the prevalence of primary aldosteronism (PA) in newly diagnosed and untreated hypertensive patients in primary care using the aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR), and to assess clinical and biochemical characteristics in patients with high and normal ARR. Design. Patient survey study. Setting and subjects. A total of 200 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed and untreated hypertension from six primary health care centres in Sweden were included. Main outcome measures. ARR was calculated from serum aldosterone and plasma renin concentrations. The cut-off level for ARR was 65. Patients with an increased ARR were considered for confirmatory testing with the fludrocortisone suppression test (FST), followed by adrenal computed tomographic radiology (CT) and adrenal venous sampling (AVS). Results. Of 200 patients, 36 patients had an ARR > 65. Of these 36 patients, 11 patients had an incomplete aldosterone inhibition during FST. Three patients were diagnosed with an aldosterone producing adenoma (APA) and eight with bilateral adrenal hyperplasia (BHA). Except for moderately lower level of P-K in patients with an ARR > 65 and in patients with PA, there were no biochemical or clinical differences found among hypertensive patients with PA compared with patients without PA. Conclusion. Eleven of 200 evaluated patients (5.5%) were considered to have PA. The diagnosis of PA should therefore be considered in newly diagnosed hypertensive subjects and screening for the diagnosis is warranted.
Nerve growth factor transcriptional control of c-fos promoter transfected in cultured spinal sensory neurons

High efficiency gene transfer (greater than 90%) in chicken dorsal root ganglion neurons has been obtained by DNA calcium phosphate co- precipitation, hence providing an important tool to study control of gene expression in primary neurons. Transfection with c-fos promoter sequences linked to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene showed that the serum responsive element functions as a strong transcriptional enhancer. Transcription from this element is developmentally regulated, and mediates the genetic response to nerve growth factor (NGF) in developing avian sensory neurons. Furthermore, NGF exerts a negative effect on transcription from the cyclic AMP responsive element, thereby supporting the involvement of tyrosine kinase activation by NGF in primary sensory neurons.
KUALITAS TES POTENSI AKADEMIK VERSI 07A

Karakteristik butir dan subtes dari Tes Potensi Akademik (TPA) versi 07A diteliti berdasarkan data jawaban 198 pelamar Program Magister Psikologi UGM tahun 2007, sementara validitas prediksi tes dianalisis berdasarkan data jawaban 80 mahasiswa yang diterima. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa butir-butir subtes verbal, kuantitatif, dan penalaran memiliki tingkat kesulitan sedang, indeks daya beda sangat baik, dan distraktor berfungsi dengan baik. Semua skor subtes memiliki koefisien reliabilitas yang sangat tinggi, demikian juga skor TPA. Namun, analisis validitas skor TPA kurang dapat memprediksi IPK semester pertama. Kata kunci: TPA, analisis butir, validitas prediksi
Grammar is both categorical and gradient

In this paper, I discuss the results of word-likeness rating experiments with Hebrew and English speakers that show that language users use their grammar in a categorical and a gradient manner. In word-likeness rating tasks, subjects make the categorical distinction between grammatical and ungrammatical – they assign all grammatical forms equally high ratings and all ungrammatical forms equally low ratings. However, in comparative word-likeness tasks, subjects are forced to make distinctions between different grammatical or ungrammatical forms. In these experiments, they make finer gradient well-formedness distinctions. This poses a challenge on the one hand to standard derivational models of generative grammar, which can easily account for the categorical distinction between grammatical and ungrammatical, but have more difficulty with the gradient well-formedness distinctions. It also challenges models in which the categorical distinction between grammatical and ungrammatical does not exist, but in which an ungrammatical form is simply a form with very low probability. I show that the inherent comparative character of an OT grammar enables it to model both kinds of behaviors in a straightforward manner.
Content based image retrieval using query by approximate shape

In this paper we present a new method for content-based image retrieval. The method is based on querying database by approximate shape representing given object. In this way all images containing the object may be found. Shapes are specified as a set of geometric primitives and attributes. Relations between primitives are represented by a graph. Our graph matching algorithm is used for computing the level of similarity between shapes. The method may be also used for searching transformed as well as partially covered objects. Experimental results showed the efficiency of our approach.
Automated semantic web service discovery with OWLS-MX

We present an approach to hybrid semantic Web service matching that complements logic based reasoning with approximate matching based on syntactic IR based similarity computations. The hybrid matchmaker, called OWLS-MX, applies this approach to services and requests specified in OWL-S. Experimental results of measuring performance and scalability of different variants of OWLS-MX show that under certain constraints logic based only approaches to OWL-S service I/O matching can be significantly outperformed by hybrid ones.
Cancer beliefs in cancer survivors, cancer relatives and persons with no cancer experience

Aims: Negative cancer beliefs have been associated with late stage at cancer diagnosis. High levels of negative cancer beliefs have been found among individuals with low socioeconomic position and ethnic minority women, but the impact of cancer experience on cancer beliefs is unexamined. The aim of this study was to examine whether cancer beliefs are associated with cancer experience. Methods: This was a cross-sectional population-based study. Telephone interviews of 2992 Danish residents (30+) were carried out using the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer Measure (ABC). Respondents reported whether they or someone close had been diagnosed with cancer and whether they agreed/disagreed with three positively and three negatively framed cancer beliefs. Results: Respondents with someone close diagnosed was reference group. Compared with these, respondents with no cancer experience (RRadj=0.91, 95% CI=0.84–0.98) or who had had cancer themselves (RRadj=0.87, 0.77–0.98) were less likely to believe that cancer treatment is worse than the cancer itself, and respondents with no cancer experience were less likely to believe that a diagnosis of cancer is a death sentence (RRadj=0.83, 0.70–0.98), but more likely to report that they did not want to know if they had cancer (RRadj=1.31, 1.01–1.71). Conclusions: The results suggest that cancer beliefs are sensitive to cancer experience. This is an important addition to previous results focusing on the association between cancer beliefs and static factors such as socioeconomic position and ethnicity. Since cancer beliefs may determine health-related behaviour, it is important that negative cancer beliefs are addressed and possibly reframed in population-based interventions.
The relationship between border traps characterized by AC admittance and BTI in III-V MOS devices

In this paper, we present the results of a detailed study done on the correlation between frequency dispersion observed in AC admittance measurements and threshold voltage shifts observed in BTI reliability measurements on III-V MOS devices. We developed a detailed AC admittance model for MOS devices with border traps to study the effect of trap parameters on the AC admittance. We show, with the help of simulations and experiments, a clear correlation between border trap characteristics in AC admittance and BTI behavior. In addition, we propose a simplified and quick method to qualitatively characterize border traps using G/ω as a measure for their density.
The interaction of inositol pentaphosphate with the hemoglobins of highland and lowland geese.

We have studied the binding of inositol pentaphosphate (IPP) to the hemoglobins from two species of goose living at low and high altitudes, using the proton absorption method. Measurements were done at 25 and 37 degrees C in a pH range between 6.0 and 8.8. The bird hemoglobins show a high affinity and a binding stoichiometry of 1 IPP molecule/hemoglobin tetramer both in the ligated and unligated state, indicating the same binding site for IPP in oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin. The results indicate that the interaction of IPP with both geese hemoglobins is very similar. For the deoxyhemoglobins of both species the IPP-binding constant shows a strong pH dependence extending over a wide pH range (i.e. +/- 2 x 10(6) M at pH 8.8 and +/- 6 x 10(10) M at pH 6.0). The binding constant of IPP for the oxyhemoglobins shows a much weaker pH dependence (i.e. +/- 4 x 10(4) M at pH 8.8 and +/- 3 x 10(6) M at pH 6.0), indicating that the interaction of IPP with the goose hemoglobin is strongly dependent on the state of ligation of the protein. The IPP binding constants for the oxy- and deoxyhemoglobins are found to be in good agreement with the IPP-induced change in oxygen affinity of both hemoglobins as estimated from oxygen binding curves.
Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 2 (mTORC2) Is a Critical Determinant of Bladder Cancer Invasion

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer in males in the United States. Invasive behavior is a major determinant of prognosis. In this study, we identified mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) as a central regulator of bladder cancer cell migration and invasion. mTORC2 activity was assessed by the extent of phosphorylation of Ser473 in AKT and determined to be approximately 5-fold higher in specimens of invasive human bladder cancer as opposed to non-invasive human bladder cancer. The immortalized malignant bladder cell lines, UMUC-3, J82 and T24 demonstrated higher baseline mTORC2 activity relative to the benign bladder papilloma-derived cell line RT4 and the normal urothelial cell line HU1. The malignant bladder cancer cells also demonstrated increased migration in transwell and denudation assays, increased invasion of matrigel, and increased capacity to invade human bladder specimens. Gene silencing of rictor, a critical component of mTORC2, substantially inhibited bladder cancer cell migration and invasion. This was accompanied by a significant decrease in Rac1 activation and paxillin phosphorylation. These studies identify mTORC2 as a major target for neutralizing bladder cancer invasion.
High-Speed Imaging of 2-D Ionic Diffusion Using a 16$\,\times\,$16 Pixel CMOS ISFET Array on the Microfluidic Scale

We present an electrochemical high-speed measurement for direct observation of the mixing of ions in solution over a sensor surface. The method is applied to the determination of time-varying mixing and diffusion rates in microfluidic systems. The system generates high-speed videos of the analytes under investigation as they mix, without the need for any preliminary staining or labeling and has a pixel-to-pixel pitch of 14 μm. We demonstrate ion displacement phenomena on the surface of a Si3N4-passivated complementary metal oxide semiconductor ion-sensitive field effect transistor array device and also monitor the pH change induced by the addition of sulfuric acid to normal saline. These chemical videos are recorded with a frame rate of up to 333 frames/s. By evaluating the time-varying change in ionic concentrations across the surface of the chip, we calculate time-varying estimates of diffusivity coefficient values for the mixing analytes.
Channel MAC : A Novel Medium Access Control Paradigm for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

The IEEE 802.11 has been the dominant MAC protocols used in wireless ad hoc networks. It has been shown theoretically [1],[2] that significant performance improvements as compared to 802.11 can be achieved in random access wireless networks. In this paper we propose a new paradigm of medium access control, improving the performance of wireless ad hoc networks. Simulation results obtained show a significant improvement of throughput compared to that of an 802.11 system.