Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ecological Biogeography of Southern Ocean Islands: Species‐Area Relationships, Human Impacts, and Conservation

Previous studies have concluded that southern ocean islands are anomalous because past glacial extent and current temperature apparently explain most variance in their species richness. Here, the relationships between physical variables and species richness of vascular plants, insects, land and seabirds, and mammals were reexamined for these islands. Indigenous and introduced species were distinguished, and relationships between the latter and human occupancy variables were investigated. Most variance in indigenous species richness was explained by combinations of area and temperature (56%)—vascular plants; distance (nearest continent) and vascular plant species richness (75%)—insects; area and chlorophyll concentration (65%)—seabirds; and indigenous insect species richness and age (73%)—land birds. Indigenous insects and plants, along with distance (closest continent), explained most variance (70%) in introduced land bird species richness. A combination of area and temperature explained most variance in species richness of introduced vascular plants (73%), insects (69%), and mammals (69%). However, there was a strong relationship between area and number of human occupants. This suggested that larger islands attract more human occupants, increasing the risk of propagule transfer, while temperature increases the chance of propagule establishment. Consequently, human activities on these islands should be regulated more tightly.
Using beat notation for enhancement of chord sheet music document similarity

Most sheet music websites provide chord sheet music document that has only simple text. The system should provide music information that is easy to understand and allows users to search and view a document in many aspects. However, music recommendation and searching capability based on music similarity of chord sequences in documents are challenging features for the system. In this paper, we present a notation of beat information to specify chord length in chord sheet music and its approach for the similarity calculation in three levels: chord, sequence, and music. This approach focuses on beat information of chord sequences in a song. Then, music similarity value between two songs can be determined by using the aggregation of chord sequence similarity values. This work emphasizes the significance of the beat information in chord sequences that can improve the effectiveness of similarity measure. By the experimental results, our music similarity measure was improved about 32% higher in precision after beat information was included.
Abnormal variability and distribution of functional maps in autism: an FMRI study of visuomotor learning.

OBJECTIVE Autism is a neurally based psychiatric disorder, but there is no consensus regarding the underlying neurofunctional abnormalities. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of simple movement suggested individually variable and scattered functional brain organization in autism. The authors examined whether such abnormalities generalize to multimodal processing (visually driven motor sequence learning). METHOD Eight male autistic patients and eight comparison subjects matched with the patients on age, gender, and handedness were examined by using fMRI while they performed finger press movements prompted by visually presented repeating six-digit sequences. Hemodynamic responses to the six-digit sequences were statistically compared to responses to single-digit stimuli in one experiment and to regular six-digit sequences in another experiment. RESULTS Both groups showed activations in bilateral premotor, superior parietal, and occipital cortices in both experiments. Task-by-group interactions showed that superior parietal activations were less pronounced in the autism group, whereas prefrontal cortex and more posterior parietal loci showed greater activation in the autism group than in the comparison group. The distances between Individual subjects' activation peaks and the groupwise peak were greater in the autism group than in the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS The results support earlier findings of abnormal variability and scatter of functional maps in autism. They are consistent with evidence from other studies suggesting early-onset disturbances in the development of cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathways in autism.
Attachment Systems for Implant Retained Overdentures: A Literature Review

This article presents a comparison between different attachment systems used to retain and support maxillary and mandibular overdentures in completely edentulous patients. A literature review based on a MEDLINE search limited to English-language articles published from 1988 to the present was performed, and a large number of attachments available in the dental market were reviewed with regard to several factors, including: (1) implant survival rate, (2) marginal bone loss, (3) soft tissue complications, (4) retention, (5) stress distri-bution, (6) space requirements, (7) maintenance complications, and (8) patient satisfaction. These factors are considered essential for the successful outcome and good long-term prognosis of the prostheses. Selection criteria previously published in the literature are discussed as well. Product names and manufacturers are mentioned only if related to attachment systems, as they are cited in the original articles.
Research visibility, publication patterns and output of academic librarians in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Eastern Africa

Purpose – This study seeks to establish and compare the research and publication patterns and output of academic librarians in Eastern Africa from 2000 to 2009 using informetric techniques.Design/methodology/approach – The study confined its scope to publications produced between 2000 and 2009. The informetric technique (through content analysis) was used as a research method. The documents that were sourced for content analysis were obtained from the LISA database, which is one of the largest abstract databases in the field of library and information science (LIS). Data were extracted using the names of the librarians obtained from various sources, including: the libraries' web sites, Europa World of Learning and Wikipedia.Findings – The results reveal that the research visibility of academic librarians was insignificant; that publication of research findings over the period was minimal; that publications from university librarians and directors were also minimal; that most academic librarians preferred .
Umigon: sentiment analysis for tweets based on terms lists and heuristics

Umigon is developed since December 2012 as a web application providing a service of sentiment detection in tweets. It has been designed to be fast and scalable. Umigon also provides indications for additional semantic features present in the tweets, such as time indications or markers of subjectivity. Umigon is in continuous development, it can be tried freely at www.umigon. com. Its code is open sourced at: https://github.com/seinecle/Umigon
To be selected or not to be selected : a modeling and behavioral study of the mechanisms underlying stimulus-driven and top-down visual attention

This thesis investigates the mechanisms of stimulus-driven visual attention (global saliency), the mechanisms of top-down visual attention, and the interaction between these mechanisms, in visual search. Following the outline of an existing model of top-down visual attention, namely the Closed-Loop Attention Model (CLAM), simulations in this thesis explore mechanisms of visual working memory in the prefrontal cortex and of object recognition in the ventral pathway, and specify mechanisms of spatial selection in the dorsal pathway. Behavioral experiments additionally address several questions regarding stimulus-driven and top-down visual attention in visual search, and their interaction. The findings of the simulations and behavioral experiments have implications for CLAM in particular, and for the mechanisms of global saliency and top-down visual attention in general.
Optimal Monetary Policy under Sticky Prices and Sticky Information

A wrong model can lead to a wrong conclusion. The failure to capture inflation dynamics has made the standard New Keynesian framework of monetary policy analysis prone to such a critique. In this paper, we investigate optimal monetary policy using a model that can capture the observed inflation persistence. The model, which we call the dual stickiness model, integrates sticky prices and sticky information. Two main results characterize the optimal policy. First, in the presence of cost-push shocks, a simple elastic price target rule is optimal, regardless of the degree of each stickiness, and regardless of whether the specification of stickiness is fixed-duration or random-duration. Second, the dynamics under the optimal policy in the model are more persistent than those in the models with either of the two types of stickiness. We also evaluate how important it is for the central bank to distinguish the dual stickiness model from an existing alternative, the hybrid New Keynesian model. The results show that, in the presence of error in controlling the output gap, the welfare loss can be huge when the central bank fails to recognize the dual stickiness model as the true model of the economy.
Forebrain Glucocorticoid Receptors Modulate Anxiety-Associated Locomotor Activation and Adrenal Responsiveness

Stress potently modulates anxiety- and depression-related behaviors. In response to stressors, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is activated, resulting in the release of glucocorticoids from the adrenal cortex. These hormones act peripherally to restore homeostasis but also feed back to the CNS to control the intensity and duration of the stress response. Glucocorticoids act in limbic areas of the CNS to mediate the psychological and behavioral effects of stress. In this study, we investigate the effect of forebrain-specific disruption of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) on stress- and anxiety-related behaviors. We demonstrate that mice with disruption of forebrain GR show alterations in stress-induced locomotor activation in a number of anxiety-related behavioral paradigms. These changes are associated with alterations in stress-induced HPA axis activation and, importantly, are not attenuated by chronic treatment with the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine. These data demonstrate the importance of forebrain GR in regulation of physiological and behavioral stress reactivity and suggest that distinct pathways regulate despair- and anxiety-related behaviors.
The promises and pitfalls of personalization in narratives to promote social change

ABSTRACT This study tests the effects of personalized and depersonalized narratives on cognitive responses, narrative engagement, and support for obesity prevention policies. We first explicate three dimensions of personalization: (1) identifiability, (2) individualization, and (3) inner states description. We then report on a randomized experiment (N = 368) showing that depersonalized narratives were more effective than personalized stories and a no-exposure control group in promoting targeted social policies. Revealing a character’s inner states was most detrimental to the audience’s narrative engagement, reducing levels of transportation, identification, and empathy. Empathy, in turn, fully mediated the impact of inner states description on policy support. Results indicate that personalized narratives have the potential to weaken public support for health policies aimed at changing social factors.
Oral Presentation Errors of Malaysian Students in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Course

This study investigates the errors English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students made in their oral presentations. An understanding of the types of errors made by students in EAP will enable language educators to assist students in improving their oral proficiency. The errors in oral presentations of 32 students were investigated using (1) surface structure taxonomy, which specifies four main ways by which students modify the target forms, namely, misformation, misordering, addition and omission. Findings indicate that misformation accounted for the majority of the total grammatical errors identified followed by omission and addition. In addition, verb form, word form and article were found to be the three most frequent types of errors made by the students.
DNA looping by two-site restriction endonucleases: heterogeneous probability distributions for loop size and unbinding force

Proteins interacting at multiple sites on DNA via looping play an important role in many fundamental biochemical processes. Restriction endonucleases that must bind at two recognition sites for efficient activity are a useful model system for studying such interactions. Here we used single DNA manipulation to study sixteen known or suspected two-site endonucleases. In eleven cases (BpmI, BsgI, BspMI, Cfr10I, Eco57I, EcoRII, FokI, HpaII, NarI, Sau3AI and SgrAI) we found that substitution of Ca2+ for Mg2+ blocked cleavage and enabled us to observe stable DNA looping. Forced disruption of these loops allowed us to measure the frequency of looping and probability distributions for loop size and unbinding force for each enzyme. In four cases we observed bimodal unbinding force distributions, indicating conformational heterogeneity and/or complex binding energy landscapes. Measured unlooping events ranged in size from 7 to 7500 bp and the most probable size ranged from less than 75 bp to nearly 500 bp, depending on the enzyme. In most cases the size distributions were in much closer agreement with theoretical models that postulate sharp DNA kinking than with classical models of DNA elasticity. Our findings indicate that DNA looping is highly variable depending on the specific protein and does not depend solely on the mechanical properties of DNA.
Morphological and bioenergetic demands underlying the mitophagy in post-mitotic neurons: the pink–parkin pathway

Evidence suggests a striking causal relationship between changes in quality control of neuronal mitochondria and numerous devastating human neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Contrary to replicating mammalian cells with a metabolism essentially glycolytic, post-mitotic neurons are distinctive owing to (i) their exclusive energetic dependence from mitochondrial metabolism and (ii) their polarized shape, which entails compartmentalized and distinct energetic needs. Here, we review the recent findings on mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy in differentiated neurons focusing on how the exceptional characteristics of neuronal populations in their morphology and bioenergetics needs make them quite different to other cells in controlling the intracellular turnover of these organelles.
Microarray Analysis on Human Neuroblastoma Cells Exposed to Aluminum, β1–42-Amyloid or the β1–42-Amyloid Aluminum Complex

Background A typical pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the appearance in the brain of senile plaques made up of β-amyloid (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles. AD is also associated with an abnormal accumulation of some metal ions, and we have recently shown that one of these, aluminum (Al), plays a relevant role in affecting Aβ aggregation and neurotoxicity. Methodology In this study, employing a microarray analysis of 35,129 genes, we investigated the effects induced by the exposure to the Aβ1–42-Al (Aβ-Al) complex on the gene expression profile of the neuronal-like cell line, SH-SY5Y. Principal Findings The microarray assay indicated that, compared to Aβ or Al alone, exposure to Aβ-Al complex produced selective changes in gene expression. Some of the genes selectively over or underexpressed are directly related to AD. A further evaluation performed with Ingenuity Pathway analysis revealed that these genes are nodes of networks and pathways that are involved in the modulation of Ca2+ homeostasis as well as in the regulation of glutamatergic transmission and synaptic plasticity. Conclusions and Significance Aβ-Al appears to be largely involved in the molecular machinery that regulates neuronal as well as synaptic dysfunction and loss. Aβ-Al seems critical in modulating key AD-related pathways such as glutamatergic transmission, Ca2+ homeostasis, oxidative stress, inflammation, and neuronal apoptosis.
PENGGUNAAN INSTANT MESSANGER dan KOMUNIKASI INTERPERSONAL REMAJA

Interpersonal communication should ideally in face to face, until the achievement of intimate communication. Instant messenger makes interpersonal communication easier and more efficient. However, it also resulted in less effective communication to occur, because it only uses text messaging as a means to convey a message so frequent miscommunication. This study wanted to see how the use of instant messenger among teenagers in interpersonal communication. The theory used in this study is a Computer Mediated Communication, Ecology Media and Interpersonal Intimacy. The method used in this research is phenomenology. The results of this study indicate that the instant messenger is a medium that is considered to be practical and easy to communicate interpersonally with family, friends, and lovers. Interpersonal communication process through instant messenger can not reach the stage of intimate relationship, because of interactions that occur frequently experienced miscommunication due to an incorrect perception. Interpersonal communication is more effective if it is done face to face. Teens when communicating via instant messenger, tend not to believe and to tell the truth.
WIND POWER IN ONTARIO : QUANTIFYING THE BENEFITS OF GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY

Using Ontario wind power production data, this study quantifies the benefits of positioning wind farms in geographically diverse locations to mitigate variability and smooth wind power’s contribution to electricity generation. Wind farm outputs are cross-correlated and graphed against the distances separating the farms. Results confirm that correlations between wind farm outputs decay with distance, but remain positive. Results agree with European studies but suggest that distance provides less smoothing of output in Ontario than in Europe. However, results disagree with aspects of a study of wind power integration in Ontario conducted by General Electric in 2006.
Handwriting Recognition of Whiteboard Notes

This paper introduces a new system for processing on-line whiteboard notes. Notes written on a whiteboard is a new modality in handwriting recognition research that has received relatively little attention in the past. For the recognition we use an off-line HMM-recognizer, which has been developed in the context of our previous work. The recognizer is supplemented with methods for processing the on-line data and generating the images. The system consists of six main modules: on-line preprocessing, transformation to off-line data, off-line preprocessing, feature extraction, classification and post-processing. The recognition rate of the basic recognizer in a writer independent experiment is 59,5%. By applying state-of-the-art methods, such as optimizing the number of states and Gaussian components, and by including a language model we could achieve a statistically significant increase of the recognition rate to 64.3%.
The Alpha Centauri Binary System: Atmospheric Parameters and Element Abundances

Context. The α Centauri binary system, owing to its duplicity, proximity and brightness, and its components' likeness to the Sun, is a fundamental calibrating object for the theory of stellar structure and evolution and the determination of stellar atmospheric parameters. This role, however, is hindered by a considerable disagreement in the published analyses of its atmospheric parameters and abundances. Aims. We report a new spectroscopic analysis of both components of the α Centauri system, compare published analyses of the system, and attempt to quantify the discrepancies still extant in the determinations of the atmospheric parameters and abundances of these stars. Methods. The analysis is differential with respect to the Sun, based on spectra with R = 35 000 and signal-to-noise ratio ≥ 1000, and employed spectroscopic and photometric methods to obtain as many independent T eff determinations as possible. We also check the atmospheric parameters for consistency against the results of the dynamical analysis and the positions of the components in a theoretical HR diagram. Results. The spectroscopic atmospheric parameters of the system are found to be T eff = (5847 ± 27) K, [Fe/H] = +0.24 ± 0.03, log g = 4.34 ± 0.12, and $\xi_t$ = 1.46 ± 0.03 km s -1 , for α Cen A, and T eff = (5316 ± 28) K, [Fe/H] = +0.25 ± 0.04, log g = 4.44 ± 0.15, and $\xi_t$ = 1.28 ± 0.15 km s$^{\rm -1}$ for α Cen B. The parameters were derived from the simultaneous excitation & ionization equilibria of Fe I and Fe II lines. T eff s were also obtained by fitting theoretical profiles to the H α line and from photometric calibrations. Conclusions. We reached good agreement between the three criteria for α Cen A. For α Cen B the spectroscopic T eff is ~140 K higher than the other two determinations. We discuss possible origins of this inconsistency, concluding that the presence of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects is a probable candidate, but we note that there is as yet no consensus on the existence and cause of an offset between the spectroscopic and photometric T eff scales of cool dwarfs. The spectroscopic surface gravities also agree with those derived from directly measured masses and radii. An average of three independent T eff criteria leads to T eff (A) = (5824 ± 26) K and T eff (B) = (5223 ± 62) K. The abundances of Na, Mg, Si, Mn, Co, and Ni and, possibly, Cu are significantly enriched in the system, which also seems to be deficient in Y and Ba. This abundance pattern can be deemed normal in the context of recent data on metal-rich stars. The position of α Cen A in an up-to-date theoretical evolutionary diagram yields a good match of the evolutionary mass and age (in the 4.5 to 5.3 Gyr range) with those from the dynamical solution and seismology, but only marginal agreement for α Cen B, taking into account its more uncertain T eff .