Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Annual amphidromes observed in the atmosphere with remote sensing data

[1] Annual cycle, one of the principle modes in the variability of the air-sea system, can be analyzed using tide analysis tools for extending the concept of oceanic tidal amphidromes to the atmosphere. In this paper, the annual phase-amplitude characteristics of two variables, sea-level pressure (SLP) and precipitation, were investigated to explore the annual atmospheric amphidromes on a global scale. For SLP, around a dozen annual amphidromic points were successfully identified. These points are distinguished by large-scale rotary phase propagations around them. For global precipitation, we identified a substantial amount of annual rainfall amphidromic points, with many of them appearing as pairs close to each other and less developed. Further examinations illustrate that these rainfall amphidromes tend to occur in narrow bands or small regions with low annual amplitudes and phase structures opposite to their surroundings. This suggests that precipitation amphidromes tend to appear as quasi-amphidromic lines or quasi-amphidromic zones. The occurrence of El Nino/La Nina events does not affect the formation and stability of SLP and precipitation amphidromes, although it can modify the annual variations in terms of amplitude and phase changes.
Immunotolerance against a foreign antigen transgenically expressed in the lens.

PURPOSE To extend our knowledge concerning immunotolerance against autologous lens crystallins, transgenic (Tg) mice that express a foreign antigen in their lens were generated, and the immune response against the antigen in these mice was analyzed. METHODS Conventional techniques were used to generate lines of Tg mice that express soluble (S-) or membrane-bound (M-) hen egg lysozyme (HEL) under the control of the alphaA-crystallin promoter. The presence of HEL in various organs was determined by the particle concentration fluorescence immunoassay (PCFIA), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction technique was used to detect mRNA transcripts of the molecule. To examine the development of immunity (or tolerance), Tg mice and their wild-type controls were immunized with HEL (25 microg) in Freund's complete adjuvant and 14 days later were tested for immune response against the antigen. Cellular immunity was measured by the lymphocyte proliferation assay and cytokine production, and humoral immunity was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS Eyes of the high copy number M-HEL Tg mice were dystrophic, with disrupted lens, whereas no morphologic changes were detected in the eyes of the other Tg mouse lines. All Tg mice exhibited tolerance to HEL by their cellular and humoral immune compartments. The state of immunotolerance to HEL was retained in the Tg mice for as long as 10 months after removal of the main depot of this protein, by enucleation. Measurable amounts of HEL were found in the eyes of all Tg mice, but the protein could not be detected in the serum or in other organs by the sensitive PCFIA (with a threshold of 1 ng/ml). Yet, HEL mRNA was found in the thymus of the Tg mice, suggesting that minute amounts of the protein are expressed in this organ. CONCLUSIONS The unresponsiveness to HEL in the Tg mice seems to be due to a "central" mechanism of tolerance, mediated by a minuscule amount of HEL in the thymus. Conversely, the much larger amounts of HEL in the peripheral depot, the eyes, play a minor role if any in the tolerogenic process. It is further proposed that a similar mechanism of central tolerance is responsible for the immunotolerance against autologous lens crystallins.
Vascular smooth muscle cell stress as a determinant of cerebral artery myogenic tone.

Although the level of myogenic tone (MT) varies considerably from vessel to vessel, the regulatory mechanisms through which the actual diameter set point is determined are not known. We hypothesized that a unifying principle may be the equalization of active force at the contractile filament level, which would be reflected in a normalization of wall stress or, more specifically, media stress. Branched segments of rat cerebral arteries ranging from <50 microm to >200 microm in diameter were cannulated and held at 60 mmHg with the objectives of: 1) evaluating the relationship between arterial diameter and the extent of myogenic tone, 2) determining whether differences in MT correlate with changes in cytosolic calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)), and 3) testing the hypothesis that a normalization of wall or media stress occurs during the process of tone development. The level of MT increased significantly as vessel size decreased. At 60 mmHg, vascular smooth muscle [Ca(2+)](i) concentrations were similar in all vessels studied (averaging 230 +/- 9.2 nM) and not correlated with vessel size or the extent of tone. Wall tension increased with increasing arterial size, but wall stress and media stress were similar in large versus small arteries. Media stress, in particular, was quite uniform in all vessels studied. Both morphological and calcium data support the concept of equalization of media stress (and, hence, vascular smooth muscle cell stress and force) as an underlying mechanism in determining the level of tone present in any particular vessel. The equalization of active (vascular smooth muscle cell) stress may thus explain differences in MT observed in the different-sized vessels constituting the arterial network and provide a link between arterial structure and function, in both short- and long-term (hypertension) pressure adaptation.
Variability in the control of head movements in seated humans: a link with whiplash injuries?

1 The aim of this study was to determine how context and on‐line sensory information are combined to control posture in seated subjects submitted to high‐jerk, passive linear accelerations. Subjects were seated with eyes closed on a servo‐controlled linear sled. They were asked to relax and received brief accelerations either sideways or in the fore‐aft direction. The stimuli had an abrupt onset, comparable to the jerk experienced during a minor car collision. 2 Rotation and translation of the head and body were measured using an Optotrak system. In some of the subjects, surface electromyographic (EMG) responses of selected neck and/or back muscles were recorded simultaneously. For each subject, responses were highly stereotyped from the first trial, and showed little sign of habituation or sensitisation. 3 Comparable results were obtained with sideways and fore‐aft accelerations. During each impulse, the head lagged behind the trunk for several tens of milliseconds. The subjects' head movement responses were distributed as a continuum in between two extreme categories. The ‘stiff’ subjects showed little rotation or translation of the head relative to the trunk for the whole duration of the impulse. In contrast, the ‘floppy’ subjects showed a large roll or pitch of the head relative to the trunk in the direction opposite to the sled movement. This response appeared as an exaggerated ‘inertial’ response to the impulse. 4 Surface EMG recordings showed that most of the stiff subjects were not contracting their superficial neck or back muscles. We think they relied on bilateral contractions of their deep, axial musculature to keep the head‐neck ensemble in line with the trunk during the movement. 5 About half of the floppy subjects displayed reflex activation of the neck muscles on the side opposite to the direction of acceleration, which occurred before or during the head movement and tended to exaggerate it. The other floppy subjects seemed to rely on only the passive biomechanical properties of their head‐neck ensemble to compensate for the perturbation. 6 In our study, proprioception was the sole source of sensory information as long as the head did not move. We therefore presume that the EMG responses and head movements we observed were mainly triggered by the activation of stretch receptors in the hips, trunk and/or neck. 7 The visualisation of an imaginary reference in space during sideways impulses significantly reduced the head roll exhibited by floppy subjects. This suggests that the adoption by the central nervous system of an extrinsic, ‘allocentric’ frame of reference instead of an intrinsic, ‘egocentric’ one may be instrumental for the selection of the stiff strategy. 8 The response of floppy subjects appeared to be maladaptive and likely to increase the risk of whiplash injury during motor vehicle accidents. Evolution of postural control may not have taken into account the implications of passive, high‐acceleration perturbations affecting seated subjects.
Risk factors for course of posttraumatic stress disorder among Vietnam veterans: a 14-year follow-up of American Legionnaires.

Risk factors affecting the course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are poorly understood. As part of a larger study on characterizing exposure to herbicides in Vietnam, the authors investigated this issue in a random sample of 1,377 American Legionnaires who had served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and were followed over a 14-year period. High combat exposure, perceived negative community attitudes at homecoming, minority race, depression symptoms at Time 1, and more anger at Time 1 predicted a more chronic course. Community involvement at Time 1 was protective and associated with decreased risk at Time 2. Discomfort in disclosing Vietnam experiences was associated with an increased risk for developing PTSD but did not predict its course. Combat exposure predicted PTSD course more strongly than any other risk factor. Findings suggest recovery from PTSD is significantly influenced by perceived social support.
The Clustering of Extreme Movements: Stock Prices and the Weather

A striking feature of the United States stock market is the tendency of days with very large movements of stock prices to be clustered together. We define an extreme movement in stock prices as one that can be characterized as a three sigma event; that is, a daily movement in the broad stock-market index that is three or more standard deviations away from the average movement. We find that such extreme movements are typically preceded by, but not necessarily followed by, unusually large stock-price movements. Interestingly, a similar clustering of extreme observations of temperature in New York City can be observed. A particularly robust finding in this paper is that extreme movements in stock prices are usually preceded by larger than average daily movements during the preceding three-day period. This suggests that investors might fashion a market timing strategy, switching from stocks to cash in advance of predicted extreme negative stock returns. In fact, we have been able to simulate market timing strategies that are successful in avoiding nearly eighty percent of the negative extreme move days, yielding a significantly lower volatility of returns. We find, however, that a variety of alternative strategies do not improve an investor? s long-run average return over the return that would be earned by the buy-and-hold investor who simply stayed fully-invested in the stock market.
The changing transmission mechanism of New Zealand monetary policy

This is the second of two Bulletin articles on the transmission mechanism of New Zealand monetary policy. In the first article (Drew and Sethi 2007), we described this mechanism, detailing the process by which changes in the Reserve Bank’s primary monetary policy instrument, the Official Cash Rate (OCR), eventually influence the general level of prices. This article examines how certain aspects of the transmission mechanism have changed over time. Assessing these changes is especially topical given that, in the estimation of some commentators, the most recent period of monetary tightening has witnessed policy that has been less effective at dampening inflation than previously. We briefly review the case for these claims and catalogue evidence from several sources to show that the overall impact of monetary policy on activity and inflation has not obviously weakened, and that some intermediate links in the mechanism may have, in fact, strengthened over the past decade.
PPARγ Ligands Switched High Fat Diet-Induced Macrophage M2b Polarization toward M2a Thereby Improving Intestinal Candida Elimination

Obesity is associated with a chronic low-grade inflammation that predisposes to insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes. In this metabolic context, gastrointestinal (GI) candidiasis is common. We recently demonstrated that the PPARγ ligand rosiglitazone promotes the clearance of Candida albicans through the activation of alternative M2 macrophage polarization. Here, we evaluated the impact of high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and the effect of rosiglitazone (PPARγ ligand) or WY14643 (PPARα ligand) both on the phenotypic M1/M2 polarization of peritoneal and cecal tissue macrophages and on the outcome of GI candidiasis. We demonstrated that the peritoneal macrophages and the cell types present in the cecal tissue from HF fed mice present a M2b polarization (TNF-αhigh, IL-10high, MR, Dectin-1). Interestingly, rosiglitazone induces a phenotypic M2b-to-M2a (TNF-αlow, IL-10low, MRhigh, Dectin-1high) switch of peritoneal macrophages and of the cells present in the cecal tissue. The incapacity of WY14643 to switch this polarization toward M2a state, strongly suggests the specific involvement of PPARγ in this mechanism. We showed that in insulin resistant mice, M2b polarization of macrophages present on the site of infection is associated with an increased susceptibility to GI candidiasis, whereas M2a polarization after rosiglitazone treatment favours the GI fungal elimination independently of reduced blood glucose. In conclusion, our data demonstrate a dual benefit of PPARγ ligands because they promote mucosal defence mechanisms against GI candidiasis through M2a macrophage polarization while regulating blood glucose level.
Macroeconomic Uncertainty in South Africa

This paper develops a new index of economic uncertainty for South Africa for the period 1990-2014 and analyses the macroeconomic impact of changes in this measure. The index is constructed from three sources: (1) Disagreement among professional forecasters about macroeconomic conditions using novel data from a forecasting competition run by a national newspaper, (2) a count of international and local newspaper articles discussing economic uncertainty in South Africa and (3) mentions of uncertainty in the quarterly economic review of the South African Reserve Bank. The index shows high levels of uncertainty around the period of democratic transition in 1992-4, the large depreciation of the currency in 2001 and the financial crisis of 2008. The uncertainty index is a leading indicator of a recession. An unanticipated increase in the index is associated with a fall in GDP, investment, industrial production and private sector employment. Contrary to evidence for the U.S.A and U.K., uncertainty shocks are inflationary. These results are robust to controlling for consumer confidence and a measure of financial stress. I show that these results are consistent with a simple New Keynesian model subject to volatility shocks in technology. In this model, nominal rigidities induce firms to raise prices as a precautionary measure when future demand becomes more uncertain.
A forensic cloud environment to address the big data challenge in digital forensics

The advancement of technologies such as the Internet, artificial intelligence and so on has given rise to Big Data. Also as a result of technological evolution, crimes committed within the digital domain are rising. Subsequently the number of forensic collection has increased and this has significantly affected digital forensics. Thus, the current forensic tools cannot cope with the demand of Big Data analysis. In this paper, we realise the urgent need to propose a generic Forensic Cloud Environment (FCE) that facilitates forensic analysis of Big Data cases. The FCE introduces new features that improves the turnaround time of digital forensic investigation.
On rough sets, their recent extensions and applications

Abstract Rough set theory (RST) has enjoyed an enormous amount of attention in recent years and has been applied to many real-world problems including data mining, pattern recognition, and intelligent control. Much research has recently been carried out in respect of both the development of the underlying theory and the application to new problem domains. This paper attempts to summarize the advances in RST, its extensions, and their applications. It also identifies important areas which require further investigation. Typical example application domains are examined which demonstrate the success of the application of RST to a wide variety of areas and disciplines, and which also exhibit the strengths and limitations of the respective underlying approaches.
Student Perceptions of Block Scheduling in a New York State Public High School.

Although parents are key stakeholders in the educational process, their perceptions are often neglected in studies of school reform. This paper presents findings of a study that explored the attitudes of parents of New York State high school students toward block scheduling. A survey of all parents of 11th and 12th graders in a rural New York high school garnered a 70 percent response rate (n=110). Parents were asked to compare their attitudes to a block-schedule program before and after its implementation. Findings showed no correlation between the number of meetings that parents attended and their support for block scheduling. Parents perceived that block scheduling resulted in increased time for class discussions and student interaction with teachers. However, parents perceived problems involving students' retention of material, teacher absences, and student absences. The majority of parents supported block scheduling but did so without clear evidence of academic improvement. Many parents reported that their understanding of block scheduling improved through talks with their children rather than through school information-dissemination efforts. Fifty percent reported no change in their opinions about block scheduling. Six figures are included. (LMI) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Parent Perceptions of Block Scheduling in a New York State Public High School Cheryl Thomas Raymond W. O'Connell University of New York at Albany Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization April 30 May 2, 1997 Portsmouth, NH Comments and inquiries should be directed to CherylThomas@aslan.com 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUC IONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. o Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) PARENT PERCEPTIONS OF BLOCK SCHEDULING IN A NEW YORK STATE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL
Electrophysiological Evidences of Inhibition Deficit in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder During the Attentional Blink

Previous studies on the distribution of attentional resources during time have yielded a differential performance in patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), in relation to healthy controls. The Attentional Blink (AB) experimental paradigm probes the ability to discriminate visual stimuli in close temporal proximity. The electro- physiological mechanisms underlying the AB have been intensively studied in healthy individuals, and seems to be very appropriate to evaluate the temporal distribution of attentional resources in ADHD. We recorded Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to stimuli arranged in a rapid serial visual presentation task. Fourteen male children (age: 11.6±2.1) who met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD of the combined subtype participated in the study, along with fourteen age and sex-matched healthy controls (11.2±2.3). They were all screened to discard comorbidites. Behavioral responses showed an increased number of commission and omission errors in the ADHD group. Nonetheless, both groups exhibited a significant AB for probes presented in close temporal proximity to targets. ERP waveforms in ADHD showed a P300 component of reduced amplitude, elicited both by detected and undetected probes. However, in the control group the P300 was only elicited by detected probes and its amplitude was larger. As the P3 component is considered to reflect context updating in working memory, its elicitation by missed probes during the attentional blink suggests a failure of an inhibitory selection mecha- nism in ADHD.
Heterochrony and Early Left-Right Asymmetry in the Development of the Cardiorespiratory System of Snakes

Snake lungs show a remarkable diversity of organ asymmetries. The right lung is always fully developed, while the left lung is either absent, vestigial, or well-developed (but smaller than the right). A ‘tracheal lung’ is present in some taxa. These asymmetries are reflected in the pulmonary arteries. Lung asymmetry is known to appear at early stages of development in Thamnophis radix and Natrix natrix. Unfortunately, there is no developmental data on snakes with a well-developed or absent left lung. We examine the adult and developmental morphology of the lung and pulmonary arteries in the snakes Python curtus breitensteini, Pantherophis guttata guttata, Elaphe obsoleta spiloides, Calloselasma rhodostoma and Causus rhombeatus using gross dissection, MicroCT scanning and 3D reconstruction. We find that the right and tracheal lung develop similarly in these species. By contrast, the left lung either: (1) fails to develop; (2) elongates more slowly and aborts early without (2a) or with (2b) subsequent development of faveoli; (3) or develops normally. A right pulmonary artery always develops, but the left develops only if the left lung develops. No pulmonary artery develops in relation to the tracheal lung. We conclude that heterochrony in lung bud development contributes to lung asymmetry in several snake taxa. Secondly, the development of the pulmonary arteries is asymmetric at early stages, possibly because the splanchnic plexus fails to develop when the left lung is reduced. Finally, some changes in the topography of the pulmonary arteries are consequent on ontogenetic displacement of the heart down the body. Our findings show that the left-right asymmetry in the cardiorespiratory system of snakes is expressed early in development and may become phenotypically expressed through heterochronic shifts in growth, and changes in axial relations of organs and vessels. We propose a step-wise model for reduction of the left lung during snake evolution.
Turbo equalization of nonlinear TDMA satellite signals

Based on a Volterra-type channel model, we suggest a coded solution for compensating the nonlinear distortion of TDMA satellite waveforms. The resulting receiver for the coded system uses the iterated detection principle that iteratively equalizes the nonlinear channel and then decodes the equalized symbols. Computer simulation results show that significant improvement over conventional approach can be achieved.