Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observing white dwarfs orbiting massive black holes in the gravitational wave and electro-magnetic window

We consider a potentially new class of gravitational wave sources consisting of a white dwarf coalescing into a massive black hole in the mass range � 10 4 10 5 M⊙. These sources are of particular interest because the gravitational wave signal produced during the inspiral phase can be detected by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and is promptly followed, in an extended portion of the black hole and white dwarf mass parameter space, by an electro-magnetic signal generated by the tidal disruption of the star, detectable with X-ray, optical and UV telescopes. This class of sources could therefore yield a considerable number of scientific payoffs, that include precise cosmography at low redshift, demographics of black holes in the mass range � 10 4 10 5 M⊙, insights into dynamical interactions and populations of white dwarfs in the cores of dwarf galaxies, as well as a new probe into the structure and equation of state of white dwarfs. By modelling the gravitational and electromagnetic radiation produced by these events, we find them detectable in both observational windows at a distance � 200 Mpc, and possibly beyond for selected regions of the parameter space. We also estimate the detection rate for a number of model assumptions about black hole and white dwarf mass functions and dynamical interactions: the rate is (not surprisingly) highly uncertain, ranging from � 0.01yr −1 to � 100yr −1 . This is due to the current limited theoretical understanding and minimal observational constraints for these objects and processes. However, capture rate scaling arguments favor the high end of the above range, making likely the detection of several events during the LISA lifetime.
Environmental factors on the entrepreneurship of successful restaurant establishment

Abstract This study was to verify whether the environmental properties of a successful business in the food service industry impact on entrepreneurship and management performance. Research on entrepreneurship and environmental characteristics has been relatively limited worldwide. Two hundred and seventy one questionnaires were used in the final analysis, and the PASW Statistics 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 statistical package were employed. The results of this study suggest 1) The environmental properties of entrepreneurship identified here were different from previous studies. In other words, the innovation of entrepreneurship was affected by psychological traits and economic characteristics. 2) Risk taking was affected by economic and social characteristics. 3) The innovativeness of entrepreneurship was significantly related to financial performance. This study can contribute to examining environmental characteristics in relationship to entrepreneurship and management performances that are associated with success to propose suggestions for those preparing to enter the restaurant industry worldwide.
Primary Circulating Prostate Cells Are Not Detected in Men with Low Grade Small Volume Prostate Cancer

Objective. To determine if primary circulating prostate cells (CPCs) are found in all men with prostate cancer. Methods and Patients. A prospective study, to analyze all men with an elevated PSA between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL undergoing initial biopsy. Primary CPCs were obtained by differential gel centrifugation and detected using standard immunocytochemistry using anti-PSA; positive samples underwent a second process with anti-P504S. A malignant primary CPC was defined as PSA (+) P504S (+) and a test positive if 1 cell/4 mL was detected. Biopsy results were registered as cancer/no-cancer, number of cores positive, and percent infiltration of the cores. Results. 328/1123 (29.2%) of the study population had prostate cancer diagnosed on initial biopsy, and 42/328 (12.8%) were negative for primary CPCs. CPC negative men were significantly older, and had lower PSA levels, lower Gleason scores, and fewer positive cores and with infiltration by the cancer. 38/42 (91%) of CPC negative men complied with the criteria for active surveillance in comparison with 34/286 (12%) of CPC positive men. Conclusions. Using primary CPC detection as a sequential test to select men with an elevated PSA for biopsy, the risk of missing clinically significant prostate cancer is minimal when the patient is primary CPC negative; less than 0.5% of all primary CPC negative men had a clinically significant prostate cancer.
Dimensionality Reduction in ILP: A Call to Arms

The recent uprise of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) has underlined the need for machine learning algorithms to be able to tackle large-scale applications that are currently beyond their scope. One way to address this problem is to use techniques for reducing the dimensionality of the learning problem by reducing the hypothesis space and/or reducing the example space. While research in machine learning has devoted considerable attention to such techniques, they have so far been neglected in ILP research. The purpose of this paper is to motivate research in this area and to present some results on windowing techniques.
Binding of MBD proteins to DNA blocks Tet1 function thereby modulating transcriptional noise

Abstract Aberrant DNA methylation is a hallmark of various human disorders, indicating that the spatial and temporal regulation of methylation readers and modifiers is imperative for development and differentiation. In particular, the cross-regulation between 5-methylcytosine binders (MBD) and modifiers (Tet) has not been investigated. Here, we show that binding of Mecp2 and Mbd2 to DNA protects 5-methylcytosine from Tet1-mediated oxidation. The mechanism is not based on competition for 5-methylcytosine binding but on Mecp2 and Mbd2 directly restricting Tet1 access to DNA. We demonstrate that the efficiency of this process depends on the number of bound MBDs per DNA molecule. Accordingly, we find 5-hydroxymethylcytosine enriched at heterochromatin of Mecp2-deficient neurons of a mouse model for Rett syndrome and Tet1-induced reexpression of silenced major satellite repeats. These data unveil fundamental regulatory mechanisms of Tet enzymes and their potential pathophysiological role in Rett syndrome. Importantly, it suggests that Mecp2 and Mbd2 have an essential physiological role as guardians of the epigenome.
A census of variability in globular cluster M 68 (NGC 4590)

Aims. We analyse 20 nights of CCD observations in the V and I bands of the globular cluster M 68 (NGC 4590) and use them to detect variable objects. We also obtained electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) observations for this cluster in order to explore its core with unprecedented spatial resolution from the ground. Methods. We reduced our data using difference image analysis to achieve the best possible photometry in the crowded field of the cluster. In doing so, we show that when dealing with identical networked telescopes, a reference image from any telescope may be used to reduce data from any other telescope, which facilitates the analysis significantly. We then used our light curves to estimate the properties of the RR Lyrae (RRL) stars in M 68 through Fourier decomposition and empirical relations. The variable star properties then allowed us to derive the cluster's metallicity and distance. Results. M68 had 45 previously confirmed variables, including 42 RRL and 2 SX Phoenicis (SX Phe) stars. In this paper we determine new periods and search for new variables, especially in the core of the cluster where our method performs particularly well. We detect 4 additional SX Phe stars and confirm the variability of another star, bringing the total number of confirmed variable stars in this cluster to 50. We also used archival data stretching back to 1951 to derive period changes for some of the single-mode RRL stars, and analyse the significant number of double-mode RRL stars in M68. Furthermore, we find evidence for double-mode pulsation in one of the SX Phe stars in this cluster. Using the different classes of variables, we derived values for the metallicity of the cluster of [Fe/H] = -2.07 +/- 0.06 on the ZW scale, or -2.20 +/- 0.10 on the UVES scale, and found true distance moduli mu(0) = 15.00 +/- 0.11 mag (using RR0 stars), 15.00 +/- 0.05 mag (using RR1 stars), 14.97 +/- 0.11 mag (using SX Phe stars), and 15.00 +/- 0.07 mag (using the M-V-[Fe/H] relation for RRL stars), corresponding to physical distances of 10.00 +/- 0.49, 9.99 +/- 0.21, 9.84 +/- 0.50, and 10.00 +/- 0.30 kpc, respectively. Thanks to the first use of difference image analysis on time-series observations of M 68, we are now confident that we have a complete census of the RRL stars in this cluster.
The Quantified Level of Circulating Prostate Stem Cell Antigen mRNA relative to GAPDH Level Is a Clinically Significant Indictor for Predicting Biochemical Recurrence in Prostate Cancer Patients after Radical Prostatectomy

The study quantified the relative absolute PSCA level in relation to the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) level in the peripheral blood of 478 hormone-naive prostate cancer (PC) patients who underwent radical prostatectomy from 2005 to 2012 and evaluated its prognostic significance as a risk factor for predicting biochemical recurrence (BCR), compared to known parameters. Nested real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and gel electrophoresis detected PSCA levels and measured the PSCA/GAPDH ratio. Clinicopathological data from the institutional database were examined to determine the adequate cut-off level to predict postoperative BCR. A total of 110 patients had a positive PSCA result (23.0%) via RT-PCR (mean blood ratio 1.1 ± 0.4). The BCR was significantly higher in the PSCA-positive detection group (p = 0.009). A multivariate model was created to show that a PSCA/GAPDH ratio between 1.0 and 1.5 (HR 12.722), clinical T2c stage (HR 0.104), preoperative PSA (HR 1.225), extraprostatic capsule extension (HR 0.006), lymph node dissection (HR 16.437), and positive resection margin (HR 27.453) were significant predictive factors for BCR (p < 0.05). The study showed successful quantification of PSCA with its significance for BCR-related risk factor; however, further studies are needed to confirm its clinical predictive value.
Effort estimation for program comprehension

The study presents an experience of deriving an econometric model for software comprehension; this process is necessary for the renovation of existing software systems. The model uses data on the process and products. The aim of the econometric model is to minimize the risks when forecasting the budget and time needed to carry out the project. After having obtained the basic model, the correction factors which could reduce the risk or error of the forecast are considered. In particular, one factor, the suitability of the tool for the processes, requires such marked correction that the basic model is divided into two, one for each type of process (automatic or semiautomatic). All the models have the code lines of the existing program as independent variables; the model for semiautomatic processes uses the number of modules to be extracted as a regulator of the risk of forecasting error.
A Cosmic String Specific Signature on the Cosmic Microwave Background

Using an analytical model for the string network we show that the kurtosis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature gradient maps is a good statistic to distinguish between the cosmic string model and inflationary models of structure formation. The difference between the stringy and inflationary value for the kurtosis is inversely proportional to the angular resolution and to the number of strings per Hubble volume of the strings’ scaling solution. If strings are indeed responsible for CMB anisotropies then experiments with resolutions of a couple of arcminutes or smaller could determine it using this statistic.
Quantitative Description of Pedestrian Dynamics with a Force-Based Model

This paper introduces a space-continuous force-based model for simulating pedestrian dynamics. The main interest of this work is the quantitative description of pedestrian movement through a bottleneck. Measurements of flow and density will be presented and compared with empirical data. The results of the proposed model show a good agreement with empirical data. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of volume exclusion in force-based models.
Hormesis Effects of Silver Nanoparticles at Non-Cytotoxic Doses to Human Hepatoma Cells

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have attracted considerable attentions due to their unique properties and diverse applications. Although it has been reported that AgNPs have acute toxic effects on a variety of cultured mammalian cells and animal models, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the associated risk of AgNPs to human health at non-cytotoxic doses. In this paper, HepG2 cells were exposed to 10 nm and 100 nm AgNPs under non-cytotoxic conditions, and cell viability was assessed. At low doses, AgNPs displayed “hormesis” effects by accelerating cell proliferation. Further studies indicated that the activation states of MAPKs were differentially regulated in this process. Specifically, by increasing the expression of downstream genes, p38 MAPK played a central role in non-cytotoxic AgNP-induced hormesis. Moreover, the treatment of HepG2 cells with silver ions (Ag+) at the same dose levels induced distinct biological effects, suggesting that different intrinsic properties exist for AgNPs and Ag+.
Scheduling Mix-flows in Commodity Datacenters with Karuna

Cloud applications generate a mix of flows with and without deadlines. Scheduling such mix-flows is a key challenge; our experiments show that trivially combining existing schemes for deadline/non-deadline flows is problematic. For example, prioritizing deadline flows hurts flow completion time (FCT) for non-deadline flows, with minor improvement for deadline miss rate. We present Karuna, a first systematic solution for scheduling mix-flows. Our key insight is that deadline flows should meet their deadlines while minimally impacting the FCT of non-deadline flows. To achieve this goal, we design a novel Minimal-impact Congestion control Protocol (MCP) that handles deadline flows with as little bandwidth as possible. For non-deadline flows, we extend an existing FCT minimization scheme to schedule flows with known and unknown sizes. Karuna requires no switch modifications and is back- ward compatible with legacy TCP/IP stacks. Our testbed experiments and simulations show that Karuna effectively schedules mix-flows, for example, reducing the 95th percentile FCT of non-deadline flows by up to 47.78% at high load compared to pFabric, while maintaining low (<5.8%) deadline miss rate.
The winner takes it all

We study competing first passage percolation on graphs generated by the configuration model. At time 0, vertex 1 and vertex 2 are infected with the type 1 and the type 2 infection, respectively, and an uninfected vertex then becomes type 1 (2) infected at rate $\lambda_1$ ($\lambda_2$) times the number of edges connecting it to a type 1 (2) infected neighbor. Our main result is that, if the degree distribution is a power-law with exponent $\tau\in(2,3)$, then, as the number of vertices tends to infinity and with high probability, one of the infection types will occupy all but a finite number of vertices. Furthermore, which one of the infections wins is random and both infections have a positive probability of winning regardless of the values of $\lambda_1$ and $\lambda_2$. The picture is similar with multiple starting points for the infections.
Attention to Faces Expressing Negative Emotion at 7 Months Predicts Attachment Security at 14 Months

To investigate potential infant‐related antecedents characterizing later attachment security, this study tested whether attention to facial expressions, assessed with an eye‐tracking paradigm at 7 months of age (N = 73), predicted infant–mother attachment in the Strange Situation Procedure at 14 months. Attention to fearful faces at 7 months predicted attachment security, with a smaller attentional bias to fearful expressions associated with insecure attachment. Attachment disorganization in particular was linked to an absence of the age‐typical attentional bias to fear. These data provide the first evidence linking infants' attentional bias to negative facial expressions with attachment formation and suggest reduced sensitivity to facial expressions of negative emotion as a testable trait that could link attachment disorganization with later behavioral outcomes.
Swarm Cognition on Off-Road Autonomous Robots Pedro Santana LabMAg

This paper contributes with the first validation of swarm cognition as a useful framework for the design of autonomous robots controllers. The proposed model is built upon the authors’ previous work validated on a simulated robot performing local navigation on a two-dimensional deterministic world. Based on the ant foraging metaphor and motivated by the multiple covert attention hypothesis, the model consists of a set of simple virtual agents inhabiting the robot’s visual input, searching in a collectively coordinated way for obstacles. Parsimonious and accurate visual attention, operating on a by-need basis, is attained by making the activity of these agents modulated by the robot’s action selection process. A by-product of the system is the maintenance of active, parallel and sparse spatial working memories. In short, the model exhibits the self-organisation of a relevant set of features composing a cognitive system. To show its robustness, the model is extended in this paper to handle the challenges of physical off-road robots equipped with noisy stereoscopic vision sensors. Furthermore, an extensive aggregate of biological arguments sustaining the model is provided. Experimental results show the ability of the model to robustly control the robot on a local navigation task, with less than 1% of the robot’s visual input being analysed. Hence, with this system the computational cost of perception is considerably reduced, thus fostering robot miniaturisation and energetic efficiency. This confirms the advantages of using a swarm-based system, operating in an intricate way with action selection, to judiciously control visual attention and maintain sparse spatial memories, constituting a basic form of swarm cognition.
Gaze Control as a Marker of Self-other Differentiation: Implications for Sociocognitive Functioning and Close Relationship Quality

An individual`s eyes provide a wealth of information during social interactions. The present research investigates the social adjustment implications of one gaze behaviour, specifically, shared attention, which is the tendency to follow an interlocutor`s directed gaze to attend to the same object or location. Recent clinical research suggested that gaze control reflects the capacity to differentiate self from other at the attentional level, since patient populations with poor gaze control abilities (i.e., schizophrenic patients) were also found to exhibit difficulty in differentiating between the self and another agent. Four studies were conducted to examine whether flexible gaze following behavior, specifically the ability to inhibit gaze-following, when the situation warrants, would be positively linked with two markers of adaptive social functioning: sociocognitive abilities and self-close other(s) differentiation. Based on previous research that gaze cues linked to upright (but not inverted) faces trigger reflexive gaze following mechanisms, an upright face condition was used to assess social cueing mechanisms and an inverted face condition, as a control for non-social cueing mechanisms in a gaze control task with realistic (Study 2) and schematic faces (Studies 1, 3, and 4). Studies 1-4 showed that more flexible gaze following behavior predicted superior sociocognitive abilities, as indexed by higher capacity to infer the mental states of others in both young and older adults (Studies 1-3), as well as in clinical populations (i.e., Parkinson’s Disease [PD] patients, Study 4). Studies 2-4 further revealed that poorer gaze control predicted decreased self-close other differentiation in both younger and older adults. In Study 2, poorer gaze control performance characterized young adults from enmeshed family systems, which allow limited private space and emotional autonomy. In Studies 3 and 4, poorer gaze control predicted decreased cognitive-affective differentiation from one’s spouse and lower marital quality in healthy elderly couples (Study 3) and elderly couples, where one spouse had PD (Study 4). The present findings argue for the existence of a unified sociocognitive network, perpetually shaped by one’s interpersonal history, and which encompasses perceptual mechanisms, specialized for face and gaze processing and higher-order cognitive mechanisms, specialized for processing the meaning (s) of social environments. %%%%PhD
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Observations of GRB 990123 by the Compton gamma ray observatory

GRB 990123 was the Ðrst burst from which simultaneous optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray emission was detected ; its afterglow has been followed by an extensive set of radio, optical, and X-ray observations. We have studied the gamma-ray burst itself as observed by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory detectors. We Ðnd that gamma-ray Ñuxes are not correlated with the simultaneous optical observations and that the gamma-ray spectra cannot be extrapolated simply to the optical Ñuxes. The burst is well Ðtted by the standard four-parameter GRB function, with the exception that excess emission compared with this function is observed below D15 keV during some time intervals. The burst is characterized by the typical hard-to-soft and hardness-intensity correlation spectral evolution patterns. The energy of the peak of the spectrum, reaches an unusually high value during the Ðrst intensity spike, 1470 ^ 110 lfl Ep, keV, and then falls to D300 keV during the tail of the burst. The high-energy spectrum above D1 MeV is consistent with a power law with a photon index of about [3. By Ñuence, GRB 990123 is brighter than all but 0.4% of the GRBs observed with BATSE, clearly placing it on the power-law portion [ 32 of the intensity distribution. However, the redshift measured for the afterglow is inconsistent with the Euclidean interpretation of the power law. Using the redshift value of o1.61 and assuming iso[ 32 tropic emission, the gamma-ray energy exceeds 1054 ergs. Subject headings : gamma rays : bursts È X-rays : bursts
Inhaled Pollutants: The Molecular Scene behind Respiratory and Systemic Diseases Associated with Ultrafine Particulate Matter

Air pollution of anthropogenic origin is largely from the combustion of biomass (e.g., wood), fossil fuels (e.g., cars and trucks), incinerators, landfills, agricultural activities and tobacco smoke. Air pollution is a complex mixture that varies in space and time, and contains hundreds of compounds including volatile organic compounds (e.g., benzene), metals, sulphur and nitrogen oxides, ozone and particulate matter (PM). PM0.1 (ultrafine particles (UFP)), those particles with a diameter less than 100 nm (includes nanoparticles (NP)) are considered especially dangerous to human health and may contribute significantly to the development of numerous respiratory and cardiovascular diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and atherosclerosis. Some of the pathogenic mechanisms through which PM0.1 may contribute to chronic disease is their ability to induce inflammation, oxidative stress and cell death by molecular mechanisms that include transcription factors such as nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2). Epigenetic mechanisms including non-coding RNA (ncRNA) may also contribute towards the development of chronic disease associated with exposure to PM0.1. This paper highlights emerging molecular concepts associated with inhalational exposure to PM0.1 and their ability to contribute to chronic respiratory and systemic disease.