Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The complete mitochondrial genome of Pseudobagrus pratti and its phylogeny

Abstract Pseudobagrus pratti is a unique freshwater fish and mainly distributed in the Yangtze River and Pearl River systems. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of P. pratti was first determined. The total length of the complete mitochondrial genome is 16,533 bp, contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, one D-loop locus, and an origin of replication on the light-strand (OL). The overall nucleotide composition was 31.55% A, 26.76% T, 26.78% C, 14.91% G, with 58.31% AT, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis both highly supported that P. pratti showed a close relationship with P. ussuriensis and P. emarginatus. These data would contribute to elucidate the evolutionary mechanisms and biogeography of Pseudobagrus and is useful for the conservation of genetics and stock evaluation for P. pratti.
Sparse Signal Recovery via ECME Thresholding Pursuits

The emerging theory of compressive sensing (CS) provides a new sparse signal processing paradigm for reconstructing sparse signals from the undersampled linear measurements. Recently, numerous algorithms have been developed to solve convex optimization problems for CS sparse signal recovery. However, in some certain circumstances, greedy algorithms exhibit superior performance than convex methods. This paper is a followup to the recent paper of Wang and Yin (2010), who refine BP reconstructions via iterative support detection (ISD). The heuristic idea of ISD was applied to greedy algorithms. We developed two approaches for accelerating the ECME iteration. The described algorithms, named ECME thresholding pursuits (EMTP), introduced two greedy strategies that each iteration detects a support set I by thresholding the result of the ECME iteration and estimates the reconstructed signal by solving a truncated least-squares problem on the support set I. Two effective support detection strategies are devised for the sparse signals with components having a fast decaying distribution of nonzero components. The experimental studies are presented to demonstrate that EMTP offers an appealing alternative to state-of-the-art algorithms for sparse signal recovery.
Victimization, Fear of Crime, and Trust in Criminal Justice Institutions: A Cross-National Analysis

Prior studies demonstrate that victimization and fear of crime independently affect criminal justice attitudes, but few have examined trust in criminal justice institutions. In addition, research has been primarily confined to the United States. Using data from the AmericasBarometer survey collected in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, the current study investigates the direct and indirect effects of criminal victimization and fear of crime on (a) perceived fairness of the courts, (b) trust in the police, and (c) overall trust in the criminal justice system. Results show that while the direct effects of victimization are mixed across countries and outcomes, fear of crime consistently mediates the effects of victimization on trust in criminal justice institutions.
Evidence from beta-tubulin phylogeny that microsporidia evolved from within the fungi.

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites that were thought to be an ancient eukaryotic lineage based on molecular phylogenies using ribosomal RNA and translation elongation factors. However, this ancient origin of microsporidia has been contested recently, as several other molecular phylogenies suggest that microsporidia are closely related to fungi. Most of the protein trees that place microsporidia with fungi are not well sampled, however, and it is impossible to resolve whether microsporidia evolved from a fungus or from a protistan relative of fungi. We have sequenced beta-tubulins from 3 microsporidia, 4 chytrid fungi, and 12 zygomycete fungi, expanding the representation of beta-tubulin to include all four fungal divisions and a wide diversity of microsporidia. In phylogenetic trees including these new sequences, the overall topology of the fungal beta-tubulins generally matched the expected relationships among the four fungal divisions, although the zygomycetes were polyphyletic in some analyses. The microsporidia consistently fell within this fungal diversification, and not as a sister group to fungi. Overall, beta-tubulin phylogeny suggests that microsporidia evolved from a fungus sometime after the divergence of chytrids. We also found that chytrid alpha- and beta-tubulins are much less divergent than are tubulins from other fungi or microsporidia. In trees in which the only fungal representatives were the chytrids, microsporidia still branched with fungi (i.e., with chytrids), suggesting that the affiliation between microsporidian and fungal tubulins is not an artifact of long-branch attraction.
White blood cell count of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma at the time of diagnosis: a cross-sectional retrospective study of a population from southern Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To describe sociodemographic variables and verify changes in white blood cells of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). METHODS: Cross-sectional retrospective study that used secondary data of patients with OSCC, attended at the Oral Medicine Service of the School of Dentistry of ULBRA, between 2010 and 2014.RESULTS: 87.3% of the population were male, white (71%), age superior to 60 years (38.7%), urban worker (61.3%), without changing in the overall health at query time (67.7%) and residents of the municipality of Canoas/RS (93.6%). The most prevalent injuries sites were the buccal floor, alveolar ridge, corners of the mouth and gums (61.3%). 74.2% of the sample were smokers and 45.2% drinkers. As for the WBC, most patients presented values within the normal range: total leukocytes (77.4%), lymphocytes (87.1%) and neutrophils (96.8%). CONCLUSION: The profile of the sample was consistent with literature: white males over the age of 40 years, smokers/former-smokers and alcoholics/ex-alcoholics. The patients did not show changes in the white blood cells (leukogram) values. It is recommended that more research should be conducted in this area of knowledge, due to the importance of the subject.
Groundwater‐transported dissolved organic nitrogen exports from coastal watersheds

We analyzed groundwater‐transported nitrogen (N) exports from 41 watershed segments that comprised 10 Cape Cod, Massachusetts watersheds to test the hypotheses that chemical form of N exports is related to land use and to length of flow paths through watersheds. In the absence of human habitation, these glacial outwash‐plain watersheds exported largely dissolved organic N (DON) but at relatively low annual rate. Addition of people to watersheds increased rates of both total dissolved N (TDN) and DON export through groundwater. Percent of TDN as DON in groundwater was negatively related to path length of groundwater through aquifers, but %DON was not significantly related to population density on the watersheds. DON was often the dominant form of N exported from the watersheds, even at high population densities. Our results suggest that natural sources are not entirely responsible for organic N exports from watersheds, but, instead, a substantial portion of anthropogenic N introduced to watersheds is exported as DON. This finding is in disagreement with previous results, which suggest that anthropogenic N is exported from watersheds largely as NO3‐ and that DON exported from watersheds is from natural sources.
Acquirer-Target Social Ties and Merger Outcomes

This article investigates the effect of social ties between acquirers and targets on merger performance. We find that the extent of cross-firm social connection between directors and senior executives at the acquiring and the target firms has a significantly negative effect on the abnormal returns to the acquirer and to the combined entity upon merger announcement. Moreover, acquirer-target social ties significantly increase the likelihood that the target firm׳s chief executive officer (CEO) and a larger fraction of the target firm׳s pre-acquisition board of directors remain on the board of the combined firm after the merger. In addition, we find that acquirer CEOs are more likely to receive bonuses and are more richly compensated for completing mergers with targets that are highly connected to the acquiring firms, that acquisitions are more likely to take place between two firms that are well connected to each other through social ties, and that such acquisitions are more likely to subsequently be divested for performance-related reasons. Taken together, our results suggest that social ties between the acquirer and the target lead to poorer decision making and lower value creation for shareholders overall.
Faculty's acceptance of computer based technology: Cross-validation of an extended model

The first aim of the present study is to validate an extended technology acceptance model (TAME) on the data derived from the faculty members of a university in an ongoing, computer mediated work setting. The study extended the original TAM model by including an intrinsic motivation component - computer self efficacy. In so doing, the study assessed the direct and indirect effects of computer self efficacy on the use of the technology, via the perceived usefulness and intention to use the technology voluntarily. The second purpose of the study is to evaluate gender and age invariants of the causal structure of TAME. This cross-validation procedure determined whether gender and age group moderated the causal structure of the model, and thus the generality of TAME. The data were collected from a self reported questionnaire administered to 731 faculty members of a public university in Malaysia. The results of structural equation modeling supported the adequacy of TAME. Although the TAME's causal structure was applicable to both male and female staff, age group appeared to moderate the structural relationships among the constructs of interest.
Inhibition of Xenografted Human Melanoma Growth and Prevention of Metastasis Development by Dual Antiangiogenic/Antitumor Activities of Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor

Human melanoma mortality is associated with the growth of metastasis in selected organs including the lungs, liver, and brain. In this study, we examined the consequences of overexpression of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), a neurotrophic factor and potent angiogenesis inhibitor, on both melanoma primary tumor growth and metastasis development. PEDF overexpression by melanoma cells greatly inhibited subcutaneous tumor formation and completely prevented lung and liver metastasis in immunocompromised mice after tail vein injection of metastatic human melanoma cell lines. Whereas the effects of PEDF on primary tumor xenografts appear mostly associated with inhibition of the angiogenic tumor response, abrogation of melanoma metastasis appears to depend on direct PEDF effects on both migration and survival of melanoma cells. PEDF-mediated inhibition of melanoma metastases could thus have a major impact on existing therapies for melanoma.
Application of the LGBTQ Responsive Model for the Supervision of Group Work to the Supervision of Classroom Curricula

This article presents findings from a study extending previous research of the LGBTQ Responsive Model for Supervision of Group Work, applied to supervision of classroom guidance developed to meet the needs of first feneration college students (FGCS). Two group supervision sessions were quantitatively analyzed for frequency of interventions across 3 dimensions: group level, role, and focus. The sample included 2 school counselor educators/supervisors and 11 graduate student school counselors in training (SCIT). Findings suggest that group supervisors of SCIT practicing classroom guidance may use entry points, role, and focus combinations similar to past research focused on supervisors of SCIT practicing group work, and that the whole group level (n = 131) is the predominant entry point for group supervision of SCIT. Supervisors intervened most frequently from the teacher role (n = 108), and most often targeted conceptualization (n = 88) as the focus of interventions. The most frequently used group level-role-focus combination found in this study was Whole group—Teacher—Conceptualization (n = 39). Findings of the study are discussed in light of current school counselor supervision literature, and implications for school counselor training are discussed.
Coordinate Release of ATP and GABA at In VitroSynapses of Lateral Hypothalamic Neurons

Autonomic and limbic information is integrated within the lateral hypothalamus (LH), and excitability of LH neurons is important in the control of feeding and behavioral arousal. Despite the prominent expression of P2X-type ATP receptors throughout the hypothalamus, the role of ATP in LH excitability is not known. Perforated-patch-clamp recordings of synaptically coupled neurons from both embryonic chick and postnatal mouse lateral hypothalamus in vitro reveal robust stimulus-evoked purinergic synaptic transmission. Suprathreshold activation elicits reliable and concurrent release of ATP with GABA. Tetrodotoxin-resistant P2X receptor-mediated events are readily observed at LH synapses from the embryonic chick, whereas GABA miniature postsynaptic currents (mPSCs) are recorded in innervated LH neurons from either embryonic chicks or postnatal mice. Two distinct mPSCs are recorded at ATP–GABA cosynapses; one has a monoexponential decay phase and is modulated by flunitrazepam, and the other has a decay phase that is best fit by a sum of two exponential functions (τfast and τslow), and only the τslow component is affected by flunitrazepam. Bicuculline does not completely inhibit all mPSCs. The remaining bicuculline-resistant mPSCs are blocked by suramin, and their decay phase is briefer than that of GABAergic mPSCs. Furthermore, at a holding potential intermediate for the reversal potentials of GABAA and P2X receptors, little or no current is observed, consistent with concomitant release (and detection) of GABA and ATP. Together, our data suggest that a subset of spontaneous and evoked PSCs arise from the concurrent activation of both GABAA and P2X receptors.
RIGID COHOMOLOGY AND INVARIANT CYCLES FOR A SEMISTABLE LOG SCHEME

Introduction. Let k be a perfect field of characteristic p > 0. We indicate by W the ring of Witt vectors of k and by K0 its quotient field. The study of cohomological theories, like rigid or crystalline cohomology, encounters some problems when applied to singular k-varieties. In this paper, we deal with the rigid cohomology of a particular type of singular k-varieties. Recently, a new theory, “log-crystalline” cohomology, has provided a way to associate to a proper, semistable (k,L)–log scheme (Y,M) the cohomology groups
DoA Estimation Via Manifold Separation for Arbitrary Array Structures

In this paper, we consider the manifold separation technique (MST), which stems from the wavefield modeling formalism developed for array processing. MST is a method for modeling the steering vector of antenna arrays of practical interest with arbitrary 2-D or 3-D geometry. It is the product of a sampling matrix (dependent on the antenna array only) and a Vandermonde structured coefficients vector depending on the wavefield only. This allows fast direction-of-arrival (DoA) algorithms designed for linear arrays to be used on arrays with arbitrary configuration. In real-world applications, the calibration measurements used to determine the sampling matrix are corrupted by noise. This impairs the performance of MST-based algorithms. In particular, we study the effect of noisy calibration measurements on subspace-based DoA algorithms using MST. Expressions describing the error in the DoA estimates due to calibration noise and truncation are derived. This allows predicting the performance of MST-based algorithms in real-world applications. The analysis is verified by simulations. We established a link between the optimal number of selected modes and the statistics of calibration noise. We analyze the modeling error when MST is used for 1-D (azimuth) DoA estimation.
Community belongingness and subjective well-being among unemployed people in a Finnish community

Purpose Community belongingness (CB) has been found to be positively associated with subjective well-being (SWB). Scholars have verified this connection with different social groups. In the present study, the authors are interested in the group of unemployed people and compare their situation to employed people. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether a sense of community belonging prevents negative impacts of unemployment on SWB. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a survey conducted in 2016. The data consists of 830 respondents from which 723 had the labor market status (LMS) of employed people and 107 had the LMS of unemployed people. Findings The results of this study show that there are both positive and negative factors which support or weaken CB. Interpersonal trust supports the sense of community belonging of individuals, but loneliness weakens their CB. However, unemployed people have a lower rate of CB and SWB comparing to employed people. Furthermore, CB is positively associated with SWB, but this connection is conditional in order that a high rate of CB buffers the negative impacts of unemployment. Originality/value The study emphasizes the significance of CB as a basis of SWB. On the other hand, the negative impacts of unemployment can be mitigated by supporting integration of unemployed people into social communities. From a sociopolitical view, the results underline the fact that governmental measurements promote the social inclusion of unemployed people.
Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in disease

There is growing evidence that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is associated with the pathogenesis of both intestinal and extra-intestinal disorders. Intestinal disorders include inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and coeliac disease, while extra-intestinal disorders include allergy, asthma, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. In many of these conditions, the mechanisms leading to disease development involves the pivotal mutualistic relationship between the colonic microbiota, their metabolic products, and the host immune system. The establishment of a ‘healthy’ relationship early in life appears to be critical to maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Whilst we do not yet have a clear understanding of what constitutes a ‘healthy’ colonic microbiota, a picture is emerging from many recent studies identifying particular bacterial species associated with a healthy microbiota. In particular, the bacterial species residing within the mucus layer of the colon, either through direct contact with host cells, or through indirect communication via bacterial metabolites, may influence whether host cellular homeostasis is maintained or whether inflammatory mechanisms are triggered. In addition to inflammation, there is some evidence that perturbations in the gut microbiota is involved with the development of colorectal cancer. In this case, dysbiosis may not be the most important factor, rather the products of interaction between diet and the microbiome. High-protein diets are thought to result in the production of carcinogenic metabolites from the colonic microbiota that may result in the induction of neoplasia in the colonic epithelium. Ever more sensitive metabolomics methodologies reveal a suite of small molecules produced in the microbiome which mimic or act as neurosignallers or neurotransmitters. Coupled with evidence that probiotic interventions may alter psychological endpoints in both humans and in rodent models, these data suggest that CNS-related co-morbidities frequently associated with GI disease may originate in the intestine as a result of microbial dysbiosis. This review outlines the current evidence showing the extent to which the gut microbiota contributes to the development of disease. Based on evidence to date, we can assess the potential to positively modulate the composition of the colonic microbiota and ameliorate disease activity through bacterial intervention.
HARDWARE-ASSISTED DEBUGGING AND ANALYSIS OF PARALLEL PROGRAMS

A strained quantum well type semiconductor laser device is disclosed to comprise a plurality of layers including a quantum well active layer formed on a semiconductor substrate characterized in that tensile strained quantum well layers and compression strained barrier layers are stacked alternately to form said quantum well active layer and the quantum well layers are made of either InGaAs or InGaAsP and InP, when the semiconductor substrate is made of InP, InGaP or GaAs, respectively.
Can you put your finger on it? The effects of writing modality on Finnish students’ recollection

ABSTRACT Digitalisation has changed and broadened the ways people write. In higher education, typing is a common practice both for note-taking and for completing written assignments, relegating pen and paper to the last millennium. The cognitive and educational implications of this change, however, require further investigation. We assessed how three different methods of writing short stories affect students’ subsequent memory retrieval. In a within-subjects design, Finnish students (n = 31) from the University of Lapland transcribed dictated stories using a pencil, a computer keyboard and a virtual touchscreen keyboard. The degree of recollection for each writing task was analysed 30 min after the session and then one week later. The main result is that handwriting led to significantly better recollection after both time delays. This corroborates and extends the findings reported in previous studies, and it calls for further research on writing methods and long-term memory. Additionally, as writing modality seems to affect recollection, reconsideration of instruction practices in higher education is suggested. Typing is the students’ main method of writing and better typing competence can yield multiple benefits for them, including facilitating their academic work and enhancing the recollection of their own work.
Navigating the Political Landscape of Australian Criminal Justice Reform: Senior Policy-makers on Alternatives to Incarceration

Abstract Political ideology and populism are often thought to be major impediments to criminal justice reform. Our research has attempted to deconstruct these ideas so that the robustness of the ‘punitive turn’ in criminal justice policy can be better understood. This article reports upon in-depth interviews conducted with five very senior criminal justice policy-makers, each of whom was broadly sympathetic to reforming criminal justice policy to achieve the goal of lower incarceration levels. The interviews reveal that these policy-makers conceived of prison reform primarily in terms of political risk, especially when reform was related to the adoption of prison alternatives and models that focus on ‘decarceration’. Furthermore, policymakers' perceptions of political risk were intricately bound up with concerns about potential public policy and program failure. This research indicates the need to develop political will for reform, alongside the further development of the myriad evaluation and policy development processes required to enable successful reform in the criminal justice space.