Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fusion Patterns in the Skulls of Modern Archosaurs Reveal That Sutures Are Ambiguous Maturity Indicators for the Dinosauria

The sutures of the skulls of vertebrates are generally open early in life and slowly close as maturity is attained. The assumption that all vertebrates follow this pattern of progressive sutural closure has been used to assess maturity in the fossil remains of non-avian dinosaurs. Here, we test this assumption in two members of the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket of the Dinosauria, the emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae and the American alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, by investigating the sequence and timing of sutural fusion in their skulls. As expected, almost all the sutures in the emu skull progressively close (i.e., they get narrower) and then obliterate during ontogeny. However, in the American alligator, only two sutures out of 36 obliterate completely and they do so during embryonic development. Surprisingly, as maturity progresses, many sutures of alligators become wider in large individuals compared to younger, smaller individuals. Histological and histomorphometric analyses on two sutures and one synchondrosis in an ontogenetic series of American alligator confirmed our morphological observations. This pattern of sutural widening might reflect feeding biomechanics and dietary changes through ontogeny. Our findings show that progressive sutural closure is not always observed in extant archosaurs, and therefore suggest that cranial sutural fusion is an ambiguous proxy for assessing maturity in non-avian dinosaurs.
Evolutionary Process of Deep-Sea Bathymodiolus Mussels

Background Since the discovery of deep-sea chemosynthesis-based communities, much work has been done to clarify their organismal and environmental aspects. However, major topics remain to be resolved, including when and how organisms invade and adapt to deep-sea environments; whether strategies for invasion and adaptation are shared by different taxa or unique to each taxon; how organisms extend their distribution and diversity; and how they become isolated to speciate in continuous waters. Deep-sea mussels are one of the dominant organisms in chemosynthesis-based communities, thus investigations of their origin and evolution contribute to resolving questions about life in those communities. Methodology/Principal Finding We investigated worldwide phylogenetic relationships of deep-sea Bathymodiolus mussels and their mytilid relatives by analyzing nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the concatenated sequence data showed that mussels of the subfamily Bathymodiolinae from vents and seeps were divided into four groups, and that mussels of the subfamily Modiolinae from sunken wood and whale carcasses assumed the outgroup position and shallow-water modioline mussels were positioned more distantly to the bathymodioline mussels. We provisionally hypothesized the evolutionary history of Bathymodilolus mussels by estimating evolutionary time under a relaxed molecular clock model. Diversification of bathymodioline mussels was initiated in the early Miocene, and subsequently diversification of the groups occurred in the early to middle Miocene. Conclusions/Significance The phylogenetic relationships support the “Evolutionary stepping stone hypothesis,” in which mytilid ancestors exploited sunken wood and whale carcasses in their progressive adaptation to deep-sea environments. This hypothesis is also supported by the evolutionary transition of symbiosis in that nutritional adaptation to the deep sea proceeded from extracellular to intracellular symbiotic states in whale carcasses. The estimated evolutionary time suggests that the mytilid ancestors were able to exploit whales during adaptation to the deep sea.
Managers Set the Tone: Equity Incentives and the Tone of Earnings Press Releases

Earnings press releases, as a timely vehicle for communicating a firm’s performance to third parties, can be used by managers to influence the perception of the firm’s achievements. Taking the stock price reaction to the tone of earnings press releases at earnings announcements into account, we argue that equity-based incentives induce managers to inflate the tone. We further posit that the impact of tone on the abnormal stock returns at the earnings announcements depends on the magnitude of the equity-based incentives. Based on over 26,000 earnings press releases of S&P1500 firms between 2004Q4 and 2012Q4, we find that the tone of earnings press releases tends to be more positive when the managerial portfolio value is more closely tied to the firm’s stock price. We also find that investors react proportionally less to the tone as managers’ equity incentives increase.
Effects of Hydrostatic Weight on Heart Rate During Water Immersion

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of hydrostatic weight on the changes in heart rate (HR) observed during water immersion (WI). Ten men underwent the following experimental situations: HRR—recumbent position, outside the water; HRS—standing position, outside the water; HRU—standing position, immersed up to the umbilical scar region; HRUW—standing position, immersed up to the umbilical scar region with the addition of weight to equal force weight reached in the situation standing outside the water, and HREND—standing position outside the water again. The HR was measured at the final 15 seconds of each experimental situation. ANOVA for repeated measures with posthoc Tukey tests were used. No statistically significant difference was found between HRU (60.6 ± 7.7 bpm) and HRUW (64.9 ± 7.7 bpm); however, in the comparison of these two situations with HRS (75.7±7.7 bpm), HRU presented a statistically significant difference, while HRUW did not produce a significant bradycardia. Thus, the decrease in hydrostatic weight, during WI, does not influence the behavior of HR. Humans use water immersion (WI) for relaxation (Oda, Matsumoto, Nagakawa, & Moriya, 1999), physical activity (Alberton, Olkoski, Pinto, Becker, & Kruel, 2007; Silvers, Rutledge, & Dolny, 2007), and as a means for providing medical therapy (Suomi & Collier, 2003; Tovin, Wolf, Greenfield, Crouse, & Woodfin, 1994). Moreover, WI has been used to study human cardiovascular physiology. WI induces various changes in the cardiovascular system including a
Linear systems on generic $K3$ surfaces

Let S be a generic K3 surface (i.e. Pic S is generated by one element H), let P1, . , Pr be general points on S and fix r natural numbers m1, . mr. By L we denote the linear system of curves on S in |dH| (d > 0) which have multiplicities at least mi at Pi for all i = 1, . , r. Define the virtual dimension v of L as dim |dH| − ∑ rimi(mi + 1)/2 and its expected dimension by e = max{v,−1}. Obviously, the dimension l of L is allways bigger or equal to e, and if l > e we say that the system is special.
The relationship between benign joint hypermobility syndrome and psychological distress: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE This study examines the reported evidence of an association between benign joint hypermobility syndrome (BJHS) and psychological symptoms. METHODS A systematic review of published (AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library) and unpublished research databases (OpenGrey, the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, Current Controlled Trials, the UK National Research Register Archive) was performed from their inception to January 2013. Studies assessing the prevalence and incidence of psychological conditions for people diagnosed with BJHS were included. Meta-analysis assessing the odds ratio (OR) and standardized mean difference in severity of psychological conditions was performed. Methodological quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) appraisal tools. RESULTS Fourteen papers including 3957 participants, 1006 people with and 2951 controls without BJHS were eligible. The overall methodological quality was moderate. The results indicated that people with BJHS experience significantly greater perceptions of fear and more intense fear (P < 0.05) and have a higher probability of demonstrating agoraphobia (P < 0.05), anxiety (OR 4.39, 95% CI 1.92, 10.40), depression (OR 4.10, 95% CI 1.79, 9.41) and panic disorders (OR 6.72, 95% CI 2.22, 20.35) than those without BJHS (P ≤ 0.005). Neither anxiety nor depression have been assessed in childhood populations. CONCLUSION People with BJHS commonly exhibit a range of symptoms related to anxiety and depression. Considerable emotional symptoms accompany BJHS. Further study is warranted to explore how these results relate to non-Mediterranean populations and children. However, the data suggest that targeting psychological symptoms could be an important approach to managing the range of symptoms reported in these patients.
Context in Machine Translation

Language is not static. The words we select to convey a concept and the semantics of individual words change based on subject, audience, and one’s cumulative life experience. The wonder of it all is that language is still an effective and meaningful mode of communication. With regard to machine translation, this is a troubling scenario. Computers excel at deterministic tasks; modeling a phenomena as fluid and capricious as language is challenging.
A Monthly Double-blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International E-journal -included in the International Serial Directories International Journal of Management, It and Engineering Soil Resistivity and Earthing System __________________________________________________________ a Monthly Double

Soil resistivity and earthing system plays a key role in generation, transmission and distribution for safe and proper operation of any electric power system. Soil resistivity directly affects the design of a grounding system. When designing an extensive grounding system it is advisable to locate the area of lowest soil resistivity in order to achieve the economical grounding installation. Neither very low resistivity nor very high resistivity is safe for human safety under power system fault conditions. The earthing or grounding is mainly affected by soil resistivity. This study will briefly explain the soil resistivity and earthing system.
Intra-National Versus International Trade: How Stubborn are Nations in Global Integration?

This paper examines the home country bias in the goods market among OECD countries. An average country imports about two and a half times as much from itself as from an otherwise identical foreign country, after controlling for sizes of exporter and importer, their direct distance, geographic positions relative to the rest of the world and a possible linguistic tie. If one believes that the substitutability among goods produced in OECD countries is high, as it seems reasonable, the observed bias implies relatively small non- tariff barriers. Over 1982-94, the home bias of OECD countries as a whole exhibited a slow but steady decline. The bias in a typical member country of the European Community relative to its imports from other member countries showed a fifty percent decline during the period.
Giving is self-rewarding for monkeys

Helping and sharing among humans is often motivated by empathy and accompanied by a sense of satisfaction. To determine whether similar self-rewarding mechanisms may underpin assistance among nonhuman primates, eight female brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) underwent testing in a simple choice paradigm. Paired with a partner, subjects could select either a “selfish” option that rewarded only themselves, or a “prosocial” option that rewarded both of them. Subjects systematically favored the prosocial option provided their partner was a) familiar, b) visible, and c) receiving rewards of equal value. Prosocial tendencies increased with social closeness, being lowest toward strangers and highest toward kin. That the monkeys understood the options was suggested by greater orientation to the partner during prosocial than selfish choices. Prosocial preferences were reduced by inequity, when the partner received a superior reward. If the view between both monkeys was blocked, choices became strikingly selfish. Thus, under certain conditions, delivering benefits to others seems gratifying to nonhuman primates.
Sentence Compression as a Step in Summarization or an Alternative Path in Text Shortening

The originality of this work leads in tackling text compression using an unsupervised method, based on a deep linguistic analysis, and without resorting on a learning corpus. This work presents a system for dependent tree pruning, while preserving the syntactic coherence and the main informational contents, and led to an operational software, named COLIN. Experiment results show that our compressions get honorable satisfaction levels, with a mean compression ratio of 38 %.
Assessment of linear and non-linear EEG synchronization measures for evaluating mild epileptic signal patterns

Epilepsy is one of the most common brain disorders and may result in brain dysfunction and cognitive disturbances. Epileptic seizures usually begin in childhood without being accommodated by brain damage and many drugs produce no brain dysfunction. In this study cognitive function in mild epilepsy cases is evaluated where children with seizures are compared to controls i.e., children with epileptic seizures, without brain damage and under drug control. Two different cognitive tasks were designed and performed by both the epileptic and healthy children: i) a relatively difficult math task and ii) Fractal observation. Under this prism, we investigate seven measures of quantifying synchronous oscillatory activity based on different underlying assumptions. Namely, the most widely used coherence, a coding-based measure known as MDL (Minimum Description Length) and the Geweke alternative, a robust phase coupling measure known as PLV (Phase Locking Value), a cortical synchrony measure defined from the embedding dimension in state-space called S-estimator, a reliable way of assessing generalized synchronization also in state-space and an unbiased alternative called Synchronization likelihood. Assessment was performed in three stages; initially the methods were validated on coupled nonlinear oscillators, secondly surrogate data testing was performed to assess the possible nonlinear nature of the acquired EEGs and finally synchronization on the actual data was measured. The results on the actual data suggest higher frequency band gamma2 was mostly apparent in occipitalparietal lobes during fractal tests. Manuscript received June 30, 2006. This work was supported in part by the EC IST project BIOPATTERN, Contract No: 508803. The work of C.D. Giurcăneanu and Y. Yang was supported by Academy of Finland, project No. 213462 (Finnish Centre of Excellence Program 2006-2011). V. Sakkalis is with the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania 73100 and the Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology, Heraklion 71110, Greece (+30-281-0391448; fax: +30-281-0391609; e-mail: sakkalis@ics.forth.gr). C.D. Giurcăneanu and Y. Yang are with the Institute of Signal Processing, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere FIN-33101, Finland (e-mail: ciprian.giurcaneanu@tut.fi, yinghua yang @tut.fi). P. Xanthopoulos and M. Zervakis are with the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania 73100, Greece (e-mail: petros@danai.systems.tuc.gr, michalis@systems.tuc.gr). V. Tsiaras is with the Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology, Heraklion, Greece and the Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion 71409, Greece (email:tsiaras@ics.forth.gr). S. Micheloyannis is with the Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory (L. Widen), Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion 71409, Greece (e-mail: michelogj@med.uoc.gr).
Analysis of the tuning sensitivity of silicon-on-insulator optical ring resonators

High-quality-factor optical ring resonators have recently been fabricated in thin silicon-on-insulator (SOI). Practical applications of such devices will require careful tuning of the precise location of the resonance peaks. In particular, one often wants to maximize the resonance shift due to the presence of an active component and minimize the resonance shift due to temperature changes. This paper presents a semianalytic formalism that allows the prediction of such resonance shifts from the waveguide geometry. This paper also presents the results of experiments that show the tuning behavior of several ring resonators and find that the proposed semianalytic formalism agrees with the observed behavior.
Wavefront Derived Refraction and Full Eye Biometry in Pseudophakic Eyes

Purpose To assess wavefront derived refraction and full eye biometry including ciliary muscle dimension and full eye axial geometry in pseudophakic eyes using spectral domain OCT equipped with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. Methods Twenty-eight adult subjects (32 pseudophakic eyes) having recently undergone cataract surgery were enrolled in this study. A custom system combining two optical coherence tomography systems with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor was constructed to image and monitor changes in whole eye biometry, the ciliary muscle and ocular aberration in the pseudophakic eye. A Badal optical channel and a visual target aligning with the wavefront sensor were incorporated into the system for measuring the wavefront-derived refraction. The imaging acquisition was performed twice. The coefficients of repeatability (CoR) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated. Results Images were acquired and processed successfully in all patients. No significant difference was detected between repeated measurements of ciliary muscle dimension, full-eye biometry or defocus aberration. The CoR of full-eye biometry ranged from 0.36% to 3.04% and the ICC ranged from 0.981 to 0.999. The CoR for ciliary muscle dimensions ranged from 12.2% to 41.6% and the ICC ranged from 0.767 to 0.919. The defocus aberrations of the two measurements were 0.443 ± 0.534 D and 0.447 ± 0.586 D and the ICC was 0.951. Conclusions The combined system is capable of measuring full eye biometry and refraction with good repeatability. The system is suitable for future investigation of pseudoaccommodation in the pseudophakic eye.
Predicting tumour response

Abstract Response prediction is an important emerging concept in oncologic imaging, with tailored, individualized treatment regimens increasingly becoming the standard of care. This review aims to define tumour response and illustrate the ways in which imaging techniques can demonstrate tumour biological characteristics that provide information on the likely benefit to be received by treatment. Two imaging approaches are described: identification of therapeutic targets and depiction of the treatment-resistant phenotype. The former approach is exemplified by the use of radionuclide imaging to confirm target expression before radionuclide therapy but with angiogenesis imaging and imaging correlates for genetic response predictors also demonstrating potential utility. Techniques to assess the treatment-resistant phenotype include demonstration of hypoperfusion with dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), depiction of necrosis with diffusion-weighted MRI, imaging of hypoxia and tumour adaption to hypoxia, and 99mTc-MIBI imaging of P-glycoprotein mediated drug resistance. To date, introduction of these techniques into clinical practice has often been constrained by inadequate cross-validation of predictive criteria and lack of verification against appropriate response end points such as survival. With further refinement, imaging predictors of response could play an important role in oncology, contributing to individualization of therapy based on the specific tumour phenotype. This ability to predict tumour response will have implications for improving efficacy of treatment, cost-effectiveness and omission of futile therapy.
Cooperative Robust Estimation Using Layers of Support

We present an approach to the problem of representing images that contain multiple objects or surfaces. Rather than using an edge-based approach to represent the segmentation of a scene, we propose a multilayer estimation framework which uses support maps to represent the segmentation of the image into homogeneous chunks. This support-based approach can represent objects that are split into disjoint regions, or have surfaces that are transparently interleaved. Our framework is based on an extension of robust estimation methods that provide a theoretical basis for support-based estimation. We use a selection criteria derived from the minimum description length principle to decide how many support maps to use in describing an image. Our method has been applied to a number of different domains, including the decomposition of range images into constituent objects, the segmentation of image sequences into homogeneous higher-order motion fields, and the separation of tracked motion features into distinct rigid-body motions. >
Evaluation of the Effects of Pinus koraiensis Needle Extracts on Serum Lipid and Oxidative Stress in Adults with Borderline Dyslipidemia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Background. Dyslipidemia has been well-known as a common metabolic disorder contributing to cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the Pinus koraiensis needle extracts (PKE) on the blood cholesterol and oxidative stress. Method. We conducted a 12-week randomized, double-blinded controlled trial to examine the effect of PKE on blood lipid profiles in adults with borderline dyslipidemia. Thirty-three eligible persons were recruited and randomly assigned into PKE (n = 20) and placebo groups (n = 13). Serum lipids including total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein- (LDL-) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein- (HDL-) cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein- (VLDL-) cholesterol, and triglyceride were measured before and after trial. Serum insulin, glucose, and antioxidant indicators were also analyzed before and after trial and anthropometry and blood pressure were measured every 4 weeks. Results. After 12 weeks, PKE statically significant decreases in systolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) and waist circumference (p < 0.05) were observed. Also, VLDL-cholesterol significantly decreased (from 24.4 ± 10.0 mg/dL at baseline to 18.4 ± 4.1 mg/dL after 12 weeks) (p < 0.05) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased (6.12 ± 0.41 U/mL to 9.06 ± 0.62 U/mL) (p < 0.01) in PKE group. However, after adjustment with WC, VLDL-cholesterol was not significant between groups (p = 0.095) and while SOD remained significant between groups (p = 0.013). Conclusion. The results show that PKE was effective in improving the superoxide dismutase in the individuals with borderline dyslipidemia.
Do Lower Caseloads Improve the Performance of Public Employment Services? New Evidence from German Employment Offices

The caseworker-to-clients ratio is an important, but understudied, policy parameter that affects both the quality and cost of public employment services that help job seekers find employment. We exploit a large-scale pilot by Germany's employment agency that hired 490 additional caseworkers in 14 of its 779 offices. We find that lowering caseloads caused a decrease in the rate and duration of local unemployment as well as a higher re-employment rate. Disentangling the mechanisms that contributed to this improvement, we find that offices with lowered caseloads increased monitoring and imposed more sanctions but also intensified search efforts and registered additional vacancies.