Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dancing Bees Improve Colony Foraging Success as Long-Term Benefits Outweigh Short-Term Costs

Waggle dancing bees provide nestmates with spatial information about high quality resources. Surprisingly, attempts to quantify the benefits of this encoded spatial information have failed to find positive effects on colony foraging success under many ecological circumstances. Experimental designs have often involved measuring the foraging success of colonies that were repeatedly switched between oriented dances versus disoriented dances (i.e. communicating vectors versus not communicating vectors). However, if recruited bees continue to visit profitable food sources for more than one day, this procedure would lead to confounded results because of the long-term effects of successful recruitment events. Using agent-based simulations, we found that spatial information was beneficial in almost all ecological situations. Contrary to common belief, the benefits of recruitment increased with environmental stability because benefits can accumulate over time to outweigh the short-term costs of recruitment. Furthermore, we found that in simulations mimicking previous experiments, the benefits of communication were considerably underestimated (at low food density) or not detected at all (at medium and high densities). Our results suggest that the benefits of waggle dance communication are currently underestimated and that different experimental designs, which account for potential long-term benefits, are needed to measure empirically how spatial information affects colony foraging success.
Online Advertising and Privacy

An online platform auctions an advertising slot. Several advertisers compete in the auction, and consumers differ in their preferences. Prior to the auction, the platform decides whether to allow advertisers to access information about consumers (disclosure) or not (privacy). Disclosure improves the match between advertisers and consumers but increases product prices, even without price-discrimination. We provide conditions under which disclosure or privacy is privately and/or socially optimal. When advertisers compete on the downstream market, disclosure can lead to an increase or a decrease in product prices depending on the nature of the information.
Pulse solutions of the cubic-quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation in the case of normal dispersion

Time-localized solitary wave solutions of the one-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation ~CGLE! are analyzed for the case of normal group-velocity dispersion. Exact soliton solutions are found for both the cubic and the quintic CGLE. The stability of these solutions is investigated numerically. The regions in the parameter space in which stable pulselike solutions of the quintic CGLE exist are numerically determined. These regions contain subspaces where analytical solutions may be found. An investigation of the role of group-velocity dispersion changes in magnitude and sign on the spectral and temporal characteristics of the stable pulse solutions is also carried out. @S1063-651X~97! 10504-9#
Large-cell renormalisation group for the backbone problem in percolation

The authors give a position-space renormalisation group treatment of percolation backbones. Introducing a ghost field which couples only to backbone bonds, this problem is placed on the same conceptual footing as pure percolation. This framework allows one to apply scaling arguments to obtain all the exponents from the scaling powers yp and yh; these in turn are calculated from the renormalisation group using large cells.
Effects of drought on nitrogen turnover and abundances of ammonia-oxidizers in mountain grassland

Future climate scenarios suggest an increased frequency of summer drought periods in the European Alpine Region. Drought can affect soil nitrogen (N) cycling, by altering N transformation rates, as well as the abundances of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea. However, the extent to which drought affects N cycling under in situ conditions is still controversial. The goal of this study was to analyse effects of drought on soil N turnover and ammonia-oxidizer abundances in soil without drought history. To this end we conducted rain-exclusion experiments at two differently managed mountain grassland sites, an annually mown and occasionally fertilized meadow and an abandoned grassland. Soils were sampled before, during and after drought and were analysed for potential gross rates of N mineralization, microbial uptake of inorganic N, nitrification, and the abundances of bacterial and archaeal ammonia-oxidizers based on gene copy numbers of the amoA gene (AOB and AOA, respectively). Drought induced different responses at the two studied sites. At the managed meadow drought increased NH 4 + immobilization rates and NH 4 + concentrations in the soil water solution, but led to a reduction of AOA abundance compared to controls. At the abandoned site gross nitrification and NO 3 − immobilization rates decreased during drought, while AOB and AOA abundances remained stable. Rewetting had only minor, short-term effects on the parameters that had been affected by drought. Seven weeks after the end of drought no differences to control plots could be detected. Thus, our findings demonstrated that in mountain grasslands drought had distinct transient effects on soil nitrogen cycling and ammonia-oxidizers, which could have been related to a niche differentiation of AOB and AOA with increasing NH 4 + levels. However, the effect strength of drought was modulated by grassland management.
(Ir)Relevance of Currency Crisis Theory to the Devaluation and Collapse of the Thai Baht

This paper provides a detailed study of the crisis in Thailand with the goal of determining the usefulness of existing currency crisis theory to the breakdown of the baht's de facto dollar peg in 1997-98. We do not attempt to provide a comprehensive survey of the currency crisis literature; nor do we add directly to the empirical and theoretical literatures on currency crises. Rather, our goal in this paper is to examine, through the lens of the existing currency crisis literature, the sequence of events culminating with the devaluation of the Thai baht in July 2, 1997 and the financial and economic collapse thereafter. But why do we concentrate on Thailand in particular? First, the devaluation of the baht is widely acknowledged as the dawn of the East Asian crisis. Second, and in relation to this, given that Thailand was the first domino to fall, there seems to be greater debate/disagreement as to whether the Thai crisis was 'fundamentals-based' or due to 'self-fulfilling expectations'. Given our emphasis on Thailand, we do not address the issue of the reasons for the widening and deepening of the crisis from Thailand to the rest of East Asia and beyond (i.e. 'contagion').
Macroprolactin reactivities in prolactin assays: an issue for clinical laboratories and equipment manufacturers.

Macroprolactin is a complex of prolactin with immunoglobulin (IgG) that in vivo appears to have limited or no biological activity, possibly because of the failure of the high-molecular weight complex to cross capillary walls (1). The predominant form of prolactin in serum in the general population is monomeric prolactin, but the prevalence of macroprolactin in serum is not known. However, when samples with increased prolactin are further investigated, it has been reported that up to 26% of these samples contain macroprolactin as the predominant form (2)(3). Immunoassays for prolactin have variable reactivity with macroprolactin; therefore, its presence should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hyperprolactinemia. This clinical problem is illustrated by the following two patients who were referred, from the same local hospital, to our endocrine center for the investigation of hyperprolactinemia. ### Clinical case 1. A 38-year-old female volunteer in a clinical trial had serum prolactin concentrations of 1168–1748 mIU/L (reference interval <420 mIU/L) on three occasions at her …
Evolutionary Psychology and Human Reasoning: Testing the Domain-Specificity Hypothesis through Wason Selection Task

The better performance in the selection task with deontic rules, compared to the descriptive version, has been interpreted by evolutionary psychologists as the evidence that human reasoning has been shaped to deal with either global or specific deontic norms. An alternative hypothesis is that the two types of rules have been embedded in two different forms of reasoning, about and from a rule, the former demanding more complex cognitive processes. In a between-subjects study with 640 participants we manipulated the content of the rule (deontic vs. social contract vs. precaution vs. descriptive) and the type of task (reasoning about, traditionally associated to indicative tasks, vs. reasoning from, traditionally associated to deontic tasks). Results showed that the better performance is independent of the content of the rule and is associated to the "reasoning from" task.
Option Trading and the Relation Between Price and Earnings: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

SYNOPSIS AND INTRODUCTION: Prior research suggests that option trading affects the availability and timeliness of predisclosure information about firms and that the price-earnings relation is influenced by characteristics of the predisclosure information environment. Motivated by these research findings, this study (1) examines various firm-specific attributes that are likely to explain the different information environments of firms with and without exchange-traded options, and (2) investigates the priceearnings relation of such firms. The price-earnings relation is examined in both "event study" (short-window) and "association study" (long-window) contexts. The short-window analysis tests the hypothesis that the "surprise" in quarterly earnings reports (measured by the abnormal stock return variability around earnings announcements) is greater for nonoption firms than for option firms (hypoth. Hi). The long-window analysis tests the hypothesis that security prices signal future earnings changes earlier for option firms than for nonoption firms (hypoth. H2A). The hypothesis also predicts that nonoption firms are more likely than option firms to exhibit post-FYE (fiscal year-end) drift (hypoth. H2B). The results indicate that option firms are associated with five firmspecific attributes: (1) larger firm size, (2) higher institutional concentration, (3) higher analyst coverage, (4) higher trading volume, and (5) more Wall Street Journal Index news releases. Based on 3,721 quarterly earnings announcements of 431 firms during the 1980-1983 period, the results support the first hypothesis; abnormal return variability surrounding quarterly earn
Deep Learning with Separable Convolutions

We present an interpretation of Inception modules in convolutional neural networks as being an intermediate step in-between regular convolution and the recently introduced “separable convolution” operation. In this light, a separable convolution can be understood as an Inception module with a maximally large number of towers. This observation leads us to propose a novel deep convolutional neural network architecture inspired by Inception, where Inception modules have been replaced with separable convolutions. We show that this architecture, dubbed Xception, slightly outperforms Inception V3 on the ImageNet dataset (which Inception V3 was designed for), and significantly outperforms Inception V3 on a larger image classification dataset comprising 350 million images and 17,000 classes. Since the Xception architecture has the same number of parameter as Inception V3, the performance gains are not due to increased capacity but rather to a more efficient use of model parameters.
Dried Blood Spot Testing for Seven Steroids Using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry With Reference Interval Determination in the Korean Population

Background Conventional screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) using immunoassays generates a large number of false-positive results. A more specific liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method has been introduced to minimize unnecessary follow-ups. However, because of limited data on its use in the Korean population, LC-MS/MS has not yet been incorporated into newborn screening programs in this region. The present study aims to develop and validate an LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of seven steroids in dried blood spots (DBS) for CAH screening, and to define age-specific reference intervals in the Korean population. Methods We developed and validated an LC-MS/MS method to determine the reference intervals of cortisol, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, 11-deoxycortisol, 21-deoxycortisol, androstenedione, corticosterone, and 11-deoxycorticosterone simultaneously in 453 DBS samples. The samples were from Korean subjects stratified by age group (78 full-term neonates, 76 premature neonates, 89 children, and 100 adults). Results The accuracy, precision, matrix effects, and extraction recovery were satisfactory for all the steroids at three concentrations; values of intra- and inter-day precision coefficients of variance, bias, and recovery were 0.7-7.7%, -1.5-9.8%, and 49.3-97.5%, respectively. The linearity range was 1-100 ng/mL for cortisol and 0.5-50 ng/mL for other steroids (R2>0.99). The reference intervals were in agreement with the previous reports. Conclusions This LC-MS/MS method and the reference intervals validated in the Korean population can be successfully applied to analyze seven steroids in DBS for the diagnosis of CAH.
Conditioning Increases the Gain of Contraction-Induced Sarcolemmal Substrate Transport in Ultra-Endurance Racing Sled Dogs

Endurance exercise relies on transsarcolemmal flux of substrates in order to avoid depletion of intramuscular reserves. Previous studies of endurance trained sled dogs have shown a remarkable capacity of these dogs to adapt rapidly to endurance exercise by decreasing the utilization of intramuscular reserves. The current study tested the hypothesis that the dogs' glycogen-sparing phenotype is due to increased sarcolemmal transport of glucose and fatty acids. Basal and exercise-induced transport of glucose and fatty acids into sarcolemmal vesicles was evaluated in racing sled dogs prior to and after 7 months of exercise conditioning. Sarcolemmal substrate transport capacity was measured using sarcolemmal vesicles and radiolabelled substrates, and transporter abundance was measured using Western blot quantification in whole muscle homogenates and the sarcolemmal vesicle preparations. Conditioning resulted in increased basal and exercise-induced transport of both glucose and palmitate. Neither acute exercise nor conditioning resulted in changes in muscle content of GLUT4 or FAT/CD36, but conditioning did result in decreased abundance of both transporters in the sarcolemmal vesicles used for the basal transport assays, and this decrease was further amplified in the vesicles used for the exercise-induced transport assays. These results demonstrate conditioning-induced increases in sarcolemmal transport of oxidizable substrates, as well as increased gain of exercise-induced sarcolemmal transport of these substrates. These results further indicate that increased sarcolemmal transport of oxidizable substrates may be due to either an increased intrinsic capacity of the existing transporters or to a different population of transporters from those investigated.
Constructing Democracy in Transitioning Societies of Africa: Constitutionalism and Deliberation in Mali

Introduction Principles of Constitutionalism Democratic Transitions and Their Legacies in Comparative Perspective Originating Participation: The Sovereign National Conference Integrating Citizens and the State: Decentralization and Elections Challenges to Inclusion: Constitutionalism and the Rights of Women Experiments in Dialogue Dialogue in Times of Crisis Conclusions: Dialogue and Legitimacy
Active surveillance for congenital rubella syndrome in Yangon, Myanmar.

OBJECTIVE Rubella vaccine is not included in the immunization schedule in Myanmar. Although surveillance for outbreaks of measles and rubella is conducted nationwide, there is no routine surveillance for congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Therefore, we organized a study to assess the burden of CRS. METHODS From 1 December 2000 to 31 December 2002 active surveillance for CRS was conducted among children aged 0-17 months at 13 hospitals and 2 private clinics in Yangon, the capital city. Children with suspected CRS had a standard examination and a blood sample was obtained. All serum samples were tested for rubella-specific IgM; selected samples were tested for rubella-specific IgG and for rubella RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). FINDINGS A total of 81 children aged 0-17 months were suspected of having CRS. Of these, 18 children had laboratory-confirmed CRS (7 were IgM positive; 7 were RT-PCR positive; and 10 were IgG positive at > 6 months of age). One additional child who tested positive by RT-PCR and whose mother had had rubella during pregnancy but who had a normal clinical examination was classified as having congenital rubella infection. During 2001-02 no rubella outbreaks were detected in Yangon Division. In the 31 urban townships of Yangon Division, the annual incidence was 0.1 laboratory-confirmed cases of CRS per 1000 live births. CONCLUSION This is the first population-based study of CRS incidence from a developing country during a rubella-endemic period; the incidence of CRS is similar to endemic rates found in industrialized countries during the pre-vaccine era. Rubella-specific IgG tests proved practical for diagnosing CRS in children aged > 6 months. This is one of the first studies to report on the use of rubella-specific RT-PCR directly on serum samples; further studies are warranted to confirm the utility of this method as an additional means of diagnosing CRS.
Changes in trauma memory and patterns of posttraumatic stress.

The traditional static view of trauma memory holds that memories for such events are fixed and relatively unchanging over time. A more recent dynamic view proposes that memory for potential trauma, like memory for ordinary events, changes with time. The present study examined predictions from these competing theories in repeated assessments of high exposed survivors of the September 11th (9/11) attacks. Memory was assessed using both standardized questionnaires and a free recall paradigm. These data and a measure of posttraumatic stress were obtained at 7 and 18 months post-9/11. Results showed that survivors’ recollections of 9/11 varied between assessment points and were moderated by their trajectory of posttraumatic stress. Individuals who were either resilient or recovered over time created a more benign memory of the event over time, whereas individuals who experienced chronic posttraumatic stress had relatively unchanging memories.
Initial expression and endogenous activation of NMDA channels in early neocortical development

We have made patch-clamp recordings from slices of fetal and postnatal rat neocortex in order to study the initial expression and activation of NMDA channels. Recordings from both whole cells and outside-out patches indicated that functional NMDA channels are expressed on neurons within the cortical plate, but not on younger cells within the ventricular zone. The NMDA channels on cortical plate neurons had a unitary conductance of approximately 40 pS, had a mean open time of approximately 6 msec, required glycine to open, and were blocked in a voltage-dependent manner by magnesium. These precocious channels were present before the appearance of functional synaptic activity, yet like NMDA channels in the mature neocortex, they were spontaneously activated by an agonist within brain slices. These results demonstrate that NMDA channels are initially expressed on neocortical neurons some time between the last mitotic division within the ventricular zone and completion of migration into the cortical plate. These early NMDA channels have properties characteristic of NMDA channels on more mature neurons and are similarly activated by an endogenous agonist in situ. Their early appearance and activation indicate that NMDA channels may play a role during early stages of cortical development.
Exogenous NGF Affects Cholinergic Transmitter Function and Y-Maze Behavior in Aged Fischer 344 Male Rats

ABSTRACT: Chronic ICV administration of NGF stimulates the activity of the cholinergic neuronal markers, HACU and ChAT, as well as the evoked release of both endogenous and newly synthesized acetylcholine in the brain of aging Fischer 344 male rats. However, the pattern of cholinergic phenotype stimulation indicates an age-related differential regulation of ChAT, HACU, and ACh release between specific brain areas, with the largest.effects found in the striatum. NGF treatment also increases the effectiveness of neurotransmission between basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and postsynaptic amygdaloid target neurons. The stimulation of central cholinergic transmitter function after NGF treatment affects behavior in a Y-maze brightness discrimination paradigm. NGF treatment does not affect the cognitive measure of brightness discrimination, but reduces the number of avoidance attempts, a measure of motor function.
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IS PROFESSIONALS AND THE ROLE OF THE INTRODUCTORY IS COURSE

: Declining enrollments has been a major concern for the Information Systems (IS) community over the last decade. While there are many issues to consider, one possible explanation for this decline is the negative stereotypical image students hold about IS professionals. Moreover, the underrepresentation of women in the IS field, has also been linked to the negative stereotypical image of IS professionals. There is a lack of empirical research that investigates the image of IS professionals in general and women’s perceptions in particular. To address this research gap, this study investigated students’ stereotypes of IS professionals and whether female and male students differed in terms of their perceptions of IS professionals. The study also examined the influence of the introductory IS course in shaping female and male students’ perceptions. The findings revealed that female and male students attribute some similar and some different characteristics to IS professionals. The study confirmed that the introductory IS course plays an important role on how students view the IS field.
Tactile sensing using a novel air cushion sensor: A feasibility study

This paper proposes a novel air-cushion sensor for the acquisition of tactile and force information from soft tissue, as it could be useful during robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery in order to provide the surgeon with tactile and haptic feedback. Advancing recent work on rolling indenters [1], the sensor proposed here makes use of a rigid sphere which is held at the end of a tubular shaft and pressed against the tissue by a stream of air. Variations in tissue stiffness result in movements of the sphere within the shaft and are picked up by an optical system. The new approach allows virtually frictionless motion of the sphere across the tissuepsilas surface and rapid acquisition of tactile information over large areas of soft tissue. The structure and working principles of this new air-cushion tactile sensor are described. Laboratory experiments are conducted to show the feasibility and illustrate the behaviour of the proposed sensor system. The outcome of the conducted experiments shows the potential of the sensor system.