Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Slow-moving predatory gastropods track prey odors in fast and turbulent flow

SUMMARY Olfactory searching by aquatic predators is reliant upon the hydrodynamic processes that transport and modify chemical signals. Previous studies indicate that the search behavior of some benthic crustaceans is hindered by rapid water flow and turbulent mixing of prey chemicals, but different sensory strategies employed by other taxa might offset such detrimental effects. Using a laboratory flume, we investigated the odor-tracking behavior of a marine gastropod whelk (Busycon carica) to test the generalization that turbulence interferes with chemically mediated navigation. We exposed individual whelks to turbulent odor plumes in free-stream velocities of 1.5, 5, 10 or 15 cm s–1, or with one of two obstructions placed upstream of the odor source in an intermediate flow of 5 cm s–1. Measurements of velocity and stimulus properties confirmed that obstruction treatments increased turbulence intensity and altered the fine-scale structure of downstream odor plumes. In all conditions tested, between 36–63% of test animals successfully located the odor source from 1.5 m downstream with no significant effect of flow treatment. Search behaviors, such as cross-stream meander were reduced at higher flow velocities and in the presence of obstructions, allowing whelks to reach the odor source significantly more quickly than in slower, less turbulent conditions. Our results demonstrate that whelks can respond to chemical information in fast and turbulent flow, and we suggest that these slow-moving predators can forage in hydrodynamic environments where the olfactory abilities of other taxa are limited.
The Unconscious Will: How the Pursuit of Goals Operates Outside of Conscious Awareness

Blissful Ignorance? Although recent research has established the remarkable ways in which cognitive processing can occur without our being aware of it—for instance, casual exposure to retiree-related words, such as “elderly,” induces us to walk more slowly—behavior that is directed toward goals still seems to be the product of conscious thought. Custers and Aarts (p. 47) review a set of findings that point toward the possibility that goals may, in fact, also be vulnerable to manipulation via avenues of which we remain blissfully unaware. They place these results within a framework that reveals how thoroughly unconscious processes permeate our everyday activities. People often act in order to realize desired outcomes, or goals. Although behavioral science recognizes that people can skillfully pursue goals without consciously attending to their behavior once these goals are set, conscious will is considered to be the starting point of goal pursuit. Indeed, when we decide to work hard on a task, it feels as if that conscious decision is the first and foremost cause of our behavior. That is, we are likely to say, if asked, that the decision to act produced the actions themselves. Recent discoveries, however, challenge this causal status of conscious will. They demonstrate that under some conditions, actions are initiated even though we are unconscious of the goals to be attained or their motivating effect on our behavior. Here we analyze how goal pursuit can possibly operate unconsciously.
Assessing adolescent personality pathology

Background Personality pathology constitutes a major form of psychopathology in adolescents. Aims To examine the reliability and validity of a Q-sort instrument for assessing adolescent personality pathology designed for clinically experienced informants. Method A sample of 294 randomly selected psychiatrists and psychologists each provided data on a current patient, aged 14–18 years. Clinicians completed several measures, including the Shedler–Westen Assessment Procedure for Adolescents (SWAP–200–A). Results Factor analysis identified II dimensions of adolescent personality: psychopathology/malignant narcissism, dysphoria/inhibition, psychological health, histrionic sexualisation, schizotypy, sexual conflict, emotional dysregulation, anxious obsessionality, peer rejection, delinquent behaviour and attentional dysregulation. These correlated in predicted ways with a range of criterion variables, including measures of adaptive functioning, Axis II pathology, the Five Factor Model and the Child Behavior Checklist. Conclusions The SWAP–200–A shows promise as an instrument for assessing personality pathology in adolescents. Trait dimensions such as delinquent behaviour and emotional dysregulation may prove useful additions to a classification of personality.
GMs in On-Line Handwritten Whiteboard Note Recognition: The Influence of Implementation and Modeling

We present a comparison of two state-of-the-art toolboxes for implementing Graphical Models (GMs), namely the HTK and the GMTK, and their use for discrete on-line handwritten whiteboard note recognition. We then motivate a GM that is capable of modeling the statistical dependencies between the pen’s pressure information and the remaining features after vector quantization. Since the number of variable parameters rises when more codebook entries are used for quantization, the proposed model outperforms standard HMMs for low numbers of codebook entries.
An exploratory study of a touch-based gestural interface for elderly

This paper presents the design ideas and a preliminary study of a touch-based gestural interface to support older adults in social networking. We had the hypothesis that the directness of gestures made them well suited to implement an interaction metaphor based on familiarity. Although preliminary, this hypothesis can be sustained. In particular, we found that most of the gestures (and in particular the iconic and the dynamic ones) have a hedonic quality that attracted and motivated our participants. We think that our results may contribute to the ongoing debate about gestural interfaces and help in understanding the value and the issue of this form of interaction.
Observation of lymphocyte function in perinatal cows and neonatal calves.

The changes in lymphocyte transformation rate and proportion of E-rosette forming cells (ERFC), in addition with serum concentration of IgG and cortisol were examined on dairy cows in the perinatal period. The cows were bled at the various stages of pregnancy, parturition and post-parturient period. Also in calves, the lymphocyte transformation rate and proportion of ERFC were examined on the blood samples collected at weekly interval from birth to 5 weeks of age. The blastogenic response of lymphocytes to concanavalin A and pokeweed mitogen decreased beginning from the 3rd trimester and reached a minimum at parturition. The proportion of ERFC and serum IgG concentration also decreased with parturition. The high serum cortisol level at parturition may influence lymphocyte activity in cows. In neonatal calves, the number of ERFC and responsiveness of peripheral lymphocytes to mitogen corresponded to adult level immediately after birth.
Essay Writing Strategies Employed by English-Majored Sophomores at A University in Vietnam

This study investigates students’ use of essay writing strategies in different stages of the writing process. The participants included 105 English-majored sophomores at Hanoi Law University who have completed two courses in paragraph and essay writing instruction. A 5-level Likert close-ended survey questionnaire was designed to collect quantitative data regarding students’ frequency of applying overall and specific writing strategies in pre-writing, while-writing, and post-writing stages. The results revealed that while-writing strategies were used at high frequency by the participants while pre-writing and post-writing strategies were used at medium frequency. It is also found that, at the pre-writing stage, the students prefer reading sample essays; trying to understand the task requirements by either referring to their teacher’s notes or discussing with their teachers and friends and having a mental, unwritten plan before writing. While writing, students have taken use of various strategies which can be grouped into strategies to deal with the structure of the essay, strategies to develop ideas, strategies to activate vocabulary use, and strategies to review their mechanics. The strategies in the post-writing stage are the least frequently used, which include reading the whole text silently, checking if the essay matches the requirements, then making changes in the spelling and punctuation. Revising following their teacher’s feedback and actively asking their teacher or classmates are also frequently applied techniques for essay writing revision.
Screening for EGFR Mutations in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Treated with Gefitinib on a Compassionate-Use Program: A Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group Study

Background and Aim. EGFR is commonly expressed in cancers of the head and neck (H and N), and anti-EGFR agents have demonstrated improvements in outcomes (TTP and OS). The aim of this study was to determine EGFR gene status in H and N cancer patients treated with gefitinib and to correlate mutational status with clinico-pathological data and response. Patients and Methods. Patients with histologically confirmed H and N cancer having failed prior treatment for advanced disease entered this compassionate-use-program. Nineteen patients received gefitinib. EGFR expression was assessed by IHC, gene copy number by FISH, and mutation analysis was conducted for EGFR (18-21), KRAS, BRAF (V600E), and HER-2 exon 20. An additional TKI naive cohort of 73 patients was also screened. Results. Mutations were detected in 6/19 patients (3× EGFR, 1× KRAS, and 2× HER2-exon 20). There were no significant differences in TTP or OS for patients with somatic EGFR mutations. No BRAF mutations were detected. Conclusions. The incidence of EGFR mutations in H and N cancer in this study was 5.3%. No statistically relevant correlations between mutation or gene gain and response or survival were observed. Due to the limited number of patients and low incidence of genetic aberrations in the genes analyzed, additional studies are warranted.
Structural Equation Modeling on Health-related Quality of Life of Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis

Background: Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, progressive, and inflammatory disease. The objective of this study was to construct a hypothetical model to determine factors affecting health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of AS patients (ASHRQOL). Methods: A survey was conducted on 275 patients who visited Chonnam National University Bitgoeul Hospital. Data of different variables were collected over two months in 2015. Results: A hypothetical model did not reach recommended level of fit verification. Therefore, health perception variable was eliminated on theoretical basis. Path between function and HRQOL was added after eliminating unimportant path before completing the final modified model. Conclusion: The final revised model met recommended levels of fit test except AGFI. The model explained 57.6% of ASQOL. Further study is needed to develop efficient interventional strategy for improving ASHRQOL.
Moderating effect of CSR on the Direction and Strength of the Relationship between Corporate Governance Mechanism and Integrated Reporting Quality: An Evidence from India

Grounding upon the perspective of agency theory, the current study intends to inspect the association between Governance Practices of Companies, in the form of board attributes and Quality of Integrated Reporting among selected listed Indian companies. Further the study also aims to evaluate, whether the association between the board’s attributes and IR quality is moderated by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). For the purpose of testing hypothesis, the study has considered a sample of 25 top Indian corporates of energy industry listed in the BSE-500 group. The period of the study extends from 2017-18 to 2021-22. Pooled OLS regression analysis is used to test the impact of corporate governance practices on the IR quality and evaluate if CSR moderates the strength and direction of their relationship. To ascertain the IR disclosure score of the sample companies, a checklist is developed built on IR Framework devised by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the technique of visual content analysis is applied. Further board size, firm size, leverage, ROE, ROA, Market to Book value ratio are considered as the control variables to strengthen the panel data model. The study found that board characteristics had a positive relationship with IRQ. It is also revealed that CSR positively moderates the association between Corporate Governance mechanism and IRQ. The significance of Corporate Governance in the process of managerial decision making is the major theoretical development of this research.
The Gas Phase Spectrum of Cyclic C18 and the Diffuse Interstellar Bands

The gas phase spectrum of the cyclic C18 molecule recorded in the laboratory at a temperature typical of diffuse interstellar clouds is compared with absorption features toward ζ Oph and HD 204827 in the 5730-5934 Å region. For the origin band at 5928.5 Å an upper limit to the column density of ≤1.8 × 1011 cm-2 is inferred. The origin band pattern in the laboratory spectrum changes on lowering the internal temperature in the 100-20 K range and bears a striking resemblance to the observed structure of a number of DIBs at other wavelengths. This suggests that platelike molecules or ions, comprising a couple of dozen to hundred carbon atoms, could be responsible for some of the latter absorptions.
Hexagonal Circle Patterns and Integrable Systems. Patterns with Constant Angles

Hexagonal circle patterns with constant intersection angles are introduced and studied. It is shown that they are described by discrete integrable systems of Toda type. Conformally symmetric patterns are classified. Circle pattern analogs of holomorphic mappings $z\sp c$ and $\log z$ are constructed as special isomonodromic solutions. Circle patterns studied in the paper include Schramm's circle patterns with the combinatorics of the square grid as a special case.
HIV-1 Protease-Substrate Coevolution in Nelfinavir Resistance

ABSTRACT Resistance to various human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitors (PIs) challenges the effectiveness of therapies in treating HIV-1-infected individuals and AIDS patients. The virus accumulates mutations within the protease (PR) that render the PIs less potent. Occasionally, Gag sequences also coevolve with mutations at PR cleavage sites contributing to drug resistance. In this study, we investigated the structural basis of coevolution of the p1-p6 cleavage site with the nelfinavir (NFV) resistance D30N/N88D protease mutations by determining crystal structures of wild-type and NFV-resistant HIV-1 protease in complex with p1-p6 substrate peptide variants with L449F and/or S451N. Alterations of residue 30's interaction with the substrate are compensated by the coevolving L449F and S451N cleavage site mutations. This interdependency in the PR–p1-p6 interactions enhances intermolecular contacts and reinforces the overall fit of the substrate within the substrate envelope, likely enabling coevolution to sustain substrate recognition and cleavage in the presence of PR resistance mutations. IMPORTANCE Resistance to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitors challenges the effectiveness of therapies in treating HIV-1-infected individuals and AIDS patients. Mutations in HIV-1 protease selected under the pressure of protease inhibitors render the inhibitors less potent. Occasionally, Gag sequences also mutate and coevolve with protease, contributing to maintenance of viral fitness and to drug resistance. In this study, we investigated the structural basis of coevolution at the Gag p1-p6 cleavage site with the nelfinavir (NFV) resistance D30N/N88D protease mutations. Our structural analysis reveals the interdependency of protease-substrate interactions and how coevolution may restore substrate recognition and cleavage in the presence of protease drug resistance mutations.
research paper series China and the World Economy Research Paper 2005 / 34 Can you teach old dragons new tricks ? FDI and innovation activity in Chinese State-owned enterprises

We investigate whether inward FDI, either at the firm or industry level, has any impact on product innovation by Chinese State owned enterprises (SOEs). We use a comprehensive firm level panel data set of some 30,000 SOEs covering the period 1999 to 2003. Our results show that foreign capital participation is associated with higher innovative activity. Inward FDI in the sector has a negative effect on innovative activity in SOEs. However, there is a positive effect of FDI on SOEs that export, invest in human capital or R&D, or have prior innovation experience. We also find that SOEs with internal R&D activity and human capital development are successful innovators. Hence, our results suggest that rather than relying on sector level inward FDI to improve domestic innovative activity, it is important to get the firmlevel fundamentals right. JEL classification: F23, O31
Object-Based Classification of Ikonos Imagery for Mapping Large-Scale Vegetation Communities in Urban Areas

Effective assessment of biodiversity in cities requires detailed vegetation maps. To date, most remote sensing of urban vegetation has focused on thematically coarse land cover products. Detailed habitat maps are created by manual interpretation of aerial photographs, but this is time consuming and costly at large scale. To address this issue, we tested the effectiveness of object-based classifications that use automated image segmentation to extract meaningful ground features from imagery. We applied these techniques to very high resolution multispectral Ikonos images to produce vegetation community maps in Dunedin City, New Zealand. An Ikonos image was orthorectified and a multi-scale segmentation algorithm used to produce a hierarchical network of image objects. The upper level included four coarse strata: industrial/commercial (commercial buildings), residential (houses and backyard private gardens), vegetation (vegetation patches larger than 0.8/1ha), and water. We focused on the vegetation stratum that was segmented at more detailed level to extract and classify fifteen classes of vegetation communities. The first classification yielded a moderate overall classification accuracy (64%, κ = 0.52), which led us to consider a simplified classification with ten vegetation classes. The overall classification accuracy from the simplified classification was 77% with a κ value close to the excellent range (κ = 0.74). These results compared favourably with similar studies in other environments. We conclude that this approach does not provide maps as detailed as those produced by manually interpreting aerial photographs, but it can still extract ecologically significant classes. It is an efficient way to generate accurate and detailed maps in significantly shorter time. The final map accuracy could be improved by integrating segmentation, automated and manual classification in the mapping process, especially when considering important vegetation classes with limited spectral contrast.
Developmental pathways of eating problems in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE To examine the developmental eating trajectories of adolescents and identify psychological correlates and risk factors associated with those trajectories. METHOD Seven hundred thirty-nine adolescents completed self-reported measures of eating problems, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, alcohol and drug use, peer victimization, and depression. RESULTS Five eating trajectories were obtained. The proportions of males and females were the same in the increasing eating problems trajectory. For both genders, internalizing and externalizing problems were identified as associated risk factors of an eating pathology and reporting at least some eating problems was associated with an increased likelihood of psychological problems. Other risk factors found only in boys were frequency of drug use, victimization, and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION Externalizing problems in girls and internalizing behaviors in boys with disordered eating should not be overlooked. Atypical eating behaviors in boys are of particular concern since it increases their risk of cooccurring psychopathology.
Delay-Dependent Generalized H2 Control for Discrete-Time T-S Fuzzy Systems Based on a Switching Fuzzy Model and Piecewise Lyapunov Function

This paper studies the problem of generalized H2 control for discrete-time Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems with time delays. First, the T-S fuzzy system is transformed to an equivalent switching fuzzy systems. Consequently, based on the piecewise Lyapunov function, the delay-dependent stabilization criteria with generalized H2 performance are derived for the switching fuzzy systems.The proposed conditions are presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The interactions among the fuzzy subsystems are considered in each subregion. Since only a set of LMIs is involved, the controller design is quite simple and numerically tractable. To illustrate the validity of the proposed method, a design example is provided.
Camphor revisited: studies of 2,5-diketocamphane 1,2-monooxygenase from Pseudomonas putida ATCC 17453

The oxygenating component of 2,5-diketocamphane 1,2-monooxygenase from Pseudomonas putida ATCC 17453 was purified to homogeneity by a combination of ammonium sulfate fractionation and chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and polyanion SI-17 columns. It had an Mr of 78,000, bound one molecule of nonautooxidizable flavin mononucleotide (FMN), consisted of two subunits of equal molecular weight, and existed in two electrophoretically distinguishable active forms. The oxygenating complex was constructed from equimolecular amounts of an NADH oxidase, which could be purified separately (Mr, 36,000), and the oxygenating component. Most of the NADH oxidase dissociated from the oxygenating component during purification, although traces remained, to give the final preparation of the oxygenating component significant oxygenase activity. FMN did not dissociate significantly from the oxygenating component during purification, but it was not covalently bound and could be removed under a variety of conditions. Binding between the two proteins that made up the active complex was fairly weak and freely reversible. It probably occurred through the FMN which was strongly bound to the oxygenating component and for which the NADH had a weak binding site. Iron was not present at a significant level in the oxygenating component, and in common with other characterized Baeyer Villiger monooxygenases, 2,5-diketocamphane 1,2-monooxygenase was found to be a simple flavoprotein.