Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global amphibian declines: sorting the hypotheses

Abstract. Reports of malformed amphibians and global amphibian declines have led to public concern, particularly because amphibians are thought to be indicator species of overall environmental health. The topic also draws scientific attention because there is no obvious, simple answer to the question of what is causing amphibian declines? Complex interactions of several anthropogenic factors are probably at work, and understanding amphibian declines may thus serve as a model for understanding species declines in general. While we have fewer answers than we would like, there are six leading hypotheses that we sort into two classes. For class I hypotheses, alien species, over‐exploitation and land use change, we have a good understanding of the ecological mechanisms underlying declines; these causes have affected amphibian populations negatively for more than a century. However, the question remains as to whether the magnitude of these negative effects increased in the 1980s, as scientists began to notice a global decline of amphibians. Further, remedies for these problems are not simple. For class II hypotheses, global change (including UV radiation and global climate change), contaminants and emerging infectious diseases we have a poor, but improving understanding of how each might cause declines. Class II factors involve complex and subtle mechanistic underpinnings, with probable interactions among multiple ecological and evolutionary variables. They may also interact with class I hypotheses. Suspected mechanisms associated with class II hypotheses are relatively recent, dating from at least the middle of the 20th century. Did these causes act independently or in concert with pre‐existing negative forces of class I hypotheses to increase the rate of amphibian declines to a level that drew global attention? We need more studies that connect the suspected mechanisms underlying both classes of hypotheses with quantitative changes in amphibian population sizes and species numbers. An important step forward in this task is clarifying the hypotheses and conditions under which the various causes operate alone or together.
Preparation of High Density Polyethylene/Waste Polyurethane Blends Compatibilized with Polyethylene-Graft-Maleic Anhydride by Radiation

Polyurethane (PU) is a very popular polymer that is used in a variety of applications due to its good mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. However, PU recycling has received significant attention due to environmental issues. In this study, we developed a recycling method for waste PU that utilizes the radiation grafting technique. Grafting of waste PU was carried out using a radiation technique with polyethylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PE-g-MA). The PE-g-MA-grafted PU/high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite was prepared by melt-blending at various concentrations (0–10 phr) of PE-g-MA-grafted PU. The composites were characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and their surface morphology and thermal/mechanical properties are reported. For 1 phr PU, the PU could be easily introduced to the HDPE during the melt processing in the blender after the radiation-induced grafting of PU with PE-g-MA. PE-g-MA was easily reacted with PU according to the increasing radiation dose and was located at the interface between the PU and the HDPE during the melt processing in the blender, which improved the interfacial interactions and the mechanical properties of the resultant composites. However, the elongation at break for a PU content >2 phr was drastically decreased.
The supermassive black hole in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5252

We present results from HST/STIS long-slit spectroscopy of the gas motions in the nuclear region of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5252. The observed velocity field is consistent with gas in regular rotation with superposed localized patches of disturbed gas. The dynamics of the circumnuclear gas can be accurately reproduced by adding to the stellar mass component a compact dark mass of MBH = 0.95 (−0.45; +1.45) ×10 9 M ⊙ , very likely a supermassive black hole (BH). Contrarily to results obtained in similar studies rotational broadening is sufficient to reproduce also the behaviour of line widths. The BH mass estimated for NGC 5252 is in good agreement with the correlation between MBH and bulge mass. The comparison with the MBH vsc relationship is less stringent (mostly due to the relatively large error inc); NGC 5252 is located above the best fit line by between 0.3 and 1.2 dex, i.e. 1 - 4 times the dispersion of the correlation. Both the galaxy's and BH mass of NGC 5252 are substantially larger than those usually estimated for Seyfert galaxies but, on the other hand, they are typical of radio-quiet quasars. Combining the determined BH mass with the hard X-ray luminosity, we estimate that NGC 5252 is emitting at a fraction ∼ 0.005 of LEdd. In this sense, this active nucleus appears to be a quasar relic, now probably accreting at a low rate, rather than a low black hole mass counterpart of a QSO.
The Outer Halo of the Milky Way as Probed by RR Lyr Variables from the Palomar Transient Facility

RR Lyrae stars are ideal massless tracers that can be used to study the total mass and dark matter content of the outer halo of the Milky Way (MW). This is because they are easy to find in the light-curve databases of large stellar surveys and their distances can be determined with only knowledge of the light curve. We present here a sample of 112 RR Lyr stars beyond 50 kpc in the outer halo of the MW, excluding the Sgr streams, for which we have obtained moderate-resolution spectra with Deimos on the Keck II Telescope. Four of these have distances exceeding 100 kpc. These were selected from a much larger set of 447 candidate RR Lyr stars that were data-mined using machine-learning techniques applied to the light curves of variable stars in the Palomar Transient Facility database. The observed radial velocities taken at the phase of the variable corresponding to the time of observation were converted to systemic radial velocities in the Galactic standard of rest. From our sample of 112 RR Lyr stars we determine the radial velocity dispersion in the outer halo of the MW to be ∼90 km s−1 at 50 kpc, falling to about 65 km s−1 near 100 kpc once a small number of major outliers are removed. With reasonable estimates of the completeness of our sample of 447 candidates and assuming a spherical halo, we find that the stellar density in the outer halo declines as .
The character, functions, and styles of instant messaging in the workplace

Current perceptions of Instant Messaging (IM) use are based primarily on self-report studies. We logged thousands of (mostly) workplace IM conversations and evaluated their conversational characteristics and functions. Contrary to prior research, we found that the primary use of workplace IM was for complex work discussions. Only 28% of conversations were simple, single-purpose interactions and only 31% were about scheduling or coordination. Moreover, people rarely switched from IM to another medium when the conversation got complex. We found evidence of two distinct styles of use. Heavy IM users and frequent IM partners mainly used it to work together: to discuss a broad range of topics via many fast-paced interactions per day, each with many short turns and much threading and multitasking. Light users and infrequent pairs mainly used IM to coordinate: for scheduling, via fewer conversations per day that were shorter, slower-paced with less threading and multitasking.
Regulation of LRRK2 Expression Points to a Functional Role in Human Monocyte Maturation

Genetic variants of Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) are associated with a significantly enhanced risk for Parkinson disease, the second most common human neurodegenerative disorder. Despite major efforts, our understanding of LRRK2 biological function and regulation remains rudimentary. In the present study we analyze LRRK2 mRNA and protein expression in sub-populations of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). LRRK2 mRNA and protein was found in circulating CD19+ B cells and in CD14+ monocytes, whereas CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were devoid of LRRK2 mRNA. Within CD14+ cells the CD14+CD16+ sub-population of monocytes exhibited high levels of LRRK2 protein, in contrast to CD14+CD16- cells. However both populations expressed LRRK2 mRNA. As CD14+CD16+ cells represent a more mature subset of monocytes, we monitored LRRK2 expression after in vitro treatment with various stress factors known to induce monocyte activation. We found that IFN-γ in particular robustly increased LRRK2 mRNA and protein levels in monocytes concomitant with a shift of CD14+CD16− cells towards CD14+CD16+cells. Interestingly, the recently described LRRK2 inhibitor IN-1 attenuated this shift towards CD14+CD16+ after IFN-γ stimulation. Based on these findings we speculate that LRRK2 might have a role in monocyte maturation. Our results provide further evidence for the emerging role of LRRK2 in immune cells and regulation at the transcriptional and translational level. Our data might also reflect an involvement of peripheral and brain immune cells in the disease course of PD, in line with increasing awareness of the role of the immune system in PD.
Controlling Physical Properties of Cementitious Matrixes by Nanomaterials

The majority of concrete used nowadays is based on matrixes formed by hydrating Portland cement. Latest developments in nanosciences introduced a new generation of nano-sized materials possessing often remarkable mechanical and physical properties. These materials can be also used to improve or alter the characteristics of the binder matrixes based on Portland cement. The results showed that mechanical properties such as compressive and flexural strength can be increased by up to 50% by addition of for example 0.23wt% of carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibres and/or nanosilica appeared to improve also the frost resistance. Other properties, such as autogenous shrinkage decreased significantly after addition of carbon nanofibres. Nanosilica enabled an immense densification of the hydrated binder matrix, which in turn improved for instance the durability and mechanical properties.
Binding of Cellular Export Factor REF/Aly by Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) ORF57 Protein Is Not Required for Efficient KSHV Lytic Replication

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) ORF57 protein is expressed early during lytic KSHV replication, enhances expression of many KSHV genes, and is essential for virus production. ORF57 is a member of a family of proteins conserved among all human and many animal herpesviruses that are multifunctional regulators of gene expression and act posttranscriptionally to increase accumulation of their target mRNAs. The mechanism of ORF57 action is complex and may involve effects on mRNA transcription, stability, and export. ORF57 directly binds to REF/Aly, a cellular RNA-binding protein component of the TREX complex that mediates RNA transcription and export. We analyzed the effects of an ORF57 mutation known to abrogate REF/Aly binding and demonstrate that the REF-binding mutant is impaired in activation of viral mRNAs and noncoding RNAs confined to the nucleus. Although the inability to bind REF leads to decreased ORF57 activity in enhancing gene expression, there is no demonstrable effect on nuclear export of viral mRNA or the ability of ORF57 to support KSHV replication and virus production. These data indicate that REF/Aly-ORF57 interaction is not essential for KSHV lytic replication but may contribute to target RNA stability independent of effects on RNA export, suggesting a novel role for REF/Aly in viral RNA metabolism.
An Integrated Assessment Model with Endogenous Growth

We introduce endogenous directed technical change into numerical integrated climate and development policy assessment. We distinguish expenditures on innovation (R&D) and imitation (international technology spillovers) and consider the role of capital investment in creating and implementing new technologies. Our main contribution is to calibrate and numerically solve the model and to examine the model's sensitivity. As an application, we assess a carbon budget-based climate policy and vary the beginning of energy-saving technology transfer. Accordingly, China is a main beneficiary of early technology transfer. Herein, our results highlight the importance of timely international technology transfer for efficiently meeting global emission targets. Most of the consumption gains from endogenous growth are captured in the baseline. Moreover, mitigation costs turn out to be insensitive to changes in most of the parameters of endogenous growth. A higher effectivity of energy-specific relative to labor-specific expenditures on innovation and imitation reduces mitigation costs, though.
Multi-Winner Elections: Complexity of Manipulation, Control and Winner-Determination

Although recent years have seen a surge of interest in the computational aspects of social choice, no attention has previously been devoted to elections with multiple winners, e.g., elections of an assembly or committee. In this paper, we fully characterize the worst-case complexity of manipulation and control in the context of four prominent multi-winner voting systems. Additionally, we show that several tailor-made multi-winner voting schemes are impractical, as it is NP-hard to select the winners in these schemes.
A Framework for Reflective Business Process Management

Current literature in the area of Business Process Management (BPM) holds a very "mechanistic" view, focusing on top-down specified business processes and the resources needed for their execution. However, such a perspective neglects the contribution of individual employees, whose skills, experiences and knowledge influence the value added through a business process significantly. In today's knowledge-intensive business world however, organizations need employees who have the experience and knowledge to cope with fast-changing environments and requirements while performing their work productively. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a framework to combine reflection processes with BPM. This framework provides a conceptual baseline for the development of information systems enabling organizations and their employees to improve their learning processes. Reflection and reflective learning are seen as the key concepts to generate the knowledge and expertise needed in this context.
A novel Bacillus thuringiensis gene encoding a Spodoptera exigua-specific crystal protein

Only one of the four lepidoptera-specific crystal protein subclasses (CryIC) Bacillus thuringiensis was previously shown to be highly toxic against several Spodoptera species. By using a cryIC-derived nucleotide probe, DNA from 25 different strains of B. thuringiensis was screened for the presence of homologous sequences. A putative crystal protein gene, considerably different from the cryIC gene subclass, was identified in the DNA of strain 4F1 (serotype kenyae) and cloned in Escherichia coli. Its nucleotide sequence was determined and appeared to contain several features typical for a crystal protein gene. Furthermore, the region coding for the N-terminal part of the putative toxic fragment showed extensive homology to subclass cryIA sequences derived from gene BtII, whereas the region coding for the C-terminal part appeared to be highly homologous to the cryIC gene BtVI. With an anti-crystal protein antiserum, a polypeptide of the expected size could be demonstrated in Western immunoblots, onto which a lysate of E. coli cells harboring the putative gene, now designated as BtXI, had been transferred. Cells expressing the gene appeared to be equally toxic against larvae of Spodoptera exigua as recombinant cells expressing the BtVI (cryIC)-encoded crystal protein. However, no toxicity against larvae of Heliothis virescens, Mamestra brassicae, or Pieris brassicae could be demonstrated. The nucleotide sequence analysis and the toxicity studies showed that this novel crystal protein gene falls into a new cryl gene subclass. We propose that this subclass be referred to as cryIE.
Executable Transitive Closures

We provide a generic work-list algorithm to compute the (reflexive-)transitive closure of relations where only successors of newly detected states are generated. In contrast to our previous work [2], the relations do not have to be finite, but each element must only have finitely many (indirect) successors. Moreover, a subsumption relation can be used instead of pure equality. An executable variant of the algorithm is available where the generic operations are instantiated with list operations. This formalization was performed as part of the IsaFoR/CeTA project [3], and it has been used to certify size-change termination proofs where large transitive closures have to be computed.
Boredom, engagement and anxiety as indicators for adaptation to difficulty in games

This paper proposes an approach based on emotion recognition to maintain engagement of players in a game by modulating the game difficulty. Physiological and questionnaire data were gathered from 20 players during and after playing a Tetris game at different difficulty levels. Both physiological and self-report analyses lead to the conclusion that playing at different levels gave rise to different emotional states and that playing at the same level of difficulty several times elicits boredom. Emotion assessment from physiological signals was performed using a SVM (Support Vector Machine). An accuracy of 53.33% was obtained on the discrimination of three emotional classes, namely boredom, anxiety, engagement.
MAPPING EXTREME RAINFALL IN A MOUNTAINOUS REGION USING GEOSTATISTICAL TECHNIQUES: A CASE STUDY IN SCOTLAND

The spatial pattern of precipitation is known to be highly dependent on meteorological conditions and relief. However, the relationships between precipitation and topography in mountainous areas are not very well known, partly because of the complex topography in these regions, and partly because of the sparsity of information available to study such relationships in high elevation areas. The purpose of the investigation was to find a method of mapping extreme rainfall in the mountainous region of Scotland, which was easy to use and to understand, and which gave satisfactory results both in terms of statistical performance and consistency with meteorological mechanisms. Among the interpolation methods described in the literature, ordinary kriging and modified residual kriging have been found attractive by reason of their simplicity and ease of use. Both methods have been applied to map an index of extreme rainfall, the median of the annual maximum daily rainfall (RMED), in the mountainous region of Scotland. Rainfall records from a network of 1003 raingauges are used, covering Scotland with uneven density. A 4-parameter regression equation developed in a previous study, relating a transformed variable of RMED to topographical variables, is used in the modified residual kriging method. Comparing the relative performances of ordinary kriging and modified residual kriging shows that the use of topographical information helps to compensate for the lack of local data from which any interpolation method, such as ordinary kriging, might suffer, thus improving the final mapping. Copyright © 1999 Royal Meteorological Society.
Using tools with real and imagined tool movements

When using lever tools, subjects have to deal with two, not necessarily concordant effects of their motor behavior: the body-related proximal effects, like tactile sensations from the moving hand, and/or more external distal effects, like the moving effect points of the lever. As a consequence, spatial compatibility relationships between stimulus (S; at which the effect points of the lever aim at), responding hand (R) and effect point of the lever (E) play a critical role in response generation. In the present study we examine whether the occurrence of compatibility effects needs real tool movements or whether a similar response pattern can be already evoked by pure mental imaginations of the tool effects. In general, response times and errors observed with real and imagined tool movements showed a similar pattern of results, but there were also differences. With incompatible relationships and thus more difficult tasks, response times were reduced with imagined tool movements than compared with real tool movements. On the contrary, with compatible relationships and thus high overlap between proximal and distal action effects, response times were increased with imagined tool movements. Results are only in parts consistent with the ideomotor theory of motor control.
Gaze- and qoe-aware video streaming solutions for mobile VR

This demo showcases a novel approach to content delivery for 360° video streaming. It exploits information from connected eye-trackers embedded in the users' VR HMDs. The presented technology enables the delivery of high quality, in real time, around the users' fixations points while lowering the image quality everywhere else. The goal of the proposed approach is to substantially reduce the overall bandwidth requirements for supporting VR video experiences while delivering high levels of user perceived quality. The network connection between the VR system and the content server is in this demo emulated, allowing users to experience the QoE performances achievable with datarates and RTTs in the range of current 4G and upcoming 5G networks. Users can further control additional service parameters, including video types, content resolution in the foveal region and background and size of the foveal region. At the end of each run, users are presented with a summary of the amount of bandwidth consumed with the used system settings and a comparison with the cost of current content delivery solutions. The overall goal of this demo is to provide a tangible experience of the tradeoffs among bandwidth, RTT and QoE for the mobile provision of future data intensive VR services.
Adaptive Bandits: Towards the best history-dependent strategy

We consider multi-armed bandit games with possibly adaptive opponents. We introduce models Theta of constraints based on equivalence classes on the common history (information shared by the player and the opponent) which dene two learning scenarios: (1) The opponent is constrained, i.e. he provides rewards that are stochastic functions of equivalence classes dened by some model theta*\in Theta. The regret is measured with respect to (w.r.t.) the best history-dependent strategy. (2) The opponent is arbitrary and we measure the regret w.r. t. the best strategy among all mappings from classes to actions (i.e. the best history-class-based strategy) for the best model in Theta. This allows to model opponents (case 1) or strategies (case 2) which handles nite memory, periodicity, standard stochastic bandits and other situations. When Theta={theta}, i.e. only one model is considered, we derive tractable algorithms achieving a tight regret (at time T) bounded by ~O(sqrt(TAC)), where C is the number of classes of theta. Now, when many models are available, all known algorithms achieving a nice regret O(sqrt(T)) are unfortunately not tractable and scale poorly with the number of models |Theta|. Our contribution here is to provide tractable algorithms with regret bounded by T^{2/3}C^{1/3} log(|Theta|)^{1/2}.