Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leo A: A Late-blooming Survivor of the Epoch of Reionization in the Local Group

As part of a major program to use isolated Local Group dwarf galaxies as near-field probes of cosmology, we have obtained deep images of the dwarf irregular galaxy Leo A with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. From these images we have constructed a color-magnitude diagram (CMD) reaching apparent [absolute] magnitudes of (M475, M814) ≳ (29.0 [+4.4], 27.9 [+3.4]), the deepest ever achieved for any irregular galaxy beyond the Magellanic Clouds. We derive the star formation rate (SFR) as a function of time over the entire history of the galaxy. We find that over 90% of all the star formation that ever occurred in Leo A happened more recently than 8 Gyr ago. The CMD shows only a very small amount of star formation in the first few billion years after the big bang; a possible burst at the oldest ages cannot be claimed with high confidence. The peak SFR occurred ≈1.5-4 Gyr ago, at a level 5-10 times the current value. Our modeling indicates that Leo A has experienced very little metallicity evolution; the mean inferred metallicity is consistent with measurements of the present-day gas-phase oxygen abundance. We cannot exclude a scenario in which all of the ancient star formation occurred prior to the end of the era of reionization, but it seems unlikely that the lack of star formation prior to ≈8 Gyr ago was due to early loss or exhaustion of the in situ gas reservoir.
Coarse-resolution Ecology of Etiological Agent, Vector, and Reservoirs of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Libya

Abstract Cutaneous leishmaniasis ranks among the tropical diseases least known and most neglected in Libya. World Health Organization reports recognized associations of Phlebotomus papatasi, Psammomys obesus, and Meriones spp. , with transmission of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL; caused by Leishmania major) across Libya. Here, we map risk of ZCL infection based on occurrence records of L. major, P. papatasi, and four potential animal reservoirs (Meriones libycus, Meriones shawi, Psammomys obesus, and Gerbillus gerbillus). Ecological niche models identified limited risk areas for ZCL across the northern coast of the country; most species associated with ZCL transmission were confined to this same region, but some had ranges extending to central Libya. All ENM predictions were significant based on partial ROC tests. As a further evaluation of L. major ENM predictions, we compared predictions with 98 additional independent records provided by the Libyan National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC); all of these records fell inside the belt predicted as suitable for ZCL. We tested ecological niche similarity among vector, parasite, and reservoir species and could not reject any null hypotheses of niche similarity. Finally, we tested among possible combinations of vector and reservoir that could predict all recent human ZCL cases reported by NCDC; only three combinations could anticipate the distribution of human cases across the country.
Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-Affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers

We propose that self-affirmation may endow people more psychological resources to buffer against the negative influence of rejecting unfair offers in the classic ultimatum game (UG) and further lead to a stronger tendency to reject those offers. We tested this possibility by conducting an event-related potential (ERP) study about the UG, with the ERP component P3 as an indirect indicator of psychological resources. Participants were randomly assigned to the affirmation or control condition and then completed the UG through electrophysiological recording. As expected, the behavioral data indicated that compared with unaffirmed ones, affirmed participants were more likely to reject unfair UG offers; the electrophysiological data indicated that compared to the unaffirmed, affirmed participants showed a greater P3 in response to the presentation of an offer. These findings suggest that psychological resources may play a role in rejecting others beyond the fairness concern, and additionally shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying self-affirmation.
Cortical Effects of Shifting Letter Position in Letter Strings of Varying Length

Neuroimaging and lesion studies suggest that occipitotemporal brain areas play a necessary role in recognizing a wide variety of objects, be they faces, letters, numbers, or household items. However, many questions remain regarding the details of exactly what kinds of information are processed by the occipito-temporal cortex. Here, we address this question with respect to reading. Ten healthy adult subjects performed a single word reading task. We used whole-head magnetoencephalography to measure the spatio-temporal dynamics of brain responses, and investigated their sensitivity to: (1) lexicality (defined here as the difference between words and consonant strings), (2) word length, and (3) variation in letter position. Analysis revealed that midline occipital activity around 100 msec, consistent with low-level visual feature analysis, was insensitive to lexicality and variation in letter position, but was slightly affected by string length. Bilateral occipito-temporal activations around 150 msec were insensitive to lexicality and reacted to word length only in the timing (and not strength) of activation. However, vertical shifts in letter position revealed a hemispheric imbalance: The right hemisphere activation increased with the shifts, whereas the opposite pattern was evident in the left hemisphere. The results are discussed in the light of Caramazza and Hillis's (1990) model of early reading.
Spatial and temporal variability of corn grain yield on a hillslope

The purpose of this study was to relate the temporal and spatial variability of corn (Zea mays L.) grain yield on a Typic Fragiochrept soil on a hillslope to soil properties and topographic features. Corn grain yields were sampled from a field that measured 280 by 150 m using a grid and five transects. One-hundred forty yield measurements were taken on the grid (1983-1985) and 190 measurements on the transects (1984 and 1985) from plots 53 m long and two corn rows wide. Measurements of soil surface elevation, soil organic matter (OM), P, and K contents were also taken at the grid plot locations. These data were analyzed using the methods of spectral analysis. Yield spatial and temporal variability was strongly related to surface undulations and the value of surface curvature was found to be a useful parameter to quantify variations in topography. The intra-annual differences in weather had the largest effect on grain yield at locations where the magnitude of curvature was large. Where the magnitude of curvature was small, the correlations of yield for the wet (1984) and dry (1985) years were highly significant. Yields correlated with soil P, K, and OM only in the dry year, 1985. Yields in the relatively dry years (1983 and 1985) correlated with depth to fragipan. Elevation data helped us interpret the spatial and temporal variability of grain yield by separation of areas with convex curvature from areas with concave curvature.
The age dependence of the size–stellar mass relation and some implications

We use a sample of about 48 000 Sloan Digital Sky Survey early-type galaxies to show that older galaxies have smaller half-light radii Re and larger velocity dispersions σ than younger ones of the same stellar mass Mstar. We use the age-corrected luminosity Lcorrr as a proxy for Mstar to minimize biases: below Lcorrr∼ 1011 L⊙, galaxies with age ∼11 Gyrs have Re smaller by 40 per cent and σ larger by 25 per cent, compared to galaxies that are 4 Gyr younger. The sizes and velocity dispersions of more luminous galaxies vary by less than 15 per cent, whatever their age, a challenge for current galaxy formation models. A closer check reveals that the lowering in the dispersion is caused by older galaxies that show a significant departure from the Re−Lcorrr and σ−Lcorrr relations at high Lcorrr. Such features might find an explanation in models where more massive galaxies undergo more minor mergers than less massive galaxies at late times, thus causing a break in the homology. In terms of the Fundamental Plane of early-type galaxies, the data indicate that all galaxies show a significant and similar increase in the dynamical-to-stellar mass ratio with increasing mass, independent of their age. However, older galaxies have smaller Mdyn/Mstar ratios than objects which formed more recently. These findings may suggest that lower mass galaxies and, at fixed stellar mass, higher redshift galaxies, formed from gas-richer progenitors, thus underwent more dissipation and contraction.
Economic Ties : Evidence from Venture Capital Networks ∗

The venture capital industry is characterized by strong inter-organizational networks that have been shown to affect VC firm performance and the competitive supply of capital for entrepreneurs. We examine how VC firms’ observable resources are related to tie formation, and thus how networks facilitate the distribution and combination of resources across organizations. Unlike the social networks literature, we find little evidence of homophily as a motive for network ties among VC firms. Rather, VC firms tend to form ties with the best available partner in terms of investment scope and network access, but form ties in an anti-homophilous fashion on experience. VCs also use network ties to trade experience, access and investment scope for access to capital by partnering with other VC firms that have ample available capital but few other resources that might foster successful investment. JEL Classification: G24, L14
REVERSIBILITY OF A MULTILATERAL SEQUENTIAL GAME: PROOF OF A CONJECTURE OF SAKAGUCHI

In this paper optimal strategies are derived for the choice by several players of a set of sequentially observ- ed random variables. The players are permitted to have any utility functions on the chosen random variables, and any opinion on the joint distribution of the sequence of random variables, provided these utility functions and opinions are known to all palyers. A random variable is chosen if enough players want it to be chosen, in a sense made precise. Exactly r of the n available random vectors must be chosen. Once rejected, a random variable cannot later be selected; once selected, it cannot later be rejected. It is shown that when no costs are assigned to rejection, the optimal strategies can be found by backwards induc­ tion and the order in which the players announce their decisions does not matter to any of them and does not influence the outcome, confirming a conjecture of Sakaguchi. This contrasts with the situation in which the number of rejections avaialble to each player is limited, where the order typically does matter.
How the Medicare Part D drug benefit changed the distribution of out-of-pocket pharmacy spending among older beneficiaries.

OBJECTIVE To examine the impact of the Medicare drug benefit (Part D) on the distribution of out-of-pocket pharmacy spending among older adults. METHODS We used a pre-post-with-comparison-group design to compare four groups of beneficiaries continuously enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan between 2004 and 2007: three intervention groups with no or limited (quarterly caps of $150 or $350) prior coverage that obtained Part D benefits in 2006 and a comparison group with stable drug coverage from 2004 to 2007. RESULTS The comparison group's out-of-pocket drug spending was stable throughout 2004-2007, whereas Part D reduced out-of-pocket spending 13.4% among those without prior coverage (95% confidence interval [CI] -17.1% to -9.1%) and 15.9% among those with $150 quarterly caps (95% CI -19.1% to -12.8%) relative to the comparison group. Individuals in the top decile of drug spending paid a greater share of their costs out-of-pocket than others in the top 5 deciles. DISCUSSION Although Part D reduced out-of-pocket expenditures for older adults, those with the highest drug spending still pay a substantial share of their drug costs out-of-pocket. Thus, the Part D benefit does not achieve a primary purpose of insurance-to offer the greatest financial protection to those at the highest risk.
The pathogenic mechanism of diabetes varies with the degree of overexpression and oligomerization of human amylin in the pancreatic islet β cells

The aggregation of human amylin (hA) to form cytotoxic structures has been closely associated with the causation of type 2 diabetes. We sought to advance understanding of how altered expression and aggregation of hA might link β‐cell degeneration with diabetes onset and progression, by comparing phenotypes between homozygous and hemizygous hA‐transgenic mice. The homozygous mice displayed elevated islet hA that correlated positively with measures of oligomer formation (r=0.91; P<0.0001). They also developed hyperinsulinemia with transient insulin resistance during the prediabetes stage and then underwent rapid β‐cell loss, culminating in severe juvenile‐onset diabetes. The prediabetes stage was prolonged in the hemizygous mice, wherein β‐cell dysfunction and extensive oligomer formation occurred in adulthood at a much later stage, when hA levels were lower (r= –0.60; P<0.0001). This is the first report to show that hA‐evoked diabetes is associated with age, insulin resistance, progressive islet dysfunction, and β‐cell apoptosis, which interact variably to cause the different diabetes syndromes. The various levels of hA elevation cause different extents of oligomer formation in the disease stages, thus eliciting early‐ or adult‐onset diabetes syndromes, reminiscent of type 1 and 2 diabetes, respectively. Thus, the hA‐evoked diabetes phenotypes differ substantively according to degree of amylin overproduction. These findings are relevant to the understanding of the pathogenesis and the development of experimental therapeutics for diabetes. —Zhang, S. , Liu, H. , Chuang, C. L. , Li, X. , Au, M. , Zhang, L. , Phillips, A. R. J., Scott, D. W. , Cooper, G.J. S. The pathogenic mechanism of diabetes varies with the degree of overexpression and oligomerization of human amylin in the pancreatic islet β cells. FASEB J. 28, 5083–5096 (2014). www.fasebj. org
A texture based adaptive speckle suppression method for ultrasound images of the neonatal brain.

White matter damage of the neonatal brain, in its focal or di use variant, is found in 20 percent to 50 percent of very low birth weight infants (<1500g). Focal WMD can lead to the formation of cysts in the brain (cystic periventricular leukomalacia), which predicts spastic diand quadriparesis and sometimes cognitive dysfunction and mental retardation. Generally WMD reveals itself in an ultrasound image as a \zone of increased echodensity" (i.e. a typical kind of \white cloud"), called a \ are". The visual interpretation of ultrasound images of the neonatal brain for making an unambiguous and correct diagnosis of WMD by means of the presence of ares, however, is often hindered by the presence of speckle noise. In this paper we aim to introduce an adaptive lter, which reduces the speckle noise in ultrasound images of the neonatal brain signi cantly in the healthy tissue, while, at the same time, it leaves the areas infected by WMD (the \ ares") untouched, thus serving as an aid for the sonologist to make a more accurate diagnosis, by distinguishing clearly the ill tissue from the healthy ones. To achieve this goal, the presented ltering technique takes into account rst and second order local statistics of the image in order to adapt its strength in the various regions. We have found that infected areas can be distinguished from healthy ones by considering the mean grey-value and the contrast. In [3] similar results were obtained for ultrasound images of the prostate. In II.A the preliminary results of this research are presented. Using these, the lter works on a combination of the two parameters mentioned above. In II.B the lter itself is explained in detail. First the original image is converted to an image, in which the grey-values are independent of the scanner settings selected by the sonologist, by means of a compensation algorithm, as introduced in [1]. A region growing procedure, in which the region growing is controlled by grey-value limitations, segments this compensated image [2], [5], [6]. Then in every region the contrast and mean grey-value are calculated, and a speckle reduction algorithm, consisting of a complementary hulling technique introduced in [4], is applied iteratively, where the number of iterations depends on the parameters calculated. As the various tissues are characterised by the parameters mentioned, we achieve in this way that the speckle noise is suppressed in the healthy tissues in the image, while details, especially in the WMD zones, are maintained. In III. the results are compared with two classical speckle suppression lters, namely the Lee [7] and the Frost lter [8], as well as with another adaptive speckle suppression lter, which is also based on a region growing procedure, combined with ltering dependent on local statistics [2].
Social services support and expenditure for children with autism

Our aim is for this newsletter to offer a quick round-up of the varied work we do at the Kent branch of the PSSRU. It should be seen as a complement to the website, our annual Bulletin, short summaries and longer reports – many of which are available for download. We would be very interested to have feedback (critical or positive) on these publications, to help us provide the information you need.
Using the Transtheoretical Model to Explore the Impact of Peer Mentoring on Peer Mentors' Own Recovery from Substance Misuse

ABSTRACT There is a paucity of evidence regarding the therapeutic benefit of engaging in peer mentoring for peer mentors themselves. This study aimed to explore the potential therapeutic impact of this role on peer mentors' recovery from substance misuse. Thematic analysis was used to investigate peer mentors' experiences, and findings were embedded within the Transtheoretical Model. Peer mentoring provided a purpose for participants and allowed them to distance themselves from their previous substance using behaviour, using available support to avoid relapse. Peer mentoring strengthened the ability of peer mentors to maintain recovery through facilitating resources which may contribute to recovery maintenance.
The Combined Effects of Amino Acid Substitutions and Indels on the Evolution of Structure within Protein Families

Background In the process of protein evolution, sequence variations within protein families can cause changes in protein structures and functions. However, structures tend to be more conserved than sequences and functions. This leads to an intriguing question: what is the evolutionary mechanism by which sequence variations produce structural changes? To investigate this question, we focused on the most common types of sequence variations: amino acid substitutions and insertions/deletions (indels). Here their combined effects on protein structure evolution within protein families are studied. Results Sequence-structure correlation analysis on 75 homologous structure families (from SCOP) that contain 20 or more non-redundant structures shows that in most of these families there is, statistically, a bilinear correlation between the amount of substitutions and indels versus the degree of structure variations. Bilinear regression of percent sequence non-identity (PNI) and standardized number of gaps (SNG) versus RMSD was performed. The coefficients from the regression analysis could be used to estimate the structure changes caused by each unit of substitution (structural substitution sensitivity, SSS) and by each unit of indel (structural indel sensitivity, SIDS). An analysis on 52 families with high bilinear fitting multiple correlation coefficients and statistically significant regression coefficients showed that SSS is mainly constrained by disulfide bonds, which almost have no effects on SIDS. Conclusions Structural changes in homologous protein families could be rationally explained by a bilinear model combining amino acid substitutions and indels. These results may further improve our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms of protein structures.
Effects of early unilateral blur on the macaque's visual system. III. Physiological observations

We studied the properties of visual cortical and lateral geniculate neurons in 5 macaque monkeys raised with the vision of one eye blurred by daily instillation of atropine. This rearing reduced the degree of binocular interaction in striate cortical neurons and caused a modest shift in eye dominance away from the atropine-treated eye. It also led to a difference in the spatial properties of neurons driven by the 2 eyes: neurons driven by the treated eye tended to have lower optimal spatial frequencies, poorer spatial resolution, and lower contrast sensitivity than neurons driven by the untreated eye. Some of the few binocularly driven neurons had receptive fields with sharply different spatial properties in the 2 eyes, with the treated eye's receptive field always having poorer spatial resolution. In striate cortex, the effects on neuronal spatial properties were less marked in layer 4 than in more superficial or deeper layers; there was no difference in the spatial properties of lateral geniculate neurons driven by the 2 eyes. A small sample of extrastriate cortical neurons from a single animal showed effects similar to those seen in striate cortex. The striate cortical changes varied consistently from animal to animal: The less affected animals had no discernible eye dominance shift and relatively small differences in spatial properties between the eyes; the more affected animals had substantial eye dominance shifts and larger interocular spatial differences. These variations were also reflected in, and consistent with, behavioral and anatomical measurements performed in the same monkeys.
On Proving Confluence of Conditional Term Rewriting Systems via the Computationally Equivalent Transformation ∗

This paper improves the existing criterion for proving confluence of a normal conditional term rewriting system (CTRS) via the Şerbănuţă-Roşu transformation, a computationally equivalent transformation of CTRSs into unconditional term rewriting systems (TRS), showing that a weakly left-linear normal CTRS is confluent if the transformed TRS is confluent. Then, we discuss usefulness of the optimization of the Şerbănuţă-Roşu transformation, which has informally been proposed in the literature.
ULF waves with drift resonance and drift-bounce resonance energy sources as observed in artificially-induced HF radar backscatter

Abstract. HF radar backscatter which has been artificially-induced by a high power RF facility such as the EISCAT heater at Tromso has been demonstrated to provide ionospheric electric field data of unprecedented temporal resolution and accuracy. Here such data are used to investigate ULF wave processes observed by the CUTLASS HF radars. Within a short period of time during a single four hour experiment three distinct wave types are observed with differing periods, and latitudinal and longitudinal phase evolution. Combining information from the three waves allows them to be divided into those with a large-scale nature, driven externally to the magnetosphere, and those with small azimuthal scale lengths, driven by wave-particle interactions. Furthermore, the nature of the wave-particle interactions for two distinct small-scale waves is revealed, with one wave interpreted as being driven by a drift resonance process and the other by a drift-bounce resonance interaction. Both of these mechanisms with m ≈ -35 and proton energies of 35–45 keV appear to be viable wave energy sources in the postnoon sector. Key words. Ionosphere (active experiments; wave-particle interactions) – Magnetospheric physics (MHD waves and in-stabilities).