Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disentangling the Roles of Approach, Activation and Valence in Instrumental and Pavlovian Responding

Hard-wired, Pavlovian, responses elicited by predictions of rewards and punishments exert significant benevolent and malevolent influences over instrumentally-appropriate actions. These influences come in two main groups, defined along anatomical, pharmacological, behavioural and functional lines. Investigations of the influences have so far concentrated on the groups as a whole; here we take the critical step of looking inside each group, using a detailed reinforcement learning model to distinguish effects to do with value, specific actions, and general activation or inhibition. We show a high degree of sophistication in Pavlovian influences, with appetitive Pavlovian stimuli specifically promoting approach and inhibiting withdrawal, and aversive Pavlovian stimuli promoting withdrawal and inhibiting approach. These influences account for differences in the instrumental performance of approach and withdrawal behaviours. Finally, although losses are as informative as gains, we find that subjects neglect losses in their instrumental learning. Our findings argue for a view of the Pavlovian system as a constraint or prior, facilitating learning by alleviating computational costs that come with increased flexibility.
The TERT promoter SNP rs2853669 decreases E2F1 transcription factor binding and increases mortality and recurrence risks in liver cancer

A common single-nucleotide polymorphism in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter, rs2853669 influences patient survival rates and the risk of developing cancer. Recently, several lines of evidence suggest that the rs2853669 suppresses TERT promoter mutation-mediated TERT expression levels and cancer mortality as well as recurrence rates. However, no reports are available on the impact of rs2853669 on TERT expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its association with patient survival. Here, we found that HCC-related overall and recurrence-free survival rates were not associated with TERT promoter mutation individually, but rs2853669 and the TERT promoter mutation in combination were associated with poor survival rates. TERT mRNA expression and telomere fluorescence levels were greater in patients with HCC who had both the combination. The combination caused TERT promoter methylation through regulating the binding of DNA methyltransferase 1 and histone deacetylase 1 to the TERT promoter in HCC cell lines. The TERT expression level was significantly higher in HCC tumor with a methylated promoter than in that with an unmethylated promoter. In conclusion, we demonstrate a substantial role for the rs2853669 in HCC with TERT promoter mutation, which suggests that the combination of the rs2853669 and the mutation indicate poor prognoses in liver cancer.
Identity, Dignity and Taboos: Beliefs as Assets

We analyze social and economic phenomena involving beliefs which people value and invest in, for affective or functional reasons. Individuals are at times uncertain about their own 'deep values' and infer them from their past choices, which then come to define 'who they are'. Identity investments increase when information is scarce or when a greater endowment of some asset (wealth, career, family, culture) raises the stakes on viewing it as valuable (escalating commitments). Taboos against transactions or the mere contemplation of tradeoffs arise to protect fragile beliefs about the 'priceless' value of certain assets (life, freedom, love, faith) or things one 'would never do'. Whether such behaviours are welfare-enhancing or reducing depends on whether beliefs are sought for a functional value (sense of direction, self-discipline) or for 'mental consumption' motives (self-esteem, anticipatory feelings). Escalating commitments can thus lead to a 'hedonic treadmill', and competing identities cause dysfunctional failures to invest in high-return activities (education, adapting to globalization, assimilation), or even the destruction of productive assets. In social interactions, norm violations elicit a forceful response (exclusion, harassment) when they threaten a strongly held identity, but further erode morale when it was initially weak. Concerns for pride, dignity or wishful thinking lead to the inefficient breakdown of Coasian bargaining even under symmetric information, as partners seek to self-enhance and shift blame by turning down 'insultingly low' offers.
Akt and mTOR in B Cell Activation and Differentiation

Activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) is required for B cell proliferation and survival. PI3K signaling also controls key aspects of B cell differentiation. Upon engagement of the B cell receptor (BCR), PI3K activation promotes Ca2+ mobilization and activation of NFκB-dependent transcription, events which are essential for B cell proliferation. PI3K also initiates a distinct signaling pathway involving the Akt and mTOR serine/threonine kinases. It has been generally assumed that activation of Akt and mTOR downstream of PI3K is essential for B cell function. However, Akt and mTOR have complex roles in B cell fate decisions and suppression of this pathway can enhance certain B cell responses while repressing others. In this review we will discuss genetic and pharmacological studies of Akt and mTOR function in normal B cells, and in malignancies of B cell origin.
Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West: A definition of religion, and its uses

IN RECENT BRITISH ANTHROPOLOGY three principal types of working definition have been used in approaching the comparative study of religion. The first treats the term 'Religion' as lending itself with difficulty to further definition and as covering an area of human activity which lacks sharply delineated boundaries; where such a point of view prevails, the reader is simply asked to accept as 'religious' any phenomena which the author happens to select for treatment under this heading. The second type treats 'Religion' as referring to a class of metaphorical statoments and actions obliquely denoting social relationships and claims to social status. The third type treats the term as referring to commerce with a specific class of objects, i.e. 'Religion is the belief in spirits' or 'Religion is the belief in the supernatural'. As they stand, I believe all of these approaches are unsatisfactory, and in this paper I shall follow up their criticism with the proposal of an alternative definition. Definitions being mere tools towards the discovery of empirical regularities, I shall of course try to show that the alternative proposed is of value in terms of the hypotheses and questions it suggests about the determinants of religious forms. The approach which would press on with the scope of the term 'Religion' left undefined has had some worthy advocates-among them, Professor Nadel, author of one of the most comprehensive analyses of an African religious system produced to date. According to Nadel (I 954, pp. 7-8),
Organizational and Non-Organizational Influences on Job Attitudes of Part-Time and Full-Time Employees.

Abstract : Several hypotheses concerning work and non-work social influences on part-time and full-time employees were investigated. Predictions were derived from role theory (Gross, Mason, and McEachern, 1958), and partial inclusion notions (Katz and Kahn, 1978). Survey data were collected from 1632 retail employees working part- or full-time in one of 41 geographically dispersed organizational units. Part-time employees felt less involved in the organizational role but were more satisfied generally than full-time employees and perceived lower conflict, greater communication accuracy and greater communication openness than did full-time employees. The two job status groups did not differ in perceptions of conflict from non-organizational sources nor in ambiguity concerning work role activities. They were similar also in their commitment to the organization and in their intentions to remain with the organization. Finally, relations of non-organizational social influences with measures of psychological attachment were equivalently high for both part-time and full-time employees, as were relations among measures of work role perceptions and psychological attachment. Discussion cites sample-based explanations and the utility of role theory and partial inclusion to account for the data. Directions for further research contrasting these two status groups are suggested. (Author)
A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Clinical Study on the Curative Effect of Huaier on Mild-to-Moderate Psoriasis and an Experimental Study on the Proliferation of Hacat Cells

The antitumor effects of Huaier have been recently revealed. However, no research has been conducted on the effects of Huaier on keratinocyte proliferation and for the treatment of psoriasis. Hacat cells were treated with different concentrations of Huaier for different periods of times. The effects on cell proliferation and vitality and on the cell cycle were detected. Patients with mild-to-moderate psoriasis were randomized and divided into two groups in a double-blind manner. The experimental group was given sugar-free Yinxie granules and Huaiqihuang (HQH) granules, and the control group was given sugar-free Yinxie granules and placebo. After 4 weeks, various therapeutic indexes were compared. Huaier significantly inhibited Hacat cell proliferation, suppressed vitality, and blocked the cell cycle in the G1 phase compared with the control group (P < 0.01, respectively). After treatment for 4 weeks, the number of patients between the two groups that experienced a 50% reduction in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 50), PASI 75 and PASI 90, was significantly different (P <0.01). The body surface area (BSA) affected by psoriasis and static physician's global assessment (sPGA) was significantly reduced (P < 0.01); additionally, a significant improvement in the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) (P < 0.01) was observed. Huaier has shown promising effects in both clinical and experimental setting in this preliminary study and it might provide some benefit in the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris in the future.
A Bag of Visual Words Approach for Symbols-Based Coarse-Grained Ancient Coin Classification

The field of Numismatics provides the names and descriptions of the symbols minted on the ancient coins. Classification of the ancient coins aims at assigning a given coin to its issuer. Various issuers used various symbols for their coins. We propose to use these symbols for a framework that will coarsely classify the ancient coins. Bag of visual words (BoVWs) is a well established visual recognition technique applied to various problems in computer vision like object and scene recognition. Improvements have been made by incorporating the spatial information to this technique. We apply the BoVWs technique to our problem and use three symbols for coarse-grained classification. We use rectangular tiling, log-polar tiling and circular tiling to incorporate spatial information to BoVWs. Experimental results show that the circular tiling proves superior to the rest of the methods for our problem.
Torsion Sensing Characteristics of Mechanically Induced Long-Period Holey Fiber Gratings

We present the spectral transmission response of a long-period holey fiber grating mechanically induced in two different twisted holey fibers. We have found that each resonance wavelength of the grating splits when the holey fiber is twisted prior pressure application. The new upper and lower resonance wavelengths show an opposite symmetrical shift that increases proportionally with the induced twist ratio, and it does not depend on tuning and twist direction. The shift observed in the splitting of the peaks in the mechanically induced long-period holey fiber grating is higher than that obtained in standard single-mode fibers and its sensitivity depends of the transverse structure of the holey fiber. High sensitivity is observed in the fiber with asymmetrical cladding structure. These results are important in the design of new torsion sensors based in long-period holey fiber gratings.
Worldwide Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns and Pharmacodynamic Comparisons of Gatifloxacin and Levofloxacin against Streptococcus pneumoniae: Report from the Antimicrobial Resistance Rate Epidemiology Study Team

ABSTRACT The use of fluoroquinolones for the treatment of community-acquired respiratory tract infection is increasing. Since for Streptococcus pneumoniae a ratio of the 24-h area under the concentration-time curve (AUC24) for the agent to the MIC (AUC24/MIC) greater than 30 for the fraction of unbound drug (fu) is the major pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) parameter correlating with bacterial eradication by fluoroquinolones in nonclinical models of infection and in infected patients, the Antimicrobial Resistance Rate Epidemiology Study Team systematically compared the in vitro susceptibility patterns and estimated the probability of attainment of the PK-PD target ratios for gatifloxacin and levofloxacin against pneumococci worldwide. Monte Carlo simulation was used to estimate the probability that gatifloxacin or levofloxacin would achieve an fu AUC24/MIC ratio of 30 or greater. A total of 10,978 S. pneumoniae isolates collected from 1997 to 2000, each indexed by site of infection and geographic region (North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific), were used to estimate the probability mass functions of the microbiological activities for each region considered in the analysis. fu AUC24 probability distribution functions were estimated by using data that were part of each product's submission accepted by the Food and Drug Administration. A 10,000-patient simulation was performed for each drug-organism-region combination. The percentages of strains susceptible to each drug by region were as follows: for gatifloxacin, North America, 99.6%; Latin America, 99.8%; Europe, 99.9%; and Asia-Pacific, 99.2%; for levofloxacin, North America, 99.6%; Latin America, 99.8%; Europe, 99.8%; and Asia-Pacific, 99.1%. The MIC at which 50% of isolates are inhibited (MIC50) and the MIC90 of each drug by region were as follows: for gatifloxacin, North America, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/liter, respectively; Latin America, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/liter, respectively; Europe, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/liter, respectively; and Asia-Pacific, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/liter, respectively; for levofloxacin, North America, 1 and 2 mg/liter, respectively; Latin America, 1 and 2 mg/liter, respectively; Europe, 1 and 1 mg/liter, respectively; and Asia-Pacific, 1 and 1 mg/liter, respectively. The probabilities of attaining an fu AUC24/MIC ratio greater than 30 for each drug by region were as follows: for gatifloxacin, North America, 97.6%; Latin America, 98.3%; Europe, 99.1%; and Asia-Pacific, 98.8%; for levofloxacin, North America, 78.9%; Latin America, 84.1%; Europe, 87.1%; and Asia-Pacific, 86.5%. These results for a very large collection of recent clinical strains demonstrate that, globally, gatifloxacin is two- to fourfold more active than levofloxacin against S. pneumoniae and that gatifloxacin has an overall 14.3% higher probability of achieving clinically important PK-PD target ratios than levofloxacin.
Tidal Volume Single Breath Washout of Two Tracer Gases - A Practical and Promising Lung Function Test

Background Small airway disease frequently occurs in chronic lung diseases and may cause ventilation inhomogeneity (VI), which can be assessed by washout tests of inert tracer gas. Using two tracer gases with unequal molar mass (MM) and diffusivity increases specificity for VI in different lung zones. Currently washout tests are underutilised due to the time and effort required for measurements. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple technique for a new tidal single breath washout test (SBW) of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and helium (He) using an ultrasonic flowmeter (USFM). Methods The tracer gas mixture contained 5% SF6 and 26.3% He, had similar total MM as air, and was applied for a single tidal breath in 13 healthy adults. The USFM measured MM, which was then plotted against expired volume. USFM and mass spectrometer signals were compared in six subjects performing three SBW. Repeatability and reproducibility of SBW, i.e., area under the MM curve (AUC), were determined in seven subjects performing three SBW 24 hours apart. Results USFM reliably measured MM during all SBW tests (n = 60). MM from USFM reflected SF6 and He washout patterns measured by mass spectrometer. USFM signals were highly associated with mass spectrometer signals, e.g., for MM, linear regression r-squared was 0.98. Intra-subject coefficient of variation of AUC was 6.8%, and coefficient of repeatability was 11.8%. Conclusion The USFM accurately measured relative changes in SF6 and He washout. SBW tests were repeatable and reproducible in healthy adults. We have developed a fast, reliable, and straightforward USFM based SBW method, which provides valid information on SF6 and He washout patterns during tidal breathing.
Altruism in the (social) network

This paper explores the role of social integration on altruistic behavior. To this aim, we develop a two-stage experimental protocol based on the classic Dictator Game. In the first stage, we ask a group of 77 undergraduate students in Economics to elicit their social network; in the second stage, each of them has to unilaterally decide over the division of a fixed amount of money to be shared with another anonymous member in the group. Our experimental design allows to control for other variables known to be relevant for altruistic behavior: framing and friendship/acquaintance relations. Consistently with previous research, we find that subjects favor their friends and that framing enhances altruistic behavior. Once we control for these effects, social integration (measured by betweenness, a standard centrality measure in network theory) has a positive effect on giving: the larger social isolation within the group, the more likely it is the emergence of selfish behavior. These results suggest that information on the network structure in which subjects are embedded is crucial to account for their behavior.
Geolocation Prediction in Twitter Using Social Networks: A Critical Analysis and Review of Current Practice

Geolocated social media data provides a powerful source of information about place and regional human behavior. Because little social media data is geolocation-annotated, inference techniques serve an essential role for increasing the volume of annotated data. One major class of inference approaches has relied on the social network of Twitter, where the locations of a user's friends serve as evidence for that user's location. While many such inference techniques have been recently proposed, we actually know little about their relative performance, with the amount of ground truth data varying between 5% and 100% of the network, the size of the social network varying by four orders of magnitude, and little standardization in evaluation metrics. We conduct a systematic comparative analysis of nine state-of-the-art network-based methods for performing geolocation inference at the global scale, controlling for the source of ground truth data, dataset size, and temporal recency in test data. Furthermore, we identify a comprehensive set of evaluation metrics that clarify performance differences. Our analysis identifies a large performance disparity between that reported in the literature and that seen in real-world conditions. To aid reproducibility and future comparison, all implementations have been released in an open source geoinference package.
NASA: achieving lower regrets and faster rates via adaptive stepsizes

The classic Stochastic Approximation (SA) method achieves optimal rates under the black-box model. This optimality does not rule out better algorithms when more information about functions and data is available. We present a family of Noise Adaptive Stochastic Approximation (NASA) algorithms for online convex optimization and stochastic convex optimization. NASA is an adaptive variant of Mirror Descent Stochastic Approximation. It is novel in its practical variation-dependent stepsizes and better theoretical guarantees. We show that comparing with state-of-the-art adaptive and non-adaptive SA methods, lower regrets and faster rates can be achieved under low-variation assumptions.
Fast-ion D-alpha measurements at ASDEX Upgrade

A fast-ion D-alpha (FIDA) diagnostic has been developed for the fully tungsten coated ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) tokamak using 25 toroidally viewing lines of sight and featuring a temporal resolution of 10 ms. The diagnostic's toroidal geometry determines a well-defined region in velocity space which significantly overlaps with the typical fast-ion distribution in AUG plasmas. Background subtraction without beam modulation is possible because relevant parts of the FIDA spectra are free from impurity line contamination. Thus, the temporal evolution of the confined fast-ion distribution function can be monitored continuously. FIDA profiles during on- and off-axis neutral beam injection (NBI) heating are presented which show changes in the radial fast-ion distribution with the different NBI geometries. Good agreement has been obtained between measured and simulated FIDA radial profiles in MHD-quiescent plasmas using fast-ion distribution functions provided by TRANSP. In addition, a large fast-ion redistribution with a drop of about 50% in the central fast-ion population has been observed in the presence of a q = 2 sawtooth-like crash, demonstrating the capabilities of the diagnostic.
To Join or Not to Join: Individual and Sub-organizational Factors Affecting Industry Membership in University-based Cooperative Research Centers 123

Since the early 1980s the US government through federal legislation has worked to increase publicprivate partnerships to help drive industrial innovation and economic progress (National Science Board, 2006). Cooperative Research Centers (CRCs) are one such mechanism, enabling industrial organizations to collaborate with both universities and government agencies. These university-based CRCs operate as linkage mechanisms (Gray, 1998), bridging the culture gap between academia and the private sector. Understanding the motivations and processes through which these partnerships initiate and evolve is important to their continued success. From existing research we know what environmental and organizational factors signal an increased likelihood for partnerships to occur. However, beyond these initializing conditions little is known about how organizations discover potential partners and subsequently decide whether to pursue a formal partnership arrangement. This current study applied a mixed methods approach to identify factors within organizations that could explain how industry-university partnerships happen. Two preliminary studies were conducted to explore pre-collaborative exchanges between university-based CRCs and their prospective member organizations. These first two stages of research revealed underlying communities of university researchers, industrial technologists, and government scientists. Within these communities reside networks of actors engaged in dynamic relationship exchanges that propagate formal partnership considerations. Further, semi-structured