Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transcriptomics of Intralocus Sexual Conflict: Gene Expression Patterns in Females Change in Response to Selection on a Male Secondary Sexual Trait in the Bulb Mite

Intralocus sexual conflict (IASC) prevents males and females from reaching their disparate phenotypic optima and is widespread, but little is known about its genetic underpinnings. In Rhizoglyphus robini, a mite species with alternative male morphs, elevated sexual dimorphism of the armored fighter males (compared to more feminized scramblers males) was previously reported to be associated with increased IASC. Because IASC persists if gene expression patterns are correlated between sexes, we compared gene expression patterns of males and females from the replicate lines selected for increased proportion of fighter or scrambler males (F- and S-lines, respectively). Specifically, we tested the prediction that selection for fighter morph caused correlated changes in gene expression patterns in females. We identified 532 differentially expressed genes (FDR < 0.05) between the F-line and S-line males. Consistent with the prediction, expression levels of these genes also differed between females from respective lines. Thus, significant proportion of genes differentially expressed between sexually selected male phenotypes showed correlated expression levels in females, likely contributing to elevated IASC in F-lines reported in a previous study.
A Note on Measuring Risk Aversion

In this paper we propose a new method to elicit the intensity of individual's risk preferences. Our method uses a simple multiple price-list format and is based on the increasing risk denitions of Rothschild and Stiglitz (1970, 1971). We are thus able to classify individuals as more or less risk-averse without assuming an expected utility framework. In a lab experiment we directly compare our method to the well-known method of Holt and Laury (2002) and nd that our approach yields higher estimates of relative risk aversion that are much closer to what is observed in the eld.
uench induced residual stress prediction in heat treatable 7 xxx luminium alloy thick plates using Gleeble interrupted quench tests

In this paper, a simple but realistic approach is presented to predict the as-quenched residual stress distribution in thick 7xxx aluminium alloy plates. Instead of modelling precipitation that occurs during quenching, a thermo-mechanical model is used whose parameters are identified using a limited number of tensile tests achieved after representative interrupted cooling paths in a Gleeble machine. The material behaviour law accounts for recovery at high temperature in a simple way and neglects the Bauschinger
Methylobacterium Species Promoting Rice and Barley Growth and Interaction Specificity Revealed with Whole-Cell Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption / Ionization-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) Analysis

Methylobacterium species frequently inhabit plant surfaces and are able to utilize the methanol emitted from plants as carbon and energy sources. As some of the Methylobacterium species are known to promote plant growth, significant attention has been paid to the mechanism of growth promotion and the specificity of plant–microbe interactions. By screening our Methylobacterium isolate collection for the high growth promotion effect in vitro, we selected some candidates for field and pot growth tests for rice and barley, respectively. We found that inoculation resulted in better ripening of rice seeds, and increased the size of barley grains but not the total yield. In addition, using whole-cell matrix-assister laser desorption/ionization- time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) analysis, we identified and classified Methylobacterium isolates from Methylobacterium-inoculated rice plants. The inoculated species could not be recovered from the rice plants, and in some cases, the Methylobacterium community structure was affected by the inoculation, but not with predomination of the inoculated species. The isolates from non-inoculated barley of various cultivars grown in the same field fell into just two species. These results suggest that there is a strong selection pressure at the species level of Methylobacterium residing on a given plant species, and that selection of appropriate species that can persist on the plant is important to achieve growth promotion.
Pure delta-oriented programming

Delta-oriented programming (DOP) is a modular approach for implementing software product lines. Delta modules generalize feature modules by allowing removal of functionality. However, DOP requires to select one particular product as core product from which all products are generated. In this paper, we propose pure delta-oriented programming (Pure DOP) that is a conceptual simplification of traditional DOP. In Pure DOP, the requirement of one designated core product is dropped. Instead, program generation only relies on delta modules comprising program modifications such that Pure DOP is more flexible than traditional DOP. Furthermore, we show that Pure DOP is a true generalization of FOP and supports proactive, reactive and extractive product line engineering.
Palmitate Diet-induced Loss of Cardiac Caveolin-3: A Novel Mechanism for Lipid-induced Contractile Dysfunction

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of cardiomyopathy, and mechanisms linking the underlying risk and dietary factors are not well understood. We tested the hypothesis that dietary intake of saturated fat increases the levels of sphingolipids, namely ceramide and sphingomyelin in cardiac cell membranes that disrupt caveolae, specialized membrane micro-domains and important for cellular signaling. C57BL/6 mice were fed two high-fat diets: palmitate diet (21% total fat, 47% is palmitate), and MCT diet (21% medium-chain triglycerides, no palmitate). We established that high-palmitate feeding for 12 weeks leads to 40% and 50% increases in ceramide and sphingomyelin, respectively, in cellular membranes. Concomitant with sphingolipid accumulation, we observed a 40% reduction in systolic contractile performance. To explore the relationship of increased sphingolipids with caveolins, we analyzed caveolin protein levels and intracellular localization in isolated cardiomyocytes. In normal cardiomyocytes, caveolin-1 and caveolin-3 co-localize at the plasma membrane and the T-tubule system. However, mice maintained on palmitate lost 80% of caveolin-3, mainly from the T-tubule system. Mice maintained on MCT diet had a 90% reduction in caveolin-1. These data show that caveolin isoforms are sensitive to the lipid environment. These data are further supported by similar findings in human cardiac tissue samples from non-obese, obese, non-obese cardiomyopathic, and obese cardiomyopathic patients. To further elucidate the contractile dysfunction associated with the loss of caveolin-3, we determined the localization of the ryanodine receptor and found lower expression and loss of the striated appearance of this protein. We suggest that palmitate-induced loss of caveolin-3 results in cardiac contractile dysfunction via a defect in calcium-induced calcium release.
STRESS-INDUCED ETHYLENE PRODUCTION IN FLOWER PARTS OF CUT CARNATION FLOWERS CV. LIGHT PINK TASMAN

Summary. Ethylene is a plant hormone with endogenous production associated with the process of senescence for a number of cut flowers. Different stressogenic factors, including signals such as pollination, exogenous ethylene and auxins have been found to be associated with the increase in ethylene emission and a specific tissue response has been documented. The present study was undertaken with the aim to investigate the role of external stress stimuli such as wounding and desiccation and the effect of IAA, NAA and 2,4-D and ethylene treatments on ethylene evolution of separated carnation flower parts. The experiments were conducted with cut carnation flowers (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) cv. Light Pink Tasman harvested in commercial maturity. Two groups of flowers were used: “A” – STS and non-STS pretreated. The flower heads were excised and dissembled to petals, ovaries and styles and young leaves from cuttings were taken. Ethylene production was measured by GC. The results showed that the reaction of component flower parts differed depending on the treatment used: wounding and desiccation accelerated the ethylene production in ovaries and styles; ethylene exposure resulted in enchanced ethylene emission of petals and auxin induced remarkable amount of ethylene released from leaves.
Hyperspectral endmember spectra extraction based on constrained linear-quadratic matrix factorization using a projected gradient method

In this paper, a new projected-gradient method for linear-quadratic matrix factorization is proposed for extracting hyperspectral endmember spectra. The proposed method is designed for a linear-quadratic mixing model involved in urban hyperspectral remote sensing images. The reduction of the number of considered variables, when optimizing the used cost function, constitutes the main originality of the proposed method. The implemented optimization algorithm is suited for unsupervised processing of hyperspectral remote sensing images taking into account their nonnegativity. Experiments based on realistic synthetic data, formed according to the considered linear-quadratic mixing model, are carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed method and compare it to that of other methods from the literature. The obtained results show that the proposed method yields better overall performance than the other approaches proposed in the literature, especially for urban spectra.
High School Stress and Cheating: Developing an Understanding of the Factors that Influence Stress and Cheating in High School Students

The culture of high school is increasingly dominated by grades, pressure to get into an elite college, and meeting personal expectations as well as those of parents, teachers, and peers. This quantitative action research study examines the relationship between demographic variables, such as gender, grade level, and course load, and the constructs of high school student perceived level of stress, sources of stress, and attitudes about academic integrity. In addition, the present study creates a model that explains how these variables predict the frequency students use academically dishonest behaviors. The study used archival data from a district sponsored survey. Results from this study indicate gender and grade level were significant predictors of students’ perceived stress, academic stress, and social stress, with course load as a significant predictor of academic stress. Gender and course load were significant predictors of students’ attitudes about academic integrity behaviors. Course load, social stress, and acceptability were significant predictors of the frequency students used academically dishonest behaviors. As a result of this study, school districts should examine current homework, grading, and assessment practices in an effort to mitigate student stress. In addition, schools should consider the introduction of honor codes and/or rigorous education about academic integrity in order to create a culture to integrity and clearly educate students on what is and is not academically acceptable behavior. Document Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Theresa Pulos Second Supervisor Shawn Van Scoy Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: https://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/339 High School Stress and Cheating: Developing an Understanding of the Factors that Influence Stress and Cheating in High School Students.
Understanding the Hit-rate Dynamics of a Large Website with an Agent-Based Model

We have studied the simultaneous effects of advertising and word of mouth communication on the hit rate dynamics of a major retail website. The website activity can be described as having a steady-state hit rate punctuated by sharp spikes that can rise to five or six times the steady-state value before returning to quiescent levels. The rise and fall of these spikes is very rapid, happening on a time-scale of about one day. We find that the activity can be reproduced well with a combination of exogenous stimuli and an endogenous communication model. Our communication model is an agentbased model; agents are organized in a hierarchical clustering structure that simulates a social environment. At each time step, an agent will visit the website with a probability given by a value equation V (ρ), where ρ is the fraction of agents in the social cluster who have visited the website recently. Our results show that the effects of external media combined with word of mouth communication as described by the model result in an emergent behaviour that is in agreement with the observed hit rate dynamics. We measure the validity of our communication model by fitting results both to website data as well as to selected YouTube videos. The insights provided by this research will have an immediate business impact, as they provide a method for optimizing a media plan by exploiting the properties of preexisting social networks. In the next phase of our research, we will integrate our results with information about purchases that occurred during visits to the website. This will allow us to measure the media plan ROI and to recommend the introduction of advertising that makes use of social interactions into the marketing mix.
Privacy at the Margins| Technology in Rural Appalachia: Cultural Strategies of Resistance and Navigation

Existing research on technology in rural, low-income communities has focused primarily on financial obstacles and lack of infrastructure. We use a sociocultural framework for understanding technology in rural Appalachia, using a mixed-methods study of focus groups and interviews. Eight focus groups were held with a total of 65 people (58% female) from low-socioeconomic-status communities in rural Appalachia (ages 12 to 75). Then, in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 participants (62.5% female) on issues generated from focus groups. Participants reported ways of both resisting and navigating technology, many of which were deeply grounded in core Appalachian values, such as respect for privacy. Many participants were skeptical of the value of technology weighed against the loss of privacy, expressed regrets about the loss of self-reliance due to technology, and used self-deprecating humor as resistance. Participants reported numerous strategies for navigating technology risks and generally took an agentic approach to protecting themselves online. Many prominent themes in these transcripts show the ways that people from this community have reasserted their agency in their relationships with technology.
Demystification of the glass ceiling phenomenon: Gender stereotyping and successful managers’ personality traits in Greece

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the gender role phenomenon and the stereotyping of requisite managers’ personal characteristics in the Greek society of today. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected quantitatively based on the informants’ perceptions on successful managers’ personality traits and according to the informants’ personality characteristics. Questionnaires were administered online to two separate convenience samples. Reliability analysis (Cronbach’s α) was employed for scale refinement, while intraclass correlation coefficient (r’) and t-test analysis examined the similarity of respondents’ responses across the items of the refined scale. Findings The results indicate that gender role stereotypes are challenged. It seems that the perceived managers’ personality is comprised of both agentic/masculine and communal/feminine characteristics and this perception is not perceived differently by men and women. This debates on whether the “glass ceiling” exists due to other determinants. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on gender role stereotyping research and perceptions of managerial personality characteristics in Greece.
Comparison of KRAS and PIK3CA gene status between primary tumors and paired metastases in colorectal cancer

Purpose In metastatic or recurrent colorectal cancer (MRCRC), the concordance of Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) mutation status between the primary tumors and metastases is still controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between KRAS and PIK3CA mutational status and various clinicopathologic features, and compare their genotype in primary tumors with that of the paired metastatic tumors. Method We compared the mutation status of KRAS and PIK3CA between the primary tumors and the paired metastases of 59 MRCRC patients with available tissues (resection or biopsy). The presence of KRAS and PIK3CA mutations were determined by direct sequencing analysis. Results Seventeen patients (28.8%) had the KRAS mutation and 46 patients (80.0%) had the PIK3CA mutation when considering both the primary and metastatic sites. KRAS mutation was observed in ten primary tumors and eleven related metastases (16.9% vs 18.6%), while PIK3CA mutation was found in 26 primary tumors and 32 related metastases (44.1% vs 54.2%). KRAS status was concordant between primary and metastatic sites in 45 patients (76.3%, kappa =0.157), while the concordance of PIK3CA status was only found in 25 patients (42.4%, kappa =−0.141). The PIK3CA status discordance rate was significantly higher in 40 patients undergoing metachronous resection of primary tumor or metastasis, compared with that in 19 patients with synchronous resection of primary tumor or metastasis (67.5% [27/40] vs 36.8% [7/19]; P=0.026). Conclusion Our results demonstrate that low concordance of KRAS and high discordance of PIK3CA mutational status exist between the primary tumors and paired metastasis, and these findings remind us to have second thoughts about the need to evaluate metastatic tumors separately rather than only based on the primary tumor data when targeted therapy is considered.
The Long-Term Radiative Evolution of Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 1E 2259+586 After Its 2002 Outburst

We present an analysis of five XMM-Newton observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 2259+586 taken in 2004 and 2005 during its relaxation following its 2002 outburst. We compare these data with those of five previous XMM-Newton observations taken in 2002 and 2003, and find the observed flux decay is well described by a power law of index –0.69 ± 0.03. As of mid-2005, the source may still have been brighter than preoutburst, and was certainly hotter. We find a strong correlation between hardness and flux, as seen in other AXPs. We discuss the implications of these results for the magnetar model.
Factors Contributing to Hypoxia in the Minjiang River Estuary, Southeast China

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is not only a fundamental parameter of coastal water quality, but also an indication of organics decomposed in water and their degree of eutrophication. There has been a concern about the deterioration of dissolved oxygen conditions in the Minjiang River Estuary, the longest river in Fujian Province, Southeast China. In this study, the syntheses effects on DO was analyzed by using a four year time series of DO concentration and ancillary parameters (river discharge, water level, and temperature) from the Fuzhou Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, at three automated stations along the Minjiang River Estuary. Hypoxia occurred exclusively in the fluvial sections of the estuary during the high temperature and low river discharge period and was remarkably more serious in the river reach near the large urban area of Fuzhou. Enhancement of respiration by temperature and discharge of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater, versus regeneration of waters and dilution of pollutant concentration with increased river discharge, which regarded as the dominant antagonist processes that controlled the appearance of seasonal hypoxia. During the high temperature and the drought period, minimal mainstream flow above 700 m3·s−1, reduction of pollutants and forbidding sediment dredging in the South Channel should be guaranteed for strong supports on water quality management and drinking water source protection.
Influence of QT correction on temporal and amplitude features for human identification via ECG

Identification of humans via ECG is being increasingly studied because it can have several advantages over the traditional biometric identification techniques. However, difficulties arise because of the heartrate variability. In this study we analysed the influence of QT interval correction on the performance of an identification system based on temporal and amplitude features of ECG. In particular we tested MLP, Naive Bayes and 3-NN classifiers on the Fantasia database. Results indicate that QT correction can significantly improve the overall system performance.
FACTORS INFLUENCING CONDOM USE AMONG STUDENTS ATTENDING HIGH SCHOOL IN NOVA SCOTIA

TO examine factors influencing condom use among high school students in Amherst, Nova Scotia, a self-administered questionnaire was completed by students at the town's only high school. Using the theory of planned behaviour as a framework, students' attitudes, social normative beliefs, perceived control, and intentions regarding condom use were determined and were used to predict actual use among 295 male and 345 female students aged 13 to 19. Though 75% per cent of respondents indicated they would always use condoms, only 55% used a condom at last vaginal intercourse, and only 42% during their last three episodes of vaginal sex. In regression analysis, attitudes towards condoms, social normative beliefs regarding condom use and perceived control over condom use accounted for 33% of the variance in predicting intentions to use condoms, with age, gender and place of residence used as covariates. Only negative attitudes towards condoms significantly predicted intentions to use condoms. Regarding actual condom use, being female, having a negative attitude towards condoms and weaker intentions to use condoms were significant predictors of having had vaginal sex without a condom at last three episodes of vaginal intercourse. The finding that attitude was the strongest predictor of intentions to use condoms, while attitudes, intentions and gender were the strongest predictors of use, suggests that these may be important factors in effective STD and pregnancy prevention programs.
The Neural Basis of Action Understanding

In daily life, we constantly observe actions of other people and try to attribute a meaning to these actions. This ability is fundamental to our survivor. Despite intense research, the neural basis of action understanding is still poorly understood. The aim of the present thesis is to investigate the neural networks involved in the process of action understanding in humans using functional magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging (fMRI and DTI).