Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychometrics and the Neuroscience of Individual Differences: Internal Consistency Limits Between-Subjects Effects

In the clinical neuroscience literature, between-subjects differences in neural activity are presumed to reflect reliable measures—even though the psychometric properties of neural measures are almost never reported. The current article focuses on the critical importance of assessing and reporting internal consistency reliability—the homogeneity of “items” that comprise a neural “score. ” We demonstrate how variability in the internal consistency of neural measures limits between-subjects (i.e., individual differences) effects. To this end, we utilize error-related brain activity (i.e., the error-related negativity or ERN) in both healthy and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) participants to demonstrate options for psychometric analyses of neural measures; we examine between-groups differences in internal consistency, between-groups effect sizes, and between-groups discriminability (i.e., ROC analyses)—all as a function of increasing items (i.e., number of trials). Overall, internal consistency should be used to inform experimental design and the choice of neural measures in individual differences research. The internal consistency of neural measures is necessary for interpreting results and guiding progress in clinical neuroscience—and should be routinely reported in all individual differences studies.
Experiments in TREC 2003 Genomics Track at NTT

Our system consists of two steps. The first step retrieves documents using a keyword search, and the second step scores each document retrieved in the previous step and creates an output file for the TREC submission. The database provided by TREC consists of more than 500,000 PubMed abstracts. However, less than 50 documents are relevant for most queries. Applying scoring methods to all 500,000 abstracts would create a lot of noise. In the first step, we refined the document set with a simple keyword search. For the second step, we developed two methods. The first method (Method 1) uses a heuristic scoring system that simply counts the number of verbs and their derived words, which are important to specify the function of a query gene or its product. The second method (Method 2) uses a machine learning technique to score documents.
Variability in methane emissions from West Siberia's shallow boreal lakes on a regional scale and its environmental controls

Abstract. Small lakes represent an important source of atmospheric CH4 from northern wetlands. However, spatiotemporal variations in flux magnitudes and the lack of knowledge about their main environmental controls contribute large uncertainty into the global CH4 budget. In this study, we measured methane fluxes from small lakes using chambers and bubble traps. Field investigations were carried out in July–August 2014 within the West Siberian middle and southern taiga zones. The average and median of measured methane chamber fluxes were 0.32 and 0.30 mgCH4 m−2 h−1 for middle taiga lakes and 8.6 and 4.1 mgCH4 m−2 h−1 for southern taiga lakes, respectively. Pronounced flux variability was found during measurements on individual lakes, between individual lakes and between zones. To analyze these differences and the influences of environmental controls, we developed a new dynamic process-based model. It shows good performance with emission rates from the southern taiga lakes and poor performance for individual lakes in the middle taiga region. The model shows that, in addition to well-known controls such as temperature, pH and lake depth, there are significant variations in the maximal methane production potential between these climatic zones. In addition, the model shows that variations in gas-filled pore space in lake sediments are capable of controlling the total methane emissions from individual lakes. The CH4 emissions exhibited distinct zonal differences not only in absolute values but also in their probability density functions: the middle taiga lake fluxes were best described by a lognormal distribution while the southern taiga lakes followed a power-law distribution. The latter suggests applicability of self-organized criticality theory for methane emissions from the southern taiga zone, which could help to explain the strong variability within individual lakes.
The Life Satisfaction Approach to the Value of Public Goods : The Case of Terrorism 1 Introduction

This paper discusses a novel approach to elicit people’s preferences for public goods, namely the life satisfaction approach. Reported subjective well-being data are used to directly evaluate utility consequences of public goods. The strengths of this approach are compared to traditional approaches and identification issues are addressed. Moreover, it is applied to panel data to estimate utility losses caused by terrorist activities in France, the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Terrorism in these countries depresses life satisfaction in a sizeable and robust way. In combination with low marginal utility of income we estimate high compensation surpluses. (97 words) JEL classification: D61, D74, H41, H56, I31
Hepatitis B and hepatitis D virus infections in the Central African Republic, twenty-five years after a fulminant hepatitis outbreak, indicate continuing spread in asymptomatic young adults

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) increases morbidity in Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients. In the mid-eighties, an outbreak of HDV fulminant hepatitis (FH) in the Central African Republic (CAR) killed 88% of patients hospitalized in Bangui. We evaluated infections with HBV and HDV among students and pregnant women, 25 years after the fulminant hepatitis (FH) outbreak to determine (i) the prevalence of HBV and HDV infection in this population, (ii) the clinical risk factors for HBV and/or HDV infections, and (iii) to characterize and compare the strains from the FH outbreak in the 1980s to the 2010 HBV–HDV strains. We performed a cross sectional study with historical comparison on FH-stored samples (n = 179) from 159 patients and dried blood-spots from volunteer students and pregnant women groups (n = 2172). We analyzed risk factors potentially associated with HBV and HDV. Previous HBV infection (presence of anti-HBc) occurred in 345/1290 students (26.7%) and 186/870 pregnant women (21.4%)(p = 0.005), including 110 students (8.8%) and 71 pregnant women (8.2%), who were also HBsAg-positive (p = 0.824). HDV infection occurred more frequently in pregnant women (n = 13; 18.8%) than students (n = 6; 5.4%) (p = 0.010). Infection in childhood was probably the main HBV risk factor. The risk factors for HDV infection were age (p = 0.040), transfusion (p = 0.039), and a tendency for tattooing (p = 0.055) and absence of condom use (p = 0.049). HBV-E and HDV-1 were highly prevalent during both the FH outbreak and the 2010 screening project. For historical samples, due to storage conditions and despite several attempts, we could only obtain partial HDV amplification representing 25% of the full-length genome. The HDV-1 mid-eighties FH-strains did not form a specific clade and were affiliated to two different HDV-1 African subgenotypes, one of which also includes the 2010 HDV-1 strains. In the Central African Republic, these findings indicate a high prevalence of previous and current HBV-E and HDV-1 infections both in the mid-eighties fulminant hepatitis outbreak and among asymptomatic young adults in 2010, and reinforce the need for universal HBV vaccination and the prevention of HDV transmission among HBsAg-positive patients through blood or sexual routes.
Novel Targets for Treating Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in the Liver

Liver ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major complication of hemorrhagic shock, liver transplantation, and other liver surgeries. It is one of the leading causes for post-surgery hepatic dysfunction, always leading to morbidity and mortality. Several strategies, such as low-temperature reperfusion and ischemic preconditioning, are useful for ameliorating liver IRI in animal models. However, these methods are difficult to perform in clinical surgeries. It has been reported that the activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) protects the liver against IRI, but with unidentified direct target gene(s) and unclear mechanism(s). Recently, FAM3A, a direct target gene of PPARγ, had been shown to mediate PPARγ’s protective effects in liver IRI. Moreover, noncoding RNAs, including LncRNAs and miRNAs, had also been reported to play important roles in the process of hepatic IRI. This review briefly discussed the roles and mechanisms of several classes of important molecules, including PPARγ, FAM3A, miRNAs, and LncRNAs, in liver IRI. In particular, oral administration of PPARγ agonists before liver surgery or liver transplantation to activate hepatic FAM3A pathways holds great promise for attenuating human liver IRI.
The far-infrared-submillimetre spectral energy distribution of high-redshift quasars --

We combine photometric observations of high-redshift quasars, obtained at submillimetre to millimetre wavelengths, to obtain a mean far-infrared (rest-frame) spectral energy distribution (SED) of the thermal emission from dust, parametrized by a single temperature (T) and power-law emissivity index (β). The best-fitting values are and . Our method exploits the redshift spread of this set of quasars, which allows us to sample the SED at a larger number of rest wavelengths than is possible for a single object: the wavelength range extends down to ∼60 μm, and therefore samples the turnover in the greybody curve for these temperatures. This parametrization is of use to any studies that extrapolate from a flux at a single wavelength, for example to infer dust masses and far-infrared luminosities. We interpret the cool, submillimetre component as arising from dust heated by star formation in the host galaxy of the quasar, although we do not exclude the presence of dust heated directly by the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Applying the mean SED to the data, we derive consistent star formation rates ∼1000 M⊙ yr−1 and dust masses ∼109 M⊙, and investigate a simple scheme of AGN and host galaxy co-evolution to account for these quantities. The time-scale for formation of the host galaxy is , and the luminous quasar phase occurs towards the end of this period, just before the reservoir of cold gas is depleted. Given the youth of the Universe at (1.6 Gyr), the coexistence of a massive black hole and a luminous starburst at high redshifts is a powerful constraint on models of quasar host galaxy formation.
Regularization of Newton constant, trans-Planckian dispersion relation and symmetry of particle spectrum

We consider the possibility that the UV completeness of a fundamental theory is achieved by a modification of propagators at large momenta. We assume that general covariance is preserved at all energies, and focus on the coupling of a scalar field to the background geometry as an example. Naively, one expects that the gravitational interaction, like Yukawa interactions, will be regularized by a propagator which decays to zero sufficiently fast above some cut-off scale, but we show that in order to avoid the ultraviolet divergence, the propagator should approach a nonzero constant. This incompatibility between the regularizations of gravitational and Yukawa interactions suggests that a symmetry of the particle spectrum is needed for a UV-complete fundamental theory.
THE TOTAL TORSION ELEMENT GRAPH OF A MODULE OVER A COMMUTATIVE RING

The total graph of a commutative ring have been introduced and studied by D. F. Anderson and A. Badawi in [1]. In a manner analogous to a commutative ring, the total torsion element graph of a module M over a commtative ring R can be defined as the undirected graph T(( M)). The basic properties and possible structures of the graph T(( M)) are studied. The main purpose of this paper is to extend the definition and some results given in [1] to a more general total torsion element graph case.
Lepton flavor violation in the standard model extended by heavy singlet Dirac neutrinos

Low energy neutrinoless lepton flavor violating (LFV) processes are studied in an extension of the Standard Model (SM) by heavy SU(2)xU(1) singlet Dirac neutrinos. An upper bound procedure is elaborated for the evaluation of amplitudes. A comment on the extraction of heavy neutrino mixings from astrophysical observations is given. For processes not treated in the applied model the formalism not treated in the applied model the formalism for evaluating the branching ratios (BRs) is presented. The processes previously studied in the model are carefully examined. Some of the previous results are improved. Special attention is paid to the structure of the amplitudes and BRs as well as to the relations between BRs of different LFV processes. Numerical analysis of the BRs is done. The decoupling of heavy neutrinos is discussed and it is explicitely shown that the very heavy neutrinos decouple when the upper bound procedure is applied. The upper limits of the BRs are compared with the current experimental upper bounds and the processes interesting for the search for LFV are proposed. The LFV decays are shown to be unsuitable for finding upper bounds on "diagonal" LFV parameters. The B-meson LFV processes are suggested for the search of LFV in future B-factories.
A Social Cognitive View of Technical Support and its Influence on User Learning

Understanding how to develop users’ skills and abilities and how to best support users in their everyday use of technology remains a key managerial problem. This study uses Bandura’s social cognitive theory (1986) to focus on the everyday phenomenon of technical support as a mechanism of vicarious learning through which users learn about their technology. We argue that this conceptualization aids in understanding how and why users gain value from support. Focusing specifically on support provided through a technical help desk at a large, distributed financial services organization, this study randomly collected 100 audiotaped support calls and matched them with user evaluations of the support provided. By examining the behaviors that characterize the provision of support by IT professionals and linking these characteristics to users’ reactions including learning, this research will result in a more grounded model of support and its relationship to users’ development of self-efficacy, satisfaction, and knowledge about technology.
Social transmission of face preferences among humans

Previous studies demonstrating mate choice copying effects among females in non-human species have led many researchers to propose that social transmission of mate preferences may influence sexual selection for male traits. Although it has been suggested that social transmission may also influence mate preferences in humans, there is little empirical support for such effects. Here, we show that observing other women with smiling (i.e. positive) expressions looking at male faces increased women's preferences for those men to a greater extent than did observing women with neutral (i.e. relatively negative) expressions looking at male faces. By contrast, the reverse was true for male participants (i.e. observing women with neutral expressions looking at male faces increased male participant's preferences for those men to a greater extent than did observing women smiling at male faces). This latter finding suggests that within-sex competition promotes negative attitudes among men towards other men who are the target of positive social interest from women. Our findings demonstrate that social transmission of face preferences influences judgments of men's attractiveness, potentially demonstrating a mechanism for social transmission of mate preferences.
Neural Information Processing with Feedback Modulations

Descending feedback connections, together with ascending feedforward ones, are the indispensable parts of the sensory pathways in the central nervous system. This study investigates the potential roles of feedback interactions in neural information processing. We consider a two-layer continuous attractor neural network (CANN), in which neurons in the first layer receive feedback inputs from those in the second one. By utilizing the intrinsic property of a CANN, we use a projection method to reduce the dimensionality of the network dynamics significantly. The simplified dynamics allows us to elucidate the effects of feedback modulation analytically. We find that positive feedback enhances the stability of the network state, leading to an improved population decoding performance, whereas negative feedback increases the mobility of the network state, inducing spontaneously moving bumps. For strong, negative feedback interaction, the network response to a moving stimulus can lead the actual stimulus position, achieving an anticipative behavior. The biological implications of these findings are discussed. The simulation results agree well with our theoretical analysis.
Identifying the Monetary Transmission Mechanism Using Structural Breaks

We propose a method for estimating a subset of the parameters of a structural rational expectations model by exploiting changes in policy. We define a class of models, midway between a vector autoregression and a structural model, that we call the recoverable structure. We provide an application of our method by estimating the parameters of a three equation model of the monetary transmission mechanism using data from 1970:Q1 to 1999:Q4. We estimate a vector autoregression and find that the parameters of this VAR are unstable. However, using our proposed identification method we are able to attribute instability in the parameters of the VAR solely to changes in the parameters of the policy rule. We recover parameter estimates of the recoverable structure and we demonstrate that these parameters are invariant to changes in policy. Since the recoverable structure includes future expectations as explanatory variables our parameter estimates are not subject to the Lucas Critique of Econometric Policy Evaluation.
Perceived Influences in Vocational Preference of Turkish High School Students

Various researchers investigated the influential factors in students’ vocational decisionmaking as vocational preference plays a vital role in the life of students. In this context, this study has investigated the motives behind high school students’ vocational preference in Turkish high schools. In this regard, 121 high school students, 71 girls and 50 boys, were participated in this research. Content analysis is used for analyzing the interviews. Chi-square test is conducted for presenting the relations between the vocational preference and perceived factors. The findings reveal that availability of jobs, pay, guidance teacher and school type are considered independent of students’ vocational preference while genuine interest, favorite subject, parents, prestige are influential in students vocational preference in terms of gender as well for example, education is preferred by girls as vocation mostly but engineering for boys.
Recent advancements in the hormonal stimulation of ovulation in swine

Induction of ovulation for controlled breeding is available for use around the world, and conditions for practical application appear promising. Many of the hormones available, such as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and its analogs, as well as porcine luteinizing hormone (pLH), have been shown to be effective for advancing or synchronizing ovulation in gilts and weaned sows. Each of the hormones has unique attributes with respect to the physiology of its actions, how it is administered, its efficacy, and approval for use. The timing for induction of ovulation during the follicle phase is critical as follicle maturity changes over time, and the success of the response is determined by the stage of follicle development. Female fertility is also a primary factor affecting the success of ovulation induction and fixed time insemination protocols. Approximately 80%–90% of female pigs will develop mature follicles following weaning in sows and synchronization of estrus in gilts. However, those gilts and sows with follicles that are less developed and mature, or those that develop with abnormalities, will not respond to an ovulatory surge of LH. To address this problem, some protocols induce follicle development in all females, which can improve the overall reliability of the ovulation response. Control of ovulation is practical for use with fixed time artificial insemination and should prove highly advantageous for low-dose and single-service artificial insemination and for use with frozen-thawed and sex-sorted sperm.
Graph Coloring in Optimization Revisited

We revisit the role of graph coloring in modeling a variety of matrix partitioning problems that arise in numerical determination of large sparse Jacobian and Hessian matrices. The problems considered in this paper correspond to the various scenarios under which a matrix computation, or estimation, may be carried out, i.e., the particular problem depends on whether the matrix to be computed is symmetric or nonsymmetric, whether a one-dimensional or a two-dimensional partition is to be used, whether a direct or a substitution based evaluation scheme is to be employed, and whether all nonzero entries of the matrix or only a subset need to be computed. The resulting complex partitioning problems are studied within a unified graph theoretic framework where each problem is formulated as a variant of a coloring problem. Our study integrates existing coloring formulations with new ones. As far as we know, the estimation of a subset of the nonzero entries of a matrix is investigated for the first time. The insight gained from the unified graph theoretic treatment is used to develop and analyze several new heuristic algorithms.
Common mechanics of mode switching in locomotion of limbless and legged animals

Crawling using muscular waves is observed in many species, including planaria, leeches, nemertea, aplysia, snails, chitons, earthworms and maggots. Contraction or extension waves propagate along the antero-posterior axis of the body as the crawler pushes the ground substratum backward. However, the observation that locomotory waves can be directed forward or backward has attracted much attention over the past hundred years. Legged organisms such as centipedes and millipedes exhibit parallel phenomena; leg tips form density waves that propagate backward or forward. Mechanical considerations reveal that leg-density waves play a similar role to locomotory waves in limbless species, and that locomotory waves are used by a mechanism common to both legged and limbless species to achieve crawling. Here, we report that both mode switching of the wave direction and friction control were achieved when backward motion was induced in the laboratory. We show that the many variations of switching in different animals can essentially be classified in two types according to mechanical considerations. We propose that during their evolution, limbless crawlers first moved in a manner similar to walking before legs were obtained. Therefore, legged crawlers might have learned the mechanical mode of movement involved in walking long before obtaining legs.