Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stonhet and Yelotop: Body Images, Physical Markers and Definitions of Ethnic Boundaries in Papua New Guinea

The Wampar of Papua New Guinea are an ethnic group with contested boundaries and a strong ethnic identity and consciousness. Since their first contact with White missionaries, government officials and anthropologists, body images have changed and become more important. ‘Foreign’ migrants from other PNG provinces are now coming in great numbers into Wampar territory, where they find wealthy Wampar make good marriage partners. From peaceful relations with ‘foreigners’ in the 1960s and 1970s, the situation has changed to the extent that Wampar now have plans for driving men from other ethnic groups out of their territory. Within two generations, ideas of changeable cultural otherness have developed into stereotypes of unchangeable bodily differences. In this paper, I describe (1) changes in the perception of foreigners, and in the definition of ‘foreigner’ itself, (2) body images of the Wampar, and (3) conditions for these changes.
A High Performance Motion Mode Adaptive Lifting Motion Compensation Wavelet Video Codec

Based on motion mode adaptive lifting motion compensation, an embedded high performance asymmetric 3DSPIHT wavelet color video codec (MA-MC-AT3DSPIHT) is proposed in this paper. First, by making use of the direction histograms of motion vectors, the motion mode is determined according to whether or not the non-static motion vectors consistency exists in the GOP, and different temporal filters are imposed thereby for motion compensation. Then, the chrominance components at spatial high frequency subbands are quantified conforming to the JPEG2000 quantification scheme to further improve the coding performance. Experimental results show that the new MA-MC-AT3DSPIHT wavelet color video codec guarantees at least 6.0 db PSNR improvement at all rates over MPEG2. Moreover, with less than one seventh motion vectors coding cost, it yields a PSNR performance competitive with some of the other results reported in the literature.
Pseudomonas fluorescens adhesion and transport through porous media are affected by lipopolysaccharide composition

The objectives of this work were (i) to use transposon mutagenesis to produce mutants of Pseudomonas fluorescens that were altered in adhesion ability and transport through porous media and (ii) to identify the alterations in surface characteristics that were responsible for the changes in attachment. Mutants of P. fluorescens were generated with TnphoA, which enabled identification of mutants that were altered in surface proteins. Transposon mutants were screened for alterations in adhesion ability by attachment assays on hydrophobic polystyrene and water-wettable polystyrene. Four TnphoA mutants with increased adhesion to the hydrophobic surface and decreased adhesion to the water-wettable surface were obtained. Transport of the strains through porous media was evaluated by passing suspensions of each mutant and the parent through columns containing quartz sand and determining the number of cells retained in the columns. The mutants all demonstrated increased adhesion and retention in the columns. Southern analysis demonstrated two types of mutants with separate transposon insertion sites. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the strains demonstrated that the O antigen on the lipopolysaccharide was either attenuated or absent. Lack of this polysaccharide, and the consequent increased exposure of the lipid moiety of the lipopolysaccharide, is probably responsible for the increase in adhesion to the hydrophobic substrata and retention in the sand column. This work combined with previous studies of attachment of P. fluorescens demonstrates that more than one type of polymer can mediate the adhesion of this organism to nonbiological surfaces.
Different Profiles of Quercetin Metabolites in Rat Plasma: Comparison of Two Administration Methods

The bioavailability of polyphenols in human and rodents has been discussed regarding their biological activity. We found different metabolite profiles of quercetin in rat plasma between two administration procedures. A single intragastric administration (50 mg/kg) resulted in the appearance of a variety of metabolites in the plasma, whereas only a major fraction was detected by free access (1% quercetin). The methylated/non-methylated metabolites ratio was much higher in the free access group. Mass spectrometric analyses showed that the fraction from free access contained highly conjugated quercetin metabolites such as sulfo-glucuronides of quercetin and methylquercetin. The metabolite profile of human plasma after an intake of onion was similar to that with intragastric administration in rats. In vitro oxidation of human low-density lipoprotein showed that methylation of the catechol moiety of quercetin significantly attenuated the antioxidative activity. These results might provide information about the bioavailability of quercetin when conducting animal experiments.
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Diagnosis Using Hierarchical Heterogeneous Descriptor Fusion Support Vector Machine

A new computer-aided diagnosis method is proposed to diagnose the gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) from endoscopic images of the esophageal-gastric junction. To avoid the interferences of different endoscope devices and automatic camera white balance adjustment, heterogeneous descriptors computed from heterogeneous color models are used to represent endoscopic images. Instead of concatenating these descriptors to a super vector, a hierarchical heterogeneous descriptor fusion support vector machine (HHDF-SVM) framework is proposed to simultaneously apply heterogeneous descriptors for GERD diagnosis and overcome the curse of dimensionality problem. During validation, heterogeneous descriptors are extracted from test endoscopic images at first. The classification result is obtained by using HHDF-SVM with heterogeneous descriptors. As shown in the experiments, our method can automatically diagnose GERD without any manual selection of region of interest and achieve better accuracy compared to states-of-the-art methods.
The role of emotional intelligence in employees’ organisational citizenship behaviours

Organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) have been the topic of much research attempting to understand the antecedents and impacts of these behaviours on organisational effectiveness. This study examines the role of emotional intelligence (EI) on employees involvement in OCBs. Respondents (N = 185) from six organisations completed EI and OCBs questionnaires. The results of this study indicated significant differences between the employees with high and low EI for the involvement in OCBs. Further, employees with high EI were more involved in OCBs such as individual initiative, personal industry and loyal boosterism. There was no significant difference between high and low emotional intelligent employees on interpersonal helping behaviour. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed and avenues of future research are identified.
Increased excitatory amino acid transport into murine prion protein knockout astrocytes cultured in vitro

Prion protein (PrP) is expressed on a wide variety of cells and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. However, its normal function remains unclear. Mice that do not express PrP exhibit deficits in spatial memory and abnormalities in excitatory neurotransmission suggestive that PrP may function in the glutamatergic synapse. Here, we show that transport of D‐aspartate, a nonmetabolized L‐glutamate analog, through excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) was faster in astrocytes from PrP knockout (PrPKO) mice than in astrocytes from C57BL/10SnJ wild‐type (WT) mice. Experiments using EAAT subtype‐specific inhibitors demonstrated that in both WT and PrPKO astrocytes, the majority of transport was mediated by EAAT1. Furthermore, PrPKO astrocytes were more effective than WT astrocytes at alleviating L‐glutamate‐mediated excitotoxic damage in both WT and PrPKO neuronal cultures. Thus, in this in vitro model, PrPKO astrocytes exerted a functional influence on neuronal survival and may therefore influence regulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission in vivo. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Endosomal recycling controls plasma membrane area during mitosis

The shape and total surface of a cell and its daughters change during mitosis. Many cells round up during prophase and metaphase and reacquire their extended and flattened shape during cytokinesis. How does the total area of plasma membrane change to accommodate these morphological changes and by what mechanism is control of total membrane area achieved? Using single-cell imaging methods, we have found that the amount of plasma membrane in attached cells in culture decreases at the beginning of mitosis and recovers rapidly by the end. Clathrin-based endocytosis is normal throughout all phases of cell division, whereas recycling of internalized membranes back to the cell surface slows considerably during the rounding up period and resumes at the time at which recovery of cell membrane begins. Interference with either one of these processes by genetic or chemical means impairs cell division. The total cell-membrane area recovers even in the absence of a functional Golgi apparatus, which would be needed for export of newly synthesized membrane lipids and proteins. We propose a mechanism by which modulation of endosomal recycling controls cell area and surface expression of membrane-bound proteins during cell division.
Sleep disturbances, quality of life, and ethnicity: the Sleep Heart Health Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To compare health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) across subgroups defined by sleep disturbances and ethnicity. METHODS Men (47%) and women (53%) Sleep Heart Health Study participants age 40 and older (N = 5237) underwent overnight polysomnography and completed self-report questionnaires on symptoms of sleep disturbances. The physical and mental composite scales (PCS and MCS) of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form survey assessed HR-QOL and were compared to sleep data. RESULTS Participants self-identified as Caucasian/White (n = 4482, 86%), African American/Black (n = 490, 9%), or Hispanic/Mexican American (n = 265, 5%). The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was 17%, frequent snoring was 34%, difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep (DIMS; insomnia symptoms) was 30%, and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) was 25%. African American participants with frequent snoring, insomnia symptoms, or EDS had significantly poorer physical health compared to Caucasians (p < 0.001). Hispanics with frequent snoring, insomnia symptoms, or EDS had significantly poorer mental health than Caucasian participants (p <0.001). Neither PCS nor MCS scores differed significantly across ethnic subgroups for participants with moderate to severe OSA (respiratory disturbance index > 15, 4% desaturation). CONCLUSIONS Across ethnic/racial subgroups, sleep disturbances are associated with worse physical and better mental HR-QOL than the U.S. norm, but this relationship may be moderated by comorbid health conditions. This study replicates and extends prior research indicating differences among minority and non-minority participants and highlights the need for future studies of sleep disturbances with larger samples of minorities that control for comorbid health conditions.
Motives and Likelihood of Bribery: An Experimental Study of Managers in Taiwan

Many studies of bribery acknowledge the important role of bribe-givers, but their true motives remain unclear. We propose that the likelihood of bribery depends on the willingness of an organization to affiliate with local parties or to be successful in a host country, or to have power over local parties. We further argue that different opportunities, either pervasive or arbitrary, facilitate different types of motives that affect the likelihood of bribery. In addition, we investigate the effect of perceived fairness on the likelihood of bribery. We employ a 3 (motives: affiliation vs. achievement vs. power) × 2 (opportunities: pervasiveness vs. arbitrariness) × 2 (perceived fairness: high vs. low) factorial design in experimental settings among Executive MBA students in southern Taiwan. Our findings indicate that, when companies perceive a higher level of distributive fairness, high-achieving organizations are more likely to offer a bribe when the condition is pervasive. When they have a powerful motive, arbitrariness engenders a higher likelihood of bribery. When they perceive less distributive fairness, there are no significant differences between motive and opportunity.
A centralized energy-efficient routing protocol for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks consist of small battery powered devices with limited energy resources. Once deployed, the small sensor nodes are usually inaccessible to the user, and thus replacement of the energy source is not feasible. Hence, energy efficiency is a key design issue that needs to be enhanced in order to improve the life span of the network. Several network layer protocols have been proposed to improve the effective lifetime of a network with a limited energy supply. In this article we propose a centralized routing protocol called base-station controlled dynamic clustering protocol (BCDCP), which distributes the energy dissipation evenly among all sensor nodes to improve network lifetime and average energy savings. The performance of BCDCP is then compared to clustering-based schemes such as low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH), LEACH-centralized (LEACH-C), and power-efficient gathering in sensor information systems (PEGASIS). Simulation results show that BCDCP reduces overall energy consumption and improves network lifetime over its comparatives.
Completing any low-rank matrix, provably

Matrix completion, i.e., the exact and provable recovery of a low-rank matrix from a small subset of its elements, is currently only known to be possible if the matrix satisfies a restrictive structural constraint---known as {\em incoherence}---on its row and column spaces. In these cases, the subset of elements is sampled uniformly at random. In this paper, we show that {\em any} rank-$ r $ $ n$-by-$ n $ matrix can be exactly recovered from as few as $O(nr \log^2 n)$ randomly chosen elements, provided this random choice is made according to a {\em specific biased distribution}: the probability of any element being sampled should be proportional to the sum of the leverage scores of the corresponding row, and column. Perhaps equally important, we show that this specific form of sampling is nearly necessary, in a natural precise sense; this implies that other perhaps more intuitive sampling schemes fail. We further establish three ways to use the above result for the setting when leverage scores are not known \textit{a priori}: (a) a sampling strategy for the case when only one of the row or column spaces are incoherent, (b) a two-phase sampling procedure for general matrices that first samples to estimate leverage scores followed by sampling for exact recovery, and (c) an analysis showing the advantages of weighted nuclear/trace-norm minimization over the vanilla un-weighted formulation for the case of non-uniform sampling.
Diversity eigenbeamforming for coded signals

Transmit antenna diversity without feedback has been widely investigated for various wireless communication systems. Especially, space-time codes are extensively studied to exploit the spatial diversity induced by multiple transmit antennas. Apart from these approaches, there can be different methods that provide a diversity gain using multiple antennas with conventional channel coding. In this paper, diversity eigenbeamforming is studied to exploit the spatial diversity when the channel covariance matrix is available at the transmitter. Diversity eigenbeamforming is based on eigenmode (of the spatial covariance matrix) switching that converts the spatial diversity into the temporal diversity which is exploited by channel coding. Optimized diversity eigenbeamforming is considered to take into account the spatial correlation. In addition, the trade-off between diversity and multiplexing gains is addressed. It is shown that the diversity eigenbeamforming can achieve optimal trade-off for the case of one receive antenna. Although, for simplicity, binary phase shift keying (BPSK) is used to derive diversity eigenbeamforming, any higher-order modulation scheme can also be used with diversity eigenbeamforming.
Optimal external laryngeal manipulation versus McCoy blade in active position in patients with poor view of glottis on direct laryngoscopy

Successful endotracheal intubation requires a clear view of glottis. Optimal external laryngeal manipulation may improve the view of glottis on direct laryngoscopy with Macintosh blade, but it requires another trained hand. Alternatively, McCoy laryngoscope with elevated tip may be useful. This study has been designed to compare the two techniques in patients with poor view of glottis. Two hundred patients with ‘Grade 2 or more’ view of glottis on direct laryngoscopy with Macintosh blade are included in the study. Optimal external laryngeal manipulation was applied, followed by laryngoscopy with McCoy blade in activated position; and the view was noted in both situations. The two interventions were compared using Chi-square test. The overall changes, in the views, were analyzed with Wilcoxon signed rank test. Both the techniques improved the view of glottis significantly (P<0.05). Optimal external laryngeal manipulation was significantly better than McCoy laryngoscope in active position, especially in patients with Grade 3 or 4 baseline view, poor oropharyngeal class, decreased head extension and decreased submandibular space (odds ratio = 2.36, 3.17, 3.22 and 26.48 respectively). To conclude, optimal external laryngeal manipulation is a better technique than McCoy laryngoscope in patients with poor view of glottis on direct laryngoscopy with Macintosh blade.
The identification of dust heating mechanisms in nearby galaxies using Herschel 160/250 and 250/350μm surface brightness ratios

We examined variations in the 160/250 and 250/350 mu m surface brightness ratios within 24 nearby (\textless30 Mpc) face-on spiral galaxies observed with the Herschel Space Observatory to identify the heating mechanisms for dust emitting at these wavelengths. The analysis consisted of both qualitative and quantitative comparisons of the 160/250 and 250/350 mu m ratios to H alpha and 24 mu m emission, which trace the light from star-forming regions, and 3.6 mu m emission, which traces the light from the older stellar populations of the galaxies. We find broad variations in the heating mechanisms for the dust. In one subset of galaxies, we found evidence that emission at \textless= 160 mu m (and in rare cases potentially at \textless= 350 mu m) originates from dust heated by star-forming regions. In another subset, we found that the emission at \textgreater= 250 mu m (and sometimes at \textgreater= 160 mu m) originates from dust heated by the older stellar population. In the rest of the sample, either the results are indeterminate or both of these stellar populations may contribute equally to the global dust heating. The observed variations in dust heating mechanisms do not necessarily match what has been predicted by dust emission and radiative transfer models, which could lead to overestimated dust temperatures, underestimated dust masses, false detections of variability in dust emissivity, and inaccurate star formation rate measurements.
The Gene Encoding RNase III in Streptomyces coelicolor Is Transcribed during Exponential Phase and Is Required for Antibiotic Production and for Proper Sporulation

ABSTRACT Phenotypic analysis of a constructed RNase III null mutant of Streptomyces coelicolor revealed that RNase III is required for both antibiotic production and proper formation of sporulation septa. Transcriptional analysis of the gene encoding RNase III indicated that it is transcribed exclusively during exponential phase as part of a tricistronic message.
Robust stability and transient behaviour of positive linear systems

After a brief review of available results the main focus of the paper is on the transient behaviour of positive systems and their stability radii with respect to highly structured perturbations. Simple upper bounds for the transient gain of positive systems are obtained by means of linear Lyapunov functions on the positive orthant. The minimization of these bounds is discussed and algorithms for computing optimal Lyapunov vectors are presented. By means of linear Lyapunov functions we get new formulae for the stability radii of positive linear systems with respect to structured and time-varying perturbations of Gershgorin-Brualdi type. With every time-invariant linear system we associate a corresponding positive system and this correspondence allows to transfer some of the results to non-positive linear systems.
Interaction effects of perceived gaze direction and dynamic facial expression: Evidence for appraisal theories of emotion

Appraisal theorists suggest that the face expresses cognitive processes involved both in the orienting of attention (primarily gaze direction) and in the evaluation of emotion-eliciting events. Contrary to the assumption of direct emotion recognition by basic emotions theorists, this implies an interaction effect between “perceived gaze direction” and “perceived facial expression” in inferring emotion from the face. These two theoretical perspectives were comparatively tested by requesting participants to decode dynamic synthetic facial expressions of emotion presented with either an averted or a direct gaze. Confirming the interaction predicted by appraisal theories, the perceived specificity and intensity of fear and anger depended on gaze direction (direct gaze for anger and averted gaze for fear).
Social and Temporal Influences on Interpretations of Organizational Identity and Acquisition Integration

Using a narrative approach, this study analyzes interpretations of organizational identity that emerged among members of autonomous groups brought together as a result of a double acquisition. Comparative analysis of a first set of interviews indicates divergent narratives emerged in two divisions established after the acquisition. Members' meaning construction related to organizational identity focused on such alternative themes as identity enhancement or threat, identity stability or ambiguity, and identity continuity or discontinuity. Differences in interpretations were influenced by the (a) social context that included such elements as encounters with other groups, integration and segregation tactics employed, and level of communication and control from higher level management and (b) temporal context evoked by members as they juxtaposed the past, present, and future identity. Interviews conducted 1 year later indicated changes in the contextual elements and a convergence in the groups' narratives. Implications for the management of acquisitions are presented.