Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observational constraints on dust disk lifetimes : implications for planet formation

Thus far our impressions regarding the evolutionary time scales for young circumstellar disks have been based on small number statistics. Over the past decade, however, in addition to preci- sion study of individual star/disk systems, substantial observational effort has been invested in obtaining less detailed data on large numbers of objects in young star clusters. This has resulted in a plethora of information now enabling statistical studies of disk evolutionary diagnostics. Along an ordinate one can measure disk presence or strength through indicators such as ul- traviolet/blue excess or spectroscopic emission lines tracing accretion, infrared excess tracing dust, or millimeter flux measuring mass. Along an abscissa one can track stellar age. While bulk trends in disk indicators versus age are evident, observational errors affecting both axes, combined with systematic errors in our understanding of stellar ages, both cloud and bias any such trends. Thus detailed understanding of the physical processes involved in disk dissipation and of the relevant time scales remains elusive. Nevertheless, a clear effect in current data that is unlikely to be altered by data analysis improvements is the dispersion in disk lifetimes. Inner accretion disks are traced by near-infrared emission. Moderating a generally declining trend in near-infared continuum excess and excess frequency with age over <1 to 8±4 Myr, is the fact that a substantial fraction of rather young (<1 Myr old) stars apparently have already lost their inner accretion disks while a significant number of rather old (8-16 Myr) stars apparently still retain inner accretion disks. The age at which evidence for inner accretion disks ceases to be apparent for the vast majority (~90%) of stars is in the range 3-8 Myr. More distant, terrestrial zone dust is traced by mid-infrared emission where sufficient sensitivity and uniform data collec- tion are only now being realized with data return from the Spitzer Space Telescope. Constraints on mid-disk dissipation and disk clearing trends with radius are forthcoming.
ATLAS: a probabilistic algorithm for high dimensional similarity search

Given a set of high dimensional binary vectors and a similarity function (such as Jaccard and Cosine), we study the problem of finding all pairs of vectors whose similarity exceeds a given threshold. The solution to this problem is a key component in many applications with feature-rich objects, such as text, images, music, videos, or social networks. In particular, there are many important emerging applications that require the use of relatively low similarity thresholds. We propose ATLAS, a probabilistic similarity search algorithm that in expectation finds a 1 - δ fraction of all similar vector pairs. ATLAS uses truly random permutations both to filter candidate pairs of vectors and to estimate the similarity between vectors. At a 97.5% recall rate, ATLAS consistently outperforms all state-of-the-art approaches and achieves a speed-up of up to two orders of magnitude over both exact and approximate algorithms.
Follicular Lymphoma In Situ Presenting as Dermatopathic Lymphadenopathy

Introduction. Follicular lymphoma in situ (FLIS) is a recently described entity with few cases recognized worldwide. To our knowledge, this is the first FLIS reported from West Africa. Case Presentation. We present the case of a 48-year-old civil servant with axillary lymphadenopathy discovered on routine mammography. On histology, a predominant reactive change with aggregates of melanophages was seen prompting a diagnosis of reactive lymphadenopathy. Immunohistochemistry done in our laboratory showed CD10 and Bcl-6 positive germinal centres with a small population of Bcl-2 positive germinal centre centre cells that were limited to some of the germinal centres. Conclusion. This highlights the use of immunohistochemistry in lymph node pathology—a resource which is very limited in our environment.
In Vitro Derived Dendritic Cells trans-Infect CD4 T Cells Primarily with Surface-Bound HIV-1 Virions

In the prevailing model of HIV-1 trans-infection, dendritic cells (DCs) capture and internalize intact virions and transfer these virions to interacting T cells at the virological synapse. Here, we show that HIV-1 virions transmitted in trans from in vitro derived DCs to T cells principally originate from the surface of DCs. Selective neutralization of surface-bound virions abrogated trans-infection by monocyte-derived DCs and CD34-derived Langerhans cells. Under conditions mimicking antigen recognition by the interacting T cells, most transferred virions still derived from the cell surface, although a few were transferred from an internal compartment. Our findings suggest that attachment inhibitors could neutralize trans-infection of T cells by DCs in vivo.
Stimulating teachers’ team performance through team-oriented HR practices: the roles of affective team commitment and information processing

Abstract Teams of teachers are increasingly held accountable for the quality of education and educational reforms in vocational education and training institutions. However, historically teachers have not been required to engage in deep-level collaboration, thus team-oriented HR practices are being used to promote teamworking in the sector. This paper examines the relationship between team-oriented HR practices and team performance in terms of innovation and efficiency via teachers’ affective team commitment and engagement in information processing. To examine these associations, a team-oriented HRM research instrument was developed and validated based on the ability-motivation-opportunity model (N = 970, 130 teams) and hypothesised associations were examined using multilevel structural equation modelling (N = 704, 70 teams). The results show positive relationships between the team-oriented HR practices of recruitment, team development, team evaluation and teamwork facilitation, and team innovation. Additionally, all practices except team development were positively related to team efficiency. The relationships between team-oriented HR practices and these team performance indicators were often partially or fully mediated by affective team commitment and information processing. Because affective team commitment and information processing sometimes only partially mediated the links between team-oriented HR practices and team performance, other underlying mechanisms await identification.
Broadcasting Consistent Data to Mobile Clients with Local Cache

data broadcast has been shown to be an efficient method for disseminating data items in a mobile computing system with large number of clients, the issue on how to ensure currency and consistency of the data items has not been examined adequately. While data items are being broadcast, update transactions may install new values for them. If the executions of update transactions and the broadcast of data items are interleaved without any control, the mobile transactions, which are generated by mobile clients, may observe inconsistent data values. In this paper, we design a broadcast method called Ordered Update First with Order (OUFO) for mobile computing systems where a mobile transaction consists of a sequence of read operations. Under OUFO, mobile transactions will receive consistent data values and the newest version of the data items. Besides ensuring consistency and maximizing currency of cached data, OUFO also aims at reducing the access delay of the mobile transactions. We have compared the performance of OUFO with two other efficient schemes, the multi-version broadcast with multi-version cache method and the invalidation method. The results show that OUFO offers better performance in most aspects.
A Survey on Real-Time MAC Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

As wireless sensor network becomes pervasive, new requirements have been continuously emerged. How-ever, the most of research efforts in wireless sensor network are focused on energy problem since the nodes are usually battery-powered. Among these requirements, real-time communication is one of the big research challenges in wireless sensor networks because most of query messages carry time information. To meet this requirement, recently several real-time medium access control protocols have been proposed for wireless sensor networks in the literature because waiting time to share medium on each node is one of main source for end-to-end delay. In this paper, we first introduce the specific requirement of wireless sensor real-time MAC protocol. Then, a collection of recent wireless sensor real-time MAC protocols are surveyed, classified, and described emphasizing their advantages and disadvantages whenever possible. Finally we present a dis-cussion about the challenges of current wireless sensor real-time MAC protocols in the literature, and show the conclusion in the end.
Reconstituting regulation of the canonical Wnt pathway by engineering a minimal β-catenin destruction machine

APC and Axin are key negative regulators of Wnt signaling in development and oncogenesis. They form a multiprotein complex targeting the key Wnt effector β-catenin for destruction. Essential components of APC and Axin required for their cooperative function are identified, and the data are used to design a minimal β-catenin–destruction machine.
The winner’s curse: why is the cost of sports mega-events so often underestimated?

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. The winner’s curse: why is the cost of sports mega-events so often underestimated? Wladimir Andreff
Rapid Modulation of Sensory Processing Induced by Stimulus Conflict

Humans are constantly confronted with environmental stimuli that conflict with task goals and can interfere with successful behavior. Prevailing theories propose the existence of cognitive control mechanisms that can suppress the processing of conflicting input and enhance that of the relevant input. However, the temporal cascade of brain processes invoked in response to conflicting stimuli remains poorly understood. By examining evoked electrical brain responses in a novel, hemifield-specific, visual-flanker task, we demonstrate that task-irrelevant conflicting stimulus input is quickly detected in higher level executive regions while simultaneously inducing rapid, recurrent modulation of sensory processing in the visual cortex. Importantly, however, both of these effects are larger for individuals with greater incongruency-related RT slowing. The combination of neural activation patterns and behavioral interference effects suggest that this initial sensory modulation induced by conflicting stimulus inputs reflects performance-degrading attentional distraction because of their incompatibility rather than any rapid task-enhancing cognitive control mechanisms. The present findings thus provide neural evidence for a model in which attentional distraction is the key initial trigger for the temporal cascade of processes by which the human brain responds to conflicting stimulus input in the environment.
A Case for Memory Content-Based Detection and Mitigation of Data-Dependent Failures in DRAM

DRAM cells in close proximity can fail depending on the data content in neighboring cells. These failures are called data-dependent failures. Detecting and mitigating these failures online while the system is running in the field enables optimizations that improve reliability, latency, and energy efficiency of the system. All these optimizations depend on accurately detecting every possible data-dependent failure that could occur with any content in DRAM. Unfortunately, detecting all data-dependent failures requires the knowledge of DRAM internals specific to each DRAM chip. As internal DRAM architecture is not exposed to the system, detecting data-dependent failures at the system-level is a major challenge. Our goal in this work is to decouple the detection and mitigation of data-dependent failures from physical DRAM organization such that it is possible to detect failures without knowledge of DRAM internals. To this end, we propose MEMCON , a memory content-based detection and mitigation mechanism for data-dependent failures in DRAM. MEMCON does not detect every possible data-dependent failure. Instead, it detects and mitigates failures that occur with the current content in memory while the programs are running in the system. Using experimental data from real machines, we demonstrate that MEMCON is an effective and low-overhead system-level detection and mitigation technique for data-dependent failures in DRAM.
Causal inference methods to study nonrandomized, preexisting development interventions

Empirical measurement of interventions to address significant global health and development problems is necessary to ensure that resources are applied appropriately. Such intervention programs are often deployed at the group or community level. The gold standard design to measure the effectiveness of community-level interventions is the community-randomized trial, but the conditions of these trials often make it difficult to assess their external validity and sustainability. The sheer number of community interventions, relative to randomized studies, speaks to a need for rigorous observational methods to measure their impact. In this article, we use the potential outcomes model for causal inference to motivate a matched cohort design to study the impact and sustainability of nonrandomized, preexisting interventions. We illustrate the method using a sanitation mobilization, water supply, and hygiene intervention in rural India. In a matched sample of 25 villages, we enrolled 1,284 children <5 y old and measured outcomes over 12 mo. Although we found a 33 percentage point difference in new toilet construction [95% confidence interval (CI) = 28%, 39%], we found no impacts on height-for-age Z scores (adjusted difference = 0.01, 95% CI = −0.15, 0.19) or diarrhea (adjusted longitudinal prevalence difference = 0.003, 95% CI = −0.001, 0.008) among children <5 y old. This study demonstrates that matched cohort designs can estimate impacts from nonrandomized, preexisting interventions that are used widely in development efforts. Interpreting the impacts as causal, however, requires stronger assumptions than prospective, randomized studies.
Effects of eccentrically biased versus conventional weight training in older adults.

INTRODUCTION We compared the effects of eccentrically biased (EB) and conventional (CONV) resistance training on muscle architecture, one-repetition maximum (1RM), isometric strength, isokinetic force-velocity characteristics, functional capacity, and pulse wave velocity in older men and women. METHODS Twenty-eight older adults participated in the study (mean ± SD: age = 68 ± 5 yr). Of these, 13 were allocated to a waitlist control, 10 of whom progressed to training (CONV, n = 12; EB, n = 13). Training was twice a week for 16 wk. EB involved three sets of 10 concentric lifts at 50% of 1RM with the eccentric portion of repetitions performed unilaterally, alternating between limbs with each repetition. CONV involved two sets of 10 repetitions at 75% of 1RM. EB and CONV were matched for total work. Isokinetic knee extensor strength was assessed across a range of velocities (0-360°·s(-1)). Functional capacity was assessed via a 6-m fast walk test, a timed up and go test, stair climb and descent power test, and vertical jump test. Vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius medialis architecture were assessed using ultrasonography. RESULTS Both EB and CONV improved 1RM (Δ 23%-35%, P < 0.01). Compared to the control group, both training regimens improved 6-m fast walk (Δ 5%-7%, P < 0.01) and concentric torque at 60 and 120°·s(-1) (Δ 6%-8%, P < 0.05). Significant improvements were evident in EB for isometric and concentric torque at 240 and 360°·s(-1) (Δ 6%-11%, P < 0.05), vastus lateralis thickness (Δ 5%, P < 0.05), and stair climb (Δ 5%, P < 0.01). Timed up and go (Δ 5%, P < 0.01), stair descent (Δ 4%, P < 0.05), and vertical jump (Δ 7%, P < 0.01) improved in CONV. Pulse wave velocity, pennation angle, and fascicle length remained unchanged in both training groups. CONCLUSIONS EB seems superior to CONV at increasing torque at high contraction velocities, whereas CONV seems more effective at improving some functional performance measures and vertical jump. This has important implications for preserving functional capacity.
CRISPR/Cas, the Immune System of Bacteria and Archaea

CRISPR Defenses Prokaryotes can be infected by parasites and pathogens and, like eukaryotes, have evolved systems to protect themselves. Horvath and Barrangou (p. 167) review a recently discovered prokaryotic “immune system” characterized by CRISPR—clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats—found in most archaeal and many bacterial species. CRISPR loci harbor short sequences captured from viruses and invasive genetic elements. These sequences are transcribed, and the RNA is cleaved into short CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) by one of a family of CRISPR-associated (cas) proteins. These crRNAs direct other cas family proteins to homologous nucleic acid targets to effect their destruction. Through its ability to impede the spread of specific nucleic acid sequences, the CRISPR/Cas systems might be exploited to block the dissemination of antibiotic-resistance markers. Microbes rely on diverse defense mechanisms that allow them to withstand viral predation and exposure to invading nucleic acid. In many Bacteria and most Archaea, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) form peculiar genetic loci, which provide acquired immunity against viruses and plasmids by targeting nucleic acid in a sequence-specific manner. These hypervariable loci take up genetic material from invasive elements and build up inheritable DNA-encoded immunity over time. Conversely, viruses have devised mutational escape strategies that allow them to circumvent the CRISPR/Cas system, albeit at a cost. CRISPR features may be exploited for typing purposes, epidemiological studies, host-virus ecological surveys, building specific immunity against undesirable genetic elements, and enhancing viral resistance in domesticated microbes.
Erdős-Rényi random graphs + forest fires = Self-Organized Criticality

We discuss the solvability of backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) with superquadratic generators. We first prove that given a superquadratic generator, there exists a bounded terminal value, such that the associated BSDE does not admit any bounded solution. On the other hand, we prove that if the superquadratic BSDE admits a bounded solution, then there exist infinitely many bounded solutions for this BSDE. Finally, we prove the existence of a solution for Markovian BSDEs where the terminal value is a bounded continuous function of a forward stochastic differential equation.
Parenting in the Shadow of Ferguson: Racial Socialization Practices in Context

Black parents have long faced the task of explaining the meaning of race to their children and preparing them for racist experiences. This qualitative study examines racial socialization practices in the context of a specific racialized event: the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. Data were gathered from 18 Black parents and adolescents living in the St. Louis region in the weeks immediately following the event. Four types of practices were identified: Parents taught their children about the racial context from which the events emerged; they taught their sons strategies to avoid danger and that their lives are valued; they emphasized dissimilarity between their children and those engaging in violent protest; and they encouraged their children to overcome discrimination through individual achievement.
Incidence of active TB disease among PLHIV/AIDS who took isoniazid preventive therapy in public health facilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Objective (s): (i) To investigate factors and conditions that influence HIV/AIDS prevention among leprosy and deaf persons in leprosy settlements in Nigerian; (ii) to examine the extent to which the Government includes leprosy and deaf persons in HIV prevention programmes; (iii) To identify immediate needs of leprosy and deaf patients in settlements (iv) to determine possible areas for improving services so as to explore potential solutions Methods: Total sample of 227 inmates and 34 Health Care Workers were studied in three purposively selected settlements. Two intervention concepts, participatory reservation approach (PRA) and planned action (PLA) were utilized in the study. The concepts enabled researchers to examine factors that influenced provision of HIV/AIDS prevention programmes to inmates in settlements. Data collection instruments were questionnaire and focus group discussions for inmates and interview guides for Health Workers. Data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively with the help of Stat Pac Gold package. Results: Findings showed that there were no reproductive health and and HIV prevention programmes in the settlements. There was lack of Governments\' commitment to fund health programmes and to train Health Workers, as well as rejection, isolation, discrimination and discouragement of HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in settlements. There was poor knowledge of mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS among inmates. About 59 (53.6%) of inmates in Abia, and 60 (51.3%) in Oyo were not interested in voluntary counselling and sex education. Findings showed that inmates in the leprosy settlements were at risk of unprotected sex. About 99 (43.6%) in Oyo and 88 (38.8%) in Abia State, especially those who were single cohabited with opposite sexes to have babies in settlements (p = 003). Conclusion: Number of inmates that had babies in settlements justifies providing sex education, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. This will assist in reducing HIV/AIDS prevalence among disabled persons in Nigeria. Keywords : Leprosy, deafness, HIV/AIDS, family planning, Nigeria East African Journal of Public Health Vol. 5 (2) 2008: pp. 55-61
Cool dwarfs stars from the Torino Observatory Parallax Program

Aims. We investigate and parameterize high proper motion red stars in the Torino Observatory Parallax Program. Methods. Observations of 27 objects were made over the period 1994‐2001 on the 1.05 m Torino telescope. The trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions were determined using standard techniques. Results. We determine parallaxes and proper motions, and by comparison to models we infer masses, ages, and metallicities. Of the 27 objects, 22 are within 25 pc and 4 appear to be subdwarfs. There are published parallaxes for 18 objects, and all but 4 agree to within 2σ. The discrepancies are discussed.
A Refined End-to-End Discourse Parser

The CoNLL-2015 shared task focuses on shallow discourse parsing, which takes a piece of newswire text as input and returns the discourse relations in a PDTB style. In this paper, we describe our discourse parser that participated in the shared task. We use 9 components to construct the whole parser to identify discourse connectives, label arguments and classify the sense of Explicit or Non-Explicit relations in free texts. Compared to previous discourse parser, new components and features are added in our system, which further improves the overall performance of the discourse parser. Our parser ranks the first on two test datasets, i.e., PDTB Section 23 and a blind test dataset.