Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential expression of BnSRK2D gene in two Brassica napus cultivars under water deficit stress

The sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) family members are plant unique serine/threonine kinases which play a key role in cellular signaling in response to abiotic stresses. The three SnRK2 members including SRK2D, SRK2I and SRK2E are known to phosphorylate major abscisic acid (ABA) responsive transcription factors, ABF2 and ABF4, involved in an ABA-dependent stress signaling pathway in Arabidopsis. This study aimed to clone and sequence an ortholog of the Arabidopsis SRK2D gene from Brassica napus, designated as BnSRK2D. An 833bp cDNA fragment of BnSRK2D, which shared high amino acid sequence identity with its Arabidopsis counterpart, was obtained suggesting a possible conserved function for these genes. The expression pattern of BnSRK2D and its potential target gene B. napus ABF2 (BnABF2) were then analyzed in the two cultivars with contrasting reaction to water deficit stress. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed that BnSRK2D and BnABF2 were water-deficit stress responsive genes with similar expression profiles. The accumulation of the BnSRK2D and BnABF2 transcripts in the two cultivars was linked with their level of drought tolerance, as the drought tolerant cultivar had significantly higher expression levels of both genes under normal and water deficit stress conditions. These findings suggest that BnSRK2D and BnABF2 genes may be involved in conferring drought tolerance in B. napus.
Social cognitive neuroScience: a review of core SyStemS

Descartes famously argued that the mind is both everlasting and indivisible (Descartes, 1988). If he was right about the first part, he is probably pretty impressed with the advance of human knowledge on the second. Although Descartes’ position on the indivisibility of the mind has been echoed at times in the history of psychology and neuroscience (Flourens & Meigs, 1846; Lashley, 1929; Uttal, 2003), the modern field has made steady progress in demonstrating that subjective mental life can be understood as the product of distinct functional systems. Today, largely because of the success of cognitive neuroscience models, researchers understand that people’s intellectual faculties emerge from the operation of core systems that are instantiated by particular brain networks (Gazzaniga, 2009; Shallice, 1988). From this perspective, the brain consists of a set of distinct but interacting information processing systems that carry out cognitive functions of perception, attention, decision making, memory, executive control, and so forth. Without a doubt, the breadth of these models is impressive, but until relatively recently they have been incomplete in an important way. Namely, researchers in this tradition had placed scant emphasis on the social and emotional abilities that account for much of what makes human experience such a complex and fascinating target of scientific explanation. SOCIAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE APPROACH
General Equilibrium Theory of the Term Structure of Interest Rates

General Equilibrium Theory of the Term Structure of Interest Rates by Alex Chia Hsu Co-Chairs: Robert F. Dittmar and Haitao Li This dissertation consists of three essays examining the interactions between macroeconomy and the term structure of interest rates. In the first two theoretical essays, I investigate the effects of fiscal policy and monetary policy on the nominal and real yield curves. In the first essay on fiscal policy, bond supply and the government spending shock drive bond risk premia in a production economy where a fraction of the households are constrained to consume their entire after-tax labor income. Ricardian equivalence breaks down in the model, and fiscal policy becomes relevant to the real economy. This friction increases the consumption risk of the marginal pricers, and it results in large term premia on nominal bonds. In the second essay, co-authored with Erica Li and Francisco Palomino, the influence of monetary policy on the real term premia and the inflation risk premia is studied in the New-Keynesian framework with nominal wage and price rigidities. Under rigidities, both the monetary policy shock and the permanent productivity shock generate positive covariances between the marginal utility to consume and real long-term yields, leading to positive real term premia. However, their implications on inflation risk premia are the opposite: policy shocks generate negative inflation risk premia while permanent productivity shocks
Burden of Diarrhea, Hospitalization and Mortality Due to Cryptosporidial Infections in Indian Children

Background Cryptosporidium spp. is a common, but under-reported cause of childhood diarrhea throughout the world, especially in developing countries. A comprehensive estimate of the burden of cryptosporidiosis in resource-poor settings is not available. Methodology/Principal Findings We used published and unpublished studies to estimate the burden of diarrhea, hospitalization and mortality due to cryptosporidial infections in Indian children. Our estimates suggest that annually, one in every 6–11 children <2 years of age will have an episode of cryptosporidial diarrhea, 1 in every 169–633 children will be hospitalized and 1 in every 2890–7247 children will die due to cryptosporidiosis. Since there are approximately 42 million children <2 years of age in India, it is estimated that Cryptosporidium results in 3.9–7.1 million diarrheal episodes, 66.4–249.0 thousand hospitalizations, and 5.8–14.6 thousand deaths each year. Conclusions/Significance The findings of this study suggest a high burden of cryptosporidiosis among children <2 years of age in India and makes a compelling case for further research on transmission and prevention modalities of Cryptosporidium spp. in India and other developing countries.
A visual based approach for drowsiness detection

The driver drowsiness detection used in human security systems aims to decrease the number of accidents. We describe in this paper an approach developed to detect the driver drowsiness state from a video-based system. Our approach uses a noninvasive method which excludes any human related elements. The latter calculates two geometric features to calculate a non-linearly and non-stationary signal. We analyze the signal extracted from the previous step by combining the two methods EMD (Empirical Mode Decomposition) and BP (Band Power) for filtering. This analysis is confirmed by the SVM (Support Vector Machine) to classify the driver alertness state.
Bmc Medical Informatics and Decision Making a Wireless Health Outcomes Monitoring System (whoms): Development and Field Testing with Cancer Patients Using Mobile Phones

Background: Health-Related Quality of Life assessment is widely used in clinical research, but rarely in clinical practice. Barriers including practical difficulties administering printed questionnaires have limited their use. Telehealth technology could reduce these barriers and encourage better doctor-patient interaction regarding patient symptoms and quality-of-life monitoring. The aim of this study was to develop a new system for transmitting patients' self-reported outcomes using mobile phones or the internet, and to test whether patients can and will use the system via a mobile phone.
“You Can’t Just Erase History”: Coping With Team Identity Threat

Team identification has frequently been associated with positive outcomes; however, team identification is also associated with negative outcomes such as identity threat. Team identity threat has been studied from the perspective that fans enduring identity threat employ emotion-focused coping rather than problem-focused coping strategies because they lack the authority to change team-related stressors. In this study, the author examined fan reaction to team identity threat, wherein fans ultimately used both problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping strategies. The particular instance examined involved fans of a National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball team reacting to an identity threat caused by program scandal. Through the use of unobtrusive digital observation, fan reaction was analyzed via comments from three online sources. The study highlights how fans used problem-focused coping to preserve identity meaning, creating their own reality in the process. Theoretical and managerial implications of the research are discussed.
Neuro-adaptive dynamic control for mobile robots: Experimental validation

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a neuro-adaptive controlled nonholonomic mobile robot. It presents experimental results to validate the employed control scheme on a physical setup for the first time, after it was originally proposed by the same authors and tested by simulations only. The control system is composed of a trajectory tracking kinematic controller which generates the reference wheel velocities, and a cascaded dynamic controller which employs a neural network for the real-time estimation of the robot's nonlinear dynamics so as to attain precise velocity tracking, even in the presence of unknown and/or time-varying dynamics. Details about the hardware and software setup, as well as salient implementation issues are also reported in this work.
RIESZ BASIS PROPERTY AND EXPONENTIAL STABILITY OF CONTROLLED EULER–BERNOULLI BEAM EQUATIONS WITH VARIABLE COEFFICIENTS∗

This paper studies the basis property and the stability of a distributed system described by a nonuniform Euler–Bernoulli beam equation under linear boundary feedback control. It is shown that there is a sequence of generalized eigenfunctions of the system, which forms a Riesz basis for the state Hilbert space. The asymptotic distribution of eigenvalues, the spectrumdetermined growth condition, and the exponential stability are concluded. The results are applied to a nonuniform beam equation with viscous damping of variable coefficient as a generalization of existing results for the uniform beam.
Cystatin C, Renal Function and Cardiovascular Risk

Cystatin C, Renal Function and Cardiovascular Risk Cystatin C is a novel serum marker of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), a critical measure of normal kidney function. Unlike serum creatinine, cystatin C concentrations are independent of gender, age and muscle mass. As cystatin C shown no tubular secretion, it is a much earlier indicator of decreased GFR and allows the detection of mild reductions in GFR, which are not detected by creatinine. Cystatin C has been shown to be associated with future cardiovascular disease and deaths in a dose-dependent relationship that possibly reflects a very early stage of chronic ranal dysfunction. In addition, >sub-clinically< elevated cystatin C concentrations in individuals without chronic kidney disease indicated by creatinine are an independent predictor of progression to chronic kidney disease, heart failure and all-cause mortality. Cistatin C je novi serumski marker glomerularne filtracije (GFR), od kritičnog značaja za procenu normalne bubrežne funkcije. Za razliku od serumskog kreatinina, koncentracije serumskog cistatina C ne zavise od pola, starosti i mišićne mase. Cistatin C ne podleže tubulrnoj sekreciji, te je mnogo raniji indikator smanjenja GFR što omogućava otkrivanje i neznatnog smanjenja GFR, koje nije moguće otkriti pomoću kreatinina. Cistatin C je udružen sa budućim kardiovaskularnim oboljenjem što ukazuje i na rane stupnjeve hronične renalne disfunkcije. To znači da su «sub-klinička» povećanja koncentracija cistatina C u osoba bez hroničnog oboljenja bubrega indikovana kreatininom nezavisan prediktor progresije hroničnog bubrežnog oboljenja, srčanog oštećenja i smrtnosti.
Sports Gambling among Iranians: A Test of Control and Rational Choice Theories

ABSTRACT Gambling on sporting events is an illegal activity in Iran, and this phenomenon is widespread. Taking its point of departure from Control and Rational Choice Theories, this study examines the effects of self-control, social bonding, and rational choice on both gambling behavior and pro-gambling orientations. From a sample of 417 gamblers from the city of Rasht (the capital city of the Guilan province, one of Iran’s largest cities) and using structural modeling analysis, we investigated how various theoretically derived parameters predict gambling behavior and gambling orientations. The results showed significant, negative associations between our latent variables (self-control, social bonding, and rational choice) and respondents’ self-reported gambling behavior and pro-gambling orientations. Moreover, self-control, social bonding, and rational choice combined to account for 54% of the variance of self-reported gambling and 49% of the variance in respondents’ pro-gambling orientations. Measures of the total standardized effects showed that self-control was more strongly associated with both gambling behavior and a pro-gambling orientation than either social bonding or rational choice.
A Group Ring Construction of the Extended Binary Golay Code

We give a new construction of the extended binary Golay code. The code is constructed as a zero divisor code over the dihedral group of twenty-four elements, D 24. The construction is algebraic, much like the construction of the (23,12,7) binary Golay code from a polynomial.
Soviet and German Implicit Perceptions of Mutual Threat, 1939–1941

In crisis situations, each side’s perception of the other’s side’s intentions (threatening or benign) is often the most important determinant of whether the crisis escalates to war or is peacefully resolved. Yet it is notoriously difficult to perceive accurately the intentions of another person or country. In this article we use a method of measuring implicit perceptions of threat to analyze German–Soviet relations between April 1939 and June 1941, drawing on published diplomatic archives to compare each side’s summaries of its leaders’ remarks with summaries of those remarks by the other side. Results showed that after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Soviet implicit threat perceptions dropped from overestimation to underestimation, but then showed steadily increasing threat accentuation up to the June 1941 German invasion. In contrast, German perceptions of Soviet threat started with a slight threat accentuation, which then steadily declined throughout the period. These results suggest modifications in the theory and research using the method of comparing summaries of diplomatic communications made by each side, as well as future directions for research.
Coherent matter wave transport in speckle potentials

This paper studies multiple scattering of matter waves by a disordered optical potential in two and in three dimensions. We calculate fundamental transport quantities such as the scattering mean free path ℓs, the Boltzmann transport mean free path ℓB, and the Boltzmann diffusion constant DB, using a diagrammatic Green functions approach in the weak-scattering regime. Coherent multiple scattering induces interference corrections known as weak localization which entail a reduced diffusion constant. We derive the corresponding expressions for matter wave transport in a correlated speckle potential and provide the relevant parameter values for a possible experimental study of this coherent transport regime, including the critical crossover to the regime of strong or Anderson localization.
EVALUASI DAN SUPERVISI PROGRAM PEMBELAJARAN AL-QUR’AN DI SEKOLAH DASAR ISLAM BILINGUAL AN-NISSA SEMARANG

Banyak sekolah yang memberikan pendidikan al-Qur’an sebagai upayameningkatkan mutu siswa dalam bidang keagamaan. Salah satu sekolahyang memberlakukan program pembelajaran al-Qur’an adalah SekolahDasar Islam Bilingual An-Nissa, yakni Baca Tulis al-Qur’an (BTQ) dan tahfidz (hafalan). Sebagaimana progam-progam pendidikan yang lain,progam tahfidz dan BTQ juga harus dievaluasi dan disupervisi. Evaluasi inidimaksudkan untuk melihat keterlaksanaan dan ketercapaian program,efektivitas dan efisiensinya, menemukan faktor-faktor pendukung danpenghambat program, serta menemukan langkah-langkah supervisisebagai program pembinaan yang komprehensif. Dari evaluasi yangpenulis lakukan dapat disimpulkan beberapa hal. Pertama, keterlaksanaan program yang mencakup pemenuhan standar isi, standar proses, standar tenaga didik, standar sarana prasarana pembelajaran, standar penilaian, dukungan internal dan eksternal masih berada pada level yang rendah sehingga berimbas pada tingkat ketercapaian yang rendah pula. Kedua, pembelajaran yang ada selama ini masih belum efektif dan efisien. Ketiga, faktor-faktor penghambat program tahfidz dan BTQ adalah kurangnya kompetensi profesional guru, kurangnya sarana pembelajaran, kurangnya alokasi waktu, dan juga kurangnya perhatian dari orang tua siswa. Faktor pendukung program adalah kecerdasan siswa yang memadai. Keempat, langkah-langkah yang diambil sebagai bagian dari supervisi adalah dengan mengubah mindset siswa dan guru, memberikan bimbingan pada siswa dan guru secara rutin. Many schools provide Qur'an education as an effort to improve the qualityof students in the religious field. One of the schools that implements theQur'an learning program is Islamic Bilingual Primary School of An-Nissa.That program is BTQ (reciting and writing al-Quran) and Tahfidz (memorizing al-Qur’an). As with other educational programs, Tahfidz and BTQ programs must also be evaluated and supervised. This evaluation isintended to see the program's implementation and achievement,effectiveness and efficiency, to discover the program's supporting andinhibiting factors, and to find supervisory measures as a comprehensivedevelopment program. From the evaluation conducted by the author couldconclude several things. First, the implementation of the program thatcovering the fulfillment of the content standards, process standards, thestandard of the students, the standard of learning infrastructure facilities,the appraisal standards, internal and external support were still at a low level so that also impacted on the low level of achievement. Second, the existing learning has not been effective and efficient. Third, the inhibiting factors of tahfidz and BTQ programs are the lack of professional competence of teachers, lack of learning tools, lack of time allocation, and also lack of attention from students’ parents. The supporting factor of the program is sufficient student intelligence. Fourth, the steps taken as part of the supervision were to change the mindset of students and teachers and provided guidance to them on a regular basis.
The global distribution of Banana bunchy top virus reveals little evidence for frequent recent, human-mediated long distance dispersal events

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV; family Nanoviridae, genus Babuvirus) is a multi-component single-stranded DNA virus, which infects banana plants in many regions of the world, often resulting in large-scale crop losses. We analyzed 171 banana leaf samples from fourteen countries and recovered, cloned, and sequenced 855 complete BBTV components including ninety-four full genomes. Importantly, full genomes were determined from eight countries, where previously no full genomes were available (Samoa, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the USA [HI]). Accounting for recombination and genome component reassortment, we examined the geographic structuring of global BBTV populations to reveal that BBTV likely originated in Southeast Asia, that the current global hotspots of BBTV diversity are Southeast Asia/Far East and India, and that BBTV populations circulating elsewhere in the world have all potentially originated from infrequent introductions. Most importantly, we find that rather than the current global BBTV distribution being due to increases in human-mediated movements of bananas over the past few decades, it is more consistent with a pattern of infrequent introductions of the virus to different parts of the world over the past 1,000 years.
Muscle synergies characterizing human postural responses Contact Information

Postural control is a natural behavior that requires the spatial and temporal coordination of multiple muscles. Complex muscle activation patterns characterizing postural responses suggest the need for independent muscle control. However, our previous work shows that postural responses in cats can be robustly reproduced by the activation of a few muscle synergies (Ting and Macpherson 2005; Torres-Oviedo et al. 2006). We now investigate whether a similar simplification structure is used for human postural control. We hypothesized that a few muscle synergies could account for the inter-trial variability in automatic postural responses from different perturbation directions, as well as different postural strategies. Postural responses to multidirectional support-surface translations in 16 muscles of the lower back and leg were analyzed in nine healthy subjects. Six or fewer muscle synergies were required to reproduce the postural responses of each subject. The composition and temporal activation of several muscle synergies identified across all subjects were consistent with the previously identified “ankle” and “hip” strategies in human postural responses. Moreover, inter-trial variability in muscle activation patterns was successfully reproduced by modulating the activity of the various muscle synergies. This suggests that trial-to-trial variations in the activation of individual muscles are correlated, and moreover, represent variations in the amplitude of descending neural commands that activate individual muscle synergies. Finally, composition and temporal activation of most of the muscle synergies were similar across subjects. These results suggest that muscles synergies represent a general simplification strategy underlying muscle coordination in postural tasks. Page 2 of 43
Identification of Neural Feedback for Upright Stance in Humans: Stabilization rather than Sway Minimization

A fundamental issue in motor control is how to determine the task goals for a given behavior. Here, we address this question by separately identifying the musculoskeletal and feedback components of the human postural control loop. Eighteen subjects were perturbed by two mechanical perturbations (gentle pulling from behind at waist and shoulder levels) and one sensory perturbation (movement of a virtual visual scene). Body kinematics was described by the leg and trunk segment angles in the sagittal plane. Muscle activations were described by ankle and hip EMG signals, with each EMG signal computed as a weighted sum of rectified EMG signals from multiple muscles at the given joint. The mechanical perturbations were used to identify feedback, defined as the mapping from the two segment angles to the two EMG signals. The sensory perturbation was used to estimate parameters in a mechanistic model of the plant, defined as the mapping from the two EMG signals to the two segment angles. Using the plant model and optimal control theory, we compared identified feedback to optimal feedback for a range of cost functions. Identified feedback was similar to feedback that stabilizes upright stance with near-minimum muscle activation, but was not consistent with feedback that substantially increases muscle activation to reduce movements of the body's center of mass or center of pressure. The results suggest that the common assumption of reducing sway may not apply to musculoskeletal systems that are inherently unstable.