Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential changes in steroid hormones before competition in bonobos and chimpanzees

A large body of research has demonstrated that variation in competitive behavior across species and individuals is linked to variation in physiology. In particular, rapid changes in testosterone and cortisol during competition differ according to an individual's or species’ psychological and behavioral responses to competition. This suggests that among pairs of species in which there are behavioral differences in competition, there should also be differences in the endocrine shifts surrounding competition. We tested this hypothesis by presenting humans’ closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), with a dyadic food competition and measuring their salivary testosterone and cortisol levels. Given that chimpanzees and bonobos differ markedly in their food-sharing behavior, we predicted that they would differ in their rapid endocrine shifts. We found that in both species, males showed an anticipatory decrease (relative to baseline) in steroids when placed with a partner in a situation in which the two individuals shared food, and an anticipatory increase when placed with a partner in a situation in which the dominant individual obtained more food. The species differed, however, in terms of which hormone was affected; in bonobo males the shifts occurred in cortisol, whereas in chimpanzee males the shifts occurred in testosterone. Thus, in anticipation of an identical competition, bonobo and chimpanzee males showed differential endocrine shifts, perhaps due to differences in perception of the situation, that is, viewing the event either as a stressor or a dominance contest. In turn, common selection pressures in human evolution may have acted on the psychology and the endocrinology of our competitive behavior.
The Emotional Economy of Housing

This paper offers an interpretation of the role of emotions in animating housing markets which complements more traditional economic and behavioural studies of locally based house-price inflation. Looking to debates within social psychology and cultural studies we suggest that emotions permeate the materiality and meaning of housing markets as well as the experience of individuals acting within them. Drawing on qualitative interviews conducted in Edinburgh, with households who bought in a rising market, we argue that housing transactions are emotional as well as economic affairs. We reconsider the fears that underpin what might appear to be ‘irrational exuberance’ and we argue that housing markets are propelled by a search for returns on emotional as well as financial investments.
Globular Clusters and X-Ray Point Sources in Centaurus A (NGC 5128)

We detect 353 X-ray point sources, mostly low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), in four Chandra observations of Centaurus A (NGC 5128), the nearest giant early-type galaxy, and correlate this point-source population with the largest available ensemble of confirmed and likely globular clusters (GCs) associated with this galaxy. Of the X-ray sources, 31 are coincident with 30 GCs that are confirmed members of the galaxy by radial velocity measurement (two X-ray sources match one GC within our search radius), while one X-ray source coincides with a GC resolved by Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images. Another 36 X-ray point sources match probable, but spectroscopically unconfirmed, GC candidates. The color distribution of GCs and cluster candidates in Cen A is bimodal, and the probability that a red, metal-rich GC candidate contains an LMXB is at least 1.7 times that of a blue, metal-poor one. If we consider only spectroscopically confirmed GCs, this ratio increases to ~3. We find that LMXBs appear preferentially in more luminous (massive) GCs. These two effects are independent, and the latter is likely a consequence of enhanced dynamical encounter rates in more massive clusters which have, on average, denser cores. The X-ray luminosity functions of the LMXBs found in GCs and of those that are unmatched with GCs reveal similar underlying populations, although there is some indication that fewer X-ray-faint LMXBs are found in GCs than X-ray-bright ones. Our results agree with previous observations of the connection of GCs and LMXBs in early-type galaxies and extend previous work on Cen A.
Surgical Treatment of Iatrogenic Ventral Glottic Stenosis Using a Mucosal Flap Technique

Objective To describe a novel surgical technique for correcting postoperative ventral glottic stenosis (cicatrix or web formation) and the outcome in 2 Thoroughbred racehorses. Study Design Retrospective case report. Animals Thoroughbreds diagnosed with ventral glottic stenosis (n=2). Methods Horses presenting with iatrogenic ventral glottic stenosis and resultant exercise intolerance and abnormal exercise‐related noise were anesthetized and a midline sagittal skin incision was made over the ventral larynx and between the sternohyoideus muscles overlying the cricothyroid notch. The cricothyroid ligament, attached laryngeal cicatrix, and overlying mucosa were sagittally sectioned at the dorsal aspect of the cicatrix on the left side. The laryngeal mucosa, cicatrix, and underlying cricothyroid ligament immediately rostral and caudal to the cicatrix were sectioned in a medial (axial) direction as far as the right side of the cricothyroid notch. After resection of the majority of the attached cicatrix tissue, the residual mucosal flap (attached to the right side of the larynx) was reflected ventrally and sutured to the attachment of the cricothyroid ligament on the right side of the cricothyroid notch, creating an intact mucosal layer on the right side of the ventral larynx. Results Both horses had good intralaryngeal wound healing with minimal redevelopment of ventral glottic stenosis at 5 and 9 months postoperatively and were successfully returned to racing with complete absence of abnormal respiratory noise. Conclusion The unique laryngeal anatomy of horses, with a cartilage‐free ventral laryngeal area (cricothyroid notch), allowed the use of this novel surgical technique to successfully treat ventral glottic stenosis.
A Field Test of the Effect of Contextual Variety during Skill Acquisition

Laboratory research in motor behavior has consistently demonstrated higher transfer when practice occurs under conditions of high contextual interference/variety (e.g., Lee & Magill, 1983; Shea & Morgan, 1979). In the present study, an attempt was made to determine whether contextual variety could be easily incorporated into a physical education class setting and whether it produced a significant influence on final skills-test performance. Four practice schedules differing in the amount of contextual variety were administered during a regular college physical education class. Beginning badminton students were matched for skill level and practiced the long and short serves according to their respective conditions at the beginning of each of six class periods. Students monitored each other’s practice sessions without significant alterations in normal class procedures. Conventional skills tests administered at the end of the semester revealed that the shortserve performance of the group receiving the highest.
Virulence attributes of Helicobacter pylori isolates & their association with gastroduodenal disease

Background & objectives Certain genotype(s) of Helicobacter pylori strains may play important role in the development of gastric cancer (GC) and peptic ulcer disease (PUD). This study was undertaken to investigate the association of cagA, cagA3/ region subtypes, babA2 and vacA genotypes of H. pylori with GC, PUD and non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) as there are no such studies from India. Methods A total of 348 consecutive adult patients (NUD 241, PUD 45, GC 62) undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy between September 2002 and May 2007 in a tertiary referral centre at Lucknow, north India, were enrolled. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by rapid urease test, culture, histopathology and PCR. Genotyping for cagA, cagA3/ subtypes, babA2 and vacA was performed by PCR using sequence specific primers. Results H. pylori infection was higher in patients with PUD than with GC (80 vs. 56.5%, P < 0.01) and NUD (80 vs. 55.2%, P= 0.002). cagA positive H. pylori isolates were detected in 80 per cent in GC, 83.3 per cent in PUD and 76.7 per cent in NUD with no significant difference among them. Only A subtype of cagA3/ was detected and its distribution in GC, PUD and NUD was 68.8, 69.4 and 52.6 per cent respectively. Presence of babA2 genotype was 31.4 per cent and it had significant association with PUD when compared with NUD (52.8 vs. 26.3%, P<0.003). On univariate regression analysis, s1a allele was associated with GC (P<0.050) and s1a/m2 vacA genotype with both GC (P=0.014) and PUD (P=0.016). Interpretation & conclusions H. pylori infection was strongly associated with PUD with a very high proportion of patients with GC have s1a allele and s1a/m2 vacA genotype. Both s1a/m2 vacA genotype and babA2 are associated with PUD. The study shows that different virulence attributes of H. pylori are involved in different gastroduodenal disorders.
Assessing the in vitro and in vivo toxicity of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles.

Nanotechnology has become a key word of public interest, since people realized the social and economic power of nanotechnology development. Nanotechnology has already become part of our daily life, and it will have an as yet unknown technological impact because it concerns all aspects of human life from novel building materials to electronics, cosmetics, pharmaceutics, and medicine.1 In recent years, engineered nanoparticles started to become the most important components in nanotechnology. The InternationalOrganization for Standardization (ISO) has provided specific definitions in their recent document entitled “Nanotechnologies—Terminology and definitions for nanoobjects—Nanoparticle, nanofibre and nanoplate”. As the basis of this review, the following definitions for a nanoparticle (NP) and a nano-object will be used.
Dissipativity and Stability Analysis for Fractional Functional Differential Equations

Abstract This paper concerns the dissipativity and stability of the Caputo nonlinear fractional functional differential equations (F-FDEs) with order 0 < α < 1. The fractional generalization of the Halanay-type inequality is proposed, which plays a central role in studies of stability and dissipativity of F-FDEs. Then the dissipativity and the absorbing set are derived under almost the same assumptions as the classical integer-order functional differential equations (FDEs). The asymptotic stability of F-FDEs are also proved under the one-sided Lipschitz conditions. Those extend the corresponding properties from integer-order FDEs to the Caputo fractional ones. The results can also be directly applied to some special cases of fractional nonlinear equations, such as the fractional delay differential equations (F-DDEs), fractional integro-differential equations (F-IDEs) and fractional delay integro-differential equations (F-DIDEs). The fractional Adams-Bashforth-Moulton algorithm is employed to simulate the F-FDEs, and several numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results.
3.0T MR-CAD: Clinical Value in Diagnosis of Breast Tumor Compared with Conventional MRI

Purpose: to explore the clinical value of 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging compared with computer-aided MR diagnosis (MR-CAD) in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors. Materials and Methods: MRI method and MR-CAD method was used in the diagnosis of a total of 93 breast lesions of 78 patients, based on the morphological and time-intensity-curve (TIC) analysis. The accuracy of the two modalities in differentiating malignant and benign breast tumor was compared. Results: MR-CAD method yielded a statistically better accuracy than MRI method. For 51 mass-like lesions, MRI and MR-CAD had no difference in diagnosing accuracy, but MR-CAD had better accuracy in 42 non-mass-like lesions. Conclusion: MR-CAD had a notable advantage over MRI in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors, especially non-mass-like tumor.
Effect of the E4 region on the persistence of transgene expression from adenovirus vectors

The utility of adenovirus vectors for gene therapy is limited by the transience of expression that has been observed in various in vivo models. Immunological responses to viral targets can eliminate transduced cells and cause the loss of transgene expression. We previously described the characterization of an E4 modified adenovirus, Ad2E4ORF6, which is replication defective in cotton rats. We reasoned that gene transfer vectors based on Ad2E4ORF6 would have a reduced potential for viral gene expression in vivo which might be beneficial for achieving persistence of transgene expression. E1 replacement vectors expressing the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator or beta-galactosidase were constructed as series of vectors that differed with respect to the E4 region. Vectors containing a wild-type E4 region, E4 open reading frame 6, or a complete E4 deletion were compared in the lungs of BALB/c mice for persistence of expression. Results obtained with nude mice indicate that nonimmunological factors have a major influence on the longevity of transgene expression. Expression was transient from the E1a promoter with all vectors but persisted from the cytomegalovirus promoter only with a vector containing a wild-type E4 region. Transience of expression did not correlate with the disappearance of vector DNA, suggesting that promoter down-regulation may be involved. Coinfection studies indicate an E4 product(s) could be supplied in trans to allow persistent expression from the cytomegalovirus promoter. In summary, the choice of promoter is important for achieving persistence of expression; in addition, some promoters are highly influenced by the context of the vector backbone.
The influence of collaborative group work on students’ development of critical thinking: the teacher’s role in facilitating group discussions

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine whether the incorporation of group work in a teaching intervention can effectively foster students’ critical thinking skills. Building upon Kuhn’s critical thinking model, the research involved comparison of pretest and post-test results for 140 secondary four (10th grade) students in Hong Kong on two measures of critical thinking ability and investigation of their engagement in argumentative dialogues. The findings illustrate the efficacy of group work, relative to whole-class instruction, in helping students develop critical thinking. In addition, the findings highlight the efficacious role of the teacher in breaking the deadlocks that may arise during small-group debates.
CTL Clones Responses Derived from Antigen-Dependent Lymphocytes (CTLs) with Altered TCR Generation of IL-2-Dependent Cytolytic T

3 Ag-speciﬁc CD8 1 CTL clones require TCR stimulation to respond to IL-2 for growth. Because IL-2 may be produced in the vicinity of CD8 1 CTLs when Ag is limiting at the end of an immune response, we have examined the effect of culturing viral-speciﬁc CTL clones in IL-2 in the absence of antigenic stimulation. Limiting dilution analysis revealed a high precursor frequency for CTL clones derived from IL-2 propagation (termed CTL-factor dependent (FD)) that are dependent upon exogenous IL-2 for growth and survival and no longer require TCR stimulation to proliferate. Culturing CTL-FDs with infected splenocytes pre-senting Ag and IL-2 did not revert the clones but did lead to a TCR-induced inhibition of proliferation. The derived CTL-FDs have lost the ability to kill via the perforin/granule exocytosis mechanism of killing, although they express similar levels of TCR, CD3 e , CD8 ab , CD45, and LFA-1 compared with the parental clones. The CTL-FDs retain Fas ligand/Fas-mediated cytotoxicity, and IFN- g production and regulate the expression of CD69 and IL-2R a when triggered through the TCR. A parental CTL protected BALB/c mice from a lethal challenge of inﬂuenza virus, whereas a CTL-FD did not. These ﬁndings represent a novel regulatory function of IL-2 in vitro that, if functional in vivo, may serve to down-regulate cellular immune responses. The Journal of Immunology, 1999, 162: 6466–6472. parental phenotype. These data demonstrate that IL-2 is nec-essary and sufﬁcient to propagate the CTL-FDs. The ability of IL-2 to induce growth, prevent programmed cell death, and eventually differentiate the CTLs into CTL-FDs reveals that IL-2 acts on CTLs to regulate their growth, death, and cytotoxicity.
A Network Coding Approach to Secret Key Distribution

We consider the problem of secret key distribution in a sensor network with multiple scattered sensor nodes and a mobile device that can be used to bootstrap the network. Our main contribution is a set of secure protocols that rely on simple network coding operations to provide a robust and low-complexity solution for sharing secret keys among sensor nodes, including pairwise keys, cluster keys, key revocation, and mobile node authentication. Despite its role as a key enabler for this approach, the mobile node only has access to an encrypted version of the keys, providing information-theoretic security with respect to attacks focused on the mobile node. Our results include performance evaluation in terms of security metrics and a detailed analysis of resource utilization. The basic scheme was implemented and tested in a real-life sensor network testbed. We deem this class of network coding protocols to be particularly well suited for highly constrained dynamic systems such as wireless sensor networks.
Development and Optimization of Durable Microelectrodes for Quantitative Electroanalysis in Molten Salt

Microfabricated square electrodes with finely controlled highly reproducible dimensions have been developed for electrochemical analysis of high-temperature molten salt (MS). These microelectrodes have been fabricated using photolithographic techniques on silicon wafers and have been designed for operation in lithium chloride/potassium chloride eutectic salt at and ~500 °C. The electrodes are constructed from a series of patterned layers, and their development has involved a systematic study and optimization of a number of different material combinations. This has resulted in a process for making electrodes that represents a step change in capability, delivering the first robust microelectrode device capable of quantitative electroanalysis in a MS system at 500 °C.
A Divide-and-Conquer Algorithm for Betweenness Centrality

The problem of efficiently computing the betweenness centrality of nodes has been researched extensively. To date, the best known exact and centralized algorithm for this task is an algorithm proposed in 2001 by Brandes. The contribution of our paper is Brandes++, an algorithm for exact efficient computation of betweenness centrality. The crux of our algorithm is that we create a sketch of the graph, that we call the skeleton, by replacing subgraphs with simpler graph structures. Depending on the underlying graph structure, using this skeleton and by keeping appropriate summaries Brandes++ we can achieve significantly low running times in our computations. Extensive experimental evaluation on real life datasets demonstrate the efficacy of our algorithm for different types of graphs. We release our code for benefit of the research community.
Does quality of life improve in octogenarians following cardiac surgery? A systematic review

Objectives Current outcome measures in cardiac surgery are largely described in terms of mortality. Given the changing demographic profiles and increasingly aged populations referred for cardiac surgery this may not be the most appropriate measure. Postoperative quality of life is an outcome of importance to all ages, but perhaps particularly so for those whose absolute life expectancy is limited by virtue of age. We undertook a systematic review of the literature to clarify and summarise the existing evidence regarding postoperative quality of life of older people following cardiac surgery. For the purpose of this review we defined our population as people aged 80 years of age or over. Methods A systematic review of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, trial registers and conference abstracts was undertaken to identify studies addressing quality of life following cardiac surgery in patients 80 or over. Results Forty-four studies were identified that addressed this topic, of these nine were prospective therefore overall conclusions are drawn from largely retrospective observational studies. No randomised controlled data were identified. Conclusions Overall there appears to be an improvement in quality of life in the majority of elderly patients following cardiac surgery, however there was a minority in whom quality of life declined (8–19%). There is an urgent need to validate these data and if correct to develop a robust prediction tool to identify these patients before surgery. Such a tool could guide informed consent, policy development and resource allocation.
Interleaving: a multithreading technique targeting multiprocessors and workstations

There is an increasing trend to use commodity microprocessors as the compute engines in large-scale multiprocessors. However, given that the majority of the microprocessors are sold in the workstation market, not in the multiprocessor market, it is only natural that architectural features that benefit only multiprocessors are less likely to be adopted in commodity microprocessors. In this paper, we explore multiple-context processors, an architectural technique proposed to hide the large memory latency in multiprocessors. We show that while current multiple-context designs work reasonably well for multiprocessors, they are ineffective in hiding the much shorter uniprocessor latencies using the limited parallelism found in workstation environments. We propose an alternative design that combines the best features of two existing approaches, and present simulation results that show it yields better performance for both multiprogrammed workloads on a workstation and parallel applications on a multiprocessor. By addressing the needs of the workstation environment, our proposal makes multiple contexts more attractive for commodity microprocessors.
Switch to Your Own to Work with the Known: An Empirical Study on Consumerization of IT

Driven by the pervasion of privately owned mobile d vices, in recent years, we witness a trend of cons umers rather than enterprises increasingly diffusing technology innov ations into work environments. Today, owners of ubi q itous technologies (e.g., smartphones, social networks) not only use t hem privately but also apply them on business purpo ses, which is known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or more generally coin ed as consumerization. While consumerization is hea vily discussed in industry, nowadays only few research contributio ns exist. Applying a switching theory perspective i n a post-adoption study, we investigated consumerization on an indivi dual level. In so doing, we developed and operation l zed a consumerization construct and empirically tested in addition the individual drivers of consumerization in a study among graduate students.