Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The evolution of the brightest cluster galaxies since z∼ 1 from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS)

We present K-band data for the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS). These data are combined with the photometry published by Aragon Salamanca, Baugh & Kauffmann and a low-redshift comparison sample built from the BCG catalogue of von der Linden et al. BCG luminosities are measured inside a metric circular aperture with 37 kpc diameter. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the K-band Hubble diagram for BCGs exhibits very low scatter (similar to 0.35) over a redshift range of 0 2 and evolved passively thereafter. In contrast with some previous studies, we do not detect any significant change in the stellar mass of the BCG since z similar to 1. These results do not seem to depend on the velocity dispersion of the parent cluster. We also find that there is a correlation between the 1D velocity dispersion of the clusters (sigma(cl)) and the K-band luminosity of the BCGs ( after correcting for passive-evolution). The clusters with large velocity dispersions, and therefore masses, tend to have brighter BCGs, i.e. BCGs with larger stellar masses. This dependency, although significant, is relatively weak: the stellar mass of the BCGs changes only by similar to 70 per cent over a two order of magnitude range in cluster mass. Furthermore, this dependency does not change significantly with redshift. We have compared our observational results with the hierarchical galaxy formation and evolution model predictions of De Lucia & Blaizot. We find that the models predict colours which are in reasonable agreement with the observations because the growth in stellar mass is dominated by the accretion of old stars. However, the stellar mass in the model BCGs grows by a factor of 3-4 since z = 1, a growth rate which seems to be ruled out by the observations. The models predict a dependency between the BCG's stellar mass and the velocity dispersion (mass) of the parent cluster in the same sense as the data, but the dependency is significantly stronger than observed. However, one major difficulty in this comparison is that we have measured magnitudes inside a fixed metric aperture while the models compute total luminosities.
Studies on batch and continuous cultures of Botryococcus braunii: Hydrocarbon production in relation to physiological state, cell ultrastructure, and phosphate nutrition

The growth of the hydrocarbon‐rich alga Botryococcus braunii was studied under “air‐lift” conditions using batch and continuous cultures. Large variations in the physiological state of B. braunii were achieved in batch cultures and in continuous cultures with various dilution rates. The possible effects of these variations upon hydrocarbons (nature, relative abundance, location, level, productivity) and also on the production of exocellular polysaccharides were examined. The relationships between the physiological state of B. braunii and its hydrocarbon and polysaccharide production were discussed and compared with those generally observed in unicellular algae. The factors giving rise to the transition from high to low productivity stages were considered. To this end we examined, at first, the variations in cell ultrastructure and the resulting degeneration occurring during batch cultures. Afterward the parallel changes in some parameters of the medium (pH, phosphate level) were determined and their possible relationships with B. braunii growth and hydrocarbon production were discussed. The main features of phosphate nutrition in B. braunii and its effects on hydrocarbons were finally examined.
The Spatial Distribution and Kinematics of Stellar Populations in E+A Galaxies

We use long-slit spectroscopic observations of the sample of E+A galaxies described by Zabludoff et al. to constrain the nature of the progenitors and remnants of the E+A phase of galaxy evolution. We measure spatially resolved kinematic properties of the young (≲1 Gyr) and old (≳few Gyr) stellar populations. The young stellar populations are more centrally concentrated than the older populations, but they are not confined to the galaxy core (radius ≲1 kpc). The kinematics of the old stellar population place 16 of 20 of our E+As on a trend parallel to the Faber-Jackson relation that is offset by ~0.6 mag in R. Eighteen of 20 E+As have v/σ < 1. As the young stars in these systems evolve, the luminosity offset will disappear, and the remnants will be pressure-supported systems that lie on the Faber-Jackson relation. Although Zabludoff et al. spectroscopically selected the most extreme E+A galaxies in the local volume, the sample is kinematically diverse: velocity dispersions range from ≲30 km s-1 to ~200 km s-1 over a luminosity range of MR = -19 to -22 + 5 log h. Combining these results with an estimate of the number of galaxies that experience an E+A phase, we conclude that the E+A phase of galaxy evolution is important in the development of a large fraction of spheroid-dominated galaxies over a wide range of luminosities and masses. Our kinematic observations, together with evidence that E+As have recently evolved from a vigorous star-forming phase to a quiescent phase (e.g., Couch & Sharples; Caldwell et al.) and that many have tidal features consistent with disklike progenitors (Zabludoff et al.), indicate that these galaxies are undergoing a transformation from gas-rich, star-forming, rotationally supported, disk-dominated galaxies into gas-poor, quiescent, pressure-supported, spheroid-dominated galaxies.
Comorbidities against Quality Control of VKA Therapy in Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation: A French National Cross-Sectional Study

Background Given the prevalence of non-valvular atrial fibrillation in the geriatric population, thromboembolic prevention by means of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) is one of the most frequent daily concerns of practitioners. The effectiveness and safety of treatment with VKA correlates directly with maximizing the time in therapeutic range, with an International Normalized Ratio (INR) of 2.0-3.0. The older population concentrates many of factors known to influence INR rate, particularly concomitant medications and concurrent medical conditions, also defined as comorbidities. Objective Determine whether a high burden on comorbidities, defined by a Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) of 3 or greater, is associated a lower quality of INR control. Study-Design Cross-sectional study. Settings French geriatric care units nationwide. Participants 2164 patients aged 80 and over and treated with vitamin K antagonists. Measurements Comorbidities were assessed using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). The recorded data included age, sex, falls, kidney failure, hemorrhagic event, VKA treatment duration, and the number and type of concomitant medications. Quality of INR control, defined as time in therapeutic range (TTR), was assessed using the Rosendaal method. Results 487 patients were identified the low-quality control of INR group. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, low-quality control of INR was independently associated with a CCI ≥3 (OR = 1.487; 95% CI [1.15; 1.91]). The other variables associated with low-quality control of INR were: hemorrhagic event (OR = 3.151; 95% CI [1.64; 6.07]), hospitalization (OR = 1.614, 95% CI [1.21; 2.14]). Conclusion An elevated CCI score (≥3) was associated with low-quality control of INR in elderly patients treated with VKA. Further research is needed to corroborate this finding.
Information, Power, and Grand Strategy: In Athena's Camp - Section 2

Abstract : According to tradition, power considerations drive strategic choices, and grand strategy consists of the knitting-together of a nation's political, economic and military resources and capabilities in pursuit of its overall aims. Indeed, the major dimensions of grand strategy have long been the political, economic, and military ones anything else has been deemed secondary, significant only as it affected the major dimensions. Information and related technologies and systems play a role in this tradition, but mainly a supporting one. Yet even though information is generally deemed a subsidiary factor, it sometimes has transformative effects. Examples abound throughout history. With regard to political power, one need only look at the effect the printing press had on society. Aside from being a catalyst for the Renaissance, the printed word succeeded in empowering individuals and states in ways previously unknown. An example is provided by the Protestant Reformation in which, despite efforts to restrict the dissemination of the Bible into the various vernaculars, the word did get out. This resulted in a movement which held, first, that the individual could enjoy a direct experience with God, as opposed to one filtered through a religious hierarchy. Second, the liberation of the individual from centralized control encouraged a number of emerging states to seek their own political independence from Rome. Thus, Lutheranism in Germany and Anglicanism in England were movements that fostered national political sovereignty as well as individual freedom of worship.
Nanoimprint Fuel Cell for On-Chip Power Application

MEMS-based micro direct methanol fuel cells (muDMFCs) have poor performance because polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is not well compatible with MEMS process. In this work, fine pattern was formed on PEM using nanoimprint technology. Using the nanoimprint PEM, a MEMS-based muDMFC was fabricated. The MEMS-based muDMFC had the open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.74 V and the maximum power density (MPD) of 0.2 mW/cm2, which were higher by about 2-7 and 10 times, respectively, than those of the state-of-the-art MEMS-based muDMFC with planar electrode. It demonstrated that the nanoimprint technology could help us to integrate PEMFC and MEMS technology into on-chip power application.
Diurnal and light regulation of sulphur assimilation and glucosinolate biosynthesis in Arabidopsis

Glucosinolates are a major class of sulphur-containing secondary metabolites involved in plant defence against pathogens. Recently many regulatory links between glucosinolate biosynthesis and sulphate assimilation were established. Since sulphate assimilation undergoes diurnal rhythm and is light regulated, this study analysed whether the same is true for glucosinolate biosynthesis. The levels of glucosinolates and glutathione were found to be higher during the day than during the night. This agreed with variation in sulphate uptake as well as activity of the key enzyme of the sulphate assimilation pathway, adenosine 5’-phosphosulphate reductase. Correspondingly, the flux through sulphate assimilation was higher during the day than during the night, with the maximum flux through primary assimilation preceding maximal incorporation into glucosinolates. Prolonged darkness resulted in a strong reduction in glucosinolate content. Re-illumination of such dark-adapted plants induced accumulation of mRNA for many genes of glucosinolate biosynthesis, leading to increased glucosinolate biosynthesis. The light regulation of the glucosinolate synthesis genes as well as many genes of primary sulphate assimilation was controlled at least partly by the LONG HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5) transcription regulator. Thus, glucosinolate biosynthesis is highly co-regulated with sulphate assimilation.
A Review of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

This paper reviews 74 journal papers that investigate ICT integration from the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The TPACK framework is an extension of the pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1986). TPACK is the type of integrative and transformative knowledge teachers need for effective use of ICT in classrooms. As a framework for the design of teacher education programs, the TPACK framework addresses the problem arising from overemphasis on technological knowledge in many ICT courses that are conducted in isolation from teachers' subject matter learning and pedagogical training. The present review we have conducted indicates that TPACK is a burgeoning area of research with more application in the North American region. Studies conducted to date employed varied and sophisticated research methods and they have yielded positive results in enhancing teachers' capability to integrate ICT for instructional practice. However, there are still many potential gaps that the TPACK framework could be employed to facilitate deeper change in education. In particular, we suggest more development and research of technological environments base on TPACK; study of students' learning conception with technology; and cross fertilization of TPACK with other theoretical frameworks related to the study of technology integration.
Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of the Dopamine D2 Receptor Increase Inflammation and Fibrosis in Human Renal Proximal Tubule Cells

The dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) negatively regulates inflammation in mouse renal proximal tubule cells (RPTCs), and lack or downregulation of the receptor in mice increases the vulnerability to renal inflammation independent of blood pressure. Some common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs6276, rs6277, and rs1800497) in the human DRD2 gene are associated with decreased D2R expression and function, as well as high blood pressure. We tested the hypothesis that human RPTCs (hRPTCs) expressing these SNPs have increased expression of inflammatory and injury markers. We studied immortalized hRPTCs carrying D2R SNPs and compared them with cells carrying no D2R SNPs. RPTCs with D2R SNPs had decreased D2R expression and function. The expressions of the proinflammatory tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and the profibrotic transforming growth factor-&bgr;1 and its signaling targets Smad3 and Snail1 were increased in hRPTC with D2R SNPs. These cells also showed induction of epithelial mesenchymal transition and production of extracellular matrix proteins, assessed by increased vimentin, fibronectin 1, and collagen I a1. To test the specificity of these D2R SNP effects, hRPTC with D2R SNPs were transfected with a plasmid encoding wild-type DRD2. The expression of D2R was increased and that of transforming growth factor-&bgr;1, Smad3, Snail1, vimentin, fibronectin 1, and collagen I a1 was decreased in hRPTC with D2R SNPs transfected with wild-type DRD2 compared with hRPTC-D2R SNP transfected with empty vector. These data support the hypothesis that D2R function has protective effects in hRPTCs and suggest that carriers of these SNPs may be prone to chronic renal disease and high blood pressure.
Firm Size, Innovation, and Market Share Instability: the Role of Negative Feedback and Idiosyncratic Events

An evolutionary model is built which uses structural and random factors to account for the emergence of market share instability and industry concentration. The structural factors are studied through the relationship between firm size and innovation (dynamic returns to scale) while the random factors are studied through the effect of shocks on this feedback relationship. We find that market share instability is the highest under the negative feedback regime, when the industry specific level of technological opportunity is intermediate, and when shocks are neither very large nor very small.
Cellular and transcriptional responses of yeast to the cleavage of cytosolic tRNAs induced by colicin D

Colicin D is a plasmid‐encoded antibacterial protein that specifically cleaves the anticodon loops of four Escherichia coli tRNAArg species. Here, we report that the catalytic domain of colicin D, which is expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, impairs cell growth by cleaving specific tRNAs. DNA microarray analysis revealed that mating‐related genes were upregulated, while genes involved in a range of metabolic processes were downregulated, thereby impairing cell growth. The pheromone‐signalling pathway was activated only in α cells by tRNA cleavage, which was not observed in ‘a’ cells or diploid cells. On the basis of these results and on the recent identification of two killer toxins that cleave specific tRNAs, the relationship between tRNA depletion and the resultant cellular response is discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quantifying Selective Reporting and the Proteus Phenomenon for Multiple Datasets with Similar Bias

Meta-analyses play an important role in synthesizing evidence from diverse studies and datasets that address similar questions. A major obstacle for meta-analyses arises from biases in reporting. In particular, it is speculated that findings which do not achieve formal statistical significance are less likely reported than statistically significant findings. Moreover, the patterns of bias can be complex and may also depend on the timing of the research results and their relationship with previously published work. In this paper, we present an approach that is specifically designed to analyze large-scale datasets on published results. Such datasets are currently emerging in diverse research fields, particularly in molecular medicine. We use our approach to investigate a dataset on Alzheimer's disease (AD) that covers 1167 results from case-control studies on 102 genetic markers. We observe that initial studies on a genetic marker tend to be substantially more biased than subsequent replications. The chances for initial, statistically non-significant results to be published are estimated to be about 44% (95% CI, 32% to 63%) relative to statistically significant results, while statistically non-significant replications have almost the same chance to be published as statistically significant replications (84%; 95% CI, 66% to 107%). Early replications tend to be biased against initial findings, an observation previously termed Proteus phenomenon: The chances for non-significant studies going in the same direction as the initial result are estimated to be lower than the chances for non-significant studies opposing the initial result (73%; 95% CI, 55% to 96%). Such dynamic patters in bias are difficult to capture by conventional methods, where typically simple publication bias is assumed to operate. Our approach captures and corrects for complex dynamic patterns of bias, and thereby helps generating conclusions from published results that are more robust against the presence of different coexisting types of selective reporting.
Terrain classification through weakly-structured vehicle/terrain interaction

We present a new terrain classification technique both for effective, autonomous locomotion over natural, unknown terrains and for the qualitative analysis of terrains for exploration and mapping. Our straight-forward approach requires a single camera with little processing of visual information. Specifically, we derived a gait bounce measure from visual servoing errors that result from vehicle-terrain interactions during normal locomotion. Characteristics of the terrain, such as roughness and compliance, manifest themselves in the spatial patterns of this signal and can be extracted using pattern classification techniques. For legged robots, different limb-terrain interactions generate gait bounce signals with different information content, thus deliberate limb motions can effect higher information content (i.e. the robot is an active sensor of terrain class). Segmentation of the gait cycle based on the limb-terrain interaction isolates portions of the gait bounce signal with high information content. The decoding of, then sequencing of, this content from each cycle segment yields a robust classification of terrain type from known benchmarks. To extract this spatio-temporal pattern of the gait bounce signal, we developed a meta-classifier using discriminant analysis and hidden Markov model. We present the gait bounce derivation. We demonstrate the viability of terrain classification for legged vehicles using gait bounce with a rigorous study of more than 700 trials, obtaining 84% accuracy. We describe how terrain classification can be used for gait adaptation, particularly in relation to an efficiency metric. We also demonstrate that our technique is generally applicable to other locomotion mechanisms such as wheels and treads.
Lexical-semantic event-related potential effects in patients with left hemisphere lesions and aphasia, and patients with right hemisphere lesions without aphasia.

Lexical-semantic processing impairments in aphasic patients with left hemisphere lesions and non-aphasic patients with right hemisphere lesions were investigated by recording event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while subjects listened to auditorily presented word pairs. The word pairs consisted of unrelated words, or words that were related in meaning. The related words were either associatively related, e.g. "bread-butter', or were members of the same semantic category without being associatively related, e.g. "church-villa'. The latter relationships are assumed to be more distant than the former ones. The most relevant ERP component in this study is the N400. In elderly control subjects, the N400 amplitude to associatively and semantically related word targets is reduced relative to the N400 elicited by unrelated targets. Compared with this normal N400 effect, the different patient groups showed the following pattern of results: aphasic patients with only minor comprehension deficits (high comprehenders) showed N400 effects of a similar size as the control subjects. In aphasic patients with more severe comprehension deficits (low comprehenders) a clear reduction in the N400 effects was obtained, both for the associative and the semantic word pairs. The patients with right hemisphere lesions showed a normal N400 effect for the associatively related targets, but a trend towards a reduced N400 effect for the semantically related word pairs. A dissociation between the N400 results in the word pair paradigm and P300 results in a classical tone oddball task indicated that the N400 effects were not an aspecific consequence of brain lesion, but were related to the nature of the language comprehension impairment. The conclusions drawn from the ERP results are that comprehension deficits in the aphasic patients are due to an impairment in integrating individual word meanings into an overall meaning representation. Right hemisphere patients are more specifically impaired in the processing of semantically more distant relationships, suggesting the involvement of the right hemisphere in semantically coarse coding.
A foundation for actor computation

We present an actor language which is an extension of a simple functional language, and provide an operational semantics for this extension. Actor configurations represent open distributed systems, by which we mean that the specification of an actor system explicitly takes into account the interface with external components. We study the composability of such systems. We define and study various notions of testing equivalence on actor expressions and configurations. The model we develop provides fairness. An important result is that the three forms of equivalence, namely, convex, must, and may equivalences, collapse to two in the presence of fairness. We further develop methods for proving laws of equivalence and provide example proofs to illustrate our methodology.