Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Areas of brain activation in males and females during viewing of erotic film excerpts

Various lines of evidence indicate that men generally experience greater sexual arousal (SA) to erotic stimuli than women. Yet, little is known regarding the neurobiological processes underlying such a gender difference. To investigate this issue, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to compare the neural correlates of SA in 20 male and 20 female subjects. Brain activity was measured while male and female subjects were viewing erotic film excerpts. Results showed that the level of perceived SA was significantly higher in male than in female subjects. When compared to viewing emotionally neutral film excerpts, viewing erotic film excerpts was associated, for both genders, with bilateral blood oxygen level dependant (BOLD) signal increases in the anterior cingulate, medial prefrontal, orbitofrontal, insular, and occipitotemporal cortices, as well as in the amygdala and the ventral striatum. Only for the group of male subjects was there evidence of a significant activation of the thalamus and hypothalamus, a sexually dimorphic area of the brain known to play a pivotal role in physiological arousal and sexual behavior. When directly compared between genders, hypothalamic activation was found to be significantly greater in male subjects. Furthermore, for male subjects only, the magnitude of hypothalamic activation was positively correlated with reported levels of SA. These findings reveal the existence of similarities and dissimilarities in the way the brain of both genders responds to erotic stimuli. They further suggest that the greater SA generally experienced by men, when viewing erotica, may be related to the functional gender difference found here with respect to the hypothalamus. Hum. Brain Mapping 16:1–13, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Paradyn Parallel Performance Measurement Tool

Paradyn is a tool for measuring the performance of large-scale parallel programs. Our goal in designing a new performance tool was to provide detailed, flexible performance information without incurring the space (and time) overhead typically associated with trace-based tools. Paradyn achieves this goal by dynamically instrumenting the application and automatically controlling this instrumentation in search of performance problems. Dynamic instrumentation lets us defer insertion until the moment it is needed (and remove it when it is no longer needed); Paradyn's Performance Consultant decides when and where to insert instrumentation. >
Laparoscopic Appendectomy Is Safer Than Open Appendectomy in an Elderly Population

Background and Objectives: This study describes perioperative patient safety outcomes comparing laparoscopic appendectomy with open appendectomy in the elderly population (defined as age ≥65 years) during the diffusion of laparoscopic appendectomy into widespread clinical practice. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of patients undergoing open or laparoscopic appendectomy in the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a 20% sample of inpatient discharges from 1056 hospitals, from 1998 to 2009, and used weighted sampling to estimate national trends. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to examine the association of laparoscopy with perioperative outcomes. Results: Patients who met the inclusion criteria totaled 257 484. Of these, 87 209 (34%) underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. These patients were younger (P < .001); had lower Charlson comorbidity scores (P < .001); were more likely to be white (P < .001), to be privately insured (P = .005), and to undergo surgery in urban hospitals (P < .001); and were less likely to have appendiceal rupture (P < .001). Laparoscopic appendectomy was associated with a decreased length of stay (4.44 days vs 7.86 days, P < .001), fewer total patient safety indicator events (1.8% vs 3.5%, P < .001), and a decreased mortality rate (0.9% vs 2.8%, P < .001). On multivariate analyses, we observed a 32% (odds ratio, 0.68) decreased probability of patient safety events occurring in laparoscopic appendectomy cases versus open appendectomy cases as measured by patient safety indicators. Conclusion: The data suggest that laparoscopic appendectomy is associated with improved clinical outcomes in the elderly and that diffusion of laparoscopic appendectomy is not associated with adverse patient safety events in this population.
A comparison of various robotic control architectures for autonomous navigation of mobile robots

For mobile robots, the most fundamental and pressing issue is that of autonomous navigation. Successful navigation of mobile robots is closely dependent on four vitals i.e. perception, localization, cognition and motion control. Implementation of each of these vital blocks requires consideration of at least one of the two well-known control architectures Deliberative Navigation Control and Reactive Navigation Control or a combination of the two, also known as a Hybrid Navigation Control. This paper compares each of these control architectures on the basis of their flexibility, ease of implementation, reactivity, robustness, efficiency and many other architecture specifications. The paper concludes with suggesting the schema that seems to be the best of each of these control schemes, on the basis of the analysis made, in order to cope with unknown and dynamic navigation problems encountered in real life scenarios.
Functional specificity of a long-range horizontal connection in cat visual cortex: a cross-correlation study

Anatomical investigations of the visual cortex revealed a regular set of interlaminar connections and long-range horizontal connections. An important component of the intrinsic cortical circuit is the projection from layer 5 to layer 6 over long horizontal distances. Previous work has shown that when layer 5 is locally inactivated, layer 6 cells lose their response in a segment of their receptive fields corresponding to the blocked area in layer 5. It has therefore been proposed that the long receptive fields characteristic of layer 6 cells might be generated by concatenating layer 5 cells with similar orientation preferences. In the present study, we used cross-correlation analysis to examine both source and target cells of the interlaminar connection from layer 5 to layer 6. We found correlated firing between cells separated by up to 4.2 mm, the longest horizontal distance studied. The occurrence of correlated firing depended on the functional properties and on the topographic position of the cells in layer 5 and layer 6. Interactions were only observed if the cells had matching orientation tuning and similar eye preference and if the layer 5 cells lay within the summation area of the layer 6 cells. Both simple and complex cells in layer 6 fired in synchrony with layer 5 cells. In layer 5, mainly standard complex cells, but very few special complex cells, participated in correlated firing with layer 6 cells. These results suggest that cells in layer 6 receive their input from cooriented, coaxially aligned standard complex cells in layer 5. This topographic arrangement and the length summation properties of standard complex cells in layer 5 are well suited to generate long receptive fields in layer 6. Thus, our experiments provide evidence for the functional specialization of a particular component of cortical circuitry.
A heat shock transcription factor with reduced activity suppresses a yeast HSP70 mutant

Strains carrying deletions in both the SSA1 and SSA2 HSP70 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae exhibit pleiotropic phenotypes, including the inability to grow at 37 degrees C or higher, reduced growth rate at permissive temperatures, increased HSP gene expression, and constitutive thermotolerance. A screen for extragenic suppressors of the ssa1 ssa2 slow-growth phenotype identified a spontaneous dominant suppressor mutation, EXA3-1 (R.J. Nelson, M. Heschl, and E.A. Craig, Genetics 131:277-285, 1992). Here we report that EXA3-1 is an allele of HSF1, which encodes the heat shock transcription factor (HSF). Strains containing the EXA3-1 allele in a wild-type background exhibit a 10- to 15-fold reduction in HSF activity during steady-state growth conditions as well as a delay in the accumulation of the SSA4, HSP26, and HSP104 mRNAs after a heat shock. EXA3-1-mediated suppression is the result of a single amino acid substitution of a highly conserved residue in the HSF DNA-binding domain which drastically reduces the ability of HSF to bind to heat shock elements as evaluated by band shift analysis. Together, these results indicate that the poor growth of ssa1 ssa2 strains is the result, at least in part, of the overproduction of a deleterious heat shock protein(s). This conclusion is supported by the fact that the levels of at least some heat shock proteins are reduced in ssa1 ssa2 cells containing the EXA3-1 allele. Surprisingly, strains containing the EXA3-1 allele in a wild-type HSP70 background grow early as well as the wild-type strain over a wide temperature range, displaying only a slight reduction in growth rate at 37 degrees Celsius, indicating that cells contain significantly more HSF activity than is require for growth under steady-state conditions.
Effectiveness of Foreign Aid and Human Development

Foreign aid has been contributory towards fostering broad-based development and complementing national development initiatives in the recipient countries. This paper analyses the question of aid effectiveness towards the achievement of goals in the special context of a set of social outcomes in Pakistan. More specifically, the paper focuses the core question that ‘how’ and ‘how far’ foreign aid has affected the ‘health’, ‘education’, and overall ‘human development index’ in Pakistan. Our result shows that there is feedback Granger causality between GI and ODA. That is, Economic growth induces ODA and ODA Granger cause economic growth. As far as Education index, Human development index and life expectancy index concerned, there are only unidirectional Granger causality from ODA to Education index, Human development index and life expectancy index. This is consistent with other literature that ODA contribute to human development.
The Impact of a Diverse Human Resource Composition on the Survival of Start-Ups

Over the last decades, many studies have been conducted that investigate the impact of diversity on the performance of teams. The goal of this chapter is to study the impact of a diverse composition in entrepreneurial ventures and how it affects the likelihood of survival. This impact will be determined by looking at demographic diversity, based on the ascribed (e.g. gender, age, nationality) and achieved (e.g. education and work experience) characteristics, of all the members of such a venture. This includes both founders and the first employees. The empirical part will rely on the Danish Integrated Database for Labor Market Research (IDA), which allows me to identify detailed firm and personal information. The results of the various analyses show a predominant neutral and negative effect of diversity on new firm survival, especially in those situations where there is a high degree of diversity on industry experience and educational background.
Long-term fish consumption and n-3 fatty acid intake in relation to (sudden) coronary heart disease death: the Zutphen study.

AIMS To assess the relationship between fish consumption or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)+docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake from fish, and (sudden) coronary death. METHODS AND RESULTS The impact of recent and long-term fish consumption and EPA+DHA intake on (sudden) coronary death was investigated in the Zutphen Study, a cohort of 1373 men born between 1900 and 1920, and examined repeatedly between 1960 and 2000. Hazard ratios were obtained from time-dependent Cox regression models. The associations between long-term fish consumption, EPA+DHA intake, and (sudden) coronary death were stronger than those of recent consumption. Long-term fish consumption was inversely associated (borderline significant) with coronary heart disease (CHD) death; however, the strength of the association decreased from age 50 [HR: 0.32 (95% CI: 0.13-0.80)] until age 80 [HR: 1.34 (0.58-3.12)]. For men with a daily EPA+DHA intake from fish below 250 mg compared with no intake, CHD death risk was reduced to the same extent as for men with a daily intake above 250 mg (P-value for trend: 0.27). Moreover, long-term fatty-fish consumption lowered the risk of sudden coronary death [HR: 0.46 (0.27-0.78)]. CONCLUSION The strength of the association between long-term fish consumption and CHD death decreased with increasing age. Fatty-fish consumption lowered sudden coronary death risk. There was no clear dose-response relationship between EPA+DHA intake and (sudden) coronary death.
Evidence for Activation of Toll-Like Receptor and Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products in Preterm Birth

Objective. Individuals with inflammation have a myriad of pregnancy aberrations including increasing their preterm birth risk. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and their ligands were all found to play a key role in inflammation. In the present study, we reviewed TLR and RAGE expression, their ligands, and signaling in preterm birth. Research Design and Methods. A systematic search was performed in the electronic databases PubMed and ScienceDirect up to July 2010, combining the keywords “preterm birth,” “TLR”, “RAGE”, “danger signal”, “alarmin”, “genomewide,” “microarray,” and “proteomics” with specific expression profiles of genes and proteins. Results. This paper provides data on TLR and RAGE levels and critical downstream signaling events including NF-kappaB-dependent proinflammatory cytokine expression in preterm birth. About half of the genes and proteins specifically present in preterm birth have the properties of endogenous ligands “alarmin” for receptor activation. The interactions between the TLR-mediated acute inflammation and RAGE-mediated chronic inflammation have clear implications for preterm birth via the TLR and RAGE system, which may be acting collectively. Conclusions. TLR and RAGE expression and their ligands, signaling, and functional activation are increased in preterm birth and may contribute to the proinflammatory state.
Evaluation of the Selenotranscriptome Expression in Two Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer and is still one of the most fatal cancers. Hence, it needs to identify always new putative markers to improve its diagnosis and prognosis. Since the selenium is able to fight the oxidative damage which is one of the major origins of cell damage as well as cancer, we have recently focused our attention on selenoprotein family and their involvement in HCC. In the present paper we have carried out a global analysis of the selenotranscriptome expression in HepG2 and Huh7 cells compared to the normal human hepatocytes by reverse transcription-qPCR (RT-qPCR). Our data showed that in both cells there are three downregulated (DIO1, DIO2, and SELO) and ten upregulated (GPX4, GPX7, SELK, SELM, SELN, SELT, SELV, SEP15, SEPW1, and TrxR1) genes. Additionally, interactomic studies were carried out to evaluate the ability of these down- and upregulated genes to interact between them as well as to identify putative HUB nodes representing the centers of correlation able to exercise a direct control over the coordinated genes.
The SOBS algorithm: What are the limits?

The Self-Organizing Background Subtraction (SOBS) algorithm implements an approach to moving object detection based on the neural background model automatically generated by a self-organizing method, without prior knowledge about the involved patterns. Such adaptive model can handle scenes containing moving backgrounds, gradual illumination variations and camouflage, can include into the background model shadows cast by moving objects, and achieves robust detection for different types of videos taken with stationary cameras. Moreover, the introduction of spatial coherence into the background update procedure leads to the so-called SC-SOBS algorithm, that provides further robustness against false detections. The paper includes extensive experimental results achieved by the SOBS and the SC-SOBS algorithms on the dataset made available for the Change Detection Challenge at the IEEE CVPR2012.
COMPARISON OF TWO ALGORITHMS FOR ROBUST M-ESTIMATION OF GLOBAL MOTION PARAMETERS

The estimation of Global or Camera motion from image sequences is important both for video retrieval and compression (MPEG4). This is frequently performed using robust M-estimators with the widely used Iterative Reweighted Least Squares algorithm. This article presents an investigation of the use of an alternative robust estimation algorithm and illustrates its improved computationnal efficiency. The paper also introduces two new confidence measures which can be used to validate camera motion measurements in the context of information retrieval.
Insurance and economic growth

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between the insurance business and the economic growth of 23 OECD countries over the period 1990-2011, using a static panel data model. The key findings emerged from the empirical analysis show a positive impact of non-life insurance, as measured by the penetration rate on economic growth and a negative effect exerted by the total insurance and non-life insurance, as measured by the density on economic growth. Keywords : Insurance, economic growth, Static panel data model
A Rice Kinase-Protein Interaction Map1[W][OA]

Plants uniquely contain large numbers of protein kinases, and for the vast majority of the 1,429 kinases predicted in the rice (Oryza sativa) genome, little is known of their functions. Genetic approaches often fail to produce observable phenotypes; thus, new strategies are needed to delineate kinase function. We previously developed a cost-effective high-throughput yeast two-hybrid system. Using this system, we have generated a protein interaction map of 116 representative rice kinases and 254 of their interacting proteins. Overall, the resulting interaction map supports a large number of known or predicted kinase-protein interactions from both plants and animals and reveals many new functional insights. Notably, we found a potential widespread role for E3 ubiquitin ligases in pathogen defense signaling mediated by receptor-like kinases, particularly by the kinases that may have evolved from recently expanded kinase subfamilies in rice. We anticipate that the data provided here will serve as a foundation for targeted functional studies in rice and other plants. The application of yeast two-hybrid and TAPtag analyses for large-scale plant protein interaction studies is also discussed.
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) modelling based on supervised neural networks

This paper proposes the utilization of hybrid models of supervised neural networks for the modelling of dynamic systems. Particularly, as an example of a system, an autonomous helicopter or UAV is identified in both attitude and position systems. The evaluation of the model is done by comparing the radial basis and multilayer perceptron with the real system
Reducing the Impact of Massive Multiplayer Online Games on the Internet Using SCTP

Games are on the Internet to stay. Their popularity and use are growing every day, and some genres such as the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) have become an important source of network traffic having several thousands of simultaneous players at any one time. These kinds of games constitute a real challenge for developers but also for Internet service providers due to their high requirements of bandwidth and hardware resources. Therefore, it is really important for MMORPGs to be supported by high-performance network code. We show how these games can benefit from the new transport protocol in the TCP/IP stack, the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) which can increase the overall efficiency of a game protocol in terms of latency and jitter, along with extra savings in processing time for packet management. Both of these are important details for player's game experience and for server resource provisioning, respectively.
Undergraduate Students as a Source of Potential Entrepreneurs: A Comparative Study between Italy and Argentina

There is a growing consensus that in the “information society” education is one of the key factors for the emergence of new firms and their development prospects. In this context, new ventures set up by graduates are expected to play a critical role especially for the emergence of knowledge and technology-based firms. The main aim of the paper is to analyze the influence of different contexts developed and developing countries on: a) the image that students have about entrepreneurs; b) the influence of social background on the motivation to become an entrepreneur; c) the perception about what positive or negative factors affect the creation of new ventures. The countries analyzed are Argentina (San Andrés University) and Italy (Università Politecnica delle Marche). Overall there are more similarities than differences between Argentinian and Italian students in their perception of entrepreneurship and in their attitude to setting up their own firm. However the social background of the students plays a major role. Although this can be considered a preliminary study, it offers interesting indications for the design of entrepreneurship programs for university students.
In the dark: Perspectives of parents of gifted students in Queensland primary schools

The foundation of this paper is a qualitative multi-site case study, which sought to examine the current educational provisions in place for intellectually gifted primary school students in Queensland, and to consider the attitudes and perceptions of a range of different stakeholders, including teachers, parents and students. The current paper examines the perspectives of parents about their gifted children's experiences of school. Parents in the current study were predominantly supportive of their children's schools; furthermore, and importantly, no evidence was found to support the existence of the stereotypical 'pushy parent'. While knowledge and awareness of gifted education issues were generally fairly low overall, ability grouping strategies generated largely positive responses, while acceleration was regarded less positively. A lack of communication with schools was the major concern for a majority of participants.