Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Situating Gaming as a Sonic Experience: The acoustic ecology of First-Person Shooters

To date, little has been written on digital game sound as Games Studies has almost exclusively treated and discussed digital games as a visual medium. This paper explores how sound possesses the ability to create perceptions of a variety of spaces within the game world, thus constituting a significant contributing factor to player immersion. Focusing on First-Person Shooters (FPS), we argue that player(s) and soundscape(s), and the relationships between them, may be usefully construed and conceptualized as an acoustic ecology. An argument is presented that, even though its sonic palette may be smaller, the FPS acoustic ecology emulates real world ecologies as players form a vital component in its construction and maintenance. The process of building a conceptual framework for understanding and testing the function of game sound as an acoustic ecology is broadly outlined, involving the application and extension of a disparate range of media sound theories in addition to the construction of new concepts to account for the unique features of the interactive medium of FPS games. Author Keywords
A Comparison of Maltreated Children and Non-Maltreated Children on Their Experiences with Animals—A Japanese Study

ABSTRACT Recently, studies in the United States, Canada, and Europe have shown that child abuse and animal abuse can coexist in the same household. The implications of these studies are that attention to animal abuse might lead to early detection of, and intervention in, child abuse. Although a promising area of study, in Japan there are no published empirical studies which have examined the relationship between children in abusive families and their companion animals. This study examined the differences between maltreated and non-maltreated children in Japan on their experiences with animals. The Boat Inventory on Animal Related Experience (BIARE), a questionnaire on positive and negative experiences with animals, was used to survey a group of institutionalized, maltreated children (who could not live in their homes for various reasons including abuse) (group M, n = 26) and a group of children at an elementary school (non-maltreated children, group C, n = 113). Overall, compared with group C, children in group M engaged in more activities with animals and used animals as a source of support. At the same time, children in group M were more likely to report witnessing animal abuse and committing more serious animal abuse, compared with the children in group C. Implications of the results for Japanese child protection agencies are discussed. Currently, Japanese child protection agencies are aware of the benefits of animals for vulnerable children, but they should also be aware of the negative aspects of the relationship and take necessary measures for risk control.
Leukocytosis-Promoting Factor of Bordetella pertussis III. Its Identity with Protective Antigen

Leukocytosis-promoting factor (LPF) was purified from the supernatant of a 5-day liquid culture of Bordetella pertussis strains Tohama and no. 134. The preparations appeared to be filamentous molecules (2 by 40 nm) and contained histamine-sensitizing and hemagglutinin activities in addition to leukocytosis-promoting activity. Active protection tests in mice demonstrated strong protective activities of 80 international protective units per mg of protein in LPF preparations of each strain toxoided by mild Formalin treatment. Passive protection tests in mice with anti-LPF sera indicated that anti-LPF is one of the protective antibodies.
Steps Involved in Immortalization and Tumorigenesis in Human B-Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines Transformed by Epstein-Barr Virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is closely associated with the generation of various tumors, including Burkitt’s lymphoma. Human resting B cells from peripheral blood are easily transformed by EBV to actively proliferating B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). These LCLs with normal diploid karyotypes have been believed to be “immortal”, without becoming tumorigenic. A series of recent studies, however, indicate that this initial, simple concept needs extensive reconsideration. Most LCLs from normal individuals are mortal because their telomeres shorten. Some LCLs are truly immortalized by developing strong telomerase activity and aneuploidy, accompanied by various other changes: down-regulation of p16/Rb; mutation of the p53 gene; modulation of apoptosis; and sensitivity to various chemical agents. Some post-immortal LCLs additionally develop the ability to form colonies in agarose and even become tumorigenic by developing the ability to grow in nude mice. The genetic background of LCLs markedly affects the frequency of immortalization. In summary, changes of B cells after infection by EBV are roughly divided into two steps: (a) transformation of B cells into LCLs caused by EBV proteins; and (b) immortalization and tumorigenesis of LCLs mainly regulated by the factors of host cells in cooperation with EBV proteins. The new concept as reviewed here is essential for the future study of tumorigenesis by EBV.
Memory and Space: Towards an Understanding of the Cognitive Map

More than 50 years of research have led to the general agreement that the hippocampus contributes to memory, but there has been a major schism among theories of hippocampal function over this time. Some researchers argue that the hippocampus plays a broad role in episodic and declarative memory, whereas others argue for a specific role in the creation of spatial cognitive maps and navigation. Although both views have merit, neither provides a complete account of hippocampal function. Guided by recent reviews that attempt to bridge between these views, here we suggest that reconciliation can be accomplished by exploring hippocampal function from the perspective of Tolman's (1948) original conception of a cognitive map as organizing experience and guiding behavior across all domains of cognition. We emphasize recent studies in animals and humans showing that hippocampal networks support a broad range of domains of cognitive maps, that these networks organize specific experiences within the contextually relevant map, and that network activity patterns reflect behavior guided through cognitive maps. These results are consistent with a framework that bridges theories of hippocampal function by conceptualizing the hippocampus as organizing incoming information within the context of a multidimensional cognitive map of spatial, temporal, and associational context. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Research of hippocampal function is dominated by two major views. The spatial view argues that the hippocampus tracks routes through space, whereas the memory view suggests a broad role in declarative memory. Both views rely on considerable evidence, but neither provides a complete account of hippocampal function. Here we review evidence that, in addition to spatial context, the hippocampus encodes a wide variety of information about temporal and situational context, about the systematic organization of events in abstract space, and about routes through maps of cognition and space. We argue that these findings cross the boundaries of the memory and spatial views and offer new insights into hippocampal function as a system supporting a broad range of cognitive maps.
Reduced Immunoglobulin E and Allergy among Adults with Glioma Compared with Controls

We and others have reported previously that adults with glioma are 1.5- to 4-fold less likely than controls to report a variety of allergic conditions. The consistent nature of this relationship calls for a biological explanation so that preventative or therapeutic modalities can be explored. We enrolled 403 newly diagnosed adult glioma cases in the San Francisco Bay Area over a 3-year period using a population-based cancer registry and 402 age/gender/ethnicity frequency-matched controls identified via random digit dialing. We assessed total, food-specific, and respiratory-specific IgE in available case (n = 228) and control (n = 289) serum samples. IgE levels were associated with gender, age, smoking status, and ethnicity among cases and/or controls. Among the cases, IgE levels were not associated with aspects of glioma therapy including radiation, chemotherapy, or tumor resection. Total IgE levels were lower in cases than controls: age/gender/ethnicity/education/smoking-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for elevated versus normal total IgE was 0.37 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.22–0.64]. For the food panel, OR was 0.12 (95% CI, 0.04–0.41). For the respiratory panel, OR was 0.76 (95% CI, 0.52–1.1). Among respiratory allergies, late age of onset (>12 years) but not IgE levels defined a group with strong associations with risk (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.33–0.75). These results corroborate and strengthen our findings of an inverse association between allergic reactions and glioma by showing a relationship with a biomarker for allergy and cancer for the first time. Furthermore, the results indicate a complex relationship between allergic disease and glioma risk that varies by allergen and allergic pathology.
A priori estimates for parabolic Monge-Amp\`ere type equations

We prove the existence and regularity of convex solutions to the first initial-boundary value problem of the parabolic Monge-Amp\`ere equation $$ \left\{\begin{eqnarray}&u_t=\det D^2u\quad\text{ in } Q_T, \\&u=\phi\quad\text{ on }\partial_pQ_T, \end{eqnarray}\right. $$ where $\phi$ is a smooth function, $Q_T=\Omega\times(0,T]$, $\partial_p Q_T$ is the parabolic boundary of $Q_T$, and $\Omega$ is a uniformly convex domain in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with smooth boundary. Our approach can also be used to prove similar results for $\gamma$-Gauss curvature flow with any $0<\gamma\le 1$.
Creating and evolving developer documentation: understanding the decisions of open source contributors

Developer documentation helps developers learn frameworks and libraries. To better understand how documentation in open source projects is created and maintained, we performed a qualitative study in which we interviewed core contributors who wrote developer documentation and developers who read documentation. In addition, we studied the evolution of 19 documents by analyzing more than 1500 document revisions. We identified the decisions that contributors make, the factors influencing these decisions and the consequences for the project. Among many findings, we observed how working on the documentation could improve the code quality and how constant interaction with the projects' community positively impacted the documentation.
The bereavement exclusion may not be applicable in real world settings

We thank Wakefield and First for citing three of our papers in their review article about the validity of the bereavement exclusion to major depression 1. However, we believe that their view about our work is incomplete and misleading. First, they argue that no special training or checklist was used in our studies. This point is not correct, as clarified in our first paper 2 (“The MDE module of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Inventory (MINI) structured interview was used”), in the second 3 (“Doctors had a prestudy training session about DSM-IV MDE criteria, including the bereavement exclusion criterion. Moreover, they had to assess each MDE criterion (yes/no) to check the diagnosis of MDE”) and in the third 4 (“Clinicians, who were trained about the DSM-IV MDE criteria prior to the study, were asked to check each DSM-IV MDE diagnosis criterion”). Second, they argue that the bereavement exclusion was inaccurately applied in our studies. Their view might be more dogmatic than pragmatic. Actually, our results from two different samples including 4,252 clinicians and 30,603 patients 2,3,4 show that the bereavement exclusion criterion has a poor discriminant validity in treatment seeking individuals. Indeed, there are two possible explanations for these results. The first is that the bereavement exclusion was not applied correctly by the trained physicians involved in the studies. The second, much more plausible, is that the bereavement exclusion is actually not applicable in real world settings, due to its complexity. Thus, we conclude that the bereavement exclusion criterion is not discriminant in real world settings, and that further studies with a design similar to ours are needed to confirm our data. Finally, we think that the bereavement exclusion has to be reconsidered, even possibly deleted, in the DSM-5 definition of major depressive episode.
Myosin IIA deficient cells migrate efficiently despite reduced traction forces at cell periphery

Summary Cell motility is a cornerstone of embryogenesis, tissue remodeling and repair, and cancer cell invasion. It is generally thought that migrating cells grab and exert traction force onto the extracellular matrix in order to pull the cell body forward. While previous studies have shown that myosin II deficient cells migrate efficiently, whether these cells exert traction forces during cell migration in the absence of the major contractile machinery is currently unknown. Using an array of micron-sized pillars as a force sensor and shRNA specific to each myosin II isoform (A and B), we analyzed how myosin IIA and IIB individually regulate cell migration and traction force generation. Myosin IIA and IIB localized preferentially to the leading edge where traction force was greatest, and the trailing edge, respectively. When individual myosin II isoforms were depleted by shRNA, myosin IIA deficient cells lost actin stress fibers and focal adhesions, whereas myosin IIB deficient cells maintained similar actin organization and focal adhesions as wild-type cells. Interestingly, myosin IIA deficient cells migrated faster than wild-type or myosin IIB deficient cells on both a rigid surface and a pillar array, yet myosin IIA deficient cells exerted significantly less traction force at the leading edge than wild-type or myosin IIB deficient cells. These results suggest that, in the absence of myosin IIA mediated force-generating machinery, cells move with minimal traction forces at the cell periphery, thus demonstrating the remarkable ability of cells to adapt and migrate.
On Solving QoS-Aware Service Selection Problem with Service Composition

Runtime QoS-aware service selection is difficult because the number of web services providing similar functionality is large and constantly changing, and, even more challenging, due to the complicated structure of composite services. This paper proposes an efficient divide-and-conquer approach for service selection based on a high-level abstract model for service composition. The service composition model is recursively defined with (1) abstract control-flows of five general constructs ("Sequence", "Switch", "While", "Flow", and "Pick"), and (2) extended data-flows with constructs of "AND" and "OR". Based on this service composition model, a QoS model, which supports non-linear QoS aggregation, is proposed. Therefore, complex control-flows are handled in an integrated way without separating and merging multiple execution paths, and interface constraints are captured in form of data-flow declaration. This approach allows to divide the original service to several smaller services, which are then solved separately by a recursive branch-and-bound algorithm Experiments show that the proposed approach is efficient and scalable for runtime service selection, and better handles complicated structure of service composition than existing approaches.
Les heuristiques de choix nutritionnels: une étude qualitative exploratoire

Understanding the decision process underlying consumers’ nutrition choice is crucial for public policy makers and food industry. Most published scientific research that focused on nutrition choice has been widely influenced by information-processing theory because of the importance of nutrition information in public policy plan. However, we think that, in the reality of marketplace, many people adopt simplifying strategies due to the complexity of nutrition attribute. A qualitative study aims at highlighting the different kinds of heuristics used by consumers. Its results show that the most famous nutrients, the perceived naturality of the product, the food category, the brand, the familiarity, the location in store and the targeted use are used as reference points by consumers in determining their choice.
A global survey of the instantaneous linkages between cloud vertical structure and large‐scale climate

The instantaneous linkages between cloud vertical structure and various large‐scale meteorological parameters are investigated using 5 years of data from the CloudSat/CALIPSO instruments. The linkages are systemically explored and quantified at all vertical levels and throughout the global ocean in both the long‐term mean and on month‐to‐month timescales. A number of novel large‐scale meteorological parameters are used in the analysis, including tropopause temperatures, upper tropospheric stability, and storm track activity. The results provide a baseline for evaluating physical parameterizations of clouds in GCMs and a reference for interpreting the signatures of large‐scale atmospheric phenomena in cloud vertical structure. In the long‐term mean, upper tropospheric cloud incidence throughout the globe increases with (1) decreasing tropopause temperature (at a rate of ∼2–4% K−1), (2) decreasing upper tropospheric stability (∼5–10% per K km−1), and (3) increasing large‐scale vertical motion (∼1–4% per 10 hPa d−1). In contrast, lower tropospheric cloud incidence increases with (1) increasing lower tropospheric stability (10% per K km−1) and descending motion (1% per 10 hPa d−1) in regions of subtropical regime but (2) decreasing lower tropospheric stability (4% per K km−1) and ascending motion (2% per 10 hPa d−1) over the Arctic region. Variations in static stability and vertical motion account for ∼20–35% of the month‐to‐month variance in upper tropospheric cloudiness but less than 10% of the variance in lower tropospheric clouds. Upper tropospheric cloud incidence in the storm track regions is strongly linked to the variance of large‐scale vertical motion and thus the amplitude of baroclinic waves.
Efectos del videojuego Spock sobre la mejora de la inteligencia emocional en adolescentes

Introduccion. El objetivo de la presente investigacion es evaluar experimentalmente los efectos de un programa de videojuego (Spock) para mejorar la inteligencia emocional (IE) como capacidad en una muestra de adolescentes. Metodo. La muestra ha estado compuesta de 92 adolescentes, de 17 a 19 anos, que cursan 2o curso de Bachillerato. El instrumento utilizado ha sido: Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). El estudio utilizo un diseno cuasi-experimental, un diseno de medidas repetidas pretest-postest con grupo de control. Para evaluar el efecto del programa se realizaron analisis descriptivos (medias y desviaciones tipicas) y de varianza (ANOVAs) por los adolescentes asignados a la condicion experimental y control en la fase pretest. En segundo lugar, se llevaron a cabo analisis descriptivos y de covarianza de las puntuaciones postest (ANCOVAs postest covariando el pretest), lo que permite evidenciar el impacto del programa. Ademas, se calculo el tamano del efecto (d de Cohen). Resultados. Los resultados de los ANCOVAs postest (covariando las diferencias pretest) en las variables de inteligencia emocional capacidad objeto de estudio en la condicion experimental y control confirman diferencias estadisticamente significativas en la puntuacion global de inteligencia emocional como capacidad, en la variable percepcion emocional, en la variable facilitacion emocional y en la variable regulacion emocional. Por otro lado, los resultados del ANCOVA postest muestran que el cambio estimulado por el programa en ambos sexos fue similar. Sin embargo, los resultados de los ANCOVAs postest confirman diferencias estadisticamente significativas a favor de los varones en la puntuacion global de inteligencia emocional como capacidad. Discusion y conclusion. El trabajo aporta una herramienta de intervencion eficaz que ha sido validada experimentalmente. Los resultados en su conjunto permiten enfatizar la importancia de implementar, durante la adolescencia, programas para fomentar la IE como capacidad
Reorganization of Lipid Rafts During Capacitation of Human Sperm1

Abstract Ejaculated mammalian sperm must complete a final maturation, termed capacitation, before they can undergo acrosomal exocytosis and fertilize an egg. In human sperm, loss of sperm sterol is an obligatory, early event in capacitation. How sterol loss leads to acrosomal responsiveness is unknown. These experiments tested the hypothesis that loss of sperm sterol affects the organization of cold detergent-resistant membrane microdomains (lipid “rafts”). The GPI-linked protein CD59, the ganglioside GM1, and the protein flotillin-2 were used as markers for lipid rafts. In uncapacitated sperm, 51% of the CD59, 41% of the GM1, and 90% of the flotillin-2 were found in the raft fraction. During capacitation, sperm lost 67% of their 3β-hydroxysterols, and the percentages of CD59 and GM1 in the raft fraction decreased to 34% and 31%, respectively. The distribution of flotillin-2 did not change. Preventing a net loss of sperm sterol prevented the loss of CD59 and GM1 from the raft fraction. Fluorescence microscopy showed CD59 and GM1 to be distributed over the entire sperm surface. Flotillin-2 was located mainly in the posterior head and midpiece. Patching using bivalent antibodies indicated that little of the GM1 and CD59 was stably associated in the same membrane rafts. Likewise, GM1 and flotillin-2 were not associated in the same membrane rafts. In summary, lipid rafts of heterogeneous composition were identified in human sperm and the two raft components, GM1 and CD59, showed a partial sterol loss-dependent shift to the nonraft domain during capacitation.
Risk of Thyroid Cancer in Euthyroid Asymptomatic Patients with Thyroid Nodules with an Emphasis on Family History of Thyroid Cancer

Objective To determine the factors associated with thyroid cancer, focusing on first-degree family history and ultrasonography (US) features, in euthyroid asymptomatic patients with thyroid nodules. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 1310 thyroid nodules of 1254 euthyroid asymptomatic patients who underwent US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy between November 2012 and August 2013. Nodule size and clinical risk factors–such as patient age, gender, first-degree family history of thyroid cancer, multiplicity on US and serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels–were considered together with US features to compare benign and malignant nodules. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the risk of thyroid malignancy according to clinical and US characteristics. Results Although all of the clinical factors and US findings were significantly different between patients with benign and malignant nodules, a solitary lesion on US (p = 0.041–0.043), US features and male gender (p < 0.001) were significant independent risk factors for thyroid malignancy in a multivariate analysis. Patient age, a first-degree family history of thyroid cancer and high normal serum TSH levels did not independently significantly increase the risk of thyroid cancer. However, multicollinearity existed between US assessment and patient age, first-degree family history of thyroid cancer and serum TSH values. Conclusion Ultrasonography findings should be the primary criterion used to decide the management of euthyroid asymptomatic patients with thyroid nodules. The concept of first-degree family history as a risk factor for thyroid malignancy should be further studied in asymptomatic patients.