Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Working Memory for Complex Scenes: Age Differences in Frontal and Hippocampal Activations

Age differences in frontal and hippocampal activations in working memory were investigated during a maintenance and subsequent probe interval in an event-related fMRI design. Younger and older adults either viewed or maintained photographs of real-world scenes (extended visual or maintenance conditions) over a 4-sec interval before responding to a probe fragment from the studied picture. Behavioral accuracy was largely equivalent across age and conditions on the probe task, but underlying neural activations differed. Younger but not older adults showed increased left anterior hippocampal activations in the extended visual compared with the maintenance condition. Onthesubsequent probeinterval, however, older adultsshowed more left and right inferior frontal activations than younger adults. The increased frontal activations at probe in older adults may have been compensatory for the decreased hippocampal activations during maintenance, but alternatively could have reflected the increased difficulty of the probe task for the older subjects. Thus, we demonstrate qualitatively different engagement of both frontal and hippocampal structures in older adults in a working memory task, despite behavioral equivalence.
Location decision-making in retail firms: evolution and challenge

Purpose – The paper has three objectives: first, to reflect on the contribution of this journal to the study of retail location assessment and decision-making; second, to use the results of a questionnaire survey of retailers to assess the employment of location assessment techniques a decade since a similar survey conducted by Hernandez and Bennison (2000); third, in the light of these results, to conclude what likely challenges the location planning profession will face over the next decade. Methodology - Employs an online questionnaire survey of retailers across a range of sizes and sub-sectors. Findings – We find that specialist location planning teams within retailers are small with established forecasting processes firmly established for new or relocated stores – indicative of less activity focused on the management of the existing portfolio or the identification of outlets within the network for rationalisation. The vast majority of site assessment techniques increased in use over the decade reflecting a greater reliance on data and analysis to inform decision-making alongside the traditional use of experience and intuition. Complementing highly technical evaluation techniques, the site visit is widely recognised as informing modelling and subsequent decision-making. Research limitations – The survey sample is smaller and contains a greater proportion of larger businesses than that undertaken by Hernandez and Bennison (2000). Originality & value – Underlines the changes in location planning sophistication a decade on from a landmark survey. Suggests the implications of the observed changes and identifies likely developments in the profession.
Nullification functors and the homotopy type of the classifying space for proper bundles

Let G be a discrete group for which the classifying space for proper G-actions is finite-dimensional. We find a space W such that for any such G, the classifying space PBG for proper G-bundles has the homotopy type of the W-nullification of BG. We use this to deduce some results concerning PBG and in some cases where there is a good model for PBG we obtain information about the BZ/p-nullification of BG.
dJun and Vri/dNFIL3 Are Major Regulators of Cardiac Aging in Drosophila

Cardiac aging is a complex process, which is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. Deciphering the mechanisms involved in heart senescence therefore requires identifying the molecular pathways that are affected by age in controlled environmental and genetic conditions. We describe a functional genomic investigation of the genetic control of cardiac senescence in Drosophila. Molecular signatures of heart aging were identified by differential transcriptome analysis followed by a detailed bio-informatic analysis. This approach implicated the JNK/dJun pathway and the transcription factor Vri/dNFIL3 in the transcription regulatory network involved in cardiac senescence and suggested the possible involvement of oxidative stress (OS) in the aging process. To validate these predictions, we developed a new in vivo assay to analyze heart performance in various contexts of adult heart-specific gene overexpression and inactivation. We demonstrate that, as in mammals, OS plays a central role in cardiac senescence, and we show that pharmacological interventions impinging on OS slow heart senescence. These observations strengthen the idea that cardiac aging is controlled by evolutionarily conserved mechanisms, further validating Drosophila as a model to study cardiac senescence. In addition, we demonstrate that Vri, the ortholog of the vertebrate NFIL3/E4B4 transcription factor, is a major genetic regulator of cardiac aging. Vri overexpression leads to major heart dysfunctions, but its loss of function significantly reduces age-related cardiac dysfunctions. Furthermore, we unambiguously show that the JNK/AP1 pathway, the role of which in cardiac aging in mammals is controversial, is activated during cardiac aging and has a detrimental effect on cardiac senescence. This data-driven functional genomic analysis therefore led to the identification of key components of the Gene Regulatory Network of cardiac aging in Drosophila and may prompt to investigate the involvement of their counterparts in the cardiac aging process in mammals.
Three-dimensional analysis of vertical square anchor plate in cohesionless soil

ABSTRACT Vertical anchor plates are often provided to increase the performance of various geotechnical engineering structures such as sheet pile walls, bulkheads, bridge abutments and offshore structures. Hence, the safe design of such structures needs a better understanding of the 3D behaviour of the anchor plate. This paper presents and discusses the results obtained from a series of 3D finite-difference analyses of vertical square anchor plate embedded in cohesionless soil. The 3D model is found to closely predict experimental pullout load–displacement relationship. The failure mechanism observed in the numerical model is found to be very similar to the failure reported in experimental studies. For a given embedment depth, the stiffness of the breakout factor–displacement response substantially reduces with increase in anchor plate size. However, the ultimate reduction in anchor capacity is found to approximately 8% with an increase in anchor size from 0.1 to 1 m. Numerical analysis reveals that at deeper embedment depth, the friction angle of sand is the critical parameter in enhancing the performance of anchor plate. The obtained 3D model results are then compared with the published results and are found to be reasonably in good agreement with each other.
PARSEC-SCALE SHOCKS IN THE KILOPARSEC-SCALE JET OF CENTAURUS A

High angular resolution very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of Centaurus A have been undertaken that allow access to a wide field of view, encompassing both the well-studied parsec-scale jet and the inner part of the kiloparsec-scale jet. The VLBI observations have detected compact regions of synchrotron emission in the kiloparsec-scale jet that coincide with three stationary features identified from previous VLA monitoring observations. Each of these stationary features is associated with strong localized X-ray emission. The VLBI results strengthen arguments made by previous authors suggesting that the stationary features may be the result of stellar objects or gas clouds traversing the jet flow, intercepting the jet and causing strong shocks. The VLBI data show that the most strongly shocked regions in these features are resolved but have extents no larger than a few pc, reducing the required mass of the typical intercepting object by a factor of ∼10 relative to previous estimates, making explanations based on high mass-loss stars or low-density gas clouds more plausible.
Image Classi cation by a Two Dimensional Hidden Markov Model

For block-based classi cation, an image is divided into blocks and a feature vector is formed for each block by grouping statistics extracted from the block. Conventional block-based classi cation algorithms decide the class of a block by examining only the feature vector of this block and ignoring context information. In order to improve classi cation by context, an algorithm is proposed, which models images by two dimensional hidden Markov models (HMMs). The HMM considers feature vectors statistically dependent through an underlying state process assumed to be a Markov mesh, which has transition probabilities conditioned on the states of neighboring blocks from both horizontal and vertical directions. Thus, the dependency in two dimensions is re ected simultaneously. The HMM parameters are estimated by the EM algorithm. To classify an image, the classes with maximum a posteriori probability are searched jointly for all the blocks. Applications of the HMM algorithm to document and aerial image segmentation show that the algorithm outperforms CART , LVQ, and Bayes VQ.
Fast Similar Subgraph Search with Maximum Common Connected Subgraph Constraints

Similar sub graph search has attracted considerable attention recently with the widespread usage of graph data. Existing methods used graph edit distance or Maximum Common Sub graph (MCS) to quantify graph similarity. However they either are very expensive to compute the results or involve many meaningless disconnected sub graph structures. To address these limitations, in this paper we study the similar sub graph search problem with Maximum Common Connected Sub graph (MCCS) constraints, which not only generates high-quality results but also efficiently identifies the results. To achieve our goal, we propose the concept of edge matching and develop two efficient filters to effectively prune dissimilar graphs. We combine the backtracking algorithm of calculating MCCS with the edge matching and then embed them into our method. Experimental results show that our method performs well on both real and synthetic datasets.
A census of metals and baryons in stars in the local universe

We combine stellar metallicity and stellar mass estimates for a large sample of galaxies drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 2 (SDSS DR2) spanning wide ranges in physical properties, in order to derive an inventory of the total mass of metals and baryons locked up in stars in the local Universe. Physical parameter estimates are derived from galaxy spectra with high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) (of at least 20). Co-added spectra of galaxies with similar velocity dispersions, absolute r-band magnitudes and 4000-A break values are used for those regions of parameter space where individual spectra have lower S/N. We estimate the total density of metals ρ z and of baryons ρ * in stars and, from these two quantities, we obtain a mass-and volume-averaged stellar metallicity of = 1.04 + 0.14 Z z , i.e. consistent with solar. We also study how metals are distributed in galaxies according to different properties, such as mass, morphology, mass- and light-weighted age, and we then compare these distributions with the corresponding distributions of stellar mass. We find that the bulk of metals locked up in stars in the local Universe reside in massive, bulge-dominated galaxies, with red colours and high 4000-A break values corresponding to old stellar populations. Bulge-dominated and disc-dominated galaxies contribute similar amounts to the total stellar mass density, but have different fractional contributions to the mass density of metals in stars, in agreement with the mass-metallicity relation. Bulge-dominated galaxies contain roughly 40 per cent of the total amount of metals in stars, while disc-dominated galaxies less than 25 per cent. Finally, at a given galaxy stellar mass, we define two characteristic ages as the median of the distributions of mass and metals as a function of age. These characteristic ages decrease progressively from high-mass to low-mass galaxies, consistent with the high formation epochs of stars in massive galaxies.
A Comparative Study of Fourier Descriptors for Shape Representation and Retrieval

Shape is one of the primary low level image features in Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR). Many shape representations and retrieval methods exist. However, most of those methods either do not well capture shape features or are difficult to do normalization (making matching difficult). Among them, methods based Fourier descriptors (FDs) achieve both good representation (perceptually meaningful) and easy normalization. Besides, FDs are easy to derive and compact in terms of representation. Design of FDs focuses on how to derive Fourier invariants from Fourier coefficients and how to obtain Fourier coefficients from shape signatures. Different Fourier invariants and shape signatures have been exploited to derive FDs. In this paper, we study different FDs and build a Java retrieval framework to compare shape retrieval performance using different FDs in terms of computation complexity, robustness, convergence speed and retrieval performance. The retrieval performance of the different FDs is compared using a standard shape database.
Can Motives Lead Athletes to Suffer from Exercise Dependence? Risk of Exercise Dependence According to Motives for Practice

Although there is a clear association between physical activity, sport and good health, there are motives for practicing that can have, at the same time, a positive and negative connotation. This paper seeks to discover what motives can lead athletes to suffer exercise dependence and the levels of risk of exercise dependence according to each motive in a sample of 414 athletes. Spanish version of Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised was used for the measurement of exercise dependence. The motives of practice were measured through Spanish reduced version of Participation Motivation Questionnaire. A stepwise linear regression analysis was performed in order to investigate motives for practice that predict dependence. Kruskall-Wallis test was run with the groups of dependency risk to determine differences between the scores acquired from the scale and motives for practice. Data indicated that the model with greater explanatory power integrates release energy and status. Significant differences were found in motive of health/fitness (p = .003), status (p = .007), release energy (p = .012) and competition (p = 0.43). These results offer interesting practical applications. Practice grounds that do not predict dependency such as health, family/peers, or skill development could guide the promotion of sports participation without the risk of suffering exercise dependence. Therefore, this study responds to needs previously recommended to help better understanding of the nature of exercise dependence in general.
Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia, and Affective Disorders in Essential Tremor: A Prospective Study

Background It is now reported that non-motor features, cognitive and affective problems, are becoming a major factor in essential tremor (ET). The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of cognitive and affective dysfunction in ET and to prospectively follow-up changes in the subjects. Methods Fifty-two persons over the age of 50 years were recruited from the Movement Disorder Clinic. The subjects underwent baseline neurological, cognitive, and mood assessments and repeat assessment 2 years later. Results The mean age was 68 years, with an average age of ET onset of 55.8 years and with a mean disease duration of 11.7 years. At initial cognitive assessment using various instruments and the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, 69.2% had mild cognitive impairment (MCI). There were disturbances in phonemic fluency, verbal memory, concentration, and semantic fluency; 25% suffered from anxiety and 17.6% from depression. During the 2 years there was an annual 8.4% conversion rate to dementia, with all convertors initially suffering from MCI. Another 25% converted from no initial cognitive impairment to MCI within 2 years. At follow-up the same percentage was still suffering from anxiety. Discussion The study confirms our hypothesis that ET patients suffer from MCI and anxiety. Though a control group was not used, the conversion rates for patients without ET and with/without MCI are known. The uniqueness of this study is that at follow-up, those with ET and MCI had a similar conversion rate to dementia to those suffering from MCI only. Additionally, persons with ET and no initial cognitive impairment were found to be at greater risk for developing MCI than the normal population. Clinicians must increase their awareness of cognitive impairment and anxiety in persons with ET and begin immediate treatment when indicated.
The paradox of integration: why do higher educated new immigrants perceive more discrimination in Germany?

ABSTRACT This article analyses the relation between immigrants’ educational attainment and their perceived discrimination. Previous studies in the Netherlands have found that ethnic discrimination is a particularly salient concern among higher educated immigrants, also referred to as the paradox of integration. By using data from the SCIP-project (‘Causes and Consequences of Early Socio-Cultural Integration Processes among New Immigrants in Europe’), I empirically examine, firstly, whether this counterintuitive finding applies to the group of recently arrived Polish and Turkish immigrants in Germany. Secondly, based on three theoretical perspectives, and taking the opportunity structure, immigrants’ awareness, and their relative deprivation into account, I am concerned with the explanation of the integration paradox. Bivariate results confirm the existence of the integration paradox for recent immigrants in Germany. The findings of mediation analysis and effect decomposition indicate that all three theoretical approaches contribute to the explanation; however, the positive relation between educational attainment and perceived discrimination requires slightly different explanations for Poles and Turks. The results further illustrate that it would be misleading to conclude that higher educated immigrants are automatically protected against discriminatory acts.
Analysis and prediction of functionally important sites in proteins

The rapidly increasing volume of sequence and structure information available for proteins poses the daunting task of determining their functional importance. Computational methods can prove to be very useful in understanding and characterizing the biochemical and evolutionary information contained in this wealth of data, particularly at functionally important sites. Therefore, we perform a detailed survey of compositional and evolutionary constraints at the molecular and biological function level for a large set of known functionally important sites extracted from a wide range of protein families. We compare the degree of conservation across different functional categories and provide detailed statistical insight to decipher the varying evolutionary constraints at functionally important sites. The compositional and evolutionary information at functionally important sites has been compiled into a library of functional templates. We developed a module that predicts functionally important columns (FIC) of an alignment based on the detection of a significant “template match score” to a library template. Our template match score measures an alignment column's similarity to a library template and combines a term explicitly representing a column's residue composition with various evolutionary conservation scores (information content and position‐specific scoring matrix‐derived statistics). Our benchmarking studies show good sensitivity/specificity for the prediction of functional sites and high accuracy in attributing correct molecular function type to the predicted sites. This prediction method is based on information derived from homologous sequences and no structural information is required. Therefore, this method could be extremely useful for large‐scale functional annotation.
Elements of positive relationships among Facebook users

Abstract Based on current literature review, there is no clear definition of positive relationships. A wide variety of concepts are used interchangeably in the literature to describe positive relationships. There are still debates as to what represent positive aspects of relationships, especially in the context of online interactions such as Facebook. As an attempt to further understand about what elements comprise positive relationships, particularly in the context of online relationships, this study examines responses from 800 participants on positive aspects of their relationships in Facebook. Participants were university students from a northern Malaysian public university (178 males; 622 females) an the age range were from 19 to 39 years old. The study was conducted online using Google Form online survey. The online survey was posted in e-learning for three months in order for students to participate in this research. From the qualitative analysis, responses can be divided into eight major themes including social support, trust, interaction, positive emotion, motivation, closeness, understanding and others. The findings shed some lights on elements of positive relationships especially in online context. It also highlights similarities between online and offline relationships. The study increases understanding on how positive aspects of relationships can be conceptualised and measured and further extend theories of positive relationships across online relationships. Keywords : facebook, interaction, positive psychology, positive relationships, university students, well-being
Are Ballot Order Effects Heterogeneous

Past research on ballot order effects has typically focused on the average benefit a candidate receives if placed at the top of the ballot. This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining the possibility that a simple average may mask systematic differences in how the ballot order effect varies across candidates and voters. Copyright (c) 2009 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.
Are the Supporters of Populist Parties Loyal Voters? Dissatisfaction and Stable Voting for Populist Parties

Abstract Scholars of electoral behaviour regularly link political dissatisfaction to two types of behaviour: voting for populist parties and unstable voting behaviour. It is therefore not surprising that the electorates of populist parties are generally assumed to be rather volatile. In this article, we argue that this is not necessarily the case – in particular in a context of increasingly strong and viable populist parties. We make use of data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project to show that voters for populist parties are neither more nor less volatile than voters for mainstream parties. Political dissatisfaction among voters for populist parties even increases the likelihood of stable voting for populist parties. The supply of populist parties further conditions the stability of the populist vote, as voters in systems with established populist parties are more likely to vote stably for populist parties. Finally, we find that in a context of strong and stable populist parties, the effect of political satisfaction on vote switching is somewhat reduced.