Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An International Proficiency Test to Detect, Identify and Quantify Ricin in Complex Matrices

While natural intoxications with seeds of Ricinus communis (R. communis) have long been known, the toxic protein ricin contained in the seeds is of major concern since it attracts attention of those intending criminal, terroristic and military misuse. In order to harmonize detection capabilities in expert laboratories, an international proficiency test was organized that aimed at identifying good analytical practices (qualitative measurements) and determining a consensus concentration on a highly pure ricin reference material (quantitative measurements). Sample materials included highly pure ricin as well as the related R. communis agglutinin (RCA120) spiked into buffer, milk and meat extract; additionally, an organic fertilizer naturally contaminated with R. communis shred was investigated in the proficiency test. The qualitative results showed that either a suitable combination of immunological, mass spectrometry (MS)-based and functional approaches or sophisticated MS-based approaches alone successfully allowed the detection and identification of ricin in all samples. In terms of quantification, it was possible to determine a consensus concentration of the highly pure ricin reference material. The results provide a basis for further steps in quality assurance and improve biopreparedness in expert laboratories worldwide.
Potential Network Mechanisms Mediating Electroencephalographic Beta Rhythm Changes during Propofol-Induced Paradoxical Excitation

Propofol, like most general anesthetic drugs, can induce both behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) manifestations of excitation, rather than sedation, at low doses. Neuronal excitation is unexpected in the presence of this GABAA-potentiating drug. We construct a series of network models to understand this paradox. Individual neurons have ion channel conductances with Hodgkin–Huxley-type formulations. Propofol increases the maximal conductance and time constant of decay of the synaptic GABAA current. Networks range in size from 2 to 230 neurons. Population output is measured as a function of pyramidal cell activity, with the electroencephalogram approximated by the sum of population AMPA activity between pyramidal cells. These model networks suggest propofol-induced paradoxical excitation may result from a membrane level interaction between the GABAA current and an intrinsic membrane slow potassium current (M-current). This membrane level interaction has consequences at the level of multicellular networks enabling a switch from baseline interneuron synchrony to propofol-induced interneuron antisynchrony. Large network models reproduce the clinical EEG changes characteristic of propofol-induced paradoxical excitation. The EEG changes coincide with the emergence of antisynchronous interneuron clusters in the model networks. Our findings suggest interneuron antisynchrony as a potential network mechanism underlying the generation of propofol-induced paradoxical excitation. As correlates of behavioral phenomenology, these networks may refine our understanding of the specific behavioral states associated with general anesthesia.
A Model of Tectonic Stress State and RateUsing the 1994

A model of the spatial and temporal distribution of seismicity both before and after the Northridge, California earthquake has been used to estimate the background stress state, loading rate, and some parameters relating to fault friction. A detailed source model was used to calculate the stress change eld from the Northridge mainshock, which 1 was t to the spatial distribution of seismicity. Agreement between the best-tting background stress state from seismicity modeling and the background stress state inferred from focal mechanisms was found to be 99% signiicant, showing that the spatial distribution of seismic-ity contains information about the stress state. The stress rate found for the Northridge area, 1.2 Pa/day (0.004 bar/a), is approximately a factor of 9 less than the stress rate expected from observed strain rates, which implies that aseismic deformation is reducing seismic hazard in the Los Angeles basin. The resulting estimate of the friction parameter A D 0:008 is similar to laboratory values if an eeective normal stress much smaller than the overburden and similar to background stress magnitudes 70 MPa from the seismicity modeling is assumed to apply. Estimates of the magnitude of background stress, gradient of stress with depth and eeective coeecient of friction are quite uncertain.
USAGE AND PERCEPTIONS OF INTERNET AD BLOCKERS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

This exploratory study examines the utilization of ad blocking software by 129 undergraduate business students. It finds that 63% of the students have tried ad blockers and 62% are currently using the software on their personal computers. It also found that utilization of ad blocking software is similar for users of both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers. The high utilization of ad blocking software has implications for the advertising revenue model that currently supports many web sites and services.
Comparative Genomics Including the Early-Diverging Smut Fungus Ceraceosorus bombacis Reveals Signatures of Parallel Evolution within Plant and Animal Pathogens of Fungi and Oomycetes

Ceraceosorus bombacis is an early-diverging lineage of smut fungi and a pathogen of cotton trees (Bombax ceiba). To study the evolutionary genomics of smut fungi in comparison with other fungal and oomycete pathogens, the genome of C. bombacis was sequenced and comparative genomic analyses were performed. The genome of 26.09 Mb encodes for 8,024 proteins, of which 576 are putative-secreted effector proteins (PSEPs). Orthology analysis revealed 30 ortholog PSEPs among six Ustilaginomycotina genomes, the largest groups of which are lytic enzymes, such as aspartic peptidase and glycoside hydrolase. Positive selection analyses revealed the highest percentage of positively selected PSEPs in C. bombacis compared with other Ustilaginomycotina genomes. Metabolic pathway analyses revealed the absence of genes encoding for nitrite and nitrate reductase in the genome of the human skin pathogen Malassezia globosa, but these enzymes are present in the sequenced plant pathogens in smut fungi. Interestingly, these genes are also absent in cultivable oomycete animal pathogens, while nitrate reductase has been lost in cultivable oomycete plant pathogens. Similar patterns were also observed for obligate biotrophic and hemi-biotrophic fungal and oomycete pathogens. Furthermore, it was found that both fungal and oomycete animal pathogen genomes are lacking cutinases and pectinesterases. Overall, these findings highlight the parallel evolution of certain genomic traits, revealing potential common evolutionary trajectories among fungal and oomycete pathogens, shaping the pathogen genomes according to their lifestyle.
Comparative Analysis of Morphometric Characteristics of Scorpaenidae and Gobioninae

Measurements of closely related sets of classical and truss dimensions were analyzed to discriminate species of scorpaenidae including the dark banded rockfish, Sebastes inermis, the black rockfish, S. schlegeli, and gobioninae including the striped shiner, Pungtungia herzi, and the slender shiner, Pseudopungtungia tenuicorpa. The measurements of the dimensions were arc sin square root transformed, and compared as a function of the standard length of each species for statistical analysis. For values of the classical dimensions of the rockfish, 6 were greater for the dark banded rockfish than for the black rockfish, 1 value was smaller for the former, and for 2 values there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05). For values of the classical dimensions of the shiners, 9 values were greater for the striped shiner than for the slender shiner, 2 values were smaller for the former, and for 1 value there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.01). For values of the truss dimensions of the rockfish, 6 were greater for the dark banded rockfish than for the black rockfish, 1 was smaller for the former, and for 4 values there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05). For values of the truss dimensions of the shiners, 13 values were greater for the striped shiner than for the slender shiner, 3 values were smaller for the former, and for 6 values there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.01). The dimension sets used in this study may be useful as taxonomic indicators for discriminating among fish species in Korea.
Maladaptive coping strategies and glaucoma progression

AbstractThe identification of modifiable risk factors for glaucoma progression is needed. Our objective was to determine whether maladaptive coping styles are associated with recent glaucoma progression or worse visual field mean deviation.A hospital-based case–control study was conducted in the Glaucoma Service of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, Canada. Patients with primary open angle glaucoma or normal tension glaucoma with ≥4 years of follow-up and ≥5 Humphrey visual fields were included. Cases had recent visual field progression as defined according to the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial pattern change probability maps. Controls had stable visual fields. The Brief Cope questionnaire, a 28-item questionnaire about 14 different ways of coping with the stress of a chronic disease, was asked. Questions were also asked about demographic and medical factors, and the medical chart was examined. Outcomes included glaucoma progression (yes, no) and visual field mean deviation. Logistic and linear regressions were used.A total of 180 patients were included (82 progressors and 98 nonprogressors). Although none of the 14 coping scales were associated with glaucoma progression (P > 0.05), higher denial was correlated with worse visual field mean deviation (r = −0.173, P = 0.024). In a linear regression model including age, sex, education, depression, intraocular pressure, and family history of glaucoma, greater levels of denial (&bgr; = −1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] −2.32, −0.41), Haitian ethnicity (&bgr; = −7.78, 95% CI −12.52, −3.04), and the number of glaucoma medications (&bgr; = −1.20, 95% CI −2.00, −0.38) were statistically significantly associated with visual field mean deviation.The maladaptive coping mechanism of denial was a risk factor for worse visual field mean deviation. Further prospective research will be required to verify the pathways by which denial may exert an effect on glaucomatous visual field loss.
The Private and Public Insurance Value of Conservative Biodiversity Management

The ecological literature suggests that biodiversity reduces the variance of ecosystem services. Thus, conservative biodiversity management has an insurance value to risk-averse users of ecosystem services. We analyze a conceptual ecological-economic model in which such management measures generate a private benefit and, via ecosystem processes at higher hierarchical levels, a positive externality on other ecosystem users. We find that ecosystem management and environmental policy depend on the extent of uncertainty and risk-aversion as follows: (i) Individual effort to improve ecosystem quality unambiguously increases. The free-rider problem may decrease or increase, depending on the characteristics of the ecosystem and its management; in particular, (ii) the size of the externality may decrease or increase, depending on how individual and aggregate management effort influence biodiversity; and (iii) the welfare loss due to free-riding may decrease or increase, depending on how biodiversity influences ecosystem service provision.
Are high-coherent concept maps better for prior knowledge activation? Differential effects of concept mapping tasks on high school vs. university students

We investigated whether and how prior knowledge activation improves learning outcomes for high school (less experienced learners) and university students (experienced learners) in a hypertext environment. Map coherence was defined as the extent to which relationships between the concepts in the map were made explicit. Therefore, we classified the mapping task of creating and labelling lines as low-coherent, and the mapping task of labelling provided lines as high-coherent. Learners were randomly assigned to the conditions of (1) high-coherent knowledge activation; (2) low-coherent knowledge activation; and (3) a baseline condition without prior knowledge activation. We found an overall effect for prior knowledge activation, learning experience, and an interaction between learning experience and the coherence of the prior knowledge activation task on learning outcomes. High school students benefited most from labelling provided lines, while university physics majors benefited most from creating and labelling lines. This interaction effect and effects of the specific mapping tasks on process measures support the claim that different prior knowledge activation tasks are suited for different groups of learners.
An analysis of evolutionary algorithms for finding approximation solutions to hard optimisation problems

In practice, evolutionary algorithms are often used to find good feasible solutions to complex optimisation problems in a reasonable running time, rather than the optimal solutions. In theory, an important question we should answer is that: how good approximation solutions can evolutionary algorithms produce in a polynomial time? This paper makes an initial discussion on this question and connects evolutionary algorithms with approximation algorithms together. It is shown that evolutionary algorithms can't find good approximation solution to two families of hard problems.
Information asymmetry and internal monitoring: Which blockholders monitor managers more effectively?

This paper studies the impact of information asymmetry between blockholders and managers on firm performance. The ability of blockholders to effectively monitor managers depend on how informed they are about the firm’s business. Same-industry (SI) blockholders – blockholders that operate firms in the same line of business are likely to be more informed than blockholders outside the industry, and thus better monitors. Consistent with this argument, this paper finds that firms with SI blocks tend to have higher Tobin’s Qs and lower corporate payouts and managerial equity ownership than other firms, ceteris paribus. In addition, using acquisition data, this paper finds that acquirers with SI blocks, having higher Tobin’s Qs, tend not to over-pay targets, resulting in lower target returns and higher buyer returns. Finally, using block trade data, this paper finds it is that SI blockholders increase firm values, not that high-value firms attract SI blockholders. 1 I am most grateful to John Matsusaka, Micah Officer, Jano Zabojnik, and K.R. Subramanyam for their invaluable insights and continuous support. All errors are my own. USC FBE FINANCE SEMINAR presented by Jianfei Sun FRIDAY, October 21, 2005 10:30 am – 12:00 pm, Room: JKP-104
Understanding the Relationship Between Marijuana Use and Self-Control

Kerr, Geoffrey Thomas (Ph.D., Psychology and Neuroscience) Understanding the Relationship Between Marijuana Use and Self-Control Thesis directed by Professor Tiffany Ito This work examines the relationship between self-control and marijuana use. Marijuana is one the most widely available, most frequently used, illicit drugs in the United States today. Despite the changing legality of marijuana, there are still many concerns about the negative impact of marijuana use on both physical and mental health. Self-control, or the ability to pursue long-term goals while ignoring short-term distractions, has been associated with a variety of positive life outcomes. Conversely, low self-control has been associated with negative life outcomes and most importantly, drug use and abuse. In this dissertation, I examine the relationship between marijuana use and self-control. I confirm that there is a relationship, and then I explore the nature of that relationship. The focus of this dissertation is an examination of two competing hypothesis that may explain the relationship between self-control and marijuana use. These two hypotheses differ in how appetitive motivation, such as a person’s urges to use marijuana or the extent to which one associates marijuana with pleasure, relates to both self-control and marijuana use. In my first hypothesis, appetitive motivation moderates the relationship between self-control and marijuana use, and self-control interacts with appetitive motivation in predicting marijuana use. My second hypothesis is that appetitive motivation, instead, mediates the relationship between self-control
Finding Ways to Improve Australia’s Food Security Situation

Although Australia exports more than half of its agricultural production, there are food security problems as the current food supply systems in Australia fail to deliver healthy diets to all Australians and fail to protect the natural resources on which they depend. In addition, the food systems create “collateral damage” to the natural environment including biodiversity loss. In coming decades, Australia’s food supply systems will be increasingly challenged by resource price inflation and falling yields due to climate change. Government and business are aiming to increase production and agricultural exports. This will increase pressure on agricultural resources and exacerbate “collateral” damage to the environment. The Australian public has an ongoing interest in issues associated with the food systems including the environment, education, health and sustainability. A health-giving diet is essential for a full life and over a life-time people need food security. Currently economy development and social planning is undertaken through the pragmatic application of a set of ideas, such as relying on markets and deregulation, collectively referred to as neoliberalism. This paper contends that the neoliberal approach is not solving the current and developing problems in food security and agriculture more generally and suggests that more emphasis should be given to alternatives approaches. Seven alternatives approaches are suggested that could be used to identify gaps and guide the creation of overarching goals in economic development and social planning to improve food security and secure the other material goods and social arrangements that all Australians require to live full lives. However, changing large systems such as those involved in food supply is difficult because vested interests in the existing arrangements make the current systems resilient to change. There are a range of leverage points that have differing abilities to change systems. The paper points out that goals and information flows are good leverage points and suggests establishing overarching goals for the systems relevant to food and restructuring the flow of information about these systems will help reform the food supply systems in Australia.
Molecular Systems with Infinite and Finite Degrees of Freedom. Part I: Multi-Scale Analysis

The paper analyses stochastic systems describing reacting molecular systems with a combination of two types of state spaces, a finite-dimensional, and an infinite dimenional part. As a typical situation consider the interaction of larger macro-molecules, finite and small in numbers per cell (like protein complexes), with smaller, very abundant molecules, for example metabolites. We study the construction of the continuum approximation of the associated Master Equation (ME) by using the Trotter approximation [27]. The continuum limit shows regimes where the finite degrees of freedom evolve faster than the infinite ones. Then we develop a rigourous asymptotic adiabatic theory upon the condition that the jump process arising from the finite degrees of freedom of the Markov Chain (MC, typically describing conformational changes of the macro-molecules) occurs with large frequency. In a second part of this work, the theory is applied to derive typical enzyme kinetics in an alternative way and interpretation within this framework.
Do the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying inattention differ between very preterm and term-born children?

Background: Compared with their term-born peers, school aged children born very preterm (≤32 weeks gestation) are at increased risk of inattention. It remains unclear whether the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying inattention are the same in both very preterm and term-born children. Aims: The aim of this study was to determine whether the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying inattention differ between term-born and very preterm children. Chapter 3 explored cognition, while Chapters 4 & 5 explored neural processing in terms of event-related potentials (ERPs) and frequency analysis of functional connectivity respectively, to identify mechanisms underlying inattention. Method: A sample of 65 children born very preterm (≤32 weeks gestation) aged 8-11 years was recruited. A comparison group of 48 term-born peers (≥37 weeks gestation) matched for inattention symptoms using the parent-rated Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD and Normal behaviour (SWAN) questionnaire was selected for comparison. All children were asked to complete neurocognitive tests to assess basic cognitive processes, executive function and sustained attention. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded from a sub-sample of children (very preterm n=43; term-born n=40) while they completed a sustained attention task. The contingent negative variation ERP component and theta and alpha frequency changes following the cue stimulus were derived from the EEG as neural indices of response preparation. Similarly, following the presentation of cued and uncued target stimuli, the P1, P2, and P3 ERP components were derived from the EEG as neural indices of stimulus detection, stimulus categorisation, and evaluation of task-relevance respectively. Results: In both groups, more severe parent-rated inattention on the SWAN was predicted by poorer verbal and visuo-spatial short term memory, visuo-spatial working memory, and greater response time variability, and by smaller amplitude of the P2 ERP to uncued targets at the neural level. In children born very preterm only, slower motor processing speed, and smaller theta increases at the neural level, predicted more severe parent-rated inattention. Similarly, in term-born children only, shorter P2 ERP latencies to all targets predicted more severe parent-rated inattention. Conclusions: In sum, the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying inattention in term-born and very preterm children were partially overlapping, but some mechanisms were unique to only one group. These results present candidate mechanisms that may be useful for the identification of children at risk for inattention, and as potential targets for intervention.
How to protect query and report privacy without sacrificing service quality in participatory sensing

The ubiquity of mobile devices has brought forth the concept of participatory sensing, whereby people can collect and share data from ambient environment for the benefit of themselves or community. To encourage participation of all stakeholders and guarantee system functionality, a privacy-preserving participatory sensing system should be established to hide querier's and participant's sensitive information(e.g., interest, location and content). Meanwhile, it is also imperative for server to provide an accurate and quick service(match the “need” with “supply” and retrieve the desired result from collected data set) for queriers when queries and reports are encrypted to protect privacy. In this paper, we propose Query and Report privacy-preserving protocol(QueRe) in participatory sensing system aiming to protect the query privacy and report privacy without sacrificing the service quality. Security analysis and performance simulation show our method achieves superior performance in privacy protection and service quality. To the best of our knowledge, our work is first attempt for protecting query privacy and report privacy while considering server's service quality.