Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Japanese foreign disaster assistance: the ad hoc period in international politics and the illusion of a CNN effect

Policy uncertainty is often cited as a cause of the CNN effect. In fact, many argue that an uncertain policy environment is a necessary condition for media-driven foreign policy. While the logic appears compelling, rigorous empirical analyses of the influence of the news media on Japanese foreign disaster aid allocations indicates that, as the global policy environment became more uncertain with the end of the Cold War, media influence went from being a prominent factor in foreign disaster aid allocations to being statistically insignificant. This finding is contrary to the logic of the policy uncertainty argument for media-driven foreign policy as a generalization but it is consistent with the earlier findings for the US disaster assistance program. This lends additional evidence for the argument that the most significant aspect of the CNN effect, the presumed rise of a media-driven foreign policy environment in the 1990s, may have been illusory.
Three Measures of the Temporal Processing of Rotary and Visual Motions

Ten pilots, each at two levels of rotary acceleration, saw a moving visual display. The points of subjective simultaneity of the rotary and visual motions, as measured by differential simple (dRTs) and choice (dRT,) reaction times and by temporal-order judgments (TOJ), were generally larger than those in other modalities at the lower acceleration but similar to them at the higher acceleration. They were smallest when measured by TOJ, but all declined proportionately with increasing acceleration. The results argue that the point of subjective simultaneity depends on the method of measurement and that the perception of temporal order involves both a constant decision function and variable stimulus sensitivities within or between modalities.
Students` Field-dependency and Their Mathematical Performance based on Bloom`s Cognitive Levels

Students approach mathematical problem solving in fundamentally different ways, particularly problems requiring conceptual understanding and complicated strategies. The main objective of this study is to compare students` performance with different thinking styles (Field-dependent vs. Field independent) in mathematical problem solving. A sample of 242 high school males and females (17-18 years old) were tested based on the Witkin`s cognitive style (Group Embedded Figure Test) and by a math exam designed in accordance with Bloom`s Taxonomy of cognitive level. The results obtained indicated that the effect of field dependency on student`s mathematical performance was significant. Moreover, field-independent (Fl) students showed more effective performance than field-dependent (FD) ones in math tasks. Male students with H styles achieved higher results compared to female students with FD cognitive style. Moreover, H students experienced few difficulties than FD students in Bloom`s Cognitive Levels. The implications of these results emphasize that cognitive predictor variables (H vs. FD) could be challenging and rather distinctive factor for students` achievement.
Multi-Modal Outcomes from Interpersonal Need (Un)Fulfillment: The Emotional, Cognitive and Behavioral Derivatives of Consecutive Social Contingencies

The current study assessed the relationship between the core dimensions of interpersonal communication and relationships, power and intimacy, on the activation of individualisticprosocial affect systems and subsequent interpersonal outcomes. Despite extensive research examining each dimension, mixed findings are prevalent and few have investigated their potential interaction. This study addressed these issues based on current trends in interdisciplinary research. Specifically, manipulated social triumph-defeat was followed by social inclusion-exclusion to examine their combined effect on interpersonal outcomes. Results indicate that the power and intimacy manipulations were successful, however, the relationship between them was not interactive. The current findings contradict the logical expansion of interdisciplinary physiological research (dual-hormone hypothesis) to perceptual-only designs. Both power and intimacy successfully activated individualistic and prosocial affect systems, which directly influenced person perception processes, which then predicted behavioral enactment toward comparison others.
Chito-Oligosaccharide Inhibits the De-Methylation of a ‘CpG’ Island within the Leptin (LEP) Promoter during Adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 Cells

Chito-oligosaccharide (COS) is a natural bioactive compound, which has been shown to suppress lipid metabolic genes and lipid accumulation in differentiating adipocytes. Leptin has been identified as a key regulator of energy homeostasis and is known to be under epigenetic regulation during adipogenesis. Hence, the first objective of this experiment was to compare leptin gene (LEP) expression and leptin secretion during the different stages of adipogenesis and to investigate the effect of COS on these processes. As COS inhibited LEP expression during adipogenesis, the second aim was to investigate the methylation dynamics of a ‘CpG’ island in the proximal region of the LEP promoter during adipogenesis and to determine the effect of COS on this process. Mouse 3T3-L1 cells were stimulated to differentiate in the absence or presence of COS and the levels of leptin mRNA and protein were evaluated on days 0, 2, 4 and 6 post-induction of differentiation (PID). The extent of de-methylation of six CpG sites was evaluated. LEP mRNA transcript and protein could not be detected on either day 0PID or 2PID. In contrast, both were detected on day 4PID (P<0.05) and 6PID (P<0.001) and both were inhibited by COS (P<0.001). Of the six CpG sites analyzed, CpG_52, CpG_62 and CpG_95 became 11.5, 5.0 and 5.0% de-methylated between day 2PID and 6PID, respectively. COS blocked this de-methylation event at CpG_52 (P<0.001), CpG_62 (P<0.01) and CpG_95 (P<0.01) on day 6PID. These data suggest that COS can have an epigenetic effect on differentiating adipocytes, a novel biological function of COS which has potential applications for the manipulation of leptin gene expression, adipogenesis, and conditions within the metabolic syndrome spectrum.
Efficient learning and planning with compressed predictive states

Predictive state representations (PSRs) offer an expressive framework for modelling partially observable systems. By compactly representing systems as functions of observable quantities, the PSR learning approach avoids using local-minima prone expectation-maximization and instead employs a globally optimal moment-based algorithm. Moreover, since PSRs do not require a predetermined latent state structure as an input, they offer an attractive framework for model-based reinforcement learning when agents must plan without a priori access to a system model. Unfortunately, the expressiveness of PSRs comes with significant computational cost, and this cost is a major factor inhibiting the use of PSRs in applications. In order to alleviate this shortcoming, we introduce the notion of compressed PSRs (CPSRs). The CPSR learning approach combines recent advancements in dimensionality reduction, incremental matrix decomposition, and compressed sensing. We show how this approach provides a principled avenue for learning accurate approximations of PSRs, drastically reducing the computational costs associated with learning while also providing effective regularization. Going further, we propose a planning framework which exploits these learned models. And we show that this approach facilitates model-learning and planning in large complex partially observable domains, a task that is infeasible without the principled use of compression.
Separating Value from Choice: Delay Discounting Activity in the Lateral Intraparietal Area

The mathematical formulations used to study the neurophysiological signals governing choice behavior fall under one of two major theoretical frameworks: “choice probability” or “subjective value. ” These two formulations represent behavioral quantities closely tied to the decision process, but it is unknown whether one of these variables, or both, dominates the neural mechanisms that mediate choice. Value and choice probability are difficult to distinguish in practice, because higher-valued options are chosen more frequently in free-choice tasks. This distinction is particularly relevant for sensorimotor areas such as parietal cortex, where both value information and motor signals related to choice have been observed. We recorded the activity of neurons in the lateral intraparietal area while monkeys performed an intertemporal choice task for rewards differing in delay to reinforcement. Here we show that the activity of parietal neurons is precisely correlated with the individual-specific discounted value of delayed rewards, with peak subjective value modulation occurring early in task trials. In contrast, late in the decision process these same neurons transition to encode the selected action. When directly compared, the strong delay-related modulation early during decision making is driven by subjective value rather than the monkey's probability of choice. These findings show that in addition to information about gains, parietal cortex also incorporates information about delay into a precise physiological correlate of economic value functions, independent of the probability of choice.
Fairness in Criminal Justice Risk Assessments: The State of the Art

Objectives: Discussions of fairness in criminal justice risk assessments typically lack conceptual precision. Rhetoric too often substitutes for careful analysis. In this article, we seek to clarify the trade-offs between different kinds of fairness and between fairness and accuracy. Methods: We draw on the existing literatures in criminology, computer science, and statistics to provide an integrated examination of fairness and accuracy in criminal justice risk assessments. We also provide an empirical illustration using data from arraignments. Results: We show that there are at least six kinds of fairness, some of which are incompatible with one another and with accuracy. Conclusions: Except in trivial cases, it is impossible to maximize accuracy and fairness at the same time and impossible simultaneously to satisfy all kinds of fairness. In practice, a major complication is different base rates across different legally protected groups. There is a need to consider challenging trade-offs. These lessons apply to applications well beyond criminology where assessments of risk can be used by decision makers. Examples include mortgage lending, employment, college admissions, child welfare, and medical diagnoses.
Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology Review a Revisit to O 2 Sensing and Transduction in the Carotid Body Chemoreceptors in the Context of Reactive Oxygen Species Biology

Oxygen-sensing and transduction in purposeful responses in cells and organisms is of great physiological and medical interest. All animals, including humans, encounter in their lifespan many situations in which oxygen availability might be insufficient, whether acutely or chronically, physiologically or pathologically. Therefore to trace at the molecular level the sequence of events or steps connecting the oxygen deficit with the cell responses is of interest in itself as an achievement of science. In addition, it is also of great medical interest as such knowledge might facilitate the therapeutical approach to patients and to design strategies to minimize hypoxic damage. In our article we define the concepts of sensors and transducers , the steps of the hypoxic transduction cascade in the carotid body chemoreceptor cells and also discuss current models of oxygen-sensing (bioenergetic, biosynthetic and conformational) with their supportive and unsupportive data from updated literature. We envision oxygen-sensing in carotid body chemoreceptor cells as a process initiated at the level of plasma membrane and performed by a hemopro-tein, which might be NOX4 or a hemoprotein not yet chemically identified. Upon oxygen-desaturation, the sensor would experience conformational changes allosterically transmitted to oxygen regulated K + channels, the initial effectors in the transduction cascade. A decrease in their opening probability would produce cell depolarization, activation of voltage dependent calcium channels and release of neurotrans-mitters. Neurotransmitters would activate the nerve endings of the carotid body sensory nerve to convey the information of the hypoxic situation to the central nervous system that would command ventilation to fight hypoxia.
Evoked responses of the elbow flexors in control subjects and in myopathy patients

Electrical and mechanical responses were evoked in the elbow flexors (EFs) of normal subjects and myopathy patients by maximal stimulation of the musculocutaneous nerve by a wire electrode in the axilla. In normals, the decrement in the mechanical responses during short trains of twitches was small (10%). The potentiation during a staircase decreased with increasing frequency of stimuli, but the potentiation 30 sec after the 100‐sec staircase was the same at all frequencies. Posttetanic potentiation was twice as large as the maximal potentiation attained during the staircase. The staircase phenomenon probably results from two opposing events, diminution and potentiation. Findings in 11 patients with myopathy varied according to the severity of involvement. Slight weakness of the EFs was associated with an increased twitch:tetanus ratio, decreased tetanic tension, and decreases in the staircase and posttetanic potentiation. Additionally, severe weakness of the EFs was associated with a diminution in twitch tension.
GlassPass: Tapping Gestures to Unlock Smart Glasses

Wearable technologies such as smart-glasses can sense, store and display sensitive personal contents. In order to protect this data, users need to securely authenticate to their devices. However, current authentication techniques, such as passwords or PINs, are a poor fit for the limited input and output spaces available on wearables. This paper focuses on eyewear and addresses this problem with a novel authentication system that uses an alphabet of simple tapping patterns optimized for rapid and accurate input on the temples (or arms) of glasses. Furthermore, it explores how an eyewear display can support password memorization by privately presenting a visualization of entered symbols. A pair of empirical studies confirm that performance during input of both individual password symbols and full passwords is rapid and accurate. A follow-up session one week after the main study suggests using a private display to show entered password symbols effectively supports memorization.
Deep Crisp Boundaries

Edge detection had made significant progress with the help of deep Convolutional Networks (ConvNet). ConvNet based edge detectors approached human level performance on standard benchmarks. We provide a systematical study of these detector outputs, and show that they failed to accurately localize edges, which can be adversarial for tasks that require crisp edge inputs. In addition, we propose a novel refinement architecture to address the challenging problem of learning a crisp edge detector using ConvNet. Our method leverages a top-down backward refinement pathway, and progressively increases the resolution of feature maps to generate crisp edges. Our results achieve promising performance on BSDS500, surpassing human accuracy when using standard criteria, and largely outperforming state-of-the-art methods when using more strict criteria. We further demonstrate the benefit of crisp edge maps for estimating optical flow and generating object proposals.
Mechanical Loading of Diaphyseal Bone In Vivo: The Strain Threshold for an Osteogenic Response Varies with Location

Bone tissue responds to elevated mechanical loading with increased bone formation, which is triggered either directly or indirectly by the mechanical strain engendered in the bone tissue. Previous studies have shown that mechanical strain magnitude must surpass a threshold before bone formation is initiated. The objective of this study was to estimate the strain thresholds at three different locations along the ulna of adult rats. We hypothesized that the strain threshold would be greater in regions of the ulna habitually subjected to larger mechanical strains. New bone formation was measured on the periosteal and endocortical surfaces of the ulnar diaphysis in adult female rats exposed to controlled dynamic loading. Axial, compressive loading was applied daily at five different magnitudes for a period of 2 weeks. Bone formation rate (BFR) was measured, using double‐label histomorphometry at the ulnar middiaphysis and at locations 3 mm proximal and 3 mm distal to the middiaphysis. Loading induced lamellar bone formation on the periosteal surface that was greater at the distal ulnar location and lower at the proximal location when compared with the middiaphysis. Likewise, peak strains on the periosteal surface were greatest distally and less proximally. There was a significant dose‐response relationship between peak strain magnitude and periosteal new bone formation when the mechanically induced strain surpassed a threshold. The strain threshold varied from 1343 microstrain (μstrain) proximally to 2284 μstrain at the midshaft to 3074 μstrain distally. Unlike the periosteal response to mechanical loading, there was not a clear dose‐response relationship between applied load and bone formation on the endocortical surface. Endocortical strains were estimated to be <20% of periosteal strains and may not have been sufficient to initiate a bone formation response. Our results show that the osteogenic response on the periosteal surface of the ulna depends on peak strain level once a strain threshold is surpassed. The threshold strain is largest distally, where locomotor bone strains are typically higher and smallest proximally where locomotor bone strains are lower.
What Can Domesticated Genes Tell Us about the Intron Gain in Mammals?

Domesticated genes, originating from retroelements or from DNA-transposons, constitute an ideal system for testing the hypothesis on the absence of intron gain in mammals. Since single-copy domesticated genes originated from the intronless multicopy transposable elements, the ancestral intron state for domesticated genes is zero. A phylogenomic approach has been used to analyse all domesticated genes in mammals and chordates that originated from the coding parts of transposable elements. A significant amount of intron gain was found only in domesticated genes of placental mammals, where more than 70 cases were identified. De novo gained introns show clear positional bias, since they are distributed mainly in 5′ UTR and coding regions, while 3′ UTR introns are very rare. In the coding regions of some domesticated genes up to 8 de novo gained introns have been found. Surprisingly, the majority of intron gains have occurred in the ancestor of placental mammals. Domesticated genes could constitute an excellent system on which to analyse the mechanisms of intron gain. This paper summarizes the current understanding of intron gain in mammals.
Future technology insight: mass spectrometry imaging as a tool in drug research and development

In pharmaceutical research, understanding the biodistribution, accumulation and metabolism of drugs in tissue plays a key role during drug discovery and development. In particular, information regarding pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and transport properties of compounds in tissues is crucial during early screening. Historically, the abundance and distribution of drugs have been assessed by well‐established techniques such as quantitative whole‐body autoradiography (WBA) or tissue homogenization with LC/MS analysis. However, WBA does not distinguish active drug from its metabolites and LC/MS, while highly sensitive, does not report spatial distribution. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) can discriminate drug and its metabolites and endogenous compounds, while simultaneously reporting their distribution. MSI data are influencing drug development and currently used in investigational studies in areas such as compound toxicity. In in vivo studies MSI results may soon be used to support new drug regulatory applications, although clinical trial MSI data will take longer to be validated for incorporation into submissions. We review the current and future applications of MSI, focussing on applications for drug discovery and development, with examples to highlight the impact of this promising technique in early drug screening. Recent sample preparation and analysis methods that enable effective MSI, including quantitative analysis of drugs from tissue sections will be summarized and key aspects of methodological protocols to increase the effectiveness of MSI analysis for previously undetectable targets addressed. These examples highlight how MSI has become a powerful tool in drug research and development and offers great potential in streamlining the drug discovery process.
A role for complement as the major opsonin in the sequestration of erythrocytes from elderly and young donors

Summary. Erythrocytes from elderly donors (> 70 years), but not young donors (18‐35 years), are shown to undergo sequestration in an in vitro erythrophagocytosis assay. Comparable levels of sequestration are observed for high density erythrocytes from young individuals and both low density and high density erythrocytes from elderly individuals. These cells, which are susceptible to phagocytosis with no additional treatment are collectively termed ‘in situ aged’erythrocytes. We present evidence for the involvement of complement in the sequestration of ‘in situ aged’erythrocytes and correlate levels of complement bound to ‘in situ aged’erythrocytes from young and elderly donors with levels of phagocytosis. We also demonstrate that the in vitro sequestration of erythrocytes from elderly donors can be inhibited by β‐galactosyl sugars and arginine‐glycine‐aspartic acid (RGD) but not by mannose nor by Protein‐G, a specific inhibitor of Fc‐γ mediated phagocytosis. These experiments show that IgG is not the major opsonin in the sequestration of red cells from elderly donors. In support of the role of complement rather than IgG as the major opsonin in red cell sequestration, we further demonstrate that C′3 bearing immune complexes block in vitro sequestration of erythrocytes from elderly donors. This competition is not dependent upon the isotype of the immunoglobulin (IgM or IgG) in the complex but rather on the presence of active complement.