Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Asymmetric silicate dust distribution toward the silicate carbon star BM Geminorum

Context. Despite their carbon-rich photospheres, silicate carbon stars show 10 μm silicate emission. They are considered to have circumbinary or circum-companion disks, which serve as a reservoir of oxygen-rich material shed by mass loss in the past. Aims. We present N-band spectro-interferometric observations of the silicate carbon star BM Gem using MIDI at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Our aim is to probe the spatial distribution of oxygen-rich dust at high spatial resolution. Methods. Using the UT2-UT3 and UT3-UT4 configurations, BM Gem was observed with VLTI/MIDI at 44–62 m baselines. Results. The N-band visibilities observed for BM Gem decrease steeply between 8 and ∼10 μm and increase gradually longward of ∼10 μm, reflecting the optically thin silicate emission feature emanating from sub-micron-sized amorphous silicate grains. The differential phases obtained at baselines of ∼44–46 m show significant non-zero values (∼−70 ◦ ) in the central part of the silicate emission feature between ∼9 and 11 μm, revealing a photocenter shift and the asymmetric nature of the silicate emitting region. The observed N-band visibilities and differential phases can be described adequately by a simple geometrical model in which the unresolved star is surrounded by a ring with azimuthal brightness modulation. The best-fit model is characterized by a broad ring (∼70 mas across at 10 μm) with a bright region offset from the unresolved star by ∼20 mas at a position angle of ∼280 ◦ . This model can be interpreted as a system with a circum-companion disk and is consistent with the spectroscopic signatures of an accretion disk around an unseen companion, which were discovered in the violet spectrum of BM Gem.
The Functional Integration in the Sensory-Motor System Predicts Aging in Healthy Older Adults

Healthy aging is typically accompanied by a decrease in the motor capacity. Although the disrupted neural representations and performance of movement have been observed in older age in previous studies, the relationship between the functional integration of sensory-motor (SM) system and aging could be further investigated. In this study, we examine the impact of healthy aging on the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the SM system, and investigate as to how aging is affecting the rsFC in SM network. The SM network was identified and evaluated in 52 healthy older adults and 51 younger adults using two common data analytic approaches: independent component analysis and seed-based functional connectivity (seed at bilateral M1 and S1). We then evaluated whether the altered rsFC of the SM network could delineate trajectories of the age of older adults using a machine learning methodology. Compared with the younger adults, the older demonstrated reduced functional integration with increasing age in the mid-posterior insula of SM network and increased rsFC among the sensorimotor cortex. Moreover, the reduction in the rsFC of mid-posterior insula is associated with the age of older adults. Critically, the analysis based on two-aspect connectivity-based prediction frameworks revealed that the age of older adults could be reliably predicted by this reduced rsFC. These findings further indicated that healthy aging has a marked influence on the SM system that would be associated with a reorganization of SM system with aging. Our findings provide further insight into changes in sensorimotor function in the aging brain.
Developing a computational model to understand the contributions of social learning modes to task coordination in teams

Abstract This paper reports on a computational model developed to study the effects of various modes of social learning on task coordination in teams through the mapping of distributed team competence, a significant aspect of efficient teamwork. The computational model emphasizes and operationalizes distinct modes of social learning, differentiated in terms of socialization opportunities. Simulation results demonstrate that computational models based on fundamental principles of social learning provide a robust approach to study task coordination in teams and can be used to explore ways to organize opportunities for social learning depending upon member retention, team structure, and the complexity of the design task.
Self-administration of drugs in animals and humans as a model and an investigative tool.

AIM To review briefly the methods, assumptions, models, accomplishments, drawbacks and future directions of research using drug self-administration in animals and humans. BACKGROUND The use of drug self-administration to study addiction is based on the assumption that drugs reinforce the behavior that results in their delivery. A wide range of drug self-administration techniques have been developed to model specific aspects of addiction. These techniques are highly amenable to being combined with a wide variety of neuroscience techniques. CONCLUSIONS The identification of drug use as behavior that is reinforced by drugs has contributed greatly to the understanding and treatment of addiction. As part of a program of pre-clinical research that also involves screening with a variety of simpler behavioral techniques, drug self-administration procedures can provide an important last step in testing potential treatments for addiction. There is currently a concerted effort to develop self-administration procedures that model the extreme nature of the behavior engendered by addiction. As advances continue to be made in neuroscience techniques, self-administration should continue to provide a means of applying these techniques within a sophisticated and valid model of human drug addiction.
The Undiagnosed Chronically-Infected HCV Population in France. Implications for Expanded Testing Recommendations in 2014

Background Recent HCV therapeutic advances make effective screening crucial for potential HCV eradication. To identify the target population for a possible population-based screening strategy to complement current risk-based testing in France, we aimed to estimate the number of adults with undiagnosed chronic HCV infection and age and gender distribution at two time points: 2004 and 2014. Methods A model taking into account mortality, HCV incidence and diagnosis rates was applied to the 2004 national seroprevalence survey. Results In 2014, an estimated 74,102 individuals aged 18 to 80 were undiagnosed for chronic HCV infection (plausible interval: 64,920-83,283) compared with 100,868 [95%CI: 58,534-143,202] in 2004. Men aged 18-59 represented approximately half of the undiagnosed population in 2014. The proportion of undiagnosed individuals in 2004 (43%) varied from 21.9% to 74.1% in the 1945-1965 and 1924-1944 birth cohorts. Consequently, age and gender distributions between the chronically-infected (diagnosed and undiagnosed) and undiagnosed HCV populations were different, the 1945-1965 birth cohort representing 48.9% and 24.7%, respectively. Conclusions Many individuals were still undiagnosed in 2014 despite a marked reduction with respect to 2004. The present work contributed to the 2014 recommendation of a new French complementary screening strategy, consisting in one-time simultaneous HCV, HBV and HIV testing in men aged 18-60. Further studies are needed to assess the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of such a strategy. We also demonstrated that data on the undiagnosed HCV population are crucial to help adapt testing strategies, as the features of the chronically-infected HCV population are very distinct.
Individual Differences in Premotor Brain Systems Underlie Behavioral Apathy

Lack of physical engagement, productivity, and initiative—so-called “behavioral apathy”—is a common problem with significant impact, both personal and economic. Here, we investigate whether there might be a biological basis to such lack of motivation using a new effort and reward-based decision-making paradigm, combined with functional and diffusion-weighted imaging. We hypothesized that behavioral apathy in otherwise healthy people might be associated with differences in brain systems underlying either motivation to act (specifically in effort and reward-based decision-making) or in action processing (transformation of an intention into action). The results demonstrate that behavioral apathy is associated with increased effort sensitivity as well as greater recruitment of neural systems involved in action anticipation: supplementary motor area (SMA) and cingulate motor zones. In addition, decreased structural and functional connectivity between anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and SMA were associated with increased behavioral apathy. These findings reveal that effort sensitivity and translation of intentions into actions might make a critical contribution to behavioral apathy. We propose a mechanism whereby inefficient communication between ACC and SMA might lead to increased physiological cost—and greater effort sensitivity—for action initiation in more apathetic people.
Cooperative Integration of Harvesting RF Sections for Passive RFID Communication

This paper proposes a novel cooperative composite energy harvesting system that consists in the association of a traditional passive UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip with an Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting Circuit (EEH-C). The objective is to exploit the i-v nonlinearity of the rectifier by applying a signal with time-varying envelope in order to improve the RF-to-dc conversion efficiency. Thanks to a multisource configuration, i.e., an RFID reader at 0.868 GHz and an external source at 2.45 GHz, the EEH-C is able to rectify the 3rd harmonic product of the RFID chip, in addition to the 2.45 GHz signal, without compromising the RFID communication. Additionally, digitally modulated signals are used at 2.45 GHz to further enhance the harvesting efficiency of the EEH-C. From theory, simulations and measurement it is demonstrated that the exploitation of the three nonlinear effects of rectifying circuits, i.e., (i) impedance power dependency, (ii) harmonic signals production, and (iii) waveform dependency can greatly improve the conversion efficiency of the EEH-C.
Understanding the SES Gradient in Early Child Development: Maternal Work, Home Learning, and Child Care Decisions

This paper examines the impacts of family inputs | i.e., maternal employment, child care and home learning | on the early development of British children. Using rich longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study we estimate cognitive and non-cognitive achievement production functions that allow outcomes to depend on the history of family inputs and unobserved child endowments. We find evidence of small effects on early child outcomes of all the family inputs under consideration. Nonetheless, according to some models, family inputs are found to reduce socioeconomic status inequalities in early child development quite substantially, while according to other models they are found to magnify them. Attempting to equalize child outcomes through early policy interventions that generically affect family inputs may therefore prove difficult.
Working papers in Information Systems RESEARCH ON IS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES : CURRENT LANDSCAPE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

This paper firstly surveys the current landscape of the information systems research literature concerned with developing countries by examining a range of research articles from 2000 onwards. These are discussed in terms of the key challenges addressed by the papers, including articles dealing centrally with the role of technology, and the methodological and theoretical approaches used by the authors. The second part of the paper looks forward in time to discuss prospects for future research. This is based on a conceptual view as to how to study information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries which enables us to classify existing work, identify gaps and suggest future opportunities. The paper aims to contribute to the important debate of how ICTs in general, and information systems research in particular, can make a positive difference in the developing countries. Citation: http://www.ifi. uio.no/forskning/grupper/is/wp/022005.pdf
Estimating Tail Probabilities in Queues via Extremal Statistics

We study the estimation of tail probabilities in a queue via a semi-parametric estimator based on the maximum value of the workload, observed over the sampled time interval. Logarithmic consistency and efficiency issues for such estimators are considered, and their performance is contrasted with the (non-parametric) empirical tail estimator. Our results indicate that in order to “successfully” estimate and extrapolate buffer overflow probabilities in regenerative queues, it is in some sense necessary to first introduce a rough model for the behavior of the tails. In the course of developing these results, we establish new almost sure limit theory, in the context of regenerative processes, for the maximal extreme value and related first passage times.
Statistical colocalization of monocyte gene expression and genetic risk variants for type 1 diabetes

One mechanism by which disease-associated DNA variation can alter disease risk is altering gene expression. However, linkage disequilibrium (LD) between variants, mostly single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), means it is not sufficient to show that a particular variant associates with both disease and expression, as there could be two distinct causal variants in LD. Here, we describe a formal statistical test of colocalization and apply it to type 1 diabetes (T1D)-associated regions identified mostly through genome-wide association studies and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) discovered in a recently determined large monocyte expression data set from the Gutenberg Health Study (1370 individuals), with confirmation sought in an additional data set from the Cardiogenics Transcriptome Study (558 individuals). We excluded 39 out of 60 overlapping eQTLs in 49 T1D regions from possible colocalization and identified 21 coincident eQTLs, representing 21 genes in 14 distinct T1D regions. Our results reflect the importance of monocyte (and their derivatives, macrophage and dendritic cell) gene expression in human T1D and support the candidacy of several genes as causal factors in autoimmune pancreatic beta-cell destruction, including AFF3, CD226, CLECL1, DEXI, FKRP, PRKD2, RNLS, SMARCE1 and SUOX, in addition to the recently described GPR183 (EBI2) gene.
Impact of Changes in Minimum Reflectance on Cloud Discrimination

Greenhouse Gases Observing SATellite-2 (GOSAT-2) will be launched in fiscal year 2018. GOSAT-2 will be equipped with two Earth-observing instruments: the Thermal and Near-infrared Sensor for carbon Observation Fourier Transform Spectrometer 2 (TANSO-FTS-2) and TANSO-Cloud and Aerosol Imager 2 (CAI-2). CAI-2 can be used to perform cloud discrimination in each band. The cloud discrimination algorithm uses minimum reflectance (Rmin) for comparisons with observed top-of-atmosphere reflectance. The creation of cloud-free Rmin requires 10 CAI or CAI-2 data. Thus, Rmin is created from CAI L1B data for a 30-day period in GOSAT, with a revisit time of 3 days. It is necessary to change the way in which 10 observations are chosen for GOSAT-2, which has a revisit time of 6 days. Additionally, Rmin processing for GOSAT CAI data was updated to version 02.00 in December 2016. Along with this change, the resolution of Rmin changed from 1/30° to 500 m. We examined the impact of changes in Rmin on cloud discrimination results using GOSAT CAI data. In particular, we performed comparisons of: (1) Rmin calculated using different methods to choose the 10 observations and (2) Rmin calculated using different generation procedures and spatial resolutions. The results were as follows: (1) The impact of using different methods to choose the 10 observations on cloud discrimination results was small, except for a few cases, e.g., snow-covered regions and sun-glint regions; (2) Cloud discrimination results using Rmin in version 02.00 were better than results obtained using Rmin in the previous version, apart from some special situations. The main causes of this were as follows: (1) The change of used band from band 2 to band 1 for Rmin calculation; (2) The change of spatial resolution of Rmin from 1/30° to 500-m.
Near-Infrared and X-Ray Observations of the Enigmatic G70.7+1.2

We present high-resolution imaging of the puzzling radio and optical nebula G70.7+1.2 with the Keck Observatory's laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS-AO) system and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The archival X-ray observations show a hard (Γ ≈ 1.8), low-luminosity (LX ≈ 4 × 1031 ergs s-1) point source at the center of the nebula. Follow-up LGS-AO near-infrared imaging of the Chandra error circle reveals a relatively bright (K′ ≈ 14 mag) counterpart. Both its color and brightness are consistent with a heavily obscured B star or possibly a late G/early K giant. The most plausible explanation is that this newly discovered X-ray source is a nonaccreting B star/pulsar binary powering the radio and optical nebula. If so, the luminous Be star discussed in the literature seemingly embedded in the nebula is not the dominant force responsible for shaping G70.7+1.2. Thus, we suggest that G70.7+1.2 is the result of two unrelated objects (a B star X-ray binary and a Be star) interacting with a dense molecular cloud. With this explanation we believe we have solved the mystery of the origin of G70.7+1.2.
Citation analysis of dissertations submitted to the Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Citations in master's degree dissertations submitted to the Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria during the period 2000-2007 were analysed for finding possible relationships between citing, cited articles and authors. Frequency and percentage distributions (presented in charts, tables, and graphs) and measures of central tendency were used to analyse data. Findings showed that journals were the most utilized reference materials in the dissertations. Also, poultry nutrition works had the highest number of dissertations followed by agricultural biochemistry and nutrition. The lowest number of dissertations was from forage production and management and monogastric nutrition with just two dissertations each. The findings from this study could serve as a user study with implications for both collection development and user services design in libraries. Future studies could focus on ascertaining the implications of collection of reference materials to project and article referencing, instruction in classes and outreach.
Risk of congenital anomalies associated with antithyroid treatment during pregnancy: a meta-analysis

To evaluate the association of either propylthiouracil or methimazole treatment for hyperthyroidism during pregnancy with congenital malformations, relevant studies were identified by searching Medline, PubMed, the Cochrane Library and EMBASE. We intended to include randomized controlled trials, but no such trials were identified. Thus, we included cohort studies and case-control studies in this meta-analysis. A total of 7 studies were included in the meta-analyses. The results revealed an increased risk of birth defects among the group of pregnant women with hyperthyroidism treated with methimazole compared with the control group (odds ratio 1.76, 95% confidence interval 1.47–2.10) or the non-exposed group (odds ratio 1.71, 95% confidence interval 1.39–2.10). A maternal shift between methimazole and propylthiouracil was associated with an increased odds ratio of birth defects (odds ratio 1.88, 95% confidence interval 1.27–2.77). An equal risk of birth defects was observed between the group of pregnant women with hyperthyroidism treated with propylthiouracil and the non-exposed group (odds ratio 1.18, 95% confidence interval 0.97–1.42). There was only a slight trend towards an increased risk of congenital malformations in infants whose mothers were treated with propylthiouracil compared with in infants whose mothers were healthy controls (odds ratio 1.29, 95% confidence interval 1.07–1.55). The children of women receiving methimazole treatment showed an increased risk of adverse fetal outcomes relative to those of mothers receiving propylthiouracil treatment. We found that propylthiouracil was a safer choice for treating pregnant women with hyperthyroidism according to the risk of birth defects but that a shift between methimazole and propylthiouracil failed to provide protection against birth defects.
Clinical Interventions in Aging Dovepress the Diagnosis of Delirium in an Acute-care Hospital in Moscow: What Does the Pandora's Box Contain?

hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms Background: Delirium, a common problem among hospitalized elderly patients, is not usually diagnosed by doctors for various reasons. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a short training course on the identification of delirium and the diagnostic rate of delirium among hospitalized patients aged 65 years. The secondary aim was to identify the risk factors for delirium. Methods: A prospective study was conducted in an acute-care hospital in Moscow, Russia. Six doctors underwent a short training course on delirium. Data collected included assessment by the confusion assessment method for the intensive care units, sociodemographic data, functional state before hospitalization, comorbidity, and hospitalization indices (indication for hospitalization, stay in intensive care unit, results of laboratory tests, length of hospitalization, and in-hospital mortality). Results: Delirium was diagnosed in 13 of 181 patients (7.2%) who underwent assessment. Cognitive impairment was diagnosed more among patients with delirium (30. The length of hospitalization was longer for patients with delirium at 13.9±7.3 vs 8.8±4.6 days (P=0.0001), and two of the 13 patients with delirium died during hospitalization compared with none of the 168 patients without delirium (P=0.0001). Conclusion: Although the rate of delirium was relatively low compared with studies from the West, this study proves that an educational intervention among doctors can bring about a significant change in the diagnosis of the condition.
Lesbian Police Officers’ Interpersonal Working Relationships and Sexuality Disclosure

This study examines workplace interpersonal relationships and the factors related to sexual identity disclosure using qualitative data from 15 in-depth interviews with lesbian police officers. Findings suggested that (a) factors surrounding job performance were more influential than sexual orientation and the degree of disclosure on interpersonal working relationships, and (b) sexuality disclosure within the police department was a multifaceted and dynamic process. We discuss policy implications and provide directions for future research.