Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic study of X-ray substructure of galaxy clusters detected in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey ?

Results of a systematic study of substructure in X-ray surface brightness distributions of a combined sample of 470 REFLEX+BCS clusters of galaxies are presented. The fully automated morphology analysis is based on data of the 3rd processing of the ROSAT All-Sky survey (RASS-3). After correction for several systematic effects, $52\pm 7$ percent of the REFLEX+BCS clusters are found to be substructured in metric apertures of 1 Mpc radius ($H_0= 50 {\rm km} {\rm s}^{-1} {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$). Future simulations will show statistically which mass spectrum of major and minor mergers contributes to this number. Another important result is the discovery of a substructure-density relation, analogous to the morphology-density relation for galaxies. Here, clusters with asymmetric or multi-modal X-ray surface brightness distributions are located preferentially in regions with higher cluster number densities. The substructure analysis techniques are used to compare the X-ray morphology of 53 clusters with radio halos and relics, and 22 cooling flow clusters with the REFLEX+BCS reference sample. After careful equalization of the different "sensitivities" of the subsamples to substructure detection it is found that the halo and relic sample tends to show more often multi-modal and elongated X-ray surface brightness distributions compared to the REFLEX+BCS reference sample. The cooling flow clusters show more often circular symmetric and unimodal distributions compared to the REFLEX+BCS and the halo/relic reference samples. Both findings further support the idea that radio halos and relics are triggered by merger events, and that pre-existing cooling flows might be disrupted by recent major mergers.
Risk management strategies and labour productivity in rural Africa

It is largely acknowledged that the lack of insurance causes inefficiency in production choices. In rural Africa, people try to deal with this lack of insurance by implementing various strategies. Traditional risk management strategies include actions such as diversifying their incomegenerating activities (through changing labour allocation or varying cropping practices), accumulating assets, sharing risk between households, and saving and borrowing when they can. These multifaceted strategies are subject to serious technological, environmental and economic constraints that limit their effectiveness. Furthermore, they have long run effects on productivity. Beyond the loss of specialization gain and the inefficient use of inputs, risk management strategies have long-term effects on productivity by weakening the health of the farmers. Poor health affects well being and productivity of individuals and households. Using data from Kagera region in Tanzania from 1991-1994, I found that health expenditure (costs of hospitalization, outpatient costs, drugs and transportation) have a negative impact on the variation of the Body Mass Index (BMI). This means people go to hospital when the illness gets worse and the cost of preventive care is prohibitive for them. As BMI is largely associated with agricultural productivity and wages, a formal health insurance would be the first best solution.
Dollhouse VR: a multi-view, multi-user collaborative design workspace with VR technology

This research addresses architecture-scale problem-solving involving the design of living or working spaces, such as architecture and floor plans. Such design systems require two different viewpoints: a small-scale internal view, i.e., a first-person view of the space to see local details as an occupant of the space, and a large-scale external view, i.e., a top-down view of the entire space to make global decisions when designing the space. Architects or designers need to switch between these two viewpoints to make various decisions, but this can be inefficient and time-consuming. We present a system to address the problem, which facilitates asymmetric collaboration between users requiring these different viewpoints. One group of users comprises the designers of the space, who observe and manipulate the space from a top-down view using a large tabletop interface. The other group of users represents occupants of the space, who observe and manipulate the space based on internal views using head-mounted displays (HMDs). The system also supports a set of interaction techniques to facilitate communication between these two user groups. Our system can be used for the design of various spaces, such as offices, restaurants, operating rooms, parks, and kindergartens.
Long-Term Potentiation in an Avian Basal Ganglia Nucleus Essential for Vocal Learning

Vocal learning in songbirds provides an excellent model for sensorimotor learning in vertebrates, with an accessible, well-defined behavior and discrete neural substrate. The rich behavioral plasticity exhibited by songbirds, however, contrasts starkly with the scarcity of candidate cellular mechanisms. Here, we report for the first time on an activity-dependent form of synaptic plasticity in area X, a component of the song system required for song learning and song maintenance. In slice preparations of zebra finch area X, pairing of high-frequency presynaptic stimulation with postsynaptic depolarization induces Hebbian long-term potentiation (LTP) of the glutamatergic inputs to spiny neurons. This form of LTP requires activation of NMDA receptors and D1-like dopamine receptors. In addition, LTP is observed in birds as young as 47 d after hatching and also in adult birds but not in younger birds, providing evidence of developmental regulation of the onset of synaptic plasticity. These properties make this form of LTP the best known candidate mechanism for reinforcement-based vocal learning in juveniles and song maintenance in adult birds.
Glycemic index, glycemic load and cancer risk.

BACKGROUND Dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) have been related to the risk of selected cancers, but the issue remains open. PATIENTS AND METHODS Mailed questionnaires were completed between 1994 and 1997 in eight Canadian provinces for incident, histologically confirmed cases of the stomach (n=1182), colon (n=1727), rectum (n=1447), liver (n=309), pancreas (n=628), lung (n=3341), breast (n=2362), ovary (n=442), prostate (n=1799), testis (n=686), kidney (n=1345), bladder (n=1029), brain (n=1009), non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL, n=1666), leukemias (n=1069), multiple myelomas (n=343), and 5039 population controls. Dietary information on eating habits 2 years before participants' enrollment in the study was obtained using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were derived by unconditional logistic regression including recognized confounding factors. RESULTS Dietary GI was positively associated with the risk of prostate cancer (OR, 1.26 for the highest versus the lowest quartile). A higher dietary GL significantly increased the risk of colorectal (OR, 1.28), rectal (OR, 1.44) and pancreatic (OR, 1.41) cancers. No other significant associations were found. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that a diet high in GI and GL is associated with increased risk of selected cancers.
Sooner or later: the influence of public opinion and religiosity on the enactment of laws recognizing same-sex unions

ABSTRACT Starting in the 1990s, almost all Western democracies recognized same-sex partnerships within just over two decades. This study examines which factors accelerated or decelerated these legal changes. It focuses on the effects of several facets of culture: attitudes towards homosexuality in general; attitudes towards gays and lesbians as people; and religiosity. An event history analysis of 19 Western countries shows that the less tolerant people are of gays and lesbians and the greater a country’s percentage of regular attendees of religious services, the longer the time until a same-sex union law is introduced. The results provide new insights into policy effects of culture and point out the importance of distinguishing between the various elements of public opinion.
Novel β-Secretase Cleavage of β-Amyloid Precursor Protein in the Endoplasmic Reticulum/Intermediate Compartment of NT2N Cells

Previous studies have demonstrated that NT2N neurons derived from a human embryonal carcinoma cell line (NT2) constitutively process the endogenous wild-type β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) to amyloid β peptide in an intracellular compartment. These studies indicate that other proteolytic fragments generated by intracellular processing must also be present in these cells. Here we show that the NH2-terminal fragment of APP generated by β-secretase cleavage (APPβ) is indeed produced from the endogenous full length APP (APPFL). Pulse–chase studies demonstrated a precursor–product relationship between APPFL and APPβ as well as intracellular and secreted APPβ fragments. In addition, trypsin digestion of intact NT2N cells at 4°C did not abolish APPβ recovered from the cell lysates. Furthermore, the production of intracellular APPβ from wild-type APP appears to be a unique characteristic of postmitotic neurons, since intracellular APPβ was not detected in several non-neuronal cell lines. Significantly, production of APPβ occurred even when APP was retained in the ER/ intermediate compartment by inhibition with brefeldin A, incubation at 15°C, or by expression of exogenous APP bearing the dilysine ER retrieval motif.
Randomised trial of nasal surgery for fixed nasal obstruction in obstructive sleep apnoea

Although nasal surgery has limited efficacy in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) treatment, some patients experience improvement. The present study tested the hypothesis that post-surgery improvement is associated with increased nasal breathing epochs. A total of 49 OSA patients (mean apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) 30.1±16.3 events·h−1) with symptomatic fixed nasal obstruction due to deviated septum were randomly assigned to either septoplasty (surgery group; 27 patients) or sham surgery (placebo group; 22 patients). The breathing route was examined during overnight polysomnography. All patients in the placebo group were nonresponders, whereas in the surgery group four (14.8%) patients were responders and exhibited considerable increase in nasal breathing epochs (epochs containing more than three consecutive phasic nasal signals), and 23 patients were nonresponders, presenting a modest increase in nasal breathing epochs. The change in AHI was inversely related to the change in nasal breathing epochs, with responders exhibiting among the greatest increases in nasal breathing epochs. Baseline nasal breathing epochs were positively related to per cent change in AHI. Responders had among the lowest baseline nasal breathing epochs; a cut-off value of 62.4% of total sleep epochs best separated (100% sensitivity, 82.6% specificity) responders/nonresponders. In conclusion, nasal surgery rarely treats obstructive sleep apnoea effectively. Baseline nasal breathing epochs can predict the surgery outcome.
Female contributions to the peaceful nature of bonobo society

Although chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) are closely related, females of the two species show surprisingly large differences in many behavioral aspects. While female chimpanzees tend to range alone or in small parties during non‐estrous periods, female bonobos aggregate even more often than do males. Female chimpanzees do not have frequent social interactions with other females, whereas female bonobos maintain close social associations with one another. Although the ranging patterns of chimpanzee parties are generally led by males, female bonobos often take the initiative in ranging behavior. While female chimpanzees usually do not exhibit estrus during postpartum amenorrhea or pregnancy, female bonobos exhibit a prolonged pseudo‐estrus during such non‐conceptive periods. Studies of these two species have also shown great differences in agonistic behaviors performed by males. Male chimpanzees frequently fight with other males to compete for estrous females, but male bonobos seldom do so. While there are many records of infanticide by male chimpanzees, there is no confirmed record of such an event among bonobos. Several cases of within‐group killing among adult male chimpanzees have been reported, but there is no such record for bonobos. While intergroup conflicts among chimpanzees sometimes involve killing members of the other group, intergroup conflicts among bonobos are considerably more moderate. In some cases, bonobos from two different groups may even range together for several days while engaging in various peaceful interactions. I will address two important questions that arise from these comparisons, exploring why females of such closely related species show such clear differences in behavior and whether or not the behavioral characteristics of female bonobos contribute to the peaceful nature of bonobo society.
Item Difficulty and Discrimination Indices of Multiple Choice Biology Tests

This study empirically analyzed the item difficulty and discrimination indices of Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) multiple choice biology tests used by West African Examinations Council and National Examinations Council (NECO) in Nigeria. The researcher employed survey research design for the study. The sample for the study consisted of 1450 Senior Secondary Three students drawn from 20 randomly selected secondary schools. The instruments used for the study were 2008 the NECO and WAEC multiple choice Biology test papers. Item by item analysis was used for obtaining difficulty and discrimination indices. The classical test theory methods involving frequency count and percentages were used for obtaining the difficulty index and discrimination power. Findings from the study showed that 2008 SSCE Biology multiple choice test had mean difficulty index of 0.42 and slightly higher than NECO Biology multiple choice test with, mean difficulty index of 0.40 and 2008 SSCE in Biology had a discriminating power of 0.43 and higher than NECO with a mean discriminating power of 0.39. It was recommended that four option items in multiple-choice Biology tests should be encouraged but if five options items should be used more attention should be given to psychometric properties of tests. Keywords: Difficulty Indices, Discrimination Indices, Multiple Choice Biology Tests.
Probabilistic inductive inference

Inductive inference machines construct programs for total recursive functions given only example values of the functions. <italic>Probabilistic</italic> inductive inference machines are defined, and for various criteria of successful inference, it is asked whether a probabilistic inductive inference machine can infer larger classes of functions if the inference criterion is relaxed to allow inference with probability at least <italic>p</italic>, (0 < <italic>p</italic> < 1) as opposed to requiring certainty. For the most basic criteria of success (<italic>EX</italic> and <italic>BC</italic>), it is shown that any class of functions that can be inferred from examples with probability exceeding 1/2 can be inferred deterministically, and that for probabilities <italic>p</italic> ≤ 1/2 there is a discrete hierarchy of inferability parameterized by <italic>p</italic>. The power of probabilistic inference strategies is characterized by equating the classes of probabilistically inferable functions with those classes that can be inferred by <italic>teams</italic> of inductive inference machines (a parallel model of inference), or by a third model called <italic>frequency</italic> inference.
Sustained Aftereffect of α-tACS Lasts Up to 70 min after Stimulation

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has been repeatedly demonstrated to increase power of endogenous brain oscillations in the range of the stimulated frequency after stimulation. In the alpha band this aftereffect has been shown to persist for at least 30 min. However, in most experiments the aftereffect exceeded the duration of the measurement. Thus, it remains unclear how the effect develops beyond these 30 min and when it decays. The current study aimed to extend existing findings by monitoring the physiological aftereffect of tACS in the alpha range for an extended period of 90 min post-stimulation. To this end participants received either 20 min of tACS or sham stimulation with intensities below their individual sensation threshold at the individual alpha frequency (IAF). Electroencephalogram (EEG) was acquired during 3 min before and 90 min after stimulation. Subjects performed a visual vigilance task during the whole measurement. While the enhanced power in the individual alpha band did not return back to pre-stimulation baseline in the stimulation group, the difference between stimulation and sham diminishes after 70 min due to a natural alpha increase of the sham group.
A journey through neural space: Neuronal population correlates of visual processing and perception

Single neurons can often show strong correlations with an animal’s behavioral output, but it is currently unclear what role population-level interactions play in visual processing and perception. To address these questions, I performed several two-photon calcium imaging experiments in layers 2/3 of mouse primary visual cortex (V1). In Chapter two, I present evidence that signals related to the sensory input may be anatomically differentiated from fluctuations in population activity, and highlight the importance of correlations for the information content of neural codes. Chapters three and four describe the results from an experiment in which mice were trained to perform a visual detection task, while the concurrent activity of ~100 neurons was recorded. Two main conclusions could be drawn from these data: 1) rather than the hitherto assumed importance of mean neuronal activity, it appeared more pivotal for the behavioral detection of visual stimuli that neurons in V1 responded heterogeneously; and 2) specific sequential patterns in neuronal activity were consistently correlated with stimulus detection. This suggests that temporal properties of neuronal activity may play a larger role in sensory processing than is often thought. Finally, chapter five describes how multidimensional population codes may present a more parsimonious explanation for many experimentally observed phenomena in neuronal activation patterns. From a multidimensional perspective, neural codes are more temporally stable, more information efficient, and more robust to trial-by-trial fluctuations in activity. Conceptually integrating these results in chapter 6, I conclude that some seemingly disparate experimental observations may be reconciled by adopting a population-level perspective.
One-Operator, Two-Machine Open Shop And Flow Shop Scheduling With Setup Times For Machines And Maximum Lateness Objective

Abstract This paper considers a scheduling problem in which a single operator completes a set of n jobs requiring operations on two machines. The operator can perform only one operation at a time, so when one machine is in use the other is idle. After developing general properties of optimal schedules, the paper develops efficient algorithms for minimizing maximum lateness. The algorithm has time complexity O(n) (after due date sorting) for both the open shop and How shop cases.
Functional Analysis of Insertion Sequence ISAba1, Responsible for Genomic Plasticity of Acinetobacter baumannii

ABSTRACT ISAba1 is an insertion sequence that is widely distributed in Acinetobacter baumannii. We demonstrated here that ISAba1 and the composite transposon Tn2006 are capable of transposition, generating 9-bp target site duplications. The expression of the ISAba1 transposase-encoding gene was downregulated by translational frameshifting.
Robot as a Facilitator in Language Conversation Class

With concern of robotics application in educational field, robot assisted language learning (RALL) has become of interest to second language learning researchers. This study aims to examine the effect of RALL compared to existing computer assisted language learning (CALL) on students' affective states and engagement towards English conversation class. For the field study, non-equivalent-groups quasi-experiment was employed with 66 Korean middle school students between CALL class and RALL class. The result revealed that there was marginally significant difference in the motivation; there was significant difference both in the participation and in the satisfaction between implementing robot and using computer in English conversation class. This result corresponds both with previous theoretical studies in SLA and with empirical studies in HRI. This study suggests that robot acts as a facilitator in language conversation class.
Seasonal variations in general activity, behaviour and cutaneous glandular structures in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.)

The locomotor activity of the reindeer is separated into a diurnal and a nocturnal phase which, in turn, consists of a number of short-term activity bursts. The onset and termination of diurnal and nocturnal activity are largely in synchrony with sunrise and sunset. Since the diurnal phase is longer, total activity is dependent on the photoperiod. Total activity as well as the number of activity bursts is greater in June with continuous daylight than in December with 6 hours daylight. In winter, reindeer spent less time feeding but more time ruminating and resting *than in summer. Synchronization between individuals was also greatest in winter. It is concluded that the described changes in the activity pattern are due to an endogenous component and that this component further controls food consumption and energy balance of the reindeer. Seasonal variations in behavioural patterns are described. Several specific rutting behaviours, sexual and agonostic, emerge in the male during the prerut and persist until after the rut. The preorbital gland is enlarged and secretory activity is evident. The rut is cha'tabterized by the sudden appearance of an odour in the breath of mature males followed a few later by a strong odour in the urine. These odours persist for a short time during the most intense period of rut. The amount of androgen rizes sharply and reaches peak concentrations in late September - early October, decreasing thereafter. The described behavioural cues occur with a certain constancy in time in concecutive seasons. A quantification of the amounts of secretory epithelia in preorbital, interdigital, caudal and tarsal glands reveals that only the preorbital gland is subjected to any seasonal and sexual variation. The apocrine epithelium in this gland is most developed in mature males during the rutting season and seems to be dependent upon the presence of an elevated androgen concentration. The tarsal gland is the least developed gland while the interdigital and caudal glands are more welldeveloped and structurally complex. Scattered apocrine glands are only developed on the legs, the ventral body, oral angle and in the rump patch.
Key Frame Extraction from Motion Capture Data by Curve Saliency

We propose a new method for extracting key frames from a motion capture sequence. Our proposed approach consists of two steps. In the first step, we propose a new metric, curve saliency, for motion curves that specifies the important frames of the motion. In the second step, we detect the final key frames by clustering the computed important frames. As a result of our experimental results, on the average, by using only 3.7% of all frames as key frames, we can represent the captured motion sequence