Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of metals in molluscan adhesive gels

SUMMARY Several gastropod molluscs produce glues that are interesting because they are dilute gels and yet they produce strong adhesion. Specific glue proteins have been identified that play a central role in this adhesion, possibly by crosslinking other polymers in the gel. This study investigates the role of metals in the action of these glue proteins. Atomic absorption spectrometry showed that glue from the slug Arion subfuscus contains substantial quantities of zinc (46±7 p.p.m. and 189±80 p.p.m. in two different sets of experiments) and also iron, copper and manganese (2–7 p.p.m.). Iron-specific staining demonstrates that iron is bound specifically to the 15 kDa glue protein. Several approaches were used to show that these metals have important functional effects. Adding iron or copper to dissolved glue causes the proteins to precipitate rapidly, although zinc has no effect. Removing iron and related transition metals with a chelator during secretion of the glue causes a sixfold increase in the solubility of the glue. Once the glue has set, however, removing these metals has no effect. Finally, the gel-stiffening activity of the glue proteins was measured in the presence and absence of the chelator. The chelator eliminated the gel-stiffening effect of the proteins, suggesting that transition metals were necessary for the proteins to act on the gel. Thus, the glue contains transition metals and these metals play an essential role in glue function.
Lyapunov Method Based Online Identification of Nonlinear Systems Using Extreme Learning Machines

Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) is an emerging learning paradigm for nonlinear regression problems and has shown its effectiveness in the machine learning community. An important feature of ELM is that the learning speed is extremely fast thanks to its random projection preprocessing step. This feature is taken advantage of in designing an online parameter estimation algorithm for nonlinear dynamic systems in this paper. The ELM type random projection and a nonlinear transformation in the hidden layer and a linear output layer is considered as a generalized model structure for a given nonlinear system and a parameter update law is constructed based on Lyapunov principles. Simulation results on a DC motor and Lorentz oscillator show that the proposed algorithm is stable and has improved performance over the online-learning ELM algorithm.
A Kinematic Model for Human Motion and Gait Analysis

This work introduces a new model-based approach towards the 3-D tracking of human motion. We suggest a parametric body model, with both coarse and fine resolution levels, characterized by hard and soft kinematic constraints. The hard constraints place physical limitations on possible model configurations while the soft constraints take the form of a priori, stochastic distributions learned from previous examples of human body configurations. This prior knowledge is used to define a natural acceleration of body parameters towards their expected values. Coupled with the hierarchical structural model, these kinematic constraints yield tracking that is robust to complex motion and occlusions. We demonstrate the utility of the proposed model on video sequences of human motion captured in a home environment.
Discrete Optimization An efficient genetic algorithm for the traveling salesman problem with precedence constraints

The traveling salesman problem with precedence constraints (TSPPC) is one of the most difficult combinatorial optimization problems. In this paper, an efficient genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the TSPPC is presented. The key concept of the proposed GA is a topological sort (TS), which is defined as an ordering of vertices in a directed graph. Also, a new crossover operation is developed for the proposed GA. The results of numerical experiments show that the proposed GA produces an optimal solution and shows superior performance compared to the traditional algorithms. 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Literal and Metaphorical Sense Identification through Concrete and Abstract Context

Metaphor is ubiquitous in text, even in highly technical text. Correct inference about textual entailment requires computers to distinguish the literal and metaphorical senses of a word. Past work has treated this problem as a classical word sense disambiguation task. In this paper, we take a new approach, based on research in cognitive linguistics that views metaphor as a method for transferring knowledge from a familiar, well-understood, or concrete domain to an unfamiliar, less understood, or more abstract domain. This view leads to the hypothesis that metaphorical word usage is correlated with the degree of abstractness of the word's context. We introduce an algorithm that uses this hypothesis to classify a word sense in a given context as either literal (denotative) or metaphorical (connotative). We evaluate this algorithm with a set of adjective-noun phrases (e.g., in dark comedy, the adjective dark is used metaphorically; in dark hair, it is used literally) and with the TroFi (Trope Finder) Example Base of literal and nonliteral usage for fifty verbs. We achieve state-of-the-art performance on both datasets.
OpenFlow transparent custom action extension by using Packet-In and click packet processing

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging technology that controls network by using software. OpenFlow switches have predefined actions to be executed by the controller, but if any undefined actions need to be executed on given packets, they are transferred to the controller by the exception mechanism called Packet-In and processed there. When we execute undefined custom actions with Packet-In on the controller, there are three problems. (1) concentration of Packet-In messages, (2) latency of Packet-In message transfer and (3) incompatibility among controller frameworks. In this paper, we propose OpenFlow Click Action Extension (OFCAE), which provides sharing custom actions among various controller frameworks with low latency while keeping the compatibility with the OpenFlow architecture. We introduce Packet-In Proxy, which implements local Packet-In processing within the switch to alleviate the concentration of Packet-In messages. Furthermore, we propose Packet-In Of-floader to perform custom packet processing for Packet-In Proxy. We implement and evaluate the prototype of our proposed system and show a case of custom actions.
The Border Sequence of the Balhimycin Biosynthesis Gene Cluster from Amycolatopsis balhimycina Contains bbr, Encoding a StrR-Like Pathway-Specific Regulator

Balhimycin, produced by the actinomycete Amycolatopsis balhimycina DSM5908, is a glycopeptide antibiotic highly similar to vancomycin, the antibiotic of ‘last resort’ used for the treatment of resistant Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria. Partial sequence of the balhimycin biosynthesis gene cluster was previously reported. In this work, cosmids which overlap the region of the characterized gene cluster were isolated and sequenced. At the ‘left’ end of the cluster, genes were identified which are involved in balhimycin biosynthesis, transport, resistance and regulation. The ‘right’ end border is defined by a putative 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (dahp) gene. The proximate gene is similar to a type I polyketide synthase gene of the rifamycin producer Amycolatopsis mediterranei indicating that another biosynthesis gene cluster might be located directly next to the balhimycin gene cluster. The newly identified StrR-like pathway-specific regulator, Bbr, was characterized to be a DNA-binding protein and may have a role in balhimycin biosynthesis. Purified N-terminally His-tagged Bbr shows specific DNA-binding to five promoter regions within the gene cluster. By in silico analysis and by comparison of the DNA sequences binding Bbr, conserved inverted repeat sequences for the Bbr-binding site are proposed. The putative Bbr consensus sequence differs from that published for StrR.
No 1011 August 2010 Do Higher Wages Come at a Price ?

Using linked employer-employee data for Britain we find job satisfaction and job anxiety are negatively correlated but higher wages are associated with higher job satisfaction and higher job anxiety. However, we observe a positive association between higher wages and non-pecuniary job satisfaction, which disappears with the inclusion of our effort measures. Thus high effort levels provide high levels of non-pecuniary job satisfaction and higher wages, in contrast to what compensating wage differentials predicts. On the other hand, the positive association between wages and pay satisfaction and the positive association between wages and job anxiety are both robust to the inclusion of our effort measures and rich job controls. Mean wages of co-workers are positively associated with pay satisfaction but there is no significant association with non-pecuniary job satisfaction or job anxiety. Thus there is a positive spill-over to workers from being in a high-wage workplace and there is no support for the proposition that within-workplace wage differentials are a source of job anxiety. Key-words: worker wellbeing; job stress; job anxiety; job satisfaction; wages; compensating differentials JEL-codes: J28; J31; J81 This paper was produced as part of the Centre’s Labour Markets Programme. The Centre for Economic Performance is financed by the Economic and Social Research Council. Acknowledgements We thank the Norwegian Research Council for funding (grant no. 173591/S20). This work is part of the research activity of ESOP, at the University of Oslo, which is financed by the Norwegian Research Council. We thank Jim Davis, Andrew Oswald and participants at the CEP Labour Workshop, the NIESR seminar and WPEG 2010 Conference in Bristol for their helpful suggestions. Alex Bryson also thanks the Finnish Work Environment Fund for funding (grant no.108294) and the sponsors of the Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004 (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Acas, ESRC and PSI) and the UK Data Archive for access to the WERS data. Alex Bryson is a Visiting Research Fellow with the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. Erling Barth is Research Director, Institute for Social Research, Oslo and Professor (adjunct), Department of Economics, University of Oslo. Harald Dale-Olsen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Research. Published by Centre for Economic Performance London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher nor be issued to the public or circulated in any form other than that in which it is published. Requests for permission to reproduce any article or part of the Working Paper should be sent to the editor at the above address. © A. Bryson, E. Barth and H. Dale-Olsen, submitted 2010
Optimising the Email Knowledge Extraction System to Support Knowledge Work

Although employees’ expertise has for some time been seen as a vital knowledge asset in organisations, it is only lately that it started to attract researchers’ attention. As a result, interest in automated systems that aim at enhancing the visibility and traceability of employees with particular expertise is growing. This research focuses on one critical everyday organisational business tool email, as an information source to help locate employees with particular expertise within the organisation. This paper presents the process for keyphrase extraction from email messages. The process uses machine learning to tag new text by its part of speech, then extracts keyphrases purely based on part-of-speech (POS) tags that surround these phrases. The system has been evaluated using three datasets. Results show that the use of the linguistic tool, WordNet, improves to some extent the precision, recall, and f-measure metrics. The goal of this work is to advance our understanding of what may (or may not) be effective in extracting information from email to help identify experts.
Gambling with Liberalization: Smallholder Livelihoods in Contemporary Rural Malawi

This paper examines the livelihoods of smallholder households in Malawi based on information derived from six villages in various parts of the country. Through detailed analysis of own-farm production and off-farm economic activities, the study explores similarities, diversities, and disparities in rural livelihoods. Liberalization policies and the high risk of crop failure have produced large disparities between those who achieve high income from own-farm production and those who do not. Off-farm income can help to reduce the risk of own-farm production, but is also a source of income disparity and provides little opportunity for upward economic mobility to escape poverty.
Why do Firms Repurchase Stock

A BSTRACT . The tremendous increase in share repurchases warrants an explanation. Why have firms increasingly turned to repurchases as a payout method? Undervaluation is commonly touted as the underlying reason behind repurchase decisions. This paper identifies several possible rationales behind repurchase decisions, in addition to undervaluation, by examining the relative advantages of share repurchases over dividends and the managerial incentives associated with share repurchases. The findings indicate managerial incentives are a key factor behind the decision to repurchase stock.
General relativistic spectra of accretion discs around rapidly rotating neutron stars: effect of light bending

We present computed spectra, as seen by a distant observer, from the accretion disc around a rapidly rotating neutron star. Our calculations are carried out in a fully general relativistic framework, with an exact treatment of rotation. We take into account the Doppler shift, gravitational redshift and light-bending effects in order to compute the observed spectrum. We find that light bending significantly modifies the high-energy part of the spectrum. Computed spectra for slowly rotating neutron stars are also presented. These results would be important for modelling the observed X-ray spectra of low-mass X-ray binaries containing fast-spinning neutron stars.
Classification of osteoarthritis phenotypes by metabolomics analysis

Objectives To identify metabolic markers that can classify patients with osteoarthritis (OA) into subgroups. Design A case-only study design was utilised. Participants Patients were recruited from those who underwent total knee or hip replacement surgery due to primary OA between November 2011 and December 2013 in St. Clare's Mercy Hospital and Health Science Centre General Hospital in St. John's, capital of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada. 38 men and 42 women were included in the study. The mean age was 65.2±8.7 years. Outcome measures Synovial fluid samples were collected at the time of their joint surgeries. Metabolic profiling was performed on the synovial fluid samples by the targeted metabolomics approach, and various analytic methods were utilised to identify metabolic markers for classifying subgroups of patients with OA. Potential confounders such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and comorbidities were considered in the analysis. Results Two distinct patient groups, A and B, were clearly identified in the 80 patients with OA. Patients in group A had a significantly higher concentration on 37 of 39 acylcarnitines, but the free carnitine was significantly lower in their synovial fluids than in those of patients in group B. The latter group was further subdivided into two subgroups, that is, B1 and B2. The corresponding metabolites that contributed to the grouping were 86 metabolites including 75 glycerophospholipids (6 lysophosphatidylcholines, 69 phosphatidylcholines), 9 sphingolipids, 1 biogenic amine and 1 acylcarnitine. The grouping was not associated with any known confounders including age, sex, BMI and comorbidities. The possible biological processes involved in these clusters are carnitine, lipid and collagen metabolism, respectively. Conclusions The study demonstrated that OA consists of metabolically distinct subgroups. Identification of these distinct subgroups will help to unravel the pathogenesis and develop targeted therapies for OA.
Paternal care and male mate–attraction effort in the European starling is adjusted to clutch size

In facultative polygynous birds with biparental care, a trade–off may occur between male parental care and attraction of additional mates. If there is a cost associated with reduced male parental care, the relative benefit of mate attraction may be predicted to decrease as the size of a male's clutch or brood increases. We tested this prediction in monogamous pairs of facultatively polygynous European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). The larger the clutch, the more time the male spent incubating and the less time he spent attracting an additional female (i.e. singing near and carrying green nesting material into adjacent empty nest–boxes). Reduced paternal incubation resulted in lower overall incubation (the female did not compensate) and lower hatching success. Immediately after experimental reduction of clutches, males spent significantly less time incubating and more time singing and carrying greenery, and vice versa for experimentally enlarged clutches. Males with experimentally reduced clutches attracted a second female more often than males with experimentally enlarged clutches. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to provide experimental evidence for an adjustment of paternal care and male mate–attraction effort to clutch size. However, a trade–off between paternal nestling provisioning and mate attraction was not revealed, probably due to the absence of unpaired females by that time in the breeding season. Experiments showed that the relative contribution of the male and female to nestling provisioning was unrelated to brood size.
Strong Limits on the DFSZ Axion Mass with G117-B15A

We compute rates of period change (Ṗ) for the 215 s mode in G117-B15A and the 213 s mode in R548, first for models without axions, and then for models with axions of increasing mass. We use the asteroseismological models for G117-B15A and R548 we derived in an earlier publication. For G117-B15A, we consider two families of solutions, one with relatively thick hydrogen layers and one with thin hydrogen layers. Given the region of parameter space occupied by our models, we estimate error bars on the calculated Ṗ values using Monte Carlo simulations. Together with the observed Ṗ for G117-B15A, our analysis yields strong limits on the DFSZ axion mass. Our thin hydrogen solutions place an upper limit of 13.5 meV on the axion, while our thick hydrogen solutions relaxes that limit to 26.5 meV.
Specialist leaders of education and leadership development: an evaluative case study

This research constitutes an evaluative case study of Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs) deployed through one Teaching School Alliance (TSA) in the English West Midlands and their contribution to leadership development. While the Government purports that enactment of and engagement with the role will develop leadership capacity, the study explores SLE, recipient and head teacher perceptions across eleven primary schools as to whether this broad aim has been achieved and seeks to inform the research agenda at a time when a leadership recruitment shortage is anticipated. The study considers how leadership learning is both conceptualised and facilitated across deployments and whether or not 'professional growth' occurred. A new conceptualisation of professional growth is offered that synthesizes key tenets from the literature and themes emerging from the findings. This includes the notion of a transformed view aligned with greater 'role conceptualisation', socialisation experiences and a sense of belonging fostering a coherent 'leadership identity' and self belief leading to increased 'personal capacity'. Outcomes of the study suggest that professional growth in these aspects did occur for SLEs and their recipients through engagement with the SLE programme where successful matches were made. Modifications in order to best achieve the desired outcomes are also recommended.
Systems with finite communication bandwidth constraints. I. State estimation problems

In this paper, we investigate a state estimation problem involving finite communication capacity constraints. Unlike classical estimation problems where the observation is a continuous process corrupted by additive noises, there is a constraint that the observations must be coded and transmitted over a digital communication channel with finite capacity. This problem is formulated mathematically, and some convergence properties are defined. Moreover, the concept of a finitely recursive coder-estimator sequence is introduced. A new upper bound for the average estimation error is derived for a large class of random variables. Convergence properties of some coder-estimator algorithms are analyzed. Various conditions connecting the communication data rate with the rate of change of the underlying dynamics are established for the existence of stable and asymptotically convergent coder-estimator schemes.
Domestic Marijuana: A Neglected Industry

A Neglected Industry A Brief History of Marijuana Marijuana and the Law The Rise of the Domestic Marijuana Industry Marijuana Botany and Cultivation The Research Setting Who Grows and Why Issues Related to Growing A Law-Enforcement Perspective Policy Implications Appendix A: Research Design and Plan Appendix B: Federal Marijuana Laws Bibliography Index
Oscillation of solutions of non-linear neutral delay differential equations of higher order for $p(t)=\pm 1$

In this paper, the oscillation criteria for solutions of the neutral delay dieren tial equation (NDDE) (y(t) p(t) y(t )) (n) + Q(t) G (y(t )) = f(t) has been studied where p(t) = 1 or p(t) 0, = 1, Q 2 C (0;1); R+ , f 2 C((0;1); R), G 2 C(R; R). This work improves and generalizes some recent results and answer some questions that are raised in (1).
Growth on Alpha-Ketoglutarate Increases Oxidative Stress Resistance in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) is an important intermediate in cell metabolism, linking anabolic and catabolic processes. The effect of exogenous AKG on stress resistance in S. cerevisiae cells was studied. The growth on AKG increased resistance of yeast cells to stresses, but the effects depended on AKG concentration and type of stressor. Wild-type yeast cells grown on AKG were more resistant to hydrogen peroxide, menadione, and transition metal ions (Fe2+ and Cu2+) but not to ethanol and heat stress as compared with control ones. Deficiency in SODs or catalases abolished stress-protective effects of AKG. AKG-supplemented growth led to higher values of total metabolic activity, level of low-molecular mass thiols, and activities of catalase and glutathione reductase in wild-type cells compared with the control. The results suggest that exogenous AKG may enhance cell metabolism leading to induction of mild oxidative stress. It turn, it results in activation of antioxidant system that increases resistance of S. cerevisiae cells to H2O2 and other stresses. The presence of genes encoding SODs or catalases is required for the expression of protective effects of AKG.