Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Station Waka-Waka: The Temporalities and Temptations of (Not) Working in Ghanaian Bus Stations

Abstract:We here explore the temporalities and temptations of working in—yet at times beyond—bus stations in Ghana by focusing on the practices and strategies of two kinds of mobile entrepreneurs: bus drivers and hawkers. Expanding on the emic categories of drivers' "overlapping" and hawkers' "waka-waka," both of which equate shrewd entrepreneurship with effort, movement, tactic, and timing, we show how drivers and hawkers accommodate the vicissitudes of "slow/fast business" by alternating between working inside the station and moving beyond it. Their mobile engagements with the temporalities of bus stations, we suggest, allow us to grasp stations as part of a more complex infrastructure in which stations and road/sides become linked with each other through different actors' practices and movements.
Does Plant Species Richness Guarantee the Resilience of Local Medical Systems? A Perspective from Utilitarian Redundancy

Resilience is related to the ability of a system to adjust to disturbances. The Utilitarian Redundancy Model has emerged as a tool for investigating the resilience of local medical systems. The model determines the use of species richness for the same therapeutic function as a facilitator of the maintenance of these systems. However, predictions generated from this model have not yet been tested, and a lack of variables exists for deeper analyses of resilience. This study aims to address gaps in the Utilitarian Redundancy Model and to investigate the resilience of two medical systems in the Brazilian semi-arid zone. As a local illness is not always perceived in the same way that biomedicine recognizes, the term “therapeutic targets” is used for perceived illnesses. Semi-structured interviews with local experts were conducted using the free-listing technique to collect data on known medicinal plants, usage preferences, use of redundant species, characteristics of therapeutic targets, and the perceived severity for each target. Additionally, participatory workshops were conducted to determine the frequency of targets. The medical systems showed high species richness but low levels of species redundancy. However, if redundancy was present, it was the primary factor responsible for the maintenance of system functions. Species richness was positively associated with therapeutic target frequencies and negatively related to target severity. Moreover, information about redundant species seems to be largely idiosyncratic; this finding raises questions about the importance of redundancy for resilience. We stress the Utilitarian Redundancy Model as an interesting tool to be used in studies of resilience, but we emphasize that it must consider the distribution of redundancy in terms of the treatment of important illnesses and the sharing of information. This study has identified aspects of the higher and lower vulnerabilities of medical systems, adding variables that should be considered along with richness and redundancy.
Executive Functions: A Discussion of the Issues Facing Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Related Disorders

The interest and attention devoted to executive functions has grown steadily in the last several decades. The concept and definitions of executive functions and their association with certain disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and overall cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning are important knowledge areas for those working in education, health, and mental health-related fields. It is particularly important for providers to have an understanding of the basic issues related to assessment and remediation of executive dysfunction. This article briefly addresses the background, current definitions, research, and some intervention options associated with executive functions. The intent is to present a foundation for encouraging additional research on the issues relevant to this important topic.
Gene Knockout Identification Using an Extension of Bees Hill Flux Balance Analysis

Microbial strain optimisation for the overproduction of a desired phenotype has been a popular topic in recent years. Gene knockout is a genetic engineering technique that can modify the metabolism of microbial cells to obtain desirable phenotypes. Optimisation algorithms have been developed to identify the effects of gene knockout. However, the complexities of metabolic networks have made the process of identifying the effects of genetic modification on desirable phenotypes challenging. Furthermore, a vast number of reactions in cellular metabolism often lead to a combinatorial problem in obtaining optimal gene knockout. The computational time increases exponentially as the size of the problem increases. This work reports an extension of Bees Hill Flux Balance Analysis (BHFBA) to identify optimal gene knockouts to maximise the production yield of desired phenotypes while sustaining the growth rate. This proposed method functions by integrating OptKnock into BHFBA for validating the results automatically. The results show that the extension of BHFBA is suitable, reliable, and applicable in predicting gene knockout. Through several experiments conducted on Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Clostridium thermocellum as model organisms, extension of BHFBA has shown better performance in terms of computational time, stability, growth rate, and production yield of desired phenotypes.
Integrative Genomics Analysis Identifies Candidate Drivers at 3q26-29 Amplicon in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Purpose: Chromosome 3q26-29 is a critical region of genomic amplification in lung squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Identification of candidate drivers in this region could help uncover new mechanisms in the pathogenesis and potentially new targets in SCC of the lung. Experimental Design: We conducted a meta-analysis of seven independent datasets containing a total of 593 human primary SCC samples to identify consensus candidate drivers in 3q26-29 amplicon. Through integrating protein–protein interaction network information, we further filtered for candidates that may function together in a network. Computationally predicted candidates were validated using RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown and cell viability assays. Clinical relevance of the experimentally supported drivers was evaluated in an independent cohort of 52 lung SCC patients using survival analysis. Results: The meta-analysis identified 20 consensus candidates, among which four (SENP2, DCUN1D1, DVL3, and UBXN7) are involved in a small protein–protein interaction network. Knocking down any of the four proteins led to cell growth inhibition of the 3q26-29–amplified SCC. Moreover, knocking down of SENP2 resulted in the most significant cell growth inhibition and downregulation of DCUN1D1 and DVL3. Importantly, a gene expression signature composed of SENP2, DCUN1D1, and DVL3 stratified patients into subgroups with different response to adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion: Together, our findings show that SENP2, DCUN1D1, and DVL3 are candidate driver genes in the 3q26-29 amplicon of SCC, providing novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of disease progression and may have significant implication in the management of SCC of the lung. Clin Cancer Res; 19(20); 5580–90. ©2013 AACR.
Polypharmacy including falls risk-increasing medications and subsequent falls in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults.

BACKGROUND polypharmacy is an important risk factor for falls, but recent studies suggest only when including medications associated with increasing the risk of falls. DESIGN a prospective, population-based cohort study. SUBJECTS 6,666 adults aged ≥50 years from The Irish Longitudinal study on Ageing. METHODS participants reported regular medication use at baseline. Any subsequent falls, any injurious falls and the number of falls were reported 2 years later. The association between polypharmacy (>4 medications) or fall risk-increasing medications and subsequent falls or injurious falls was assessed using modified Poisson regression. The association with the number of falls was assessed using negative binomial regression. RESULTS during follow-up, 231 falls per 1,000 person-years were reported. Polypharmacy including antidepressants was associated with a greater risk of any fall (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 1.28, 95% CI 1.06-1.54), of injurious falls (aRR 1.51, 95% CI 1.10-2.07) and a greater number of falls (adjusted incident rate ratio (aIRR) 1.60, 95% CI 1.19-2.15), but antidepressant use without polypharmacy and polypharmacy without antidepressants were not. The use of benzodiazepines was associated with injurious falls when coupled with polypharmacy (aRR 1.40, 95% CI 1.04-1.87), but was associated with a greater number of falls (aIRR 1.32, 95% CI 1.05-1.65), independent of polypharmacy. Other medications assessed, including antihypertensives, diuretics and antipsychotics, were not associated with outcomes. CONCLUSION in middle-aged and older adults, polypharmacy, including antidepressant or benzodiazepine use, was associated with injurious falls and a greater number of falls.
Neuroanatomy of memory.

Three important developments have occurred in the area of memory during the past decade. The first was the recognition that there is more than one kind of memory (Cohen 1984; Schacter 1987; Squire 1982; Tulving 1985). Declarative memory (or, explicit memory) affords the capacity for con­ scious recollections about facts and events. This is the kind of memory that is usually referred to when the terms "memory" or "remembering" are used in ordinary language. Declarative memory can be contrasted with nondeclarative (or implicit) memory, a heterogeneous collection of nonconscious abilities that includes the learning of skills and habits, prim­ ing, and some forms of classical conditioning. In these cases, experience cumulates in behavioral change, but without affording access to any memory content. The distinction between declarative and nondeclarative memory is fundamental, because it has turned out that different kinds of memory are supported by different brain systems. The second important development was the establishment of an animal model of human amnesia in the monkey (Mahut & Moss 1984; Mishkin 1982; Squire & Zola-Morgan 1983). In the 1950s, Scoville & Milner (1957) described the severe amnesia that followed bilateral surgical removal of the medial temporal lobe (patient H.M.). This important case demon­ strated that memory is a distinct cerebral function, dissociable from other perceptual and cognitive abilities. Subsequently, surgical lesions of the medial temporai iobe in monkeys, which approximated the damage sus­ tained by patient H.M. , were shown to reproduce many features of human memory impairment . In particular, both monkeys and humans were
KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND EXPLANATION FOR MULTI-ATTRIBUTE DECISION MAKING ∗

A decision making approach which combines multi-attribute decision making techniques with expert systems is described in the paper. In this approach, knowledge about a particular decision making problem is represented in the form of tree-structured criteria and decision rules. Decision making is supported by an expert system shell. In the paper, the discussion is mainly concentrated on the part of the shell which deals with interactive knowledge acquisition and knowledge explanation. The corresponding algorithms are given and discussed. Key-words: expert systems, multi-attribute decision making, knowledge representation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge explanation.
HIGH WIND AND BREAKING WAVE MEASUREMENTS WITH SAR DEPOLARIZED RETURNS

The wind generates a distribution of small slope waves and sporadic steep breaking events. Such double structure of the sea surface is expected to have a strong impact on the radar scattering from the ocean surface. The signature of the double structure is in the wind speed dependence of radar returns: linear for scattering from gentle waves and cubic for breaking contribution. The composite-surface Bragg resonance (CB) theory describes the former very well. Detection of the breaking contribution remains difficult. Here we show that the depolarized (de-pol, or cross-polarized) radar return exhibits the typical double structure, its wind speed dependence increases from linear in low to moderate wind speeds to cubic in high winds. The increased sensitivity of the de-pol returns in high winds is ideal for hurricane wind retrieval. The strong breaking connection offers an opportunity to measure wave breaking and the associated energy dissipation and area of foam coverage from space, their quantification is important for air-sea interaction study and electromagnetic and electro-optical remote sensing.
Realistic path loss estimation for capacitive body-coupled communication

Realistic estimation of path loss is vital for designing an effective capacitive body-coupled communication system. The estimation based on simplified analytical models, however, results in errors as they do not model capacitive couplers accurately and different body positions. The proposed efficient full-wave electromagnetic (EM) model takes into account the effect of capacitive coupler, electro-physiological properties of tissues in human body, different body positions and environment all together to realistically predict the path loss. A comparison of both approaches is made in this paper, showing the superior performance of the proposed model.
MBP: Routing Metric Based on Probabilities for multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks

This paper addresses the problem of optimal route selection in wireless mesh networks (WMNs) where intra-flow and inter-flow interferences have a negative impact on the network performance. Several routing metrics have been proposed in the literature to find paths that minimize interferences and thus maximizes throughput. However, most of these metrics consider either inter-flow interferences or intra-flow interferences and a few consider both types of interferences. In this paper, we propose an efficient new routing metric, called MBP (Metric Based on Probabilities), that aims to choose routes with high throughput, low intra-flow and inter-flow interferences between a source and a destination. MBP is based on the Minimum Loss (ML) metric and a well known physical interference model. Simulation results show that MBP outperforms some existing metrics, namely hop count, WCETT and iAWARE, in terms of throughput, delay and packet loss.
Species Abundance Distribution of Ectoparasites on Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus) from a Localized Area in Southwest China

Background: The species of ectoparasites that live on a specific host in a geographical region form an ectoparasite community. Species abundance distributions describe the number of individuals observed for each different species that is encountered within a community. Based on properties of the species abundance distribution, the expected total number of species present in the community can be estimated. Methods: Preston’s lognormal distribution model was used to fit the expected species abundance distribution curve. Using the expected species abundance distribution curve, we estimated the total number of expected parasite species present and the amount of species that were likely missed by our sampling in the field. Results: In total, 8040 ectoparasites (fleas, sucking lice, gamasid mites and chigger mites) were collected from 431 Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) from a localized area in southwest China. These ectoparasites were identified to be 47 species from 26 genera in 10 families. The majority of ectoparasite species were chigger mites (family Trombiculidae) while the majority of individuals were sucking lice in the family Polyplacidae. The expected species abundance distribution curve demonstrated the classic pattern that the majority of ectoparasite species were rare and that there were a few common species. The total expected number of ectoparasite species on R. norvegicus was estimated to be 85 species, and 38 species were likely missed by our sampling in the field. Conclusions: Norway rats harbor a large suite of ectoparasites. Future field investigations should sample large numbers of host individuals to assess ectoparasite populations.
Tight Exponential Analysis of Universally Composable Privacy Amplification and Its Applications

Motivated by the desirability of universal composability, we analyze in terms of L1 distinguishability the task of secret key generation from a joint random variable. Under this secrecy criterion, using the Rényi entropy of order 1+s for s ∈ [0,1], we derive a new upper bound of Eve's distinguishability under the application of the universal2 hash functions. It is also shown that this bound gives the tight exponential rate of decrease in the case of independent and identical distributions. The result is applied to the wiretap channel model and to secret key generation (distillation) by public discussion.
Managerial ownership and incentive alignment : evidence from mandatory stock ownership plans

Mandatory stock ownership plans require executives to hold a minimum level of stock. I exploit these changes in managerial stock ownership to examine the relation between managerial ownership and manager-shareholder incentive alignment. In contrast to prior work that suggests equity incentives induce opportunistic managerial behavior, I find earnings management declines following the adoption of mandatory stock ownership plans relative to a propensity-matched control sample. I also posit and find a reduction in bid-ask spreads following plan adoptions, consistent with manager-shareholder incentive alignment improving market liquidity and decreasing information asymmetry. These findings are consistent with boards of directors contracting with managers to reduce the agency costs of equity.
Editorial Poverty and Cancer

Social and Health Inequalities Many attempts have been made to reduce poverty and to arrive at a more egalitarian society. But in spite of social and philosophical theories underlying such attempts and the undoubted progress made in many countries, social inequalities remain with us and seem to be increasing. Inequalities in health are just part of the social inequalities which characterize our society and are among their most convincing indices (1). The identification of causes and mechanisms behind the origin and persistence of poverty in our society has perhaps been a victory for sociologists and philosophers but has not led to a comparable victory for the prevention of social disparities around the world (2). Similarly, the identification of the causes of a considerable proportion of human cancers, including tobacco, industrial chemicals, and radiation (3), has been a great achievement by laboratory scientists and epidemiologists but up to now has been followed by only limited victories for prevention. The incapacity of our society to eliminate poverty is probably one of the most blatant examples of failure in prevention. As we have also been only partially successful in the prevention of cancer, overcoming the combined problem of poverty and cancer seems likely to be particularly difficult. Several levels of inquiry about poverty and cancer are possible: (a) exploring socioeconomic differences within the industrialized countries and poverty in the midst of wealth; (b) comparing industrialized (rich) countries with developing (poor) countries; (c) comparing poverty within rich countries with poverty in the developing countries. As regards the last of these issues, probably one of the major resemblances between the industrialized and developing countries is that everywhere a great gulf separates the poor from the rich, although this gulf is very considerably wider in developing countries. Poverty may be interpreted as a relative concept; a poor person in a rich country might be seen as relatively rich in a poor country, depending on the criteria adopted to measure poverty. Similarly, it may appear that to be poor in a poor country is more "normal," with a better integration into the society, than to be poor in a rich country, and therefore that it entails less unhappiness and misery. This of course tends to be the opinion of
Amyloid Precursor Protein Mediated Changes in Intestinal Epithelial Phenotype In Vitro

Background Although APP and its proteolytic metabolites have been well examined in the central nervous system, there remains limited information of their functions outside of the brain. For example, amyloid precursor protein (APP) and amyloid beta (Aβ) immunoreactivity have both been demonstrated in intestinal epithelial cells. Based upon the critical role of these cells in absorption and secretion, we sought to determine whether APP or its metabolite amyloid β (Aβ), had a definable function in these cells. Methodology/Principal Findings The human colonic epithelial cell line, Caco-2 cells, were cultured to examine APP expression and Aβ secretion, uptake, and stimulation. Similar to human colonic epithelium stains, Caco-2 cells expressed APP. They also secreted Aβ 1-40 and Aβ 1-42, with LPS stimulating higher concentrations of Aβ 1-40 secretion. The cells also responded to Aβ 1-40 stimulation by increasing IL-6 cytokine secretion and decreasing cholesterol uptake. Conversely, stimulation with a sAPP-derived peptide increased cholesterol uptake. APP was associated with CD36 but not FATP4 in co-IP pull down experiments from the Caco-2 cells. Moreover, stimulation of APP with an agonist antibody acutely decreased CD36-mediated cholesterol uptake. Conclusions/Significance APP exists as part of a multi-protein complex with CD36 in human colonic epithelial cells where its proteolytic fragments have complex, reciprocal roles in regulating cholesterol uptake. A biologically active peptide fragment from the N-terminal derived, sAPP, potentiated cholesterol uptake while the β secretase generated product, Aβ1-40, attenuated it. These data suggest that APP is important in regulating intestinal cholesterol uptake in a fashion dependent upon specific proteolytic pathways. Moreover, this biology may be applicable to cells beyond the gastrointestinal tract.
UVES radial velocity accuracy from asteroid observations I. Implications for fine structure constant variability

Context. High resolution observations of the asteroids Iris and Juno have been performed by means of the UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) to obtain the effective accuracy of the spectrograph's radial velocity. The knowledge of this quantity has important bearings on studies searching for a variability in the fine structure constant carried out with this instrument. Aims. Asteroids provide a precise radial velocity reference at the level of 1 m s -1 , which allows for instrumental calibration and the recognition of small instrumental drifts and calibration systematics. In particular, radial velocity drifts due to nonuniform slit illumination and slit optical misalignment in the two UVES spectrograph arms can be investigated. Methods. We compare the position of the solar spectrum reflected by the asteroids with the solar wavelength positions and with that of asteroid and twilight observations at other epochs to asses the UVES instrumental accuracy. Results. We observe radial velocities offsets in the range of ≈ 10-50 m s -1 , likely due to a nonuniform slit illumination. However, no radial velocity patterns with wavelengths are detected and the two UVES arms provide consistent radial velocities. These results suggest that the detected $\Delta\alpha/\alpha\,$variability by Levshakov et al. (2007) deduced from a drift of -180 ± 85 m s -1 at $z_{\rm abs}\,$ = 1.84, between two sets of Fe II lines falling in the two UVES arms, may be real or induced by other kinds of systematics than those investigated here. The proposed technique allows us to make a real time quality check of the spectrograph and should be followed for very accurate measurements.