Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weighted short-interval character sums

In this paper we shall establish the counterpart of Szmidt, Urbanowicz and Zagier's formula in the sense of the Hecker correspondence. The motivation is the derivation of the values of the Riemann zeta-function at positive even integral arguments from the partial fraction expansion for the hyperbolic cotangent function (or the cotangent function). Since the last is equivalent to the functional equation, we may view their elegant formula as one for the Lambert series, and comparing the Laurent coefficients, we may give a functional equational approach to the short-interval character sums with polynomial weight. In view of the importance of these short-interval character sums, we assemble some handy formulations for them that are derived from Szmidt, Urbanowicz and Zagier's formula and Yamamoto's method, which also gives the conjugate sums. We shall also state the formula for the values of the Dirichlet L-function with imprimitive characters.
Turkey’s Epidemiological and Demographic Transitions: 1931-2013

Background: The causes of death have changed with regard to the epidemiological and demographic events in society. There is no evidence of prior research into the epidemiological transition in Turkey. This transition in Turkey should be observed starting with the Ottoman Empire period (19th to early 20th century). However, information about the Ottoman Empire is quite limited. Aims: To discuss the epidemiological and demographic transitions in Turkey, using demographic, educational and urbanization data in our present study. Study Design: A descriptive archive study. Methods: Mortality statistics dating from 1931 and published by the Turkish Statistical Institute were analysed, and the causes of death were coded and classified according to ICD-10. Other data were obtained from the published reports and studies regarding the issue. Results: In the 1930s, Turkey’s life expectancy was low (aged 40 years), fertility and mortality rates were high (respectively 45% and 31%), and the main causes of death were infectious diseases. Nowadays, life expectancy is close to 80 years, the total fertility rate has dropped to 2.1 per woman, and the main causes of death are chronic diseases and cancer. The population rate in the urban areas has increased steadily from 24.2% in 1927 to 77.3% in 2012. level of education has also increased during this period. In 1935, less than 10% of women were literate, and in 2013 90% were literate. Qualitative and quantitative increase have been observed in the presentation and access of healthcare services compared to the early years of the Republic. Conclusion: Turkey has been undergoing a modernization period in the last 200 years, and it is believed that the epidemiological and demographic transitions result from this period. This process has led to urbanization and an increase in the level of education, as well as a decrease in premature deaths, lower fertility rates, and an increase in the elderly population and chronic diseases. It is therefore our conclusion that Turkey needs policies regarding the elderly population and the management of chronic diseases.
Diffusion Maximization in Evolving Social Networks

Diffusion in social networks has been studied extensively in the past few years. Most previous work assumes that the underlying network is a static object that remains unchanged as the diffusion process progresses. However, there are several real-life networks that change dynamically over time. In this paper, we study diffusion on such evolving networks and extend the popular Independent Cascade and Linear Threshold models to account for network evolution. In particular, we introduce two natural variations, a persistent and a transient one, to capture diffusions of different types. We consider the problem of influence maximization where the goal is to select a few influential nodes to initiate a diffusion with maximum spread. We show that, surprisingly, when considering evolving networks the diffusion function is no longer submodular for the transient models, and not even monotone for the transient Independent Cascade model. We also show that, depending on the model, delaying the activation of the initiators may improve diffusion. Our experiments, using three real datasets, demonstrate the effect of network evolution on the diffusion process, and highlight the importance of timing in the selection process.
Genotypic differences in callus induction and plant regeneration from mature embryos of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

An efficient induction system and regeneration protocol based on mature barley embryos were developed. Embryos isolated from mature seeds, dehusked by hand and inoculated with longitudinally bisected sections, showed low contamination and high primary callus-forming capability. The influences of nine culture media on primary callus induction and germination from the mature embryos of barley cultivars Golden Promise and Zaoshu 3 were analyzed. The results showed that the two cultivars had much higher values of primary callus induction in the B16M6D medium as compared to the other eight medium formulations, with a frequency of 74.3% and 78.4% for Golden Promise and Zaoshu 3, respectively. Furthermore, Zaoshu 3 demonstrated particularly high stability in callus induction over the different media, indicating its potential utilization in callus induction and regeneration for its good agronomic traits and wide adaption. There were significant differences amongst 11 barley genotypes in terms of primary callus induction in the optimum medium, with percentages of callus induction and germination response ranging from 17.9% to 78.4% and 2.8% to 47.4%, respectively. Green plantlets of Dong 17, Golden Promise, and Zaoshu 3 were successfully developed from primary calli through embryogenesis, with green plant differentiation frequencies ranging from 9.7% to 21.0% across genotypes.
Biodiversity and the Lotka–Volterra theory of species interactions: open systems and the distribution of logarithmic densities

Theoretical interest in the distributions of species abundances observed in ecological communities has focused recently on the results of models that assume all species are identical in their interactions with one another, and rely upon immigration and speciation to promote coexistence. Here we examine a one–trophic level system with generalized species interactions, including species–specific intraspecific and interspecific interaction strengths, and density–independent immigration from a regional species pool. Comparisons between results from numerical integrations and an approximate analytic calculation for random communities demonstrate good agreement, and both approaches yield abundance distributions of nearly arbitrary shape, including bimodality for intermediate immigration rates.
Injustice at work and incidence of psychiatric morbidity: the Whitehall II study

Background: Previous studies of organisational justice and mental health have mostly examined women and have not examined the effect of change in justice. Aim: To examine effects of change in the treatment of employees by supervisors (the relational component of organisational justice) on minor psychiatric morbidity, using a cohort with a large proportion of men. Methods: Data are from the Whitehall II study, a prospective cohort of 10 308 white-collar British civil servants (3143 women and 6895 men, aged 35–55 at baseline) (Phase 1, 1985–88). Employment grade, relational justice, job demands, job control, social support at work, effort–reward imbalance, physical illness, and psychiatric morbidity were measured at baseline. Relational justice was assessed again at Phase 2 (1989–90). The outcome was cases of psychiatric morbidity by Phases 2 and 3 (1991–93) among participants case-free at baseline. Results: In analyses adjusted for age, grade, and baseline physical illness, women and men exposed to low relational justice at Phase 1 were at higher risk of psychiatric morbidity by Phases 2 and 3. Adjustment for other psychosocial work characteristics, particularly social support and effort–reward imbalance, partially attenuated these associations. A favourable change in justice between Phase 1 and Phase 2 reduced the immediate risk (Phase 2) of psychiatric morbidity, while an adverse change increased the immediate and longer term risk (Phase 3). Conclusion: This study shows that unfair treatment by supervisors increases risk of poor mental health. It appears that the employers’ duty to ensure that employees are treated fairly at work also has benefits for health.
The Endocannabinoid System and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Insights from Animal Models

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) defines a group of neurodevelopmental disorders whose symptoms include impaired communication and social interaction with restricted or repetitive motor movements, frequently associated with general cognitive deficits. Although it is among the most severe chronic childhood disorders in terms of prevalence, morbidity, and impact to the society, no effective treatment for ASD is yet available, possibly because its neurobiological basis is not clearly understood hence specific drugs have not yet been developed. The endocannabinoid (EC) system represents a major neuromodulatory system involved in the regulation of emotional responses, behavioral reactivity to context, and social interaction. Furthermore, the EC system is also affected in conditions often present in subsets of patients diagnosed with ASD, such as seizures, anxiety, intellectual disabilities, and sleep pattern disturbances. Despite the indirect evidence suggestive of an involvement of the EC system in ASD, only a few studies have specifically addressed the role of the EC system in the context of ASD. This review describes the available data on the investigation of the presence of alterations of the EC system as well as the effects of its pharmacological manipulations in animal models of ASD-like behaviors.
BODHI: A Database Engine for Biological Applications

Biodiversity research generates and uses a variety of data spanning across diverse domains, including taxonomy, geo-spatial and genetic domains, which vary greatly in their structural features and complexities, query processing costs and storage volumes. In this thesis, we present BODHI, a database engine that seamlessly integrates these diverse types of data, spanning the range from molecular to organism-level information. BODHI is a native object-oriented database system built around a publically available micro-kernel and extensible query processor, and offers a functionally comprehensive query interface. The server is partitioned into three service modules: object, spatial and sequence, each handling the associated data domain and providing appropriate storage, modeling interfaces, and evaluation algorithms for predicates over the corresponding data types. To accelerate query response times, a variety of specialized access structures are included for each domain. Our experiments with complex cross-domain queries over a representative biodiversity dataset indicate efficient evaluation even on off-the-shelf standard hardware. BODHI features suffix-tree indexes for expeditious processing of sequence similarity predicates. These indexes are well-known to be not easily amenable to persistent implementation and usage, since their traversal patterns induce severe disk thrashing. To minimize the impact of this problem, we present a suite of optimizations, including: TOP-Q, a novel low-overhead buffer management policy that takes into account the probabilistic behavior of traversals during suffix-tree construction; and STELLAR, a layout-reorganization algorithm that minimizes the cost of suffix-link traversals. Through experimentation on a variety of real genomic and proteomic sequences, we show that the combined effect of these optimizations results in substantially improved index construction and search times. In summary, this thesis presents the architecture and implementation of a holistic and efficient database engine targeted towards helping biodiversity scientists swiftly advance the state-of-the-art in their research.
Empirical study of subjective quality for Massive Multiplayer Games

Online gaming is a member of the real time interactive multimedia services. This service suffers from all impairments on the networking layer that increase the latency, respectively the responsiveness. The quality of service (QoS) of online gaming is becoming an important issue due to a massive increase of online games (Half-life, War-craft) with a significant player community. The purpose of this project is to investigate the impact of network impairments (delay, jitter) on the perceived QoS. We hereby focus on massively multiplayer online games (MMOG), due to their amount of active users and their popularity. The initial step is to develop a test setup for subjective quality evaluation for MMOG games. The final outcome of this paper is to propose a QoS metric for online gaming.
Prefrontal cortical involvement in verbal encoding strategies

The lateral prefrontal cortex is critical for the control and organization of information in working memory. In certain situations, effective reorganization can attenuate task difficulty, suggesting a dissociation between lateral prefrontal activity and basic memory demand. In a verbal working memory task, we investigated the enhancement of performance that occurs when incoming information can be reorganized into higher‐level groups or chunks. In the fMRI scanner, volunteers heard and repeated a sequence of digits. Mathematically structured sequences, encouraging ‘chunking’, were compared with unstructured, random sequences. Though structured sequences were easier to remember, fMRI showed increased lateral prefrontal activation for these sequences. Specifically, both the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices were activated preferentially for the structured sequences during encoding. When visual stimuli that can be chunked using spatial structure are used, similar results are observed. These results demonstrate that cognitively less demanding tasks may elicit greater lateral prefrontal recruitment. Thus, the lateral prefrontal cortex appears to play a general role in strategically recoding information from memory, in order to optimize performance.
The positive feedback role of arachidonic acid in the platelet-derived growth factor-induced signaling in lens epithelial cells.

PURPOSE Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-stimulated cell proliferation has been associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated redox signaling. This study examined the role of arachidonic acid (AA) in PDGF-stimulated ROS generation in human lens epithelial B3 cells (HLE B3). METHODS PDGF (1 ng/ml)-stimulated ROS generation was examined using dichlorofluorescein (DCFH)-activated fluorescence by laser confocal microscopy while AA (30-150 muM)-stimulated superoxide anion production was measured using lucigenin-amplified chemiluminescence in serum-starved HLE B3 cells. PDGF-stimulated AA release was quantified by cells prelabeled with (3)H-AA with and without the presence of cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (cPLA(2)) inhibitor (AACOCF(3)) and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases (MEK) inhibitor (U0126). Western blot analysis was used to characterize the activated MAP kinase components in cell lysates or protein kinase C (PKC) translocation in isolated cytosolic and membrane fractions. Specific inhibitors to various enzymes were used in the study, including GF109203X for pan protein kinase C (PKC), AACOCF3 for cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA(2)), U0126 for MEK, and DPI for NADPH oxidase. Inhibitors for AA metabolism were also used to examine the role of AA in PDGF-stimulated ROS generation, including CDC and NDGA for pan lipoxygenase, AA861 for 5-lipoxygenase, indomethacin for cycloxygenase, and ketoconazole for cytochrome p450. RESULTS We found that PDGF-stimulated ROS was eradicated by inhibitors to MEK, cPLA(2), 5-lipoxygenase, NADPH oxidase, or PKC. PDGF-stimulated AA release depended on both active cPLA(2) and ERK1/2. Exogenous AA showed a concentration-dependent ROS generation via NADPH oxidase activation that was insensitive to MEK inhibitor, but sensitive to PKC inhibitor, and could be attenuated by superoxide dismutase (SOD), mannitol, or DPI. This effect of AA was specific as other long chain fatty acids (leinoleic acid, stearic acid), or AA derivatives (eicosa-11Z, 14Z, 17Z-trienoic acid (20:3) and eicosa-11Z, 14Z-dienoic acid (20:2)) were ineffective. Inhibitor to lipoxygenase, in particular the 5-isoform, but not cycloxygenase or cytochrome p450, could diminish AA-stimulated luminescence generation. Western blot analysis showed that AA-treated cells transiently activated ERK1/2 and JNK, but not p38, in a time- and dose-dependent manner that was similar to that of PDGF. Finally, PDGF-stimulated PKC translocation depended on AA release while AA-stimulated PKC translocation was eradicated by lipoxygenase inhibition. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that PDGF signaling in HLE B3 cells is mediated by AA and its lipoxygenase metabolites, which provide a positive feedback loop for PDGF action, as AA and its metabolites can mobilize PKC and other factors needed for NADPH oxidase assembly and activation for ROS generation to facilitate cell proliferation. We further propose the role of AA in PDGF signaling.
Sonographic Assessment of Renal Size in Healthy Adults

Objective: To assess the normal sonographic values of renal length and cortical thickness in healthy adults and establish reference ranges in our population for comparison when examining renal disease. Subjects and Methods: Sonographic assessment of renal length and cortical thickness were performed from January 2006 to December 2011 in 252 healthy individuals who were self-referred to the El-Reshaid Renal Clinic in Kuwait. They were screened for the absence of renal abnormalities. Weight and height were measured, and body mass index (BMI) and body surface area calculated. Patients were divided into 5 age groups: 18-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60 and 61 -80 years, in order to generate reference graphs for renal length and cortical thickness. Results: The mean renal lengths for the right and left kidney were 10.68 ± 1.4 and 10.71 ± 1.0 cm, respectively (p = 0.56) without a significant change with age. The minimum cortical thickness was 0.6 cm. The renal length correlated with the weight of the patients (p < 0.01) and their BMI (p < 0.01) but not with their height. There was no difference in renal size or cortical thickness in patients older than 60 years despite an age-related decline in the glomerular filtration rate (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Renal length and cortical thickness did not vary significantly with age. Renal length correlated well with weight and BMI but not with height. Hence, establishing normal ranges of renal parameters is essential for comparison in situations where possible renal disease is being investigated.
Immunolocalization of mitsugumin29 in developing skeletal muscle and effects of the protein expressed in amphibian embryonic cells

The temporal appearance and subcellular distribution of mitsugumin29 (MG29), a 29‐kDa transmembrane protein isolated from the triad junction in skeletal muscle, were examined by immunohistochemistry during the development of rabbit skeletal muscle. MG29 appeared in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in muscle cells at fetal day 15 before the onset of transverse tubule (T tubule) formation. In muscle cells at fetal day 27, in which T tubule and triad formation is ongoing, both SR and triad were labeled for MG29. In muscle cells at newborn 1 day, the labeling of the SR had become weak and the triads were well developed and clearly labeled for MG29. Specific and clear labeling for MG29 was restricted to the triads in adult skeletal muscle cells. When MG29 was expressed in amphibian embryonic cells by injection of the cRNA, a large quantity of tubular smooth‐surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (sER) was formed in the cytoplasm. The tubular sER was 20–40 nm in diameter and appeared straight or reticular in shape. The tubular sER was formed by the fusion of coated vesicles [budded off from the rough‐surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (rER)] and vacuoles of rER origin. The present results suggest that MG29 may play important roles both in the formation of the SR and the construction of the triads during the early development of skeletal muscle cells. Dev Dyn 1999;215:87–95. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Perception and Adoption of Islamic Insurance in Malaysia: An Empirical Study

The main purpose of the study is to examine the Malaysian customers' willingness to adopt Islamic insurance services as well as the factors that may influence their behaviour. A total of 200 questionnaires were randomly distributed to Malaysian customers. The data analysis was done through Structural Equation Modelling and t-test. The findings indicate that the Malaysian customers are willing to adopt Islamic insurance services, and their decision is depending on two factors i.e. compatibility and awareness. The findings have great implications to the theory, to the policy makers and regulations as well as to the practitioners.
On the interface magnetism of thin oxidized Co films: orbital and spin moments

An x-ray magnetic circular dichroism study of a polycrystalline Co/CoO bilayer is presented. Using both the chemical specificity and surface sensitivity in the core level techniques, we find that uncompensated Co2+ spin moments participate in the remanent ferromagnetic response of the bilayer that has oxygen nearest neighbors. These are likely located at the Co/CoO interface. As intermixing of magnetic species is not present in Co/CoO, it is concluded that the observed interface moments are due to interface roughness. Given their direction, these moments appear to not directly correlate to the exchange bias in these bilayers.
AutoMashUpper: Automatic Creation of Multi-Song Music Mashups

In this paper we present a system, AutoMashUpper, for making multi-song music mashups. Central to our system is a measure of “mashability” calculated between phrase sections of an input song and songs in a music collection. We define mashability in terms of harmonic and rhythmic similarity and a measure of spectral balance. The principal novelty in our approach centres on the determination of how elements of songs can be made fit together using key transposition and tempo modification, rather than based on their unaltered properties. In this way, the properties of two songs used to model their mashability can be altered with respect to transformations performed to maximize their perceptual compatibility. AutoMashUpper has a user interface to allow users to control the parameterization of the mashability estimation. It allows users to define ranges for key shifts and tempo as well as adding, changing or removing elements from the created mashups. We evaluate AutoMashUpper by its ability to reliably segment music signals into phrase sections, and also via a listening test to examine the relationship between estimated mashability and user enjoyment.