Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growing up blind does not change the neural bases of Theory of Mind

Humans reason about the mental states of others; this capacity is called Theory of Mind (ToM). In typically developing adults, ToM is supported by a consistent group of brain regions: the bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), precuneus (PC), and anterior temporal sulci (aSTS). How experience and intrinsic biological factors interact to produce this adult functional profile is not known. In the current study we investigate the role of visual experience in the development of the ToM network by studying congenitally blind adults. In experiment 1, participants listened to stories and answered true/false questions about them. The stories were either about mental or physical representations of reality (e.g., photographs). In experiment 2, participants listened to stories about people's beliefs based on seeing or hearing; people's bodily sensations (e.g., hunger); and control stories without people. Participants judged whether each story had positive or negative valance. We find that ToM brain regions of sighted and congenitally blind adults are similarly localized and functionally specific. In congenitally blind adults, reasoning about mental states leads to activity in bilateral TPJ, MPFC, PC, and aSTS. These brain regions responded more to passages about beliefs than passages about nonbelief representations or passages about bodily sensations. Reasoning about mental states that are based on seeing is furthermore similar in congenitally blind and sighted individuals. Despite their different developmental experience, congenitally blind adults have a typical ToM network. We conclude that the development of neural mechanisms for ToM depends on innate factors and on experiences represented at an abstract level, amodally.
Effect of tibial insertion site for lateral suture stabilization on the kinematics of the cranial cruciate ligament deficient-stifle during early, middle and late stance

Summary Objective: To evaluate the effect of two tibial attachment sites for lateral suture stabilization (LSS) on the three-dimensional femorotibial translational and rotational movements of the cranial cruciate ligament-deficient canine stifle during the early, middle and late stance phases. Study design: In vitro biomechanical study: 32 hindlimbs from 16 canine cadavers. Methods: Limbs were mounted in a testing jig and an electromagnetic tracking system was used to determine the three-dimensional femorotibial translational and rotational movements under 33% of body weight load during early, middle and late stance in the following sequence: cranial cruciate ligament-intact, cranial cruciate ligament-deficient and LSS with the distal anchor through the tibial tuberosity (LSSTT) or through the cranial eminence of the extensor groove (LSSEG). The proximal anchor point was the lateral femorofabellar ligament. Results: Post-LSS stifle three-dimensional femorotibial translational and rotational movements were more comparable to normal than post-transection movements for both techniques. Both LSS techniques restored femorotibial movements in cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifles to varying amounts but neither technique successfully restored normal three-dimensional femorotibial movements. The LSSEG improved femorotibial movements of the cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifle in the medial-lateral direction and axial rotation but performed poorly in restoring femorotibial movements in the cranial-caudal direction as compared to the LSSTT. Clinical significance: Both the LSSTT and LSSEG techniques failed to completely restore normal three-dimensional femorotibial translational and rotational movements in cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifles in vitro.
Post-mortem findings in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the German North and Baltic Seas.

Between 1991 and 1996, necropsies were performed on 445 harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), in various states of preservation, stranded on German coasts or accidentally caught by German fishermen. The animals originated from the North and Baltic Seas, and 133 were considered suitable for histopathological, immunohistochemical and microbiological examination. Most of the lesions in these 133 porpoises were caused by parasites, in particular in the respiratory tract, two-thirds of the animals exhibiting pneumonia associated with the parasites. Pneumonia was considered to be the cause of death in 46% of the stranded subadult and adult animals. The findings gave no evidence of any epidemic due to bacterial or viral infection. Bacteriological examination suggested that pneumonia was mainly caused by secondary bacterial infection and not by parasitic infestation alone. Beta-haemolytic streptococci were considered to be the main infectious agents. Morbillivirus antigen was not detected immunohistochemically.
The role of self-objectification, gender role orientation, perfectionism, and reasons for exercise in male body dissatisfaction

This study explored the interrelationships between self-objectification, body dissatisfaction, gender role orientation, perfectionism, and reasons for exercise. A questionnaire assessing each of these constructs was completed by 149 male participants (M = 30.28 years) who exercised regularly. Selfobjectification showed positive correlations with appearance management reasons for exercise, negative femininity, and intrapersonal perfectionism. Dimensions of body dissatisfaction showed positive correlations with selfobjectification, appearance management reasons for exercise, and intrapersonal perfectionism. Appearance management reasons for exercise were found to mediate the relationship between self-objectification and dissatisfaction with muscularity, but not the relationship between selfobjectification and dissatisfaction with leanness. Conversely, health management reasons for exercise were negatively related to both selfobjectification and dissatisfaction with overall appearance. Regression analyses showed that appearance management reasons for exercise were the strongest predictor of both self-objectification and dissatisfaction with overall appearance. It was therefore speculated that appearance management exercise represented a negative behavioural consequence of selfobjectification, whereas health management exercise could serve as a protective factor against self-objectification and body dissatisfaction.
Landmark matching via large deformation diffeomorphisms

This paper describes the generation of large deformation diffeomorphisms phi:Omega=[0,1]3<-->Omega for landmark matching generated as solutions to the transport equation dphi(x,t)/dt=nu(phi(x,t),t),epsilon[0,1] and phi(x,0)=x, with the image map defined as phi(.,1) and therefore controlled via the velocity field nu(.,t),epsilon[0,1]. Imagery are assumed characterized via sets of landmarks {xn, yn, n=1, 2, . , N}. The optimal diffeomorphic match is constructed to minimize a running smoothness cost parallelLnu parallel2 associated with a linear differential operator L on the velocity field generating the diffeomorphism while simultaneously minimizing the matching end point condition of the landmarks. Both inexact and exact landmark matching is studied here. Given noisy landmarks xn matched to yn measured with error covariances Sigman, then the matching problem is solved generating the optimal diffeomorphism phi;(x,1)=integral0(1)nu(phi(x,t),t)dt+x where nu(.)=argmin(nu.)integral1(0) integralOmega parallelLnu(x,t) parallel2dxdt +Sigman=1N[yn-phi(xn,1)] TSigman(-1)[yn-phi(xn,1)]. Conditions for the existence of solutions in the space of diffeomorphisms are established, with a gradient algorithm provided for generating the optimal flow solving the minimum problem. Results on matching two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) imagery are presented in the macaque monkey.
Reexamination of Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Motivation in the Korean Army Foodservice Operations

The validity of Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Motivation was tested empirically by using the data obtained from foodservice soldiers and logistics officers serving in the Korean Army foodservice operation. This study compares general job satisfaction between soldier and officer groups and assesses the effect of Herzberg's motivators and hygiene factors on general job satisfaction so as to understand their relative importance in the military foodservice situation. The results show a statistically significant difference in job satisfaction between the foodservice soldiers and logistics officers. Additionally, the results regarding Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory were quite opposite between the two sample groups. For the foodservice soldier group, hygiene factors were more powerful predictors of general job satisfaction than motivators. On the other hand, motivators had a more significant association with logistics officers' general job satisfaction than hygiene factors. For foodservice soldiers, “human supervision” and “independence” factors were ranked first and second for their impact on job satisfaction. In contrast, “achievement” and “working conditions” factors were the two most important motivation factors for logistics officers' general job satisfaction.
My Loss Is Your Loss … Sometimes: Loss Aversion and the Effect of Motivational Biases

Findings from previous studies of individual decision‐making behavior predict that losses will loom larger than gains. It is less clear, however, if this loss aversion applies to the way in which individuals attribute value to the gains and losses of others, or if it is robust across a broad spectrum of policy and management decision contexts. Consistent with previous work, the results from a series of experiments reported here revealed that subjects exhibited loss aversion when evaluating their own financial gains and losses. The presence of loss aversion was also confirmed for the way in which individuals attribute value to the financial gains and losses of others. However, similar evaluations within social and environmental contexts did not exhibit loss aversion. In addition, research subjects expected that individuals who were unknown to them would significantly undervalue the subjects' own losses across all contexts. The implications of these findings for risk‐based policy and management are many. Specifically, they warrant caution when relying upon loss aversion to explain or predict the reaction of affected individuals to risk‐based decisions that involve moral or protected values. The findings also suggest that motivational biases may lead decisionmakers to assume that their attitudes and beliefs are common among those affected by a decision, while those affected may expect unfamiliar others to be unable to identify and act in accordance with shared values.
Prevalence of Toxocara canis ova in public playgrounds in the Dublin area of Ireland

Abstract A total of nine playground sites in Dublin city and county were surveyed from which 228 samples were removed. Of these samples, 15% were positive for Toxocara canis ova and a mean egg density of 1.4 ova/100 g was calculated. Two types of playground sites were identified and that the level of toxocaral contamination was found to be greater in ‘neighbourhood playgrounds’ than in ‘adventure playgrounds’. There was no significant difference in the number of positive samples taken from sites both inside and outside these playgrounds. No evidence of Toxocara cati ova was found. Only one sample was positive for Toxascaris leonina ova. Over 50% of the T. canis ova identified were infective. The findings in this study suggest that the sample's moisture content contributes to the long term survival of infective Toxocara ova in the environment. A recovery rate of 69.8% was achieved with a modified version of the flotation method.
The structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath South China from ambient noise and earthquake tomography

SUMMARY Two years of continuous recordings of ambient seismic noise observed at 354 stations in South China from 2009 to 2010 are used to estimate Rayleigh wave group and phase velocity maps from 6 to 40 s period. These results are merged with Rayleigh wave phase velocity maps from 25 to 70 s period derived from earthquakes in the same time frame. Eikonal tomography generates the dispersion maps, which, by Monte–Carlo inversion, are used to estimate a 3-D Vsv model of the crust and upper mantle down to a depth of 150 km across all of South China with attendant uncertainties. A clear image emerges of the ‘West Yangtze Block’, a region of the western Yangtze Craton characterized by relatively thick crust (∼40 km) overlying a seismic mantle lithosphere that extends to at least 150 km that may have been the nucleus for the formation of the Yangtze craton in the Archean and may present a present-day obstacle to the eastward expansion of Tibet. The West Yangtze Block contrasts with the thinner crust (∼30 km) and mantle lithosphere (∼70–80 km) beneath the eastern Yangtze Craton and South China Foldbelt. These observed differences are consistent with processes associated with flat slab subduction in the Mesozoic that may have eroded the lithosphere of the eastern Yangtze Craton and the South China Foldbelt.
Modeling and analysis of cracked through silicon via (TSV) interconnections

A lumped analytical electrical model for cracked (open fault) TSVs is proposed in this paper. Accurate and reliable fault models can support the test methods for the possible defects and they can be vital to improve the quality of TSV-based 3D-ICs. The model is verified by simulations using a commercial 3D resistance, capacitance and inductance extraction tool. The presented simulation results are in close agreement with the proposed analytical expressions.
Synergistic cofactor function of factor V and protein S to activated protein C in the inactivation of the factor VIIIa - factor IXa complex -- species specific interactions of components of the protein C anticoagulant system.

Human factor V has been shown not only to be a precursor to procoagulant factor Va but also to express anticoagulant properties. Thus, factor V was recently found to potentiate the effect of protein S as cofactor to activated protein C (APC) in the inactivation of the factor VIIIa-factor IXa complex. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the APC-cofactor function of factor V was also expressed in the bovine protein C system and to elucidate the molecular background for the species specificity of APC. For this purpose, the effects of protein S and factor V on APC-mediated inactivation of factor VIIIa were studied using purified APC, protein S and factor V of human and bovine origin. The factor VIIIa investigated here was part of a Xase complex (i.e. factor IXa, factor VIIIa, phospholipid and calcium) and the APC-mediated inhibition of factor VIIIa was monitored by the ability of the Xase complex to activate factor X. Synergistic APC-cofactor function of factor V and protein S was demonstrated in the bovine system. The effect of bovine APC was potentiated by bovine protein S but not by human protein S, whereas both human or bovine protein S stimulated the function of human APC. Factor V did not express species specificity in its APC-cofactor activity even though bovine factor V was more potent than its human counterpart. Recombinant human/bovine protein S chimeras were used to demonstrate that the thrombin sensitive region and first epidermal growth factor-like module of protein S determine the species specificity of the APC-protein S interaction. In conclusion, both human and bovine factor V were found to express APC-cofactor activity which depends on the presence of protein S. The species specificity of APC was shown to be caused by the interaction between APC and protein S.
Heterogeneity in norovirus shedding duration affects community risk

SUMMARY Norovirus is a common cause of gastroenteritis in all ages. Typical infections cause viral shedding periods of days to weeks, but some individuals can shed for months or years. Most norovirus risk models do not include these long-shedding individuals, and may therefore underestimate risk. We reviewed the literature for norovirus-shedding duration data and stratified these data into two distributions: regular shedding (mean 14–16 days) and long shedding (mean 105–136 days). These distributions were used to inform a norovirus transmission model that predicts the impact of long shedders. Our transmission model predicts that this subpopulation increases the outbreak potential (measured by the reproductive number) by 50–80%, the probability of an outbreak by 33%, the severity of transmission (measured by the attack rate) by 20%, and transmission duration by 100%. Characterizing and understanding shedding duration heterogeneity can provide insights into community transmission that can be useful in mitigating norovirus risk.
Reshaping the physical properties of a quadrotor through IDA-PBC and its application to aerial physical interaction

In this paper we propose a controller, based on an extension of Interconnection and Damping Assignment-Passivity Based Control (IDA-PBC) framework, for shaping the whole physical characteristics of a quadrotor and for obtaining a desired interactive behavior between the robot and the environment. In the control design, we shape the total energy (kinetic and potential) of the undamped original system by first excluding external effects. In this way we can assign a new dynamics to the system. Then we apply damping injection to the new system for achieving a desired damped behavior. Then we show how to connect a high-level control input to such system by taking advantage of the new desired physics. We support the theory with extensive simulations by changing the overall behavior of the UAV for different desired dynamics, and show the advantage of this method for sliding on a surface tasks, such as ceiling painting, cleaning or surface inspection.
Consequences of Reduction of Klebsiella pneumoniae Capsule Expression on Interactions of This Bacterium with Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT Most Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates are fully encapsulated and adhere in vitro to intestinal cell lines with an aggregative pattern. In this study, the influence of the capsule on interactions with epithelial cells was investigated by creating an isogenic mutant defective in the synthesis of the capsule. Determination of the uronic acid content of bacterial extracts confirmed that the mutant did not produce capsular polysaccharides whereas, with the wild-type strain, the level of encapsulation was growth phase dependent and reached a maximum during the lag and early log phases. Assays performed with different epithelial cell lines, Int-407, A-549, and HEp-2, showed that the capsule-defective mutant demonstrated greater adhesion than did the wild-type strain and that the aggregative pattern was maintained, indicating that the capsule was not related to the adhesion phenotype. In contrast, when the mucus-producing HT-29-MTX cells were used, the encapsulated wild-type strain adhered more strongly than did the capsule-defective mutant. No invasion properties were observed with any of the capsular phenotypes or cell lines used. The K. pneumoniae adhesin CF29K was detected by Western blot analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on the surface of transconjugants obtained after transfer of a conjugative plasmid harboring the CF29K-encoding genes into both the wild-type and the capsule-defective strains. The amounts of adhesin detected were greater in the capsule-defective background strain than in the wild-type encapsulated strain and were associated with an increase in the level of adhesion to Caco-2 cells. Moreover, RNA slot blot experiments showed that transcription of the adhesin-encoding gene was markedly increased in the capsule-defective mutant compared to the wild-type encapsulated background. These results suggest (i) that the capsule plays an active role during the initial steps of the pathogenesis by interacting with mucus-producing cells but is subsequently not required for the adhesin-related interaction with the epithelial cell surface and (ii) that the expression of the adhesin is modulated by the presence of a capsule at a transcriptional level.
Influence of ICTs on workforce productivity in Egyptian industrial organizations

Present study aims to investigate the influence o f ICTs dimensions (Information Technology (IT), Management Information System (MIS), Office automation (OA), Intranet and Internet) on workforce productivity for a group of industrial organizations in Alexandria- Egypt. The population of the study was managers and staff members working in different areas related to ICTs in the selected industrial organizations at various managerial levels. Descriptive -statistical combined research study was conducted. The selection of the participating industrial organizat ion done using simple random sampling technique. Data collection done using questionnaires. In order to check the validity of the study instrument expert comments were used and the reliability of the questionscalculated as 79% using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. The analysis of instrument data done using single variable t-test, Friedman and variance analysis. The study findings revealed that the specified dimensions of ICTs positively affect workforce productivity of industrial organizations in Alexandria- Egypt.
A comparative method for protein extraction and 2-D gel electrophoresis from different tissues of Cajanus cajan

Pigeonpea is an important legume crop with high protein content. However, it is often subjected to various abiotic and biotic stresses. Proteomics is a state-of-the-art technique used to analyze the protein profiling of a tissue for deciphering the molecular entities that could be manipulated for developing crops resistant to these stresses. In this context, developing a comprehensive proteome profile from different vegetative and reproductive tissues has become mandatory. Although several protein extraction protocols from different tissues of diverse plant species have been reported, there is no report for pigeonpea. Here, we report tissue-specific protein extraction protocols representing vegetative (young leaves), and reproductive (flowers and seeds) organs and their subsequent analysis on 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The study explicitly demonstrated that the efficacy of a particular protein extraction protocol is dependent on the different tissues, such as leaves, flowers and seeds that differ in their structure and metabolic constituents. For instance, phenol-based protocol showed an efficacy toward higher protein yield, better spot resolution and a minimal streaking on 2-DE gel for both leaves and flowers. Protein extraction from seeds was best achieved by employing phosphate-TCA-acetone protocol.
The effect of an opiate antagonist on the hormonal changes induced by hexarelin

OBJECTIVE Growth hormone‐releasing peptides (GHRPs) stimulate growth hormone (GH) release in vitro and in vivo in animals and in humans. GHRPs were developed by modification of the structure of met‐enkephalln but GHRP‐6 does not activate opioid receptors in animal studies. These agents may well have diagnostic and/or long‐term therapeutic potential in the future so their effects on opioid receptors need to be clarified in humans as well. Hexarelin is a recently developed six amino acid residue GHRP.
A SAR Interferometric Model for Soil Moisture

There is a need for scattering models that link quantitatively synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometric observables to soil moisture. In this paper, we propose a model based on plane waves and the Born approximation, deriving first the vertical complex wavenumbers in the soil as a function of geometrical and dielectric properties and successively the complex interferometric coherences. It is observed that soil moisture behaves on the phase in a similar way as tomography does, breaking the phase consistency in triplets of interferograms. The proposed model is validated with L-band airborne SAR data; preliminary inversion results based on interferogram triplets and coherence magnitudes are presented.