Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Head movements and the optic flow generated during the learning flights of bumblebees

Insects inform themselves about the 3D structure of their surroundings through motion parallax. During flight, they often simplify this task by minimising rotational image movement. Coordinated head and body movements generate rapid shifts of gaze separated by periods of almost zero rotational movement, during which the distance of objects from the insect can be estimated through pure translational optic flow. This saccadic strategy is less appropriate for assessing the distance between objects. Bees and wasps face this problem when learning the position of their nest-hole relative to objects close to it. They acquire the necessary information during specialised flights performed on leaving the nest. Here, we show that the bumblebee's saccadic strategy differs from other reported cases. In the fixations between saccades, a bumblebee's head continues to turn slowly, generating rotational flow. At specific points in learning flights these imperfect fixations generate a form of ‘pivoting parallax’, which is centred on the nest and enhances the visibility of features near the nest. Bumblebees may thus utilize an alternative form of motion parallax to that delivered by the standard ‘saccade and fixate’ strategy in which residual rotational flow plays a role in assessing the distances of objects from a focal point of interest.
Formation and Characterization of the Trimeric Form of the Fusion Protein of Semliki Forest Virus

ABSTRACT Enveloped animal viruses infect cells via fusion of the viral membrane with a host cell membrane. Fusion is mediated by a viral envelope glycoprotein, which for a number of enveloped animal viruses rearranges itself during fusion to form a trimeric α-helical coiled-coil structure. This conformational change from the metastable, nonfusogenic form of the spike protein to the highly stable form involved in fusion can be induced by physiological activators of virus fusion and also by a variety of destabilizing conditions. The E1 spike protein subunit of Semliki Forest virus (SFV) triggers membrane fusion upon exposure to mildly acidic pH and forms a homotrimer that appears necessary for fusion. We have here demonstrated that formation of the E1 homotrimer was efficiently triggered under low-pH conditions but not by perturbants such as heat or urea, despite their induction of generalized conformational changes in the E1 and E2 subunits and partial exposure of an acid-specific E1 epitope. We used a sensitive fluorescence assay to show that neither heat nor urea treatment triggered SFV-liposome fusion at neutral pH, although either treatment inactivated subsequent low-pH-triggered fusion activity. Once formed, the low-pH-induced E1 homotrimer was very stable and was only dissociated under harsh conditions such as heating in sodium dodecyl sulfate. Taken together, these data, as well as protein structure predictions, suggest a model in which the less stable native E1 subunit specifically responds to low pH to form the more stable E1 homotrimer via conformational changes different from those of the coiled-coil type of fusion proteins.
Epidemiological Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Health Literacy Concerning Mental Illness in a National Community Sample

The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning mental illness among Qatari and other Arab expatriates. Method: This is a cross-sectional survey conducted from October 2008 to March 2009. A questionnaire was designed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding mental illness. Results: Of 2254 subjects surveyed, 49.6% were Qataris, 50.4% other Arab expatriates, 54.8% males, and 45.2% females. A majority of the respondents thought that substance abuse like alcohol or drugs could result in mental illness (84.7%). Fewer than half of the subjects believed that mentally ill people are mentally retarded (40.6%). 48.3% believed that mental illness could result from punishment from God. The most common information source on mental illness was media (64.2%). Recognition of common mental disorders in the studied population was poor (72.5%). Conclusion: Knowledge of mental illness among the Arabic-speaking population of Qatar was quite poor.
Overruling uncertainty - A study of venture of capital decision making

This thesis was initiated due to the fact that venture capitalists’ often are the gatekeeper in the funding process of ventures and their impact on fuelling economic growth is likely to increase as the entrepreneurial spirit drives the global economy. In order to find suitable success ventures and develop them from being a promising business idea into a profitable investment, venture capitalists must have a decision making process that contribute to this objective. The fulfilment of this objective is dependent on the VCs ability to manage and facilitate the decision making process. However, when looking at the theories of venture capital decision making, we realised that the there was a need of getting a more comprehensive understanding of how the process handled the problem of uncertainty in the assessed ventures, as well as connecting the criteria to the specific stages of the decision making process. In the study it was concluded that the contingency theory are not totally able to explain the context of a decision making process. Although, it was clarified that venture capital firms use a more or less rational strategy to screen and assess the ventures that apply for venture capital. The decision making process in venture capital firms cannot be said to be the most suitable way of finding the optimal investment objects, however, we believe that it could be seen as the optimal way of finding suitable investment objects.
Crowdsourced Nonparametric Density Estimation Using Relative Distances

In this paper we address the following density estimation problem: given a number of relative similarity judgements over a set of items D, assign a density value p(x) to each item x in D. Our work is motivated by human computing applications where density can be interpreted e.g. as a measure of the rarity of an item. While humans are excellent at solving a range of different visual tasks, assessing absolute similarity (or distance) of two items (e.g. photographs) is difficult. Relative judgements of similarity, such as A is more similar to B than to C, on the other hand, are substantially easier to elicit from people. We provide two novel methods for density estimation that only use relative expressions of similarity. We give both theoretical justifications, as well as empirical evidence that the proposed methods produce good estimates.
MAP adaptation of stochastic grammars q

This paper investigates supervised and unsupervised adaptation of stochastic grammars, including ngram language models and probabilistic context-free grammars (PCFGs), to a new domain. It is shown that the commonly used approaches of count merging and model interpolation are special cases of a more general maximum a posteriori (MAP) framework, which additionally allows for alternate adaptation approaches. This paper investigates the effectiveness of different adaptation strategies, and, in particular, focuses on the need for supervision in the adaptation process. We show that n-gram models as well as PCFGs benefit from either supervised or unsupervised MAP adaptation in various tasks. For n-gram models, we compare the benefit from supervised adaptation with that of unsupervised adaptation on a speech recognition task with an adaptation sample of limited size (about 17 h), and show that unsupervised adaptation can obtain 51% of the 7.7% adaptation gain obtained by supervised adaptation. We also investigate the benefit of using multiple word hypotheses (in the form of a word lattice) for unsupervised adaptation on a speech recognition task for which there was a much larger adaptation sample available. The use of word lattices for adaptation required the derivation of a generalization of the well-known Good-Turing estimate. 0885-2308/$ see front matter ! 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.csl. 2004.12. 001 q Some of the results reported here were first reported in Bacchiani and Roark (2003); Roark and Bacchiani (2003) and Riley et al. (2003). This work was done while the authors were at AT&T Labs – Research. * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: bacchian@us.ibm. com (M. Bacchiani), riley@google.com (M. Riley), roark@cslu.ogi. edu (B. Roark), rws@uiuc.edu (R. Sproat). www.elsevier. com/locate/csl Computer Speech and Language 20 (2006) 41–68 COMPUTER SPEECH AND LANGUAGE Using this generalization, we derive a method that uses Monte Carlo sampling for building Katz backoff models. The adaptation results show that, for adaptation samples of limited size (several tens of hours), unsupervised adaptation on lattices gives a performance gain over using transcripts. The experimental results also show that with a very large adaptation sample (1050 h), the benefit from transcript-based adaptation matches that of lattice-based adaptation. Finally, we show that PCFG domain adaptation using the MAP framework provides similar gains in F-measure accuracy on a parsing task as was seen in ASR accuracy improvements with n-gram adaptation. Experimental results show that unsupervised adaptation provides 37% of the 10.35% gain obtained by supervised adaptation. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Governance of Trial Judges

The role of the bench as the sponsoring organization of trial judges largely remains a mystery to political science. Borrowing from organizational theory the metaphor of loose coupling, a characteristic of many American political institutions, this article explores the tension between elements of loose and tight coupling within the sponsoring organization of judges (the bench) and the consequences of that tension for the distribution of services to clients of trial courts. The article identifies three sets of consequences: (1) The locus and style of innovation is acutely circumscribed by these tensions; in the court that is studied, assertive leadership and punctuated change are less likely than conciliar leadership and incremental change. (2) The juxtaposition of loosely and tightly coupled elements promote responsiveness to powerful clientele interests. (3) Responsiveness to powerful clientele interests leads to a distribution of resources that short-changes less influential clients of the court.
Interleukin-1 deficiency prolongs ovarian lifespan in mice

Significance Females are subjected to a biological clock that dictates the end of the reproductive lifespan, on average, at 50 y of age, whereas fecundity sharply decreases after 30 y of age. Over the past decade, a current trend of postponing childbearing into advanced age has led to a corresponding upward trend in the number of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. Inflammation was reported to affect both IVF outcomes and the ovarian reserve adversely. Identifying a possible culprit, such as IL-1, may offer new insight into the mechanisms responsible for oocyte loss as well as practical interventions, such as IL-1 blockade, which aims to slow down the rate at which oocytes are eliminated and improve IVF outcomes. Oocyte endowment dwindles away during prepubertal and adult life until menopause occurs, and apoptosis has been identified as a central mechanism responsible for oocyte elimination. A few recent reports suggest that uncontrolled inflammation may adversely affect ovarian reserve. We tested the possible role of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1 in the age-related exhaustion of ovarian reserve using IL-1α and IL-1β–KO mice. IL-1α–KO mice showed a substantially higher pregnancy rate and litter size compared with WT mice at advanced age. The number of secondary and antral follicles was significantly higher in 2.5-mo-old IL-1α–KO ovaries compared with WT ovaries. Serum anti-Müllerian hormone, a putative marker of ovarian reserve, was markedly higher in IL-1α–KO mice from 2.5 mo onward, along with a greater ovarian response to gonadotropins. IL-1β–KO mice displayed a comparable but more subtle prolongation of ovarian lifespan compared with IL-1α–KO mice. The protein and mRNA of both IL-1α and IL-1β mice were localized within the developing follicles (oocytes and granulosa cells), and their ovarian mRNA levels increased with age. Molecular analysis revealed decreased apoptotic signaling [higher B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) and lower BCL-2–associated X protein levels], along with a marked attenuation in the expression of genes coding for the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in ovaries of IL-1α–KO mice compared with WT mice. Taken together, IL-1 emerges as an important participant in the age-related exhaustion of ovarian reserve in mice, possibly by enhancing the expression of inflammatory genes and promoting apoptotic pathways.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and wound healing: the functional role of ROS and emerging ROS‐modulating technologies for augmentation of the healing process

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a pivotal role in the orchestration of the normal wound‐healing response. They act as secondary messengers to many immunocytes and non‐lymphoid cells, which are involved in the repair process, and appear to be important in coordinating the recruitment of lymphoid cells to the wound site and effective tissue repair. ROS also possess the ability to regulate the formation of blood vessels (angiogenesis) at the wound site and the optimal perfusion of blood into the wound‐healing area. ROS act in the host's defence through phagocytes that induce an ROS burst onto the pathogens present in wounds, leading to their destruction, and during this period, excess ROS leakage into the surrounding environment has further bacteriostatic effects. In light of these important roles of ROS in wound healing and the continued quest for therapeutic strategies to treat wounds in general and chronic wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous and arterial leg ulcers and pressure ulcers in particular, the manipulation of ROS represents a promising avenue for improving wound‐healing responses when they are stalled. This article presents a review of the evidence supporting the critical role of ROS in wound healing and infection control at the wound site, and some of the new emerging concepts associated with ROS modulation and its potential in improving wound healing are discussed.
Validation of an Indonesian Version of the Breast Cancer Awareness Scale (BCAS-I)

Background: Raising breast cancer awareness is a key strategy to reduce associated mortality. While a paucity of adequately validated instruments for breast cancer awareness is applicable across cultures, even outside the health care setting such instruments have been developed. Objective: This study investigated the validity and psychometric properties of a breast cancer awareness scale in Indonesia (BCAS-I). Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among Indonesian women conveniently selected within three provinces (Yogyakarta, South of Sumatera and East Nusa Tenggara) located in rural-urban areas using stratified random sampling. First, we translated all questionnaires from English to the local language and then back-translated. The third step was to perform psychometric testing of the adapted instrument by establishing internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha score 0.79) and construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: In the 856 participants who responded (responded rate = 98.28%), the age ranged from 18 to 80 years old (mean = 30, SD = 11). The BCAS-I was shown to have good internal consistency, and CFA demonstrated the model fit data adequately (χ2 = 922.267, df = 515, p <0.001, comparative fit index = 0.965, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.96, goodness-of-fit index = 0.97, adjusted goodness-of-fit index = 0.97, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.03 95% confidence interval: 0.027, 0.034). The final version of BCAS-I consists of 33 items across 5 domains that cover most key aspects of breast cancer awareness for this population. Conclusion: The BCAS-I demonstrated good psychometric properties and was found to be valid to provide a measurement of breast cancer awareness in Asian women in general and Indonesian women in particular.
Probing the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis and substrate translocation in the AAA protease FtsH by modelling and mutagenesis

We have built a homology model of the AAA domain of the ATP‐dependent protease FtsH of Escherichia coli based on the crystal structure of the hexamerization domain of N‐ethylmaleimide‐sensitive fusion protein. The resulting model of the hexameric ring of the ATP‐bound form of the AAA ATPase suggests a plausible mechanism of ATP binding and hydrolysis, in which invariant residues of Walker motifs A and B and the second region of homology, characteristic of the AAA ATPases, play key roles. The importance of these invariant residues was confirmed by site‐directed mutagenesis. Further modelling suggested a mechanism by which ATP hydrolysis alters the conformation of the loop forming the central hole of the hexameric ring. It is proposed that unfolded polypeptides are translocated through the central hole into the protease chamber upon cycles of ATP hydrolysis. Degradation of polypeptides by FtsH is tightly coupled to ATP hydrolysis, whereas ATP binding alone is sufficient to support the degradation of short peptides. Furthermore, comparative structural analysis of FtsH and a related ATPase, HslU, reveals interesting similarities and differences in mechanism.
Cleavage and Secretion of Epstein-Barr Virus Glycoprotein 42 Promote Membrane Fusion with B Lymphocytes

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) membrane glycoprotein 42 (gp42) is required for viral entry into B lymphocytes through binding to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II on the B-cell surface. EBV gp42 plays multiple roles during infection, including acting as a coreceptor for viral entry into B cells, binding to EBV glycoprotein H (gH) and gL during the process of membrane fusion, and blocking T-cell recognition of HLA class II-peptide complexes through steric hindrance. EBV gp42 occurs in two forms in infected cells, a full-length membrane-bound form and a soluble form generated by proteolytic cleavage that is secreted from infected cells due to loss of the N-terminal transmembrane domain. Both the full-length and the secreted gp42 forms bind to gH/gL and HLA class II, and the functional significance of gp42 cleavage is currently unclear. We found that in a virus-free cell-cell fusion assay, enhanced secretion of gp42 promoted fusion with B lymphocytes, and mutation of the site of gp42 cleavage inhibited membrane fusion activity. The site of gp42 cleavage was found to be physically distinct from the residues of gp42 necessary for binding to gH/gL. These results suggest that cleavage and secretion of gp42 are necessary for the process of membrane fusion with B lymphocytes, providing the first indicated functional difference between full-length and cleaved, secreted gp42.
Interactive Design of Developable Surfaces

We present a new approach to geometric modeling with developable surfaces and the design of curved-creased origami. We represent developables as splines and express the nonlinear conditions relating to developability and curved folds as quadratic equations. This allows us to utilize a constraint solver, which may be described as energy-guided projection onto the constraint manifold, and which is fast enough for interactive modeling. Further, a combined primal-dual surface representation enables us to robustly and quickly solve approximation problems.
A Multidisciplinary, Science-Based Approach to the Economics of Climate Change

Economic analyses of environmental mitigation and other interdisciplinary public policy issues can be much more useful if they critically examine what other disciplines have to say, insist on using the most relevant observational data and the scientific method, and examine lower cost alternatives to the change proposed. These general principles are illustrated by applying them to the case of climate change mitigation, one of the most interdisciplinary of public policy issues. The analysis shows how use of these principles leads to quite different conclusions than those of most previous such economic analyses, as follows: The economic benefits of reducing CO2 emissions may be about two orders of magnitude less than those estimated by most economists because the climate sensitivity factor (CSF) is much lower than assumed by the United Nations because feedback is negative rather than positive and the effects of CO2 emissions reductions on atmospheric CO2 appear to be short rather than long lasting. The costs of CO2 emissions reductions are very much higher than usually estimated because of technological and implementation problems recently identified. Geoengineering such as solar radiation management is a controversial alternative to CO2 emissions reductions that offers opportunities to greatly decrease these large costs, change global temperatures with far greater assurance of success, and eliminate the possibility of low probability, high consequence risks of rising temperatures, but has been largely ignored by economists. CO2 emissions reductions are economically unattractive since the very modest benefits remaining after the corrections for the above effects are quite unlikely to economically justify the much higher costs unless much lower cost geoengineering is used. The risk of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming appears to be so low that it is not currently worth doing anything to try to control it, including geoengineering.
Integrating Generative and Discriminative Character-Based Models for Chinese Word Segmentation

Among statistical approaches to Chinese word segmentation, the word-based n-gram (generative) model and the character-based tagging (discriminative) model are two dominant approaches in the literature. The former gives excellent performance for the in-vocabulary (IV) words; however, it handles out-of-vocabulary (OOV) words poorly. On the other hand, though the latter is more robust for OOV words, it fails to deliver satisfactory performance for IV words. These two approaches behave differently due to the unit they use (word vs. character) and the model form they adopt (generative vs. discriminative). In general, character-based approaches are more robust than word-based ones, as the vocabulary of characters is a closed set; and discriminative models are more robust than generative ones, since they can flexibly include all kinds of available information, such as future context. This article first proposes a character-based n-gram model to enhance the robustness of the generative approach. Then the proposed generative model is further integrated with the character-based discriminative model to take advantage of both approaches. Our experiments show that this integrated approach outperforms all the existing approaches reported in the literature. Afterwards, a complete and detailed error analysis is conducted. Since a significant portion of the critical errors is related to numerical/foreign strings, character-type information is then incorporated into the model to further improve its performance. Last, the proposed integrated approach is tested on cross-domain corpora, and a semi-supervised domain adaptation algorithm is proposed and shown to be effective in our experiments.