Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
European starlings unriddle the ambiguous-cue problem

The ambiguous-cue problem is deceptively simple. It involves two concurrently trained simultaneous discriminations (known as PA and NA trials), but only three stimuli. Stimulus A is common to both discriminations, but serves as non-reinforced stimulus (S-) on PA trials and as reinforced stimulus (S+) on NA trials. Typically, animals’ accuracy is lower on PA trials—the ambiguous-cue effect. We conducted two experiments with European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) using Urcuioli and Michalek’s (2007, Psychon B Rev 14, 658–662) experimental manipulations as a springboard to test the predictions of two of the most important theoretical accounts of the effect: the interfering cue hypothesis and value transfer theory. Both experiments included two groups of birds, one trained with a regular ambiguous-cue problem (Group Continuous) and another trained with partial reinforcement on PA trials (Group PA-Partial). The experiments differed only in the number of sessions (18 vs. 36) and daily trials (360 vs. 60). As previously observed, we found faster acquisition on NA trials than on PA trials in both experiments, but by the end of training PA performance was surprisingly high, such that no ambiguous-cue effect was present in Group Continuous of either experiment. The effect was still present in both PA-Partial groups, but to a smaller degree than expected. These findings are inconsistent with the literature, in particular with the results of Urcuioli and Michalek (2007) with pigeons, and question the aforementioned theoretical accounts as complete explanations of the ambiguous-cue effect. In our view, to achieve such high levels of accuracy on PA trials, starlings must have attended to configural (i.e., contextual) cues, thus differentiating stimulus A when presented on PA trials from stimulus A when presented on NA trials. A post hoc simulation of a reinforcement-based configural model supported our assertion.
Effect of Dietary Inclusion of Cassava Yeast as Probiotic Source on Growth Performance, Small Intestine (Ileum) Morphology and Carcass Characteristic in Broilers

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary inclusion of cassava yeast as a probiotic source on growth performance, ileum morphology and carcass characteristic. Two hundred and forty 1-day old broiler chicks of both sexes were used for 42-days. The chicks were randomly allocated to 24 pens containing 10 chicks each with 6 replicates and assigned to receive one of 4 dietary treatments (1. Control, 2. S. cerevisae 1x10 organisms/kg, 3. S. cerevisiae 1x10 organisms/kg, 4. S. cerevisiae 1x10 6 7 8 organisms/kg) in a completely randomized design. There was no significant difference in the feed intake starter period, feed conversion ratio, average daily gain and dressing percentage. Significant differences were observed in feed intake finisher period, tight percentage and villus height. The results of the present experiment showed that dietary inclusion of cassava yeast as a probiotic to broiler seems to have minimal influence on broiler performance. Also, further research is required to determine the dose and form of the probiotic used.
Short Montreal Cognitive Assessment

The diagnostic accuracy of the short Montreal Cognitive Assessment (s-MoCA), a cognitive screening instrument recently derived by item response theory and computerized adaptive testing from the original MoCA, for the diagnosis of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was assessed in 2 patient cohorts referred to a dedicated memory clinic in order to examine the validity and reproducibility of s-MoCA. Diagnosis used standard clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia and MCI as reference standard (prevalence of cognitive impairment = 0.43 and 0.46 in each cohort, respectively). There were significant differences in s-MoCA test scores for dementia, MCI, and subjective memory impairment (P ≤ .01), and s-MoCA effect sizes (Cohen d) were medium to large (range: 0.65-1.42) for the diagnosis of dementia and MCI. Using the cut-off for s-MoCA specified in the index study, it proved highly sensitive (>0.9) for diagnosis of dementia but with poor specificity (≤0.25), with moderate sensitivity (≥0.75) and specificity (≥0.60) for diagnosis of MCI. In conclusion, in these pragmatic diagnostic test accuracy studies, s-MoCA proved acceptable and sensitive for the diagnosis of cognitive impairment in a memory clinic setting, with a performance similar to that of the original MoCA.
On the cognitive origins of aesthetic pleasure

The purpose of the present thesis was to characterize the cognitive mechanism that underlies aesthetic pleasure. This problem was attacked using a bottom-up and a top-down approach. The concern of the bottom-up approach was to elucidate the mechanism responsible for a number of well- established historical (i.e., learning-based) preference effects - the mere-exposure effect, preference for prototypicality and structural-relation preferences. Critical literature reviews and empirical results from a number of experiments that employed a category learning procedure established that these preference effects are best conceptualized as stemming from conscious and inferential processes, that is, from the strategic use of either processing fluency, feelings of familiarity or explicit recognition to determine liking. The concern of the top-down approach was to empirically examine the often articulated notion that aesthetic pleasure may be traced to a psychological process involving 'the striving for and the acquisition of meaning'. Using a procedure in which participants were first given an impoverished passage or picture to make sense of before being given the full passage or picture to evaluate, the results of a number of experiments showed that the more participants had to strive after meaning (the more impoverished the preceding passage or picture became) the more pleasure that was engendered upon the acquisition of that meaning (the more favorably they subsequently evaluated the full passage or picture). The findings from both approaches led to the following cognitive characterization of aesthetic pleasure : it consists of a 'meaning making' process in which difficult and uncertain processing (as one strives for meaning) gives way to easy and certain processing (when one acquires meaning) to produce feelings of relief (because one's exertions have abated) and joy (because of the challenge that was successfully overcome in acquiring meaning). The relevance of this meaning making' process for our understanding of a number of preference effects is discussed
Effect of Momordica charantia on blood glucose level of normal and alloxan-diabetic rabbits.

MOMORDICA CHARANTIA fruit (bitter gourd) has been considered an effective antidiabetic agent for many years. In any attempt to screen the alleged activity, blood glucose levels of normal and alloxan-diabetic male albino rabbits treated orally with various doses of dried MOMORDICA CHARANTIA friut were determined by the O-toludine method after various time intervals. In normal rabbits, the 0.25 g/kg dose did not decrease blood glucose. However, 0.5 g/kg dose caused decrease in blood glucose. The effect was maximum at a 10 hour interval, after which it decreased gradually. The 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg doses also lowered the blood glucose of these rabbits. The maximum decrease was produced by these doses at 10 hours intervals. In diabetic rabbits, the 0.25 g/kg and 0.5 g/kg doses did not cause a significant decrease in blood glucose. However, 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg doses produced dose dependent decreases in blood glucose levels. The maximum decrease was observed at 10 hours intervals. From the results, it could be concluded that MOMORDICA CHARANTIA fruit possessed a significant and consistent hypoglycaemic effect in normal and alloxandiabetic rabbits. The results obtained are discussed in the light of the available literature. It is suggested that probably MOMORDICA CHARANTIA contains more than one type of hypoglycaemic principles.
A MULTI-OBJECTIVE EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM FOR IMPROVING ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Energy consumption and coverage problem are two important issues in wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we are going to maintain sensing coverage in a heterogeneous wireless sensor network with an adjustable sensing range that is randomly developed, in such a way that small numbers of sensor nodes are active, and therefore a small amount of energy is consumed, and the network lifetime increases. This is a multi-objective optimization problem. We used a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm based on Decomposition (MOEA/D) for solving this problem.The experimental results demonstrated that MOEA/D can perform better than NSGA-II.
Increased IL-12 and IL-18 Responsiveness Immune Responses In Vivo: Role of Prevention of Allergen-Specific, Th2-Biased

The factors that control development of adaptive responses to exogenous Ag remain incompletely understood. An ability to selectively direct immunity toward a speciﬁc phenotype would be of clinical beneﬁt in numerous immunological disorders. Administration of chemically modiﬁed allergen glutaraldehyde-polymerized OVA (OA-POL) leads to > 90% reductions in murine IgE and > 500-fold increases in IgG2c responses that develop upon subsequent immunization with native Ag. In the present study, we examine the mechanisms underlying this reorientation of the type 2 dominant response that would normally develop. Lack of endogenous IL-12 or IFN- (cid:1) results in markedly reduced induction of IgG2c responses following OA-POL treatment, but only IFN- (cid:1) (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice demonstrate reduced capacity to prevent IgE induction. This indicates that while both IL-12 and IFN- (cid:1) are critical promoters of type 1 immunity, only IFN- (cid:1) is required to maximally inhibit development of type 2 immune responses. Compared with OVA-immunized mice, CD69 (cid:3) T cells from OA-POL-immunized mice demonstrate elevated IL-12R (cid:4) 2 , IL-18R (cid:5) , and IL-18R (cid:4) mRNA levels, as well as increased IFN- (cid:1) production in response to rIL-12 or rIL-18 stimulation. Collectively, these data indicate that preventing induction of type 2 immune responses is critically dependent on altered T cell responsiveness to these cytokines. The ﬁnding that targeted, Ag-speciﬁc manipulation of IL-12 and IL-18 responsiveness can be used to shape the phenotype of the dominant immune response that develops suggests that speciﬁcally targeting IL-12 and IL-18 receptor expression may offer clinical options
A light and electron microscopic study of osteogenesis imperfecta bone samples, with reference to collagen chemistry and clinical phenotype

A detailed morphological study was carried out using light and electron microscopy on 36 bone specimens from patients suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and 20 age‐ and site‐matched control bone specimens. The findings were grouped into the clinical types of OI according to the Sillence classification. The morphological and ultrastructural alterations observed in OI bone correlate well with clinical severity. Thus, OI type I, the mildest type, showed the least abnormalities in bone ultrastructure. OI type IV closely resembled type I, with only minor abnormalities in the bone cells and osteoid. OI type III showed abnormalities in the structure and distribution of osteoid collagen fibrils, whilst OI type II, the lethal form, revealed many varied abnormalities such as thin cortical bone, sparse trabecular bone, increased numbers of osteoclasts and osteocytes, thin osteoid with thin collagen fibrils, and patchy mineralization. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
[Effect of basic fibroblast growth factor on expression of protein and mRNA of bone morphogenetic protein 4 in hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in newborn rats].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF) on expression of protein and mRNA of bone morphogenetic protein 4 in hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) in newborn rats. METHOD One hundred and twenty 7 days old neonatal rats were randomly divided into control group, hypoxic-ischemic brain damage and interventional group of bFGF, each having forty neonatal rats. After HIBD model was established, bFGF was given to interventional group by peritoneal injection for 5 continuous days. Every group was randomly divided into 7 days, 14 days, 21 days and 28 days group, according to the time of sacrifice. BMP4 protein in hippocampus was determined with immunohistochemical method. Messenger RNA of BMP4 were determined with in situ hybridization. Apoptosis of nerve cell was determined with TUNEL. Intergroup or intragroup comparisons were performed with analysis of variance. RESULT On the days 7 and 14, expression of BMP4 protein in hippocampus was higher in interventional group of bFGF than in HIBD while expression of BMP4 protein in interventional group of bFGF and HIBD was lower on day 7 than on day 14. Expression of BMP4 protein on the days 21 and 28 had no significant difference among three groups. mRNA expression of BMP4 in interventional group of bFGF and HIBD was significantly higher in hippocampus than in control group. On the day 14, BMP4 mRNA in hippocampus widely expressed in HIBD while BMP4 mRNA only expressed in CA1 in interventional group of bFGF. Expression of BMP4 mRNA in hippocampus on the affected side decreased from the time of killing on 28th day while there was no significant change in interventional group of bFGF. Apoptosis of neural cells at the time of sacrifice on day 7 was lower in interventional group of bFGF than that in HIBD group (F=9.010, P<0.01). Apoptotic neural cells was higher in bFGF and HIBD groups at the time of killing on days 14, 21 and 28 than that on day 7 but that the bFGF group had less apoptotic neural cells than HIBD group (F=9.202, 7.932, 14.985, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS bFGF has a neurorestoration effect, which promotes expression of BMP4 protein and BMP4 mRNA in hippocampus of HIBD and inhibit apoptosis of neural cells.
Treatment of intrabony defects with collagen membrane barriers. Case reports.

Two separate investigations were undertaken to assess the clinical characteristics and the safety, and to determine whether an absorbable type 1 bovine collagen barrier membrane would result in the improvement of clinical parameters during guided tissue regeneration in humans. The collagen membrane barrier was placed over a total of 21 interdental intrabony periodontal defects in 18 patients. The surgical procedures and postsurgical regimen were similar in both components of the investigation. Sulcular incisions were used and the sites were surgically exposed by reflection of full thickness mucoperiosteal flaps. The intrabony defects were debrided and the root surfaces prepared with automatic scalers and curets. Four 1-minute applications of tetracycline HCl 50 mg/ml were applied to the root surface. The collagen membrane barrier was hydrated in sterile saline until pliable, then trimmed so it covered the osseous defect and extended 2 to 3 mm beyond the defect. In both investigations, the collagen barrier membrane was not sutured, but retained by "pouching" or undermining the flap. Healing occurred without complications. There were no untoward or adverse reactions to the material in either phase of the study. In the initial investigation, 13 intrabony defects with probing depths of > or = 5 mm were treated in 9 patients having a mean age of 50.6 years. No controls defects were treated. Soft and hard tissue measurements were taken at the time of initial surgery and at 2, 4, and 6 months. In the second phase, 9 patients were enrolled with a mean age of 49.7 years. They had similar bilateral interdental intrabony defects with probing depths > or = 6 mm. One defect received the collagen membrane barrier, while the other was treated by flap debridement alone. The collagen membrane had undergone modification since the initial investigation, and was more highly cross-linked to retard absorption. After initial therapy, and prior to the surgical procedure, a series of 3 dermal patch tests were used to determine whether the patient would elicit a reaction to the collagen. Venous blood was drawn at baseline, 7 to 10 days, 18 to 21 days and at 8 weeks for analysis by ELISA for comparison of test and control sites relative to baseline. There were no allergic response to the dermal tests, and the ELISA tests indicated no significant differences between test and control sites. An automated probe was used to record soft and hard tissue measurements. These included the probing depths and clinical attachment levels. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Top Management Championship and Individual Behaviour Towards Information Security: An Integrative Model

We develop an individual behavioural model in the context of information security in organizational settings. This model integrates the top management championship theory and the theory of planned behaviour in conjunction with organizational culture and personality traits. Using structural equation modelling techniques and survey data, we test hypotheses on how top management beliefs and participation influence key individual behavioural determinants as well as the role of organizational culture and personality traits in moderating the relationships among key constructs. We find that the influence of top management on employee behaviour is mostly through the top management participation in information security-related initiatives and activities. More importantly, we find that a rules-oriented organizational culture enhances the effect of top management participation on employee behaviour. However, the hypothesized moderating effect of personality trait (dutifulness) on the relationships between attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and behavioural intention are not supported.
Local Ambient Occlusion in Direct Volume Rendering

This paper presents a novel technique to efficiently compute illumination for Direct Volume Rendering using a local approximation of ambient occlusion to integrate the intensity of incident light for each voxel. An advantage with this local approach is that fully shadowed regions are avoided, a desirable feature in many applications of volume rendering such as medical visualization. Additional transfer function interactions are also presented, for instance, to highlight specific structures with luminous tissue effects and create an improved context for semitransparent tissues with a separate absorption control for the illumination settings. Multiresolution volume management and GPU-based computation are used to accelerate the calculations and support large data sets. The scheme yields interactive frame rates with an adaptive sampling approach for incrementally refined illumination under arbitrary transfer function changes. The illumination effects can give a better understanding of the shape and density of tissues and so has the potential to increase the diagnostic value of medical volume rendering. Since the proposed method is gradient-free, it is especially beneficial at the borders of clip planes, where gradients are undefined, and for noisy data sets.
Algorithms on negatively curved spaces

We initiate the study of approximate algorithms on negatively curved spaces. These spaces have become of interest in various domains of computer science including networking and vision. The classical example of such a space is the real-hyperbolic space Hd for d ges 2, but our approach applies to a more general family of spaces characterized by Gromov's (combinatorial) hyperbolic condition. We give efficient algorithms and data structures for problems like approximate nearest-neighbor search and compact, low-stretch routing on subsets of negatively curved spaces of fixed dimension (including Hd as a special case). In a different direction, we show that there is a PTAS for the traveling salesman problem when the set of cities lie, for example, in Hd. This generalizes Arora's results for Ropf d. Most of our algorithms use the intrinsic distance geometry of the data set, and only need the existence of an embedding into some negatively curved space in order to function properly. In other words, our algorithms regard the inter-point distance function as a black box, and are independent of the representation of the input points
What''s old about new ideas

A gauge for aligning the mold of a continuous-casting machine with a guide roll-rack beneath the mold. The gauge includes elongated bars and connecting links pivoted to the bars forming a parallelogram. Brackets are pivoted to one or more of the links and carry dial indicators. The bars have portions which have straight side edges for abutting the rolls of the roll-rack, and portions of reduced width to lie within the mold. The dial indicators have plungers for abutting the mold walls.
This Paper Is Included in the Proceedings of the 12th Usenix Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (osdi '16). Graphene: Packing and Dependency-aware Scheduling for Data-parallel Clusters G: Packing and Dependency-aware Scheduling for Data-parallel Clusters

– We present a new cluster scheduler, G, aimed at jobs that have a complex dependency structure and heterogeneous resource demands. Relaxing either of these challenges, i.e., scheduling a DAG of homogeneous tasks or an independent set of heterogeneous tasks, leads to NP-hard problems. Reasonable heuristics exist for these simpler problems, but they perform poorly when scheduling heterogeneous DAGs. Our key insights are: (() focus on the long-running tasks and those with tough-to-pack resource demands, () compute a DAG schedule , oine, by rst scheduling such troublesome tasks and then scheduling the remaining tasks without violating dependencies. ese oine schedules are distilled to a simple precedence order and are enforced by an online component that scales to many jobs. e online component also uses heuristics to compactly pack tasks and to trade-o fairness for faster job completion. Evaluation on a-server cluster and using traces of production DAGs at Microso, shows that G improves median job completion time by and cluster throughput by .