Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speeding Cis-Trans Regulation Discovery by Phylogenomic Analyses Coupled with Screenings of an Arrayed Library of Arabidopsis Transcription Factors

Transcriptional regulation is an important mechanism underlying gene expression and has played a crucial role in evolution. The number, position and interactions between cis-elements and transcription factors (TFs) determine the expression pattern of a gene. To identify functionally relevant cis-elements in gene promoters, a phylogenetic shadowing approach with a lipase gene (LIP1) was used. As a proof of concept, in silico analyses of several Brassicaceae LIP1 promoters identified a highly conserved sequence (LIP1 element) that is sufficient to drive strong expression of a reporter gene in planta. A collection of ca. 1,200 Arabidopsis thaliana TF open reading frames (ORFs) was arrayed in a 96-well format (RR library) and a convenient mating based yeast one hybrid (Y1H) screening procedure was established. We constructed an episomal plasmid (pTUY1H) to clone the LIP1 element and used it as bait for Y1H screenings. A novel interaction with an HD-ZIP (AtML1) TF was identified and abolished by a 2 bp mutation in the LIP1 element. A role of this interaction in transcriptional regulation was confirmed in planta. In addition, we validated our strategy by reproducing the previously reported interaction between a MYB-CC (PHR1) TF, a central regulator of phosphate starvation responses, with a conserved promoter fragment (IPS1 element) containing its cognate binding sequence. Finally, we established that the LIP1 and IPS1 elements were differentially bound by HD-ZIP and MYB-CC family members in agreement with their genetic redundancy in planta. In conclusion, combining in silico analyses of orthologous gene promoters with Y1H screening of the RR library represents a powerful approach to decipher cis- and trans-regulatory codes.
Collaborative human-robot manipulation of highly deformable materials

Robotic manipulation of highly deformable materials is inherently challenging due to the need to maintain tension and the high dimensionality of the state of the material. Past work in this area mostly focuses on generating a detailed model for the material and its interaction with the robot, then using the model to construct a motion plan. In this paper, we take a different approach by using only sensor feedback to dictate the robot motion. We consider the collaborative manipulation of a deformable sheet between a person and a dual-armed robot (Baxter by Rethink Robotics). The robot is capable of contact sensing via joint torque sensors and is equipped with a head-mounted RGBd sensor. The robot senses contact force to maintain tension of the sheet, and in turn comply to the human motion. This is akin to handling a tablecloth with a partner but with one's eyes closed. To improve the response, we use the RGBd sensor to detect folds, and command the robot to move in an orthogonal direction to smooth them out. This is like handling cloth by looking at the cloth itself. Both controllers are able to follow human motion without excessive crimps in the sheet, but as expected, the hybrid controller combining force and vision outperforms the force controller alone in terms of tension force transient. The ability to quickly detect the state of the deformable material also enables more complex manipulation strategies in the future.
The Role of Psychological Capital and Intragroup Conflict on Employees' Burnout and Quality of Service: A Multilevel Approach

Previous studies have found a negative association between intragroup conflict and both employees' health and performance, including the quality of service that employees provide. However, some authors have indicated that such negative effects of intragroup conflict depend on how conflict is managed. In addition, at individual level, research is increasingly emphasizing the role of psychological strengths (i.e., psychological capital) as predictors of health and performance. Thus, this research addresses both a main effect at individual level (psychological capital on burnout/quality of service) and a moderated cross-level model (2-2-1: intragroup conflict, conflict management climate and burnout/quality of service) in a cross-sectional survey study (N = 798 workers nested in 55 units/facilities). Results revealed a main effect of psychological capital on both burnout (r = −0.50) and quality of service (r = 0.28). Also, there was an association between intragroup relationship conflict and burnout (r = 0.33). Finally, there was an interaction effect in which conflict management climate buffers the negative association between intragroup conflict and quality of service. Practical implications of these results for developing positive and healthy organizations that prevent potential psychosocial risks at group level while promote individual strengths are discussed.
The Neuropsychology of emotion

This book is a comprehensive review of the neuropsychology of emotion and the neural mechanisms underlying emotional processing. It is divided into four sections, preceded by an introductin summarizing each chapter and presenting future research directions. Sections include: Background and General Techniques, Theoretical Perspectives, Emotional Disorders, and Clinical Implications. The book draws on studies using behavioural paradigms, the brain lesion method, neurologic and psychiatric disorders, and neuroimaging.
School enrollment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: family economic well-being, gender and place of residence

Abstract This paper examines school enrollment of youth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to identify the roles of family economic well-being, gender, and place of residence in the school enrollment of children. The DRC experienced extremely adverse economic and political conditions during the 1990s. We use data from a 1999 survey that covered four provinces in the western portion of the country. Following an overview of the country’s economic situation, the paper examines descriptive data on school enrollments of more than 9,000 youth aged 6-24. We then report results of multivariate analyses of school enrollment of more than 6,000 youth aged 6-14, controlling for family economic well-being, gender, and place of residence as well as a number of other factors. All three of the key variables are relevant to being in school, but in each case the impacts are dependent on the other two variables. Resume Cet article examine l’inscription scolaire des jeunes en Republique democratique du Congo (RDC), afin d’identifier l’importance de l’influence du bien-etre economique de la famille, du genre, et du lieu de residence sur la scolarisation des jeunes. La RDC a subi des conditions economiques et politiques extremement severes pendant les annees 1990. Les donnees proviennent d’une enquete qui a eu lieu en 1999, et qui a couvert quatre provinces dans la partie occidentale du pays. Nous commencons avec un apercu de la situation economique du pays, suivi par un examen des donnees descriptives concernant les inscriptions scolaires de plus de 9.000 jeunes âgees de 6 a 24 ans. Ensuite nous abordons les resultats des analyses multivariees de l’inscription scolaire de plus de 6.000 jeunes âges de 6 a 14 ans, en tenant compte du bien-etre economique de la famille, du genre, et du lieu de residence ainsi que quelques autres facteurs associes. Toutes les trois variables cles sont pertinentes a la scolarisation, mais dans chaque cas l’impact depend du controle des deux autres variables. Keywords: School enrollment , Democratic Republic of the Congo, economic well-being, gender, place of residence
Years of Quanta : Complex-Dynamical Origin of Planck ' s Constant and Causally Complete Extension of Quantum Mechanics

On 14 December 1900 Max Planck first formulated the idea of the intrinsic discreteness of energy of elementary solid-body oscillators and expressed the discrete energy portions, or quanta, as the product of the frequency of the emitted or absorbed radiation and a new universal constant, now known as Planck's constant. Despite the following spectacular progress of the thus initiated 'quantum mechanics' (and 'new physics' in general), the physical origin of both energy discreteness and universality of Planck's constant, determining quantization of very diverse object behaviour, remain mysterious, as well as other 'peculiar' properties of quantum dynamics. In this paper we review the recently proposed, causally complete extension of quantum mechanics consistently explaining all its 'mysteries', including the action and energy quantization, by the irreducibly complex, 'dynamically multivalued' behaviour of the underlying simple, physically real system of two interacting 'protofields' (quant-ph/9902015, quant-ph/9902016). We emphasize the truly 'first-principles' character of the theory containing no imposed 'postulates', 'principles', or inserted 'entities' except one, unavoidable, assumption about the qualitative, physical nature of the protofields. All the observed entities and their properties, starting from physically real space, time, and elementary particles, are consistently derived, in exact correspondence with their emergence in the real, irreducibly complex, system dynamics (physics/9806002). The latter also provides the natural (dynamic) unification of the causally extended versions of quantum mechanics, relativity, and field theory. The intrinsic realism and completeness of the obtained world picture are in agreement with the 'absolute reality' quest of Max Planck and actually confirm his famous 'doubts' in the conventional, purely abstract and formally postulated, scheme of quantum mechanics (cf. quant-ph/9911107). We describe various applications of the obtained results providing successful solution to numerous fundamental and practical problems (e. g. gr-qc/9906077) dangerously stagnating within the canonical, dynamically single-valued approach that continue to dominate in science because of the purely subjective influences emphasised by Thomas Kuhn.
How reliable are annotations via crowdsourcing: a study about inter-annotator agreement for multi-label image annotation

The creation of golden standard datasets is a costly business. Optimally more than one judgment per document is obtained to ensure a high quality on annotations. In this context, we explore how much annotations from experts differ from each other, how different sets of annotations influence the ranking of systems and if these annotations can be obtained with a crowdsourcing approach. This study is applied to annotations of images with multiple concepts. A subset of the images employed in the latest ImageCLEF Photo Annotation competition was manually annotated by expert annotators and non-experts with Mechanical Turk. The inter-annotator agreement is computed at an image-based and concept-based level using majority vote, accuracy and kappa statistics. Further, the Kendall τ and Kolmogorov-Smirnov correlation test is used to compare the ranking of systems regarding different ground-truths and different evaluation measures in a benchmark scenario. Results show that while the agreement between experts and non-experts varies depending on the measure used, its influence on the ranked lists of the systems is rather small. To sum up, the majority vote applied to generate one annotation set out of several opinions, is able to filter noisy judgments of non-experts to some extent. The resulting annotation set is of comparable quality to the annotations of experts.
Bmc International Health and Human Rights System-level Determinants of Immunization Coverage Disparities among Health Districts in Burkina Faso: a Multiple Case Study

from The fallacy of coverage: uncovering disparities to improve immunization rates through evidence. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Despite rapid and tangible progress in vaccine coverage and in premature mortality rates registered in sub-Saharan Africa, inequities to access remain firmly entrenched, large pockets of low vaccination coverage persist, and coverage often varies considerably across regions, districts, and health facilities' areas of responsibility. This paper focuses on system-related factors that can explain disparities in immunization coverage among districts in Burkina Faso. Methods: A multiple-case study was conducted of six districts representative of different immunization trends and overall performance. A participative process that involved local experts and key actors led to a focus on key factors that could possibly determine the efficiency and efficacy of district vaccination services: occurrence of disease outbreaks and immunization days, overall district management performance, resources available for vaccination services, and institutional elements. The methodology, geared toward reconstructing the evolution of vaccine services performance from 2000 to 2006, is based on data from documents and from individual and group interviews in each of the six health districts.The process of interpreting results brought together the field personnel and the research team. Results: The districts that perform best are those that assemble a set of favourable conditions. However, the leadership of the district medical officer (DMO) appears to be the main conduit and the rallying point for these conditions. Typically, strong leadership that is recognized by the field teams ensures smooth operation of the vaccination services, promotes the emergence of new initiatives and offers some protection against risks related to outbreaks of epidemics or supplementary activities that can hinder routine functioning.The same is true for the ability of nurse managers and their teams to cope with new situations (epidemics, shortages of certain stocks).
A reduced‐order approach to four‐dimensional variational data assimilation using proper orthogonal decomposition

Four‐dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVAR) is a powerful tool for data assimilation in meteorology and oceanography. However, a major hurdle in use of 4DVAR for realistic general circulation models is the dimension of the control space (generally equal to the size of the model state variable and typically of order 107–108) and the high computational cost in computing the cost function and its gradient that require integration model and its adjoint model.
From internal imbalances to global imbalances: a survey on the causes of China’s export-led growth

There is a broad consensus that China’s export- and investment-led growth model is unsustainable and therefore needs to become more balanced. In the public debate, Chinese exchange rate interventions are mostly made (solely) responsible for this. But it is unclear whether and how much the Renminbi is undervalued, and if an exchange rate appreciation helps to reduce China’s current account surplus significantly. This survey reviews the international literature on China’s export-oriented growth model. Internal structural imbalances in the Chinese economy, resulting in an extremely low consumption-to-GDP share by historical and international standards, play hereby a central role. Related to this are: 1) the drop in household and wage income as a share of GDP and low employment growth, and its impact on consumption demand; 2) the increase in income uncertainty and inequality, and its impact on household savings; and 3) the role of government spending, i.e., high and increasing public surpluses. The central policy challenge is therefore to increase household incomes, and to reduce income inequality and uncertainty.
Perceptions of Mentoring: Examining the Experiences of Women Superintendents.

This descriptive mixed methods study gathered both quantitative and qualitative data on the mentoring experiences of women superintendents in a Southeastern state. The quantitative participants included 39 women superintendents from this state and the qualitative portion of the study was comprised of eight female superintendents purposefully selected from that group. Overall findings revealed women superintendents had positive mentoring experiences that included the importance of having a female mentor and establishing a support system. Additional findings revealed social-emotional based elements for effective mentoring relationships leading to challenge, support, and encouragement of other female educational leaders through both formal and informal mentoring.
The Correlation Structure of Relative Phase Variability Influences the Occurrence of Phase Transition in Coordination

ABSTRACT The coordination dynamics framework has presumed that fluctuations in relative phase series produced in bimanual coordination are random. However, results from recent studies have shown that relative phase series contain noise (persistent long-range correlations) instead. Using an incremental protocol in line with the paradigmatic bimanual coordination framework, the author shows that the movement frequencies at which individuals spontaneously switch from anti-phase to in-phase coordination are significantly correlated with the intensity of long-range correlations but not with the amplitude of baseline fluctuations in relative phase. This finding illustrates the tangible relationship between present theoretical perspectives and accumulating evidence for noise. The author underscores the heuristic potential of systematic efforts to bridge the gap between present theories and the pervasive findings of noise.
Perceptions and Attitudes towards Blended Learning for English Courses: A Case Study of Students at University of Bisha

This paper presents a case study of students’ perceptions and attitudes towards Blended Learning course in English at University of Bisha. The statement of problem that blended learning of English course annoys students at University of Bisha. Most of the students do not understand well the objectives of e learning through blended learning courses or mostly deal with the blackboard system “Learning Management System” (LMC). This paper identifies the perceptions and attitudes that blended learning provides to students’ learning experiences as well as to investigate negative impressions in blended English courses from the learners’ perception. This paper also outlines the concept of blended learning courses and e-learning from students’ viewpoints. In this paper, the author conducted a survey through a questionnaire at University of Bisha, English department from eight levels of undergraduate program in both boys and girls colleges. There are (130) respondents enrolled in English department. The questionnaire was designed to measure the students’ perceptions and attitudes towards BL. This study concludes that in general the students’ perceptions and attitudes towards BL were positive in terms of the three domains in the questionnaire. Moreover, students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning process. As well as learners can decide when and how to use the resources provided. This study also concludes that blended learning is as effective as face to face learning in developing and improving knowledge and skills. It reflects the students’ negative impressions in some points as waste of time, easy cheating and social isolation…etc.
Non-traditional ligands in f-block chemistry

The molecular chemistry of the f-elements, i.e. the lanthanides and actinides, is traditionally dominated by the use of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen or halide ligands. However, the use of metal-based fragments as ligands is underdeveloped, which contrasts to the field of d-block metal–metal complexes that have developed extensively over the last 50 years. Consequently, the use of metal-based fragments as ligands to the f-elements may be regarded as ‘non-traditional’. This review outlines the development of compounds that possess f-element–metal bonds that may be described as polarized covalent or donor–acceptor in nature. For this review, the f-element is defined as (i) a group 3 or lanthanide metal: scandium, yttrium and lanthanum to lutetium or (ii) an actinide metal: thorium or uranium, and the metal is defined as a d-block transition metal, or a p-block triel (group 13, aluminium or gallium), a tetrel (group 14, silicon, germanium or tin), or a pnictide (group 15, antimony or bismuth) metal. Silicon, germanium and antimony are traditionally classified as metalloids, but we include them in this review for completeness. This review focuses on complexes that have been unambiguously structurally authenticated by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies, and novel aspects of their syntheses, properties and reactivities are highlighted.
Big endothelin-1 and endothelin-1 plasma levels are correlated with the severity of primary pulmonary hypertension.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a rare disease of unknown etiology that is characterized by a poor prognosis. This study was undertaken to investigate possible correlations between endothelin (ET)-1 and big ET-1 plasma levels and the severity of PPH. PATIENTS Sixteen consecutive patients with PPH were included. INTERVENTIONS Hemodynamics of patients with PPH were measured by right-heart catheterization, and a 6-min walk test was performed. MEASUREMENTS Plasma levels of the biologically active peptide ET-1 and its precursor big ET-1 were determined in blood samples from the pulmonary artery, peripheral artery, and peripheral vein by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS A strong correlation was shown between pulmonary vascular resistance, mean pulmonary artery pressure, cardiac output, cardiac index, 6-min walk data, and elevated plasma levels of big ET-1 as well as mature ET-1 plasma levels at all sites of blood sampling (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Levels of circulating ET-1 might become a prognostic marker for patients with PPH and serve as a tool for the selection of patients who may benefit from treatment with ET-receptor antagonists.
SPITZER IRS OBSERVATIONS OF k+a GALAXIES: A LINK BETWEEN POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON EMISSION PROPERTIES AND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS FEEDBACK?

We have performed Spitzer InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) low-resolution 5–12 μm spectroscopy on a sample of galaxies selected to be at three distinct poststarburst evolutionary stages based on their optical spectral indices. The resulting IRS spectra show distinctive polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission line structures at 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3 μm and little silicate absorption, indicative of ongoing star formation. However, the PAH interline ratios, in particular the 11.3/6.2 μm and 7.7/6.2 μm ratio, show large variations. These variations are found to correlate with both time since the most recent starburst and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. We speculate that the evolution observed in these PAH ratios is related to an increase in AGN activity with time since starburst.