Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Filtering of Markovian Jump Delay Systems Based on a New Performance Index

This paper is concerned with the design of mode-dependent and mode-independent filters for continuous-time linear Markovian jump systems (MJSs) with time-varying delays. Different from the existing studies in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to solve the H∞, L2 - L∞ passive and dissipative filtering problems in a unified framework. This purpose is successfully realized by using a new performance index that is referred to as extended dissipativity. The extended dissipative inequality contains several weighting matrices. By tuning the weighting matrices, the extended dissipativity will reduce to the H∞ performance, L2 - L∞ performance, passivity and dissipativity, respectively. Delay-dependent conditions for the analysis of stochastic stability and extended dissipativity for MJSs with time-varying delays are obtained by using a mode-dependent Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional together with a novel integral inequality. Based on these conditions, the design methods for mode-dependent and mode-independent filters are developed based on linear matrix inequalities. The designed filters guarantee that the resulting filtering error system is stochastically stable and extended dissipative for any admissible delays. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed methods is substantiated with three illustrative examples.
Quorum-Sensing Mechanisms Mediated by Farnesol in Ophiostoma piceae: Effect on Secretion of Sterol Esterase

ABSTRACT Ophiostoma piceae CECT 20416 is a dimorphic wood-staining fungus able to produce an extracellular sterol-esterase/lipase (OPE) that is of great biotechnological interest. In this work, we have studied the morphological change of this fungus from yeast to hyphae, which is associated with the cell density-related mechanism known as quorum sensing (QS), and how this affects the secretion of OPE. The data presented here confirm that the molecule E,E-farnesol accumulates as the cell number is growing within the population. The exogenous addition of this molecule or spent medium to the cultures increased the extracellular activity of OPE 2.5 times. This fact was related not to an increase in microbial biomass or in the expression of the gene coding for OPE but to a marked morphological transition in the cultures. Moreover, the morphological transition also occurred when a high cell density was inoculated into the medium. The results suggest that E,E-farnesol regulates through QS mechanisms the morphological transition in the dimorphic fungus O. piceae and that it is associated with a higher extracellular esterase activity. Furthermore, identification and transcriptional analysis of genes tup1 and cyr1, which are involved in the response, was carried out. Here we report enhanced production of a sterol-esterase/lipase of biotechnological interest by means of QS mechanisms. These results may be useful in increasing the production of secreted enzymes of other dimorphic fungi of biotechnological interest.
altruism and fatalism: the characteristics of palestinian suicide terrorists

Over the last decade, the suicide method became one of the most prevalent tactics of Palestinian Terrorism in Israel. Who are these people, willing to sacrifice their lives in such an act, and what drives them to do such things? In our present analysis, we answer these questions, while relying on the concepts of altruistic and fatalistic suicide from Durkheim's typology of suicide behavior. Based on a newly established database compiled for this purpose m which includes information based on suicide, as well as non-suicide--Palestinian suicide terrorists from 1993 until the beginning of 2002, fit the "altruistic" type as well as some elements from the "fatalistic" and represent a combination of both types; thus they can be labeled under a new category of "fatalistic altruistic" suicide.
Genome Wide Distributions and Functional Characterization of Copy Number Variations between Chinese and Western Pigs

Copy number variations (CNVs) refer to large insertions, deletions and duplications in the genomic structure ranging from one thousand to several million bases in size. Since the development of next generation sequencing technology, several methods have been well built for detection of copy number variations with high credibility and accuracy. Evidence has shown that CNV occurring in gene region could lead to phenotypic changes due to the alteration in gene structure and dosage. However, it still remains unexplored whether CNVs underlie the phenotypic differences between Chinese and Western domestic pigs. Based on the read-depth methods, we investigated copy number variations using 49 individuals derived from both Chinese and Western pig breeds. A total of 3,131 copy number variation regions (CNVRs) were identified with an average size of 13.4 Kb in all individuals during domestication, harboring 1,363 genes. Among them, 129 and 147 CNVRs were Chinese and Western pig specific, respectively. Gene functional enrichments revealed that these CNVRs contribute to strong disease resistance and high prolificacy in Chinese domestic pigs, but strong muscle tissue development in Western domestic pigs. This finding is strongly consistent with the morphologic characteristics of Chinese and Western pigs, indicating that these group-specific CNVRs might have been preserved by artificial selection for the favored phenotypes during independent domestication of Chinese and Western pigs. In this study, we built high-resolution CNV maps in several domestic pig breeds and discovered the group specific CNVs by comparing Chinese and Western pigs, which could provide new insight into genomic variations during pigs’ independent domestication, and facilitate further functional studies of CNV-associated genes.
Dynamical Localization of DivL and PleC in the Asymmetric Division Cycle of Caulobacter crescentus: A Theoretical Investigation of Alternative Models

Cell-fate asymmetry in the predivisional cell of Caulobacter crescentus requires that the regulatory protein DivL localizes to the new pole of the cell where it up-regulates CckA kinase, resulting in a gradient of CtrA~P across the cell. In the preceding stage of the cell cycle (the “stalked” cell), DivL is localized uniformly along the cell membrane and maintained in an inactive form by DivK~P. It is unclear how DivL overcomes inhibition by DivK~P in the predivisional cell simply by changing its location to the new pole. It has been suggested that co-localization of DivL with PleC phosphatase at the new pole is essential to DivL’s activity there. However, there are contrasting views on whether the bifunctional enzyme, PleC, acts as a kinase or phosphatase at the new pole. To explore these ambiguities, we formulated a mathematical model of the spatiotemporal distributions of DivL, PleC and associated proteins (DivJ, DivK, CckA, and CtrA) during the asymmetric division cycle of a Caulobacter cell. By varying localization profiles of DivL and PleC in our model, we show how the physiologically observed spatial distributions of these proteins are essential for the transition from a stalked cell to a predivisional cell. Our simulations suggest that PleC is a kinase in predivisional cells, and that, by sequestering DivK~P, the kinase form of PleC enables DivL to be reactivated at the new pole. Hence, co-localization of PleC kinase and DivL is essential to establishing cellular asymmetry. Our simulations reproduce the experimentally observed spatial distribution and phosphorylation status of CtrA in wild-type and mutant cells. Based on the model, we explore novel combinations of mutant alleles, making predictions that can be tested experimentally.
Mutations in NR2E3 can cause dominant or recessive retinal degenerations in the same family

NR2E3, a photoreceptor‐specific nuclear receptor (PNR), represses cone‐specific genes and activates several rod‐specific genes. In humans, mutations in NR2E3 have been associated with the recessively‐inherited enhanced short‐wavelength sensitive S‐cone syndrome (ESCS) and, recently, with autosomal dominant (ad) retinitis pigmentosa (RP) (adRP). In the present work, we describe two additional families affected by adRP that carry a heterozygous c.166G>A (p.G56R) mutation in the NR2E3 gene. Functional analysis determined the dominant negative activity of the p.G56R mutant protein as the molecular mechanism of adRP. Interestingly, in one pedigree, the most common causal variant for ESCS (p.R311Q) cosegregated with the adRP‐linked p.G56R mutation, and the compound heterozygotes exhibited an ESCS‐like phenotype, which in 1 of the 2 cases was strikingly “milder” than the patients carrying the p.G56R mutation alone. Impaired repression of cone‐specific genes by the corepressors atrophin‐1 (dentatorubral‐pallidoluysian atrophy [DRPLA] gene product) and atrophin‐2 (arginine‐glutamic acid dipeptide repeat [RERE] protein) appeared to be a molecular mechanism mediating the beneficial effect of the p.R311Q mutation. Finally, the functional dominance of the p.R311Q variant to the p.G56R mutation is discussed. Hum Mutat 0,1–10, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Regulation of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 by Epigenetic Modifications and the Development of Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetes activates retinal matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and MMP-9 damages the mitochondria and augments capillary cell apoptosis. Our aim is to elucidate the mechanism responsible for MMP-9 activation. Histone modifications and recruitment of the nuclear transcriptional factor-κB (p65 subunit) at the MMP-9 promoter and the activity of lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) were measured in the retina from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The role of LSD1 in MMP-9 activation was investigated in isolated retinal endothelial cells transfected with LSD1 small interfering RNA (siRNA). The results were confirmed in the retina from human donors with diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes decreased histone H3 dimethyl lysine 9 (H3K9me2) and increased acetyl H3K9 (Ac-H3K9) and p65 at the retinal MMP-9 promoter. LSD1 enzyme activity and its transcripts were elevated. LSD1 siRNA ameliorated the glucose-induced decrease in H3K9me2 and increase in p65 at the MMP-9 promoter, and prevented MMP-9 activation, mitochondrial damage, and cell apoptosis. Human donors with diabetic retinopathy had similar epigenetic changes at the MMP-9 promoter. Thus, activated LSD1 hypomethylates H3K9 at the MMP-9 promoter and this frees up that lysine 9 for acetylation. Increased Ac-H3K9 facilitates the recruitment of p65, resulting in MMP-9 activation and mitochondrial damage. Thus, the regulation of LSD1 by molecular or pharmacological means has the potential to retard the development of diabetic retinopathy.
Efficient Algorithms for Capacitated Cloudlet Placements

Mobile cloud computing is emerging as a main ubiquitous computing platform to provide rich cloud resources for various applications of mobile devices. Although most existing studies in mobile cloud computing focus on energy savings of mobile devices by offloading computing-intensive jobs from mobile devices to remote clouds, the access delays between mobile users and remote clouds usually are long and sometimes unbearable. Cloudlet as a new technology is capable to bridge this gap, and can enhance the performance of mobile devices significantly while meeting the crisp response time requirements of mobile users. In this paper, we study the cloudlet placement problem in a large-scale Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) consisting of many wireless Access Points (APs). We first formulate the problem as a novel capacitated cloudlet placement problem that places <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $K$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="liang-ieq1-2510638.gif"/></alternatives> </inline-formula> cloudlets to some strategic locations in the WMAN with the objective to minimize the average access delay between mobile users and the cloudlets serving the users. We then propose an exact solution to the problem by formulating it as an Integer Linear Programming (ILP). Due to the poor scalability of the ILP, we instead propose an efficient heuristic for the problem. For a special case of the problem where all cloudlets have identical computing capacities, we devise novel approximation algorithms with guaranteed approximation ratios. We also devise an online algorithm for dynamically allocating user requests to different cloudlets, if the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="liang-ieq2-2510638.gif"/> </alternatives></inline-formula> cloudlets have already been placed. We finally evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms through experimental simulations. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms are promising and scalable.
GENDER AND FORGIVENESS: A META-ANALYTIC REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA

A meta–analysis was conducted with 53 articles reporting 70 studies that addressed gender and forgiveness. The mean d was . 28 indicating that females are more forgiving than males. Potential methodological moderators were examined: (a) type of sample, (b) target of forgiveness, (c) trait, state, or familial/marital forgiveness, (d) actual versus hypothetical transgressions, (e) measurement modalities (i.e., questionnaire, experiment, or survey), (f) type of forgiveness measure, (g) published or not published, (h) validated measures versus non–validated measures, and (i) culture. No methodological variables moderated the relationship between gender and forgiveness. However, there were larger gender differences on vengeance than any other forgiveness–related measure. Other potential moderators were suggested as possibly influencing the gender difference including functional differences processing forgiveness, differences in dispositional qualities, and situational cues.
Optimal local implementation of nonlocal quantum gates

We investigate the minimal resources that are required in the local implementation of nonlocal quantum gates in a distributed quantum computer. Both classical communication requirements and entanglement consumption are investigated. We present general statements on the minimal resource requirements and present optimal procedures for a number of important gates, including controlled-NOT ~CNOT! and Toffoli gates. We show that one bit of classical communication in each direction is both necessary and sufficient for the nonlocal implementation of the quantum CNOT, while in general two bits in each direction is required for the implementation of a general two-bit quantum gate. In particular, the state swapper requires this maximum classical communication overhead. Extensions of these ideas to multiparty gates are presented.
Three Tests of the Mcclelland Discrepancy Hypothesis

Maslow (1937) had Ss indicate their degree of liking for a list of 30 Russian names for women. Prior to this they had heard 15 of the names read aloud, once a night for 6 nights. The 15 names used in the familiarization procedure received significantly more favorable ratings. Murphy (1947, p. 163) interpreted this in terms of canalization. He stated further, however, that some familiarization studies ". indicate a decline rather than a rise in affective value. There is no intention here of denying the . reality of such 'habituation'; its exact conditions are not understood. " The problem becomes that of stating the conditions under which increased familiarity with stimuli will bring higher liking for them, and the conditions under which lower liking will result. The discrepancy hypothesis of affective arousal (McClelland, 1953) is an attempt to do chis. The discrepancy in question is the excent to which a particular stimulus deviates from the adaptation level of a person for such a class of stimulation. The prediction is made that individuals will be indifferent to stimulation very similar to their adaptation level, but chat up to a point, stimulation differing by successively greater degrees will be reacted to more and more favorably. Beyond such a point however, greater discrepancies from adaptacion level will result in successively lower degrees of liking. In this context then, familiarity of a stimulus would be redefined in terms of the extent to which it differs from adaptation level. Hunt (1960) pointed out similarities becween this formulation and those of Hebb (1949) and Piaget (1952, 1954). Experimental smdies pertinent to the discrepancy hypothesis have been performed with rats by Lubow and Tighe (1957), and with humans by Kenny (1955), Haber (1958), and Strassburger and Wertheimer ( 1959). Strassburger and Werrheimer used nonsense syllables with different association values to provide different degrees of deviation from the adaptacion level for lcnguage that Ss presumably build up by speaking English. Ss rated the syl1ab:es with higher association values as more pleasant. Exp. I of the present investigation repeated the study by Strassburger and Wertheimer (1959). Exp. I1 used a different technique for providing different degrees of discrepancy from the adaptation level for language. The stimuli were eight-letter pseudo-words constructed by Miller ( 195 1 ) according to rhe scatistical properties of English. Exp. I11 artempted to alter Ss' ratings of low association value nonsense syllables by differential familiarization training. I t
MULTIDIMENSIONAL PERFECTIONISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY AMONG YOUTH: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

OF DISSERTATION MULTIDIMENSIONAL PERFECTIONISM AND SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY AMONG YOUTH: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS Although traditional researchers exploring perfectionism frequently cast the construct in a negative light, a steady stream of recent studies have demonstrated that perfectionistic beliefs can yield both positive and negative outcomes. Despite this progression in the research, perfectionism remains an understudied phenomenon among youth, especially as it relates to the ways in which these individuals are perceived by others. The current study builds on the previous literature by exploring adolescent perfectionism across a variety of psychological and psychoeducational dimensions. Moreover, a unique addition to the literature offered by this study was the inclusion of peer-reports along with self-reported measures in hopes of gaining a fuller understanding of the psychosocial characteristics of perfectionistic youth. The incorporation of peer reports also allowed a novel approach to the study of perfectionism by exploring this construct through the lens of their adolescent colleagues. Self and peer reported data was drawn from a sample of 816 ninth grade students representing three separate high schools. MANOVA results revealed a number of differences between perfectionistic subtypes across both self and peer-reported data. More specifically, adaptive perfectionists rated themselves as having less anxiety and depression as compared to their maladaptive and non-perfectionistic counterparts. Adaptive perfectionists were also reported to have stronger interpersonal relationships and greater social connectivity than their peers. Moreover, both adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists reported significantly higher GPAs than non-perfectionists. Peer informant data indicated that adaptive perfectionists were rated as having the highest academic expectations followed by maladaptive perfectionists and then non-perfectionists. Contrary to expectations, no significant differences were found between cluster groupings on peer reported social withdrawnness. Findings suggest that adaptive perfectionism is associated with a range of positive psychological, psychoeducational and psychosocial outcomes. Conversely, maladaptive perfectionism appears to be related to several behaviors which may impede healthy adolescent functioning. Implications regarding the improved assessment of perfectionism and intervention strategies aimed at both students and professionals working within the school domain are discussed.
Education, Cognitive Skill, and Labor Force Outcomes

This article compares the degree to which educational attainment and cognitive skill, individually and together, serve to explain labor force outcomes (occupational status and earnings). Although the same antecedent factors affect both of them and they both are associated with labor force outcomes, they are not redundant measures. They are affected in different ways by antecedent factors (social origins, ethnicity, and native language), act as independent mediators of the antecedent factors' effects on labor force outcomes, and separately serve to explain those labor force outcomes. Detailed analyses of subsamples of whites, blacks, and Hispanics point up differences in the relative importance of educational attainment and cognitive skill in explaining the labor force outcomes of men and women in the three groups. Both educational attainment and cognitive skill contribute independently in all three groups but in different ways and to different degrees.
Gender Role Stereotyping in Advertisements on Three Radio Stations: Does Musical Genre Make a Difference?

The portrayal of women and men in radio advertisements on three different channels representing various music genres was examined. This study aimed to replicate the work of Furnham and Thomson who analyzed radio advertisements in Britain which updated a previous study by Furnham and Schofield. Some 111 radio advertisements were content analyzed. Using McArthur and Resko's coding scheme, central figures were coded for: credibility, role, argument, reward, product and narrator. Males were over-represented in radio advertisements (72% of all central characters). Males were significantly more likely to be shown as authorities on products rather than as users; females were portrayed more often than males in dependent roles; and males were most often in the neutral narrator capacity compared to females. We expected to observe more gender stereotyping on the oldies channel than the rock or hip hop stations. Males were significantly more likely to use scientific arguments to sell products on the oldies station compared to females. Likewise, females were more likely to be depicted in a dependent role on this station than were males. Our findings generally replicate those of Furnham and Thomson; however, we did not find gender differences with regard to the perceived reward of using a product or the type of product being sold. We agree with Furnham and Thomson that changes in gender stereotyping on this type of media may lag behind those for television advertisements.
Domestic orchestration

The steady proliferation of media and connectivity reconstitutes domestic rhythms in ways that make them emergent, relational, negotiated, and multiple. In an attempt to capture some of the entangled dynamics characteristic of contemporary domestic chronometrics (time-measured), chronaesthetics (time-felt) and chronomanagement (time-ordered), we use the terms ‘reticular rhythms’ and ‘technologies of reticulation’. In our analysis of interviews with five families over three years we identify four interrelated forms of reticular rhythms that together constitute the rhythms of contemporary domestic life. These four are: a polyphonic drone, a polychronic dissonance, an asynchronous consonance, and an orchestrated performance. Each of these forms of rhythm are described and illustrated.