Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Herding Dynamic Weights for Partially Observed Random Field Models

Learning the parameters of a (potentially partially observable) random field model is intractable in general. Instead of focussing on a single optimal parameter value we propose to treat parameters as dynamical quantities. We introduce an algorithm to generate complex dynamics for parameters and (both visible and hidden) state vectors. We show that under certain conditions averages computed over trajectories of the proposed dynamical system converge to averages computed over the data. Our "herding dynamics" does not require expensive operations such as exponentiation and is fully deterministic.
Occupational Ergonomics: Principles and Applications

This chapter provides the basic principles that underlie the field of ergonomics and their application to some of the current issues of importance in the workplace. Sections 2 to 4 deal with the physiology of muscles; biomechanics; cellular responses to tissue, nerve, and joint injuries as they relate to cumulative trauma disorders; and common types of overuse syndromes. The remaining sections deal with applications of the principles to workplace ergonomic issues and proposed ergonomic regulations. The word “ergonomics” is made up of two Greek words, “ergo” meaning work and “nomas” meaning laws. The field of ergonomics is highly interdisciplinary. It applies principles from engineering, physiology, medicine, and psychology to the understanding of the interaction of humans with their workplace. The interaction of humans with their workplace may consist of identifying the relationship between job physical risk factors and physiological responses. For example, a specific ergonomic problem of paramount importance in the occupational health and safety is the issue of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMD). Some of these issues are discussed further in this chapter. The specific areas of application relevant for the field of ergonomics are defined and briefly explained. Activities that involve repetitive stress have effects that are extremely complicated. Adding internal or external forces to the body can, as described, alter bone, joints, ligaments, tendons, nerves, and muscles. Belief that a repetitive motion will result in an isolated nerve injury without affecting surrounding joints, ligaments, muscles, or tendons is likely to inhibit appropriate care and control of exposed individuals. Additional research is needed to further characterize changes that occur, and current approaches to recognizing, managing and preventing repetitive injuries must address all tissues in the involved area. Keywords: Principles; Ergonomics; Muscle; Skeletal system; Anthropometry; Biomechanics; Physiological effects; Stress strain; Tissue injury; Bone; Joints; Ligament; Tendon; Nerve; Upper extremity overuse; Carpal tunnel; Low back pain; Low back loads; Regulations; California standards; ANSI Z-365; Job analysis
Experimental Study on Partial Replacement of Cement with Coconut Shell Ash in Concrete

The environmental impact of OPC is significant because its production emits large amount of CO2. Utilization of industrial soil waste or secondary materials has been encouraged in construction field for the production of cement and concrete because it contributes for reducing the consumption of natural raw materials as resources. The volume of wastes generated in the world has increased over the years due to increase in population, socioeconomic activities and social development. One of the most attractive options of managing such wastes is to look into the possibility of waste minimization and re-use. The cost of cement used in concrete works is on the increase and unaffordable, yet the need for housing and other constructions requiring this material keeps growing with increasing population, thus the need to find alternative binding materials that can be used solely or in partial replacement of cement. Agricultural waste material, in this case, coconut shells, which is an environmental pollutant, are collected and burnt in the open air (uncontrolled combustion) for three hours and that product is incinerated in muffle furnace at 800 o C for 6 hrs to produce coconut shell ash (CSA), which in turn was used as pozzolana in partial replacement of cement in concrete production. Concrete mortar cubes were produced using replacement levels of 0 and 5 percent of OPC with CSA. The Coconut Shell ash is used for the partial replacement of cement. Further, use of coconut shell ash as a value added material as in the case of binary blended cement concrete, reduces the consumption of cement. Reduction of cement usage will reduce the production of cement which in turn cut the CO2 emissions. The time has come for the review of progress made in the field of development of binary blended cement concrete.
Animals on the Web

We demonstrate a method for identifying images containing categories of animals. The images we classify depict animals in a wide range of aspects, configurations and appearances. In addition, the images typically portray multiple species that differ in appearance (e.g. ukari’s, vervet monkeys, spider monkeys, rhesus monkeys, etc.). Our method is accurate despite this variation and relies on four simple cues: text, color, shape and texture. Visual cues are evaluated by a voting method that compares local image phenomena with a number of visual exemplars for the category. The visual exemplars are obtained using a clustering method applied to text on web pages. The only supervision required involves identifying which clusters of exemplars refer to which sense of a term (for example, "monkey" can refer to an animal or a bandmember). Because our method is applied to web pages with free text, the word cue is extremely noisy. We show unequivocal evidence that visual information improves performance for our task. Our method allows us to produce large, accurate and challenging visual datasets mostly automatically.
EFL Secondary School Teachers' Views on Blended Learning in Tabuk City

The aim of this study is to investigate EFL Secondary School Teachers’ Views on Blended Learning. It also aims to investigate (a) the teachers’ views on blended learning content and process, and (b) how blended learning is effective in developing teachers’ performance. The study sample included 35 EFL Saudi teachers in Tabuk City, KSA. In order to collect the data required, the researchers developed a questionnaire that consisted of two sections, namely, process and content. The results indicate that the teachers' views toward blended learning were generally positive and very promising in both sections. Moreover, it was interesting to see that EFL teachers were highly optimistic about how blended learning would help them in improving their performance and how it would motivate their students to learn English. Finally, there are no significant differences between teachers’ responses to the content and process of blended learning, with regards to qualification, experience, and the amount of training done.
Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms

This paper estimates the incidence of state corporate taxes on the welfare of workers, landowners, and firm owners using variation in state corporate tax rates and apportionment rules. We develop a spatial equilibrium model with imperfectly mobile firms and workers. Firm owners may earn profits and be inframarginal in their location choices due to differences in location-specific productivities. We use the reduced-form effects of tax changes to identify and estimate incidence as well as the structural parameters governing these impacts. In contrast to standard open economy models, firm owners bear roughly 40% of the incidence, while workers and landowners bear 30-35% and 25-30%, respectively.
Threat Appraisal and Authoritarianism in Context: Reactions to the European Union Enlargement in Border Regions

The present study uses European Union (EU) enlargement as the treatment in a “natural” quasi experiment to analyze the relationship of threat appraisal and authoritarianism. Theoretically it is based on the discussion about the role of contextual variables in the genesis of authoritarianism. Two contradictory perspectives are explicated: the trait model and the situationist model. To test the competing causal hypotheses panel data collected before and after the EU eastern enlargement on perceived threat, authoritarian attitudes, and xenophobia among inhabitants of the German external frontier of the EU (at Wave 1) were analyzed. The use of a cross-lagged panel design demonstrated that the type of relationship between authoritarianism and perceived threat depended on the kind of threat (material or cultural) that was addressed.
Contemporary Perceptions of Immigrants as Threats: Is the Perceived "Criminal Immigrant" Image Supported?

of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Associate Professor Amie L. Nielsen. No. of pages in text. (146) This study examined Americans’ perceptions of immigrants as threats and their implications on immigration policy views as well as immigrants’ actual involvement in crime. Images of immigrant groups result from the perceived threats they pose to the crime rate, economy, political power, and nativism (Blumer 1958). I argued that these perceptions result in opposition to immigrants and support for stronger measures to exclude undocumented immigrants. Of special interest for this study was the “criminal immigrant” stereotype. Previous studies demonstrate that immigrants are not highly crime-involved even when they experience additional stressors during their adaptation processes. Yet, according to Agnew’s (1992) general strain theory, immigrants may be prone to criminality due to additional strains they experience while adjusting to the new country. However, many immigrants, through transnational activities maintain ties with family and friends overseas, thereby making the immigration experience less stressful. I argued in this study that immigrants’ underinvolvement in crime is partly due to their transnational ties, which may serve a protective role as social support and thus condition the effects of strains. To examine the implications for policy views of perceptions of immigrants and immigrants’ actual crime involvement, the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey (CILS) were used. The hypotheses were tested by conducting univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. Overall, perceived immigrant threat affects opposition to immigrants and support for stronger measures to exclude undocumented immigrants. Among the various groups examined, the levels of opposition to immigrants differ from that of support for stronger measures to exclude undocumented immigrants. In terms of immigrants and crime, immigrants were not disproportionately involved in crime, as is widely believed by the American public. Contrary to hypotheses, however, immigrants’ strains were not significant predictors of crime, and transnational ties did not condition the effects of strains on crime. It is recommended that future research be designed using more comprehensive data set(s) that represent and reflect the growing immigration population in the United States. Particularly, research should include measurements of micro-level social dynamics specific to immigrants such as additional measures of transnational ties and resilience.
Thymus Growth and Fetal Immune Responses in Diabetic Pregnancies

Abstract Type 1 diabetes (T1D) during pregnancy possibly affects the development of the thymus and the maturation of the immune system in the offspring. The aim of the ImmunDiabRisk study was to investigate thymus growth and maternal and fetal immune responses in pregnancies with and without T1D. The thymus circumferences of the fetuses of pregnant women with T1D (n=49) and without diabetes (n=59) were measured using ultrasound around the 29th gestational week and standardized for gestational age. Simultaneously, the frequencies and total numbers of cell markers were analyzed by flow cytometry in maternal peripheral blood, and at birth in umbilical cord blood. The standardized circumference of the thymus was similar in fetuses of mothers with and without T1D (p=0.26). We observed higher numbers of FOXP3 Tregs, memory Tregs, erythrocytes, and lymphocytes in the cord blood from T1D pregnancies (p=0.01, p=0.002, p=0.002 and p=0.02, respectively). The frequencies of CD4+/CD8+ T cells correlated positively in maternal blood and umbilical cord blood of mother-child pairs, as did the levels of neutrophils (Spearman’s correlation coefficient r=0.43, p=0.02 for CD4+/CD8+ cells; r=0.46, p=0.03 for neutrophils), while no significant correlations were observed between thymus circumference and any cell markers in the child. Parts of the prenatal immune system seem to develop differently in the offspring of mothers with and without T1D. The correlation of Tregs between maternal blood and cord blood may indicate a significant cross-talk between the maternal and fetal immune system.
Ratio Prophet Inequalities when the Mortal has Several Choices

Let Xi be non-negative, independent random variables with finite expectation, and X n = max{X1,. ,Xn}. The value EX n is what can be obtained by a “prophet”. A “mortal” on the other hand, may use k 1 stopping rules t1,. ,tk, yielding
The Sociology of Street Use in Edo and colonial Manila

People on the streets create a unique culture just by occupying its space. A user-centered design considers first and foremost the needs and behavior of these individuals as they utilize the street space. The paper examines street user behavior in Edo and colonial Manila. The historical context of street use provides potential constructs and concepts that would lead to improving street space. The premise is that due to a similar monsoon-based climate and forest environment origins, even with a contrasting development of street urban form, there is still an underlying similarity with respect to the use of street space in both Edo and Manila. In-depth discussion centers on the sociology of street space as well as street user behavior examining in detail group attributes, individual attributes and user groupings to provide us proof of the presence of street culture brought about mainly by its users and the potential of reviving such culture to make it conducive for street use. Analysis will dwell on the significance of attributes, their level of similarity or dissimilarity as well as their frequency of occurrence and how the information may influence street space design.
MicroRNA-126 Regulates HOXA9 by Binding to the Homeobox

ABSTRACT The PicTar program predicted that microRNA-126 (miR-126), miR-145, and let-7s target highly conserved sites within the Hoxa9 homeobox. There are increased nucleotide constraints in the three microRNA seed sites among Hoxa9 genes beyond that required to maintain protein identity, suggesting additional functional conservation. In preliminary experiments, forced expression of these microRNAs in Hoxa9-immortalized bone marrow cells downregulated the HOXA9 protein and caused loss of biological activity. The microRNAs were shown to target their predicted sites within the homeobox. miR-126 and Hoxa9 mRNA are coexpressed in hematopoietic stem cells and downregulated in parallel during progenitor cell differentiation; however, miR-145 is barely detectable in hematopoietic cells, and let-7s are highly expressed in bone marrow progenitors, suggesting that miR-126 may function in normal hematopoietic cells to modulate HOXA9 protein. In support of this hypothesis, expression of miR-126 alone in MLL-ENL-immortalized bone marrow cells decreased endogenous HOXA9 protein, while inhibition of endogenous miR-126 increased expression of HOXA9 in F9 cells.
Consciousness: here, there and everywhere?

The science of consciousness has made great strides by focusing on the behavioural and neuronal correlates of experience. However, while such correlates are important for progress to occur, they are not enough if we are to understand even basic facts, for example, why the cerebral cortex gives rise to consciousness but the cerebellum does not, though it has even more neurons and appears to be just as complicated. Moreover, correlates are of little help in many instances where we would like to know if consciousness is present: patients with a few remaining islands of functioning cortex, preterm infants, non-mammalian species and machines that are rapidly outperforming people at driving, recognizing faces and objects, and answering difficult questions. To address these issues, we need not only more data but also a theory of consciousness—one that says what experience is and what type of physical systems can have it. Integrated information theory (IIT) does so by starting from experience itself via five phenomenological axioms: intrinsic existence, composition, information, integration and exclusion. From these it derives five postulates about the properties required of physical mechanisms to support consciousness. The theory provides a principled account of both the quantity and the quality of an individual experience (a quale), and a calculus to evaluate whether or not a particular physical system is conscious and of what. Moreover, IIT can explain a range of clinical and laboratory findings, makes a number of testable predictions and extrapolates to a number of problematic conditions. The theory holds that consciousness is a fundamental property possessed by physical systems having specific causal properties. It predicts that consciousness is graded, is common among biological organisms and can occur in some very simple systems. Conversely, it predicts that feed-forward networks, even complex ones, are not conscious, nor are aggregates such as groups of individuals or heaps of sand. Also, in sharp contrast to widespread functionalist beliefs, IIT implies that digital computers, even if their behaviour were to be functionally equivalent to ours, and even if they were to run faithful simulations of the human brain, would experience next to nothing.
Airway obstruction and gas leak during mask ventilation of preterm infants in the delivery room

Introduction Preterm infants with inadequate breathing receive positive pressure ventilation (PPV) by mask with variable success. The authors examined recordings of PPV given to preterm infants in the delivery room for prevalence of mask leak and airway obstruction. Methods and patients The authors reviewed recordings of infants at <32 weeks' gestation born between February 2006 and March 2009. PPV was delivered with a T-piece or self-inflating bag and a round silicone face mask. Airway pressures and gas flow were recorded with a respiratory function monitor (RFM). Videos recorded from a web camera were used to review the resuscitation. The first 2 min of PPV were analysed for each infant. Obstruction was arbitrarily defined as a 75% reduction in delivered expired tidal volume (VTe) and significant face-mask leak as >75%. Results The authors analysed recordings of 56 preterm infants. Obstruction occurred in 14 (26%) recordings and leaks in 27 (51%). Both obstruction and mask leaks were seen in eight (14%) recordings, and neither was seen in 15 (27%). Obstruction occurred at a median (IQR) of 48 (24–60) s after the start of PPV. A median (range) of 22 (3–83) consecutive obstructed inflations were delivered. Face-mask leaks occurred from the first inflation in 19/27 (70%) and in the remaining eight at a median (IQR) of 30 (24–46) s after the start of PPV. A median (range) of 10 (3–117) consecutive inflations with a leak >75% were delivered. Conclusion Airway obstruction and face-mask leak are common during the first 2 min of PPV. An RFM enables detection of important airway obstruction and mask leak.
Automatic and Transparent Transfer of Theorems along Isomorphisms in the Coq Proof Assistant

In mathematics, it is common practice to have several constructions for the same objects. Mathematicians will identify them modulo isomorphism and will not worry later on which construction they use, as theorems proved for one construction will be valid for all. When working with proof assistants, it is also common to see several data-types representing the same objects. This work aims at making the use of several isomorphic constructions as simple and as transparent as it can be done informally in mathematics. This requires inferring automatically the missing proof-steps. We are designing an algorithm which finds and fills these missing proof-steps and we are implementing it as a plugin for Coq.
Revisiting the Sanders-Freiman-Ruzsa Theorem in $\mathbb{F}_p^n$ and its Application to Non-malleable Codes

textabstractNon-malleable codes (NMCs) protect sensitive data against degrees of corruption that prohibit error detection, ensuring instead that a corrupted codeword decodes correctly or to something that bears little relation to the original message. The split-state model, in which codewords consist of two blocks, considers adversaries who tamper with either block arbitrarily but independently of the other. The simplest construction in this model, due to Aggarwal, Dodis, and Lovett (STOC'14), was shown to give NMCs sending k-bit messages to $O(k^7)$-bit codewords. It is conjectured, however, that the construction allows linear-length codewords. Towards resolving this conjecture, we show that the construction allows for code-length $O(k^5)$. This is achieved by analysing a special case of Sanders's Bogolyubov-Ruzsa theorem for general Abelian groups. Closely following the excellent exposition of this result for the group $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ by Lovett, we expose its dependence on $p$ for the group $\mathbb{F}_p^n$, where $p$ is a prime.
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing mammalian steroid hydroxylase CYP7B: Ayr1p and Fox2p display 17β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity

We have engineered recombinant yeast to perform stereospecific hydroxylation of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). This mammalian pro‐hormone promotes brain and immune function; hydroxylation at the 7α position by P450 CYP7B is the major pathway of metabolic activation. We have sought to activate DHEA via yeast expression of rat CYP7B enzyme. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was found to metabolize DHEA by 3β‐acetylation; this was abolished by mutation at atf2. DHEA was also toxic, blocking tryptophan (trp) uptake: prototrophic strains were DHEA‐resistant. In TRP+ atf2 strains DHEA was then converted to androstene‐3β,17β‐diol (A/enediol) by an endogenous 17β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17βHSD). Seven yeast polypeptides similar to human 17βHSDs were identified: when expressed in yeast, only AYR1 (1‐acyl dihydroxyacetone phosphate reductase) increased A/enediol accumulation, while the hydroxyacyl‐CoA dehydrogenase Fox2p, highly homologous to human 17βHSD4, oxidized A/enediol to DHEA. The presence of endogenous yeast enzymes metabolizing steroids may relate to fungal pathogenesis. Disruption of AYR1 eliminated reductive 17βHSD activity, and expression of CYP7B on the combination background (atf2, ayr1, TRP+) permitted efficient (>98%) bioconversion of DHEA to 7α‐hydroxyDHEA, a product of potential medical utility. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.