Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of plot‐based satellite and Earth system model estimates of tropical forest net primary production

Net primary production (NPP) by plants represents the largest annual flux of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to the terrestrial biosphere, playing a critical role in the global carbon (C) cycle and the Earth's climate. Rates of NPP in tropical forests are thought to be among the highest on Earth, but debates about the magnitude, patterns, and controls of NPP in the tropics highlight uncertainty in our understanding of how tropical forests may respond to environmental change. Here, we compared tropical NPP estimates generated using three common approaches: (1) field‐based methods scaled from plot‐level measurements of plant biomass, (2) radiation‐based methods that model NPP from satellite‐derived radiation absorption by plants, (3) and biogeochemical model‐based methods. For undisturbed tropical forests as a whole, the three methods produced similar NPP estimates (i.e., ~ 10 Pg C yr−1). However, the three different approaches produced vastly different patterns of NPP both in space and through time, suggesting that our understanding of tropical NPP is poor and that our ability to predict the response of NPP in the tropics to environmental change is limited. To address this shortcoming, we suggest the development of an expanded, high‐density, permanent network of sites where NPP is continuously evaluated using multiple approaches. Well‐designed NPP megatransects that include a high‐density plot network would significantly increase the accuracy and certainty in the observed rates and patterns of tropical NPP and improve the reliability of Earth system models used to predict NPP–carbon cycle–climate interactions into the future.
Scalable Computing: Practice and Experience

Composite software services often present uncertainty over their non-functional properties. To tackle this, one could model them as shared goals of an agent team which aims at maximizing the likelihood of success of the joint task. An architect is in charge with picking services and providers, while a consultant helps him, when possible, by suggesting alternative approaches. The multinomial version of the ”Belief Recipe Tree” structure relies on beliefs built based upon prior mutual experiences of the consultant with various providers and/or abstract plans and revised after each interaction, exhibiting a higher flexibility in several web service building scenarios.
Expression of MARCKS mRNA in lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex of normal and monocularly deprived macaque monkeys

We performed a nonradioactive in situ hybridization histochemistry (ISH) study of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and the primary visual area (area 17) of the macaque monkey to investigate mRNA expression of the myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS), a major protein kinase C (PKC) substrate. In the LGN, intense hybridization signals were observed in both magnocellular neurons (layers 1 and 2) and parvocellular neurons (layers 3 to 6). Double labeling using ISH and immunofluorescence revealed that MARCKS mRNA was coexpressed with the α-subunit of type II calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, indicating that MARCKS mRNA is also expressed in koniocellular neurons in the LGN. GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the LGN did not contain MARCKS mRNA, indicating that MARCKS mRNA is not expressed in inhibitory interneurons. The signals were generally weak in area 17, and intense signals were restricted to large neurons in layers IVB, V, and VI. GABA-immunoreactive neurons in layers II–VI of area 17 did not contain MARCKS mRNA. Double-label ISH revealed that MARCKS mRNA was coexpressed with mRNA of GAP-43, another PKC substrate, in neurons of both the LGN and area 17. To determine whether the expression of MARCKS mRNA is regulated by retinal activity, we performed ISH in the LGN and area 17 of monkeys deprived of monocular visual input by tetrodotoxin. After monocular deprivation for 5 to 30 days, MARCKS mRNA was down-regulated in the LGN, but not in area 17. These results suggest that MARCKS mediates the activity-dependent changes in the excitatory relay neurons in the LGN.
Systematic Problem formulation in Action Design Research: the Case of Smart Cities

The research project presented in this paper is being conducted in collaboration with Dublin City Council and Intel Corporation, and is focused on the development of a Smart City maturity model. This paper focuses on the research methodology that is being used for this study, i.e. Action Design Research (Sein et al. 2011). Particularly, we will describe why this recently proposed methodology is suitable for our research, in comparison with Design Science Research (March and Smith, 1995; Hevner et al. 2004) and Action Research (Baburoglu and Ravn, 1992). Furthermore, we will focus on the problem formulation stage to systematically investigate the topic. A systematic literature review based on the 8-steps method proposed in (Okoli et al. 2010) is presented to explore the factors required to evaluate the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions at a city level. Furthermore, Grounded Theory principles were adopted to structure the Smart City ecosystem, and identify the areas in which ICT-enabled services have an impact on the city’s social, environmental, and economical performances.
The Effect of Associative and Dissociative Strategies on Rowing Ergometer Performance

This study outlined the implementation and evaluation of one associative and two dissociative coping strategies on rowing ergometer performance. Participants were 9 novice varsity rowers who performed a 40-min ergometer workout in 10 separate experimental sessions. At each workout participants were requested to row as far as possible in 40 min. A multiple-baseline design was utilized, which after varying amounts of baseline permitted implementing an associative or dissociative strategy for each participant. These strategies included associative, dissociative-video, and dissociative-music. Results indicated that performance improved under all conditions for all participants but that the greatest gains were found in the associative condition.
Aligning Coordinated Text Streams through Burst Information Network Construction and Decipherment

Aligning coordinated text streams from multiple sources and multiple languages has opened many new research venues on cross-lingual knowledge discovery. In this paper we aim to advance state-of-the-art by: (1). extending coarse-grained topic-level knowledge mining to fine-grained information units such as entities and events; (2). following a novel Data-to-Network-to-Knowledge (D2N2K) paradigm to construct and utilize network structures to capture and propagate reliable evidence. We introduce a novel Burst Information Network (BINet) representation that can display the most important information and illustrate the connections among bursty entities, events and keywords in the corpus. We propose an effective approach to construct and decipher BINets, incorporating novel criteria based on multi-dimensional clues from pronunciation, translation, burst, neighbor and graph topological structure. The experimental results on Chinese and English coordinated text streams show that our approach can accurately decipher the nodes with high confidence in the BINets and that the algorithm can be efficiently run in parallel, which makes it possible to apply it to huge amounts of streaming data for never-ending language and information decipherment.
Word meaning deafness: spelling words that are not understood

We describe a patient (KW) w ho show s impaired auditory comprehension of words in the presence of relatively intact written comprehension. His ability to perform auditory discrimination, repetition, and lexical decision tasks for words he cannot understand indicates that he has a word meaning deafness. It has been proposed that this deficit results from an impairment in the mappings between auditory lexical and semantic representations. A pure deficit of this nature w ould predict intact spelling to dictation for words that cannot be comprehended by way of a direct lexical, nonsemantic route betw een auditory and orthographic lexicons. In the case of KW, ability to write to dictation is relatively well-preserved for both regular and irregular words, relative to auditory comprehension. The nature of KW 's spelling errors was considered. In particular, w e reflect on the origin of his spelling errors since these may provide evidence regarding the nature of the lexical nonsemantic route that mediates w riti.
The role of LEAs in developing inclusive policies and practices

Mel Ainscow and Peter Farrell (from the Faculty of Education, The University of Manchester), Dave Tweddle (Senior Assistant Education Officer, Oldham MBC) and George Malki (research assistant) report on the findings of their DfEE-funded study into LEAs’ (local education authorities’) policies andpractices on inclusion.
Exercise, Energy Intake, Glucose Homeostasis, and the Brain

Here we summarize topics covered in an SFN symposium that considered how and why exercise and energy intake affect neuroplasticity and, conversely, how the brain regulates peripheral energy metabolism. This article is not a comprehensive review of the subject, but rather a view of how the authors' findings fit into a broader context. Emerging findings elucidate cellular and molecular mechanisms by which exercise and energy intake modify the plasticity of neural circuits in ways that affect brain health. By enhancing neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity and neuronal stress robustness, exercise and intermittent energy restriction/fasting may optimize brain function and forestall metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, brain-centered glucoregulatory and immunomodulating systems that mediate peripheral health benefits of intermittent energetic challenges have recently been described. A better understanding of adaptive neural response pathways activated by energetic challenges will enable the development and optimization of interventions to reduce the burden of disease in our communities.
Variability of Acoustic Features of Hypernasality and it’s Assessment

Hypernasality (HP) is observed across voiced phonemes uttered by Cleft-Palate (CP) speakers with defective velopharyngeal (VP) opening. HP assessment using signal processing technique is challenging due to the variability of acoustic features across various conditions such as speakers, speaking style, speaking rate, severity of HP etc. Most of the study for hypernasality (HP) assessment is based on isolated sustained vowels under laboratory conditions. We measure the variability of acoustic features and detect HP using vowel /i/, /a/ and /u/ in continuous read speech with gradually increasing severity of HP of CP speakers. Linear predictive coding (LPC) method is used for acoustic feature extraction. In first part of our study, we observe the variation in acoustic parameters within and across vowel category with gradually increasing HP. We observe that inter-speaker variability in spectral features among CP subjects for vowel /i/ is 0.96, /a/ has 1.13 and vowel /u/ has 2.05. The inter-speaker variability measurement suggests that high back vowel /u/ is mostly affected and has the highest variability. High front vowel /i/ is least affected and has the lowest variability with HP. In the second part, ratio of vowel space area (VSA) of hypernasal and normal speech is calculated and used as a measure for HP detection. We observe that VSA spanned by CP subjects is 0.65 times less than isolated uttered Bangla nasal VSA and 0.43 times less than read speech uttered English oral VSA.
RUMINATIONS ON RUMINATION: ANGER AND SADNESS RUMINATION IN A NORMATIVE AND CLINICAL SAMPLE

Anger rumination and sadness rumination were examined concurrently in a normative sample of adults (Study 1 ) and a clinical adolescent sample (Study 2). The purpose of this research was to assess if rumination on anger and sadness have distinct emotional and behavioural associations, and whether it is warranted to conceptualize them as separate constructs. In both studies, factor analysis indicated that items from analogous anger rumination and sadness rumination measures loaded onto two factors tapping anger rumination and sadness rumination, respectively. Structural equation modeling confirmed unique relations among each form of rumination and specific emotional or behavioural conditions (i.e., anger, aggression and depression). In Study 1, women scored higher than men on sadness rumination and comparable to men on anger rumination. In Study 2, adolescent girls scored higher than boys on both forms of rumination. In both studies, sex did not moderate the relations among rumination and the outcome variables. Findings supported the conceptualization of anger rumination and sadness rumination as two separate constructs. Directions for future research are discussed.
The Rural-Urban Continuum: Real but Relatively Unimportant

The use of the terms "rural" and "urban" in current publications reveals a grosslack of agreement concerning their referents. This is interpreted as resulting from the failure to distinguish the influences upon man's actions of density and size of population, on the one hand, from the influences of culture, on the other. Although these two categories of influences cannot be severed in actuality, they must be distinguished if the nature of communities is to be perceived clearly.
Firm Productivity and Exports: Evidence from Ethiopian Manufacturing

Abstract This paper examines the causal relationship between exporting and productivity using plant-level panel data for Ethiopian manufacturing. We trace the trajectory of total factor productivity and other productivity measures of groups of firms classified by their export history. We tested learning-by-exporting using a one-step system-general method of moments approach with the export-status included directly in the production function. We found strong evidence of not only self-selection but also learning-by-exporting. Depending on the specification previous exporting appears to have shifted the production function by 15–26 per cent. Exporters had on average three times more employees, and paid 1.6 times higher average wage than non-exporters.
The Boston Naming Test in Greek: Normative data and the effects of age and education on naming

Background: The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is widely used as a clinical assessment of language and cognitive deficits. It has been adapted and translated for use in other languages and cultures. Aims: This study translated and adapted the test for use in Greece. Normative data were collected on the test for healthy Greek speakers of different ages and educational backgrounds. Methods and Procedures: Participants in four different age ranges and with three levels of educational achievement were tested. They were screened for cognitive decline using a Greek version of the mini mental state examination. Outcomes and Results: Strong effects of age and education were found on naming. The former replicates previous results. Results on the latter have been less consistent and their occurrence here reflects the greater inequality in educational opportunity that has existed in Greece until comparatively recent times. Significant interactions between age, education, and gender are interpreted as reflecting changing social and gender roles in Greek society. A reordering of items reflecting their difficulty for this Greek sample is presented for clinical use. Conclusions: This study provides norms for a Greek version of the BNT. These highlight the effects of age and education on naming. Scores for many older and less‐educated participants might be taken to indicate pathology despite their lack of neurological or cognitive problems. This illustrates the need for norms that reflect local circumstances and the need to update norms as social and educational changes occur.
Predictors of mortality in very low birth weight neonates in India.

INTRODUCTION Very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates constitute approximately 4-7 percent of all live births and their mortality is very high. The objective of the present study was to determine the predictors of mortality in VLBW neonates. METHODS A retrospective cohort of VLBW neonates admitted over three years was studied. Exclusion criteria were: (1) neonates weighing less than 500 g and with gestational age less than 26 weeks; (2) presence of lethal congenital malformations; and (3) death in the delivery room or within 12 hours of life. The outcome measure was in-hospital death. Medical records were reviewed and data was analysed. Univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis were done to determine the predictors of mortality. RESULTS A total of 260 cases were enrolled, of which a total of 96 (36.9 percent) babies died. The survival rate was found to increase with the increase in birth weight and gestational age. Univariate analysis showed maternal per vaginal bleeding, failure to administer steroid antenatally, Apgar score less than or equal to 5 at one minute, apnoea, gestational age, neonatal septicaemia and shock are the factors directly responsible for neonatal mortality. Logistic regression equation showed maternal bleed (1.326), apnoea (3.159), birth weight (0.037), gestational age (0.063), hypothermia (1.132) and shock (3.49) predicted 65 percent of mortality in VLBW babies. CONCLUSION Common antenatal and perinatal predictors of mortality in VLBW infants in India include maternal bleed, failure to administer antenatal steroids, low Apgar score, apnoea, extreme prematurity, neonatal septicaemia and shock.
Conflict and Repair in Addiction Treatment

Abstract Clinical experience and research findings suggest that approaches to treatment that concomitantly increase the intensity of affective bonds and repair the inevitable disruptions of those bonds are the sine qua non of all effective psychotherapy. It is suggested here that this is especially true for substance abusers. It is further suggested that group psychotherapy can be an especially effective medium for providing the delivery of this crucial element of therapy if the proper paradigm for guiding treatment application is adapted. Attachment theory furnishes an especially effective theoretical formula for informing the way that group therapy should be applied if the full potential of treatment is to be maximized with substance abusers.
Apoptosis and Expression of Bcl-2 and Bax Proteins in Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Pancreas

The Bcl-2 family of genes plays important roles in the regulation of apoptosis. The present study was designed to assess the clinicopathologic significance of apoptosis and the expression of the apoptosis-inhibitory Bcl-2 protein (pBcl-2) and the apoptosis-promoting Bax protein (pBax) in human invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) of the pancreas. The present study included 66 IDCs that were resected between 1982 and 1998. Apoptosis was assessed by the in situ nick end labeling method and pBcl-2 and pBax were stained immunohistochemically. Apoptosis was quantified as the apoptotic index (AI, the percentage of apoptotic cells of the total tumor cells), and a high AI (>10%) was observed in 26 of the 66 (39%) IDCs. The AI correlated significantly with the extent of nodal involvement. pBax immunoreactivity was detected in 42 of 66 IDCs (64%), and pBax expression was significantly correlated with female gender and showed a significant negative correlation with the extent of nodal involvement. pBcl-2 was expressed in 16 IDCs (24%) but did not show any correlation with the clinicopathologic factors. The AI did not correlate with the expression of pBcl-2 or pBax, but there was a significant correlation between the expression of pBcl-2 and that of pBax; 15 of the 16 pBcl-2(+)IDCs were also pBax(+), and only one pBcl-2(+)IDC was pBax(−). Univariate analysis demonstrated that the degree of apoptosis had no significant influence on the patients' prognosis. pBax or pBcl-2 expression was significantly associated with a better prognosis, and in particular, the pBax(+)pBcl-2(+) group had a significantly higher survival than the other groups. On the other hand, the survival curve of the adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) group was also higher than that of the surgery alone (SA) group, with borderline statistical signfiicance. The ACT group showed a significantly better survival rate than the SA group for the pBax(+)IDC patients, but the AI and pBcl-2 expression were not correlated with an improved survival rate in the ACT group. Multivariate analysis showed that the AI, pBcl-2 expression, and pBax expression by themselves did not represent significant variables for death owing to IDC, but pBax expression was significantly associated with the efficacy of ACT. In conclusion, pBax expression may be essential for pBcl-2 expression. pBcl-2 and pBax expressions are not significant prognostic factors for patients with IDC, but pBax expression may be beneficial in predicting the effects of ACT on patients with IDC.
Analyses and comparisons of geometrical-based channel model arisen from scatterers on a hollow-disc for outdoor and indoor wireless environments

In this study, the authors investigate geometrically based statistical channel models for outdoor and indoor propagation environments. These models idealise the scatterers laying on a hollow-disc centred around the mobile station with these scatterers concentrating in a uniformly shaped spatial density. The joint probability density functions (pdfs) of angle of arrive (AoA)/time of arrive (ToA) and the marginal pdfs of AoA and ToA are derived using a simple approach, and all formula results are in explicit closed-form expressions. By varying the hollow-disc's thickness, these spatial models degenerate to the well-known ring or circular-disc models, revealing the comprehensive insight on the hollow-disc geometrical model. Comparisons between our theoretical calculations and customary results show that the analyses are correct and applicable to both outdoor and indoor environments.
Balanced Cortical Microcircuitry for Spatial Working Memory Based on Corrective Feedback Control

A hallmark of working memory is the ability to maintain graded representations of both the spatial location and amplitude of a memorized stimulus. Previous work has identified a neural correlate of spatial working memory in the persistent maintenance of spatially specific patterns of neural activity. How such activity is maintained by neocortical circuits remains unknown. Traditional models of working memory maintain analog representations of either the spatial location or the amplitude of a stimulus, but not both. Furthermore, although most previous models require local excitation and lateral inhibition to maintain spatially localized persistent activity stably, the substrate for lateral inhibitory feedback pathways is unclear. Here, we suggest an alternative model for spatial working memory that is capable of maintaining analog representations of both the spatial location and amplitude of a stimulus, and that does not rely on long-range feedback inhibition. The model consists of a functionally columnar network of recurrently connected excitatory and inhibitory neural populations. When excitation and inhibition are balanced in strength but offset in time, drifts in activity trigger spatially specific negative feedback that corrects memory decay. The resulting networks can temporally integrate inputs at any spatial location, are robust against many commonly considered perturbations in network parameters, and, when implemented in a spiking model, generate irregular neural firing characteristic of that observed experimentally during persistent activity. This work suggests balanced excitatory–inhibitory memory circuits implementing corrective negative feedback as a substrate for spatial working memory.