Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamical Properties of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies. I. Mass Ratio Conditions for ULIRG Activity in Interacting Pairs

We present first results from our Very Large Telescope large program to study the dynamical evolution of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), which are the products of mergers of gas-rich galaxies. The full data set consists of high-resolution long-slit H- and K-band spectra of 38 ULIRGs and 12 QSOs (in the range 0.042 < z < 0.268). In this paper, we present the sources that have not fully coalesced and therefore have two distinct nuclei. This subsample consists of 21 ULIRGs, the nuclear separation of which varies between 1.6 and 23.3 kpc. From the CO band heads that appear in our spectra, we extract the stellar velocity dispersion, σ, and the rotational velocity, Vrot. The stellar dispersion equals 142 km s-1 on average, while Vrot is often of the same order. We combine our spectroscopic results with high-resolution infrared (IR) imaging data to study the conditions for ULIRG activity in interacting pairs. We find that the majority of ULIRGs are triggered by almost equal-mass major mergers of 1.5 : 1 average ratio. Less frequently, 3 : 1 encounters are also observed in our sample. However, less violent mergers of mass ratio >3 : 1 typically do not force enough gas into the center to generate ULIRG luminosities.
Search-Based Procedural Generation of Maze-Like Levels

A correctly designed dynamic programming algorithm can be used as a fitness function to permit the evolution of maze-like levels for use in games. This study compares multiple representations for evolvable mazes including direct, as well as positive and negative indirect representations. The first direct representation simply specifies, with a binary gene, which squares of a grid are obstructed. The second paints the maze grid and passage is allowed only between colors that are the same or adjacent in a rainbow. The positive and negative representations are developmental and evolve directions for adding barriers or digging “tunnels. ” These representations are tested with a design space of fitness functions that automatically generate levels with controllable properties. Fitness function design is the most difficult part of automatic level generation and this study gives a simple framework for designing fitness functions that permits substantial control over the character of the mazes that evolve. This technique relies on using checkpoints within the maze to characterize the connectivity and path lengths within the level. Called checkpoint-based fitness, these fitness functions are built on a menu of properties that can be rewarded. The choice of which qualities are rewarded, in turn, specifies within broad limits the characteristics of the mazes to be evolved. Three of the representations are found to benefit from a technique called sparse initialization in which a maze starts mostly empty and variation operators fill in details while increasing fitness. Different representations are found to produce mazes with very different appearances, even when the same fitness function is used. The example fitness functions designed around dynamic programming with checkpoints are found to permit substantial control over the properties of the evolved mazes.
Mechanical stretch activates the stress‐activated protein kinase in cardiac myocytes

We have recently shown that mechanical stress activates a phosphorylation cascade of protein kinases including Raf‐1 and the extracellular signal‐regulated kinases (ERKs) in cultured cardiac myocytes partially through the enhanced secretion of angiotensin II. Osmotic stress in budding yeast has been shown to activate similar signaling molecules including Hog‐1, a distant relative of the ERK family. In the present study, we examined whether mechanical stretch of cardiac myocytes activates the stress‐activated protein kinases (SAPKs)/c‐Jun NH2‐terminal kinase, the mammalian homologs of yeast Hog‐1 that regulate gene expression through activation of the transcription factor, AP‐l. When cardiac myocytes of neonatal rats cultured on a deformable silicone dish were stretched, activity of SAPKs was increased from 10 min, peaked at 30 min, and gradually decreased thereafter. The increase in activity of SAPKs was proportional to the stretch. Unlike ERKs, the activation of SAPKs by stretching cardiac myocytes was not dependent on the secreted angiotensin II. The chelation of extracellular Ca2+ or down‐regulation of protein kinase C did not attenuate activation of SAPKs by stretch. Transfection experiments using an AP‐l binding site‐containing reporter gene revealed that stretch increases AP‐l activity in cardiac myocytes. In conclusion, like osmotic stress in yeast, mechanical stretch activates SAPKs in cardiac myocytes without the participation of angiotensin II. These results suggest that the activation of SAPKs may regulate gene expression during mechanical stress‐induced cardiac hypertrophy. —Komuro, I. , Kudo, S. , Yamazaki, T. , Zou, Y. , Shiojima, I. , Yazaki, Y. Mechanical stretch activates the stress‐activated protein kinases in cardiac myocytes. FASEB J. 10, 631‐636 (1996)
Adapting an Evidence-Based Early Childhood Tier 2 Program for Early Elementary School

Students’ early school experiences have a significant and long-term effect on key academic and social/behavioral outcomes. Evidence-based programs that both increase the quantity and quality of positive teacher-student interactions and decrease the frequency of negative teacher-student interactions may be critical for changing negative patterns and improving students’ early learning environments. The purpose of this article is to describe the iterative development of one such program, BEST in CLASS–Elementary, which has been adapted from an evidence-based program designed to reduce risk for emotional/behavioral disorders by improving teachers’ interactions and relationships with preschool-age children with chronic problem behavior. Following a brief description of the parent program, 4 overlapping phases of intervention adaptation and development are described. Future directions for the intervention and applications of this iterative process to intervention development work and research are discussed.
Algebraic Geometry Over Four Rings and the Frontier to Tractability

We present some new and recent algorithmic results concerning polynomial system solving over various rings. In particular, we present some of the best recent bounds on: (a) the complexity of calculating the complex dimension of an algebraic set, (b) the height of the zero-dimensional part of an algebraic set over C, and (c) the number of connected components of a semi-algebraic set. We also present some results which significantly lower the complexity of deciding the emptiness of hypersurface intersections over C and Q, given the truth of the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis. Furthermore, we state some recent progress on the decidability of the prefixes \exists\forall\exists and \exists\exists\forall\exists, quantified over the positive integers. As an application, we conclude with a result connecting Hilbert's Tenth Problem in three variables and height bounds for integral points on algebraic curves. This paper is based on three lectures presented at the conference corresponding to this proceedings volume. The titles of the lectures were ``Some Speed-Ups in Computational Algebraic Geometry,'' ``Diophantine Problems Nearly in the Polynomial Hierarchy,'' and ``Curves, Surfaces, and the Frontier to Undecidability. ''
Content-Priority based Interest Forwarding in Content Centric Networks

Content Centric Networking (CCN) is a recent advancement in communication networks where the current research is mainly focusing on routing & cache management strategies of CCN. Nonetheless, other perspectives such as network level security and service quality are also of prime importance; areas which have not been covered deeply so far. This paper introduces an interest forwarding mechanism to process the requests of consumers at a CCN router. Interest packets are forwarded with respect to the priorities of addressed content while the priority level settings are done by content publishers during an initialization phase using a collaborative mechanism of exchanging messages to agree to the priority levels of all content according to the content-nature. Interests with higher priority content are recorded in Pending Interest Table (PIT) as well as forwarded to content publishers prior to those with lower priority content. A simulation study is also conducted to show the effectiveness of proposed scheme and we observe that the interests with higher priority content are satisfied earlier than the interests with lower priority content.
Olfactory Objects

Abstract The philosophy of perception has been mostly focused on vision, to the detriment of other modalities like audition or olfaction. In this paper I focus on olfaction and olfactory experience, and raise the following questions: is olfaction a perceptual-representational modality? If so, what does it represent? My goal in the paper is, firstly, to provide an affirmative answer to the first question, and secondly, to argue that olfaction represents odors in the form of olfactory objects, to which olfactory qualities are attributed. In order to do this I develop an empirically adequate notion of olfactory object that is sensitive to the peculiarities of olfaction, and defend it against various objections.
Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life

In Diminished Democracy, Skocpol continues her extraordinary reconstruction of America’s political past. Turning from the analysis of public policy, she illuminates the history of civic participation through a rich account of the large voluntary associations that have been recognized as distinctive features of the American political landscape by Tocqueville and innumerable others.1 Already recognized by multiple awards, this volume has a great many virtues. Diminished Democracy presents a narrative of civic history that is simultaneously novel scholarship and compelling reading for audiences outside the academy. Skocpol is eloquently self-conscious as a scholar, explaining how research has been shaped by theory and method and giving inspiration through tales of creative research done in archives, in antique stores and graveyards, and on ebay. Finally, Diminished Democracy is a work of history with the power to inform deeply our understanding of the present and future of American politics. Diminished Democracy begins with the key feature of this “nation of joiners,” the large voluntary associations that proliferated during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Skocpol mobilized a team of researchers to identify those associations that achieved a membership of 1 percent of the relevant population (all American adults or only men/ women for gender-segregated associations) at some point in their history. From the founding of the Ancient and Accepted Free Masons in 1733 to the establishment of the Christian Coalition in 1989, afty-eight associations are identiaed as meeting this criterion. Through a reconstruction of their history, Skocpol documents how the number of foundings declined with the twentieth century, and overall membership peaked in the decades after World War II (68). Skocpol argues that the vitality of these organizations stemmed, in large part, from the ways in which they coordinated with a federal system of government. Their national bodies—based on state associations with their own local chapters—were intensely engaged with an expanding government, not crowded out by it as some have argued. In contrast to Putnam’s work, which highlights the importance of community or local social capital, Skocpol’s analysis of city directories demonstrates that many of the “local” organizations were afaliates of national organizations and explains how the organizational strategies of the large associations facilitated the spread of membership into new communities.2 Federations, Skocpol argues, “were especially vital in building an American democracy in which ordinary people could participate, gain skills, and REVIEWS | 277
Voluntary Corporate Disclosures by UK Companies

This paper models the arrival rate of voluntary news announcements of the FTSE AllShare firms. We test to see if the earnings environment affects the volume of news announcements that firms release to the stock market. We also examine whether the other factors such as the size of a firm and the external coverage a firm receives affects the pattern of news disclosures. Our results show that firms in a negative earnings environment have a positive and significant disclosure rate while the same is not noticed for firms in a positive earnings environment. We find this relationship to hold only in the post-FSA period as opposed to the pre-FSA period which provides evidence that the changes from the UK’s Financial Services Authority taking over responsibility for the United Kingdom Listing Authority has had an impact on disclosure practices of FTSE firms. Our results also show a positive relationship between the size of a firm and disclosure rate but we also find that firms that are receive the least coverage release more information.
Resolving local minima problem of potential field

This paper proposes a crowd simulation model based on the potential field. First, the moving paths of pedestrians in the crowd are planned by solving the Harmonic Equation. Traditional Harmonic Equation solver suffers from the local optimum problem; as such we introduce a "virtual wall" to overcome it. Then, a dynamic potential layer is added to potential field for collision avoidance. It is shown that the additional potential layer can effectively prevent pedestrians from colliding with obstacles or other pedestrians even for large crowd in complex scenes. The experimental results show good simulation fidelity and real-time performance, which demonstrates that the model can well meet the requirement of crowd simulation.
Regional patterns of brain activity in adults with a history of childhood-onset depression: gender differences and clinical variability.

OBJECTIVE The study investigated the hypothesis that EEG asymmetry scores (indicating higher right and lower left frontal brain activity) are associated with vulnerability to negative mood states and depressive disorders. Gender and clinical history variables were examined as factors that may influence the relation between EEG and depression. METHOD EEG measures of asymmetrical alpha frequency (7.5-12.5 Hz) suppression were analyzed in 55 young adults with a documented clinical history of childhood-onset depression and 55 comparison subjects with no history of major psychopathology. EEG patterns were examined in relation to operational diagnoses of mental disorders during childhood and adulthood. RESULTS Differences in EEG asymmetry between childhood depression probands and comparison subjects varied with gender, diagnostic history, and current symptoms. Women with childhood depression had higher right midfrontal alpha suppression, and men with childhood depression had higher left midfrontal alpha suppression, relative to comparison subjects. At all scalp sites, women showed greater alpha power than men. Probands with a bipolar spectrum course had the most extreme midfrontal asymmetry. Frontal asymmetry was more extreme in probands with current depressive symptoms than in those without current symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Regional brain activity is influenced by gender and variability in clinical course. The findings have implications for investigating brain correlates of mood disorder and may help to develop more refined phenotypes.
Gold Prices, Exchange Rates, Gold Stocks and the Gold Premium

This paper studies the exposure of the stock prices of Australian gold-mining firms to changes in gold prices and the valuation effects of gold price exposure. Gold-mining firms have significant gold price exposure; the price of the average gold-mining stock moves 0.76% for each 1.00% change in Australian-dollar-denominated gold prices. Evidence from the behaviour of stock price sensitivities suggests that gold-mining firms can be represented as a portfolio of gold assets and embedded real options. Simple discounted cash flow models systematically underestimate the price of gold stocks. The evidence suggests that the valuation error is due to both the failure of discounted cash flow models to reflect managerial flexibility that is embedded in the operation of gold mines and the misuse of discounted cash flow techniques.
Carcinoembryonic Antigen-Related Cell Adhesion Molecule 1

OBJECTIVE—Liver-specific inactivation of carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) by a dominant-negative transgene (l-SACC1 mice) impaired insulin clearance, caused insulin resistance, and increased hepatic lipogenesis. To discern whether this phenotype reflects a physiological function of CEACAM1 rather than the effect of the dominant-negative transgene, we characterized the metabolic phenotype of mice with null mutation of the Ceacam1 gene (Cc1−/−). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Mice were originally generated on a mixed C57BL/6x129sv genetic background and then backcrossed 12 times onto the C57BL/6 background. More than 70 male mice of each of the Cc1−/− and wild-type Cc1+/+ groups were subjected to metabolic analyses, including insulin tolerance, hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp studies, insulin secretion in response to glucose, and determination of fasting serum insulin, C-peptide, triglyceride, and free fatty acid levels. RESULTS—Like l-SACC1, Cc1−/− mice exhibited impairment of insulin clearance and hyperinsulinemia, which caused insulin resistance beginning at 2 months of age, when the mutation was maintained on a mixed C57BL/6x129sv background, but not until 5–6 months of age on a homogeneous inbred C57BL/6 genetic background. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp studies revealed that the inbred Cc1−/− mice developed insulin resistance primarily in liver. Despite substantial expression of CEACAM1 in pancreatic β-cells, insulin secretion in response to glucose in vivo and in isolated islets was normal in Cc1−/− mice (inbred and outbred strains). CONCLUSIONS—Intact insulin secretion in response to glucose and impairment of insulin clearance in l-SACC1 and Cc1−/− mice suggest that the principal role of CEACAM1 in insulin action is to mediate insulin clearance in liver.
Innovation in Germany - Results of the German CIS 2006 to 2010. Background report on the Innovation Surveys 2007, 2009 and 2011 of the Mannheim Innovation Panel

Innovation is regarded as a key driver of productivity and market growth and thus has a great potential for increasing wealth. Surveying innovation activities of firms is an important contribution to a better understanding of the process of innovation and how policy may intervene to maximise the social returns of private investment into innovation. Over the past three decades, research has developed a detailed methodology to collect and analyse innovation activities at the firm level. The Oslo Manual, published by OECD and Eurostat (2005) is one important outcome of these efforts. In 1993 both organisations have started a joint initiative, known as the Community Innovation Survey (CIS), to collect firm level data on innovation across countries in concord (with each other). The German contribution to this activity is the so-called Mannheim Innovation Panel (MIP), an annual survey implemented with the first CIS wave in 1993. The MIP fully applies the methodological recommendations laid down in the Oslo Manual. It is designed as a panel survey, i.e. the same gross sample of firms is surveyed each year, with a biannual refreshment of the sample. The MIP is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) and the Institute for Applied Social Science (infas). (.)
Mortality from Congenital Heart Disease in Mexico: A Problem on the Rise

Background and Objectives Temporal trends in mortality from congenital heart disease (CHD) vary among regions. It is therefore necessary to study this problem in each country. In Mexico, congenital anomalies were responsible for 24% of infant mortality in 2013 and CHD represented 55% of total deaths from congenital anomalies among children under 1 year of age. The objectives of this study were to analyze the trends in infant mortality from CHD in Mexico (1998 to 2013), its specific causes, age at death and associated socio-demographic factors. Methods Population-based study which calculated the compounded annual growth rate of death rom CHD between 1998 and 2013. Specific causes, age at which death from CHD occurred and risk factors associated with mortality were analyzed for the year 2013. Results Infant mortality from CHD increased 24.8% from 1998 to 2013 (114.4 to 146.4/ 100,000 live births). A total of 3,593 CHD deaths occurred in 2013; the main causes were CHD with left-to-right shunt (n = 487; 19.8/100,000 live births) and cyanotic heart disease (n = 410; 16.7/100,000). A total of 1,049 (29.2%) deaths from CHD occurred during the first week of life. Risk factors associated with mortality from CHD were, in order of magnitude: non-institutional birth, rural area, birth in a public hospital and male sex. Conclusions Mortality from CHD has increased in Mexico. The main causes were CHD with left-to-right shunt, which are not necessarily fatal if treated promptly. Populations vulnerable to death from CHD were identified. Approximately one-third of the CHD occurred during the first week of life. It is important to promote early diagnosis, especially for non-institutional births.
A phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of idebenone in friedreich ataxia.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of idebenone on neurological function in patients with Friedreich ataxia. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial. SETTING Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of California at Los Angeles. PARTICIPANTS Seventy ambulatory pediatric patients (age, 8-18 years) with a baseline International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) score of 10 to 54. INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomized into 1 of 3 treatment arms: 450 or 900 mg of idebenone per day (in those with a body weight < or = or >45 kg, respectively; n = 22); 1350 or 2250 mg of idebenone per day (n = 24); or placebo (n = 24). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mean change from baseline to week 24 in ICARS score was the primary efficacy variable. Mean change in Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale (FARS) score, performance measures, and activities of daily living were the secondary efficacy variables. RESULTS Patients who received idebenone improved by 2.5 points on mean ICARS score compared with baseline, while patients in the placebo group improved by 1.3 points. Patients who took idebenone also improved by 1.6 points on the FARS, while patients taking placebo declined by 0.6 points. For both end points, the difference between the idebenone and placebo groups was not statistically different. CONCLUSIONS Idebenone did not significantly alter neurological function in Friedreich ataxia during the 6-month study. Larger studies of longer duration may be needed to assess the therapeutic potential of drug candidates on neurological function in Friedreich ataxia. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00537680.