Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Critical Assessment of Protein Cross-Linking and Molecular Docking: An Updated Model for the Interaction Between Photosystem II and Psb27

Photosystem II (PSII) is a large membrane-protein complex composed of about 20 subunits and various cofactors, which mediates the light-driven oxidation of water and reduction of plastoquinone, and is part of the photosynthetic electron transfer chain that is localized in the thylakoid membrane of cyanobacteria, algae, and plants. The stepwise assembly of PSII is guided and facilitated by numerous auxiliary proteins that play specific roles in this spatiotemporal process. Psb27, a small protein localized in the thylakoid lumen, appears to associate with an intermediate PSII complex that is involved in assembly of the Mn4CaO5 cluster. Its precise binding position on the PSII intermediate remains elusive, as previous approaches to the localization of Psb27 on PSII have yielded contradictory results. This was our motivation for a critical assessment of previously used methods and the development of an improved analysis pipeline. The combination of chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry (CX-MS) with isotope-coded cross-linkers was refined and validated with reference to the PSII crystal structure. Psb27 was localized on the PSII surface adjacent to the large lumenal domain of CP43 on the basis of a cross-link connecting Psb27-K91 to CP43-K381. Additional contacts associating Psb27 with CP47 and the C-termini of D1 and D2 were detected by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. This information was used to model the binding of Psb27 to the PSII surface in a region that is occupied by PsbV in the mature complex.
Modified formulation of CPDA for storage of whole blood, and of SAGM for storage of red blood cells, to maintain the concentration of 2,3‐diphosphoglycerate

Background and Objectives A dramatic decrease in the level of 2,3‐diphosphoglycerate (2,3‐DPG) takes place during the storage of whole blood (WB) in CPDA (citrate–phosphate–dextrose–adenine) and a similar decrease occurs during the storage of red blood cells (RBCs) in SAGM (saline–adenine–glucose–mannitol). The aim of the present study was to prevent this decrease by modifying CPDA and SAGM.
Eurographics/ Ieee-vgtc Symposium on Visualization 2009 the Gödel Engine -an Interactive Approach to Visualization in General Relativity

We present a methodical new approach to visualize the aspects of general relativity from a self-centered perspective. We focus on the visualization of the Gödel universe, which is an exact solution to Einstein's field equations of general relativity. This model provides astounding features such as the existence of an optical horizon and the possibility of time travel. Although we know that our universe is not of Gödel type, we can – using this solution to Einstein's equations – visualize and understand the effects resulting from the theory of relativity, which itself has been verified on the large scale in numerous experiments over the last century. We derive the analytical solution to the geodesic equations of Gödel's universe for special initial conditions. Along with programmable graphics hardware we achieve a tremendous speedup for the visualization of general relativity. This enables us to interactively explore the physical aspects and optical effects of Gödel's universe. We also demonstrate how the analytical solution enables dynamic lighting with local illumination models. Our implementation is tailored for Gödel's universe and five orders of magnitude faster than previous approaches. It can be adapted to manifolds for which an analytical expression of the propagation of light is available.
The Rorschach and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between a self-report (explicit) measure of interpersonal difficulties – the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP; Horowitz et al., 2000) – and the Rorschach, which includes implicit measures of self-perception and interpersonal relatedness. Seventeen a priori predictions were made regarding the face-valid associations (i.e., correlations) between the IIP and selected Rorschach variables. A sample of 62 undergraduates were administered the Rorschach and IIP. Their IIP scores were slightly higher than the normative sample reported by Horowitz et al. (1988). Nonetheless, seven predicted relationships were statistically significant and included the following Rorschach variables: Intellectualization Index, AG, FM, S, T, Y, and MOR. These results remained significant when they were controlled for response productivity. Five of the predicted correlations approached statistical significance and included the following Rorschach variables: T, Food, Ego.
Status, Stress, and Atherosclerosis: The Role of Environment and Individual Behavior

Abstract: Atherosclerosis induced by moderate hyperlipoproteinemia in group‐housed cynomolgus monkeys differs significantly between animals of dominant and subordinate social status. The nature of this association also varies by sex, and in males, by stability of the social environment. Dominant males develop more extensive atherosclerosis than subordinates when housed in unstable, but not stable, social groups; in contrast, subordinate females develop greater atherosclerosis than dominants, and do so irrespective of the conditions of social housing. Experimental investigations reveal that the first of these associations (males) is mediated by concomitant sympathoadrenal activation and the second (females) by ovarian impairment associated with the stress of social subordination. We believe our findings offer clues to the neuroendocrine mediation of behavioral influences on coronary artery disease in humans. This is particularly true where these influences reflect asymmetries in the power or status relationships among individuals within similar social environments, or when dimensions of temperament or disposition give rise to such relationships. We propose that these data also may be informative regarding the pathophysiological sequelae of social stratification (in which disease incidence varies by class membership within populations), but only where social environments engendered by class inequalities exacerbate status‐dependent behavioral differences among individuals within communities of associates.
Alternative Perspectives on Action Research

Action research defies easy description. Part of this difficulty is due to methodologica l variations of action research as practiced in a number of countries. Weade and Green (1989) compare this situation to that of the family in imagining the genealogy of the action researcher, there being some cousins who are more conventional in their attempts at change-for-the-better in educational contexts, others less so, and some even radical in their approaches. This article explores various perspectives—some of the members of the action research family. While perspectives and methodologies vary, by "action research" here we mean inquiry teachers undertake to understand and improve their own practice. The article discusses such perspectives and their relationships to problem formulation and to two methods of data gathering: observation and interview. What epistemologies drive these "cousins" of
Women in ‘Men's’ Work: an issue of identity

ABSTRACT The author argues that a major constraint for a woman attempting to gain employment in traditionally male trades in Australia is a disparity between the gender identity of the woman and the work cultural identity of the workplace. Potential women tradespersons are confronted by a work identity with characteristics based in a traditional concept of being male. His contention is, that such work contexts serve to confirm doubts that such women harbour, concerning themselves as tradespersons, and to regenerate prior beliefs about the appropriateness of the traditional divisions common to these forms of work. In support of this view, he refers to two earlier studies; the first on gender identity and activity preference in young children and the second on the characteristics of the work cultures of traditional male trades
Hierarchical cellular-based management for mobile hosts in ad-hoc wireless networks

We propose a hierarchical cellular-based management model for mobile ad hoc network. Under the proposed management model, the mobile host can construct a stable communication path with fewer flooding messages and a smaller number of hop count. In the first level management, we select a host as a manager to take the responsibility of constructing the communication path and managing the mobile hosts in a specific cellular region such that the number of flooding packets can be largely reduced. The second level management is also proposed to reduce the number of hop count and improve the efficiency for constructing a QoS routing path. We compare the cellular-based management model with triangular and zone based management models. The performance evaluation shows that hierarchical cellular-based management has a better behavior in reducing the number of flooding messages and hop count of the routing paths.
President Bush's Image Repair Effort on Meet the Press: The Complexities of Defeasibility

The candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 were united in attacking President George W. Bush. Their continued criticism, combined with news stories about such topics as the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and job losses in the United States, steadily eroded the president's image. On February 8, 2004, President Bush appeared on Meet the Press to repair his reputation, exemplifying the problem of how an incumbent president can reply to such attacks while in the midst of a campaign for re-election. This essay applies the theory of image repair to this discourse to critically analyze and evaluate Bush's attempt to repair his image. Bush responded to two key accusations: justification for the war in Iraq and concerns about the economy (including jobs and the deficit). He tried to frame himself as a “war president” (transcendence) who should be evaluated on those grounds but failed to make this the most important problem for most voters. He employed denial, but the support for denials was often weak. He also relied heavily on defeasibility. However, Bush's use of the strategy of defeasibility raises doubts about whether he will be able to solve problems in a second term. Thus, President Bush's image repair effort was largely ineffectual.
olarimetric analysis of the human cornea measured by olarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

osé Luis Arce-Diego niversity of Cantabria lectronics Technology, Systems and Automation Engineering Department pplied Optical Techniques Group venida de los Castros S/N antander, Cantabria 39005 Spain Abstract. Corneal polarimetry measurement has been the object of several papers. The results of techniques like polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography PS-OCT , scanning laser polarimetry, or polarization microscopy are contradictory. Some studies propose a biaxial-like birefringence pattern, while others postulate that birefringence grows at corneal periphery. Several theoretical approaches were proposed for the interpretation of these measurements, but they usually lack accuracy and an adequate consideration of the nonnormal incidence on the tissue. We analyze corneal polarization effects measured by PS-OCT. In vivo and in vitro PS-OCT images of the human cornea are acquired. PS-OCT measurements are apparently not in agreement with the biaxial-like birefringence pattern. We present a polarimetric model of the human cornea based on the extended Jones matrix formalism applied to multilayered systems. We also apply the Poincaré equivalence theorem to extract optic axis orientation and birefringence. The results show that for a fibrils orientation pattern composed by alternating circular and radial fibrils, the birefringence is biaxial-like at the corneal center, and there is an almost circularly symmetric high-birefringence area at corneal periphery. The model could be useful for diagnosis of corneal diseases or corneal compensation in retinal polarimetric imaging. © 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. DOI: 10.1117/1.3486540
Impact of Bt corn pollen on monarch butterfly populations: A risk assessment

A collaborative research effort by scientists in several states and in Canada has produced information to develop a formal risk assessment of the impact of Bt corn on monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) populations. Information was sought on the acute toxic effects of Bt corn pollen and the degree to which monarch larvae would be exposed to toxic amounts of Bt pollen on its host plant, the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, found in and around cornfields. Expression of Cry proteins, the active toxicant found in Bt corn tissues, differed among hybrids, and especially so in the concentrations found in pollen of different events. In most commercial hybrids, Bt expression in pollen is low, and laboratory and field studies show no acute toxic effects at any pollen density that would be encountered in the field. Other factors mitigating exposure of larvae include the variable and limited overlap between pollen shed and larval activity periods, the fact that only a portion of the monarch population utilizes milkweed stands in and near cornfields, and the current adoption rate of Bt corn at 19% of North American corn-growing areas. This 2-year study suggests that the impact of Bt corn pollen from current commercial hybrids on monarch butterfly populations is negligible.
Hybrid Reinforcement/Supervised Learning of Dialogue Policies from Fixed Data Sets

Abstract We propose a method for learning dialogue management policies from a fixed data set. The method addresses the challenges posed by Information State Update (ISU)-based dialogue systems, which represent the state of a dialogue as a large set of features, resulting in a very large state space and a huge policy space. To address the problem that any fixed data set will only provide information about small portions of these state and policy spaces, we propose a hybrid model that combines reinforcement learning with supervised learning. The reinforcement learning is used to optimize a measure of dialogue reward, while the supervised learning is used to restrict the learned policy to the portions of these spaces for which we have data. We also use linear function approximation to address the need to generalize from a fixed amount of data to large state spaces. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this method on this challenging task, we trained this model on the COMMUNICATOR corpus, to which we have added annotations for user actions and Information States. When tested with a user simulation trained on a different part of the same data set, our hybrid model outperforms a pure supervised learning model and a pure reinforcement learning model. It also outperforms the hand-crafted systems on the COMMUNICATOR data, according to automatic evaluation measures, improving over the average COMMUNICATOR system policy by 10%. The proposed method will improve techniques for bootstrapping and automatic optimization of dialogue management policies from limited initial data sets.
Niue: Embracing a Culture of Migration

In the past 40 years the Polynesian island of Niue has experienced a population decline greater than that of any other independent state in the world. More than three-quarters of all Niue-born live overseas, mainly in New Zealand. The balance continues to shift overseas, mainly because of the presence of kin, education and employment opportunities there. Families with kin spread across countries have developed new transnational forms of family life. Given the ubiquity of migration, island families have reconciled changes in local culture, and the social costs of disrupted extended households, in part because of the inexorable logic of migration and its economic benefits. A culture of migration is created whereby migration may be assumed to be positive, acceptable and even inevitable. Practices of mobility are deeply entrenched in islanders’ lives, even those who have stayed in Niue, where dualities of hope and despair, and fluidity and fixity, govern conceptualisations of population change. Migration constitutes no rupture with island life but is an extension of it. By contrast Niue, as a state, perceives itself to be facing depopulation and has long sought to encourage return migration and also immigration (and greater overseas aid) to prevent this.
Use of electronic medical records (EMR) for oncology outcomes research: assessing the comparability of EMR information to patient registry and health claims data

Electronic medical records (EMRs) are used increasingly for research in clinical oncology, epidemiology, and comparative effectiveness research (CER). Objective To assess the utility of using EMR data in population-based cancer research by comparing a database of EMRs from community oncology clinics against Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry data and two claims databases (Medicare and commercial claims). Study design and setting Demographic, clinical, and treatment patterns in the EMR, SEER, Medicare, and commercial claims data were compared using six tumor sites: breast, lung/bronchus, head/neck, colorectal, prostate, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). We identified various challenges in data standardization and selection of appropriate statistical procedures. We describe the patient and clinic inclusion criteria, treatment definitions, and consideration of the administrative and clinical purposes of the EMR, registry, and claims data to address these challenges. Results Sex and 10-year age distributions of patient populations for each tumor site were generally similar across the data sets. We observed several differences in racial composition and treatment patterns, and modest differences in distribution of tumor site. Conclusion Our experience with an oncology EMR database identified several factors that must be considered when using EMRs for research purposes or generalizing results to the US cancer population. These factors were related primarily to evaluation of treatment patterns, including evaluation of stage, geographic location, race, and specialization of the medical facilities. While many specialty EMRs may not provide the breadth of data on medical care, as found in comprehensive claims databases and EMR systems, they can provide detailed clinical data not found in claims that are extremely important in conducting epidemiologic and outcomes research.
Spectral characterization of broadband THz antennas by photoconductive mixing: toward optimal antenna design

The spectral characterization of a broadband antenna using a pump-probe photomixing continuous-wave (CW) terahertz (THz) system is presented. The high dynamic range of the system, comparable to or better than that of similar pump-probe systems reported in the literature, provides an accurate means of antenna characterization. The planar antenna exhibits a log-periodic behavior at low frequencies, a bow-tie behavior at high frequencies, and a resonance characteristic in between, well in agreement with the antenna geometry. It is predicted that an improved geometry that extends the log-periodic behavior to higher frequencies would contribute significantly in enhancing the broadband performance of antenna-coupled photomixers.
Age Differences in Feedback Reactions: The Roles of Employee Feedback Orientation on Social Awareness and Utility

Organizations worldwide are currently experiencing shifts in the age composition of their workforces. The workforce is aging and becoming increasingly age-diverse, suggesting that organizational researchers and practitioners need to better understand how age differences may manifest in the workplace and the implications for human resource practice. Integrating socioemotional selectivity theory with the performance feedback literature and using a time-lagged design, the current study examined age differences in moderating the relationships between the characteristics of performance feedback and employee reactions to the feedback event. The results suggest that older workers had higher levels of feedback orientation on social awareness, but lower levels of feedback orientation on utility than younger workers. Furthermore, the positive associations between favorability of feedback and feedback delivery and feedback reactions were stronger for older workers than for younger workers, whereas the positive association between feedback quality and feedback reactions was stronger for younger workers than for older workers. Finally, the current study revealed that age-related differences in employee feedback orientation could explain the different patterns of relationships between feedback characteristics and feedback reactions across older and younger workers. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications for building theory about workplace aging and improving ways that performance feedback is managed across employees from diverse age groups.
Division of Economics and Business Working Paper Series Effciency and Environmental Impacts of Electricity Restructuring on Coal-Fired Power Plants

We investigate the impacts of electricity market restructuring on fuel effciency, utilization and, new to this area, cost of coal purchases among coal-fired power plants using a panel data set from 1991 to 2005. Our study focuses exclusively on coal-fired power plants and uses panel data covering several years after implementation of restructuring. The estimation compares how investor-owned (IOs) plants in states with restructuring changed their behavior relative to IOs in states without. Our analysis finds that restructuring led to: (1) a two percent improvement in fuel effciency for IOs, (2) a ten percent decrease in unit cost of heat input, and (3) a lower capacity factor even after adjusting for cross-plant generation re-allocation due to cost reductions. Based on these estimates, back-of-the-envelope calculations find that restructuring has led to about 6.5 million dollars in annual cost savings or nearly 12 percent of operating expenses and up to 7.6 percent emissions reduction per plant. JEL classifications: L51, L94, L98, Q48
Q: Exploit Hardening Made Easy

Prior work has shown that return oriented programming (ROP) can be used to bypass W⊕X, a software defense that stops shellcode, by reusing instructions from large libraries such as libc. Modern operating systems have since enabled address randomization (ASLR), which randomizes the location of libc, making these techniques unusable in practice. However, modern ASLR implementations leave smaller amounts of executable code unrandomized and it has been unclear whether an attacker can use these small code fragments to construct payloads in the general case. In this paper, we show defenses as currently deployed can be bypassed with new techniques for automatically creating ROP payloads from small amounts of unrandomized code. We propose using semantic program verification techniques for identifying the functionality of gadgets, and design a ROP compiler that is resistant to missing gadget types. To demonstrate our techniques, we build Q, an end-to-end system that automatically generates ROP payloads for a given binary. Q can produce payloads for 80% of Linux /usr/bin programs larger than 20KB. We also show that Q can automatically perform exploit hardening: given an exploit that crashes with defenses on, Q outputs an exploit that bypasses both W⊕X and ASLR. We show that Q can harden nine real-world Linux and Windows exploits, enabling an attacker to automatically bypass defenses as deployed by industry for those programs.