Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Balkans - the most erosive part of Europe?

Soil erosion has been occurring over the geological time. Inappropriate human activities accelerate this process. Soil erosion by water is a widespread problem throughout Europe. The South and Southeast regions of Europe are significantly prone to water erosion. In parts of the region, erosion has reached a stage of irreversibility and in some places erosion has practically ceased because there is no soil left. Scientists from the Balkan countries faced with the erosion problem for years, paid significant attention to solving problems with erosion. The aim of this study is to compare the results of water erosion intensity in the Balkan countries with other European countries. The basic methodological approach in this paper is an analysis of secondary data, using the method of “content analyses” of various data sources. Inductive and deductive qualitative analysis was used and finally the method of “comparative analysis” is applied too. Through the analysis of national researches, it was estimated that erosion intensity in Balkan countries is 548 m3km-2 (similar to 5.48 tha-1) and the total amount of annual produced erosive material is 419.9 *106 m3. The mean European average annual erosion intensity is 3.13tha-1. The most erosive countries in Europe are the Balkan countries, Albania and Montenegro where the mean annual intensity of erosion is > 10 tha-1.
Comparison of Legionella pneumophila isolates by arbitrarily primed PCR and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis: analysis from seven epidemic investigations

Arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) subtyping were applied to clinical and environmental isolates from seven unrelated outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease. The patterns observed with each method matched patient isolates and the epidemiologically linked source of disease for each of the seven outbreaks. PFGE allowed more discrimination among various isolates, although AP-PCR usually gave comparable results. With both methods, certain patterns appeared to predominate in the comparison of the seven outbreaks. Of five clinical isolates not associated with the outbreaks, three gave profiles distinct from those observed in the outbreaks by both methods. This suggests that there are at least two predominant subtypes of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 associated with outbreaks. Investigations of outbreaks of legionellosis should employ either PFGE or AP-PCR in addition to monoclonal antibody analysis.
Identification and Characterization of RBEL1 Subfamily of GTPases in the Ras Superfamily Involved in Cell Growth Regulation*

Recently, we reported the identification of a novel gene named RBEL1 (Rab-like protein 1) and characterized its two encoded isoforms, RBEL1A and RBEL1B, that function as novel GTPases of Ras superfamily. Here we report the identification of two additional splice variants of RBEL1 that we have named RBEL1C and -D. All four RBEL1 isoforms (A, B, C, and D) have identical N termini harboring the Rab-like GTPase domains but contain variable C termini. Although all isoforms can be detected in both cytoplasm and nucleus, RBEL1A is predominantly cytoplasmic, whereas RBEL1B is mostly nuclear. RBEL1C and -D, by contrast, are evenly distributed between the cytoplasm and nucleus. Furthermore, all four RBEL1 proteins are also capable of associating with cellular membrane. The RBEL1 proteins also exhibit a unique nucleotide-binding potential and, whereas the larger A and B isoforms are mainly GTP-bound, the smaller C and D variants bind to both GTP and GDP. Furthermore, a regulatory region at amino acid position 236–302 immediately adjacent to the GTP-binding domain is important for GTP-binding potential of RBEL1A, because deletion of this region converts RBEL1A from predominantly GTP-bound to GDP-bound. RBEL1 knockdown via RNA interference results in marked cell growth suppression, which is associated with morphological and biochemical features of apoptosis as well as inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation. Taken together, our results indicate that RBEL1 proteins are linked to cell growth and survival and possess unique biochemical, cellular, and functional characteristics and, therefore, appear to form a novel subfamily of GTPases within the Ras superfamily.
Examining students' understanding of electrical circuits through multiple-choice testing and interviews

ENGELHARDT, PAULA VETTER. Examining Students’ Understanding of Electrical Circuits through Multiple-choice Testing and Interviews. (Under the direction of Robert J. Beichner.) Research has shown that both high school and university students have misconceptions about direct current resistive electric circuits. At present, there are no standard diagnostic examinations in electric circuits. Such an instrument would be useful in determining what conceptual problems students have either before or after instruction. The information provided by the exam can be used by classroom instructors to evaluate their instructional methods and the progress and conceptual problems of their students. It can be used to evaluate curricular packages and/or other supplemental materials for their effectiveness in overcoming students’ conceptual difficulties. Two versions of a diagnostic instrument known as Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric circuits Concepts Tests (DIRECT) were developed, each consisting of 29 questions. DIRECT was administered to groups of high school and university students in the United States, Canada and Germany. The students had completed their study of electrostatics and direct current electric circuits prior to taking the exam. Individual interviews were conducted after the administration of version 1.0 to determine how students were interpreting the questions and to uncover their reasoning behind their selections. The analyses indicate that students, especially females, tend to hold multiple misconceptions, even after instruction. The idea that the battery is a constant source of current was used most often in answering the questions. Although students tend to use different misconceptions for each question presented, they do use misconceptions associated with the global objective of the question. Students’ definitions of terms used on the exam and their misconceptions were examined. Students tended to confuse terms, especially current. They assigned the properties of current to voltage and/or resistance. One of the major findings from the study was that students were able to translate easily from a “realistic” representation of a circuit to the corresponding schematic diagram. Results indicated that students do not have a clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms of electric circuit phenomena. Students had difficulty handling simultaneous changes of variable. Current was the main concept used in solving the problems. Some of the students who were interviewed reverted to formulas to answer the questions.
The final Foucault

Michel Foucault left a rich legacy of ideas and approaches, many of which still await exposition and analysis. The Final Foucault is devoted to his last published (and some as yet unpublished) work and includes a translation of one of his last interviews, a comprehensive bibliography of his publications, and a biographical chronology.Foucault was still working on his history of sexuality when he died in 1984, but his main concern remained, as throughout his career, a deeper understanding of the nature of truth. His final set of lectures at the College de France, described here by Thomas Flynn, focused on the concept of truth-telling as a moral virtue in the ancient world.In the other essays, Karlis Racevskis examines the questions of identity at the core of Foucault's work; Garth Gillan takes up the problems inherent in any attempt to characterize Foucault's philosophy; James Bernauer explores the ethical basis of Foucault's work and offers a context for understanding his late interest in the Christian experience; and Diane Rubenstein offers a Lacanian interpretation of the last work.James Bernauer is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Boston College. The Final Foucault is based on a special issue of the Journal Philosophy and Social Criticism, edited by David Rasmussen and published at Boston College.
An updated survey of globular clusters in M 31. II. Newly discovered bright and remote clusters

Aims. We present the first results of a large spectroscopic survey of candidate globular clusters located in the extreme outskirts of the nearby M 31 galaxy. The survey is aimed at ascertaining the nature of the selected candidates to increase the sample of confirmed M 31 clusters lying more that 2 ◦ away from the center of the galaxy. Methods. We obtained low resolution spectra (λ/∆λ � 800–1300) of 48 targets selected from the Extended Source Catalogue of 2MASS, as in Galleti et al. (2005, AA the other four are completely new discoveries: B516, B517, B518, B519. The newly discovered clusters lie at projected distance 40 kpc Rp 100 kpc from the center of M 31, and have absolute integrated magnitude −9.5 MV −7.5. For all the observed clusters we have measured the strongest Lick indices and we have obtained spectroscopic metallicity estimates. Mackey-GC1, Martin-GC1, B517 and B518 have spectra typical of old and metal poor globular clusters ([Fe/H] −1.3); B519 appears old but quite metal-rich ([Fe/H] �− 0.5); B516 presents very strong Balmer absorption lines: if this is indeed a cluster it should have a relatively young age (likely < 2 Gyr). Conclusions. The present analysis nearly doubles the number of M 31 globulars at Rp ≥ 40 kpc. At odds with the Milky Way, M 31 appears to have a significant population of very bright globular clusters in its extreme outskirts.
Human Performance: Cognition, Stress and Individual Differences

Prologue. Section I, 1. Introduction. Section II. 2. Modelling the Cognitive Architecture. 3. Key Subsystems of the Cognitive Architecture. 4. Selective Attention. 5. Divided Attention and Workload. 6. Vigilance and Sustained Attention. 7. Skilled Performance. 8. Human Error. Section III. 9. Stress, Arousal and Performance: An Introduction. 10. Noise and Irrelevant Speech. 11. Thermal Stress and Other Physical Stressors. 12. Fatigue the Energetics of Performance. 13. Lifestyle and Performance: Health, Diet and Drugs. Section IV 14. Individual Differences in Ability and Performance. 15. Individual Differences: Personality and Mood. 16. Ageing and Human Performance. Epilogue.
CTKPred: an SVM-based method for the prediction and classification of the cytokine superfamily.

Cell proliferation, differentiation and death are controlled by a multitude of cell-cell signals and loss of this control has devastating consequences. Prominent among these regulatory signals is the cytokine superfamily, which has crucial functions in the development, differentiation and regulation of immune cells. In this study, a support vector machine (SVM)-based method was developed for predicting families and subfamilies of cytokines using dipeptide composition. The taxonomy of the cytokine superfamily with which our method complies was described in the Cytokine Family cDNA Database (dbCFC) and the dataset used in this study for training and testing was obtained from the dbCFC and Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP). The method classified cytokines and non-cytokines with an accuracy of 92.5% by 7-fold cross-validation. The method is further able to predict seven major classes of cytokine with an overall accuracy of 94.7%. A server for recognition and classification of cytokines based on multi-class SVMs has been set up at http://bioinfo.tsinghua. edu.cn/~huangni/CTKPred/.
Mammographic breast pattern in Nigerian women in Ibadan, Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION Mammographic breast density is dependent on the relative proportion of radiolucent fat and radio-dense connective and glandular tissue. This breast density is said to be a marker of risk for breast cancer and has received widespread interest in many countries in recent years. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of the various mammographic breast density patterns and seeks to find any association between the reported breast patterns and various demographic variables in women in Ibadan, South West Nigeria. METHODS A prospective descriptive study of mammographic breast pattern in 498 women at the Department of Radiology, University College Hospital Ibadan. Two screening views and additional views when necessary were done on each breast with the Senographe DMR+ Mammographic Unit. Participants also completed an assisted administered questionnaire which was used to obtain data on their socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS The study confirmed significant association with age and parity as in previous reports in the diaspora. CONCLUSION The study confirmed denser mammographic breast pattern in younger and nulliparous women. Future work on mammographic density and other variables is contemplated for complete cancer related data in our peculiar setting.
Dividend , investment and the direction of causality

In this study, we address an econometric issue which has so far been neglected by the empirical studies on separation principle. The earlier studies largely applied Granger causality test by differencing the data if they are integrated time series. Such approach produces specification bias if integrated variables in level are cointegrated and thus, ignoring the long run dynamics among the variables. To circumvent this problem, we test for cointegration between investments and dividends and estimate a dynamic panel vector error correction model. Annual time series data over the period 1995 to 2008 for various sectors chosen on the basis of the available sectoral indices of National Stock Exchange (NSE) are considered for empirical analysis. The empirical evidence derived from group mean and lambda-Pearson tests seem to indicate that there is long run causal link between investments and dividends and therefore, firms’ decisions regarding dividend payout and investments are inseparable.
‘The Tyranny of Appearance’: Chinese Australian Identities and the Politics of Difference

This essay uses cultural studies approaches to interrogate issues of race and identity facing the descendants of early Chinese migrants to Australia, who are second, third and fourth generation Chinese Australians. Drawing on close analysis of oral history interviews and personal narratives, it investigates how Chinese Australians negotiate their identities in response to encounters of ‘difference’ and ‘Otherness’ within mainstream Australian society. In so doing, it seeks to draw attention to exclusionary mechanisms operating within mainstream Australian society that continue to obstruct the complete acceptance of Chinese Australians as Australians despite rights of birth and citizenship, generational longevity and strong national and cultural identities grounded in Australia. At the same time, it demonstrates how ‘Chinese’ (and ‘Asian’) identities become externally imposed on Chinese Australians, whether they like it or not, despite their attempts to fashion collective and individual identities that resonate personally for them.
Random Cayley Graphs and Expanders

For every 1 > δ > 0 there exists a c = c(δ) > 0 such that for every group G of order n, and for a set S of c(δ) log n random elements in the group, the expected value of the second largest eigenvalue of the normalized adjacency matrix of the Cayley graph X(G, S) is at most (1 - δ). This implies that almost every such a graph is an ϵ(δ)-expander. For Abelian groups this is essentially tight, and explicit constructions can be given in some cases. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Pengaruh Komunikasi, Konflik dan Disiplin Kerja terhadap Kinerja Pegawai

Komunikasi, konflik dan disiplin kerja berpengaruh baik secara simultan maupun parsial terhadap kinerja pegawai, hal inilah yang dicari dalam penelitian ini serta variabel yang paling dominan untuk diketahui pada Kantor Balai Besar Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika Wilayah III Denpasar. Analisis regresi linier berganda adalah teknik analisis yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Komunikasi, konflik dan disiplin kerja secara simultan dan parsial berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja pegawai adalah hasil analisis yang ditunjukan dalam penelitian ini. Variabel yang paling dominan berpengaruh terhadap kinerja pegawai adalah variabel komunikasi karena berdasarkan perhitungan analisis Standardized Coefficients Beta memiliki nilai terbesar. Kata kunci : komunikasi, konflik, disiplin kerja, kinerja pegawai
An Apology for Lying

We investigate what types of social factors affect apology behavior for a previous lie and credibility levels for that apology. We abruptly provide subjects an opportunity to send an apology message after completion of the deception game (Gneezy, 2005) and investigate the effects of three main variables: burden of guilt based on the difference of stakes to be earned from lying and those from telling the truth (large vs. small), socio-economic background (students vs. non-students), and social distance (anonymity vs. face-to-face). The results show that none of these variables affect lying behavior. Students trust their counterparts less than non-students. After the deception game, students are less likely to send the message of having told a lie than non-students, but neither the burden of guilt nor social distance affects the motivation for sending such a message. Students give lower credibility levels to the additional messages sent after the deception game than non-students. Lifting anonymity raises credibility levels. The most powerful variables to affect apology behavior and credibility levels are subjects own previous decisions: whether to lie or not and whether to trust or not. That is, liars are more likely to send the message of having told a lie or keep silent than honest subjects, and trustors grant higher credibility than non-trustors.
GPU Computing for Parallel Local Search Metaheuristic Algorithms

Local search metaheuristics (LSMs) are efficient methods for solving complex problems in science and industry. They allow significantly to reduce the size of the search space to be explored and the search time. Nevertheless, the resolution time remains prohibitive when dealing with large problem instances. Therefore, the use of GPU-based massively parallel computing is a major complementary way to speed up the search. However, GPU computing for LSMs is rarely investigated in the literature. In this paper, we introduce a new guideline for the design and implementation of effective LSMs on GPU. Very efficient approaches are proposed for CPU-GPU data transfer optimization, thread control, mapping of neighboring solutions to GPU threads, and memory management. These approaches have been experimented using four well-known combinatorial and continuous optimization problems and four GPU configurations. Compared to a CPU-based execution, accelerations up to \times 80 are reported for the large combinatorial problems and up to \times 240 for a continuous problem. Finally, extensive experiments demonstrate the strong potential of GPU-based LSMs compared to cluster or grid-based parallel architectures.
Global Transcriptome Analysis of Tropheryma whipplei in Response to Temperature Stresses

ABSTRACT Tropheryma whipplei, the agent responsible for Whipple disease, is a poorly known pathogen suspected to have an environmental origin. The availability of the sequence of the 0.92-Mb genome of this organism made a global gene expression analysis in response to thermal stresses feasible, which resulted in unique transcription profiles. A few genes were differentially transcribed after 15 min of exposure at 43°C. The effects observed included up-regulation of the dnaK regulon, which is composed of six genes and is likely to be under control of two HspR-associated inverted repeats (HAIR motifs) found in the 5′ region. Putative virulence factors, like the RibC and IspDF proteins, were also overexpressed. While it was not affected much by heat shock, the T. whipplei transcriptome was strongly modified following cold shock at 4°C. For the 149 genes that were differentially transcribed, eight regulons were identified, and one of them was composed of five genes exhibiting similarity with genes encoding ABC transporters. Up-regulation of these genes suggested that there was an increase in nutrient uptake when the bacterium was exposed to cold stress. As observed for other bacterial species, the major classes of differentially transcribed genes encode membrane proteins and enzymes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis, indicating that membrane modifications are critical. Paradoxically, the heat shock proteins GroEL2 and ClpP1 were up-regulated. Altogether, the data show that despite the lack of classical regulation pathways, T. whipplei exhibits an adaptive response to thermal stresses which is consistent with its specific environmental origin and could allow survival under cold conditions.
Cognitive illusions : a handbook on fallacies and biases in thinking, judgement and memory

R.F. Pohl, Introduction: Cognitive Illusions. Part 1: Thinking Illusions. J.E. Fisk, Conjunction Fallacy. M.H. Birnbaum, Base Rates in Bayesian Inference. S. Kurzenhauser, A. Lucking, Statistical Formats in Bayesian Inferences. M.E. Oswald, S. Grosjean, Confirmation Bias. K. Fiedler, Illusory Correlation. S.C. Thompson, Illusions of Control. J. St. B.T. Evans, Biases in Deductive Reasoning. Part 2: Judgment Illusions. R. Reber, Availability. K.H. Teigen, Judgments by Representativeness. T. Mussweiler, B. Englich, F. Strack, Anchoring Effect. C. Hackett Renner, Validity Effect. R.F. Bornstein, C. Craver-Lemley, Mere Exposure Effect. U. Hoffrage, Overconfidence. M.W. Matlin, Pollyanna Principle. Part 3: Memory Illusions. Heekyeong Park, Lynne M. Reder, Moses Illusion. G.V. Jones, M. Martin, Orientation Illusions in Memory. H.L. Roediger III, D.A. Gallo, Associative Memory Illusions. R.F. Pohl, Effects of Labeling. J. Pickrell, D.M. Bernstein, E.F. Loftus, Misinformation Effect. R.F. Pohl, Hindsight Bias. A. Wilson, M. Ross, Illusions of Change or Stability. Perspectives. V.A. Gheorghiu, G. Molz, R.F. Pohl, Suggestion and Illusion.
The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in the Conditioning and Extinction of Fear

Once acquired, a fearful memory can persist for a lifetime. Although learned fear can be extinguished, extinction memories are fragile. The resilience of fear memories to extinction may contribute to the maintenance of disorders of fear and anxiety, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As such, considerable effort has been placed on understanding the neural circuitry underlying the acquisition, expression, and extinction of emotional memories in rodent models as well as in humans. A triad of brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, form an essential brain circuit involved in fear conditioning and extinction. Within this circuit, the prefrontal cortex is thought to exert top-down control over subcortical structures to regulate appropriate behavioral responses. Importantly, a division of labor has been proposed in which the prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) subdivisions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regulate the expression and suppression of fear in rodents, respectively. Here, we critically review the anatomical and physiological evidence that has led to this proposed dichotomy of function within mPFC. We propose that under some conditions, the PL and IL act in concert, exhibiting similar patterns of neural activity in response to aversive conditioned stimuli and during the expression or inhibition of conditioned fear. This may stem from common synaptic inputs, parallel downstream outputs, or cortico-cortical interactions. Despite this functional covariation, these mPFC subdivisions may still be coding for largely opposing behavioral outcomes, with PL biased towards fear expression and IL towards suppression.