Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The ATXN1 and TRIM31 genes are related to intelligence in an ADHD background: Evidence from a large collaborative study totaling 4,963 Subjects

Intelligence is a highly heritable trait for which it has proven difficult to identify the actual genes. In the past decade, five whole‐genome linkage scans have suggested genomic regions important to human intelligence; however, so far none of the responsible genes or variants in those regions have been identified. Apart from these regions, a handful of candidate genes have been identified, although most of these are in need of replication. The recent growth in publicly available data sets that contain both whole genome association data and a wealth of phenotypic data, serves as an excellent resource for fine mapping and candidate gene replication. We used the publicly available data of 947 families participating in the International Multi‐Centre ADHD Genetics (IMAGE) study to conduct an in silico fine mapping study of previously associated genomic locations, and to attempt replication of previously reported candidate genes for intelligence. Although this sample was ascertained for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intelligence quotient (IQ) scores were distributed normally. We tested 667 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 15 previously reported candidate genes for intelligence and 29451 SNPs in five genomic loci previously identified through whole genome linkage and association analyses. Significant SNPs were tested in four independent samples (4,357 subjects), one ascertained for ADHD, and three population‐based samples. Associations between intelligence and SNPs in the ATXN1 and TRIM31 genes and in three genomic locations showed replicated association, but only in the samples ascertained for ADHD, suggesting that these genetic variants become particularly relevant to IQ on the background of a psychiatric disorder. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
SKILL‐BIASED TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND BRAIN DRAIN

We develop a model of directed technology adoption, frictional unemployment, and migration to examine the effects of a change in skill endowments on the wages, employment rates, and emigration rates of skilled and unskilled workers. We find that, depending on the elasticity of substitution between skilled and unskilled workers and the elasticity of the matching function, an increase in the skill ratio can reduce both the relative unemployment rate and the relative emigration rate (brain drain) of skilled workers. We provide numerical simulations to support our findings and show that the effects are empirically relevant and potentially sizable.
Reinforcement learning for declarative optimization-based drama management

A long-standing challenge in interactive entertainment is the creation of story-based games with dynamically responsive story-lines. Such games are populated by multiple objects and autonomous characters, and must provide a coherent story experience while giving the player freedom of action. To maintain coherence, the game author must provide for modifying the world in reaction to the player's actions, directing agents to act in particular ways (overriding or modulating their autonomy), or causing inanimate objects to reconfigure themselves "behind the player's back". Declarative optimization-based drama management is one mechanism for allowing the game author to specify a drama manager (DM) to coordinate these modifications, along with a story the DM should aim for. The premise is that the author can easily describe the salient properties of the story while leaving it to the DM to react to the player and direct agent actions. Although promising, early search-based approaches have been shown to scale poorly. Here, we improve upon the state of the art by using reinforcement learning and a novel training paradigm to build an adaptive DM that manages the tradeoff between exploration and story coherence. We present results on two games and compare our performance with other approaches.
A MAP-based speech enhancer combined with two-channel beamformer in automobile environment

In single microphone speech enhancement, a MAP-based speech enhancer is known as a very effective method. Although the MAP-based speech enhancer has a strong noise reduction capability, it also provides speech quality degradation in a low SNR environment such as in an automobile. To solve this problem, we improve the SNR by using null beamformer before applying the MAP-based speech enhancer. However, the suppressed signal includes low frequency speech components. Then we also apply the MAP-based speech enhancer to the signal suppressed by the null beamformer, and we sum up the two enhanced speech signals. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed for two-channels speech enhancement which is based on the MAP-based speech enhancer and null beamformer. From computer simulations, we confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Digital Type Disturbance Compensation Control of Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator Systems

We have proposed continuous and discrete time Resolved Acceleration Control (RAC) methods for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems and the effectiveness of the control methods have been demonstrated by experiments. In this paper, we propose a digital type disturbance compensation control method based on the RAC method. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Physical, mechanical and abrasive wear behaviour of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites

Now-a-days, abrasive wear of engineering and agricultural machine components caused by the abrasive particles is a major industrial problem. Therefore, a full understanding of the effects of all system variables on the abrasive wear rates is necessary in order to undertake appropriate steps in the design of the machinery and the choice of materials to reduce/control wear. The need for the use of newer materials to combat wear situations has resulted in the emergence of polymer based system. Polymers and their composites form a very important class of tribo engineering materials and are invariably used in mechanical components where wear performance in non-lubricated condition is a key parameter for the material. The advantages of these materials are light weight, excellent strength to weight ratios, resistance to corrosion, non-toxicity, easy to fabricate, design flexibility, self-lubricating properties, better coefficient of friction, and wear resistance. The present research work is undertaken to study the physical, mechanical and three body abrasive wear behaviour of jute fiber reinforced polymer composites. Three different forms of jute fiber (short jute fiber, bidirectional jute fiber and needle punched nonwoven jute fiber) are considered for the present research work. Attempts have been made to explore the possible use of needle punched nonwoven jute fibers as reinforcement for polymer composites. The design of experiments approach using Taguchi methodology is employed for the parametric analysis of abrasive wear process. The study reveals that abrasive wear performance of needle punched nonwoven jute based composites is better than that of the short and bidirectional jute fiber reinforced composites. The morphology of abraded surfaces is examined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and possible wear mechanisms are discussed. Finally, the ranking of the composite materials under study is done by using AHP-TOPSIS method based on their physical, mechanical and abrasive wear attributes.
How grandmother effects plus individual variation in frailty shape fertility and mortality: Guidance from human–chimpanzee comparisons

In the first paper to present formal theory explaining that senescence is a consequence of natural selection, W. D. Hamilton concluded that human postmenopausal longevity results from the contributions of ancestral grandmothers to the reproduction of their relatives. A grandmother hypothesis, subsequently elaborated with additional lines of evidence, helps explain both exceptional longevity and additional features of life history that distinguish humans from the other great apes. However, some of the variation observed in aging rates seems inconsistent with the tradeoffs between current and future reproduction identified by theory. In humans and chimpanzees, our nearest living relatives, individuals who bear offspring at faster rates do not cease bearing sooner. They continue to be fertile longer instead. Furthermore, within both species, groups with lower overall mortality rates have faster rates of increase in death risk with advancing age. These apparent contradictions to the expected life history tradeoffs likely result from heterogeneity in frailty among individuals. Whereas robust and frail alike must allocate investments between current and future reproduction, the more robust can afford more of both. This heterogeneity, combined with evolutionary tradeoffs and the key role of ancestral grandmothers they identify, helps explain aspects of human aging that increasingly concern us all.
Fast Representation Based on a Double Orientation Histogram for Local Image Descriptors

In recent years, extensive research on local invariant features has been conducted, and many novel descriptors have been developed for different scenarios. Frequently, these descriptors can offer unique advantages (such as stability, precision, and speed) for select applications but perform unsatisfactorily from a comprehensive perspective. Consequently, a novel local image descriptor, named fast representation using a double orientation histogram (FRDOH), is developed in this paper based on existing descriptors. First, a region is divided using intensity order (as in the local intensity order pattern descriptor) to encode spatial information. Then, the discriminability of the descriptor is enhanced using our proposed double orientation histogram. Second, to further improve the discriminability of the descriptor, the Hellinger distance is used to balance the effects of large and small bins in the histogram for the similarity measure of features. Finally, a novel interpolation strategy known as rapidly cascaded interpolation is used to calculate the intensity of the neighboring points to reduce the computation time, while achieving high precision. The performance of the developed descriptor is evaluated via numerous experiments on the affine covariant feature data set of the Oxford data set, a subset of a 3D object data set, and a subset of the IIT Delhi Touchless Palmprint data set. These experiments demonstrate that the developed FRDOH descriptor outperforms the state-of-the-art descriptors in terms of comprehensive performance.
Link between Pay for Performance Incentives and Physician Payment Mechanisms: Evidence from the Diabetes Management Incentive in Ontario

Pay for performance (P4P) incentives for physicians are generally designed as additional payments that can be paired with any existing payment mechanism such as a salary, fee-for-services and capitation. However, the link between the physician response to performance incentives and the existing payment mechanisms is still not well understood. In this article, we study this link using the recent primary care physician payment reform in Ontario as a natural experiment and the Diabetes Management Incentive as a case study. Using a comprehensive administrative data strategy and a difference-in-differences matching strategy, we find that physicians in a blended capitation model are more responsive to the Diabetes Management Incentive than physicians in an enhanced fee-for-service model. We show that this result implies that the optimal size of P4P incentives vary negatively with the degree of supply-side cost-sharing. These results have important implications for the design of P4P programs and the cost of their implementation.
SMT and Hybrid systems of the QTLeap project in the WMT16 IT-task

This paper presents the description of 12 systems submitted to the WMT16 IT-task, covering six different languages, namely Basque, Bulgarian, Dutch, Czech, Portuguese and Spanish. All these systems were developed under the scope of the QTLeap project, presenting a common strategy. For each language two different systems were submitted, namely a phrasebased MT system built using Moses, and a system exploiting deep language engineering approaches, that in all the languages but Bulgarian was implemented using TectoMT. For 4 of the 6 languages, the TectoMT-based system performs better than the Moses-based one.
Novel Magnetic Sensing Approach with Improved Linearity

This paper introduces a novel contactless sensing principle conceived for measuring the rotation angle of a shaft. The sensor is based on a smart combination of low-cost components that can be effectively integrated in a mechanical assembly of a rotary joint. The working principle is based on the relative rotation of a small diametrically magnetized cylindrical or annular magnet and at least one Hall effect sensor. One of the main strengths of the new sensing principle is to be adaptable to any assigned dimensions and encumbrances without typical design limitations given by the use of standard components. A numerical model is developed for predicting the sensor output characteristic on the base of the concept of magnetic charge. Such a model is validated against results from laboratory experiments. The parameters that define the geometry and layout of the sensor are optimized in order to maximize linearity over an assigned angular range of measurement. Two examples of mechatronic systems that employ the new sensing principle are presented in order to show the possibility of obtaining with the new principle a compact/integrated sensor-design.
Coarse-grained detection of student frustration in an introductory programming course

We attempt to automatically detect student frustration, at a coarse-grained level, using measures distilled from student behavior within a learning environment for introductory programming. We find that each student's average level of frustration across five lab exercises can be detected based on the number of pairs of consecutive compilations with the same edit location, the number of pairs of consecutive compilations with the same error, the average time between compilations and the total number of errors. Attempts to detect frustration at a finer grain-size, identifying individual students' fluctuations in frustration between labs, were less successful. These results indicate that it is possible to detect frustration at a coarse-grained level, solely from coarse-grained data about students' behavior within a learning environment.
Automatic Fuzzy Membership Function Tuning Using the Particle Swarm Optimization

Fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) are developed to exploit human expert knowledge in designing control systems. While the fuzzy rules are relatively easy to obtain, fuzzy membership function (MF) tuning could be a time consuming exercise. In this paper the particle swarm optimization technique is employed to automatically tune the MFs of a Mamdani-type of fuzzy controller. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is demonstrated by the control performance of such an FLC of a nonlinear water tank system. The results are compared favourably to a PSO tuned PID controller.
Convergence assessment of numerical Monte Carlo simulations in groundwater hydrology

Numerical Monte Carlo simulation is considered to be one of the main tools to be used in groundwater hydrology (1) to quantify the uncertainty in the flow predictions due to imperfect knowledge of aquifer architecture, hydraulic parameters, and forcing terms or (2) to assess the reliability of approximated moment‐based equations for flow and/or transport. While the Monte Carlo framework is conceptually straightforward and very flexible, it is recognized as lacking well‐established convergence criteria. Here we propose a methodology for convergence analysis of Monte Carlo simulations and therefore for the reliability assessment of the inferred statistical moments. The methodology, based on simple rules of statistical inference, is described with reference to a typical groundwater flow problem and can be extended to different application fields.
Safety, efficacy and convenience of colistimethate sodium dry powder for inhalation (Colobreathe DPI) in patients with cystic fibrosis: a randomised study

Purpose To assess efficacy and safety of a new dry powder formulation of inhaled colistimethate sodium in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) aged ≥6 years with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection. Study design and methods A prospective, centrally randomised, phase III, open-label study in patients with stable CF aged ≥6 years with chronic P aeruginosa lung infection. Patients were randomised to Colobreathe dry powder for inhalation (CDPI, one capsule containing colistimethate sodium 1 662 500 IU, twice daily) or three 28-day cycles with twice-daily 300 mg/5 ml tobramycin inhaler solution (TIS). Study duration was 24 weeks. Results 380 patients were randomised. After logarithmic transformation of data due to a non-normal distribution, adjusted mean difference between treatment groups (CDPI vs TIS) in change in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1% predicted) at week 24 was −0.98% (95% CI −2.74% to 0.86%) in the intention-to-treat population (n=373) and −0.56% (95% CI −2.71% to 1.70%) in the per protocol population (n=261). The proportion of colistin-resistant isolates in both groups was ≤1.1%. The number of adverse events was similar in both groups. Significantly more patients receiving CDPI rated their device as ‘very easy or easy to use’ (90.7% vs 53.9% respectively; p<0.001). Conclusion CDPI demonstrated efficacy by virtue of non-inferiority to TIS in lung function after 24 weeks of treatment. There was no emergence of resistance of P aeruginosa to colistin. Overall, CDPI was well tolerated. Trial Reg No EudraCT 2004-003675-36.
Experimental analysis of cross-phase modulation and cross-gain modulation in SOA-injecting CW assist light

Cross-phase modulation (XPM) and cross-gain modulation (XGM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) pumped by assist light were experimentally analyzed. A simple analysis technique for evaluating the XPM separately from the XGM was proposed utilizing a polarization-discriminating delayed interferometer. An initial phase deviation and a gain recovery time in SOA with injecting assist light were quantitatively estimated.
The Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Louisiana: An Updated, Annotated Checklist

Abstract An annotated checklist is provided for 243 species and subspecies of bees collected from or thought to occur in the state of Louisiana, where 163 are confirmed records, 46 are probable records, and 34 are possible records. We also list twelve records considered to be “dubious” because of the absence of supporting collection data and extralimital reported ranges. Data on parish localities, seasonality, and floral records are provided when available. Specimen data are provided from two separate surveys in the state, one focusing on the fauna of longleaf pine savannas and another focusing on Cajun prairie habitat in southwestern Louisiana. Data from a previous annotated checklist of bees from longleaf pine savannas (Bartholomew et al. 2006) are included, as well as online records from the Discover Life checklist (Ascher and Pickering 2016), and bee holdings of the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA). We highlight the role that this museum and similar small institutional insect collections play in documenting faunas on local and regional scales.
Draft Genome Sequences of Campylobacterales (Epsilonproteobacteria) Obtained from Methanogenic Oil Sands Tailings Pond Metagenomes

ABSTRACT Draft genome sequences of two Campylobacterales (Sulfurospirillum sp. strain SCADC and Sulfuricurvum sp. strain MLSB [Mildred Lake Settling Basin]) were obtained by taxonomic binning of metagenomes originating from an oil sands tailings pond. Both genomes contain soxABXYZ genes involved in sulfur oxidation, highlighting their potential roles in sulfur cycling in oil sands tailings ponds.
Formal analysis for real-time scheduling

A sound theory of real-time scheduling is necessary to support the engineering of real-time software applications. Developing scheduling results using formal methods helps provide the high level of assurance required in safety-critical domains. We propose a formalization methodology relying on state-machine models and on a library of commonly applicable properties. A case study has shown that rigorous and a detailed verification of nontrivial scheduling results can be performed within reasonable time limits, using modern theorem-proving tools such as PVS. It is still necessary to develop and extend such verification efforts to the increasingly complex scheduling algorithms that may one day be used in safety-critical applications. Other aspects relevant to the avionics domain remain insufficiently explored by the formal methods community. For example, little has been done in the analysis of distributed real-time systems, where difficult problems mixing communication, processing, fault tolerance must be addressed. Formal methods are especially valuable in such complex settings, where informal proofs guided by intuition are insufficient and where other validation approaches such as testing are incomplete. Formal methods should become an essential tool for validating the most critical aspects of real-time systems, such as the partitioning mechanisms required for fault isolation in integrated avionics. Real-time scheduling problems are an ideal application area for formal methods since they are subtle and complex, must be certified to the highest degrees of assurance for supporting critical applications, and thus require very precise, detailed, and rigorous verification.
How Programmers can Turn Comments into Waypoints for Code Navigation

We have developed a new approach for software navigation called TagSEA (Tagging of Software Engineering Activities). TagSEA combines the notion of "waypointing" with "social tagging" to support programmers in defining navigational structures over a software system. In this paper we present the results from a case study series, conducted with professional programmers, that demonstrates how this tool supports navigation and under what circumstances. We conclude with insights into user-definable navigational structures, and how they can support software maintenance more effectively.
Proactive Surge Protection: A Defense Mechanism for Bandwidth-Based Attacks

Large-scale bandwidth-based distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks can quickly knock out substantial parts of a network before reactive defenses can respond. Even traffic that is not under direct attack can suffer significant collateral damage if the traffic passes through links that are common to attack routes. This paper presents a proactive surge protection (PSP) mechanism that aims to provide a broad first line of defense against DDoS attacks. The approach aims to minimize collateral damage by providing bandwidth isolation between traffic flows. The proposed solution is readily deployable using existing router mechanisms and does not rely on any unauthenticated packet header information. Our extensive evaluation across two large commercial backbone networks, using both distributed and targeted attacks, shows that up to 95.5% of the network could suffer collateral damage, but our solution was able to significantly reduce the amount of collateral damage by up to 97.58% in terms of the number of packets dropped and 90.36% in terms of the number of flows with packet loss. Further, we show that PSP can maintain low packet loss rates even when the intensity of attacks is increased significantly.