Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of V1a-like receptors disrupts male-male affiliative relationships formed by triadic cohabitation in large-billed crows

Affiliative relationships, such as parent-offspring bonds, male-female pair-bonds, and within-sex coalitions/alliances, are beneficial for group-living animals to increase fitness and reproductive success. Male-male affiliative relationship, such as coalitions/alliances, have been reported in social mammals and birds in situations where three or more individuals interact, suggesting that male-male affiliative relationships can be formed via interactive situations involving three (or more) individuals. However, no experimental studies have tested this hypothesis on social animals. Many studies on mammals and birds have revealed that an affiliative relationship is underpinned by the oxytocin (OT)/vasopressin (VP) system. However, the role of the OT/VP system has been studied only in parent-offspring bonds and pair-bonds and is lacking in male-male affiliative relationships. In this study, we found the 2-week cohabitation of three male crows in an aviary facilitated affiliative relationship formation between two of the three crows (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of peripheral administration of vasopressin 1a receptor (V1aR) antagonist peripheral administration on the social behaviour of affiliated males. We found that the V1aR antagonist caused the disappearance of affiliative behaviour and the resurgence of agonistic behaviour in affiliated males. Our findings provide the first evidence for V1aR involvement in male-male affiliative relationships in vertebrates.
Oxygen utilization rate (OUR) underestimates ocean respiration: A model study

We use a simple 1‐D model representing an isolated density surface in the ocean and 3‐D global ocean biogeochemical models to evaluate the concept of computing the subsurface oceanic oxygen utilization rate (OUR) from the changes of apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) and water age. The distribution of AOU in the ocean is not only the imprint of respiration in the ocean's interior but is strongly influenced by transport processes and eventually loss at the ocean surface. Since AOU and water age are subject to advection and diffusive mixing, it is only when they are affected both in the same way that OUR represents the correct rate of oxygen consumption. This is the case only when advection prevails or with uniform respiration rates, when the proportions of AOU and age are not changed by transport. In experiments with the 1‐D tube model, OUR underestimates respiration when maximum respiration rates occur near the outcrops of isopycnals and overestimates when maxima occur far from the outcrops. Given the distribution of respiration in the ocean, i.e., elevated rates near high‐latitude outcrops of isopycnals and low rates below the oligotrophic gyres, underestimates are the rule. Integrating these effects globally in three coupled ocean biogeochemical and circulation models, we find that AOU‐over‐age based calculations underestimate true model respiration by a factor of 3. Most of this difference is observed in the upper 1000 m of the ocean with the discrepancies increasing toward the surface where OUR underestimates respiration by as much as factor of 4.
Neonatal Amygdala Mean Diffusivity: A Potential Predictor of Emotional Face Perception

The ability to differentiate between different facial expressions is an important part of human social and emotional development that begins in infancy. Studies have shown that within the first year of life, infants develop a distinctive attentional bias towards fearful facial expressions. Investigations into the neural basis for this bias have highlighted the significance of the amygdala. The amygdala’s role in directing attention towards fearful facial expressions underscores its importance in early emotional development, significantly influencing how infants interpret and react to facial expressions. To date, no studies have been conducted to investigate the associations between the amygdala microstructure and infants’ perception of emotional faces. This study aimed to elucidate this relationship while also investigating whether this association is sex specific. We measured the amygdala microstructural properties using diffusion tensor imaging mean diffusivity (MD) measurements in 40 healthy infants aged 2 to 5 weeks. Eye tracking was used to assess attention disengagement from fearful vs. non-fearful (happy and neutral) facial expressions as well as scrambled non-face control picture at 8 months. Generally, infants were age-typically less likely to disengage from fearful faces than from non-fearful faces towards salient distractors. A significant negative association was observed between the right amygdala MD measures and disengagement probability from fearful faces in the overall sample. Moreover, there was a positive association between the bilateral amygdala MD measures and the disengagement probability from scrambled non-face control picture in girls. These results indicate that the amygdala MD is associated with attention disengagement processes already in infancy, both in fear processing and in non-emotional conditions. Specifically, these findings highlight the role of the amygdala microstructure in modulating attentional processes, which may have implications for emotional regulation and susceptibility to emotional dysregulation later in life.
Human Amniotic Epithelial Cells Promote Chx10−/Pax6+ Müller Glia Subpopulation Reprogramming into Photoreceptor-like Cells

Reprogramming Müller glia to regenerate neurons is a promising strategy for treating retinal degeneration, but whether Müller glia contain subpopulations with different regenerative fates remains unclear. Here, using single-cell RNA-seq analysis and Müller glia lineage-tracing mice with retinal degeneration, we reveal that Müller glia were heterogeneous and identify a specific Müller glial subpopulation (Chx10−/Pax6+) in healthy retinas that is activated and migrate to the outer nuclear layer (ONL) during photoreceptor degeneration. Transplantation of human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) facilitates the activation and extensive migration of the Chx10−/Pax6+ Müller glial subpopulation to the ONL, where they are reprogrammed into photoreceptor-like cells. Mechanistically, hAECs degrade the inhibitory extracellular matrix through regulating matrix metalloproteinases, which probably induces remodeling of the microenvironment of Müller glia and contributes to cell reprogramming. Consequently, hAEC transplantation improves visual function in rd10 mice. Our findings uncover a distinctive Müller glial subpopulation with the potential for reprogramming into photoreceptors.
Counter-regulation of RNA stability by UPF1 and TDP43

RNA quality control is crucial for proper regulation of gene expression. Disruption of nonsense mediated mRNA decay (NMD), the primary RNA decay pathway responsible for the degradation of transcripts containing premature termination codons (PTCs), can disrupt development and lead to multiple diseases in humans and other animals. Similarly, therapies targeting NMD may have applications in hematological, neoplastic and neurological disorders. As such, tools capable of accurately quantifying NMD status could be invaluable for investigations of disease pathogenesis and biomarker identification. Toward this end, we assemble, validate, and apply a next-generation sequencing approach (NMDq) for identifying and measuring the abundance of PTC-containing transcripts. After validating NMDq performance and confirming its utility for tracking RNA surveillance, we apply it to determine pathway activity in two neurodegenerative diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) characterized by RNA misprocessing and abnormal RNA stability. Despite the genetic and pathologic evidence implicating dysfunctional RNA metabolism, and NMD in particular, in these conditions, we detected no significant differences in PTC-encoding transcripts in ALS models or disease. Contrary to expectations, overexpression of the master NMD regulator UPF1 had little effect on the clearance of transcripts with PTCs, but rather restored RNA homeostasis through differential use and decay of alternatively poly-adenylated isoforms. Together, these data suggest that canonical NMD is not a significant contributor to ALS/FTD pathogenesis, and that UPF1 promotes neuronal survival by regulating transcripts with abnormally long 3’UTRs.
Probability of Severe Drought and the Forecast of Drought Year in Shaanxi Province

By use of mathematical statistics method and commensurability of ternary, quaternion and quintuple, the probability of big drought in Shaanxi province in the 21 century is calculated and the years of severe drought in Shaanxi in the coming 30 years are forecasted. The results show that, in the 21 century, the probability of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 big drought(s) in Shaanxi province is respectively 94.52%, 86.65%, 72.91%, 54.78% and 35.57%. In the coming 30 years, severe droughts may occur in 2006, 2008, 2024 and 2031 in Shaanxi province.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres HF radar observations of a quasi-biennial oscillation in midlatitude mesospheric winds

The equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is known to be an important source of interannual variability in the middleand high-latitude stratosphere. The influence of the QBO on the stratospheric polar vortex in particular has been extensively studied. However, the impact of the QBO on the winds of the midlatitude mesosphere is much less clear. We have applied 13 years (2002–2014) of data from the Saskatoon Super Dual Auroral Radar Network HF radar to show that there is a strong QBO signature in the midlatitude mesospheric zonal winds during the late winter months. We find that the Saskatoon mesospheric winds are related to the winds of the equatorial QBO at 50 hPa such that the westerly mesospheric winds strengthen when QBO is easterly, and vice versa. We also consider the situation in the late winter Saskatoon stratosphere using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ERA-Interim reanalysis data set. We find that the Saskatoon stratospheric winds between 7 hPa and 70 hPa weaken when the equatorial QBO at 50 hPa is easterly, and vice versa. We speculate that gravity wave filtering from the QBO-modulated stratospheric winds and subsequent opposite momentum deposition in the mesosphere plays a major role in the appearance of the QBO signature in the late winter Saskatoon mesospheric winds, thereby coupling the equatorial stratosphere and the midlatitude mesosphere.
ZPL : A Machine Independent Programming Language for Parallel Computers

The goal of producing architecture-independent parallel p rograms is complicated by the competing need for high performance. The ZPL programming la u ge achieves both goals by building upon an abstract parallel machine and by providing programming constructs that allow the programmer to “see” this underlying machine. This pa per describes ZPL and provides a comprehensive evaluation of the language with respect to i ts goals of performance, portability, and programming convenience. In particular, we des cribe ZPL’s machine-independent performance model, describe the programming benefits of ZPL ’s region-based constructs, summarize the compilation benefits of the language’s high-leve l semantics, and summarize empirical evidence that ZPL has achieved both high performance and portability on diverse machines such as the IBM SP-2, Cray T3E, and SGI Power Challenge.
Quantifying woodland resource usage and selection from Neolithic to post Mediaeval times in the Irish Midlands

The antiquity and context (site or feature type) are the two principal factors that act as a framework for interpreting charcoal and wood data from archaeological sites in the recreation of past woodland environments. This research addresses these parameters through the analysis of over 18,000 charcoal fragments from 57 archaeological excavations carried out along a 61 km road scheme in the midland region of Ireland. Observations on spatial vegetation dynamics and woodland resource patterns are also reported on. The data were analysed through percentage frequency and multivariate analyses. The results reveal woodland resource usage in terms of wood types selected for use as fuel or as structural wood as well as patterns of change and variability in taxonomic composition in relation to site types, feature types and time periods. Selection was found to be low in prehistoric times and in particular at burnt mound sites/fulachta fiadh but became increasingly important as time progressed. This has important implications when charcoal from archaeological settings is used in environmental reconstructions.
Obstacle Avoidance for Kinematically Redundant Manipulators in Dynamically Varying Environments

The vast majority of work to date concerned with obstacle avoidance for manipulators has dealt with task descriptions in the form ofpick-and-place movements. The added flexibil ity in motion control for manipulators possessing redundant degrees offreedom permits the consideration of obstacle avoidance in the context of a specified end-effector trajectory as the task description. Such a task definition is a more accurate model for such tasks as spray painting or arc weld ing. The approach presented here is to determine the re quired joint angle rates for the manipulator under the con straints of multiple goals, the primary goal described by the specified end-effector trajectory and secondary goals describ ing the obstacle avoidance criteria. The decomposition of the solution into a particular and a homogeneous component effectively illustrates the priority of the multiple goals that is exact end-effector control with redundant degrees of freedom maximizing the distance to obstacles. An efficient numerical implementation of the technique permits sufficiently fast cycle times to deal with dynamic environments.
Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure and the Quest for Environmental Sustainability in the Niger Delta: The Prospect of Natural Gas Utilization in Nigeria

Natural gas distribution infrastructure is critical to socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability in Nigeria. Environmental degradation has benefited largely from inadequate natural gas utilization and infrastructural development in the domestic and regional networks to gather, transmit and distribute the associated gas produced. Thus, this paper explores the concept of gas development to promote sustainable development and to tackle the problem of environmental degradation in Nigeria. It identified the various natural gas utilization projects in the domestic, regional and international networks to stimulate economic growth as well as the quest for environmental sustainability across the gamut of Nigeria. These projects enable captured gas to be harnessed for socioeconomic and environmental benefit, eliminate routine gas flaring and create the much needed gas infrastructure for development. Quite remarkably, natural gas distribution infrastructure creates undisputed domestic and regional hub gas based opportunities for industries in the domestic network. It also acts as industrial feedstock to consolidate the market share in high value export market through the liquefied natural gas, Escravos gas project and the West Africa Gas Pipeline in the West African sub region.
Autogenic avulsion, channelization and backfilling dynamics of debris‐flow fans

Alluvial fans develop their semi‐conical shape by quasi‐cyclic avulsions of their geomorphologically active sector from a fixed fan apex. On debris‐flow fans, these quasi‐cyclic avulsions are poorly understood, partly because physical scale experiments on the formation of fans have been limited largely to turbidite and fluvial fans and deltas. In this study, debris‐flow fans were experimentally created under constant extrinsic forcing, and autogenic sequences of backfilling, avulsion and channelization were observed. Backfilling, avulsion and channelization were gradual processes that required multiple successive debris‐flow events. Debris flows avulsed along preferential flow paths given by the balance between steepest descent and flow inertia. In the channelization phase, debris flows became progressively longer and narrower because momentum increasingly focused on the flow front as flow narrowed, resulting in longer run‐out and deeper channels. Backfilling commenced when debris flows reached their maximum possible length and channel depth, as defined by channel slope and debris‐flow volume and composition, after which they progressively shortened and widened until the entire channel was filled and avulsion was initiated. The terminus of deposition moved upstream because the frontal lobe deposits of previous debris flows created a low‐gradient zone forcing deposition. Consequently, the next debris flow was shorter which led to more in‐channel sedimentation, causing more overbank flow in the next debris flow and resulting in reduced momentum to the flow front and shorter runout. This topographic feedback is similar to the interaction between flow and mouth bars forcing backfilling and transitions from channelized to sheet flow in turbidite and fluvial fans and deltas. Debris‐flow avulsion cycles are governed by the same large‐scale topographic compensation that drives avulsion cycles on fluvial and turbidite fans, although the detailed processes are unique to debris‐flow fans. This novel result provides a basis for modelling of debris‐flow fans with applications in hazards and stratigraphy.
The In uence of Caches on the Performance of Heaps

As cycle times grow relative to memory speeds, the cache performance of algorithms has an increasingly large impact on overall performance. Unfortunately, most commonly used algorithms were not designed with cache performance in mind. This paper investigates the cache performance of implicit heaps. We present optimizations which signi cantly reduce the cache misses that heaps incur and improve their overall performance. We present an analytical model called collective analysis that allows cache performance to be predicted as a function of both cache con guration and algorithm con guration. As part of our investigation, we perform an analysis of the cache performance of both traditional heaps and our improved heaps in our model. In addition empirical data is given for ve architectures to show the impact our optimizations have on overall performance. We also revisit a priority queue study originally performed by Jones [21]. Due to the increases in cache miss penalties, the relative performance result we obtain on today's machine di er greatly from the machines of only ten years ago. We compare the performance of implicit heaps, skew heaps and splay trees and discuss the di erence between our results and Jones's.
Stacked Multichannel Autoencoder – An Efficient Way of Learning Synthetic Data

Learning from synthetic data has many important and practical applications, An example of application is photo-sketch recognition. Using synthetic data is challenging due to the differences in feature distributions between synthetic and real data, a phenomenon we term synthetic gap. In this paper, we investigate and formalize a general framework – Stacked Multichannel Autoencoder (SMCAE) that enables bridging the synthetic gap and learning from synthetic data more efficiently. In particular, we show that our SMCAE can not only transform and use synthetic data on the challenging face-sketch recognition task, but that it can also help simulate real images, which can be used for training classifiers for recognition. Preliminary experiments validate the effectiveness of the framework.
The densification and diagenesis of snow

The Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are monomineralic rock formations, primarily metamorphic, but with sedimentary veneers . The metamorphic part consists of glacier ice that has been metamorphosed primarily by flow caused by unbalanced stresses. The sedimentary veneer has a maximum thickness of about 90 meters and consists of snow and firn. This paper is concerned with diagenetic processes occurring within the sedimentary veneer, causing evolution of loose snow to glacier ice. This diagenesis constitutes one step in the over-all balance between accumulation at the snow surface and loss of ice by flow within the metamorphic part of the ice sheet. Although the discussion is based partly on field observations from Greenland, it deals with the general problem of snow densification; indeed, the results are not completely limited to rocks composed of ice but apply in part to the over-all diagenesis of unconsolidated sediments into consolidated sedimentary rock.
Analyzing Skilled and Unskilled Labor Efficiencies in the U.S.

In this paper, I analyze the time paths of the efficiencies of skilled and unskilled labor in a production framework where skilled and unskilled labor are imperfect substitutes. Their implications for economic growth and wage inequality in the US between 1950 and 2005 present two main findings. First, although skilled labor efficiency has a strong upward trend, I find no evidence of acceleration in its growth rate to support the common view that there has been an acceleration in the new skilled-biased technologies. Second, beginning around 1970, there has been a decline in the absolute level of the efficiency of unskilled labor, implying that the decline has played a significant role in the overall productivity slowdown and the substantial widening in the US wage structure.
Dual Economies and International Total Factor Productivity Di ¤ erences

This paper provides a framework which decomposes aggregate TFP into a component reecting relative e¢ ciency across sectors, and another component which reects the absolute level of e¢ ciency. A development accounting analysis suggests that as much as 85 percent of the international variation in aggregate TFP can be attributed to variation in relative e¢ ciency across sectors. Estimation results show that recent ndings highlighting the importance of good institutions, and to some extent trade, on levels of TFP, can be explained by their impact on relative e¢ ciency. Keywords: Total Factor Productivity, Structural Change, Development Accounting, IV estimation, Institutions, Geography, Trade. JEL Classi cation: O47, C31, O50 Contacts: achanda@lsu.edu and carl.johan. dalgaard@econ.ku. dk. We are grateful to Francesco Caselli and Antonio Ciccone for sharing their data and for their comments. We would also like to thank Shekhar Aiyar, Oded Galor, Doug Gollin, Tom Grennes, Halvor Mehlum, Doug Pearce, John Seater, Jon Temple, Eric Thorbecke, Dietz Vollrath and seminar participants at University of Copenhagen, University of Malaga, European Economic Association Meeting in Stockholm, Midwest Macro Meetings, The Nordic Conference in Development Economics in Copenhagen, Hebrew University, Hunter College (CUNY), University of Houston, Louisiana State University, North Carolina State University, Utah State University, the XV Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar, 75 Years of Development Economics Conference at Cornell, and NEUDC, for their comments. We are responsible for all errors. Parts of this research was conducted while Carl-Johan Dalgaard was visiting Universitat Pompeu Fabras Economics Department, the hospitality of which is gratefully acknowledged. The activities of EPRU (Economic Policy Research Unit) are nanced through a grant from The Danish National Research Foundation.