Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parameter Dependent Optimal Thresholds, Indifference Levels and Inverse Optimal Stopping Problems

Consider the classic infinite-horizon problem of stopping a one-dimensional diffusion to optimise between running and terminal rewards, and suppose that we are given a parametrised family of such problems. We provide a general theory of parameter dependence in infinite-horizon stopping problems for which threshold strategies are optimal. The crux of the approach is a supermodularity condition which guarantees that the family of problems is indexable by a set-valued map which we call the indifference map. This map is a natural generalisation of the allocation (Gittins) index, a classical quantity in the theory of dynamic allocation. Importantly, the notion of indexability leads to a framework for inverse optimal stopping problems.
Finite size corrections for open strings/open chains in planar AdS/CFT

We identify the leading finite-size (Luscher-type) correction to the energy of open strings ending on maximal giant gravitons. In particular we obtain the leading finite size correction at weak 't Hooft coupling and in the planar limit to the energy of very short vacuum states. These results are shown to agree with certain 1, 2, 3 and 4-loop dual gauge theory perturbative calculations, which we also perform.
Context-based splitting of item ratings in collaborative filtering

Collaborative Filtering (CF) recommendations are computed by leveraging a historical data set of users' ratings for items. It assumes that the users' previously recorded ratings can help in predicting future ratings. This has been validated extensively, but in some domains item ratings can be influenced by contextual conditions, such as the time or the goal of the item consumption. This type of information is not exploited by standard CF models. This paper introduces and analyzes a novel pre-filtering technique for context-aware CF called item splitting. In this approach, the ratings of certain items are split, according to the value of an item-dependent contextual condition. Each split item generates two fictitious items that are used in the prediction algorithm instead of the original one. We evaluated this approach on real world and semi-synthetic data sets using matrix-factorization and nearest neighbor CF algorithms. We show that item splitting can be beneficial and its performance depends on the item selection method and on the influence of the contextual variables on the item ratings.
Learning Local Shape and Appearance for Segmentation of Knee Cartilage in 3 D MRI

We present experimental evaluation of a new fully-automatic method for accurate knee cartilage segmentation based on 40 test and 60 training images of the SKI10 set. The method is comprised of three main steps: bone segmentation, bone-cartilage interface (BCI) classification, and cartilage segmentation. For cartilage segmentation, reference patches are extracted from training images by comparing the position and appearance of sampled local patches on the BCI. These reference patches provide specific local shape and appearance information to segment each patch by graph cuts using detailed local region and boundary cues. The segmentations of all patches are combined to obtain the whole cartilage segments. The average score was slightly lower than the 75 points of manual segmentation by expert raters at 65 for femoral and 68 for tibial cartilage demonstrating the accuracy of our method.
Relationships among Conducting Quality, Ensemble Performance Quality, and State Festival Ratings

This study was the third in a series examining the relationships among conductors, ensembles' performances, and festival ratings. Participants (N = 51) were asked to score the quality of video-only conducting and parallel audio-only excerpts of performances at a state-level concert festival of nine bands, three each that had received ratings of Superior (I), Excellent (II), or Good (III). There was no significant difference among scores for conducting across festival ratings; however, there were significant differences among ensemble performance scores, with bands receiving Superior ratings scoring higher than those receiving ratings of Excellent or Good. No relationship was found between scores given conductors and their respective ensembles' performances. Participants were also asked to give reasons (N = 1, 393) for the scores. The comments were used to develop emergent themes based on what participants attended to, and trends were found regarding aspects of conducting and performances that had positive or negative influences.
Neonatal finger and arm movements as determined by a social and an object context

What kind of hand and finger movements are newborn infants preoccupied with, and how are these movements organized and controlled? These questions were studied in two experiments under three conditions: a social condition, in which the mother (in expt 1) or the experimenter (in expt 2) sat face to face with the infant; an object condition, in which a ball moving slowly and irregularly was presented to the infant; and a baseline condition (in expt 1) without ball or mother present. The size of the ball and the distance to it was chosen so that it approximately corresponded to the visual angle of the head of the model. Twenty-six neonates participated in the study ranging from 2 to 6 days of age at the time of observation. All infants were in an alert, optimal awake state during the experiments. The infants' finger movements were scored from video recordings. The result revealed a large variety of relatively independent finger movements. It was found that finger movements differed both in quantity and quality between the three conditions. There were many more finger movements in the social condition than in the object and baseline conditions. In addition, there were relatively more transitional finger movements and flexions of the hand in the social condition, and relatively more thumb-index finger activity and extensions of the hand in the object condition. Finally, the arms were more often forward extended in the object condition than in the social condition. The results support the notion that neonates show different modes of functioning towards people and objects.
An intelligent agent-based collaborative workflow for inter-enterprise PCB product design

Currently, there is tremendous pressure to design and develop products in a short period of time to reduce time-to-market and project's life cycle. Researchers often propose workflow management system as a mechanism to facilitate teamwork in a collaborative product development environment. In this paper, we develop an agent-based collaborative workflow platform (ACWP), in which a group of intelligent agents work autonomously and collaboratively to perform workflow tasks and access data from a distributed environment. By the aid of intelligent agents, our system can execute customized workflow tasks for inter-enterprise users based on their individual requests, and conquer the complexity of product design in distributed, heterogeneous platform. The application of multi-agent systems ACWP for collaborative workflow management is investigated through an inter-enterprise PCB product design. ACWP facilitates PCB product design and team interaction in a collaborative but distributed product development environment and moves up the whole performance of design process.
Rietveld refinement of AgCa10(PO4)7 from X-ray powder data

Polycrystalline silver(I) decacalcium heptakis(orthophosphate), AgCa10(PO4)7, was obtained by solid-state reaction. It is isotopic with members of the series MCa10(PO4)7 (M = Li, Na, K and Cs), and is closely related to the structure of β-Ca3(PO4)2. The crystal structure of the title compound is built up from a framework of [CaO9] and two [CaO8] polyhedra, one [CaO6] octahedron (site symmetry 3.) and three PO4 tetrahedra (one with site symmetry 3.). The Ag+ cation is likewise located on a threefold rotation axis and resides in the cavities of the rigid [Ca10(PO4)7]− framework. It is surrounded by three O atoms in an almost regular triangular environment.
Lack of Neurodegeneration in Transgenic Mice Overexpressing Mutant Amyloid Precursor Protein Is Associated with Increased Levels of Transthyretin and the Activation of Cell Survival Pathways

Tg2576 mice overexpress a mutant form of human amyloid precursor protein with the Swedish mutation (APPSw), resulting in high β-amyloid (Aβ) levels in the brain. Despite this, amyloid plaques do not develop until 12 months of age, and there is no neuronal loss in mice as old as 16 months. Gene expression profiles in the hippocampus and cerebellum of 6-month-old APPSw mice were compared with age-matched controls. The expression of transthyretin, a protein shown to sequester Aβ and prevent amyloid fibril formationin vitro, and several genes in the insulin-signaling pathway, e.g., insulin-like growth factor-2, were increased selectively in the hippocampus of APPSw mice. Concomitant activation of the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor, Akt, and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1 and 2 as well as increased phosphorylation of Bad also were unique to the hippocampus of APPSw mice. In addition, the increased expression of transthyretin and insulin-like growth factor-2 and the increased phosphorylation of Bad in hippocampal neurons were maintained in 12-month-old APPSw mice when compared with age-matched controls. These results suggest that the slow progression and lack of full-fledged Alzheimer's disease pathology in the hippocampal neurons of APPSw mice result from the genetic reprogramming of neural cells to cope with increased levels of Aβ.
Stock identification of the sciaenid fish Micropogonias undulatus in the western North Atlantic Ocean using parasites as biological tags

Abstract Proper fisheries management of the Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus is necessary in the United States due to the commercial and recreational importance of this fish species. Croaker stock structure in the western North Atlantic has been investigated in the past by various authors, with inconclusive results. In this study, macroparasites were used as biological tags to identify putative croaker stocks in the area between New Jersey and Florida, which encompasses the Mid Atlantic Bight and the South Atlantic Bight separated at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The macroparasite community of the fish was identified, showing the presence of 30 species in four phyla, of which several were new host records, and one species, a monogenean, was new to science. A canonical correspondence analysis was applied to determine the variables responsible for parasite species composition, to resolve the question of croaker stock structure in the western North Atlantic Ocean. This analysis showed that latitude was the deciding variable delineating the parasite community composition of the Atlantic croaker. Among the 30 parasites, 15 were identified as putative tags according to qualitative criteria, and then 10 out of those 15 were selected as being appropriate tags using quantitative criteria. These parasite tags support the presence of two stocks roughly separated at the known biogeographical barrier at Cape Hatteras.
MOOC and practices in electrical and information engineering: Complementary approaches

The new tools invading our digital world, such as tablets, smart phones are connected to the data centers through the internet and allows the introduction of new pedagogical tools. Among them, the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), available on internet sites, is inducing worldwide changes in the educative strategies. These tools are particularly well-suited to learn a good background, which is mainly theoretical in this case. However, the training of engineers and doctors in electrical engineering requires practices and know-how that are mandatory for designing new and innovative objects that are today highly complex, covering several domains of expertise, and also very frequently connected. The main challenge is to give to our future engineers both methodology and know-how that cannot be provided by the online lectures. New pedagogical approaches, such as flipped classrooms, project-based learning, labworks and internships, must be setup in order to prepare the graduates to the new industrial environment and to the evolution of our technological society.
A Latex Metabolite Benefits Plant Fitness under Root Herbivore Attack

Plants produce large amounts of secondary metabolites in their shoots and roots and store them in specialized secretory structures. Although secondary metabolites and their secretory structures are commonly assumed to have a defensive function, evidence that they benefit plant fitness under herbivore attack is scarce, especially below ground. Here, we tested whether latex secondary metabolites produced by the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg.) decrease the performance of its major native insect root herbivore, the larvae of the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha), and benefit plant vegetative and reproductive fitness under M. melolontha attack. Across 17 T. officinale genotypes screened by gas and liquid chromatography, latex concentrations of the sesquiterpene lactone taraxinic acid β-D-glucopyranosyl ester (TA-G) were negatively associated with M. melolontha larval growth. Adding purified TA-G to artificial diet at ecologically relevant concentrations reduced larval feeding. Silencing the germacrene A synthase ToGAS1, an enzyme that was identified to catalyze the first committed step of TA-G biosynthesis, resulted in a 90% reduction of TA-G levels and a pronounced increase in M. melolontha feeding. Transgenic, TA-G-deficient lines were preferred by M. melolontha and suffered three times more root biomass reduction than control lines. In a common garden experiment involving over 2,000 T. officinale individuals belonging to 17 different genotypes, high TA-G concentrations were associated with the maintenance of high vegetative and reproductive fitness under M. melolontha attack. Taken together, our study demonstrates that a latex secondary metabolite benefits plants under herbivore attack, a result that provides a mechanistic framework for root herbivore driven natural selection and evolution of plant defenses below ground.
Self-awareness and psychosocial functioning following acquired brain injury: An evaluation of a group support programme

This study investigated a group support programme designed to improve selfawareness deficits and psychosocial functioning in a group of chronic patients (N = 21) with acquired brain injury (ABI). The participants were on average 8.6 years (range: 1-36 years) post-injury and were seen at the Brain Injury Association of Queensland, Australia. The assessment of participants involved two standardised measures of intellectual self-awareness with collateral reports from relatives. The present study introduced a new measure called the Self-Regulation Skills Interview (SRSI) which assessed higher levels of self awareness and self-regulation skills. Psychosocial functioning was assessed using a standardised self-report measure. At baseline the group had a relatively high level of intellectual self-awareness regarding their deficits, a low to moderate level of self-regulation skills, and significant psychosocial impairment. The participants were involved in a 16-week group programme which involved components of cognitive rehabilitation, cognitive-behavioural therapy, and social skills training. A post-intervention assessment indicated that participants had significantly improved levels of self-regulation skills and psychosocial functioning. A 6-month follow-up assessment indicated that overall, participants had maintained the gains made during the programme. The important role of self-regulation skills is emphasised as the principle factor contributing to the maintenance of the gains observed.
Pregnancy‐induced changes in the long‐term pharmacokinetics of 1.1 mg vs. 5 mg folic acid: A randomized clinical trial

The objective of this randomized clinical trial was to compare steady‐state gestational RBC and plasma folate concentrations in pregnant women supplementing daily with 1.1 mg (regular dose) vs. 5 mg (high dose) folic acid. Thirty‐seven pregnant women, who were not previously taking folic acid, were enrolled in this open‐label, 2‐arm, randomized clinical trial after informed consent. Participants were randomly assigned either 1.1 or 5 mg of folic acid‐containing prenatals until gestational age (g.a.) 30 weeks. Plasma and RBC folate concentrations were measured at baseline, g.a. 6 weeks, g.a. 12 weeks, and g.a. 30 weeks using a chemiluminescent immunoassay. Results showed sustained significant increase in RBC folate in the 5 mg group between g.a. 6 weeks and g.a. 30 weeks (P < 0.001), and between g.a. 12 weeks and g.a. 30 weeks (P < 0.01), whereas a significant increase in RBC folate concentrations was observed in the 1.1 mg group only between g.a. 12 weeks to g.a. 30 weeks (P < 0.05). Plasma folate increased in both groups from baseline to g.a. 6 weeks, and then decreased between g.a. 6 weeks and g.a. 30 weeks, but this was not statistically significant. Plasma concentrations at g.a. 30 weeks in both groups were comparable to their respective baseline concentrations. Thus, physiological changes in pregnancy alter long‐term folate pharmacokinetics. Despite supplementation over an extended period of time, steady‐state does not seem to be achieved in either dose group within our study.
Reactive Oxygen Species Can Provide Atheroprotection via NOX4-Dependent Inhibition of Inflammation and Vascular Remodeling

Objective— Oxidative stress is considered a hallmark of atherosclerosis. In particular, the superoxide-generating type 1 NADPH oxidase (NOX1) has been shown to be induced and play a pivotal role in early phases of mouse models of atherosclerosis and in the context of diabetes mellitus. Here, we investigated the role of the most abundant type 4 isoform (NOX4) in human and mouse advanced atherosclerosis. Approach and Results— Plaques of patients with cardiovascular events or established diabetes mellitus showed a surprising reduction in expression of the most abundant but hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-generating type 4 isoform (Nox4), whereas Nox1 mRNA was elevated, when compared with respective controls. As these data suggested that NOX4-derived reactive oxygen species may convey a surprisingly protective effect during plaque progression, we examined a mouse model of accelerated and advanced diabetic atherosclerosis, the streptozotocin-treated ApoE −/− mouse, with (NOX4 −/−) and without genetic deletion of Nox4. Similar to the human data, advanced versus early plaques of wild-type mice showed reduced Nox4 mRNA expression. Consistent with a rather protective role of NOX4-derived reactive oxygen species, NOX4 −/− mice showed increased atherosclerosis when compared with wild-type mice. Deleting NOX4 was associated with reduced H2O2 forming activity and attenuation of the proinflammatory markers, monocyte chemotratic protein-1, interleukin-1&bgr;, and tumor necrosis factor-&agr;, as well as vascular macrophage accumulation. Furthermore, there was a greater accumulation of fibrillar collagen fibres within the vascular wall and plaque in diabetic Nox4 −/− ApoE −/− mice, indicative of plaque remodeling. These data could be replicated in human aortic endothelial cells in vitro, where Nox4 overexpression increased H2O2 and reduced the expression of pro-oxidants and profibrotic markers. Interestingly, Nox4 levels inversely correlated with Nox2 gene and protein levels. Although NOX2 is not constitutively active unlike NOX4 and forms rather superoxide, this opens up the possibility that at least some effects of NOX4 deletion are mediated by NOX2 activation. Conclusions— Thus, the appearance of reactive oxygen species in atherosclerosis is apparently not always a nondesirable oxidative stress, but can also have protective effects. Both in humans and in mouse, the H2O2-forming NOX4, unlike the superoxide-forming NOX1, can act as a negative modulator of inflammation and remodeling and convey atheroprotection. These results have implications on how to judge reactive oxygen species formation in cardiovascular disease and need to be considered in the development of NOX inhibitory drugs.
Beta-globin enhancers target expression of a heterologous gene to erythroid tissues of transgenic mice

To examine the role of human beta-globin enhancers in tissue-specific and developmental regulation, a hybrid beta-globin-simian virus 40 gene was analyzed in transgenic mice. A beta-globin DNA fragment containing two previously defined enhancers stimulated transcription from the simian virus 40 promoter in a tissue- and stage-specific pattern similar to that of the normal beta-globin gene. These results help to define the functions of beta-globin regulatory elements and suggest an approach for targeted expression of heterologous genes in erythroid cells in vivo.
Work-related accidents and daylight saving time in Finland.

BACKGROUND Recent research has indicated that transitions into and out of daylight saving time (DST) unbalance the physiological circadian rhythm and may lead to sleep disturbance. Sleep deprivation may have negative effects on motivation, attention and alertness and thus it is possible that transitions into and out of DST may increase accident rates. AIMS To explore the impact of DST transitions on the number of occupational accidents in Finland. METHODS For the study, we analysed all occupational accidents that happened in Finland 1 week before and 1 week after DST transitions during the years 2002-06. RESULTS Transitions into and out of DST did not significantly increase the number of occupational accidents. CONCLUSIONS It seems that sleep deprivation after DST transition is not harmful enough to impact on occupational accident rates.
Semi-Definite Programming Algorithms for Sensor Network Node Localization With Uncertainties in Anchor Positions and/or Propagation Speed

Finding the positions of nodes in an ad hoc wireless sensor network (WSN) with the use of the incomplete and noisy distance measurements between nodes as well as anchor position information is currently an important and challenging research topic. However, most WSN localization studies have considered that the anchor positions and the signal propagation speed are perfectly known which is not a valid assumption in the underwater and underground scenarios. In this paper, semi-definite programming (SDP) algorithms are devised for node localization in the presence of these uncertainties. The corresponding Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) is also produced. Computer simulations are included to contrast the performance of the proposed algorithms with the conventional SDP method and CRLB.
Zur Erfassung von Erzieherin-Kind-Beziehungen. Eine explorative Studie zum Einsatz der Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) in deutschen Kindertageseinrichtungen

In einer empirischen Studie mit padagogischen Fachkraften in Kindertageseinrichtungen wurde eine um zusatzliche Items erweiterte deutschsprachige Fassung der "Student-Teacher Relationship Skala (STRS)" von Pianta (2001) erprobt. Die Fachkrafte (N = 123) schatzten ihre Beziehung zu Kindern im Alter von 3 bis 6 Jahren ein (N = 329). Dimensionsanalysen ergaben eine Bestatigung der von Pianta (2001) gefundenen Faktoren "Conflict", "Closeness" und "Dependency", eroffnen aber auch Moglichkeiten einer genaueren Differenzierung der Dimensionen "Nahe" und "Abhangigkeit". Es wurden Summenskalen (jeweils Lang- und Kurzform) fur die Bereiche "Konflikt", "Nahe" und "Abhangigkeit" gebildet; sie weisen eine hohe innere Konsistenz auf. Untersuchungen zum Einfluss von Alter und Geschlecht der Kinder ergaben signifikante Unterschiede: (a) Jungere Kinder waren weniger autonom als altere und (b) die Beziehungen von Erzieherinnen zu Madchen waren charakterisiert durch mehr "Nahe" und "Abhangigkeit" und weniger "Konflikt", verglichen mit den Beziehungen zu Jungen - jeweils aus Sicht der Erzieherinnen.