Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Money Giveth, Money Taketh Away

This study provides the first evidence that money impairs people’s ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower savoring ability (the ability to enhance and prolong positive emotional experience). Moreover, the negative impact of wealth on individuals’ ability to savor undermined the positive effects of money on their happiness. We experimentally exposed participants to a reminder of wealth and produced the same deleterious effect on their ability to savor as that produced by actual individual differences in wealth, a result supporting the theory that money has a causal effect on savoring. Moving beyond self-reports, we found that participants exposed to a reminder of wealth spent less time savoring a piece of chocolate and exhibited reduced enjoyment of it compared with participants not exposed to wealth. This article presents evidence supporting the widely held but previously untested belief that having access to the best things in life may actually undercut people’s ability to reap enjoyment from life’s small pleasures.
Text-based language identification of multilingual names

Text-based language identification (T-LID) of isolated words has been shown to be useful for various speech processing tasks, including pronunciation modelling and data categorisation. When the words to be categorised are proper names, the task becomes more difficult: not only do proper names often have idiosyncratic spellings, they are also often considered to be multilingual. We, therefore, investigate how an existing T-LID technique can be adapted to perform multilingual word classification. That is, given a proper name, which may be either mono- or multilingual, we aim to determine how accurately we can predict how many possible source languages the word has, and what they are. Using a Joint Sequence Model-based approach to T-LID and the SADE corpus - a newly developed proper names corpus of South African names - we experiment with different approaches to multilingual T-LID. We compare posterior-based and likelihood-based methods and obtain promising results on a challenging task.
Exploration of Genetic and Genomic Resources for Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance in Pearl Millet

Pearl millet is one of the most important small-grained C4 Panicoid crops with a large genome size (∼2352 Mb), short life cycle and outbreeding nature. It is highly resilient to areas with scanty rain and high temperature. Pearl millet is a nutritionally superior staple crop for people inhabiting hot, drought-prone arid and semi-arid regions of South Asia and Africa where it is widely grown and used for food, hay, silage, bird feed, building material, and fuel. Having excellent nutrient composition and exceptional buffering capacity against variable climatic conditions and pathogen attack makes pearl millet a wonderful model crop for stress tolerance studies. Pearl millet germplasm show a large range of genotypic and phenotypic variations including tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Conventional breeding for enhancing abiotic and biotic stress resistance in pearl millet have met with considerable success, however, in last few years various novel approaches including functional genomics and molecular breeding have been attempted in this crop for augmenting yield under adverse environmental conditions, and there is still a lot of scope for further improvement using genomic tools. Discovery and use of various DNA-based markers such as EST-SSRs, DArT, CISP, and SSCP-SNP in pearl millet not only help in determining population structure and genetic diversity but also prove to be important for developing strategies for crop improvement at a faster rate and greater precision. Molecular marker-based genetic linkage maps and identification of genomic regions determining yield under abiotic stresses particularly terminal drought have paved way for marker-assisted selection and breeding of pearl millet cultivars. Reference collections and marker-assisted backcrossing have also been used to improve biotic stress resistance in pearl millet specifically to downy mildew. Whole genome sequencing of pearl millet genome will give new insights for processing of functional genes and assist in crop improvement programs through molecular breeding approaches. This review thus summarizes the exploration of pearl millet genetic and genomic resources for improving abiotic and biotic stress resistance and development of cultivars superior in stress tolerance.
XPath Query Simplification with regard to the Elimination of Intersect and Except Operators

XPath is widely used as an XML query language and is embedded in XQuery expressions and in XSLT stylesheets. In this paper, we propose a rule set which logically simplifies XPath queries by using a heuristic method in order to improve the processing time. Furthermore, we show how to substitute the XPath 2.0 intersect and except operators in a given XPath query with computed filter expressions. A performance evaluation comparing the execution times of the original XPath queries, which contain the intersect and except operators, and of the queries that are the result of our simplification approach shows that, depending on the used query evaluator and on the original query, performance improvements of a factor of up to 350 are possible.
SCOP database in 2004: refinements integrate structure and sequence family data

The Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP) database is a comprehensive ordering of all proteins of known structure, according to their evolutionary and structural relationships. Protein domains in SCOP are hierarchically classified into families, superfamilies, folds and classes. The continual accumulation of sequence and structural data allows more rigorous analysis and provides important information for understanding the protein world and its evolutionary repertoire. SCOP participates in a project that aims to rationalize and integrate the data on proteins held in several sequence and structure databases. As part of this project, starting with release 1.63, we have initiated a refinement of the SCOP classification, which introduces a number of changes mostly at the levels below superfamily. The pending SCOP reclassification will be carried out gradually through a number of future releases. In addition to the expanded set of static links to external resources, available at the level of domain entries, we have started modernization of the interface capabilities of SCOP allowing more dynamic links with other databases. SCOP can be accessed at http://scop.mrc-lmb.cam. ac.uk/scop.
Wor kload Character ization of M ultithreaded Java Servers

Java has gained popularity in the commercial server arena, but the characteristics of Java server applications are not well understood. In this research, we characterize the behavior of two Java server benchmarks, VolanoMark and SPECjbb2000, on a Pentium III system with the latest Java Hotspot Server VM. We compare Java server applications with SPECint2000 and also investigate the impact of multithreading by increasing the number of clients. Java servers are seen to exhibit poor instruction access behavior, including high instruction miss rate, high ITLB miss rate, high BTB miss rate and, as a result, high I-stream stalls. With increasing number of threads, the instruction behavior improves, suggesting increased locality of access. But the resource stalls increase and eventually dwarf the diminishing I-stream stalls. With more clients, the instruction count per unit work increases and becomes a hindrance to the scalability of the servers.
A Review of Generic Program Visualization Systems for Introductory Programming Education

This article is a survey of program visualization systems intended for teaching beginners about the runtime behavior of computer programs. Our focus is on generic systems that are capable of illustrating many kinds of programs and behaviors. We inclusively describe such systems from the last three decades and review findings from their empirical evaluations. A comparable review on the topic does not previously exist; ours is intended to serve as a reference for the creators, evaluators, and users of educational program visualization systems. Moreover, we revisit the issue of learner engagement which has been identified as a potentially key factor in the success of educational software visualization and summarize what little is known about engagement in the context of the generic program visualization systems for beginners that we have reviewed; a proposed refinement of the frameworks previously used by computing education researchers to rank types of learner engagement is a side product of this effort. Overall, our review illustrates that program visualization systems for beginners are often short-lived research prototypes that support the user-controlled viewing of program animations; a recent trend is to support more engaging modes of user interaction. The results of evaluations largely support the use of program visualization in introductory programming education, but research to date is insufficient for drawing more nuanced conclusions with respect to learner engagement. On the basis of our review, we identify interesting questions to answer for future research in relation to themes such as engagement, the authenticity of learning tasks, cognitive load, and the integration of program visualization into introductory programming pedagogy.
Rapid Multiorgan Dissemination of Low-Grade Myxofibrosarcoma: A Case Report

Myxofibrosarcoma is one of the most common sarcomas in the extremities of elderly people. It is characterized by a high frequency of local recurrence due to an infiltrative growth property. In contrast, the overall risk of distant metastases is generally low. This makes the prognosis for the patients with myxofibrosarcoma definitely good. In this paper, we will report the case of a 79-year-old female with very aggressive metastatic low-grade myxofibrosarcoma. The disease progression was really unexpected and misled every possible medical interpretation, leading to rapid worsening of the patient's clinical conditions and no chance for therapy. The tumor developed diffuse infiltration in lung, spine, skeletal bone, abdomen, paravertebral muscles, and liver. The patient died 8 months after the diagnosis of remote metastases due to rapid tumor progression.
Learning Generative ConvNet with Continuous Latent Factors by Alternating Back-Propagation

The supervised learning of the discriminative convolutional neural network (ConvNet) is powered by back-propagation on the parameters. In this paper, we show that the unsupervised learning of a popular top-down generative ConvNet model with latent continuous factors can be accomplished by a learning algorithm that consists of alternatively performing back-propagation on both the latent factors and the parameters. The model is a non-linear generalization of factor analysis, where the high-dimensional observed data, is assumed to be the noisy version of a vector generated by a non-linear transformation of a low-dimensional vector of continuous latent factors. Furthermore, it is assumed that these latent factors follow known independent distributions, such as standard normal distributions, and the non-linear transformation is assumed to be parametrized by a top-down ConvNet, which is capable of approximating the highly non-linear mapping from the latent factors to the image. We explore a simple and natural learning algorithm for this model that alternates between the following two steps: (1) inferring the latent factors by Langevin dynamics or gradient descent, and (2) updating the parameters of the ConvNet by gradient descent. Step (1) is based on the gradient of the reconstruction error with respect to the latent factors, which is available by back-propagation. We call this step inferential back-propagation. Step (2) is based on the gradient of the reconstruction error with respect to the parameters, and is also obtained by back-propagation. We refer to this step as learning back-propagation. The code for inferential back-propagation is actually part of the code for learning back-propagation, and thus the inferential back-propagation is actually a by-product of the learning back-propagation. We show that our algorithm can learn realistic generative models of images and sounds.
Recent advances in remote sensing of seasonal snow

Abstract Remote sensing offers local, regional and global observations of seasonal snow, providing key information on snowpack processes. This brief review highlights advancements in instrumentation and analysis techniques that have been developed over the past decade. Areas of advancement include improved algorithms for mapping snow-cover extent, snow albedo, snow grain size, snow water equivalent, melt detection and snow depth, as well as new uses of instruments such as multiangular spectroradiometers, scatterometry and lidar. Limitations and synergies of the instruments and techniques are discussed, and remaining challenges such as multisensor mapping, scaling issues, vegetation correction and data assimilation are identified.
Gas Feedback on Stellar Bar Evolution

We analyze evolution of live disk-halo systems with gas fractions, fgas ≤ 8% of the disk mass, for 5 Gyr. Specifically, we have addressed the issue of angular momentum (J) transfer from the gas to the stellar bar and its effect on the bar. We find that the bar weakening, reported in the literature, is not related to the gas, but is caused by the vertical buckling instability in the gas-poor disks and by a steep stellar heating by the central mass concentration (CMC) in the gas-rich disks. However, the gas has a profound effect on the onset of the buckling: larger fgas brings it forth due to the more massive CMCs. The former process leads to the well-known formation of the boxy/peanut-shaped bulges, while the latter results in the formation of more elliptical bulges, for larger fgas. The subsequent secular bar evolution differs: the gas-poor models exhibit a growing bar while gas-rich models show a declining bar whose vertical swelling is driven by a resonance heating. The borderline between the gas-poor and gas-rich models is model-dependent and will be affected by processes such as star formation and stellar feedback. The overall effect of the gas on the bar is not in a direct J transfer to the stars, but in the loss of J by the gas and the gas influx to the center. A more massive CMC damps the bar buckling and depopulates orbits responsible for the appearance of boxy/peanut-shaped bulges. The combined action of resonant and nonresonant processes in gas-poor and gas-rich disks leads to a converging evolution in the vertical extent of the bar and its stellar dispersion velocities, and to a diverging evolution in the bulge properties.
Logics and Logistics for Future Research: Appropriately Interpreting the Emotional Landscape of Multicultural Negotiation

To invigorate future teaching and research, this article discusses theoretical approaches and empirical opportunities to better understand emotional dynamics in negotiation settings across cultural contexts. We adopt a culturally informed logic of appropriateness (Kopelman, 2009) to shed light on emerging and underexplored topics in this domain. The goal of this article is to inspire scholars worldwide to engage in rigorous empirical investigations of the antecedents, consequences, mechanisms, boundary conditions, and evidence-based strategies in the combined domain of negotiation, culture, and emotion through research, teaching, and practice.
on Defra-funded project to investigate the effect of MAR sequences on transgene expression levels in wheat

Genetic transformation is a powerful tool to study gene function and to modify economically and srategically important traits in crop species. Wheat is a major UK cereal and protocols enabling its genetic transformation have been developed and are available at Rothamsted Research (Pastori et al., 2001; Sparks & Jones, 2004; Wu et al., 2003). It is well known that different transformation events with the same gene construct can result in different levels of transgene expression. This variation can result from differences in the number of functional transgene copies inserted and from the effects of host chromatin domain (so called 'position effects'). The practical consequence of this variation is that expression levels are unpredictable and a large number of transformants need to be generated for a particular gene to recover lines with appropriate expression levels. In several dicot plant species, DNA sequences termed 'matrix attachment regions' (MARs) have been shown to be active in stabilising and enhancing transgene expression by their influence on the secondary DNA structure of the transgene insertion site.
The Development of Gender Achievement Gaps in Mathematics and Reading During Elementary and Middle School

Using K–8 national longitudinal data, the authors investigate males’ and females’ achievement in math and reading, including when gender gaps first appear, whether the appearance of gaps depends on the metric used, and where on the achievement distribution gaps are most prevalent. Additionally, teachers’ assessments of males and females are compared. The authors find no math gender gap in kindergarten, except at the top of the distribution; however, females throughout the distribution lose ground in elementary school and regain some in middle school. In reading, gaps favoring females generally narrow but widen among low-achieving students. However, teachers consistently rate females higher than males in both subjects, even when cognitive assessments suggest that males have an advantage. Implications for policy and further research are discussed.
Interaction with Phosphoinositides Confers Adaptation onto the TRPV1 Pain Receptor

Adaptation is a common feature of many sensory systems. But its occurrence to pain sensation has remained elusive. Here we address the problem at the receptor level and show that the capsaicin ion channel TRPV1, which mediates nociception at the peripheral nerve terminals, possesses properties essential to the adaptation of sensory responses. Ca2+ influx following the channel opening caused a profound shift (∼14-fold) of the agonist sensitivity, but did not alter the maximum attainable current. The shift was adequate to render the channel irresponsive to normally saturating concentrations, leaving the notion that the channel became no longer functional after desensitization. By simultaneous patch-clamp recording and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) imaging, it was shown that the depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) induced by Ca2+ influx had a rapid time course synchronous to the desensitization of the current. The extent of the depletion was comparable to that by rapamycin-induced activation of a PIP2 5-phosphatase, which also caused a significant reduction of the agonist sensitivity without affecting the maximum response. These results support a prominent contribution of PIP2 depletion to the desensitization of TRPV1 and suggest the adaptation as a possible physiological function for the Ca2+ influx through the channel.
Cholecystokinin—From Local Gut Hormone to Ubiquitous Messenger

Cholecystokinin (CCK) was discovered in 1928 in jejunal extracts as a gallbladder contraction factor. It was later shown to be member of a peptide family, which are all ligands for the CCK1 and CCK2 receptors. CCK peptides are known to be synthetized in small intestinal endocrine I-cells and cerebral neurons. But in addition, CCK is expressed in several endocrine glands (pituitary cells, thyroid C-cells, pancreatic islets, the adrenals, and the testes); in peripheral nerves; in cortical and medullary kidney cells; in cardial myocytes; and in cells of the immune system. CCK peptides stimulate pancreatic enzyme secretion and growth, gallbladder contraction, and gut motility, satiety and inhibit acid secretion from the stomach. Moreover, they are major neurotransmitters in the brain and the periphery. CCK peptides also stimulate calcitonin, insulin, and glucagon secretion, and they may act as natriuretic peptides in the kidneys. CCK peptides are derived from proCCK with a C-terminal bioactive YMGWMDFamide sequence, in which the Y-residue is partly O-sulfated. The plasma forms are CCK-58, -33, -22, and -8, whereas the small CCK-8 and -5 are potent neurotransmitters. Over the last decades, CCK expression has also been encountered in tumors (neuroendocrine tumors, cerebral astrocytomas, gliomas, acoustic neuromas, and specific pediatric tumors). Recently, a metastastic islet cell tumor was found to cause a specific CCKoma syndrome, suggesting that circulating CCK may be a useful tumor marker.
A model for predicting image search engine behaviour

Image search engines tend to return a large number of images which the engines consider to be relevant, and such pool of results generally is very large and may be regarded to be effectively inexhaustible. While the images are presented as relevant, it is normally true that many of them are actually irrelevant, and that the distribution of relevant images over the returned results is non-uniform. To predict the relevance for individual images is generally difficult since it only takes on binary values and therefore tends to oscillate randomly between relevance and irrelevance with little noticeable trend. Increasing the range of possible values will be necessary to enhance the ability for prediction, and it is advantageous to accumulate the aggregate relevance for larger groups of images in a sequential manner. Our approach will involve appropriately grouping the random binary sequence into non-overlapping groups and convert it into a form which makes them more amenable for prediction. In this paper, we present a model for predicting Image Search Engines (ISEs) behaviour. We develop an empirical model and design a set of benchmark queries to measure system performance. We are able to establish a linear model which is able to give good and robust prediction of search performance. In addition, the results of this research can have a direct bearing on search engine design to provide informative guidance to users on the retrieval of relevant images, and allows the users to optimize their strategy in the recovery and discovery of images.
Characterization of codon usage bias in the US10 gene of duck enteritis virus

In order to have some bioinformatics information about synonymous codon usage pattern of the duck enteritis virus (DEV) US10 gene (GenBank accession number: EU195084), we analyzed the DEV US10 gene and 19 other reference herpesviruses by using bioinformatics softwares, such as CAI, CHIPS and CUSP program of EMBOSS. The results revealed that codon usage bias in the US10 gene was mainly influenced by nucleotide composition, specifically manifested in adenine (A) and thymine (T) at the third codon position. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that DEV had a closer evolutionary relationship with the Mardivirus, which was clustered into Alphaherpesvirinae. There were 32 codons showing uniform usage between DEV and Escherichia coli, 41 between DEV and yeast, 38 between DEV and Homo sapiens. Therefore, the yeast expression system may be more appropriate for the expression of DEV US10 gene. The information from this research may not only have theoretical value in understanding molecular evolution, but also have potential value for the further studying of this gene.