Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DATING THE RISE AND FALL OF XUNANTUNICH, BELIZE

This article presents the chronological framework used to reconstruct the political history of the ancient Lowland Maya site of Xunantunich in the upper Belize River valley. Extensive excavations from 1991 to 1997 by the Xunantunich Archaeological Project produced the ceramic, architectural, and epigraphic data needed to place the site within a temporal context. Refinement of the Barton Ramie ceramic chronology was the first step toward clarifying the Xunantunich chronology. Seriation of well-known Spanish Lookout types and modes from stratified deposits established a framework for understanding Late and Terminal Classic assemblages. Twenty-two radiocarbon samples place these ceramic complexes in absolute time. Obsidian hydration and masonry techniques were found to be less reliable chronological markers. The results indicate that Xunantunich emerged as a regional center during the Samal (A.D. 600–670) and Hats' Chaak (A.D. 670–780) phases of the Late Classic period. Arguably, this rapid growth and florescence was initiated under the auspices of nearby Naranjo. Although the polity achieved political autonomy in the following Tsak' phase (A.D. 780–890) of the Terminal Classic period, civic construction diminished and rural populations declined until the site collapsed sometime during the late ninth or early tenth century.
The use of augmented reality enhanced flashcards for arabic vocabulary acquisition

This study describes the development process of an augmented reality (AR) enhanced flashcards for non-native students of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) students to enhance their knowledge and memorization of basic Arabic Vocabulary. An application namely Aurasma was used in the development process. This study was conducted with 20 elementary-level students in USIM by observing their response and their understanding in using the AR enhanced flashcards for Arabic vocabulary acquisition. Findings indicated that AR enhanced flashcards help in scaffolding the knowledge of students regarding the Arabic vocabulary acquisition. Furthermore, from the data collected through the questionnaires, the researchers found that the process of learning is being much easier with the help of the AR enhanced flashcards. The augmented reality considered as one of the platform that can be used to help the students in memorizing certain information and maintained their knowledge of Arabic vocabulary. In addition, students created novel sentences using the target vocabulary words more than half of the time.
Predicting conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimers Disease using ensemble learning

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most frequent types of dementia. It is characterized by the progressive deterioration of cognitive functions. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) represents the transitional period between normal ageing and dementia. Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, but it is believed that early diagnosis and treatment can slow down its progression. In order to study individuals with this disease, machine learning methods have became widely used due to their good results in diagnosis and prognosis. This project consists in the proposal of an ensemble learning approach to improve the performance of classifiers in predicting the conversion from MCI to AD. Instead of building a single classifier, we will train multiple individual classifiers and combine them to achieve a more accurate and robust classification. Two approaches will be followed: one the prediction of the prognosis is made considering all patients as similar, and other the prediction is made considering different groups of patients, evolving differently in the prognosis. In both approaches temporal windows will be considered in the classification process. The patients involved in this work were, firstly, diagnosed using neuropsychological tests.
The End of Something

an obituary in the morning paper gives the short biography of a scientist whose genius enabled explorations of the ocean floor several miles down. While this man attended high school in New Jersey, Mussolini and hitler came to power, amelia Earhart disappeared, and our dog, sucre, was stolen from our front yard in Kansas City. the scientist was studying aeronautical engineering at ucla when f. D. r. died and when hemingway moved to Cuba to begin writing The Old Man and the Sea. I had left Kansas City by then to finish high school in New hampshire, where I learned to ski and lost my virginity. so history and memory are joined to become one, and, as I sip a second cup of coffee, my own chronicle becomes tied up with his. one incident recalled pulls out another that in turn snags another, so a skein of happenings, tucked inside a lobe of my brain, have been exposed as in a messy pantry. a line of narrative can sometimes untangle them, order them, and—like the best jokes—these memories are related in the present tense.
A mobile differential absorption lidar to measure sub-hourly fluctuation of tropospheric ozone profiles in the Baltimore–Washington, D.C. region

Abstract. Tropospheric ozone profiles have been retrieved from the new ground-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center TROPospheric OZone DIfferential Absorption Lidar (GSFC TROPOZ DIAL) in Greenbelt, MD (38.99° N, 76.84° W, 57 m a.s.l.), from 400 m to 12 km a.g. l. Current atmospheric satellite instruments cannot peer through the optically thick stratospheric ozone layer to remotely sense boundary layer tropospheric ozone. In order to monitor this lower ozone more effectively, the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) has been developed, which currently consists of five stations across the US. The GSFC TROPOZ DIAL is based on the DIAL technique, which currently detects two wavelengths, 289 and 299 nm, with multiple receivers. The transmitted wavelengths are generated by focusing the output of a quadrupled Nd:YAG laser beam (266 nm) into a pair of Raman cells, filled with high-pressure hydrogen and deuterium, using helium as buffer gas. With the knowledge of the ozone absorption coefficient at these two wavelengths, the range-resolved number density can be derived. An interesting atmospheric case study involving the stratospheric–tropospheric exchange (STE) of ozone is shown, to emphasize the regional importance of this instrument as well as to assess the validation and calibration of data. There was a low amount of aerosol aloft, and an iterative aerosol correction has been performed on the retrieved data, which resulted in less than a 3 ppb correction to the final ozone concentration. The retrieval yields an uncertainty of 16–19% from 0 to 1.5 km, 10–18% from 1.5 to 3 km, and 11–25% from 3 to 12 km according to the relevant aerosol concentration aloft. There are currently surface ozone measurements hourly and ozonesonde launches occasionally, but this system will be the first to make routine tropospheric ozone profile measurements in the Baltimore–Washington, D.C. area.
Núñez-Farfán : Host-related Performance of Cabbage Aphid 635 NATURAL SELECTION AND MATERNAL EFFECTS IN LIFE HISTORY TRAITS OF BREVICORYNE BRASSICAE ( HOMOPTERA : APHIDIDAE ) ON TWO SYMPATRIC CLOSELY RELATED HOSTS

In this study we used 2 reciprocal transference experiments to estimate the mode and magnitude of selection on life history traits of the aphid Brevicoryne brassicae L. on 2 sympatric host plants, Brassica campestris L. and Brassica oleraceae L. In the first experiment, we recorded success in establishment, age at first reproduction, duration of reproduction, number of nymphs laid, reproductive rate, and rate of increase ( r i ) on each host. In the second experiment, the offspring of females collected on Br. campestris or Br. oleraceae were reared on hosts through 3 generations. Age at first reproduction, duration of reproduction, fecundity, and rate of increase ( r i ) were measured during the third generation in order to determine presence of maternal effects. Within each recipient host, we estimated selection gradients by performing a multiple linear regression of relative number of nymphs in relation to age at first reproduction and duration of reproduction. Results of the first experiment indicate that successful establishment was higher on the source host on which the mother was collected. A significant effect associated with the recipient host was detected for most life history traits. Positive directional selection on duration of reproduction was detected on both hosts whereas selection on the age at first reproduction was detected only in Br. oleraeae . In the second experiment we did not find evidence of maternal effects since the recipient host exerted a significant effect on fecundity. Again, the selection on duration of reproduction was detected on both hosts. Despite these results suggesting incipient ecological specialization in B. brassicae , we recognize factors that may prevent the evolution of host plant specialization.
Strategic Channel Selection with Online Platforms: An Empirical Analysis of the Daily Deal Industry

The platform—a business model that creates value by connecting groups of users—is increasingly popular in many industries. Extant papers largely assume that platforms dominate the pricing decision, whereas in practice, prices in business-to-business transactions are often determined by a bargaining process. We study how the relative bargaining power of business partners affects pricing and competition in a two-sided market. We compile a unique and comprehensive dataset using sales data from the US daily deal market and specify a structural model based on Nash bargaining solutions. We find that Groupon, the larger deal platform, has more price-bargaining power than LivingSocial and that larger and chain merchants have more bargaining power than smaller and independent merchants. The difference in bargaining power between different types of merchant, interestingly, is more substantial on LivingSocial than on Groupon. Therefore, the size of a platform has two faces: while a larger customer base helps attract merchants, the platform’s bargaining power may motivate some merchants to work with its smaller competitors, over which they have more influence on price setting. Our counterfactual results show that the allocation of price-bargaining power plays an important role in the daily deal markets and that merchants are significantly worse off if platforms have higher price-bargaining power during the negotiation. Furthermore, as it increases the bargaining power, LivingSocial would be able to boost its profits but lose its attraction in acquiring merchants.
Proximity and Complementarity in Hong Kong-Shenzhen Industrialization

As a part of its domestic economic reform initiated in 1979, China designated four Special Economic Zones (SEZs): Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, and Xiamen. Learning from the successful experience of export processing zones (EPZs) in its Asian neighbors, China realized that it should take advantage of its vast reserve of low-cost rural surplus labor to engage in export manufacturing (ultimately earning foreign exchange) and utilize foreign investment to aid its own course of industrialization. ' The government also recognized the importance of advanced foreign technology in stimulating growth, as well as the channel through which technology transfer often occurs-foreign direct investment (FDI). Therefore, the promotion of foreign investment is not an end in itself but a means to bring foreign technology to China. SEZs were designed to be geographically insulated but economically open areas where special and flexible economic policies are carried out primarily to promote foreign investment, technology transfer, and exports. They were also designed, as secondary objectives, to experiment with new reform policies and a market system and serve as buffer or intermediate zones with Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The locations of China's SEZs were carefully chosen by the Chinese government, which paid particular attention to the surrounding regional industrial and commercial cities and financial centers. First, there were intentions to use the SEZs as intermediary zones for reunification with the three territories, especially Taiwan. Second, the government recognized that the overseas Chinese community was a force to reckon with in raising productive capital.
Life of an ancient monument: Hadrian's Wall in history

The Romans are Britain's favourite invaders, and Hadrian's Wall is among the largest and finest of the relics they left behind on the island. However, as our authors urge, we should demand more intellectual depth from our monuments today. Not simply a cultural asset anchored in the Roman empire, Hadrian's Wall had a busy afterlife, a material history reflecting the uses, attitudes and emotions of later centuries. Its ‘biography’ not only captures new information about the last two millennia, it offers a story that the modern visitor deserves to hear.
Naturally transmitted segmented filamentous bacteria segregate with diabetes protection in nonobese diabetic mice

Vertebrates typically harbor a rich gastrointestinal microbiota, which has coevolved with the host over millennia and is essential for several host physiological functions, in particular maturation of the immune system. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of a single bacterial species, segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB), in inducing a robust T-helper cell type 17 (Th17) population in the small-intestinal lamina propria (SI-LP) of the mouse gut. Consequently, SFB can promote IL-17–dependent immune and autoimmune responses, gut-associated as well as systemic, including inflammatory arthritis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Here, we exploit the incomplete penetrance of SFB colonization of NOD mice in our animal facility to explore its impact on the incidence and course of type 1 diabetes in this prototypical, spontaneous model. There was a strong cosegregation of SFB positivity and diabetes protection in females, but not in males, which remained relatively disease-free regardless of the SFB status. In contrast, insulitis did not depend on SFB colonization. SFB-positive, but not SFB-negative, females had a substantial population of Th17 cells in the SI-LP, which was the only significant, repeatable difference in the examined T-cell compartments of the gut, pancreas, or systemic lymphoid tissues. Th17-signature transcripts dominated the very limited SFB-induced molecular changes detected in SI-LP CD4+ T cells. Thus, a single bacterium, and the gut immune system alterations associated with it, can either promote or protect from autoimmunity in predisposed mouse models, probably reflecting their variable dependence on different Th subsets.
A practical wireless charging system based on ultra-wideband retro-reflective beamforming

Numerous portable electronic devices (such as laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, and electric shavers) rely on rechargeable batteries and must be routinely charged by the line power. A wireless charging technique capable of delivering electromagnetic energy to these portable devices would make them tether free and “truly portable. ” Wireless charging is especially valuable for devices with which wired connections are intractable, e.g., unattended radio frequency identification tags and implanted sensors. In recent years, enormous research efforts have been devoted to wireless charging. In 1990s, a case study is reported in [1] to construct a point-to-point wireless electricity transmission to a small isolated village called Grand-Bassin in France. In 2007, an inductive resonance coupling scheme, which makes use of near-field coupling between two magnetic resonators, was demonstrated able to power a 60-Watt light bulb over two meters by a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology [2]. In addition, several companies (PowerCast, WildCharge, WiPower, etc.) have developed products targeting specific applications. Nevertheless, several technical challenges remain to be resolved in order to accomplish practical wireless charging. Specifically, (i) to achieve efficient charging over long distance, severe power loss due to electromagnetic wave propagation must be remedied; (ii) humans' exposure to electromagnetic radiation should always be kept below safety level while sufficient power is delivered to devices; and (iii) some existing systems are unsuitable for ubiquitous deployment due to high cost, large size, and/or heavy weight. In this paper, an innovative wireless charging system based on ultrawideband retro-reflective beamforming is proposed to address the above challenges. The proposed charger consists of multiple antenna elements distributed in space. According to pilot signals (which are short impulses) they receive from the target device, the antenna elements jointly construct a focused electromagnetic beam onto the device (i.e., beamforming). Beamforming enables spatially focused/dedicated power delivery to devices while keeping power level in all the other locations minimal. As a result, the proposed system attains high charging efficiency and leads to little hazard/interference to other objects. Performance of the proposed wireless charging system is demonstrated by some simulation results obtained by a full-wave Maxwell's equations solver.
Gene expression profile of the regeneration epithelium during axolotl limb regeneration

Urodele amphibians are unique among adult vertebrates in their ability to regenerate missing limbs. The process of limb regeneration requires several key tissues including a regeneration‐competent wound epidermis called the regeneration epithelium (RE). We used microarray analysis to profile gene expression of the RE in the axolotl, a Mexican salamander. A list of 125 genes and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) showed a ≥1.5‐fold expression in the RE than in a wound epidermis covering a lateral cuff wound. A subset of the RE ESTs and genes were further characterized for expression level changes over the time‐course of regeneration. This study provides the first large scale identification of specific gene expression in the RE. Developmental Dynamics 240:1826–1840, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparison of Cytokine Effects on Mouse Pancreatic α-Cell and β-Cell Lines Viability, Secretory Function, and MHC Antigen Expression

Cytokine effects on permanent cell lines of transformed mouse pancreatic α- and β-cells were compared. The β–tumor cell 1 (βTC1) line (from an adenoma created in transgenic mice expressing the SV40 large T-antigen oncogene under control of the rat insulin II promoter) produced insulin predominantly, although small quantities of intracellular glucagon (100:1 insulin to glucagon) were detectable by radioimmunoassay. The αTC1 line (from an adenoma created in transgenic mice expressing the SV40 large T-antigen oncogene under control of the rat preproglucagon promoter) produced not only glucagon but also considerable quantities of insulin (4:1 glucagon to insulin) and preproinsulin mRNA. We therefore cloned αTC1 cells and obtained 12 glucagon-producing clonai cell lines that did not produce levels of insulin detectable by radioimmunoassay. Analysis by Northern blotting of total RNA from two lines, αTC1 clones 6 and 9, confirmed the absence of preproinsulin mRNA. No somatostatin or pancreatic polypeptide was detected by immunohistochemical staining in αTC1 clones 6 or 9 or βTC1 cells. Rat recombinant γ-interferon (IFN-γ; 5–250 U/ml) or mouse recombinant interleukin 1 (IL-1; 1–25 U/ml) individually inhibited DNA synthesis in βTC1 cells after 3 days of treatment. The two cytokines in combination acted synergistically to further depress DNA synthesis and increase cytotoxicity. In contrast, αTC1 clone 9 cells were not sensitive to inhibition of DNA synthesis by each cytokine individually, although glucagon synthesis was inhibited. The combination of these cytokines caused marked inhibition of DNA and glucagon syntheses in αTC1 clone 9 cells. αTC1 clone 9 cells were somewhat more resistant to the cytotoxic action of the combined cytokines than were βTC1 cells. Incubation with 50 U/ml IFN-γ induced class II MHC molecules (I-Ab, I-Ad, and I-Ed) and enhanced the constitutive expression of class I molecules (H-2Kb and H-2Kd) on the cell surfaces of βTC1, uncloned αTC1, and αTC1 clones 6 and 9. Thus, these cell lines are heterozygous for MHC alleles derived from both parental strains used in the construction of the transgenic mice [C57BL/6J (H-2b) and DBA/2J (H-2d) ]. Class II gene transcription induced by IFN-γ was confirmed in βTC1 and αTC1 clone 9 cells by Northern blot analysis with Aα-, Aβ-, Eα-, and Eβ-DNA probes. The differences in sensitivity to the cytotoxic action of cytokines may relate to the preferential destruction of β-cells in the early stage of insulin-dependent diabetes. Because class I and II MHC expression was enhanced or induced by IFN-γ in both the α- and β-cell lines, the ability to induce MHC molecules in itself is not sufficient to explain β-cell– specific autoimmune recognition associated with insulin-dependent diabetes.
Real-time Monitoring of Discrete Synaptic Release Events and Excitatory Potentials within Self-reconstructed Neuromuscular Junctions.

Chemical synaptic transmission is central to the brain functions. In this regard, real-time monitoring of chemical synaptic transmission during neuronal communication remains a great challenge. In this work, in vivo-like oriented neural networks between superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons and their effector smooth muscle cells (SMC) were assembled in a microfluidic device. This allowed amperometric detection of individual neurotransmitter release events inside functional SCG-SMC synapse with carbon fiber nanoelectrodes as well as recording of postsynaptic potential using glass nanopipette electrodes. The high vesicular release activities essentially involved complex events arising from flickering fusion pores as quantitatively established based on simulations. This work allowed for the first time monitoring in situ chemical synaptic transmission under conditions close to those found in vivo, which may yield important and new insights into the nature of neuronal communications.
Mutual Interaction between Human Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells and NK Cells

Human multipotent adult progenitor cells (hMAPCs) are isolated from bone marrow with a more extensive expansion capacity compared to human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and with the ability to differentiate into endothelium. Like hMSCs, hMAPCs inhibit T-cell proliferation induced by alloantigens. In this study, we tested the interaction between hMAPCs and natural killer (NK) cells. We assessed the susceptibility of hMAPCs to NK cell-mediated lysis and the immunomodulation of hMAPCs on NK cell function during IL-2-driven stimulation and the cytolytic effector phase. Human MAPCs express the ligands PVR and ULBP-2/5/6, which are recognized by activating NK cell receptors. However, they also express MHC class I molecules, which induce inhibitory signals in NK cells. Freshly isolated NK cells at different effector:target ratios did not kill hMAPCs as assessed by an MTT and 51Cr-release assay, while hMAPCs impaired the cytotoxic activity of resting NK cells against the NK-sensitive K562 leukemia cell line. By contrast, IL-2-stimulated NK cells were capable of killing hMAPCs, and preactivated NK cells were not influenced during their cytotoxic effector function against K562 cells by hMAPCs. When added during the 6-day preactivation phase with IL-2, hMAPCs dose-dependently reduced NK cell proliferation in an IDO-dependent manner, but they did not influence the induction of cytotoxic capacity by IL-2. This study indicates that human MAPCs mutually interact with NK cells.