Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protocol for Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Training

This paper describes a five-visit heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback protocol we have used both clinically and in research. This protocol was refined in a study of biofeedback therapy for treating asthma. Similar, longer methods have been used for treating various conditions involving pain, anxiety, depression, and other psychophysiological disorders.
Dimensions of Group Identification and Out-Group Attitudes in Four Ethnic Groups in New Zealand

Sumner's (1906) ethnocentrism hypothesis suggested that group identification would be inversely correlated with out-group attitudes, but empirical studies have reported widely varying relations. In this research, we investigated the relationship between 3 dimensions of ethnocultural group identification and attitudes to ethnic out-groups in four New Zealand ethnic samples (Asian, Maori, Pacific Islanders, Pakeha\European). The findings indicated that Ethnocultural Involvement and Attachment had no or little independent association with out-group attitudes, whereas Ethnocultural Evaluation (in-group attitude) was most consistently associated with out-group attitudes, but the association could be positive, negative, or zero. The pattern of in-group and out-group attitude relations seemed consistent with theories of intergroup competition, similarity-dissimilarity, or superordinate categorization.
Regional varieties of Italian in the linguistic repertoire

Abstract This paper focuses on regional Italian as a special observatory for both synchronic and diachronic variation in Italian. After a brief overview of some key concepts (Section 1) and the state of the art (Section 2), I consider regional Italian in a language-contact perspective (Section 3). In addition, I analyze it from the viewpoint of the reciprocal relationship between dimensions of linguistic variation (Section 4). The topics addressed here range from the process of language shift from Italo-Romance dialects toward Italian to the decreasing regional markedness of contemporary Italian. They therefore include issues related to native-like competence, ongoing restandardization, and developmental tendencies in Italian.
Direct Monitoring of the Strand Passage Reaction of DNA Topoisomerase II Triggers Checkpoint Activation

By necessity, the ancient activity of type II topoisomerases co-evolved with the double-helical structure of DNA, at least in organisms with circular genomes. In humans, the strand passage reaction of DNA topoisomerase II (Topo II) is the target of several major classes of cancer drugs which both poison Topo II and activate cell cycle checkpoint controls. It is important to know the cellular effects of molecules that target Topo II, but the mechanisms of checkpoint activation that respond to Topo II dysfunction are not well understood. Here, we provide evidence that a checkpoint mechanism monitors the strand passage reaction of Topo II. In contrast, cells do not become checkpoint arrested in the presence of the aberrant DNA topologies, such as hyper-catenation, that arise in the absence of Topo II activity. An overall reduction in Topo II activity (i.e. slow strand passage cycles) does not activate the checkpoint, but specific defects in the T-segment transit step of the strand passage reaction do induce a cell cycle delay. Furthermore, the cell cycle delay depends on the divergent and catalytically inert C-terminal region of Topo II, indicating that transmission of a checkpoint signal may occur via the C-terminus. Other, well characterized, mitotic checkpoints detect DNA lesions or monitor unattached kinetochores; these defects arise via failures in a variety of cell processes. In contrast, we have described the first example of a distinct category of checkpoint mechanism that monitors the catalytic cycle of a single specific enzyme in order to determine when chromosome segregation can proceed faithfully.
Combining Knowledge Compilation and Search for Conformant Probabilistic Planning

We present a new algorithm for conformant probabilistic planning, which for a given horizon produces a plan that maximizes the probability of success under quantified uncertainty about the initial state and action effects, and absence of sensory information. Recent work has studied systematic search in the space of all candidate plans as a feasible approach to conformant probabilistic planning, but the algorithms proposed require caching of intermediate computations in such a way that memory is often exhausted quickly except for small planning horizons. On the other hand, planning problems in typical formulations generally have treewidths that do not grow with the horizon, as connections between variables are local to the neighborhood of each time step. These existing planners, however, are unable to directly benefit from the bounded treewidth owing to a constraint on the variable ordering which is necessary for correct computation of the optimal plan. We show that lifting such constraint allows one to obtain a compact compilation of the planning problem, from which an upper bound can be efficiently computed on the value of any partial plan generated during search. Coupled with several optimizations, this results in a depth-first branch-and-bound algorithm which on the tested domains runs an order of magnitude faster than its predecessors, and at the same time is able to solve problems for significantly larger horizons thanks to its minimal memory requirements.
Unleashing multiple antenna systems in compact terminal devices

The effective use of multiple antenna systems in compact terminal devices is plagued by the problems of mutual coupling and spatial correlation. Consequently, increasing the number of antennas per unit volume results in rapidly diminishing returns after an upper limit is reached. We review recent advances on this topic of closely coupled antennas, including several existing techniques that may be used to push the boundary further, such that closely spaced antennas can still give good performance. A new approach of decoupling closely spaced antennas is also introduced.
Queen–signal modulation of worker pheromonal composition in honeybees

Worker sterility in honeybees is neither absolute nor irreversible. Whether under queen or worker control, it is likely to be mediated by pheromones. Queen–specific pheromones are not exclusive to queens; workers with activated ovaries also produce them. The association between ovarian activation and queen–like pheromone occurrence suggests the latter as providing a reliable signal of reproductive ability. In this study we investigated the effect of queen pheromones on ovary development and occurrence of queen–like esters in workers' Dufour's gland. Workers separated from the queenright compartment by a double mesh behaved like queenless workers, activating their ovaries and expressing a queen–like Dufour's gland secretion, confirming that the pheromones regulating both systems are non–volatile. Workers with developed ovaries produced significantly more secretion than sterile workers, which we attribute primarily to increased ester production. Workers separated from the queenright compartment by a single mesh displayed a delayed ovarian development, which we attribute to interrupted transfer of the non–volatile pheromone between compartments. We suggest that worker expression of queen–like characters reflects a queen–worker arms race; and that Dufour's gland secretion may provide a reliable signal for ovarian activation. The associative nature between ovary development and Dufour's gland ester production remains elusive.
A bottom up SPL design method

Software Product Lines (SPL) ensure predictive and organized software reuse. In practice, SPL are often set up after several similar product variants have been in use. This practical fact prompted a quest for bottom-up processes that start from existing the source of product variants to identify a product line. This later is then described with a feature model that essentially specifies the components of the SPL and their variability within the product family. However, so far proposed notations for feature models do not provide for a clear understanding of the SPL nor do they guide in their maintenance and future evolution. These shortages motivated us to propose a bottom-up approach that extracts from the source code of product variants, the SPL design enriched with information extracted from the feature model. The enriched SPL is modeled with a UML profile that assists in the comprehension, reuse as well as evolution of the SPL.
Shape localization by statistical learning in the Gabor feature space

Accurate localization of representative points of a face is crucial to many face analysis and synthesis problems. Active shape model (ASM) is a powerful statistical tool for face alignment. However, it suffer from variations of pose, illumination and expressions. In this paper, we propose an improved ASM method, RG-ASM in which local appearance models of key points are modeled using statistical learning. RealBoost is proposed to build the likelihood model that ensures the ground truth position of each key point will more likely have a higher likelihood than its neighbors. Instead of using principle components analysis and one pixel Gabor coefficients. Gabor wavelet features of key point and its neighbors are used as the feature space in the learning procedure to model local structures of a face. Experimental results demonstrate that RG-ASM achieves more accurate results compared with original method used in ASM.
Lysine-specific demethylase 2A (KDM2A) normalizes human embryonic stem cell derived keratinocytes

Studies on human lysine-specific demethylase 2A (KDM2A) by others have recently begun. To date, the demethylase activity has been known to reduce expression of genes and eventually inhibit proliferation of cells. However, while attempting to improve proliferation of hES-cell–derived Nod keratinocytes, which grow poorly and have a short life span, we found that high expression of the KDM2A gene improves the poor proliferation of the cells. Of the four isomer cDNAs that we prepared from alternatively spliced KDM2A transcripts, only one stimulates the proliferation. This (KDM2A-N782) encodes the 782AA protein containing the JmjC, CXXC, and Ring domains, but not the F-box and AMN1 domains, unlike KDM2A, which has been studied by other groups. Our results not only show that differently spliced transcripts from a gene result in totally opposite outcomes, but also present critical evidence of the complicated activities of KDM2A, which contains all of the five domains.
The complete mitochondrial genome of the Pundamilia nyererei (Perciformes, Cichlidae)

Abstract Pundamilia nyererei (Perciformes, Cichlidae) is a member of Cichlid fishes that lives in the Great Lakes of East Africa. Fishes of the Cichlidae family can adapt spectacular trophic radiations and provide good potential examples of vertebrate adaptive radiations. Here, we firstly assembled the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Pundamilia nyererei. The mitgenome was 16 761 bp in length, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 1 putative control region. Most of these protein-coding genes started with a traditional ATG codon except for COX1, which initiated with an infrequent start codon GTG instead, and terminated with the mitochondrial stop codon (TAA/AGG/AGA) or a single T base. The mitogenome structural organization is identical to other Cichlid fish. The overall GC content is 45.25%, which is lower than the AT content. According to these new determined mitogenome sequences and 10 other species under the same family or order, we have constructed the species phylogenetic tree to verify the accuracy of newly assembled mitogenome sequences. We accept that by taking the advantage of full mitogenome, we can address taxonomic issue and study the related evolutionary events. Our current data are going to provide important resources for the research of Cichlid fishes mitochondrial evolution and energy metabolism.
An economical, semi‐automatic system for measuring cellular tree structures in three dimensions, with special emphasis on Golgi‐impregnated neurons

The hardware and software of a semi‐automatic system are described for the measurement of cellular tree structures in thick microscopical sections such as the processes of Golgi‐impregnated neurons. With this system, the morphologist— viewing the neuron directly through the microscope— measures the tree structures using three cartesian coordinates of characteristic points, e.g. centre of cell, origin of processes, bifurcation points, end points, deflection points, etc. The system requires an on‐line computer, but does not demand a dedicated computer since a joystick generator usually drives the microscopical stage during cell tracking. A digital computer is utilized for acquisition of data and, when needed, to return the stage to a required position. The microscope stage is coupled to three stepping motors with 0·5 (μm as the smallest step. The stepping motor for movement of the stage parallel to the optical axis (z‐direction) is coupled directly to a spindle mechanism, replacing the original cog wheel mechanism. This construction shows no measurable backlash. The practical advantages of this new measuring system in relation to the existing digital systems currently in use, its accuracy and its costs, are discussed.
Inhibition of serum bactericidal reaction by lipopolysaccharide

An Rc-mutant of Escherichia coli that lacks UDPgalactose 4-epimerase grows normally without galactose but makes lipopolysaccharide lacking most of its carbohydrate. Exogenous galactose overrides the mutation and results in the formation of a complete lipopolysaccharide, thereby producing a smooth phenocopy. The smooth phenocopy was much more resistant to the bactericidal activity of normal human serum than was the rough phenotype. More complement was utilized by the rough mutant in the bactericidal process than by the smooth phenocopy. An antiserum was prepared in rabbits to a specific outer membrane protein in the mutant bacterium, the lambda receptor, whose expression could be suppressed by the addition of 10 mM maltose. The effect of the O-antigen in the lipopolysaccharide produced by the smooth phenocopy on the binding of antibody to the lambda receptor was determined. The smooth phenocopy exhibited significantly less binding of antibody than did the rough phenocopy. In addition, expression of the lambda receptor had little effect on the binding of antibody to the lambda receptor in the smooth phenocopy but caused significantly increased binding in the rough mutant. The results suggest that the increased resistance to the lethal action of normal human serum shown by the smooth phenocopy may be due to the blocking of antibody binding sites by the O-antigen of lipopolysaccharide, thereby preventing activation of the classical pathway of complement.
The Bulletin of the EATCS

The study of the complexity of logical problems has provided a very fruitful ﬁeld of research since many decades. On the one hand researchers have tried to classify exactly in terms of complexity classes and upper and lower bounds the complexity of decision and other logical problems. Although in general such problems are of high complexity, efforts have been made to develop efﬁcient algorithms to solve such problems when restricted to important logic fragments, that are relevant in the praxis. Michael Thomas and Heribert Vollmer survey in this excellent column recent complexity results for fragments of languages of non-monotonic logics.
SWIPT Using Hybrid ARQ Over Time Varying Channels

We consider a class of wireless powered devices employing hybrid automatic repeat request to ensure reliable end-to-end communications over a two-state time-varying channel. A receiver, with no power source, relies on the energy transferred by a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer enabled transmitter to receive and decode information. Under the two-state channel model, information is received at two different rates while it is only possible to harvest energy in one of the states. The receiver aims to decode its messages with minimum expected number of re-transmissions. Dynamic and continuous nature of the problem motivated us to use a novel Markovian framework to bypass the complexities plaguing the conventional approaches such as Markov decision process. Using the theory of absorbing Markov chains, we show that there exists an optimal policy utilizing the incoming RF signal solely to harvest energy or to accumulate mutual information. Hence, we convert the original problem with continuous action and state space into an equivalent one with discrete state and action space. For independent and identically distributed channels, we prove the optimality of a simple-to-implement harvest-first-store-later type policy. However, for time-correlated channels, we demonstrate that statistical knowledge of the channel may significantly improve the performance over such policies.
Face‐likeness and image variability drive responses in human face‐selective ventral regions

The human ventral visual stream contains regions that respond selectively to faces over objects. However, it is unknown whether responses in these regions correlate with how face‐like stimuli appear. Here, we use parameterized face silhouettes to manipulate the perceived face‐likeness of stimuli and measure responses in face‐ and object‐selective ventral regions with high‐resolution fMRI. We first use “concentric hyper‐sphere” (CH) sampling to define face silhouettes at different distances from the prototype face. Observers rate the stimuli as progressively more face‐like the closer they are to the prototype face. Paradoxically, responses in both face‐ and object‐selective regions decrease as face‐likeness ratings increase. Because CH sampling produces blocks of stimuli whose variability is negatively correlated with face‐likeness, this effect may be driven by more adaptation during high face‐likeness (low‐variability) blocks than during low face‐likeness (high‐variability) blocks. We tested this hypothesis by measuring responses to matched‐variability (MV) blocks of stimuli with similar face‐likeness ratings as with CH sampling. Critically, under MV sampling, we find a face‐specific effect: responses in face‐selective regions gradually increase with perceived face‐likeness, but responses in object‐selective regions are unchanged. Our studies provide novel evidence that face‐selective responses correlate with the perceived face‐likeness of stimuli, but this effect is revealed only when image variability is controlled across conditions. Finally, our data show that variability is a powerful factor that drives responses across the ventral stream. This indicates that controlling variability across conditions should be a critical tool in future neuroimaging studies of face and object representation. Hum Brain Mapp 33:2334–2349, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Image-based document vectors for text retrieval

We propose a method for constructing a vector for a document image to represent its content to facilitate text retrieval. The method is based on an N-Gram algorithm for text similarity measure based on the frequency of occurrence of n-character strings appearing in the electronic text. Instead of using ASCII values, the present study investigates the use of character images to obtain the document vector and has found promising results for use in our news article retrieval project.
Levels, Hierarchies, and the Locus of Control*

The Bartlett—Craik view of human performance is restated; and particularly that it is organised at different levels. On that view, the lower levels are controlled by the upper but capable of functioning independently. Modern views of memory, language, and problem-solving are compared with this doctrine, and found to embody some of its virtues but not all. Fresh experiments are described, in which people take decisions about the running of a transportation system. The simplest control mechanism which will model their behaviour is a two-level adaptive controller.
Evaluation of meal and deworming programs for primary schools in rural Senegal

This thesis aims at filling this gap. We use experimental and quasi-experimental data and rely on both program evaluation and structural approaches. The thesis is organized in 5 chapters. After introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 uses a quasi-experimental data to assess the impacts of meal and deworming programs taken on isolation. We study the impact of these programs on school performances measured by test scores, while elaborating on the determinants of test scores. This explains that the meal and the deworming programs can increase pupils' scores. The impact of each program is more important for pupils who are in school with association of mothers. Deworming in school has a positive effect on pupils' performance, while the deworming at home has a negative impact on pupils' scores. In addition, the deworming program increases significantly the scores of pupils who are in school with association of their mothers or school project. Among the determinants of test scores, education expenditure, household size, Koranic school, early childhood institution and existence of a college in the village have a positive effect on pupil's performance, while controls such as disturbed courses, temporary shelters, gender of teacher and absenteeism of teacher have negative impact on scores.
Hobbes's War of All Against All

It is surprising that, in the voluminous literature on Hobbes, his most original and important argument rarely receives detailed examination. I refer to the argument, centered in chapter 13 of Leviathan, that the state of nature is a state of war of all against all. ' There seem to be two main reasons why this argument escapes careful scrutiny. Some apparently regard it as so straightforward, and so obviously correct, as to require little analysis or elucidation.2 Others, who accept the common view that the argument is dependent on Hobbes's egoistic psychology,3 may doubt it is of substantial interest for those of us not sharing this gloomy view of human nature. I shall argue that these attitudes are not warranted. Hobbes's argument relies only on assumptions about human beings that are much more plausible than psychological egoism, but it is invalid. Yet, despite its invalidity, it makes a significant and lasting contribution to our understanding of certain important problems concerning human interaction. I shall proceed as follows. After sketching what I take Hobbes's argument to be, I consider and reject a prominent alternative interpretation, that offered by E S. McNeilly in his fine book The Anatomy of Leviathan.4
Buffer block planning for interconnect-driven floorplanning

We study buffer block planning for interconnect-driven floorplanning in deep submicron designs. We first introduce the concept of feasible region (FR) for buffer insertion, and derive closed-form formula for FR. We observe that the FR for a buffer is quite large in general even under fairly tight delay constraints. Therefore, FR gives us a lot of flexibility to plan for buffer locations. We then develop an effective buffer block planning (BBP) algorithm to perform buffer clustering such that the overall chip area and the buffer block number can be minimized. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in-depth study on buffer planning for interconnect-driven floorplanning with both area and delay consideration.