Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Constraints on (m;) using distributions of inclination angles for high redshift filaments

In this paper we present a scale free method to determine the cosmological parameters (m;). The method is based on the requirement of isotropy of the distribution of orientations of cosmological filaments. The current structure formation paradigm predicts that the first structures to form are voids and filaments, causing a web-like structure of the matter distribution at high redshifts. Recent observational evidence suggests that the threads, or filaments, of the cosmic web most easily are mapped in Ly emission. We describe how such a 3D map can be used to constrain the cosmological parameters in a way which, contrary to most other cosmological tests, does not require the use of a standard rod or a standard candle. We perform detailed simulations in order to define the optimal survey parameters for the definition of an observing programme aimed to address this test, and to investigate how statistical and observational errors will influence the results. We conclude that observations should target filaments of comoving size 15 50 Mpc in the redshift range 2 4, and that each filament must be defined by at least four Ly emitters. Detection of 20 filaments will be sucient to obtain a result, while 50 filaments will make it possible to place significant new constraints on the values ofm and permitted by the current supernova observations. In a future paper we study how robust these conclusions are to systematic velocities in the survey box.
Comparison of the effects of four anaesthetic agents on somatosensory evoked potentials in the rat

Electrophysiological techniques provide an objective and non-invasive measure of neurological function. In order to undertake detailed evoked potential studies in rats on repeated occasions, it is necessary to find an appropriate anaesthetic agent which has minimal and reproducible effects on the parameters to be studied and also has a minimal effect on the general welfare of the animals. In this study we compared the effects of four common anaesthetic agents (ketamine-xylazine, medetomidine, isoflurane and fentanyl/fluanisone-midazolam) on somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in rats following electrical stimulation of the fore- and hind-paw. Fentanyl/fluanisone-midazolam was found to be well tolerated by the animals and to have, in general, the least deleterious effect on SEPs. For example, the response recorded at the level of the somatosensory cortex (P1), following forelimb stimulation, appeared on average 1.80 ms earlier with fentanyl/fluanisone-midazolam than with the other agents and the peak-to-peak amplitude (CI to CII) of the response recorded at the cervical (C3) level was on average 5.86 μV greater with fentanyl/fluanisone-midazolam. Fentanyl/fluanisone-midazolam is, therefore, recommended as the anaesthetic of choice for longitudinal studies of SEPs in the rat.
The functional neuroanatomy of social behaviour: changes in cerebral blood flow when people with autistic disorder process facial expressions.

Although high-functioning individuals with autistic disorder (i.e. autism and Asperger syndrome) are of normal intelligence, they have life-long abnormalities in social communication and emotional behaviour. However, the biological basis of social difficulties in autism is poorly understood. Facial expressions help shape behaviour, and we investigated if high-functioning people with autistic disorder show neurobiological differences from controls when processing emotional facial expressions. We used functional MRI to investigate brain activity in nine adults with autistic disorder (mean age +/- standard deviation 37 +/- 7 years; IQ 102 +/- 15) and nine controls (27 +/- 7 years; IQ 116 +/- 10) when explicitly (consciously) and implicitly (unconsciously) processing emotional facial expressions. Subjects with autistic disorder differed significantly from controls in the activity of cerebellar, mesolimbic and temporal lobe cortical regions of the brain when processing facial expressions. Notably, they did not activate a cortical 'face area' when explicitly appraising expressions, or the left amygdala region and left cerebellum when implicitly processing emotional facial expressions. High-functioning people with autistic disorder have biological differences from controls when consciously and unconsciously processing facial emotions, and these differences are most likely to be neurodevelopmental in origin. This may account for some of the abnormalities in social behaviour associated with autism.
Rethinking Security Requirements in RE Research Technical Report

As information security became an increasing concern for software developers and users, requirements engineering (RE) researchers brought new insight to security requirements. Security requirements aim to address security at the early stages of system design while accommodating the complex needs of different stakeholders. Meanwhile, other research communities, such as usable privacy and security, have also examined these requirements with specialized goal to make security more usable for stakeholders from product owners, to system users and administrators. In this paper we report results from conducting a literature survey to compare security requirements research from RE Conferences with the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS). We report similarities between the two research areas, such as common goals, technical definitions, research problems, and directions. Further, we clarify the differences between these two communities to understand how they can leverage each other’s insights. From our analysis, we recommend new directions in security requirements research mainly to expand the meaning of security requirements in RE to reflect the technological advancements that the broader field of security is experiencing. These recommendations to encourage crosscollaboration with other communities are not limited to the security requirements area; in fact, we believe they can be generalized to other areas of RE. Keywords-requirements; security; privacy; usability; literature survey
Design and Implementation of a Testbed for IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee) Performance Measurements

AbstractsIEEE 802.15. 4, commonly known as ZigBee, is a Media Access Control (MAC) and physical layer standard specifically designed for short range wireless communication where low rate, low power, and low bandwidth are required. This makes ZigBee an ideal choice when it comes to sensor networks for monitoring data collection and/or triggering process responses. However, these very characteristics bring into question ZigBee's ability to perform reliably in harsh environments. This paper thoroughly explains the experimental testbed setup and execution to demonstrate ZigBee's performance in several practical applications. This testbed is capable of measuring the minimum, maximum, and average received signal strength indicator (RSSI), bit error rate (BER), packet error rate (PER), packet loss rate (PLR), and the bit error locations. Results show that ZigBee has the potential capabilities to be used in all four tested environments.
Considering Future Internet on the Basis of Smart Urban Cities A Client-City Architecture for Viable Smart Cities

- The Internet has been experienced as the means for deliberation, for free social expression, for knowledge exchange, for enabling entrepreneurship. etc., while it has been capitalized by communities around the world for applications’ development and for e-service deployment. In this paper Internet is considered as a supporting tool for communities’ growth and wealth, and in this context the local history and experiences are viewed as the basis to focus on the future. Communities grow in organized spaces called cities. Cities did and do not emerge to the same levels, since geographic, financial, political and other variants influence this evolution. However, some cities show significant growth without meeting some of the abovementioned criteria, mainly due to the fact that some civilians present particular intelligence and enthusiasm. Various exemplars of isolated spaces were evolved due to the intelligence of some habitants, which were followed by their future generations. In this paper, this particularity structures a hypothesis, considering that the Future Internet can be based on the Smart Cities, where intelligence and experiences can be created, stored and accessed faster at a metropolitan level, limit data traffic to local areas and free significant resources of the Internet. The novel client-city architecture is proposed to support this hypothesis.
Social networks and contraceptive dynamics in southern Ghana.

There is accumulating evidence that social diffusion processes affect the pace of the adoption of modern contraception in societies undergoing fertility transition. In settings where mortality has declined and many other social and economic changes are underway decisions about contraception are fraught with uncertainty and risk. In such circumstances couples may rely on other persons for information and guidance. In this paper the authors examine the influence of informal social networks on the contraceptive behavior of reproductive-age women using longitudinal data collected in six communities in southern Ghana. The authors results confirm the hypothesis that adoption of modern contraception is strongly affected by the reproductive attitudes and behaviors of social network partners. What might be termed "social contagion" accelerates the adoption of contraception. Finally the authors data reveal that social networks are structured along the lines of social economic and cultural characteristics suggesting further pathways by which socioeconomic variables can influence reproductive behavior. (authors)
Men and masculinities : accounts of health and social capital.

In recent years, the links between social capital and health have attracted much research effort. This body of research has largely neglected to address the gendered way in which social capital is developed, maintained and accessed. Moreover, existing studies have not fully examined the notion of social capital within a UK context nor ascertained its validity in the lived experience of members of a disadvantaged community. This chapter is based on findings from research funded by the Health Development Agency into the relationship between health and gender in a socially deprived estate in north-west England. These findings underscore the complex ways in which men construct their health experiences and how these are enmeshed in diverse social networks. Men tend not to be involved in health enhancing social networks, being constrained by the playing out of hegemonic masculinity. This is reinforced by a community context in which men are often excluded from the very female spaces within which social capital is manifest. In this chapter, men's stories about health and social capital are examined to show that younger and older men live very different lives in their community. This has an impact on their ability to develop and access health-enhancing social capital. The social policy implications of these research findings are considered alongside the future of social capital as a theoretical framework for research.
A Formal Model of Organizational Structure and Its Use in Predicting Effects of Information Technology

There are three parts of this paper. The first part describes a highly simplified model 'of organizational structures that focuses on the information processing involved in coordination. This model distinguishes several generic organizational structures (various kinds of markets and hierarchies) and identifies tradeoffs among them in terms of production costs, coordination costs, and vulnerability costs. The model is unusual in that it includes formal definitions of these structures and mathematical derivations of the comparisons among them. In the second part of the paper, the model is tested for consistency with two kinds of empirical observations: generalizations from previous work on organizational design and major changes in the structures of American businesses over the last century. The simplified model is found to be consistent with a surprising range of these empirical observations. Finally, the model is used to predict how the widespread use of information technology may affect organizational structures. The primary prediction is that, by reducing coordination costs, information technology will lead organizations to retrace the evolutionary path their structures have taken in the last century.
MOST Photometry and DDO Spectroscopy of the Eclipsing (White Dwarf + Red Dwarf) Binary V471 Tau

The Hyades K2 V + WD system 471 Tau is a prototype post-common envelope system and a likely cataclysmic binary progenitor. We present 10 days of nearly continuous optical photometry by the MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars) satellite and partly simultaneous optical spectroscopy from DDO (David Dunlap Observatory) of the binary. The photometric data indicate that the spot coverage of the K dwarf component was less than observed in the past, suggesting that we monitored the star close to a minimum in its activity cycle. Despite the low spot activity, we still detected seven flarelike events whose estimated energies are among the highest ever observed in V471 Tau and whose times of occurrence do not correlate with the binary orbital phase. A detailed O - C analysis of the times of eclipse over the last ∼35 years reveals timing variations which could be explained in several ways, including perturbations by an as-yet-undetected third body in the system or by a small orbital eccentricity inducing slow apsidal motion. The DDO spectra result in improved determinations of the K dwarf projected rotation velocity, VK sin i = 92 km s-1, and the orbital amplitude, KK = 150.5 km s-1. The spectra also allow us to measure changes in Hα emission strength and radial velocity variations. We measure a larger Hα velocity amplitude than found previously, suggesting that the source of the emission in V471 Tau was less concentrated around the sub-white dwarf point on the K star than had been observed in previous studies.
A Method at Link Layer to Improve the Fairness in Multi-hop Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Using the protocol IEEE 802.11, multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks yield only a poor performance, especially in throughput and fairness. When the offered load becomes large, i.e. the system is in saturation state, long-distance flows suffer a high degree of throughput deterioration. These problems not only come from medium contention at the MAC layer but are due to the link layer. In this paper, we propose a method to solve the throughput degradation and unfairness problem by providing fair treatment between flows at the link-layer. In our proposed method, a fair scheduling algorithm using round robin queue and the estimation for the average interval of packet enqueueing is applied to alleviate the unfairness problem at both MAC layer and link layer. The simulation results reveal that our proposed method is able to achieve better throughput and fairness compared to the standard IEEE 802.11.
De Novo Initiation of RNA Synthesis by the RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase (NS5B) of Hepatitis C Virus

ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5B protein possesses an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity, a major function responsible for replication of the viral RNA genome. To further characterize the RdRp activity, NS5B proteins were expressed from recombinant baculoviruses, purified to near homogeneity, and examined for their ability to synthesize RNA in vitro. As a result, a highly active NS5B RdRp (1b-42), which contains an 18-amino acid C-terminal truncation resulting from a newly created stop codon, was identified among a number of independent isolates. The RdRp activity of the truncated NS5B is comparable to the activity of the full-length protein and is 20 times higher in the presence of Mn2+ than in the presence of Mg2+. When a 384-nucleotide RNA was used as the template, two major RNA products were synthesized by 1b-42. One is a complementary RNA identical in size to the input RNA template (monomer), while the other is a hairpin dimer RNA synthesized by a “copy-back” mechanism. Substantial evidence derived from several experiments demonstrated that the RNA monomer was synthesized through de novo initiation by NS5B rather than by a terminal transferase activity. Synthesis of the RNA monomer requires all four ribonucleotides. The RNA monomer product was verified to be the result of de novo RNA synthesis, as two expected RNA products were generated from monomer RNA by RNase H digestion. In addition, modification of the RNA template by the addition of the chain terminator cordycepin at the 3′ end did not affect synthesis of the RNA monomer but eliminated synthesis of the self-priming hairpin dimer RNA. Moreover, synthesis of RNA on poly(C) and poly(U) homopolymer templates by 1b-42 NS5B did not require the oligonucleotide primer at high concentrations (≥50 μM) of GTP and ATP, further supporting a de novo initiation mechanism. These findings suggest that HCV NS5B is able to initiate RNA synthesis de novo.
Star formation in Perseus. IV. Mass-dependent evolution of dense cores

Context. In our SCUBA survey of Perseus, we find that the fraction of protostellar cores increases towards higher masses and the most massive cores are all protostellar. Aims. In this paper we consider the possible explanations of this apparent mass dependence in the evolutionary status of these cores. We investigate the implications for protostellar evolution and the mapping of the embedded core mass function (CMF) onto the stellar IMF. Methods. We consider the following potential origins of the observed behaviour: dust temperature, selection effects in the submillimetre and in the mid-infrared observations used for pre/protostellar classification, confusion and multiplicity, transient cores, and varying evolutionary timescales. We develop core mass evolution diagrams (CMEDs) to investigate how the mass evolution of individual cores maps onto the observed CMF. Results. We find that two physical mechanisms – short timescales for the evolution of massive cores, and continuing accumulation of mass onto protostellar cores – best explain the relative excess of protostars in high mass cores and the rarity of massive starless cores. In addition, we show that confusion both increases the likelihood that a protostar is identified within a core, and increases mass assigned to a core. Selection effects and/or transient cores also contribute to an excess of starless cores at low masses. Conclusions. The observed pre/protostellar mass distributions are consistent with faster evolution and a shorter lifetime for highermass prestellar cores. The differences in the prestellar and protostellar mass distributions imply that the prestellar CMF (and possibly the combined pre+protostellar CMF) should be steeper than the IMF. A steeper prestellar CMF can be reconciled with the observed similarity of the CMF and the IMF in some regions if a second opposing effect is present, such as the fragmentation of massive cores into multiple systems.
Lung volumes and emphysema in smokers with interstitial lung abnormalities.

BACKGROUND Cigarette smoking is associated with emphysema and radiographic interstitial lung abnormalities. The degree to which interstitial lung abnormalities are associated with reduced total lung capacity and the extent of emphysema is not known. METHODS We looked for interstitial lung abnormalities in 2416 (96%) of 2508 high-resolution computed tomographic (HRCT) scans of the lung obtained from a cohort of smokers. We used linear and logistic regression to evaluate the associations between interstitial lung abnormalities and HRCT measurements of total lung capacity and emphysema. RESULTS Interstitial lung abnormalities were present in 194 (8%) of the 2416 HRCT scans evaluated. In statistical models adjusting for relevant covariates, interstitial lung abnormalities were associated with reduced total lung capacity (-0.444 liters; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.596 to -0.292; P<0.001) and a lower percentage of emphysema defined by lung-attenuation thresholds of -950 Hounsfield units (-3%; 95% CI, -4 to -2; P<0.001) and -910 Hounsfield units (-10%; 95% CI, -12 to -8; P<0.001). As compared with participants without interstitial lung abnormalities, those with abnormalities were more likely to have a restrictive lung deficit (total lung capacity <80% of the predicted value; odds ratio, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.4 to 3.7; P<0.001) and were less likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (odds ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.76; P<0.001). The effect of interstitial lung abnormalities on total lung capacity and emphysema was dependent on COPD status (P<0.02 for the interactions). Interstitial lung abnormalities were positively associated with both greater exposure to tobacco smoke and current smoking. CONCLUSIONS In smokers, interstitial lung abnormalities--which were present on about 1 of every 12 HRCT scans--were associated with reduced total lung capacity and a lesser amount of emphysema. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Parker B. Francis Foundation; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00608764.).
A Comparison Of Expectation Maximization and Gibbs Sampling Strategies for Motif Finding

A set of protein or nucleotide sequences may be found to share patterns reflecting biological structure, function and change. The task of identifying these patterns, known as motif finding, can be viewed as an instance of multiple sequence alignment. While it is possible to identify motifs using x-ray and magnetic resonance structures, biologists and computer scientists have developed several algorithms for automatic pattern discovery from unlabeled sequences. We will study two such well-known approaches, Expectation Maximization and Gibbs Sampling, by addressing the following questions:
Evaluation of Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Micelles for Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) of Thrombosis

Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is an emerging medical imaging modality that directly visualizes magnetic particles in a hot-spot like fashion. We recently developed an iron oxide nanoparticle-micelle (ION-Micelle) platform that allows highly sensitive MPI. The goal of this study was to assess the potential of the ION-Micelles for MPI-based detection of thrombi. To this aim, an in vivo carotid artery thrombosis mouse model was employed and ex vivo magnetic particle spectrometer (MPS) measurements of the carotid arteries were performed. In addition, we studied the effect of functionalization of the ION-Micelle nanoplatform with fibrin-binding peptides (FibPeps) with respect to nanoparticle thrombus uptake and hence thrombus detection. In vivo quantitative MR imaging pre- and post-ION-Micelle injection was performed as reference for visualization of ION-micelle uptake. ION-Micelles significantly decreased T2 values in the thrombi with respect to pre-injection T2 values (p < 0.01) and significantly increased ex vivo MPS thrombus signal with respect to the noninjured, contralateral carotid (p < 0.01). Functionalization of the ION-Micelles with the FibPep peptides did not result in an increased MPS thrombus signal with respect to the non-fibrin binding ION-Micelles. The lack of a significant increased thrombus uptake for the FibPep-ION-Micelles indicates that (non-fibrin-specific) entrapment of nanoparticles in the mesh-like thrombi is the key contributor to thrombus nanoparticle uptake. Therefore, (nontargeted) ION-Micelles might be of value for noninvasive MPI-based diagnosis, characterization and treatment monitoring of thrombosis.