Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monkey Orbitofrontal Cortex Encodes Response Choices Near Feedback Time

The primate prefrontal cortex contributes to stimulus-guided behavior, but the functional specializations among its areas remain uncertain. To better understand such specializations, we contrasted neuronal activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFdl) and the orbital prefrontal cortex (PFo). The task required rhesus monkeys to use a visual cue to choose a saccade target. Some cues instructed the monkeys to repeat their most recent response; others instructed them to change it. Responses were followed by feedback: fluid reward if correct, visual feedback if incorrect. Previous studies, using different tasks, have reported that PFo neurons did not encode responses. We found PFo did encode responses in this task, but only near feedback time, after the response had been completed. PFdl differed from PFo in several respects. As reported previously, some PFdl neurons encoded responses from the previous trial and others encoded planned responses. PFo neurons did not have these properties. After feedback, PFdl encoded rewarded responses better than unrewarded ones and thus combined response and outcome information. PFo, in contrast, encoded the responses chosen, rewarded or not. These findings suggest that PFdl and PFo contribute differently to response knowledge, with PFo using an outcome-independent signal to monitor current responses at feedback time.
Analysis of recent and ancestral recombination reveals high-resolution population structure in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Bacterial population genomic analyses rely on identification of genetic recombinations, but growing databases represent a challenge for computational methods to detect these recombinations and interpret sequence ancestry. We introduce a novel algorithm called fastGEAR which identifies major lineages in diverse microbial alignments and recombinations between them. The algorithm can detect not only recent recombinations, but also the ancestral ones affecting entire lineages. Using simulated data, fastGEAR demonstrates outstanding power to detect ancestral recombination events compared to other state-of-the-art methods. The utility is further demonstrated by analysing 616 whole genomes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, providing novel insights into the evolution of recombinogenic bacteria. 1 . CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. It is made available under a The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not . http://dx.doi. org/10.1101/059642 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jun. 18, 2016;
Immune privilege in the gut: the establishment and maintenance of non‐responsiveness to dietary antigens and commensal flora

Summary: Immune privilege in the gut is the result of a complex interplay between the gut microbiome, gut luminal antigens, and the intestinal epithelial barrier. Composed of both physical and immunochemical components, the intestinal barrier secretes immunoregulatory mediators that promote the generation of tolerogenic antigen‐presenting cells, phagocytic innate immune cells characterized by ‘inflammatory anergy’, and regulatory cells of the adaptive immune system. Innate immune cells mediate controlled transepithelial transport of luminal antigens as far as the mesenteric lymph nodes, where the intestinal and peripheral immune systems intersect. This promotes the generation of adaptive regulatory lymphocytes that actively suppress effector cell responses against gut luminal antigens and flora. The net result is the generation of tolerance to dietary antigens and the maintenance of gut homeostasis. Dysregulation of this complex immunoregulatory network leads to diseases such as food allergy and inflammatory bowel disease. Future therapies for these diseases will likely involve the functional restoration of the barrier and regulatory cell functions at the epithelial/luminal interface.
A Self-Stabilizing (Δ+ 1)- Edge-Coloring Algorithm of Arbitrary Graphs

Given a graph G = (V, E), an edge-coloring of G is a function from the set of edges E to colors {1, 2. , k} such that any two adjacent edges are assigned different colors. In this paper, we propose a self-stabilizing edge-coloring algorithm in a polynomial number of moves. The protocol assumes the unfair central dæ mon and the coloring is a (Δ + 1)-edge-coloring of G, where delta is the maximum degree in G. To our knowledge, we give the first self-stabilizing edge-coloring algorithm using (Δ + 1) colors of arbitrary graphs.
Some aspects of the selective process in the functional visual field.

A review is given of a group of experiments on performance as a function of display angle, aiming at a description of the perceptual strategies used with signals at various angular separations. The first experiments were carried out using a simple four-choice discrimination task. The results show a non-linear decrease of performance as a function of display angle, which proved to be related to the necessity of making eye and head movements when shifting from one signal source to the other. It is suggested that the non-linearity is due to changes of strategy and a preliminary theory about selective processes is formulated and tested in a number of tasks
She lures, she guides, she quits: Femile characters in Tim Winton's "The Riders"

Tim Winton is an Australian writer whose male characters often defy the traditional concept of masculinity. As for the notion of femininity, however, this kind of defiance is not displayed. In this essay, I study the presentation of the female protagonists in The Riders in order to illustrate this point, bearing in mind the Australian social and cultural context that surrounds them. Winton’s fictional women, no matter whether they are strong or weak, are normally depicted according to female archetypes. This leads to their negative portrayal as ambivalent beings, thus making them unreliable and even dangerous, as is the case of Jennifer and Irma. In contrast, Billie is a positive female character. She, who is also significantly a child, combines both feminine and masculine qualities. It is precisely this characteristic that enables her to be her father’s protector.
Impact of task difficulty on lateralization of pitch and duration discrimination

To investigate lateralization of duration and pitch discrimination processing with emphasis on the influences of task difficulty, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging. Seventeen healthy volunteers performed paired auditory discrimination tasks at varying levels of difficulty. Analysis of lateralization effects revealed leftward lateralization within the insular and the temporal cortex under both conditions. Moreover, parametric analysis of haemodynamic responses showed increasing activation within the right temporal cortex correlated to increasing accuracy of stimulus discrimination. Thus, highly differential acoustic stimuli seem to be predominantly processed within the right hemisphere, whereas the detection of slight signal differences might be linked to the left hemisphere. In conclusion, we found evidence for preferential involvement of the right hemisphere in holistic feature processing within the auditory domain.
Sex reversal and primary sex ratios in the common frog (Rana temporaria)

Sex reversal has been suggested to have profound implications for the evolution of sex chromosomes and population dynamics in ectotherms. Occasional sex reversal of genetic males has been hypothesized to prevent the evolutionary decay of nonrecombining Y chromosomes caused by the accumulation of deleterious mutations. At the same time, sex reversals can have a negative effect on population growth rate. Here, we studied phenotypic and genotypic sex in the common frog (Rana temporaria) in a subarctic environment, where strongly female‐biased sex ratios have raised the possibility of frequent sex reversals. We developed two novel sex‐linked microsatellite markers for the species and used them with a third, existing marker and a Bayesian modelling approach to study the occurrence of sex reversal and to determine primary sex ratios in egg clutches. Our results show that a significant proportion (0.09, 95% credible interval: 0.04–0.18) of adults that were genetically female expressed the male phenotype, but there was no evidence of sex reversal of genetic males that is required for counteracting the degeneration of Y chromosome. The primary sex ratios were mostly equal, but three clutches consisted only of genetic females and three others had a significant female bias. Reproduction of the sex‐reversed genetic females appears to create all‐female clutches potentially skewing the population level adult sex‐ratio consistent with field observations. However, based on a simulation model, such a bias is expected to be small and transient and thus does not fully explain the observed female‐bias in the field.
Channel estimation based on cyclic orthogonal training sequence for relay-assisted cooperative communication system

This paper presents a practical channel estimation algorithm based on cyclic orthogonal training sequence for relay-assisted cooperative communication system. In this algorithm, the relay nodes receive the cyclic orthogonal training sequence and circularly shift them to ensure the orthogonality before retransmitting them. It is in low complexity and the destination node can be in a good condition to get the channel state information (CSI) according to the sequence. The least square (LS) and linear minimum mean square (LMMSE) channel estimators are derived and the design of optimal training sequence is given. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can provide a significant performance improvement in terms of robustness, accuracy and efficiency.
Potential moderating role of seat belt law on the relationship between seat belt use and adverse health behavior.

OBJECTIVE To determine the potential moderating effect of seat belt law on seat belt compliance among persons who engage in adverse health behaviors. METHODS Self-reported use of seat belts and adverse health behaviors in a 2008 US state-based population survey. RESULTS Seat belt law moderates the use of seat belts among males and females who smoked, males who were physically inactive, and males and females who engaged in multiple risk behaviors. CONCLUSION There is a need to supplement legislative interventions with more focused behavioral approaches to further increase seat belt compliance among persons who engage in adverse risk behaviors.
Detection of Bacterial Pathogens by Phage Antibody Display

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a halophilic Gramnegative facultative anaerobe commonly found in estuarine waters and in seafood like shellfish. It has been implicated in outbreaks of gastro-enteritis in several countries [1]. Food borne illness caused by V. parahaemolyticus results chiefly from the consumption of insufficiently heated or raw seafood, especially in the summer months. The standard method for detection of V. parahaemolyticus (Bacteriological Analytical Manual procedure) is a culture-based procedure which can take up to four days for positive identification. Recent outbreaks of V. parahaemolyticus related illnesses have heightened the need to develop a rapid and reliable method to detect this pathogen in shellfish. PCR methods, based on the amplification of the toxin producing genes, unfortunately give false postive results with other Vibrio species [2]. In our studies we have used phage antibody display to differentiate between pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus and other pathogenic and non-pathogenic Vibrio sp.
Influence of legibility on perceived safety in a virtual human-robot path crossing task

In the future robots will more and more enter our daily life. If we want to increase their acceptance it is necessary that people feel safe in the surrounding of robots. As a prerequisite we think that the robot's behavior has to be legible in order to achieve such a feeling of perceived safety. With our present experiment we assess the perceived safety participants feel when an autonomous robot is crossing their path. Therefore participants are presented with a video based scenario in first person perspective. The robot is moving with two different navigation algorithms which allows us to test whether the legibility has an influence on the perceived safety and whether the two navigation algorithms differ regarding their resulting legibility and thus perceived safety. Results show that legibility as defined here increases perceived safety of both navigation methods while the level of perceived safety differs between them.
A general adaptive dynamic programming approach with experience replay

Experience replay is a promising approach to improve the learning efficiency of adaptive dynamic programming. A general model-free adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) approach with the experience replay technology is investigated in this paper to solve the optimal control problems in continuous state and action spaces. Both the critic network and action network are modeled with a feedforward neural network with one hidden layer. During the learning process, a number of recently observed data samples are recorded in a database. When updating the parameters of the neural networks, the data in the sample database are repeatedly used to update the weights of the action network and the critic network. Implementation details of the algorithm are given, and simulation experiments are utilized to verify the learning efficiency of the proposed approach.
Effects of Aspirin on Clot Structure and Fibrinolysis Using a Novel In Vitro Cellular System

Objectives—The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct effects of aspirin on fibrin structure/function. Methods and Results—Chinese Hamster Ovary cell lines stably transfected with fibrinogen were grown in the absence (0) and presence of increasing concentrations of aspirin. Fibrinogen was purified from the media using affinity chromatography, and clots were made from recombinant protein. Mean final turbidity [OD(±SEM)] was 0.083(±0.03), 0.093(±0.002), 0.101(±0.005), and 0.125(±0.003) in clots made from 0, 1, 10, and 100 mg/L aspirin-treated fibrinogen, respectively (P<0.05). Permeability coefficient (Ks cm2×10−8) was 1.68(±0.29) and 4.13(±0.33) comparing fibrinogen produced from cells grown with 0 mg/L and 100 mg/L aspirin respectively (P<0.05). Scanning electron microscopy confirmed a looser clot structure and increased fiber thickness of clots made from aspirin-treated fibrinogen, whereas rheometer studies showed a significant 30% reduction in clot rigidity. Fibrinolysis was quicker in clots made from aspirin-treated fibrinogen. Ex vivo studies in 3 normal volunteers given 150 mg aspirin daily for 1 week demonstrated similar changes in clot structure/function. Conclusion—Aspirin directly altered clot structure resulting in the formation of clots with thicker fibers and bigger pores, which are easier to lyse. This study clearly demonstrates an alternative mode of action for aspirin, which should be considered in studies evaluating the biochemical efficacy of this agent.
Alternate Sigma Factor RpoS Is Required for the In Vivo-Specific Repression of Borrelia burgdorferi Plasmid lp54-Borne ospA and lp6.6 Genes

ABSTRACT While numerous positively regulated loci have been characterized during the enzootic cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi, very little is known about the mechanism(s) involved in the repression of borrelial loci either during tick feeding or within the mammalian host. Here, we report that the alternative sigma factor RpoS is required for the in vivo-specific repression of at least two RpoD-dependent B. burgdorferi loci, ospA and lp6.6. The downregulation of ospA and Ip6.6 appears to require either a repressor molecule whose expression is RpoS dependent or an accessory factor which enables RpoS to directly interact with the ospA and Ip6.6 promoter elements, thereby blocking transcription by RpoD. The central role for RpoS during the earliest stages of host adaptation suggests that tick feeding imparts signals to spirochetes that trigger the RpoS-dependent repression, as well as expression, of in vivo-specific virulence factors critical for the tick-to-mammalian host transition.
A new use of frame-of-reference training: improving reviewers’ inferences from biodata information

A commonly accepted practice in employment selection is to collect biographical information in the form of résumés. Surprisingly, little research is conducted in this area to learn how reviewers evaluate relevant biographical information and considerable less research is devoted to exploring possible methods on how to improve this evaluation process. Current research explored one possible training method that may later show great utility in improving accuracy and consistency in ratings for a number of work-related constructs. Frame-of-reference training, which is primarily utilized in the field of performance appraisal, was hypothesized to be a beneficial training technique in an effort to improve accuracy. Frame-of-reference (FOR) training attempts to create a common frame of reference among raters when assessing ratees’ behaviors. Through a process of practice and feedback, FOR training tunes raters to common notions of what good or poor would be on a particular dimension. The result is often more accurate ratings with less variation between raters. Personality (conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness only), general cognitive ability, and organizational citizenship behaviors were the constructs of interest. The analysis provided initial support for most of the hypotheses which suggested that frame-of-reference training would create more accurate and reliable estimates of applicant’s personality, cognitive ability, and even organizational citizenship behaviors. In addition to influencing participants’ estimates of applicant’s scores on a number of workplace constructs, it was also found that participants were influenced as a function of type of training on their willingness to interview and overall impressions of the applicants. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed. A NEW USE OF FRAME-OF-REFERENCE TRAINING: IMPROVING REVIEWERS’ INFERENCES FROM BIODATA INFORMATION
A review of the D 1 / D 5 system and five dimensional black hole from supergravity and brane viewpoints

We review∗ some aspects of the D1/D5 system of type IIB string theory and the associated five dimensional black hole. We include a pedagogical discussion of the construction of relevant classical solutions in supergravity. We discuss the gauge theory and the conformal field theory relevant to D-brane description of these systems. In order to discuss Hawking radiation we are automatically led to a discussion of near-horizon geometries and their relation to gauge theories and conformal field theories. We show how inputs from AdS/CFT correspondence resolve some earlier puzzles regarding Hawking radiation. Besides the D1/D5 system, we include a brief discussion of some nonsupersymmetric systems which show unexpected agreement between supergravity and perturbative brane/string computations. We also comment briefly on possible implications of the AdS/CFT relation for the correspondence principle and for the principle of black hole complementarity. e-mail: Gautam.Mandal@cern.ch, mandal@theory.tifr. res.in ∗ Expanded version of lectures presented at the ICTP Spring School, April 1999.
The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap

Women are currently the majority of U.S. college students and of those receiving a bachelor%u2019s degree, but were 39 percent of undergraduates in 1960. We use three longitudinal data sets of high school graduates in 1957, 1972, and 1992 to understand the narrowing of the gender gap in college and its reversal. From 1972 to 1992 high school girls narrowed the gap with boys in math and science course taking and in achievement test scores. These variables, which we term the proximate determinants, can account for 30 to 60 percent of the relative increase in women%u2019s college completion rate. Behind these changes were several others: the future work expectations of young women increased greatly between 1968 and 1979 and the age at first marriage for college graduate women rose by 2.5 years in the 1970s, allowing them to be more serious students. The reversal of the college gender gap, rather than just its elimination, was due in part to the persistence of behavioral and developmental differences between males and females.
Infinite Latent Feature Selection: A Probabilistic Latent Graph-Based Ranking Approach

Feature selection is playing an increasingly significant role with respect to many computer vision applications spanning from object recognition to visual object tracking. However, most of the recent solutions in feature selection are not robust across different and heterogeneous set of data. In this paper, we address this issue proposing a robust probabilistic latent graph-based feature selection algorithm that performs the ranking step while considering all the possible subsets of features, as paths on a graph, bypassing the combinatorial problem analytically. An appealing characteristic of the approach is that it aims to discover an abstraction behind low-level sensory data, that is, relevancy. Relevancy is modelled as a latent variable in a PLSA-inspired generative process that allows the investigation of the importance of a feature when injected into an arbitrary set of cues. The proposed method has been tested on ten diverse benchmarks, and compared against eleven state of the art feature selection methods. Results show that the proposed approach attains the highest performance levels across many different scenarios and difficulties, thereby confirming its strong robustness while setting a new state of the art in feature selection domain.
Evolving Artificial Neural Networks using the "Baldwin Effect" †

Abstract—This paper describes how through simple means agenetic search towards optimal neural network architectures canbe improved, both in the convergence speed as in the quality ofthe ﬁnal result. This result can be theoretically explained with theBaldwin effect, which is implemented here not just by the learn-ing process of the network alone, but also by changing thenetwork architecture as part of the learning procedure. This canbe seen as a combination of two different techniques, both help-ing and improving on simple genetic search. 1 Introduction Recently, several papers appeared which describe the optimization of artiﬁ-cial neural networks using evolutionary computation, e.g. [13, 15]. There aremany approaches to this mixture of biologically inspired methods. Variousaspects of artiﬁcial neural networks can be optimized, and several varietiesof evolutionary computation exist.There are many ways to represent the different aspects of artiﬁcial neu-ral networks in the ‘genetic material’ of the evolutionary computationalgorithms. These ways range from ‘blueprints’ to codings which make useof a kind of ‘recipe’ describing only the generation of the network [3, 4]. This last method is more scalable towards real-life problems: one recipe canbe used to generate the appropriate networks for a whole class of problems.Furthermore, very large architectures can be generated with just a small rec-ipe, reducing the search space of the evolutionary computation algorithm.