Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mobile map applications and the democratisation of hazard information

The geospatial web --- exemplified by the popularity of Google Maps --- has democratised the accessibility of geospatial data that was previously available only to those with expertise in GIS (Geographic information systems). This increased accessibility has resulted in critical information---such as the location of bushfires in Australia --- being made more accessible to communities vulnerable to such risks. This paper reports on the findings of a research project in Australia that aimed to present near real-time bushfire information in an interface that community-based users found intuitive and easy to use. It also describes the early prototype stages of an iPhone application that aims to demonstrate how Japanese natural hazard data can be presented in a more intuitive way. The work described here is intended to encourage organisations and individuals presenting spatial hazard information to non-expert users to consider the needs, abilities and concerns of their intended audience. It also describes the technologies and processes used in the design and development of the MyFireWatch and Mapping Hazards in Japan applications.
Credit Rationing in High-Tech firms and sample selection

We argue that it may be inappropriate to study whether high-tech firms are liquidity-constrained, without first modeling their antecedent decision to apply for credit. This sample selection issue is relevant when studying a borrower-lender relationship, as the same factors can influence both the demand and the supply side. E.g., we find firms engaged in R&D to be less likely to request extra funds. When they do we observe a higher probability of being denied credit. Thus, our findings lend support to the notion of credit constraints being severe for innovative firms, although we suggest that other measures of innovative activity, in addition to total R&D expenditures, should be used to understand the occurrence of credit constraints in the high-tech sector.
Weight preoccupation in middle school, high school and college females : the influence of self-esteem and locus of control

Much of the prior empirical and theoretical literature has focused on the impact of low self-esteem and external locus of control in the etiology of clinical eating disorders.This study examined the influences of these variables and their impact on weight preoccupation in three different school group samples of females. Three hundred, seventy-eight female participants from middle school (N=98), high school (N=96), and college (N=184) were administered the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40), Rosenberg Self­ Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Children's Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (CNSIE). The EAT-40 was used to dichotomize the three school groups (i.e., middle school, high school, college) into weight preoccupied (WP) and non-weight preoccupied (NWP) groups fo� comparisons using the dependent variables of self-esteem ·:. and locus of control. Additionally, the effect of low self-esteem and external locus of control was examined for its effect on weight preoccupation. Pearson Product-Moment· correlations revealed that: (a) there was a significant relationship between female participants' ratings of self-esteem and weight preoccupation at all three school group levels; and (b) there was a significant relationship between locus of control and weight preoccupation in females in the middle school and high school groups, but not at the college level. Analysis of variance (ANOV A) indicated that: (a) there were significant differences in self-esteem between WP and NWP females in the college and high school groups; (b) there were no significant differences in self-esteem within the NWP group; (c) there were significant differences in self-esteem within the WP group; (d) there was a significant difference in locus of control between WP and NWP females in the high
Autoregulated paracellular clearance of amyloid-β across the blood-brain barrier

Size-selective and passive paracellular diffusion of amyloid-β across tight junctions of the blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer’s disease. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential for maintaining brain homeostasis and protecting neural tissue from damaging blood-borne agents. The barrier is characterized by endothelial tight junctions that limit passive paracellular diffusion of polar solutes and macromolecules from blood to brain. Decreased brain clearance of the neurotoxic amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide is a central event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whereas transport of Aβ across the BBB can occur via transcellular endothelial receptors, the paracellular movement of Aβ has not been described. We show that soluble human Aβ(1–40) monomers can diffuse across the paracellular pathway of the BBB in tandem with a decrease in the tight junction proteins claudin-5 and occludin in the cerebral vascular endothelium. In a murine model of AD (Tg2576), plasma Aβ(1–40) levels were significantly increased, brain Aβ(1–40) levels were decreased, and cognitive function was enhanced when both claudin-5 and occludin were suppressed. Furthermore, Aβ can cause a transient down-regulation of claudin-5 and occludin, allowing for its own paracellular clearance across the BBB. Our results show, for the first time, the involvement of the paracellular pathway in autoregulated Aβ movement across the BBB and identify both claudin-5 and occludin as potential therapeutic targets for AD. These findings also indicate that controlled modulation of tight junction components at the BBB can enhance the clearance of Aβ from the brain.
Mining Musical Content from Large-Scale Peer-to-Peer Networks

Peer-to-Peer (p2p) networks are an invaluable resource for various multimedia information retrieval (MIR) tasks, such as user and song similarity, recommendation and trend prediction, mainly due to their size and ability to capture user preferences. This paper presents a study performed on musical content collected from the a large scale p2p network. Using the song files shared by users in the Gnutella network, we present a method for constructing a song similarity graph. With this graph, several MIR applications are presented, targeting estimation of song and peer similarity, approximation of missing metadata for improved content retrieval and music recommendation. We show that despite the high “noise” that inherently exists in the user generated content, it is possible to leverage this dataset and create scalable and efficient applications.
Variational Implicit Surfaces

We introduce a new method of creating smooth implicit surfaces of arbitrary manifold topology. These surfaces are described by specifying locations in 3D through which the surface should pass, and also identifying locations that are interior or exterior to the surface. A 3D implicit function is created from these constraints using a variational scattered data interpolation approach. We call the iso-surface of this function a variational implicit surface. Like other implicit surface descriptions, these surfaces can be used for CSG and interference detection, may be interactively manipulated, are readily approximated by polygonal tilings, and are easy to ray trace. A key strength is that variational implicit surfaces allow the direct specification of both the location of points on the surface and surface normals. These are two important manipulation techniques that are difficult to achieve using other implicit surface representations such as sums of spherical or ellipsoidal Gaussian functions (“blobbies”). We show that these properties make variational implicit surfaces particularly attractive for interactive sculpting using the particle sampling technique introduced by Witkin and Heckbert in [30]. Our formulation also yields a simple method for converting a polygonal model to a smooth implicit model.
Non-Resonant Slotted Waveguide Antenna Design Method : Inclusive Internal and External Electromagnetic Mutual Coupling Between Slots

I n this paper a non-resonant slotted waveguide antenna design method is presented. The internal and external mutual coupling between adjacent radiating slots is considered in the described method. In order to confirm the usefulness of this method, a non-resonant waveguide array antenna with longitudinal slots cut in a broad waveguide wall was designed. The correctness of this method was evaluated by comparison of the results obtained in calculations and their equivalents reached in computer simulations with the use of CST MICROWAVE STUDIO®. Introduction Slotted waveguide antennas (see Fig.1) have been the subject of extensive research for several years. These structures are commonly used in microwave transmitter and receiver devices. Such antennas radiate energy from
Global Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Neuroblastoma Cells in Response to Enterovirus Type 71 Infection

Human enterovirus type 71 (EV71) is the major pathogen of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) and has been associated with severe neurological disease and even death in infants and young children. The pathogenesis of EV71 infection in the human central nervous system remains unclear. In this study, human whole genome microarray was employed to perform transcriptome profiling in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells infected with EV71. The results indicated that EV71 infection lead to altered expression of 161 human mRNAs, including 74 up-regulated genes and 87 down-regulated genes. Bioinformatics analysis indicated the possible roles of the differentially regulated mRNAs in selected pathways, including cell cycle/proliferation, apoptosis, and cytokine/chemokine responses. Finally, the microarray results were validated using real-time RT-PCR with high identity. Overall, our results provided fundamental information regarding the host response to EV71 infection in human neuroblastoma cells, and this finding will help explain the pathogenesis of EV71 infection and virus-host interaction.
Electricity Market Price Forecasting Based on Weighted Nearest Neighbors Techniques

This paper presents a simple technique to forecast next-day electricity market prices based on the weighted nearest neighbors methodology. First, it is explained how the relevant parameters defining the adopted model are obtained. Such parameters have to do with the window length of the time series and with the number of neighbors chosen for the prediction. Then, results corresponding to the Spanish electricity market during 2002 are presented and discussed. Finally, the performance of the proposed method is compared with that of recently published techniques.
PRELIMINARY DRAFT : NOT FOR QUOTATION Property as a Complex Adaptive System : How Entrepreneurship Transforms Intellectual Property Structures

This paper examines the evolution of property rights from a systems-based capital-theoretic perspective. The approach emphasizes how entrepreneurs create capital combinations by connecting capital goods—defined widely to include property rights, such as patents—in their production plans (Lachmann 1956, Harper and Endres 2010). We apply this theoretical perspective to explain the formation, integration and transformation of property rights structures. The approach treats the property rights structure as a complex adaptive system and studies its modular multi-level architecture. The property rights system is a web-like network that exhibits increasing structural complexity and newly emergent properties as it evolves. We focus upon how entrepreneurs are major causal agents in reconfiguring intellectual property structures and how their actions change complementarity relations between property rights that are used in production. Entrepreneurs discover gaps in the property rights system—discrepancies between how rights are currently structured and how they could be structured to facilitate production of the kinds and qualities of goods and services that consumers demand most urgently. As they organize production to exploit profit opportunities, market-based entrepreneurs repartition and reshuffle existing intellectual property rights (IPR) into new modules, thereby changing the modular decomposition of the property rights system. Such remodularization of property rights is tantamount to capital regrouping and has implications for economic organization. We examine how entrepreneurs create novel forms of economic organization—such as patent pools—that encapsulate more complex combinations of the basic building blocks of intellectual property.
The Determinants of Incentive Intensity in Group-Based Rewards

Highly incentive intensive rewards have been linked both theoretically and empirically to higher effort. Nonetheless, historically the incentive intensity of individual rewards has been quite modest in most hierarchies. In an effort to escalate the incentive intensity of rewards, managers have increasingly implemented pay systems which reward individuals for group performance. While the determinants of incentive intensity for individual rewards have been widely examined, the determinants of incentive intensity for group- based rewards remain unexplored. In this paper, we draw upon literature in economics and social psychology to develop a theory of the determinants of incentive intensity in group rewards. Our derived hypotheses are tested using data from a large sample of 663 group pay plans in the US private sector.
Modeling acquaintance networks based on balance theory

Abstract An acquaintance network is a social structure made up of a set of actors and the ties between them. These ties change dynamically as a consequence of incessant interactions between the actors. In this paper we introduce a social network model called the Interaction-Based (IB) model that involves well-known sociological principles. The connections between the actors and the strength of the connections are influenced by the continuous positive and negative interactions between the actors and, vice versa, the future interactions are more likely to happen between the actors that are connected with stronger ties. The model is also inspired by the social behavior of animal species, particularly that of ants in their colony. A model evaluation showed that the IB model turned out to be sparse. The model has a small diameter and an average path length that grows in proportion to the logarithm of the number of vertices. The clustering coefficient is relatively high, and its value stabilizes in larger networks. The degree distributions are slightly right-skewed. In the mature phase of the IB model, i.e., when the number of edges does not change significantly, most of the network properties do not change significantly either. The IB model was found to be the best of all the compared models in simulating the e-mail URV (University Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona) network because the properties of the IB model more closely matched those of the e-mail URV network than the other models
Mitochondrial Dynamics and Bioenergetic Dysfunction Is Associated with Synaptic Alterations in Mutant SOD1 Motor Neurons

Mutations in Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), a rapidly fatal motor neuron disease. Mutant SOD1 has pleiotropic toxic effects on motor neurons, among which mitochondrial dysfunction has been proposed as one of the contributing factors in motor neuron demise. Mitochondria are highly dynamic in neurons; they are constantly reshaped by fusion and move along neurites to localize at sites of high-energy utilization, such as synapses. The finding of abnormal mitochondria accumulation in neuromuscular junctions, where the SOD1-FALS degenerative process is though to initiate, suggests that impaired mitochondrial dynamics in motor neurons may be involved in pathogenesis. We addressed this hypothesis by live imaging microscopy of photo-switchable fluorescent mitoDendra in transgenic rat motor neurons expressing mutant or wild-type human SOD1. We demonstrate that mutant SOD1 motor neurons have impaired mitochondrial fusion in axons and cell bodies. Mitochondria also display selective impairment of retrograde axonal transport, with reduced frequency and velocity of movements. Fusion and transport defects are associated with smaller mitochondrial size, decreased mitochondrial density, and defective mitochondrial membrane potential. Furthermore, mislocalization of mitochondria at synapses among motor neurons, in vitro, correlates with abnormal synaptic number, structure, and function. Dynamics abnormalities are specific to mutant SOD1 motor neuron mitochondria, since they are absent in wild-type SOD1 motor neurons, they do not involve other organelles, and they are not found in cortical neurons. Together, these results suggest that impaired mitochondrial dynamics may contribute to the selective degeneration of motor neurons in SOD1-FALS.
Detecting and Analysing Children’s Play Styles with Autonomous Mobile Robots: A Case Study Comparing Observational Data with Sensor Readings

In this paper 1 we demonstrate that infrared sensors located on robots can be easily used to detect and distinguish human contact, in this case with children. We point out how to use the sensors and how the recorded data can be analysed to yield patterns of interaction from the individual child interacting with the robot. The application of infrared sensors to detect and distinguish human contact or behaviour potentially has many uses, not only in adaptation, entertainment (toys) and service robots but also in areas such as rehabilitation or therapy where the recording of movement and interactions is important
Output-feedback boundary control of an uncertain heat equation with noncollocated observation: A sliding-mode approach

The boundary stabilization problem of a one-dimensional unstable heat conduction system with boundary disturbance is investigated using a sliding-mode approach. This infinite-dimensional system, mathematical modeled by a parabolic partial differential equation (PDE), is powered with a Dirichlet type boundary actuator and only sensing at opposite end. By applying the Volterra integral transformation, a stabilizing boundary control law is obtained to achieve exponential stability in the ideal situation when there are no system uncertainties. The associated Lyapunov function is used for designing an infinite-dimensional sliding manifold, on which the system exhibits the same type of stability and robustness against of bounded exogenous boundary disturbance. By utilizing the similar transformation, an infinite-dimensional sliding-mode observer is proposed to reconstruct the system' states, which is with robustness to boundary disturbance. Moreover, the relative degree of the chosen sliding function with respect to the output-feedback boundary control input is zero. A continuous control law satisfying the reaching condition is obtained by passing a discontinuous (signum) signal through an integrator.
Reverse Supply Chain Coordination and Design for Profitable Returns ‐ an Example of Ink Cartridge

Products at the end of life cycles that are thrown away by the consumers can be harmful to the environment, but could create additional profit as each product or part of the materials of the product can be remanufactured or refurbished and then resold in the market. In this paper, using the ink cartridge as an example, we first describe the product return process, then present the mechanisms for coordinating the customers, the retailers and the manufacturers in order to lure the customers to return the used items while simultaneously presenting potential profits for both the retailers and manufacturers. According to characteristics of ink cartridge industry, an alternative reverse supply chain design is proposed, where partnership is built between OEM and 3rd party refiller to better attract ink cartridge return. Further comparison analysis is conducted to find out which design is better under different circumstances.
Establishment, Characterization and Chemosensitivity of Three Mismatch Repair Deficient Cell Lines from Sporadic and Inherited Colorectal Carcinomas

Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a morphologic and molecular heterogenic disease. This heterogeneity substantially impairs drug effectiveness and prognosis. The subtype of mismatch repair deficient (MMR-D) CRCs, accounting for about 15% of all cases, shows particular differential responses up to resistance towards currently approved cytostatic drugs. Pre-clinical in vitro models representing molecular features of MMR-D tumors are thus mandatory for identifying biomarkers that finally help to predict responses towards new cytostatic drugs. Here, we describe the successful establishment and characterization of three patient-derived MMR-D cell lines (HROC24, HROC87, and HROC113) along with their corresponding xenografts. Methodology MMR-D cell lines (HROC24, HROC87, and HROC113) were established from a total of ten clinicopathological well-defined MMR-D cases (120 CRC cases in total). Cells were comprehensively characterized by phenotype, morphology, growth kinetics, invasiveness, and molecular profile. Additionally, response to clinically relevant chemotherapeutics was examined in vitro and in vivo. Principal Findings Two MMR-D lines showing CIMP-H derived from sporadic CRC (HROC24: K-raswt, B-rafmut, HROC87: K-raswt, B-rafmut), whereas the HROC113 cell line (K-rasmut, B-rafwt) was HNPCC-associated. A diploid DNA-status could be verified by flow cytometry and SNP Array analysis. All cell lines were characterized as epithelial (EpCAM+) tumor cells, showing surface tumor marker expression (CEACAM+). MHC-class II was inducible by Interferon-γ stimulation. Growth kinetics as well as invasive potential was quite heterogeneous between individual lines. Besides, MMR-D cell lines exhibited distinct responsiveness towards chemotherapeutics, even when comparing in vitro and in vivo sensitivity. Conclusions These newly established and well-characterized, low-passage MMR-D cell lines provide a useful tool for future investigations on the biological characteristics of MMR-D CRCs, both of sporadic and hereditary origin. Additionally, matched patient-derived immune cells allow for comparative genetic studies.
A Novel Zebrafish Model to Provide Mechanistic Insights into the Inflammatory Events in Carrageenan-Induced Abdominal Edema

A suitable small animal model may help in the screening and evaluation of new drugs, especially those from natural products, which can be administered at lower dosages, fulfilling an urgent worldwide need. In this study, we explore whether zebrafish could be a model organism for carrageenan-induced abdominal edema. The research results showed that intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of 1.5% λ-carrageenan in a volume of 20 µL significantly increased abdominal edema in adult zebrafish. Levels of the proinflammatory proteins tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were increased in carrageenan-injected adult zebrafish during the development of abdominal edema. An associated enhancement was also observed in the leukocyte marker, myeloperoxidase (MPO). To support these results, we further observed that i.p. methylprednisolone (MP; 1 µg), a positive control, significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced inflammation 24 h after carrageenan administration. Furthermore, i.p. pretreatment with either an anti-TNF-α antibody (1∶5 dilution in a volume of 20 µL) or the iNOS-selective inhibitor aminoguanidine (AG; 1 µg) inhibited carrageenan-induced abdominal edema in adult zebrafish. This new animal model is uncomplicated, easy to develop, and involves a straightforward inducement of inflammatory edema for the evaluation of small volumes of drugs or test compounds.