Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Positive Darwinian selection and the birth of an olfactory receptor clade in teleosts

Trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs) in mammals recently have been shown to function as olfactory receptors. We have delineated the taar gene family in jawless, cartilaginous, and bony fish (zero, 2, and >100 genes, respectively). We conclude that taar genes are evolutionary much younger than the related OR and ORA/V1R olfactory receptor families, which are present already in lamprey, a jawless vertebrate. The 2 cartilaginous fish genes appear to be ancestral for 2 taar classes, each with mammalian and bony fish (teleost) representatives. Unexpectedly, a whole new clade, class III, of taar genes originated even later, within the teleost lineage. Taar genes from all 3 classes are expressed in subsets of zebrafish olfactory receptor neurons, supporting their function as olfactory receptors. The highly conserved TAAR1 (shark, mammalian, and teleost orthologs) is not expressed in the olfactory epithelium and may constitute the sole remnant of a primordial, nonolfactory function of this family. Class III comprises three-fourths of all teleost taar genes and is characterized by the complete loss of the aminergic ligand-binding motif, stringently conserved in the other 2 classes. Two independent intron gains in class III taar genes represent extraordinary evolutionary dynamics, considering the virtual absence of intron gains during vertebrate evolution. The dN/dS analysis suggests both minimal global negative selection and an unparalleled degree of local positive selection as another hallmark of class III genes. The accelerated evolution of class III teleost taar genes conceivably might mark the birth of another olfactory receptor gene family.
Expression-Invariant Representations of Faces

Addressed here is the problem of constructing and analyzing expression-invariant representations of human faces. We demonstrate and justify experimentally a simple geometric model that allows to describe facial expressions as isometric deformations of the facial surface. The main step in the construction of expression-invariant representation of a face involves embedding of the facial intrinsic geometric structure into some low-dimensional space. We study the influence of the embedding space geometry and dimensionality choice on the representation accuracy and argue that compared to its Euclidean counterpart, spherical embedding leads to notably smaller metric distortions. We experimentally support our claim showing that a smaller embedding error leads to better recognition
Cooperative control design and stability analysis for multi-agent systems with communication delays

In this paper, the cooperative control problem in the presence of communication time delays is addressed for a broad class of multi-input-multi-output dynamical systems in the canonical form with arbitrary relative degrees. A new sampled-data predictive cooperative control is proposed by only using the delayed output feedback information and a set of less restrictive conditions on the connectivity of time varying sensor/communication networks are established. No fixed leader or time invariant sensor/communication networks are assumed. In particular, through the elaborated switching between the decoupled control and the proposed predictive cooperative control, the convergence of the overall system is rigorously proved under a mild condition on the choice of sampling period. Simulation results on the cooperative consensus for a group of mobile robots are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach
DQ-axis current-based droop controller

During an islanding operation of a microgrid comprised of multiple distributed generation (DG) units serving a load, DG units interfaced with voltage-sourced converters (VSC) are regarded as the only energy sources. Hence, DG units should be controlled to form the frequency and voltage, pick up the full load, and respond to any load changes. Conventional P — f/Q — V droop controller enables a communication-less load sharing among DGs while maintaining close deviations of frequency and voltage. Utilizing the dq-frame power flow analysis, this paper presents an equivalent primary droop controller id — f/iq — V based on the direct and quadrature components of the feeder currents, which are already existent in each voltage controller for disturbance rejection. More emphasis is placed on the phenomenon of inaccurate reactive power sharing caused by mismatched feeder impedances. Analysis is presented in terms of the droop equation, and compensation methods are examined with focus on computation and communication requirements, and PCC voltage profile. For validation of the controller's response, a testbed model exhibiting the dynamics of a two-DG microgrid is developed and simulated in Matlab/Simulink.
The performance implications of thread management alternatives for shared-memory multiprocessors

Threads (“lightweight” processes) have become a common element of new languages and operating systems. This paper examines the performance implications of several data structure and algorithm alternatives for thread management in shared-memory multiprocessors. Both experimental measurements and analytical model projections are presented. For applications with fine-grained parallelism, small differences in thread management are shown to have significant performance impact, often posing a tradeoff between throughput and latency. Per-processor data structures can be used to improve throughput, and in some circumstances to avoid locking, improving latency as well. The method used by processors to queue for locks is also shown to affect performance significantly. Normal methods of critical resource waiting can substantially degrade performance with moderate numbers of waiting processors. We present an Ethernet-style backoff algorithm that largely eliminates this effect.
Older Adult Learners: A Comparison of Active and Non-Active Learners

This paper reports on a 2004 follow-up study conducted in partnership with the University of Manitoba Continuing Education Division and local senior’s organizations. The partnership was formed in 2002–03 to promote applied research on lifelong learning and older adults, develop new and complement existing educational activities, and explore new program models and instructional methods to meet the educational needs of retirees. The partnership involved the develop- ment of a number of activities: University in May started in 2002, a mini medical series began in 2003, and a survey was completed in 2003 to identify the learning interests, motivations, and barriers among active older adults who participate in learning activities. The 2004 follow-up study compared barriers to participation, learning interests, and motivation to those of a similar population of older adults who held membership with the organizations but had not participated in educational activities for the past two years. The results indicate that the non-active respondents are older, less healthy, less active, less educated, and have lower incomes. Time and motivation to participate may be affected by their socioeconomic standing, health, and sense of well being; that is, their perception of their social reality. Further study to explore the definition of barriers to participation and life long learning for older adults is warranted. Recommendations for program models to facilitate participation in educational opportunities should also be explored.
A Gene Expression Signature Predicts Survival of Patients with Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Nearly 50% of patients with stages I and II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will die from recurrent disease despite surgical resection. No reliable clinical or molecular predictors are currently available for identifying those at high risk for developing recurrent disease. As a consequence, it is not possible to select those high-risk patients for more aggressive therapies and assign less aggressive treatments to patients at low risk for recurrence. Methods and Findings In this study, we applied a meta-analysis of datasets from seven different microarray studies on NSCLC for differentially expressed genes related to survival time (under 2 y and over 5 y). A consensus set of 4,905 genes from these studies was selected, and systematic bias adjustment in the datasets was performed by distance-weighted discrimination (DWD). We identified a gene expression signature consisting of 64 genes that is highly predictive of which stage I lung cancer patients may benefit from more aggressive therapy. Kaplan-Meier analysis of the overall survival of stage I NSCLC patients with the 64-gene expression signature demonstrated that the high- and low-risk groups are significantly different in their overall survival. Of the 64 genes, 11 are related to cancer metastasis (APC, CDH8, IL8RB, LY6D, PCDHGA12, DSP, NID, ENPP2, CCR2, CASP8, and CASP10) and eight are involved in apoptosis (CASP8, CASP10, PIK3R1, BCL2, SON, INHA, PSEN1, and BIK). Conclusions Our results indicate that gene expression signatures from several datasets can be reconciled. The resulting signature is useful in predicting survival of stage I NSCLC and might be useful in informing treatment decisions.
Area optimization on fixed analog floorplans using convex area functions

A methodology to optimize the area of a fixed non-slicing floorplan is presented in this paper. Areas of transistors, capacitors and resistors are formulated as convex functions and area is minimized by solving a sequence of convex problems. The methodology is practical even with many components and variants. Moreover symmetry constraints are satisfied during optimization.
Genomic Profiles Associated with Early Micrometastasis in Lung Cancer: Relevance of 4q Deletion

Purpose: Bone marrow is a common homing organ for early disseminated tumor cells (DTC) and their presence can predict the subsequent occurrence of overt metastasis and survival in lung cancer. It is still unclear whether the shedding of DTC from the primary tumor is a random process or a selective release driven by a specific genomic pattern. Experimental Design: DTCs were identified in bone marrow from lung cancer patients by an immunocytochemical cytokeratin assay. Genomic aberrations and expression profiles of the respective primary tumors were assessed by microarrays and fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses. The most significant results were validated on an independent set of primary lung tumors and brain metastases. Results: Combination of DNA copy number profiles (array comparative genomic hybridization) with gene expression profiles identified five chromosomal regions differentiating bone marrow-negative from bone marrow-positive patients (4q12-q32, 10p12-p11, 10q21-q22, 17q21, and 20q11-q13). Copy number changes of 4q12-q32 were the most prominent finding, containing the highest number of differentially expressed genes irrespective of chromosomal size (P = 0.018). Fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses on further primary lung tumor samples confirmed the association between loss of 4q and bone marrow-positive status. In bone marrow-positive patients, 4q was frequently lost (37% versus 7%), whereas gains could be commonly found among bone marrow-negative patients (7% versus 17%). The same loss was also found to be common in brain metastases from both small and non-small cell lung cancer patients (39%). Conclusions: Thus, our data indicate, for the first time, that early hematogenous dissemination of tumor cells might be driven by a specific pattern of genomic changes.
Sensitivity of cold acclimation to elevated autumn temperature in field-grown Pinus strobus seedlings

Climate change will increase autumn air temperature, while photoperiod decrease will remain unaffected. We assessed the effect of increased autumn air temperature on timing and development of cold acclimation and freezing resistance in Eastern white pine (EWP, Pinus strobus) under field conditions. For this purpose we simulated projected warmer temperatures for southern Ontario in a Temperature Free-Air-Controlled Enhancement (T-FACE) experiment and exposed EWP seedlings to ambient (Control) or elevated temperature (ET, +1.5°C/+3°C during day/night). Photosynthetic gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, photoprotective pigments, leaf non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), and cold hardiness were assessed over two consecutive autumns. Nighttime temperature below 10°C and photoperiod below 12 h initiated downregulation of assimilation in both treatments. When temperature further decreased to 0°C and photoperiod became shorter than 10 h, downregulation of the light reactions and upregulation of photoprotective mechanisms occurred in both treatments. While ET seedlings did not delay the timing of the downregulation of assimilation, stomatal conductance in ET seedlings was decreased by 20-30% between August and early October. In both treatments leaf NSC composition changed considerably during autumn but differences between Control and ET seedlings were not significant. Similarly, development of freezing resistance was induced by exposure to low temperature during autumn, but the timing was not delayed in ET seedlings compared to Control seedlings. Our results indicate that EWP is most sensitive to temperature changes during October and November when downregulation of photosynthesis, enhancement of photoprotection, synthesis of cold-associated NSCs and development of freezing resistance occur. However, we also conclude that the timing of the development of freezing resistance in EWP seedlings is not affected by moderate temperature increases used in our field experiments.
Treatment fidelity in psychosocial intervention for children and adolescents with comorbid problems.

BACKGROUND Intervention fidelity has important implications for the interpretation of intervention outcomes. Reviews on fidelity implementation for psychosocial interventions targeting children and adolescents with comorbid mental health problems are scarce. The purpose of this study was to systematically review reported fidelity of psychosocial interventions for children with comorbid mental health conditions. METHOD Fidelity and quality ratings were calculated based on an analysis of articles resulting from a previously reported systematic search of the literature (using PsycINFO, MEDLINE and ERIC databases between 1994 and 2009), using the Intervention Fidelity Assessment Checklist for the fidelity measure and the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias for the quality measure. RESULTS Overall, few studies were found to have a high level of fidelity adherence. Only 1 of the 10 studies met the 'high' intervention fidelity cutoff. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that current psychosocial interventions for children and adolescents with comorbid mental health disorders must be interpreted with caution, given many studies either do not measure intervention fidelity or have variable levels of fidelity adherence. Including fidelity components in future studies would aid in determining the effectiveness and generalizability of interventions targeted at children with comorbid disorders.
Differential binding of methyl benzimidazol-2-yl carbamate to fungal tubulin as a mechanism of resistance to this antimitotic agent in mutant strains of Aspergillus nidulans

The antimitotic compound methyl benzimidazol-2-yl carbamate (MBC) formed a complex in vitro with a protein present in mycelial extracts of fungi. The binding protein of Aspergillus nidulans showed a set of properties which is unique for tubulin. Binding occurred rapidly at 4 degrees C and was competitively inhibited by oncodazole and colchicine. Other inhibitors of microtubule function such as podophyllotoxin, vinblastine sulfate, melatonin, and griseofulvin did not interfere with binding of MBC. Electrophoretic analysis of partially purified preparations of the binding protein revealed the presence of proteins with similar mobilities as mammalian tubulin monomers. Hence it is concluded that the binding protein is identical with fungal tubulin. The effect of MBC on mycelial growth of mutant strains of A. nidulans was positively correlated with the affinity of the binding sites for this compound. The apparent binding constant for MBC and tubulin from a wild type was estimated at 4.5 X 10(5), from a resistant strain at 3.7 X 10(4), and from a strain with increased sensitivity to MBC at 1.6 X 10(6) liters/mol. Mutants showing resistance and increased sensitivity to MBC are candidates to have alterations in tubulin structure. Affinity of tubulin for MBC is probably a common mechanism of resistance to this compound in fungi. Low affinity of tubulin for MBC is probably a common mechanism of resistance binding constant of 2.5 X 10(3) liters/mol.
A Parallel Algorithm for Computing Betweenness Centrality

In this paper we present a multi-grained parallel algorithm for computing betweenness centrality, which is extensively used in large-scale network analysis. Our method is based on a novel algorithmic handling of access conflicts for a CREW PRAM algorithm. We propose a proper data-processor mapping, a novel edge-numbering strategy and a new triple array data structure recording the shortest path for eliminating conflicts to access the shared memory. The algorithm requires $O(n+m)$ space and $O(\frac{nm}{p})$ ( or $O(\frac{nm+n^{2}logn}{p})$) time for unweighted (or weighted) graphs, and it is a work-optimal CREW PRAM algorithm. On current multi-core platforms, our algorithm outperforms the previous algorithm by 2-3 times.
Enabling Performance Exploration and Analysis for Multi-parametric Systems

Tuning third-party systems is time-consuming and sometimes challenging, particularly when targeting multiple embedded platforms. Unfortunately, system integrators, application developers, and other users of third-party systems lack proper tools for conducting systematic performance analysis on those systems, and have no easy way to reproduce the systems’ advertised performance and identify configurations that yield excellent, fair, or poor behavior. To fill this void we introduce SPEX, a framework aimed at making it easier to characterize third-party systems’ performance in relation to configuration parameters. SPEX enables automatic performance exploration for systems with no need to access their source code. It offers the flexibility to define pluggable policies that steer the exploration process by varying configuration parameters of the observed system. Our results show that SPEX adds little overhead to the monitored system, and suggest that it can be effective in providing useful information to third-party system users.
Intergenerational Returns to Migration? Comparing educational performance on both sides of the German border

This paper compares the educational performance of the children of immigrants to the children in their parents’ home countries. I utiliz e the 2003 and 2006 PISA internationally standardized test scores for Italian, Polish, Turki sh, former Yugoslavian, and former Soviet origin youth attending school in Germany, as well as youth attending school in the origin countries. Controlling for family background, I find that the children of immigrants in Germany perform better than peers in every origin country with the excepti on of Italy. Checks for selection bias suggest that positive selection may account for some, but not al l, of this immigrant advantage.
Time to Failure of Quantized Control via a Binary Symmetric Channel

This paper considers the time-invariant, memorylessly quantized control of scalar plants over erroneous binary channels. As bit errors cannot be compensated for, plant stability is impossible. Thus, the simplest feasible objective is to ensure that the closed-loop is in some sense well-behaved for as long as possible. In this paper, a definition of time-to-failure is proposed for such systems, using the notions of conditional worst- and best-case states. It is shown that the stochastic evolution of this auxiliary system can be exactly characterized by a finite-state Markov chain. With this approach, explicit expressions for the time-to-failure distribution are derived for a range of non-trivial parameter values. These suggest that when the probability of bit error is small the mean time-to-failure is not an informative statistic, since it nearly coincides with the standard deviation. This motivates to instead use as a performance criterion the probability of failing after a specified time. We conclude by considering performance trade-offs when the total transmission and control power are finite
RAP: an associative processor for data base management

Recent concepts in data base management systems (DBMS) necessitate making the logical view and the physical representation of data distinct from each other. Currently, this requirement has to be realized in the environment of conventional Von Neumann architecture. This creates the need for several levels of indirection for mapping one structure into the other. Also, efficient search mechanisms are needed to handle large data bases within concurrent processing and on-line response limits. The implementation of these requirements results in software complexities and inefficiencies in the following way. Pointer mechanisms for mapping structures and providing fast access paths have to be implemented by software and data. These pointers are extra data requiring extensive overhead in storage, access time, and maintenance.
A Correlação entre a Remuneração dos Executivos e o Desempenho de Empresas Brasileiras do Setor Financeiro

O presente artigo tem como objetivo principal investigar a existencia de correlacao entre as medidas de desempenho em empresas financeiras brasileiras de capital aberto e a remuneracao dos seus executivos, assim considerados os membros do Conselho de Administracao, da Diretoria Executiva e do Conselho Fiscal. As caracteristicas do estudo permitem qualifica-lo como pesquisa descritiva, de natureza quantitativa e com fonte de dados documental. As informacoes contabeis e de mercado foram coletadas na base de dados Economatica ® e aquelas relativas a remuneracao dos executivos, correspondentes aos anos de 2009, 2010 e 2011, no sitio eletronico da CVM. Considerando uma amostra de 41 empresas listadas na BMFB e o retorno acionario, o indice de valor de mercado e o Q de Tobin como indicadores de mercado. Amostras tambem foram analisadas com base nas informacoes conjuntas dos organismos de gestao e para as empresas do subsetor de Intermediarios Financeiros. As analises das diversas correlacoes canonicas apontaram resultados mistos, que nao permitem uma indicacao consistente sobre a existencia de correlacao significativa entre a remuneracao total dos executivos e o desempenho das empresas investigadas. Contudo, as amostras envolvendo empresas que utilizam a remuneracao variavel tendem a apresentar correlacoes positivamente significativas com as variaveis de desempenho utilizadas.
Exploring Impact of Faults on Branch Predictors' Power for Diagnosis of Faulty Module

Out of the several factors responsible for processor power dissipation, the branch prediction unit itself contributes to almost 10% of the overall processor power dissipation. The functioning of predictors is, therefore, to be more accurate especially for the CMPs (chip multiprocessors) with thousands of on-chip cores. This work reports that the design inaccuracy (fault) in a predictor can cause a huge power loss, even up to95%. The impact of faults causing additional loss in processor power is estimated to diagnose the faulty module of a predictor. This has been established through introduction of probable faults/design inaccuracies to each of the functional modules of a predictor. Exhaustive experimentations on the state-of-the-art predictors reveal that the amount of additional power loss during processor execution clearly points to the specific design inaccuracies. This effectively leads to identification of the faulty module of a predictor.