Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mere exposure in reverse: Mood and motion modulate memory bias

Mere exposure, generally, entails influences of familiarity manipulations on affective dependent variables. Previously (Phaf & Rotteveel, 2005), we have argued that familiarity corresponds intrinsically to positive affect, and have extended the correspondence to novelty and negative affect. Here, we present two experiments that show reverse effects of affective manipulations on perceived familiarity. In Experiment 1 affectively valenced exteroceptive cues of approach and avoidance (e.g., apparent movement) modulated recognition bias of neutral targets. This finding suggests that our correspondence hypotheses can be generalised to an important aspect of emotion, namely approach and avoidance tendencies. In Experiment 2 participants’ emotional mood was manipulated within the Jacoby–Whitehouse paradigm and a pattern of results was obtained as if consciousness was manipulated. We interpret the latter results within the affective modulation framework (AMF), which postulates facilitation of nonconscious processing by positive affect and an enhancement of conscious processing by negative affect.
Practical Scheduling Algorithms of Independent Tasks on Tree-Based Grid Computing Platform

This paper discusses scheduling independent tasks on tree-based grid computing platforms, where resources have different speeds of computation and communication. Instead of minimizing the total execution time, which has been proven to be NP-hard, we improve integral linear planning model. Using this model, the time complexity is high to obtain optimal number of tasks assigned to each computing node of multi-level tree. To address this problem, Push-Pull method is given, which transforms the linear planning of multi-lever tree into single-level tree and therefore the time complexity is greatly reduced. Based on the optimal tasks assignment to each node, a static distributed heuristic task scheduling algorithm is put forward. Experimental results show that the algorithm achives better performance than other algorithms.
Specific measurement of angiotensin metabolites and in vitro generated angiotensin II in plasma.

Combining high-performance liquid chromatography with radioimmunoassay enabled the precise measurement of different angiotensins and their metabolites in plasma. Peptides were extracted from 2 ml of plasma by reversible adsorption to phenylsilyl-silica, separated by isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography, and quantitated by radioimmunoassay using a sensitive but suitably cross-reacting angiotensin II antiserum. For the C-terminal angiotensin II metabolites (2-8)heptapeptide, (3-8)hexapeptide, and (4-8)pentapeptide, overall recoveries of 10 fmol peptide added to 1 ml of plasma were (mean +/- SD), 74 +/- 6, 68 +/- 8, and 67 +/- 11%, respectively. The detection limit for these peptides in plasma was 0.2 fmol/ml. Blanks were below the detection limits. In eight seated normal subjects treated for 4 days with enalapril, 20 mg p.o. , q.d. , angiotensin II metabolites tended to decrease during the 4 postdrug hours. However, their cumulated concentration in relation to octapeptide increased from 54 to 163% on Day 1 and from 62 to 103% on Day 4. After 4 hours of converting enzyme inhibition with enalapril there was still a close correlation between plasma renin activity and angiotensin-(1-8)octapeptide level (r = 0.83, p less than 0.05) and between blood angiotensin I and angiotensin-(1-8)octapeptide levels (r = 0.86, p less than 0.01). Adding angiotensin I in vitro raised the angiotensin-(1-8)octapeptide levels after incubation at 4 degrees C for 4 hours. Thus, immunoreactive "angiotensin II" does not disappear after converting enzyme inhibition largely because of the cumulated contribution of cross-reacting metabolites and partly because of in vitro generation of true angiotensin II.
Ecosystem heterogeneity determines the ecological resilience of the Amazon to climate change

Significance Understanding how changes in climate will affect terrestrial ecosystems is particularly important in tropical forest regions, which store large amounts of carbon and exert important feedbacks onto regional and global climates. By combining multiple types of observations with a state-of-the-art terrestrial ecosystem model, we demonstrate that the sensitivity of tropical forests to changes in climate is dependent on the length of the dry season and soil type, but also, importantly, on the dynamics of individual-level competition within plant canopies. These interactions result in ecosystems that are more sensitive to changes in climate than has been predicted by traditional models but that transition from one ecosystem type to another in a continuous, non–tipping-point manner. Amazon forests, which store ∼50% of tropical forest carbon and play a vital role in global water, energy, and carbon cycling, are predicted to experience both longer and more intense dry seasons by the end of the 21st century. However, the climate sensitivity of this ecosystem remains uncertain: several studies have predicted large-scale die-back of the Amazon, whereas several more recent studies predict that the biome will remain largely intact. Combining remote-sensing and ground-based observations with a size- and age-structured terrestrial ecosystem model, we explore the sensitivity and ecological resilience of these forests to changes in climate. We demonstrate that water stress operating at the scale of individual plants, combined with spatial variation in soil texture, explains observed patterns of variation in ecosystem biomass, composition, and dynamics across the region, and strongly influences the ecosystem’s resilience to changes in dry season length. Specifically, our analysis suggests that in contrast to existing predictions of either stability or catastrophic biomass loss, the Amazon forest’s response to a drying regional climate is likely to be an immediate, graded, heterogeneous transition from high-biomass moist forests to transitional dry forests and woody savannah-like states. Fire, logging, and other anthropogenic disturbances may, however, exacerbate these climate change-induced ecosystem transitions.
GrowingLeaf: Supporting Requirements Evolution over Time

Goal modeling and analysis techniques help stakeholders consider possible tradeoff alternatives in their requirements and answer “what if” questions about those alternatives. Software projects today exist in an ephemeral state, and current goal modeling approaches do not answer questions about model evolution and changes in actors’ intentionality. We have developed a technique [8] that allows stakeholders to explicate the dynamic nature of their intentional elements, and ask questions about how this dynamicity affects project outcomes. In this paper, we present GrowingLeaf , a new web-based goal modeling and analysis tool that implements this technique for iStar models. We discuss its support for modeling, simulation, and static analysis and illustrate it for a small example of making lunch.
Back-to-School Upper Respiratory Infection in Preschool and Primary School-Age Children in Israel

Background: Increased upper respiratory infection (URI) among children at the beginning of school year is well known to parents and pediatricians. However, this phenomenon is not well documented or characterized. Methods: Computerized datasets from a large health maintenance organization in Israel were used to calculate the weekly rates of URI among children 3–14 years old for the years 2007–2012. In addition, nasopharyngeal swabs were collected in 2010–2012 from children with URI symptoms and controls during school opening time. Swabs were tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction for the presence of respiratory viruses. Results: Time-series analysis demonstrated a peak of URI in September each year. The peaks reached their height 2 weeks after school opening and returned to baseline within 4–7 weeks. The main 3 viruses detected both in URI patients and in healthy controls during the first weeks of school opening were rhinovirus, adenovirus and enterovirus. The detection rate of any respiratory virus, and of rhinovirus in particular, was significantly higher among cases than among controls (54% vs. 16%, P < 0.001 for any virus, and 35% vs. 6.0%, P < 0.01 for rhinovirus). When adjusting for age and sex cases had 5.8 times more viral detection when compared with controls. Upper respiratory symptoms were significantly more prevalent among the virus-positive cases when compared with negative ones. Conclusions: Back-to-school illness consisting of URI has a distinct epidemiological pattern demonstrating a rapid rise peaking within 2 weeks of school opening and is associated predominantly with rhinovirus.
Regulatory Role of mir-203 in Prostate Cancer Progression and Metastasis

Purpose: Advanced metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) is a fatal disease, with only palliative therapeutic options. Though almost 80% of cases of metastatic PCa present bone metastasis, our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern this metastatic dissemination remains fragmentary. The main objective of the present study was to identify microRNA (miRNA) genes that regulate metastatic PCa. Experimental Design: miRNA expression profiling was done in human prostate cell lines to identify dysregulated miRNA components of advanced PCa. miR-203 expression was assessed in prostate carcinoma cell lines and clinical specimens by real-time PCR and in situ hybridization. To assess the biological significance of miR-203, miR-203 was reexpressed in bone metastatic PCa cell lines followed by in vitro and in vivo functional assays. Results: miR-203 expression is specifically attenuated in bone metastatic PCa suggesting a fundamental antimetastatic role for this miRNA. Reintroduction of miR-203 in bone metastatic PCa cell lines suppresses metastasis via inhibition of several critical steps of the metastatic cascade including epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion, and motility. Ectopic miR-203 significantly attenuated the development of metastasis in a bone metastatic model of PCa. Importantly, miR-203 regulates a cohort of pro-metastatic genes including ZEB2, Bmi, survivin, and bone-specific effectors including Runx2, a master regulator of bone metastasis. Conclusions: miR-203 is an “antimetastatic” miRNA in PCa that acts at multiple steps of the PCa metastatic cascade via repression of a cohort of prometastatic targets. miR-203 may be an attractive target for therapeutic intervention in advanced PCa. Clin Cancer Res; 17(16); 5287–98. ©2011 AACR.
Reflections on the Dilemmas and Tensions in Mathematics Education Courses for Student Teachers

Abstract The paper outlines the dilemmas and paradoxes faced by lecturers and student teachers as they interact in a mathematics education subject that deals with both mathematics as a discipline and as a language, and with appropriate pedagogies for the teaching and learning of mathematics in primary schools. For the lecturer there is a tension between comforting and challenging the students. Are they to be wooed into a more positive attitude to mathematics, at the cost of avoiding the complexity of the discipline; or are they to be challenged by the unique character of mathematics, at the risk of alienation and exclusion? The latter often returns students to their original perception of maths as a harsh and unforgiving subject which is beyond their capabilities as they struggle with unfamiliar concepts and the discomfort of ‘not knowing’. For student teachers there is, paradoxically, a desire to ‘instil understanding’ when they themselves may not fully understand. They often idealise what is good practi.
Mapping the Sovereign State: Technology, Authority, and Systemic Change

Abstract This article examines the effect of cartography on the development of the modern state system. I argue that new mapping technologies in early modern Europe changed how actors thought about political space, organization, and authority, thus shaping the creation of sovereign states and international relations. In particular, mapping was fundamental to three key characteristics of the medieval-to-modern shift: the homogenization of territorial authority, the linearization of political boundaries, and the elimination of nonterritorial forms of organization. Although maps have been interpreted as epiphenomenal to political change, each of these three transformations occurred first in the representational space of maps and only subsequently in the political practices of rulers and states. Based on evidence from the history of cartographic technologies and their use by political actors, the practices and texts of international negotiations, and the practical implementation of linearly bounded territoriality by states, this article argues that changes in the representational practices of mapmaking were constitutive of the early-modern transformation of the authoritative structure of politics. This explanation of the international system's historical transformation suggests useful new directions for investigations into the possibility of fundamental political change due to the economic, social, and technological developments of globalization.
Levels of 17β-Estradiol Receptors Expressed in Embryonic and Adult Zebrafish Following In Vivo Treatment of Natural or Synthetic Ligands

The nuclear receptors encompass a group of regulatory proteins involved in a number of physiological processes. The estrogen receptors (ERs), of which one alpha and one beta form exist in mammals function as transcription factors in response to 17β-estradiol (E2). In zebrafish there are three gene products of estrogen receptors and they are denoted esr1 (ERalpha), esr2a (ERbeta2) and esr2b (ERbeta1). Total RNA of zebrafish early life stages (<3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours post fertilization) and of adult fish (liver, intestine, eye, heart, brain, ovary, testis, gill, swim bladder and kidney) were isolated following in vivo exposures. Using specific primers for each of the three zebrafish ERs the expression levels were quantified using real time PCR methodology. It was shown that in absence of exposure all three estrogen receptors were expressed in adult fish. The levels of expression of two of these three ER genes, the esr1 and esr2a were altered in organs such as liver, intestine, brain and testis in response to ligand (E2, diethylstilbestrol or 4-nonylphenol). During embryogenesis two of the three receptor genes, esr1 and esr2b were expressed, and in presence of ligand the mRNA levels of these two genes increased. The conclusions are i) estrogen receptor genes are expressed during early development ii) altered expression of esr genes in response to ligand is dependent on the cellular context; iii) the estrogenic ligand 4-nonylphenol, a manufactured compound commonly found in sewage of water treatment plants, acts as an agonist of the estrogen receptor during development and has both agonist and antagonist properties in tissues of adult fish. This knowledge of esr gene function in development and in adult life will help to understand mechanisms of interfering mimicking endocrine chemicals in vivo.
Speech Recognition with Dynamic Bayesian Networks

Dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs) are a powerful and flexible methodology for representing and computing with probabilistic models of stochastic processes. In the past decade, there has been increasing interest in applying them to practical problems, and this thesis shows that they can be used effectively in the field of automatic speech recognition. A principle characteristic of dynamic Bayesian networks is that they can model an arbitrary set of variables as they evolve over time. Moreover, an arbitrary set of conditional independence assumptions can be specified, and this allows the joint distribution to be represented in a highly factored way. Factorization allows for models with relatively few parameters, and computational efficiency. Standardized inference and learning routines allow a variety of model structures to be tested without deriving new formulae, or writing new code. The contribution of this thesis is to show how DBNs can be used in automatic speech recognition. This involves solving problems related to both representation and inference. Representationally, the thesis shows how to encode stochastic finite-state word models as DBNs, and how to construct DBNs that explicitly model the speech-articulators, accent, gender, speaking-rate, and other important phenomena. Technically, the thesis presents inference routines that are especially tailored to the requirements of speech recognition: efficient inference with deterministic constraints, variable-length utterances, and online inference. Finally, the thesis presents experimental results that indicate that real systems can be built, and that modeling important phenomena with DBNs results in higher recognition accuracy.
Particular Thoughts & Singular Thought

A long-standing theme in discussion of perception and thought has been that our primary cognitive contact with individual objects and events in the world derives from our perceptual contact with them. When I look at a duck in front of me, I am not merely presented with the fact that there is at least one duck in the area, rather I seem to be presented with this thing (as one might put it from my perspective) in front of me, which looks to me to be a duck. Furthermore, such a perception would seem to put me in a position not merely to make the existential judgment that there is some duck or other present, but rather to make a singular, demonstrative judgment, that that is a duck. My grounds for an existential judgment in this case derives from my apprehension of the demonstrative thought and not vice versa.
k-NN as an implementation of situation testing for discrimination discovery and prevention

With the support of the legally-grounded methodology of situation testing, we tackle the problems of discrimination discovery and prevention from a dataset of historical decisions by adopting a variant of k-NN classification. A tuple is labeled as discriminated if we can observe a significant difference of treatment among its neighbors belonging to a protected-by-law group and its neighbors not belonging to it. Discrimination discovery boils down to extracting a classification model from the labeled tuples. Discrimination prevention is tackled by changing the decision value for tuples labeled as discriminated before training a classifier. The approach of this paper overcomes legal weaknesses and technical limitations of existing proposals.
Phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system of Staphylococcus aureus: factor IIIlac, a trimeric phospho-carrier protein that also acts as a phase transfer catalyst.

Factor IIIlac (FIII) consists of three identical subunits. It could be shown that each of the subunits carries a phosphoryl group upon phosphorylation (P-FIII) with phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), enzyme I, and histidine-containing phospho-carrier protein (HPr). The phosphoryl group is bound to a histidyl residue in P-FIII. Each subunit of FIII contains four histidyl residues. After tryptic cleavage a peptide was isolated that contained one other histidyl residue besides the active center histidine. By further cleavage of the peptide T-2 with V-8 Staphylococcus aureus protease it could be shown that His-19 in the sequence of the peptide T-2 is the active center histidine. Another peptide (1-38), caused by incomplete tryptic cleavage, could be isolated. It inhibited the phospho-transfer reaction from PEP to the sugar molecule at the step of factor III-enzyme II recognition. It competes with factor III for the binding site of enzyme II, the membrane component. It is a very hydrophobic peptide. This hydrophobic region is buried in factor III. But upon phosphorylation of factor III it is turned out. Thus P-FIII binds to Triton X-100 micelles whereas factor III does not. This conformational change caused by phosphorylation could be shown by proton nuclear magnetic resonance methods [Kalbitzer, H.R. , Deutscher, J., Hengstenberg, W. , & Rösch, P. (1981) Biochemistry 20, 6178-6185], by circular dichroism spectroscopy, and by the Ouchterlony double-diffusion method. Antibodies against FIII do not precipitate P-FIII.
Using Part-Whole Statecharts for the safe modeling of clinical guidelines

Behavioral aspects of medical guidelines can be modeled and formalized in a straightforward way by flow diagrams. However, safety plays a critical role in both modeling and formalization given the intermingled involvement of human actors and medical devices which have to interact and coordinate according to precise rules and strict timelines. Although state based formalisms can be shown to be very apt in depicting complex situations in both an intuitive and formal manner, they do not provide modular constructs for defeating complexity and require model checking in order to be verified against safety requirements. The paper proposes to adopt a modular and hierarchical state based formalism for the sake of representing behavioral aspects in medical guidelines. Such a formalism can be shown to provide a natural arrangement of different fault management strategies at the different decomposition levels.
Contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum and other membranes in neurons

Significance The cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells is compartmentalized by intracellular membranes that define subcellular organelles. One of these organelles, the endoplasmic reticulum, forms a continuous network of tubules and cisternae that extends throughout all cell compartments, including neuronal dendrites and axons. This network communicates with most other organelles by vesicular transport, and also by contacts that do not lead to fusion but allow cross-talk between adjacent bilayers. Though these membrane contacts have previously been observed in neurons, their distribution and abundance has not been systematically analyzed. Here, we have carried out such analysis. Our studies reveal new aspects of the internal structure of neurons and provide a critical complement to information about interorganelle communication emerging from functional and biochemical studies. Close appositions between the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and other intracellular membranes have important functions in cell physiology. These include lipid homeostasis, regulation of Ca2+ dynamics, and control of organelle biogenesis and dynamics. Although these membrane contacts have previously been observed in neurons, their distribution and abundance have not been systematically analyzed. Here, we have used focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy to generate 3D reconstructions of intracellular organelles and their membrane appositions involving the ER (distance ≤30 nm) in different neuronal compartments. ER–plasma membrane (PM) contacts were particularly abundant in cell bodies, with large, flat ER cisternae apposed to the PM, sometimes with a notably narrow lumen (thin ER). Smaller ER–PM contacts occurred throughout dendrites, axons, and in axon terminals. ER contacts with mitochondria were abundant in all compartments, with the ER often forming a network that embraced mitochondria. Small focal contacts were also observed with tubulovesicular structures, likely to be endosomes, and with sparse multivesicular bodies and lysosomes found in our reconstructions. Our study provides an anatomical reference for interpreting information about interorganelle communication in neurons emerging from functional and biochemical studies.