Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Drugs, Guns, and Targeted Competition

We consider a dynamic competition game involving three players, in which each player can vary the extent of his competition on a per-rival basis. We call such competition targeted. We show that if the players are myopic, then the weaker players eventually lose the game to their strongest rival. If instead the players are sufficiently far-sighted, then all three players converge in their power and stay in the game. We develop our model in application to drug wars, but the approach of targeted competition can be applied to competition between firms or political parties, or to warfare.
Population differences in host plant preference and the importance of yeast and plant substrate to volatile composition

Abstract Divergent selection between environments can result in changes to the behavior of an organism. In many insects, volatile compounds are a primary means by which host plants are recognized and shifts in plant availability can result in changes to host preference. Both the plant substrate and microorganisms can influence this behavior, and host plant choice can have an impact on the performance of the organism. In Drosophila mojavensis, four geographically isolated populations each use different cacti as feeding and oviposition substrates and identify those cacti by the composition of the volatile odorants emitted. Behavioral tests revealed D. mojavensis populations vary in their degree of preference for their natural host plant. Females from the Mojave population show a marked preference for their host plant, barrel cactus, relative to other cactus choices. When flies were given a choice between cacti that were not their host plant, the preference for barrel and organ pipe cactus relative to agria and prickly pear cactus was overall lower for all populations. Volatile headspace composition is influenced by the cactus substrate, microbial community, and substrate‐by‐microorganism interactions. Differences in viability, developmental time, thorax length, and dry body weight exist among populations and depend on cactus substrate and population‐by‐cactus interactions. However, no clear association between behavioral preference and performance was observed. This study highlights a complex interplay between the insect, host plant, and microbial community and the factors mediating insect host plant preference behavior.
Sequentialized Sampling Importance Resampling and Scalable IWAE

We propose a new sequential algorithm for Sampling Importance Resampling. The algorithm serves as a solution to expensive evaluation of importance weight, and can be interpreted as stochastically and iteratively refining the particles by correcting them towards the target distribution as pool size increases. We apply this algorithm to variational inference with Importance Weighted Lower Bound and propose a memory-scalable training procedure 1 that implicitly improves the variational proposal. 1 Sequentializing Sampling Importance Resampling 1.1 Sampling Importance Resampling Given an unnormalized target distribution p̃(x) and proposal distribution q(x), the Sampling Importance Resampling (SIR) proceeds as follows: 1. draw xi for 1 ≤ i ≤ n from q(x) 2. calculate the importance weight wi = p̃(xi) q(xi) 3. calculate the normalized importance weight w̄i = wi ∑ i wi 4. draw index variable yj ∼ mul(w̄1, ., w̄n) for 1 ≤ j ≤ m The density of the set of resampled particles xy1 , . , xym should resemble the pdf of the target distribution, and the new samples will be approximately distributed by p(x) (Bishop, 2007). On average, the samples can be improved by increasing the pool size n, and becomes corrected when n→∞. The procedure is visualized in Figure 1a. 1.2 SeqSIR The above procedure can be combined with the idea of reservoir sampling, so that we need not evaluate all n samples at the same time, which will be an issue when n is large or when evaluation of a sample (i.e. computation of wi) is expensive. The intuition is to keep a running sum of the importance weights while we evaluate the pool samples sequentially, and then decide to keep the old sample or replace it with the new one based on the ratio of the new sample’s importance weight to the running sum. This is what we call Sequentialized Sampling Importance Resampling (SEQSIR), which is summarized in Algorithm 1. See Figure 1b for illustration. Note that density and importance weight are computed on log scale to deal with numerical instability, and log-sum-exp operation (LSE) is used in place of addition to calculate the running sum of See https://github.com/CW-Huang/SeqIWAE for implementation. Second workshop on Bayesian Deep Learning (NIPS 2017), Long Beach, CA, USA. Algorithm 1 Sequentialized Sampling Importance Resampling and Stochastic Iterative Refinement procedure SEQSIR ( logp, logq . unnormalized target density function and proposal density function ss . n samples to be evaluated ) A←−∞ . initialize accumulated sum of importance weight on log scale s_old← 0 . initialize sample n← len([s1,.,sn]) for i=1,. ,n do s_new = ss[i] A, s_old← STOCHREFINE(logp, logq, A, s_old, s_new) return s_old procedure STOCHREFINE ( logp, logq . unnormalized target density function and proposal density function A . accumulated sum of importance weight on log scale s_old, s_new . old and new samples ) w_new← logp(s_new) logq(s_new) A← LSE(A, w_new) u← unif(0,1) if w_new A >= log u then return A, s_new else return A, s_old
A survey of plasticity in 3 D user interfaces

Plasticity of 3D user interfaces refers to their capabilities to automatically fit to a set of hardware and environmental constraints. This area of research has already been deeply explored in the domain of traditional 2D user interfaces. Besides, during the last decade, interest in 3D user interfaces has grown. Designers find with 3D user interfaces new ways to promote and interact with data, such as e-commerce websites, scientific data visualization, etc. Because of the wide variety of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications in terms of hardware, data and target users, there is a real interest in solutions for automatic adaption in order to improve the user experience in any context while reducing the development costs. An adaptation is performed in reaction to different criteria defining a system such as the targeted hardware platform, the user’s context and the structure and the semantic of the manipulated data. This adaptation can then impact the system in different ways, especially content presentation, interaction techniques modifications and eventually the current distribution of the system across a set of available devices. We present the state of the art about plastic 3D user interfaces. Moreover, we present well known methods in the field of 2D user interfaces that could become relevant for 3D user interfaces. With this survey, we show that current solutions do not meet all plasticity requirements. That is why we propose an action plan to meet these requirements.
Rapid exercise-induced changes in PGC-1alpha mRNA and protein in human skeletal muscle.

The mRNA of the nuclear coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) increases during prolonged exercise and is influenced by carbohydrate availability. It is unknown if the increases in mRNA reflect the PGC-1alpha protein or if glycogen stores are an important regulator. Seven male subjects [23 +/- 1.3 yr old, maximum oxygen uptake (Vo(2 max)) 48.4 +/- 0.8 ml.kg(-1). min(-1)] exercised to exhaustion ( approximately 2 h) at 65% Vo(2 max) followed by ingestion of either a high-carbohydrate (HC) or low-carbohydrate (LC) diet (7 or 2.9 g.kg(-1). day(-1), respectively) for 52 h of recovery. Glycogen remained depressed in LC (P < 0.05) while returning to resting levels by 24 h in HC. PGC-1alpha mRNA increased both at exhaustion (3-fold) and 2 h later (6.2-fold) (P < 0.05) but returned to rest levels by 24 h. PGC-1alpha protein increased (P < 0.05) 23% at exhaustion and remained elevated for at least 24 h (P < 0.05). While there was no direct treatment effect (HC vs. LC) for PGC-1alpha mRNA or protein, there was a linear relationship between the changes in glycogen and those in PGC-1alpha protein during exercise and recovery (r = -0.68, P < 0.05). In contrast, PGC-1beta did not increase with exercise but rather decreased (P < 0.05) below rest level at 24 and 52 h, and the decrease was greater (P < 0.05) in LC. PGC-1alpha protein content increased in prolonged exercise and remained upregulated for 24 h, but this could not have been predicted by the changes in mRNA. The beta-isoform declined rather than increasing, and this was greater when glycogen was not resynthesized to rest levels.
Ankle injuries and ankle strength, flexibility, and proprioception in college basketball players.

OBJECTIVE To determine if ankle muscular strength, flexibility and proprioception can predict ankle injury in college basketball players and to compare ankle injury rates in female and male players. DESIGN AND SETTING In this prospective, correlational study, subjects were tested at the start of the competitive season for ankle joint muscle strength, flexibility, and proprioception. The first ankle injury for each subject was recorded on an injury report form, and the data were analyzed to determine if any of these preseason measurements predicted future injury. The setting was a competitive 9-week season for four women's and four men's college basketball teams. SUBJECTS A convenience sample of 31 female and 11 male college basketball players. MEASUREMENTS Subjects were tested for ankle dorsiflexion range of motion, various measures of ankle proprioception, and isokinetic peak torque of ankle dorsiflexion-plantar flexion and eversion-inversion at 30 degrees /sec and 180 degrees /sec before the start of the conference basketball seasons. Data were analyzed using a series of multiple regression equations to determine the variance in ankle injury attributed to each variable. RESULTS Various measures of proprioception predicted left ankle injury in all subjects (p < .05), while ankle strength and flexibility measures failed to account for additional variance. There was no statistically significant difference in ankle injury rate between women and men. CONCLUSIONS Ankle joint proprioceptive deficits can be used to predict ankle injury, but further research is needed to identify other sources of variance. In our study, ankle injury rate was similar in female and male college basketball players.
La convivencia escolar: clave en la predicción del bullying

Un amplio repertorio de programas y buenas practicas han evidenciado ser utiles para la prevencion de los problemas de intimidacion, acoso y en general malos tratos entre escolares, bullying en su version inglesa. De entre ellos, el trabajo sobre el clima social general del centro educativo, que en muchas comunidades hispanas denominamos convivencia, esta siendo considerado como uno de los pilares fundamentales para prevenir estos problemas. Sin embargo, poco sabemos sobre si hay algunos elementos de la convivencia mas relevantes que otros y por tanto cuales deben ser los objetivos prioritarios para la prevencion del bullying. El trabajo que aqui se presenta ha explorado el valor predictivo de las dimensiones de la convivencia escolar ante la implicacion en estos fenomenos. La Escala Convivencia Escolar (ECE) fue administrada a 7037 estudiantes (48.9% chicas) seleccionados aleatoriamente entre el alumnado de Educacion Secundaria de Andalucia (Espana). Los resultados destacan la relevancia de las relaciones en el plano vertical y horizontal, particularmente la gestion que realiza el profesorado y los problemas de disruptividad e indisciplina. Los resultados son discutidos en orden a encontrar claves para la mejora de los proyectos educativos de optimizacion de la convivencia escolar y prevencion del bullying.Palabras clave: Convivencia escolar, Bullying, Acoso entre iguales, Disruptividad, Indisciplina, Profesorado.A wide range of programs and practices have shown to be useful for preventing the problems of bullying, harassment and generally bullying in school. Of these, work on general social climate of the school, which in many Hispanic communities called convivencia, is being considered as one of the pillars to prevent these problems. However, it is not well known which elements of school coexistence (convivencia) are more relevant than others and therefore what should be the priorities for the prevention of bullying. This research explores the predictive value of the school coexistence dimensions at bullying. The Convivencia Escolar Scale was administered to 7037 students (48.9% girls) randomly selected from the students of Secondary Education in Andalusia (Spain). The results highlight the relevance of relationships in the vertical and horizontal plane. Particularly, are relevant teacher school life management and disruption and indiscipline problems. The results are discussed finding the keys to develop the educational projects to the school life improvement and bullying prevention.Keywords: Convivencia, School coexistence, Bullying, Disruption, Teachers.
Separation of strontium-89 and -90 from calcium in milk with a macrocyclic ether.

A small amount of strontium ion (20 mg) was simply separated from a large amount of calcium ion (0.5 to 13.6 g) by liquid--liquid extraction using dicyclohexyl 18-crown-6 chloroform solution. The extraction was applied to a part of the procedure for determining radiostrontium in ash of milk. The overall recovery of strontium was 75% on the average for 5 to 10 g of milk ash. Decontamination factors for Mg, Ca, Ru, I, Cs, Ba, and La in the final fraction were 1 x 10/sup 5/, 1 x 10/sup 4/, > 1 x 10/sup 6/, > 1 x 10/sup 6/, > 2 x 10/sup 6/, 2 x 10/sup 5/, and 3 x 10/sup 4/, respectively. The chemical procedure for three samples took about 2 days. 1 figure, 3 tables.
A difference in inward rectification and polyamine block and permeation between the Kir2.1 and Kir3.1/Kir3.4 K+ channels

Inward rectification is caused by voltage‐dependent block of the channel pore by intracellular Mg2+ and polyamines such as spermine. In the present study, we compared inward rectification in the Kir3.1/Kir3.4 channel, which underlies the cardiac current IK,ACh, and the Kir2.1 channel, which underlies the cardiac current IK,1. Sustained outward current at potentials positive to the K+ reversal potential was observed through Kir3.1/Kir3.4, but not Kir2.1, demonstrating that Kir3.1/Kir3.4 exhibits weaker inward rectification than Kir2.1. We show that Kir3.1/Kir3.4 is more sensitive to extracellular spermine block than Kir2.1, and that intracellular and extracellular polyamines can permeate Kir3.1/Kir3.4, but not Kir2.1, to a limited extent. We describe a simple kinetic model in which polyamines act as permeant blockers of Kir3.1/Kir3.4, but as relatively impermeant blockers of Kir2.1. The model shows the difference in sensitivity to extracellular spermine block, as well as the difference in the extent of inward rectification between the two channels. This suggests that Kir3.1/Kir3.4 exhibits weaker inward rectification than Kir2.1 because of the difference in the balance of polyamine block and permeation of the two channels.
Quantum Algorithms for Quantum Field Theories

Quantum Leap? Quantum computers are expected to be able to solve some of the most difficult problems in mathematics and physics. It is not known, however, whether quantum field theories (QFTs) can be simulated efficiently with a quantum computer. QFTs are used in particle and condensed matter physics and have an infinite number of degrees of freedom; discretization is necessary to simulate them digitally. Jordan et al. (p. 1130; see the Perspective by Hauke et al.) present an algorithm for the efficient simulation of a particular kind of QFT (with quartic interactions) and estimate the error caused by discretization. Even for the most difficult case of strong interactions, the run time of the algorithm was polynomial (rather than exponential) in parameters such as the number of particles, their energy, and the prescribed precision, making it much more efficient than the best classical algorithms. A quantum computer may be able to efficiently simulate theories used to describe particle scattering in accelerators. Quantum field theory reconciles quantum mechanics and special relativity, and plays a central role in many areas of physics. We developed a quantum algorithm to compute relativistic scattering probabilities in a massive quantum field theory with quartic self-interactions (ϕ4 theory) in spacetime of four and fewer dimensions. Its run time is polynomial in the number of particles, their energy, and the desired precision, and applies at both weak and strong coupling. In the strong-coupling and high-precision regimes, our quantum algorithm achieves exponential speedup over the fastest known classical algorithm.
Perceived Ease-of-Use and Intention to Use E-Government Services in Ghana: The Moderating Role of Perceived Usefulness

Public sector organizations, ministries, departments and local government agencies are adopting e-government as a means to provide efficient and quality service delivery to citizens. The purpose of this research paper is to examine the extent to which perceived usefulness (PU) of e-government services moderates between perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) of e-government services and intention to use (IU) e-government services in Ghana. A structured research questionnaire instrument was developed and administered to 700 potential respondents in Ghana, of which 693 responded, representing 99% of the questionnaires distributed. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to capture and analyze the data. The results indicate that even though predictors such as PU and PEOU are main determiners of citizens’ intention to adopt and use e-government services in Ghana, it failed to show that PEOU and IU e-government services in Ghana is significantly moderated by the PU of e-government services. The implication of this finding on theory and practice is further discussed. Keywords—E-government services, intention to use, moderating role, perceived ease-of-use, perceived usefulness, Ghana, technology acceptance model.
Global Gene Expression Profiling and Validation in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Its Association with Clinical Phenotypes

Purpose: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is an aggressive tumor with poor prognosis. Understanding molecular changes in ESCC will enable identification of molecular subtypes and provide potential targets for early detection and therapy. Experimental Design: We followed up a previous array study with additional discovery and confirmatory studies in new ESCC cases by using alternative methods. We profiled global gene expression for discovery and confirmation, and validated selected dysregulated genes with additional RNA and protein studies. Results: A total of 159 genes showed differences with extreme statistical significance (P < E-15) and 2-fold differences or more in magnitude (tumor/normal RNA expression ratio, N = 53 cases), including 116 upregulated and 43 downregulated genes. Of 41 genes dysregulated in our prior array study, all but one showed the same fold change directional pattern in new array studies, including 29 with 2-fold changes or more. Alternative RNA expression methods validated array results: more than two thirds of 51 new cases examined by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) showed 2-fold differences or more for all seven genes assessed. Immunohistochemical protein expression results in 275 cases which were concordant with RNA for five of six genes. Conclusion: We identified an expanded panel of genes dysregulated in ESCC and confirmed previously identified differentially expressed genes. Microarray-based gene expression results were confirmed by RT-PCR and protein expression studies. These dysregulated genes will facilitate molecular categorization of tumor subtypes and identification of their risk factors, and serve as potential targets for early detection, outcome prediction, and therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 17(9); 2955–66. ©2011 AACR.
LISTENING TO EARLY CAREER TEACHERS: HOW CAN ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS METHODS COURSES BETTER PREPARE THEM TO UTILIZE STANDARDS-BASED PRACTICES IN THEIR CLASSROOMS?

This study was designed to gather input from early career elementary teachers with the goal of finding ways to improve elementary mathematics methods courses. Multiple areas were explored including the degree to which respondents’ elementary mathematics methods course focused on the NCTM Process Standards, the teachers’ current standards-based teaching practices, the degree to which various pedagogical strategies from mathematics methods courses prepared preservice teachers for the classroom, and early career teachers’ suggestions for improving methods courses. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used in this survey study as questions were of both closed and open format. Data from closed-response questions were used to determine the frequency, central tendencies and variability in standardsbased preparation and teaching practices of the early career teachers. Open-ended responses were analyzed to determine patterns and categories relating to the support of, or suggestions for improving, elementary mathematics methods courses. Though teachers did not report a wide variation in the incorporation of the NCTM Process Standards in their teaching practices, some differences were worth noting. Problem Solving appeared to be the most used with the least variability in its frequency of use. Reasoning, in general, appeared to be used the least frequently and with the most variability. Some aspects of Communication, Connections and Representation were widely used and some were used less frequently. From a choice of eight methods teaching practices, ‘Observing in actual classrooms or working with individual students’ and ‘Planning and teaching in actual classrooms’ were considered by early career teachers to be the most beneficial aspects of methods courses. LISTENING TO EARLY CAREER TEACHERS: HOW CAN ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS METHODS COURSES BETTER PREPARE THEM TO UTILIZE STANDARDS-BASED PRACTICES IN THEIR CLASSROOMS?
Lightning Strokes-Theoretical Model and Determination of Possible Striking Points

This paper presents a method of calculating the possible striking points of lightning and their probabilities. The calculations are based on a dynamic electromagnetic model. This model is based on the Wave-Pair concept which is presented as an analytical model for calculating the electric field strengths at a desired observation point. Based on that model the electric field strength values are calculated at certain chosen points. When those fields exceed critical field strength, an up going discharge starts from each point. When one of these up going discharges meets the down going Leader the path is made for the Return Stroke. This method is compared with the Rolling Sphere Method, and the comparison yield evidence that the proposed model is more accurate results. A study case of calculating the probability of lightning stroke to a complex of buildings and installations is also given.
Minimum Conditional Entropy Clustering: A Discriminative Framework for Clustering

In this paper, we introduce an assumption which makes it possible to extend the learning ability of discriminative model to unsupervised setting. We propose an informationtheoretic framework as an implementation of the low-density separation assumption. The proposed framework provides a unied perspective of Maximum Margin Clustering (MMC), Discriminative k-means, Spectral Clustering and Unsupervised Renyi’s Entropy Analysis and also leads to a novel and ecient algorithm, Accelerated Maximum Relative Margin Clustering (ARMC), which maximizes the margin while considering the spread of projections and ane invariance. Experimental results show that the proposed discriminative unsupervised learning method is more ecient in utilizing data and achieves the state-ofthe-art or even better performance compared with mainstream clustering methods.