Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
X-ray spectral transitions of black holes from RXTE All-Sky Monitor

We have analysed X-ray outbursts from several Galactic black hole (GBH) transients, as seen by the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) on board Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). We have used the best estimates of distance and black hole mass to find their luminosity (scaled to the Eddington limit), which allowed for direct comparison of many sources. We have found two distinct hard-to-soft state transitions in the initial part of the outburst. The distinction is made on the basis of the transition luminosity, its duration, the shape of the track in the hardness-luminosity diagram and evolution of the hardness ratio. The bright/slow transition occurs at ∼30 per cent of Eddington (estimated bolometric) luminosity and takes ≥30 d, during which the source quickly reaches the intermediate/very high state and then proceeds to the soft state at much slower pace. The dark/slow transition is less luminous (≤10 per cent of Eddington), shorter (≤15 d) and the source does not slow its transition rate before reaching the soft state. We speculate that the distinction is due to irradiation and evaporation of the disc, which sustains the Comptonizing corona in the bright intermediate/very high state.
A combined topical/non-topical approach to identifying web sites for children

Today children interact more and more frequently with information services. Especially in on-line scenarios there is a great amount of content that is not suitable for their age group. Due to the growing importance and ubiquity of the Internet in today's world, denying children any unsupervised Web access is often not possible. This work presents an automatic way of distinguishing web pages for children from those for adults in order to improve child-appropriate web search engine performance. A range of 80 different features based on findings from cognitive sciences and children's psychology are discussed and evaluated. We conducted a large scale user study on the suitability of web sites and give detailed information about the insights gained. Finally a comparison to traditional web classification methods as well as human annotator performance reveals that our automatic classifier can reach a performance close to that of human agreement.
Does the avian ophthalmic nerve carry magnetic navigational information?

The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) uses the earth's magnetic field as one source of directional information for its migratory orientation. However, the location and structure of the magnetoreceptors that transduce the magnetic information to the nervous system are unknown. Because treatment with a strong magnetic pulse results in a change in the direction of orientation, one of the receptors is thought to involve a magnetizable material such as magnetite. The effects of the magnetizing treatment can be abolished (i.e. the bird returns to its original orientation) by blocking the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve, but the ability of the bird to select and maintain a direction is not affected. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that a magnetizable material such as magnetite is part of the magnetoreceptors that are associated with the ophthalmic nerve.
Genital shedding of herpes simplex virus among symptomatic and asymptomatic persons with HSV-2 infection.

CONTEXT Since herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) antibody tests have become commercially available, an increasing number of persons have learned that they have genital herpes through serologic testing. The course of natural history of HSV-2 in asymptomatic, seropositive persons is uncertain. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the virologic and clinical course of HSV genital shedding among individuals with symptomatic and asymptomatic HSV-2 infection. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cohort of 498 immunocompetent HSV-2-seropositive persons enrolled in prospective studies of genital HSV shedding at the University of Washington Virology Research Clinic, Seattle, and Westover Heights Clinic, Portland, Oregon, between March 1992 and April 2008. Each participant obtained daily self-collected swabs of genital secretions for at least 30 days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The rate of viral shedding measured by quantitative real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction for HSV DNA from genital swabs. RESULTS Herpes simplex virus type 2 was detected on 4753 of 23,683 days (20.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 18.3%-22.0%) in 410 persons with symptomatic genital HSV-2 infection compared with 519 of 5070 days (10.2%; 95% CI, 7.7%-13.6%) in 88 persons with asymptomatic infection (P < .001). Subclinical shedding rates were higher in persons with symptomatic infection compared with asymptomatic infection (2708 of 20,735 days [13.1%; 95% CI, 11.5%-14.6%) vs 434 of 4929 days [8.8%; 95% CI, 6.3%-11.5%]) (P < .001). However, the amount of HSV detected during subclinical shedding episodes was similar (median, 4.3 [interquartile range, 3.1-5.6] log(10) copies in the symptomatic infection group vs 4.2 [interquartile range, 2.9-5.5] in the asymptomatic infection group, P = . 27). Days with lesions accounted for 2045 of 4753 days (43.0%; 95% CI, 39.8%-46.5%) with genital viral shedding among persons with symptomatic genital HSV-2 infection compared with 85 of 519 days (16.4%; 95% CI, 11.2%-23.9%) among persons with asymptomatic infection (P < .001). CONCLUSION Persons with asymptomatic HSV-2 infection shed virus in the genital tract less frequently than persons with symptomatic infection, but much of the difference is attributable to less frequent genital lesions because lesions are accompanied by frequent viral shedding.
N ° 568 N ° 568 HOW DOES POLITICAL INSTABILITY AFFECT ECONOMIC GROWTH ?

The purpose of this paper is to empirically determine the effects of political instability on economic growth. Using the system-GMM estimator for linear dynamic panel data models on a sample covering 169 countries, and 5-year periods from 1960 to 2004, we find that higher degrees of political instability are associated with lower growth rates of GDP per capita. Regarding the channels of transmission, we find that political instability adversely affects growth by slowing productivity growth and, to a smaller degree, physical and human capital accumulation. Finally, economic freedom and ethnic homogeneity are beneficial to growth, while democracy may have a slight negative effect. Resumen El propósito de este artículo es estimar los efectos de la inestabilidad política sobre el crecimiento económico. Utilizando métodos de estimación convencionales con datos de 169 países para períodos quinquenales entre 1960 y 2004, encontramos que altos grados de inestabilidad política están asociados a tasas más bajas de crecimiento del PBI per cápita. En relación con los canales de transmisión, se observa que la inestabilidad política reduce el crecimiento a través de su efecto negativo sobre la productividad total de los factores y, en menor grado, a través de la acumulación de capital físico y humano. Finalmente, encontramos que libertad económica y homogeneidad étnica son benéficas para el crecimiento económico, mientras la democracia puede tener un pequeño efecto negativo. The authors wish to thank Luísa Benta for excellent research assistance. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Central Bank of Chile and the International Monetary Fund. Email: Ari Aisen, aaisen@bcentral.cl; Francisco José Veiga, fjveiga@eeg.uminho. pt. 1
Direct egomotion estimation

In this paper, we address the problem of egomotion estimation for a monocular moving observer under arbitrary translation and rotation. This is a key step for the navigation of any autonomous system. The method proposed is uniquely based on the spatio-temporal image derivatives, and has O(n/sup 2/) complexity. We search the image for particular geometric properties of the normal flow, tightly connected to the egomotion parameters, in two successive steps. The /spl Psi/-line search algorithm determines the direction of the focus of expansion (FOE) and computes some information on the rotation parameters. Finally, the /spl Phi/-line search algorithm determines the FOE, and the individual values of the rotation. Various experiments with synthetic and real images are presented and discussed.
Stochastic monotonicity and continuity properties of functions defined on Crump-Mode-Jagers branching processes, with application to vaccination in epidemic modelling

This paper is concerned with Crump-Mode-Jagers branching processes, describing spread of an epidemic depending on the proportion of the population that is vaccinated. Births in the branching process are aborted independently with a time-dependent probability given by the fraction of the population vaccinated. Stochastic monotonicity and continuity results for a wide class of functions (e.g., extinction time and total number of births over all time) defined on such a branching process are proved using coupling arguments, leading to optimal vaccination schemes to control corresponding functions (e.g., duration and final size) of epidemic outbreaks. The theory is illustrated by applications to the control of the duration of mumps outbreaks in Bulgaria.
A Genetic and Structural Study of Genome Rearrangements Mediated by High Copy Repeat Ty1 Elements

Ty elements are high copy number, dispersed repeated sequences in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome known to mediate gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs). Here we found that introduction of Ty912, a previously identified Ty1 element, onto the non-essential terminal region of the left arm of chromosome V led to a 380-fold increase in the rate of accumulating GCRs in a wild-type strain. A survey of 48 different mutations identified those that either increased or decreased the rate of Ty-mediated GCRs and demonstrated that suppression of Ty-mediated GCRs differs from that of both low copy repeat sequence- and single copy sequence-mediated GCRs. The majority of the Ty912-mediated GCRs observed were monocentric nonreciprocal translocations mediated by RAD52-dependent homologous recombination (HR) between Ty912 and a Ty element on another chromosome arm. The remaining Ty912-mediated GCRs appeared to involve Ty912-mediated formation of unstable dicentric translocation chromosomes that were resolved by one or more Ty-mediated breakage-fusion-bridge cycles. Overall, the results demonstrate that the Ty912-mediated GCR assay is an excellent model for understanding mechanisms and pathways that suppress genome rearrangements mediated by high copy number repeat sequences, as well as the mechanisms by which such rearrangements occur.
GOME OZONE DATA ASSIMILATION AND THE OZONE MINI-HOLE OF 30 NOVEMBER 1999

Ozone transport models driven by high-quality analysed meteorological wind fields have been demonstrated to produce realistic ozone distributions. We describe a data assimilation system ( TM3-DAM,version 3) which is currently in use to assimilate near-real time GOME ozone data, and which produces (three-day or longer) ozone forecasts. The model is a tracer transport model, called TM3, with a parameterised description of stratospheric ozone chemistry. The model is driven by meteorological fields from the ECMWF weather prediction model. The assimilation is based on near-real time level-2 ozone data from the GOME instrument on the ESA ERS-2 satellite. This data assimilation model is used to investigate the record low ozone values as observed over northwestern Europe by GOME, Brewer instruments and ozone sondes. Three possible causes, uplifting of the tropopause, chemical ozone destruction and horizontal transport, are investigated. The main cause of this event is found to be pole-ward advection of subtropical air with small ozone mixing ratios.
Social connectedness through ICT and the influence on wellbeing: the case of the CareRabbit

The CareRabbit has been introduced as a technological innovation in the care for children, enabling family and friends to stay in touch while the child is hospitalized. This study addresses influence of this innovation on the wellbeing of the children, and uses the validated KINDL questionnaire, eliciting information from children and parents at the end of hospitalization. A baseline and an experimental measurement are compared. The children in the CareRabbit group scored slightly higher on the KINDL questionnaire than children in the control group. For young children (age 4-7) the difference was large. Initial findings indicate that CareRabbit has a positive influence on wellbeing, although sample size and measured differences limit the support for this conclusion. The measured difference suggests that CareRabbit may be more valuable for younger children.
Long-Term Effectiveness of a Lifestyle Intervention for the Primary Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes in a Low Socio-Economic Community – An Intervention Follow-Up Study on Reunion Island

In type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevention research, evidence for maintenance of risk factor reduction after three years of follow-up is needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a combined lifestyle intervention aiming at controlling body weight (BW) and waist circumference (WC) in non-diabetic, overweight/obese adults living in a low socio-economic community. On Reunion Island, 445 adults living in deprived areas, aged 18–40 and at high-risk for T2D, were included in an intervention versus control trial for primary prevention (2001–2002). The intervention promoted a healthy diet and moderate regular physical activity, through actions strengthening individuals or community and improving living conditions. The control group received a one-shot medical information and nutritional advices. After the end of the trial (2003), 259 of the subjects participated in a follow-up study (2010–2011). The outcomes were the nine-year changes from baseline in BW, body mass index (BMI) and WC measurements, separately. Statistical analyses were performed on an intention-to-treat basis, using available and imputed datasets. At inclusion, T2D risk factors were prevalent: family history of diabetes in first-degree relatives (42%), women with a personal history of gestational diabetes (11%), total obesity (43%, median BMI 29.1 kg/m²) and central obesity (71%). At follow-up, the adjusted effect on imputed dataset was significant for WC -2.4 cm (95% confidence interval: -4.7 to -0.0 cm, p = 0.046), non-significant for BW -2.2 kg (-4.6 to +0.2 kg, p = 0.073) and BMI -0.81 kg/m² (-1.69 to +0.08 kg/m², p = 0.074). A specific long-term effect was the increased likelihood of reduction in adiposity: BW loss, BMI reduction, and WC reduction were more frequent in the intervention group. In the context of low socio-economic communities, our data support the assumption of long-term effect of lifestyle interventions targeting total obesity and central obesity two major drivers of T2D.
Kaiso Directs the Transcriptional Corepressor MTG16 to the Kaiso Binding Site in Target Promoters

Myeloid translocation genes (MTGs) are transcriptional corepressors originally identified in acute myelogenous leukemia that have recently been linked to epithelial malignancy with non-synonymous mutations identified in both MTG8 and MTG16 in colon, breast, and lung carcinoma in addition to functioning as negative regulators of WNT and Notch signaling. A yeast two-hybrid approach was used to discover novel MTG binding partners. This screen identified the Zinc fingers, C2H2 and BTB domain containing (ZBTB) family members ZBTB4 and ZBTB38 as MTG16 interacting proteins. ZBTB4 is downregulated in breast cancer and modulates p53 responses. Because ZBTB33 (Kaiso), like MTG16, modulates Wnt signaling at the level of TCF4, and its deletion suppresses intestinal tumorigenesis in the ApcMin mouse, we determined that Kaiso also interacted with MTG16 to modulate transcription. The zinc finger domains of Kaiso as well as ZBTB4 and ZBTB38 bound MTG16 and the association with Kaiso was confirmed using co-immunoprecipitation. MTG family members were required to efficiently repress both a heterologous reporter construct containing Kaiso binding sites (4×KBS) and the known Kaiso target, Matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7/Matrilysin). Moreover, chromatin immunoprecipitation studies placed MTG16 in a complex occupying the Kaiso binding site on the MMP-7 promoter. The presence of MTG16 in this complex, and its contributions to transcriptional repression both required Kaiso binding to its binding site on DNA, establishing MTG16-Kaiso binding as functionally relevant in Kaiso-dependent transcriptional repression. Examination of a large multi-stage CRC expression array dataset revealed patterns of Kaiso, MTG16, and MMP-7 expression supporting the hypothesis that loss of either Kaiso or MTG16 can de-regulate a target promoter such as that of MMP-7. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of transcriptional control by ZBTB family members and broaden the scope of co-repressor functions for the MTG family, suggesting coordinate regulation of transcription by Kaiso/MTG complexes in cancer.
Tunnel Type Microwave Applicator Modelling Using TLM Method

Three-dimensional electromagnetic resonance calculations have been performed for tunnel type microwave applicator represented in the form of rectangular metallic cavity loaded by an inhomogeneous lossy dielectric sample. These calculations have been made by using the Transmission-Line Modelling (TLM) method. The modelling process is described and the obtained numerical results, for the case of lossless dielectric sample placed on the bottom of the cavity, are verified in comparison with the results calculated by using the theoretical approach based on the transverse resonance (TR) method. Also, in order to model real tunnel type microwave applicator, TLM method is applied to the case when the inhomogeneous lossy dielectric sample is raised above the cavity floor and the corresponding results are presented and discussed. Key-Words: TLM, microwave applicator, cavity, modelling, inhomogeneous load, losses, resonant frequency
Topological Hochschild homology of Thom spectra and the free loop space

We describe the topological Hochschild homology of ring spectra that arise as Thom spectra for loop maps f : X! BF, where BF denotes the classifying space for stable spherical fibrations. To do this, we consider sym- metric monoidal models of the category of spaces over BF and corresponding strong symmetric monoidal Thom spectrum functors. Our main result identi- fies the topological Hochschild homology as the Thom spectrum of a certain stable bundle over the free loop space L(BX). This leads to explicit calcula- tions of the topological Hochschild homology for a large class of ring spectra, including all of the classical cobordism spectra MO, MSO, MU, etc., and the Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectra HZ/p and HZ.
Opposition learning adaptive cross-generation differential evolution algorithm based multi-objective optimization of rolling schedule for tandem cold rolling

With the combination of opposition learning and adaptive cross-generation differential evolution algorithm a new algorithm is proposed. Meanwhile the optimization model of rolling schedule is established. Power distribution, rolling energy consumption and the slip rate are selected as objective functions. Applying the opposition learning adaptive cross-generation differential evolution algorithm to the optimization model, rolling schedule for strips with 2.6mm∗900mm specification was optimized. Results show values of the three objectives were reduced compared with the used rolling schedule.
Ready or Not? Markers of Starting Romantic Intimacy at Emerging Adulthood: The Turkish Experience

� Abstract—Emerging adulthood, the new period which is especially prevalent in the developed or industrialized countries during ages 18 to 29, is a new conceptualization proposed by Arnett. Intimacy is a superordinate concept which includes intimate interaction and intimate relationship. This study includes two proceses which are scale development and conduction of gender differences about markers of starting romantic intimacy among Turkish emerging adults. In first process, Markers of Starting Romantic Intimacy Scale, with 17 items and 5 factors, was developed using by 220 participants. In the second step, the scale was administered to 318 Turkish male and female emerging adults between ages 22 and 25. Results show that there is no significant difference between gender and total score of the scale. With respect to gender, there are significant differences between gender and in four subscales which are self perception, affective and cognitive intimacy, self knowledge and romantic verbalizations. Moreover, there is no significant relationship between gender and behavioral intimacy subscale. Keywords—Emerging Adulthood, Turkey, Romantic Intimac, Relationship, Marker.
Unsupervised categorisation approaches for technical support automated agents

In this paper we describe an unsupervised approach for the automated categorisation of utterances into predefined categ ories of symptoms (or problems) within the framework of a technical support automated agent. The utterance classification is pe rformed based on an iterative K-means clustering method. In order to improve the lower accuracy typical of unsupervised algorithms, we have analysed two different enhancements of the classification algorithm. The first method exploits the affin ity among words by automatically extracting classes of semantically equivalent terms. The second approach consists of a disambiguation technique based on a new criterion to estimate the relevance of terms for the classification. An analysis of the results of an experimental evaluation performed on a corpus of 34848 utterances concludes the paper. Index Terms: automated agents, automated categorisation, unsupervised learning, related words, term relevance.
Older adults’ lived experience of incarceration

Abstract This qualitative analysis explores older adults’ lived experiences of incarceration. As part of a larger mixed-methods longitudinal study, 23 older adults were interviewed about their prison and reentry experiences. Findings describe experiences of loss, lack of medical attention, abuse by staff and other inmates, and the uncertainties and danger of prison life. After release, participants reported experiencing anxiety and stress related to their prison experiences. While participants reported that the ability to manage prison life deteriorated with age, some benefits of their senior status were also described. Maturity may allow older prisoners to remove themselves from volatile situations. Participants described experiences of rest and recovery, reflecting coping mechanism and resilience that could improve psychosocial outcomes during and after prison. This descriptive analysis centers the voices of older prisoners and informs interventions to support this vulnerable community.
etagenome Analysis using Megan

In metagenomics, the goal is to analyze the genomic content of a sample of organisms collected from a common habitat. One approach is to apply large-scale random shotgun sequencing techniques to obtain a collection of DNA reads from the sample. This data is then compared against databases of known sequences such as NCBI-nr or NCBI-nt, in an attempt to identify the taxonomical content of the sample. We introduce a new software called MEGAN (Meta Genome ANalyzer) that generates species profiles from such sequencing data by assigning reads to taxa of the NCBI taxonomy using a straight-forward assignment algorithm. The approach is illustrated by application to a number of datasets obtained using both sequencing-by-synthesis and Sanger sequencing technology, including metagenomic data from a mammoth bone, a portion of the Sargasso sea data set, and several complete microbial test genomes used for validation proposes.