Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dosage compensation and inverse effects in triple X metafemales of Drosophila

Dosage compensation, the equalized X chromosome gene expression between males and females in Drosophila, has also been found in triple X metafemales. Inverse dosage effects, produced by genomic imbalance, are believed to account for this modulated expression, but they have not been studied on a global level. Here, we show a global expression comparison of metafemales (XXX; AA) with normal females (XX; AA) with high-throughput RNA-sequencing. We found that the majority of the X-linked genes in metafemales exhibit dosage compensation with an expression level similar to that of normal diploid females. In parallel, most of the autosomal genes were expressed at about two-thirds the level of normal females, the ratio of inverse dosage effects produced by the extra X chromosome. Both compensation and inverse effects were further confirmed by combination of X-linked and autosomally located miniwhite reporter genes in metafemales and relative quantitative PCR of selected genes. These data provide evidence for an inverse dosage component to X chromosome compensation.
Interactions between quantitative trait loci in soybean in which trait variation at one locus is conditional upon a specific allele at another.

A large recombinant inbred population of soybean has been characterized for 220 restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. Values for agronomic traits also have been measured. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for height, yield, and maturity were located by their linkage to RFLP markers. QTL controlling large amounts of trait variation were analyzed for the dependence of trait variation on particular alleles at a second locus by comparing cumulative distributions of the trait for each genotype (four genotypes per pair of loci). Interesting pairs of loci were analyzed statistically with maximum likelihood and Monte Carlo comparison of additive and epistatic models. For each locus affecting height, variation was conditional upon the presence of a particular allele at a second unlinked locus that itself explained little or no trait variation. The results show that interactions between QTL are frequent and control large effects. Interactions distinguished between different QTL in a single linkage group and between QTL that affect different traits closely linked to one RFLP marker--i.e., distinguished between pleiotropy and closely linked genes. The implications for the evolution of inbreeding plants and for the construction of agronomic breeding strategies are discussed.
Parasympathetic Nervous System Dysfunction, as Identified by Pupil Light Reflex, and Its Possible Connection to Hearing Impairment

Context Although the pupil light reflex has been widely used as a clinical diagnostic tool for autonomic nervous system dysfunction, there is no systematic review available to summarize the evidence that the pupil light reflex is a sensitive method to detect parasympathetic dysfunction. Meanwhile, the relationship between parasympathetic functioning and hearing impairment is relatively unknown. Objectives To 1) review the evidence for the pupil light reflex being a sensitive method to evaluate parasympathetic dysfunction, 2) review the evidence relating hearing impairment and parasympathetic activity and 3) seek evidence of possible connections between hearing impairment and the pupil light reflex. Methods Literature searches were performed in five electronic databases. All selected articles were categorized into three sections: pupil light reflex and parasympathetic dysfunction, hearing impairment and parasympathetic activity, pupil light reflex and hearing impairment. Results Thirty-eight articles were included in this review. Among them, 36 articles addressed the pupil light reflex and parasympathetic dysfunction. We summarized the information in these data according to different types of parasympathetic-related diseases. Most of the studies showed a difference on at least one pupil light reflex parameter between patients and healthy controls. Two articles discussed the relationship between hearing impairment and parasympathetic activity. Both studies reported a reduced parasympathetic activity in the hearing impaired groups. The searches identified no results for pupil light reflex and hearing impairment. Discussion and Conclusions As the first systematic review of the evidence, our findings suggest that the pupil light reflex is a sensitive tool to assess the presence of parasympathetic dysfunction. Maximum constriction velocity and relative constriction amplitude appear to be the most sensitive parameters. There are only two studies investigating the relationship between parasympathetic activity and hearing impairment, hence further research is needed. The pupil light reflex could be a candidate measurement tool to achieve this goal.
The Girls Set the Tone

In a four-wave longitudinal study with N = 1,321 adolescents in Germany, we examined the impact of class-level normative beliefs about aggression on aggressive norms and behavior at the individual level over the course of 3 years. At each data wave, participants indicated their normative acceptance of aggressive behavior and provided self-reports of physical and relational aggression. Multilevel analyses revealed significant cross-level interactions between class-level and individual-level normative beliefs at T1 on individual differences in physical aggression at T2, and the indirect interactive effects were significant up to T4. Normative approval of aggression at the class level, especially girls’ normative beliefs, defined the boundary conditions for the expression of individual differences in aggressive norms and their impact on physically and relationally aggressive behavior for both girls and boys. The findings demonstrate the moderating effect of social norms on the pathways from individual normative beliefs to aggressive behavior in adolescence.
Range aggregate processing in spatial databases

A range aggregate query returns summarized information about the points falling in a hyper-rectangle (e.g., the total number of these points instead of their concrete ids). This paper studies spatial indexes that solve such queries efficiently and proposes the aggregate Point-tree (aP-tree), which achieves logarithmic cost to the data set cardinality (independently of the query size) for two-dimensional data. The aP-tree requires only small modifications to the popular multiversion structural framework and, thus, can be implemented and applied easily in practice. We also present models that accurately predict the space consumption and query cost of the aP-tree and are therefore suitable for query optimization. Extensive experiments confirm that the proposed methods are efficient and practical.
Social enterprise resisting social accounting: reflecting on lived experiences

Purpose – The advantages of using social accounting (SA) by social enterprises are widely evident (e.g. Social Audit Network, New Economics Foundation). The data gathered by the authors, through introductory SA workshops and training attended by 30 organisations and a single case study, are used with the purpose of demonstrating that the barriers and resistance to SA are widespread.Design/methodology/approach – The paper focuses upon the analysis of the lived experiences of SA discussed by 31 workshop participants and the more detailed experience of one participant organisation over two years. An action research approach was used across the training project, with insider action research used with the single case organisation.Findings – The research develops a deeper understanding of the issues (real and perceived) surrounding the barriers and resistance to SA, how they could be overcome and leads to the formulation of mechanisms to address them.Research limitations/implications – This work is based upon a.
Some Rare Indo-Pacific Coral Species Are Probable Hybrids

Background Coral reefs worldwide face a variety of threats and many coral species are increasingly endangered. It is often assumed that rare coral species face higher risks of extinction because they have very small effective population sizes, a predicted consequence of which is decreased genetic diversity and adaptive potential. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we show that some Indo-Pacific members of the coral genus Acropora have very small global population sizes and are likely to be unidirectional hybrids. Whether this reflects hybrid origins or secondary hybridization following speciation is unclear. Conclusions/Significance The interspecific gene flow demonstrated here implies increased genetic diversity and adaptive potential in these coral species. Rare Acropora species may therefore be less vulnerable to extinction than has often been assumed because of their propensity for hybridization and introgression, which may increase their adaptive potential.
Anthropometric measurements and prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in adult Malawians: nationwide population based NCD STEPS survey

Introduction Overweight and obesity are significant causes of increased morbidity and premature mortality from non-communicable diseases, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, although local high quality population-based data to inform policies and strategies are lacking. Methods Using the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance, population-based nationwide survey was conducted on participants aged 25-64 years in Malawi. A multi-stage cluster sample design and weighting were used to produce a national representative data for that age range. Results A total of 4845 participants (65.7% females, 87.6% from rural areas) had complete anthropometric data and included in this analysis. Overall (both sexes) population-based mean body weight, height, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol were estimated at 58.7 kg, 159.9 cm, 133.4 mmHg, 79.5 mmHg, 4.3 mmol/L, 4.4 mmol/L respectively. Prevalence of underweight, overweight, obesity, overweight and/ or obesity and central adiposity were 6.5%, 17.3%, 4.6%, 21.9% and 28.8% respectively. Overweight, obesity, overweight and/ or obesity and central adiposity were more frequent in females than males (20.7% vs 14.1%, 7.4% vs 2.0%, 28.1% vs 16.1% and 52.8% vs 5.6%), in urban than rural areas (23.2% vs 16.6%, 12.0% vs 3.7%, 35.2% vs 20.2%) respectively. Conclusion This study demonstrated that overweight and/ or obesity is the major public health problem affecting at least one in five adults in Malawi. The problem is more frequent in females than males and urban than rural. Implementation of primary health care approaches such as WHO package for essential non-communicable diseases could reduce the problem.
The relationship between the severity of asthma and comorbidities with anxiety and depressive disorders.

OBJECTIVE There is evidence that asthma is associated with increased frequency of psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders. Our aim was to assess the frequency of anxiety and depressive disorders in a sample of asthmatic outpatients and observe if there is any relationship between this comorbidity and the severity of asthma. METHOD Sixty-two consecutive patients of two outpatient asthma clinics located in university hospitals were evaluated. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview 4.4 Version. RESULTS Twenty-seven patients (43.5%) met criteria for at least one psychiatric diagnosis. The most frequent diagnoses were major depression (24%), generalized anxiety disorder (20.9%) and panic disorder/agoraphobia spectrum disorders (17.7%). We found no significant differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders and depression between the groups with mild/moderate and severe asthma. Despite the high frequency of depression and anxiety disorders, only 4 (6.5%) patients were under psychiatric treatment and 13 (20.9%) patients were taking benzodiazepines. Twelve of 15 (80%) patients who reported present use of psychotropic medication were not under psychiatric treatment at the moment of the study. CONCLUSIONS Our results support the high morbidity of anxiety and depressive disorders in asthmatic patients, independent of the severity of asthma.
A New Approach to Detecting Free Parking Spaces Based on YOLOv6 and Keyframe Detection with Video Analytics

With urbanization and population growth, automobile use has also increased. As a result of this, there is a need to expand parking management and inspection systems to ensure safe and efficient use of parking areas. A new deep learning-based method has been proposed as an alternative to traditional systems to control free spaces in parking areas monitored by CCTV security cameras. A large amount of video data needs to be processed for parking areas recorded with video cameras 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Repeating frames in videos cause overlearning in deep learning models. It also increases memory and computation cost. For this reason, keyframe detection based on sampling was first performed on the sample video of the Dragon Lake Parking (DLP) dataset and a summary of the dataset was obtained. Then, empty parking areas were detected by YOLOv6 deep neural network. It has been observed that the model can detect empty parking areas at a rate of 96.6% mAP.
Public Relations Professional Practice And The Institutionalisation of CSR

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to present the findings of a longitudinal case study into the professionalisation of public relations practices and the institutionalisation of corporate social responsibility as a legitimate social and business arrangement. In doing so, there are implications for the dynamic relationship between practices and the professionalisation of public relations.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative longitudinal study is used to examine the social construction of social responsibility in the Australian banking industry from 1999‐2004 across two levels of analysis – societal expectations as institution, and practices of banking and public relations as action.Findings – The study shows that the case organisations shifted their public relations and communication practices during the period of the study. In response to the demands of publics, there was a central shift from a one‐way perspective where organisations sought to influence and persuade publics of the appropria.
Knowledge of Politics and Sense of Subjective Political Competence

In this article I use pooled data from the 1988 and 1992 National Election Studies to explore the relationship between knowledge of politics and belief that one can understand the political universe. Although the 2 are related, the association is weaker than might be anticipated. Moreover, the meaning of the belief that one is sometimes confused by political affairs varies according to how well-informed citizens are. Among those who are largely ignorant of politics, admitting that public affairs are sometimes baffling seems to constitute a confession of political incapacity. For those who are well-informed, however, stating that one sometimes finds politics confusing is related to lack of trust in political leaders. Finally, among the well-informed, at least, believing that one sometimes cannot understand politics is related to lower rates of electoral participation.
Children’s perceptions of live arts performances: a longitudinal study

‘Children’s Voices’ is a longitudinal research project to document and understand children’s perceptions of live arts performance and the impact on their teachers and school communities. The research conducted in South Australia with 135 5–12‐year‐olds in four schools involves collaboration between the South Australian Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS), Windmill Performing Arts and de Lissa Institute for Early Childhood and Family Studies, University of South Australia (UniSA). The children attend three arts performances per year at the Festival Theatre, Adelaide. This paper reports on children’s views after 12 months, their interest in various aspects of the arts and performance and the effects on teachers, parents and school communities.
A New Texture Synthesis Algorithm Based on Wavelet Packet Tree

This paper presents an efficient texture synthesis based on wavelet packet tree (TSWPT). It has the advantage of using a multiresolution representation with a greater diversity of bases functions for the nonlinear time series applications such as fractal images. The input image is decomposed into wavelet packet coefficients, which are rearranged and organized to form hierarchical trees called wavelet packet trees. A 2-step matching, that is, coarse matching based on low-frequency wavelet packet coefficients followed by fine matching based on middle-high-frequency wavelet packet coefficients, is proposed for texture synthesis. Experimental results show that the TSWPT algorithm is preferable, especially in terms of computation time.
Theoretical and Practical Issues in Selecting a Measure of Family Functioning

With the increasing interest in evaluating family therapy, self-reportfamily functioning measures remain a key method of assessing outcome. This article addresses two issues. First, common problems associated with self-report family measures are discussed. Second, because source- books of research instruments often do not provide sufficient information on the validity and reliability of measures, six commonly used family functioning measures (FACES III, Family Environment Scale [FES], Family Asessment Device [FAD], Family Assessment Measure [FAM-III], Index of Family Relations [IFR], and Self-Report Family Inventory [SFI]) are assessed from the point of view of the adequacy of their psychometric support and practicality of administration. Recommendations are made regarding the utility of each instrument in light of its strengths and weaknesses.
Connectionist simulation of quantification skills

The study of numerical abilities, and how they are acquired, is being used to explore the continuity between ontogenesis and environmental learning. One technique that proves useful in this exploration is the artificial simulation of numerical abilities with neural networks, using different learning paradigms to explore development. A neural network simulation of subitization, sometimes referred to as visual enumeration, and of counting, a recurrent operation, has been developed using the so-called multi-net architecture. Our numerical ability simulations use two or more neural networks combining supervised and unsupervised learning techniques to model subitization and counting. Subitization has been simulated using networks employing unsupervised self-organizing learning, the results of which agree with infant subitization experiments and are comparable with supervised neural network simulations of subitization reported in the literature. Counting has been simulated using a multi-net system of supervised static and recurrent backpropagation networks that learn their individual tasks within an unsupervised, competitive framework. The developmental profile of the counting simulation shows similarities to that of children learning to count and demonstrates how neural networks can learn how to be combined together in a process modelling development.
Social Justice Educational Leaders and Resistance: Toward a Theory of Social Justice Leadership

Purpose : A subgroup of principals—leaders for social justice—guide their schools to transform the culture, curriculum, pedagogical practices, atmosphere, and schoolwide priorities to benefit marginalized students. The purpose of the article is to develop a theory of this social justice educational leadership. Research Design : This empirical study examined the following questions: (a) In what ways are principals enacting social justice in public schools? (b) What resistance do social justice—driven principals face in their justice work? (c) What strategies do principals develop to sustain their ability to enact social justice in light of the resistance they face in public schools? Data Collection and Analysis : A critical, qualitative, positioned-subject approach combined with principles of autoethnography guided the research methods. Seven public school leaders who came to the principalship with a social justice orientation, who make issues of race, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and other historically marginalizing factors central to their advocacy, leadership practice, and vision, and who have demonstrated success in making their schools more just, were studied through interviews. Findings: A description of (a) how the principals enacted social justice, (b) the resistance they faced as well as the toll the resistance had on them, and (c) the strategies they developed to sustain their social justice work is provided in detail. Implications for administrator preparation are made at the close of this article.
Factors Related to Amount and Type of Leisure Time Reading.

THE STUDY WAS DESIGNED to investigate the relationship between amount of time devoted to leisure reading and a series of personal, home, and school variables. Among the variables examined are gender, level of reading attainment, leisure activities, socioeconomic status, family size, choice of television programs, and location and type of primary school attended. Pupils devoted an average of 5.4 per cent of available leisure time to reading for leisure. Three categories of pupil leisure time reading were identified-book reading, comic reading, and newspaper reading. Substantially more time was devoted to book than to comic reading while little time was spent reading newspapers. Multiple regression analyses revealed that most of the explained variation (22.9 per cent) in time devoted to books was accounted for by a combination of the variables gender, reading attainment, school location, library membership, and birth order. Less than 8 per cent of the variation in time devoted to comic reading was explained by the variables used in the study. Among leisure readers, it was possible to discriminate between those whose reading consisted mainly of books and those whose reading consisted mainly of comics. Gender proved to be the strongest discriminator, with girls tending to devote more time to books and boys tending to devote more time to comics.
Fitness Functions for the Optimization of Self-Organizing Maps

Kohonen's Self-Organizing Maps do not possess a canonical criterion that characterizes their organization state. Therefore, to be able to optimize e.g. their topology, adequate tness criteria have to be found. The paper introduces, analyzes and discusses three criteria, a criterion derived from the quantization error, a Hebbian and a hybrid measure incorporating favourable properties of both mentioned criteria.