Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phenotypic and Marker-Assisted Genetic Enhancement of Parental Lines of Rajalaxmi, an Elite Rice Hybrid

The cytoplasmic male sterile line system comprising CRMS 32A and its maintainer line CRMS 32B is a popular choice for the development of new hybrids in India as CRMS 32A, having Kalinga 1 cytoplasm (other than WA), is a viable alternative to WA cytoplasm. However, both lines are susceptible to bacterial blight (BB), a major disease on rice. As enhancement of host plant resistance is the most effective and economical strategy to control this disease, four resistance genes (Xa4, xa5, xa13, and Xa21) were transferred from a BB pyramid line of IR64, into the A and B lines using a marker-assisted backcrossing (MAB) breeding strategy. During the transfer of genes into CRMS 32B, foreground selection was applied using markers associated with the genes, and plants having resistance alleles of the donor, are selected. Selection for morphological and quality traits was practiced to select plants similar to the recurrent parent. The four gene and three gene pyramid lines exhibited high levels of resistance against the BB pathogen when challenged with eight virulent isolates. Using genome wide based SSR markers for background selection, pyramids having >95% of the recurrent parent genome were identified. With CRMS 32B gene pyramid as donor, the four resistance genes were transferred into the A line through repeated backcrosses and the A line pyramids also exhibited high level of resistance against BB. Through a combination of selection at phenotypic and molecular levels, four BB resistance genes were successfully introduced into two parental lines (CRMS 32 B and A) of Rajalaxmi, an elite popular hybrid. The pyramided B lines did exhibit high levels of resistance against BB. Selection for morphological and quality traits and background selection hastened the recovery of the recurrent parent genome in the recombinants. Through repeated backcrosses, all the four resistance genes were transferred to CRMS 32A and test crosses suggest that the maintenance ability of the improved CRMS 32B lines is intact. These improved maintainer and CMS lines can directly be used in hybrid rice breeding and the new hybrids can play an important role in sustainable rice production in India.
Rising wealth inequality and changing social structure in rural China, 1988-95

The paper finds that a new system of social stratification is emerging in rural China in the wake of economic reforms, one that is far less equal than what preceded it. As part of this trend, wealth inequality has increased markedly in a short period of time. A relatively equal distribution of land has prevented further inequality and blocked the rise of a landed elite. However, what has emerged is a 'worker elite', mainly concentrated in cooperative enterprises in the coastal provinces and in richer provinces.
Optimization on Preparation Conditions of Salidroside Liposome and Its Immunological Activity on PCV-2 in Mice

The aim of this study was to optimize the preparation conditions of salidroside liposome with high encapsulation efficiency (EE) and to study the immunological enhancement activity of salidroside liposome as porcine circovirus type 2 virus (PCV-2) vaccine adjuvant. Response surface methodology (RSM) was selected to optimize the conditions for the preparation of salidroside liposome using Design-Expert V8.0. 6 software. Three kinds of salidroside liposome adjuvants were prepared to study their adjuvant activity. BALB/c mice were immunized with PCV-2 encapsulated in different kinds of salidroside liposome adjuvants. The PCV-2-specific IgG in immunized mice serum was determined with ELISA. The results showed that when the concentration of ammonium sulfate was 0.26 mol·L−1, ethanol volume 6.5 mL, temperature 43°C, ethanol injection rate 3 mL·min−1, and salidroside liposome could be prepared with high encapsulation efficiency of 94.527%. Salidroside liposome as adjuvant could rapidly induce the production of PCV-2-specific IgG and salidroside liposome I adjuvant proved to provide the best effect among the three kinds of salidroside liposome adjuvants.
iPads and Teacher Education: Exploring a 1:1 Initiative in a Professional Development School Partnership

Abstract This study explores the experiences of elementary education teacher candidates in a Professional Development School Partnership that included a 1:1 iPad initiative. The teacher candidates in the year-long cohort were each given their own iPad to use in their coursework and field experience. Observation, survey, and interview data were collected to explore how the teacher candidates integrated the iPad into their teaching and learning. Using Rogers's (2003) Diffusion of Innovation framework, it was found that teacher candidates experienced a developmental process in their use of the iPad that resulted in some candidates reinventing their teaching approach and others remaining stagnant in regard to technology integration.
Harsh RED: Improving RED for Limited Aggregate Traffic

A bottleneck router typically resides close to the edge of the network where the aggregate traffic is often limited to a single or a few users only. With such limited aggregate traffic Random Early Detection (RED) on the bottleneck router is not able to properly respond to TCP slow start that causes rapid increase in load of the bottleneck. This results in falling back to tail-drop behavior or, at worst, triggers the RED maximum threshold cutter that drops all packets causing undesired break for all traffic that is passing through the bottleneck. We explain how TCP slow start, ACK clock and RED algorithm interact in such a situation, and propose Harsh RED (HRED) to properly address slow start in time. We perform a simulation study to compare HRED behavior to that of FIFO and RED with recommended parameters. We show that HRED avoids tail-drop and the maximum threshold cutter, has smaller queues, and provides less bursty drop distribution.
Plasma Membrane Calcium Pump Isoform 1 Gene Expression Is Repressed by Corticosterone and Stress in Rat Hippocampus

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are critical to learning and memory, in large part because of their actions in the hippocampus. Chronic high levels of GCs have profound effects on hippocampal structure and function and can even result in irreversible neurodegeneration. Hippocampal GC actions are mediated by intracellular receptors that modulate the transcription of specific target genes. In a screen for genes repressed by GCs in rat hippocampus, we identified plasma membrane calcium pump isoform 1 (PMCA1), a plasma membrane calcium ATPase. In Northern blots, PMCA1 was repressed ∼33% after a high, but not a low dose of the GC, corticosterone (B), suggesting glucocorticoid (but not mineralocorticoid) receptor-mediated repression. Furthermore, in situ hybridization demonstrated that B significantly downregulated PMCA1 mRNA in all brain regions examined. Repression of PMCA1 was also observed in cultured hippocampal neurons, but only when the cells were in the differentiated state. Stress also repressed PMCA1 expression in hippocampus of adrenal-intact animals, and a clear inverse correlation between B level and PMCA1 mRNA could be discerned. However, other non-B-dependent factors appeared to be involved in the response of PMCA1 to stress because, unlike exogenous B, cold stress did not repress PMCA1 in brain regions other than hippocampus. Moreover, in the presence of constant B (B-replaced, adrenalectomized animals), cold stress led to increased hippocampal PMCA1 expression. These observations suggest that repression of PMCA1 represents one molecular mechanism by which corticosteroids regulate Ca2+ homeostasis and hence influence neuronal activity. Moreover, other stress-related neurohumoral factors appear to counter the repressive effects of B. Defects in the balance between GC-mediated and non-GC-mediated effects on PMCA1 expression may have adverse effects on neuronal function and ultimately result in irreversible neuronal damage.
A New Probabilistic Approach in Rank Regression with Optimal Bayesian Partitioning

In this paper, we consider the supervised learning task which consists in predicting the normalized rank of a numerical variable. We introduce a novel probabilistic approach to estimate the posterior distribution of the target rank conditionally to the predictors. We turn this learning task into a model selection problem. For that, we define a 2D partitioning family obtained by discretizing numerical variables and grouping categorical ones and we derive an analytical criterion to select the partition with the highest posterior probability. We show how these partitions can be used to build univariate predictors and multivariate ones under a naive Bayes assumption. We also propose a new evaluation criterion for probabilistic rank estimators. Based on the logarithmic score, we show that such criterion presents the advantage to be minored, which is not the case of the logarithmic score computed for probabilistic value estimator. A first set of experimentations on synthetic data shows the good properties of the proposed criterion and of our partitioning approach. A second set of experimentations on real data shows competitive performance of the univariate and selective naive Bayes rank estimators projected on the value range compared to methods submitted to a recent challenge on probabilistic metric regression tasks. Our approach is applicable for all regression problems with categorical or numerical predictors. It is particularly interesting for those with a high number of predictors as it automatically detects the variables which contain predictive information. It builds pertinent predictors of the normalized rank of the numerical target from one or several predictors. As the criteria selection is regularized by the presence of a prior and a posterior term, it does not suffer from overfitting.
What Type of Policy Uncertainty Matters for Business

This paper uses data from an original survey of Japanese listed companies to present empirical findings concerning subjective uncertainties over economic policies and their effects on business operations. Companies perceive uncertainty over the future course of certain economic policies, such as an international trade policy and the social security system. Uncertainty regarding the tax system, trade policy, and environmental policy can have substantial effects on the managerial decisions, especially on equipment investment and overseas activities. Among non-manufacturing companies, uncertainty regarding the social security system and labor market regulations affects employee hiring and organizational restructuring. To achieve economic growth by promoting future-oriented investment, it is essential to improve the predictability of fundamental economic policies and institutions.
Women's Earning Power and the 'Double Burden' of Market and Household Work

Bargaining theory suggests that married women who experience a relative improvement in their labour market position should experience a comparative gain within their marriage. However, if renegotiation possibilities are limited by institutional mechanisms that achieve long-term commitment, the opposite may be true, particularly if women are specialized in household activities and the labour market allows comparatively more flexibility in their labour supply responses. Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel indeed shows that, as long as renegotiation opportunities are limited, comparatively better wages for women exacerbate their 'double burden' of market and household work.
Kernel Spectral Clustering for Big Data Networks

This paper shows the feasibility of utilizing the Kernel Spectral Clustering (KSC) method for the purpose of community detection in big data networks. KSC employs a primal-dual framework to construct a model. It results in a powerful property of effectively inferring the community affiliation for out-of-sample extensions. The original large kernel matrix cannot fitinto memory. Therefore, we select a smaller subgraph that preserves the overall community structure to construct the model. It makes use of the out-of-sample extension property for community membership of the unseen nodes. We provide a novel memory- and computationally efficient model selection procedure based on angular similarity in the eigenspace. We demonstrate the effectiveness of KSC on large scale synthetic networks and real world networks like the YouTube network, a road network of California and the Livejournal network. These networks contain millions of nodes and several million edges.
Towards a Scalable Multi-agent Architecture for Managing IoT Data

With the current prevalence of Ubiquitous Computing, more specifically Internet of Things, almost every other appliance aims to exhibit smart behavior and expose it through internet connectivity, resulting in a plethora of sensors that expose environmental information online. As a direct result, large quantities of data are pouring online waiting to be processed. Our paper addresses this problem through an architecture which handles storage, analysis and processing of large amounts of data and can scale accordingly, providing a corner stone for Internet of Things.
Recent Advances in Mass Spectrometry for the Identification of Neuro-chemicals and their Metabolites in Biofluids

Recently, mass spectrometric related techniques have been widely applied for the identification and quantification of neurochemicals and their metabolites in biofluids. This article presents an overview of mass spectrometric techniques applied in the detection of neurological substances and their metabolites from biological samples. In addition, the advances of chromatographic methods (LC, GC and CE) coupled with mass spectrometric techniques for analysis of neurochemicals in pharmaceutical and biological samples are also discussed.
XMM- Newton Observation of the Coma Galaxy Cluster : The temperature structure in the central region

We present a temperature map and a temperature profile of the central part (r < 20' or 1/4 virial radius) of the Coma cluster. We combined 5 overlapping pointings made with XMM/EPIC/MOS and extracted spectra in boxes of 3.5' x 3.5'. The temperature distribution around the two central galaxies is remarkably homogeneous (r < 10'), contrary to previous ASCA results, suggesting that the core is actually in a relaxed state. At larger distance from the cluster center we do see evidence for recent matter accretion. We confirm the cool area in the direction of NGC 4921, probably due to gas stripped from an infalling. group. We find ir;dications of a hot front in the South West, in the direction of NGC 4839, probably due to an adiabatic compression.
Poster: Physically-based natural hand and tangible AR interaction for face-to-face collaboration on a tabletop

In this paper, we present an AR framework that allows natural hand and tangible AR interaction for physically-based interaction and environment awareness to support face-to-face collaboration using Microsoft Kinect. Our framework comprises of six major components: (1) marker tracking (2) depth acquisition (3) image processing (4) physics simulation (5) communication and (6) rendering. The resulting augmented environment supports occlusion, shadows, and physically-based interaction of real and virtual objects. We propose three methods of natural hand representations including mesh-based, direct sphere substitution and variational optical flow. A tabletop racing game and AR Sandbox applications are created based on this framework, showing the application possibilities.
A flying insect model for wind tunnel Expriments

Flying Insects drew a lot of attentions for decades because of their high flight performance, which are just man made aircrafts desired. To study the attitude control methods of insects, an enlarged mechanical insect model was designed for wind tunnel experiments. This model was 45mm span wide, 27mm long and 6.5mm high, and 1.7g in weight. It was capable of programmable wing flapping, both in frequency and amplitude, and the center of flapping angle could be shifted during the experiment instantaneously by instructions. A micro motor was used as the actuator to drive the wings to flap. This insect mechanical model can be used in wind tunnel experiments both statically and dynamically to study the attitude control method of insects during their flight.
APT: Approximate Period Detection in Time Series

Period detection from time series is an important problem with many real-world applications such as weather forecast, stock market predictions, electrocardiogram analysis, periodic disease outbreak. In this work, we present a novel approximate period detection method for time series. The simplicity of our algorithm and its adaptability for high dimensional datasets using renowned tools and techniques such as locality sensitive hashing (LSH) and MapReduce (using the Hadoop framework for example) make it easier to implement for practical purposes. We performed experiments to compare our technique with a classic period detection technique and two state-of-the-art techniques in terms of accuracy and noise-resilience.
Association between myosin heavy chain protein isoforms and intramuscular anabolic signaling following resistance exercise in trained men

Resistance exercise stimulates an increase in muscle protein synthesis regulated by intracellular anabolic signaling molecules in a mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)‐dependent pathway. The purpose of this study was to investigate acute anabolic signaling responses in experienced, resistance‐trained men, and to examine the association between myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform composition and the magnitude of anabolic signaling. Eight resistance‐trained men (24.9 ± 4.3 years; 91.2 ± 12.4 kg; 176.7 ± 8.0 cm; 13.3 ± 3.9 body fat %) performed a whole body, high‐volume resistance exercise protocol (REX) and a control protocol (CTL) in a balanced, randomized order. Participants were provided a standardized breakfast, recovery drink, and meal during each protocol. Fine needle muscle biopsies were completed at baseline (BL), 2 h (2H) and 6 h post‐exercise (6H). BL biopsies were analyzed for MHC isoform composition. Phosphorylation of proteins specific to the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and MHC mRNA expression was quantified. Phosphorylation of p70S6k was significantly greater in REX compared to CTL at 2H (P = 0.04). MHC mRNA expression and other targets in the Akt/mTOR pathway were not significantly influenced by REX. The percentage of type IIX isoform was inversely correlated (P < 0.05) with type I and type IIA MHC mRNA expression (r = −0.69 to −0.93). Maximal strength was also observed to be inversely correlated (P < 0.05) with Type I and Type IIA MHC mRNA expression (r = −0.75 to −0.77) and p70S6k phosphorylation (r = −0.75). Results indicate that activation of p70S6k occurs within 2‐h following REX in experienced, resistance‐trained men. Further, results also suggest that highly trained, stronger individuals have an attenuated acute anabolic response.
Centre de Referència en Economia Analítica Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series Working Paper n o 96 How Tight Should One ’ s Hands be Tied ? Fear of Floating and Credibility of Exchange Rate Regimes

This paper analyzes the linkages between the credibility of a target zone regime, the volatility of the exchange rate, and the width of the band where the exchange rate is allowed to fluctuate. These three concepts should be related since the band width induces a trade-off between credibility and volatility. Narrower bands should give less scope for the exchange rate to fluctuate but may make agents perceive a larger probability of realignment which by itself should increase the volatility of the exchange rate. We build a model where this trade-off is made explicit. The model is used to understand the reduction in volatility experienced by most EMS countries after their target zones were widened on August 1993. As a natural extension, the model also rationalizes the existence of non-official, implicit target zones (or fear of floating), suggested by some authors.
Mutation of Androgen Receptor N-Terminal Phosphorylation Site Tyr-267 Leads to Inhibition of Nuclear Translocation and DNA Binding

Reactivation of androgen receptor (AR) may drive recurrent prostate cancer in castrate patients. Ack1 tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in prostate cancer and promotes castrate resistant xenograft tumor growth and enhances androgen target gene expression and AR recruitment to enhancers. Ack1 phosphorylates AR at Tyr-267 and possibly Tyr-363, both in the N-terminal transactivation domain. In this study, the role of these phosphorylation sites was investigated by characterizing the phosphorylation site mutants in the context of full length and truncated AR lacking the ligand-binding domain. Y267F and Y363F mutants showed decreased transactivation of reporters. Expression of wild type full length and truncated AR in LNCaP cells increased cell proliferation in androgen-depleted conditions and increased colony formation. However, the Y267F mutant of full length and truncated AR was defective in stimulating cell proliferation. The Y363F mutant was less severely affected than the Y267F mutant. The full length AR Y267F mutant was defective in nuclear translocation induced by androgen or Ack1 kinase. The truncated AR was constitutively localized to the nucleus. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that it was recruited to the target enhancers without androgen. The truncated Y267F AR mutant did not exhibit constitutive nuclear localization and androgen enhancer binding activity. These results support the concept that phosphorylation of Tyr-267, and to a lesser extent Tyr-363, is required for AR nuclear translocation and recruitment and DNA binding and provide a rationale for development of novel approaches to inhibit AR activity.
Pointing in Intelligent Environments with the WorldCursor

We introduce the WorldCursor, a pointing device and cursor designed for intelligent environments. The WorldCursor is analogous to the mouse and cursor used in traditional GUIs: the user may select and interact with a physical device by positioning the cursor on the device and clicking. We use the XWand (Wilson, 2003) as a physical pointing mechanism, and couple it with the WorldCursor device which projects a cursor on the physical environment. The WorldCursor improves upon the XWand by removing the need for external positioning technology such as video cameras. We detail the device and signal processing algorithms, and discuss its application in intelligent environments.
Kvasir: Seamless Integration of Latent Semantic Analysis-Based Content Provision into Web Browsing

The Internet is overloading its users with excessive information flows, so that effective content-based filtering becomes crucial in improving user experience and work efficiency. We build Kvasir, a semantic recommendation system, atop latent semantic analysis and other state-of-art technologies to seamlessly integrate an automated and proactive content provision service into web browsing. We utilize the power of Apache Spark to scale up Kvasir to a practical Internet service. Herein we present the architecture of Kvasir, along with our solutions to the technical challenges in the actual system implementation.