Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arabinogalactan Proteins as Interactors along the Crosstalk between the Pollen Tube and the Female Tissues

Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) have long been considered to be implicated in several steps of the reproductive process of flowering plants. Pollen tube growth along the pistil tissues requires a multiplicity of signaling pathways to be activated and turned off precisely, at crucial timepoints, to guarantee successful fertilization and seed production. In the recent years, an outstanding effort has been made by the plant reproduction scientific community in order to better understand this process. This resulted in the discovery of a fairly substantial number of new players essential for reproduction, as well as their modes of action and interactions. Besides all the indications of AGPs involvement in reproduction, there were no convincing evidences about it. Recently, several studies came out to prove what had long been suggested about this complex family of glycoproteins. AGPs consist of a large family of hydroxyproline-rich proteins, predicted to be anchored to the plasma membrane and extremely rich in sugars. These two last characteristics always made them perfect candidates to be involved in signaling mechanisms, in several plant developmental processes. New findings finally relate AGPs to concrete functions in plant reproduction. In this review, it is intended not only to describe how different molecules and signaling pathways are functioning to achieve fertilization, but also to integrate the recent discoveries about AGPs along this process.
Near Normalization of Metabolic and Functional Features of the Central Nervous System in Type 1 Diabetic Patients With End-Stage Renal Disease After Kidney-Pancreas Transplantation

OBJECTIVE The pathogenesis of brain disorders in type 1 diabetes (T1D) is multifactorial and involves the adverse effects of chronic hyperglycemia and of recurrent hypoglycemia. Kidney-pancreas (KP), but not kidney alone (KD), transplantation is associated with sustained normoglycemia, improvement in quality of life, and reduction of morbidity/mortality in diabetic patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The aim of our study was to evaluate with magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) the cerebral morphology and metabolism of 15 ESRD plus T1D patients, 23 patients with ESRD plus T1D after KD (n = 9) and KP (n = 14) transplantation, and 8 age-matched control subjects. RESULTS Magnetic resonance imaging showed a higher prevalence of cerebrovascular disease in ESRD plus T1D patients (53% [95% CI 36–69]) compared with healthy subjects (25% [3–6], P = 0.04). Brain 1H MRS showed lower levels of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)-to-choline ratio in ESRD plus T1D, KD, and KP patients compared with control subjects (control subjects vs. all, P < 0.05) and of NAA-to-creatine ratio in ESRD plus T1D compared with KP and control subjects (ESRD plus T1D vs. control and KP subjects, P ≤ 0.01). The evaluation of the most common scores of psychological and neuropsychological function showed a generally better intellectual profile in control and KP subjects compared with ESRD plus T1D and KD patients. CONCLUSIONS Diabetes and ESRD are associated with a precocious form of brain impairment, chronic cerebrovascular disease, and cognitive decline. In KP-transplanted patients, most of these features appeared to be near normalized after a 5-year follow-up period of sustained normoglycemia.
Critical exponents of the N-vector model

Recently the series for two renormalization group functions (corresponding to the anomalous dimensions of the fields and ) of the three-dimensional field theory have been extended to next order (seven loops) by Murray and Nickel. We examine the influence of these additional terms on the estimates of critical exponents of the N-vector model, using some new ideas in the context of the Borel summation techniques. The estimates have slightly changed, but remain within the errors of the previous evaluation. Exponents such as (related to the field anomalous dimension), which were poorly determined in the previous evaluation of Le Guillou-Zinn-Justin, have seen their apparent errors significantly decrease. More importantly, perhaps, summation errors are better determined. The change in exponents affects the recently determined ratios of amplitudes and we report the corresponding new values. Finally, because an error has been discovered in the last order of the published expansions (order ), we have also re-analysed the determination of exponents from the -expansion. The conclusion is that the general agreement between -expansion and three-dimensional series has improved with respect to Le Guillou-Zinn-Justin.
A Simple Parallel Algorithm to Draw Cubic Graphs

The main contribution of this work is to offer a simple and cost-efficient parallel algorithm that, given an arbitrary n-vertex cubic graph G as input, produces an orthogonal grid drawing of G in O(log n) time, using n processors on an EREW PRAM. Our algorithm matches the time and cost performance of the best previously-known algorithm while at the same time improving the constant factors involved in two important metrics: layout area and number of bends. More importantly, however, our algorithm stands out by its conceptual simplicity and ease of implementation.
Physical Activity of Remote Indigenous Australian Women: A Postcolonial Analysis of Lifestyle

In the context of rising chronic diseases amongst Indigenous peoples, there are calls for the adoption of more healthy “lifestyles. ” In this context, this paper explores thoughts about physical activity from 21 Indigenous families through the voices of women and girls living in remote rural communities in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area, Australia. Speaking back to physical activity as a lifestyle “choice,” three consistent themes emerged: shame, gendered positioning, and welfarism. In conclusion, the perspectives of Torres Strait islanders and Northern Peninsula Area communities suggest that there are deeply embedded ways of thinking about the body, familial obligations, and the provision of and access to being active that are not consistent with Western health policies predicated upon individuals shouldering responsibility for “taking exercise. ”
Transparent and Specular Object Reconstruction

This state of the art report covers reconstruction methods for transparent and specular objects or phenomena. While the 3D acquisition of opaque surfaces with Lambertian reflectance is a well‐studied problem, transparent, refractive, specular and potentially dynamic scenes pose challenging problems for acquisition systems. This report reviews and categorizes the literature in this field.
Factors predicting adherence to 9 months of supervised exercise in healthy older women.

BACKGROUND Little is known about factors affecting adherence to highly-structured and supervised exercise programs in older people. METHODS Healthy, inactive older (≥65 y) women (N = 30) were randomized into a 1) higher- (ATH-80% VO₂peak); 2) moderate- (ATM-65% VO₂peak) intensity aerobic; or 3) lower-intensity resistance (RTL; 50% VO₂peak) group. All 3 groups exercised 4 days·week⁻¹ for an average of 45 to 70 min·session⁻¹ over 9 months. Adherence (%) was defined as the proportion of prescribed sessions (N = 144) in which subjects achieved their 1) prescribed heart rate (intensity adherence) and 2) their prescribed duration (duration adherence). Primary determinants of adherence included prescribed intensity (METs) and prescribed duration (min), as well as age, body composition, VO₂peak, and exercise self-efficacy score. RESULTS Intensity adherence was nearly 100% for all 3 groups, while duration adherence was 95%, 91%, and 85% in the RTL, ATH, and ATM groups, respectively. Prescribed exercise duration was the strongest determinant of duration adherence (r = -0.72; P < .0001), independent of prescribed METs, age, VO₂peak, and body composition. CONCLUSIONS Due to competing lifestyle demands, exercise intensity may be less of a factor in adherence among older women than is exercise duration.
On singular value functions and Hankel operators for nonlinear systems

In linear system theory, the Hankel singular values are often computed in a state space setting using the product of Gramian matrices. They are known, however, to be intrinsically dependent only on the input-output map and not on any choice of state space coordinates. In the nonlinear case, there are well defined notions of singular value functions and a Hankel operator, but the connections between the two have not been established. We address the problem in two ways, and show that it is possible to establish an explicit connection using a method that is very reminiscent of the way singular values are usually defined for compact linear operators.
Coping with loneliness in childhood

The aim of this study was to examine coping with loneliness during early, middle, and late childhood, which is a highly neglected research issue. Children's perceptions of coping with loneliness and coping with real loneliness experiences in the past were investigated. Interviews were conducted with 180 second, fourth, and sixth graders from Athens, Greece. Qualitative analyses of children's responses were done on the basis of a recent conceptualization of coping with stress in childhood and adolescence (Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007), which was supported by the data. Statistically significant age and gender differences were found. Results are discussed from the viewpoint of the two literatures—coping and loneliness—that this study attempted to bring together, and suggestions for future research are made.
Spirituality, Life Stress, and Affective Well-Being

Recent research has explored many aspects of affective well-being, including depressive symptoms, positive and negative affect. The present study sought to contribute to this line of inquiry by investigating the role of life stress, spiritual life integration (SLI), and social justice commitment (SJC) in predicting affective well-being. Participants were 136 undergraduate students with a mean age of 18.82 (SD = 1.07), and age range of 17–22. Participants completed a questionnaire packet including the Undergraduate Stress Questionnaire (USQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and Spiritual Involvement Scale which includes SLI and SJC subscales. In line with previous findings, life stress significantly predicted negative affect and depressive symptoms in hierarchical regression analyses. Contrary to previous research, SLI did not predict any aspect of affective well-being. Finally, SJC significantly predicted positive affect, negative affect, and depressive symptoms. Interpretations, implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.
The Role of Context in Managing Information Infrastructure Services

Contemporary organizations are increasingly dependent on information infrastructures to deliver their services. However, information infrastructures are highly complex and dynamic, which lead to considerable management challenges. This research aims to contribute to our understanding of these challenges through an in-depth investigation of a team responsible for information infrastructure services at a large business and technology service company. The complexity and dynamics faced by the team emphasizes the important role of context in managing its information infrastructure services and underlying technology platform. To investigate the team’s practice we therefore adopt contextualist inquiry in combination with a pluralist approach based on four complementary theoretical lenses; technological frames of references, risk management, control versus drift, and dynamic capabilities. As contributions, this research has the dual goal to improve the teams’ practices while at the same time providing new theoretical insights about the role of context in management of information infrastructure services.
Devising an Online Resource to Help Undergraduate Science Students Critically Evaluate Research Articles

Critically evaluating research papers is an important vehicle for promoting acculturation into a scientific discipline. As science students progress through their undergraduate studies, their critical abilities are expected to become heightened, and research papers are read and cited in order to support a variety of assignments, such as essays, critical reviews and presentations, progressing to shaping laboratory research projects and dissertation-writing. This article describes the process of designing a modular online resource. The resource is aimed at familiarising students with the structural conventions and argumentative devices used in research papers and supporting them in deep-reading a research paper in life sciences or chemistry. The modules employ audio- and video-recorded extracts from interviews with a key author to provide a context for the origins, motivations and processes behind the writing of a specific paper, plus scaffolded questions to encourage critical evaluation of the paper. Notable features of the project were the employment of a multi-disciplinary team of staff and research postgraduates coupled with the developmental testing of the resource by undergraduates. Lessons learnt from the project are considered, including the resource’s integration within the curriculum and the challenges of writing such interactive resources for different disciplines.
Semiparametric Bayesian Decision Models for Optimal Replacement

We present a Bayesian decision theoretic approach for developing replacament strategies. In so doing, we consider a semi-parametric model to describe the failure characteristics of systems by specifying a nonparametric form for cumulative intensity function and by taking into account effect of covariates by a parametric form. Use of a gamma process prior for the cumulative intensity function complicates the Bayesian analysis when the updating is based on failure count data. We develop a Bayesian analysis of the model using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods and determine replacement strategies. Adoption of MCMC methods involves a data augmentation algorithm. We show the implementation of our approach using actual data.
A global-local hybrid Evolutionary Strategy (ES) for Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) in system identification

Recurrent neural networks, through their unconstrained synaptic connectivity and resulting state-dependent nonlinear dynamics, offer a greater level of computational ability when compared with regular feedforward neural network (FFNs) architectures. A necessary consequence of this increased capability is a higher degree of complexity, which in turn leads to gradient-based learning algorithms for RNNs being more likely to be trapped in local optima, thus resulting in sub- optimal solutions. This motivates the use of evolutionary computational methods which center about the use of population- based global-search techniques as an optimization scheme. In this article, we propose the use of a hybrid evolutionary strategy (ES) approach together with an adaptive linear observer, acting as a local search operator, as a learning mechanism for general RNN applications. Illustrative examples, though largely preliminary in nature, in solving a few system identification problems, are encouraging.
Le néo-institutionnalisme dans l'analyse des organisations

Paul J. DiMaggio et Walter W. Powell [113-154]. Cet article n'offre ni un apercu general, ni une critique du neo-institutionnalisme dans la theorie des organisations. Il ne presente pas davantage un programme de recherches. L'objectif poursuivi est plutot de resituer la theorie «neo-institutionnelle» des organisations qu'on presente ici, tout d'abord au sein des differents institutionnalismes contemporains, en particulier ceux qui prevalent en economie et en science politique, et, dans un second temps, au sein de la sociologie et des etudes sur les organisations. Les auteurs se referent tout a la fois au «vieil» institutionnalisme et a certains developpements independants mais convergents de la theorie sociologique. Ils concluent en passant en revue plusieurs questions-clefs de l'analyse institutionnelle.
Lab on fiber technology for sensing applications

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of a 2D hybrid metallo-dielectric photonic crystal (PC) nanostructure, directly realized by innovatively applying the electron beam lithography technique on the cleaved end face of a standard single mode optical fiber (SMF). In our configuration, the PC is illuminated in the out-of-plane direction and plasmonic-photonic resonances are excited due to the phase matching condition between the scattered waves and the modes supported by the hybrid metallo-dielectric PC structure. The resonances can be easily tuned by acting on the PC physical and geometrical parameters. Moreover, by exploiting the elasticity properties of dielectric polymer material constituting our device, we show the resonances high sensitivity to acoustic pressure waves propagating in air.
Effects of different text display types on reading comprehension, sustained attention and cognitive load in mobile reading contexts

Despite the popularity of mobile reading devices, many studies have indicated that small screens restrict information transmission, adversely affecting reading performance on mobile devices. Moreover, mobile reading typically occurs in different reading contexts. Therefore, suitable text display type for mobile reading in different reading contexts should be considered, such that learners can effectively read content. This work selected the frequently used static and dynamic text display types (i.e. Paging and Auto-scrolling) and assessed their effects on mobile reading performance. Furthermore, the features of static and dynamic text display types were considered when designing a mixed text display type for mobile reading. Based on brainwave detector, reading-comprehension test sheet, and cognitive-load scale, this work designed a mobile reading experiment with a two-factor experimental design to assess the effects of the selected static, dynamic, and designed text display types, which were respectively presented in sitting, standing, and walking contexts, on reading comprehension, sustained attention, and cognitive load of learners. Experimental results show that sitting obtained the highest sustained attention and the mixed text garnered lowest sustained attention. Moreover, although analytical results show that no significant difference existed in overall reading comprehension with each text type presented with the mobile reading contexts, reading comprehension (i.e. memory, comprehension, and application types) was significantly affected by the reading context, and to some degree, the text display type. This work also found that the text display type is a major factor affecting learners' cognitive load; however, learners' cognitive load is not be affected by the considered reading contexts. Among the three text display types, the mixed type generates the highest cognitive load, followed by the dynamic type, and then the static type. In conclusion, the three reading contexts with the three text display types have both advantages and disadvantages for reading comprehension, sustained attention, and cognitive load. As a result, text display type for mobile reading on small screens should be adjusted according to reading context or to improve reading comprehension, attention, or cognitive load.
Process for preparing macroscopic quantities of brightly photoluminescent silicon nanoparticles with emission spanning the visible spectrum

Silicon nanoparticles with bright visible photoluminescence have been prepared by a new combined vapor phase and solution phase process, using only inexpensive commodity chemicals. CO2 laser induced pyrolysis of silane was used to produce Si nanoparticles at high rates (20−200 mg/h). Particles with an average diameter as small as 5 nm were prepared directly by this vapor phase (aerosol) synthesis. Etching these particles with mixtures of hydrofluoric acid (HF) and nitric acid (HNO3) reduced the size and passivated the surface of these particles such that after etching they exhibited bright visible luminescence at room temperature. The wavelength of maximum photoluminescence (PL) intensity was controlled from above 800 nm to below 500 nm by controlling the etching time and conditions. Particles with blue emission (maximum PL intensity at 420 nm) were prepared by rapid thermal oxidation of orange-emitting particles. The particle synthesis methods; steady-state photoluminescence spectra; results of their cha.
Antiphishing through Phishing Target Discovery

Phishing attacks are growing in both volume and sophistication. The antiphishing method described here collects webpages with either a direct or indirect association with a given suspicious webpage. This enables the discovery of a webpage's so-called "parasitic" community and then ultimately its phishing target - that is, the page with the strongest parasitic relationship to the suspicious webpage. Finding this target lets users determine whether the given webpage is a phishing page.
Generalized Transform Analysis of Affine Processes and Applications in Finance

Nonlinearity is an important consideration in many problems of finance and economics, such as pricing securities, computing equilibrium, and conducting structural estimations. We extend the transform analysis in Duffie, Pan, and Singleton (2000) by providing analytical treatment of a general class of nonlinear transforms for processes with tractable conditional characteristic functions. We illustrate the applications of the generalized transform method in pricing contingent claims and solving general equilibrium models with preference shocks, heterogeneous agents, or multiple goods. We also apply the method to a model of time-varying labor income risk and study the implications of stochastic covariance between labor income and dividends for the dynamics of the risk premiums on financial wealth and human capital.
A configurable pipelined state machine as a hybrid ASIC and configurable architecture

We present a configurable FSM where all units relevant for control and transition logic are configurable while the basic structural components like state registers are built of fixed logic. Implemented as part of an ASIC, FSMs are efficient and fast, but inflexible. When realized using FPGA hardware, they are flexible but inefficient in terms of area and speed. We describe the architecture of a combined approach faster and smaller than an FPGA implementation while providing full programmability.
Collegiate Attitudes toward Suicide: New Zealand and United States

Attitudes toward suicide, as assessed by the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ), were evaluated in samples of New Zealand (N = 236) and United States (N = 248) college students. Substantial differences were found, with New Zealand students attitudinally perceiving to a greater degree a relationship between suicide and mental illness, perceiving suicide as less serious, agreeing with the right to take one's life, and seeing suicide in a more religious context and as a less impulsive, less “normal,” and more moral action.