Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forecasting Instability : Are Ethnic Wars and Muslim Countries Different ?

Prepared for delivery at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4, 2005. Copyright by the American Poli tica Science Association. The research summarized in this paper was done as part of the wo rk of the Political Instability Task Force (formerly the State Failure Task Force), and the au thors acknowledge the invaluable work of members of the Task Force who helped design and eva luate successive versions of these models, in particular Robert H. Bates and David Laitin (the Ethnic War model) and Barbara Harff (the Muslim model). We also thank the SAIC researchers for their indispensable work in developing data and carrying out and interpreting the statisti cal analyses, especially Jay Ulfelder and Michael Lustik.
Labour participation of people living with HIV/AIDS in Spain.

OBJECTIVE This study explores the relationship between the employment status of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals and socioeconomic and health characteristics in Spain. METHODS Data were obtained from four waves of the HIV/AIDS Hospital Survey from the period 2001 to 2004. The sample was composed of 3376 individuals between 16 and 64 years. Assessment of employment participation was performed using a probit model on a wide range of socioeconomic and lifestyle-related variables. RESULTS The main variables explaining the probability of participation in the labour market were age, gender, education level, CD4 cell count, health status, time since HIV diagnosis, psychological impact of contracting the disease or its progression, the most likely means of transmission and intravenous drug use (IDU). The significance of each of these variables differs for men and women as well as for injecting drug users (IDUs) and non-IDUs. CONCLUSIONS The employment status of HIV-positive individuals is directly related to their health status and other personal characteristics. Policies to improve the well-being of HIV-positive individuals should not be limited to any one sector as their needs require strategies with a multidisciplinary approach.
A novel channel model for relay MIMO cooperative communication based on the Geometrical two-ring

In this paper, a novel channel model on the relay multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) cooperative communication on the basis of the Geometrically Based Double-Bounce Model (GBDBM) is proposed. The correlation properties of the scattering components in the frequency-nonselective two-ring model are investigated. The closed-form solutions of the space-time cross-correlation function (CCF) in Rician fading MIMO relay channel is presented. The simulation results of CCF are analyzed for various spacing of antenna and moving velocities of the relay node (RN) and the destination node (DN).
Gender differences in lung growth

Annual measurements of lung volumes and forced expiratory flows were made in 281 boys and girls from 8 to 12 years and in another cohort of 287 from 12 to 20 years to measure longitudinal lung growth. Gender differences in growth of lung function were documented, with girls generating greater volume‐standardized maximal expiratory flows until age 18.5 years. Beyond that age boys generated higher expiratory flows in proportion to total lung capacity (TLC). There was a time lag of up to 1 year between the age of peak growth velocity in lung volume and peak growth velocity in height. Age at peak growth in flow lagged another year behind that in volume. This was noted more in boys than girls. Dysanaptic lung growth was found with differing rates of growth of maximal expiratory flow compared with TLC or vital capacity (VC). © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
User Interaction Optimization for an Evolving Classifier of Handwritten Gesture Commands

Touch sensitive interface enables new interaction methods, like using gesture commands. The use of gesture commands give rise to a cross-learning situation where the user has to learn and memorize the command gestures and the classifier has to learn and recognize drawn gestures. To easily memorize more than a dozen of gesture commands, it is important to be able to customize them. The classification task associated with the use of customized gesture commands is complex because the classifier only has very few samples per class to start learning from. We thus need an evolving recognition system that can start from very few data samples and that will learn incrementally to achieve good performance after some using time. This article presents the impact of using rejection based user interactions to supervise the on-line training of the evolving classifier. The objective is to obtain a gesture command system that cooperates as best as possible with the user: to learn from its mistakes without soliciting him too often. To detect confusing classes we apply confusion reject principles to our evolving recognizer, which is based on a first order fuzzy inference system. A significant user experiment has been performed on 63 persons that validates our approach. This user experiment shows the interest of optimizing user interactions by taking into account the confusion detection capability of our recognition system.
PHD3–SUMO conjugation represses HIF1 transcriptional activity independently of PHD3 catalytic activity

ABSTRACT By controlling HIF&agr; hydroxylation and stability, the prolyl hydroxylase domain (PHD)-containing proteins are essential to the maintenance of oxygen homeostasis; therefore these enzymes are tightly regulated. Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) is a 10-kDa protein readily conjugated to lysine residues of the targeted proteins in a process termed SUMOylation. In this study, we introduce SUMO conjugation as a novel regulator of PHD3 (also known as EGLN3). PHD3 SUMOylation occurs at a cluster of four lysines at the C-terminal end of the protein. Furthermore, PHD3 SUMOylation by SUMO2 or SUMO3 contributes to PHD3-mediated repression of HIF1-dependent transcriptional activity. Interestingly, PHD3–SUMO conjugation does not affect PHD3 hydroxylase activity or HIF1&agr; stability, providing new evidence for a dual role of PHD3 in HIF1 regulation. Moreover, we show that hypoxia modulates PHD3–SUMO conjugation and that this modification inversely correlates with HIF1 activation. PHD3 SUMOylation highlights a new and additional layer of regulation that is likely required to fine-tune HIF function.
Quantitative Analysis of Intestinal Bacterial Populations From Term Infants Fed Formula Supplemented With Fructo-oligosaccharides

Objectives: Previous studies of infant formulas supplemented with oligosaccharides reported mixed results regarding the impact on intestinal microbial populations. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of supplementation of an infant formula with fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on select groups of intestinal bacteria in term infants. Methods: Four groups of infants were enrolled and fed human milk, a commercially available milk-based infant formula, or infant formula supplemented with 2.0 or 3.0 g/L FOS. Dietary intake, stool, and tolerance events were recorded. Fresh stool samples were collected approximately 27 days after feeding the diets (approximately 32 days after birth). Total bacteria, Bacteroides (as commensal bacteria), Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, and Clostridium difficile and Escherichia coli were quantified using respective specific real-time PCR assays. Results: The formula feeding groups did not differ in stool consistency and stool frequency or frequency of spit-up or vomit during the entire study. The formula-fed infants tended to have more total bacteria in their stool samples than the human milk–fed infants. The formula-fed infants harbored a greater abundance of C difficile and E coli than the human milk–fed infants, but had a similar abundance of Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, and Lactobacillus. The FOS supplementation at either dose did not significantly increase the bifidobacterial or lactobacilli populations, or decrease the populations of C difficile, E coli, or Bacteroides. Conclusions: The milk-based formula used in this study supported bifidobacterial and lactobacilli populations comparable with the human milk group; however, this formula did not suppress E coli or C difficile as effectively as human milk.
Posttranscriptional Regulation of Thyrotropin β-Subunit Messenger Ribonucleic Acid by Thyroid Hormone in Murine Thyrotrope Tumor Cells: A Conserved Mechanism across Species.

Thyroid hormone (T3) negatively regulates TSH beta-subunit (TSHbeta) messenger RNA (mRNA) gene expression in whole rat pituitary, in part at the level of mRNA stability. However, the regulation of TSHbeta mRNA turnover by T3 in pure populations of thyrotropes and in other species is unknown. To further investigate this, we used murine thyrotropic TtT97 tumor cells. Using primary cultures of TtT97 cells, T3 down-regulated TSHbeta mRNA to approximately 35% of the control level by 8 h. Actinomycin D chase revealed that T3 destabilized TSHbeta mRNA, reducing the half-life from approximately 24 to 7 h, and was accompanied by a decrease in TSHbeta mRNA size. Ribonuclease H analysis revealed that this T3-induced decrease in size was due to a shortening of poly(A) tail from approximately 160 to approximately 30 nucleotides and was specific for TSHbeta mRNA. Cycloheximide mimicked the poly(A) tail effect observed with T3. In the absence of T3, actinomycin D deadenylated TSHbeta mRNA without inducing rapid decay. We conclude that T3 reduces the steady state half-life of TSHbeta mRNA in murine TtT97 thyrotropic tumor cells accompanied by a reduction in poly(A) tail length. However, in the absence of T3, deadenylation alone is not sufficient to induce TSHbeta mRNA decay. Together with the high degree of sequence conservation in the 3'-untranslated region of murine and rat TSHbeta mRNA sequences and the similarities of the T3 effect, these data provide the first evidence for a highly conserved posttranscriptional mechanism operative across species. We propose a model in which T3 coordinately regulates shortening of the poly(A) tail and the activity of a transacting RNA-binding protein and/or an exonuclease to accelerate TSHbeta mRNA turnover.
Decomposition of satellite-derived images for the distinction of cloud types' features

Linear filtering methods using convolution techniques are applied in computer vision, to detect spatial discontinuities in the intensity of luminance of photograph images. These techniques are based on the following principal: a pixel’s neighborhood contains information about its intensity. The variation of this intensity provides some information about the distribution and the possible decomposition of the image in various features. This decomposition relies on the relative position of the pixel (edge or not) on the image. These principals, integrated into remote sensing analyses, are applied in this study to differentiate cloud morphological features representing cloud types from a thermal image product (the Cloud top temperatures) derived from polar orbit satellites’ observations. This approach contrast with that of other techniques commonly used in satellite cloud classification, and based on optical or thermodynamic properties of the clouds. The interpretation of the distribution of these cloud morphological features, and their frequency is evaluated against another cloud classification method relying on cloud optical properties. The results show a relatively good match between the two classifications. Implications of these results, on the estimation of the impact of cloud shapes’ variations on the recent climate are discussed.
Risk factors for microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria in type 2 diabetic patients: a 9-year follow-up study.

Several risk factors have been related to the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN) in type 2 diabetic patients, such as hyperglycemia, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, and smoking (1–5). Higher urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) levels, even within the normal range, have been suggested to predict the development of DN in type 2 diabetic patients (1,2). Glomerular hyperfiltration has been investigated as a putative risk factor with conflicting results (6,7). The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors for micro- and macroalbuminuria in a cohort of 52 normoalbuminuric type 2 diabetic patients (UAER <20 μg/min, 30 men, aged 53 ± 6 years, diabetes duration 6 years). Baseline clinical and renal evaluation (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] and UAER measurements) was performed from January 1988 through December 1989 (8). Patients were reevaluated between January 1998 and March 2000; they were followed-up for …
Development of the body checking questionnaire: a self-report measure of body checking behaviors.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to develop a brief self-report inventory to assess body checking behaviors. METHOD Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the 23-item Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ) was developed. The BCQ measures the global construct of body checking behaviors with three correlated subfactors that assess checking related to overall appearance, checking of specific body parts, and idiosyncratic checking rituals. RESULTS The BCQ was found to have good test-retest reliability (.94) and the subfactors had good internal consistency (.88, .92, and .83). The measure correlated highly with other measures of negative body image and eating disorders, demonstrating its concurrent validity. Additionally, the BCQ was found to differentiate normal controls and eating disorder patients, as well as nonclinical participants scoring high and low on a measure of concern with body size and dieting. DISCUSSION Due to the potential role of ritualistic body checking in the maintenance of body dissatisfaction by directing excessive attention to body shape/weight, the BCQ may prove to be a useful clinical tool in the assessment and treatment of eating disorder patients.
Swarm Intelligence Course (INFO-H-414) - Exams

For the project, you will have to provide: • Your code in digital format (i.e., text files), so we can test it. Send it by e-mail to the people responsible for your project (see contacts at the end of the document); • A short document (6-8 pages, single spaced, font size 12) written in English that describes your work. You have to explain both the idea and the implementation of your solution, follow the instructions provided for each project.
Low paternity skew and the influence of maternal kin in an egalitarian, patrilocal primate

Levels of reproductive skew vary in wild primates living in multimale groups depending on the degree to which high-ranking males monopolize access to females. Still, the factors affecting paternity in egalitarian societies remain unexplored. We combine unique behavioral, life history, and genetic data to evaluate the distribution of paternity in the northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus), a species known for its affiliative, nonhierarchical relationships. We genotyped 67 individuals (22 infants born over a 3-y period, their 21 mothers, and all 24 possible sires) at 17 microsatellite marker loci and assigned paternity to all infants. None of the 13 fathers were close maternal relatives of females with which they sired infants, and the most successful male sired a much lower percentage of infants (18%) than reported for the most successful males in other species. Our findings of inbreeding avoidance and low male reproductive skew are consistent with the muriqui's observed social and sexual behavior, but the long delay (≥2.08 y) between the onset of male sexual behavior and the age at which males first sire young is unexpected. The allocation of paternity implicates individual male life histories and access to maternal kin as key factors influencing variation in paternal—and grandmaternal—fitness. The apparent importance of lifelong maternal investment in coresident sons resonates with other recent examinations of maternal influences on offspring reproduction. This importance also extends the implications of the “grandmother hypothesis” in human evolution to include the possible influence of mothers and other maternal kin on male reproductive success in patrilocal societies.
The π‐helix translates structure into function

A search for the occurrence of the rare π‐helix was performed with Iditis from the Oxford Molecular Group upon the Protein Data Bank. In 8 of the 10 confirmed crystal structures that harbor the π‐helix, its unique conformation has been linked directly to the formation or stabilization of a specific binding site within the protein. In the discussion to follow, the role for each of these eight π‐helices will be addressed in regard to protein function. It is clear upon closer examination that the conformation of the π‐helix has evolved to provide unique structural features within a variety of proteins.
A comparison of solar wind and estimated solar system xenon abundances: a test for solid/gas fractionation in the solar nebula.

Significant fractionation of dust/gas from the original interstellar cloud during the formation of the solar system is a distinct possibility. Identification of such an effect would provide important clues to nebular processes. Fractionation of volatiles is not constrained by CI abundances and only for the most abundant ones by photospheric observations. The solar Xe elemental abundance is determined here via solar wind measurements from lunar ilmenites and normalized to Si by spacecraft data. The results are compared with estimated abundances assuming no fractionation, which are relatively well constrained for Xe by s-process calculations, odd-mass abundance interpolations, and odd-even abundance systematics. When corrected for solar wind/photospheric fractionation, the ^(130)Xe abundance given by surface layer oxidation of ilmenite from soil 71501, exposed within the last - 200 m.y. , is 0.24 ± 0.09 normalized to Si = 10^6. This is indistinguishable from the estimates made assuming no solid/gas fractionation. A similar result was obtained for Kr by Wiens et al (1991). Results from breccia 79035 ilmenite, exposed at least ~1 Gy ago, indicate that the solar wind Xe flux may have been significantly higher relative to other noble gases, perhaps due to more efficient Xe ionization. If this is true, fluxes of C and S, which have similar first ionization potentials to Xe, should also be higher in the ancient solar wind from the same time period, though such variations have not been observed.
Ophthalmologic Techniques for Evaluating Glaucoma Description

Glaucoma is a disease characterized by degeneration of the optic nerve (optic disc). Elevated intraocular pressure has long been thought to be the primary etiology, but the relationship between intraocular pressure and optic nerve damage varies among patients, suggesting a multifactorial origin. For example, some patients with clearly elevated intraocular pressure will show no optic nerve damage, while other patients with marginal or no pressure elevation will, nonetheless, show optic nerve damage. The association between glaucoma and other vascular disorders such as diabetes or hypertension suggests vascular factors may play a role in glaucoma. Specifically, it has been hypothesized that reductions in blood flow to the optic nerve may contribute to the visual field defects associated with glaucoma.
Hidden-layer Ensemble Fusion of MLP Neural Networks for Pedestrian Detection

Being able to detect pedestrians is a crucial task for intelligent agents especially for autonomous vehicles, robots navigating in cities, machine vision, automatic traffic control in smart cities, and public safety and security. Various sophisticated pedestrian detection systems have been presented in literature and most of the state-of-the-art systems have two main components: feature extraction and classification. Over the past decade, the majority of the attention has been paid to feature extraction. In this paper, we show that much can be gained by having a high-performing classification algorithm, and changing only the classification component of the detection pipeline while fixing the feature extraction mechanism constant, we show reduction in pedestrian detection error (in terms of log-average miss rate) by over 40%. To be specific, we propose a novel algorithm for generating a compact and efficient ensemble of Multi-layer Perceptron neural networks that is well-suited for pedestrian detection both in terms of detection accuracy and speed. We demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed method by comparing with several state-of-the-art pedestrian detection algorithms.
Comparison of Exactness of Scalar and Vectorial Optical Methods Used to Model a VCSEL Operation

In the paper, a comparison between results of the optical scalar and vectorial optical methods, using the scalar effective frequency method and the vectorial method of lines, respectively, as their typical examples, applied for simulating an operation of vertical-cavity surface-emitting diode lasers (VCSELs) is presented. Both optical approaches has been applied to simulate an operation of the standard 1.3-mum GaAs-based oxide-confined GaInAsN double quantum-well VCSEL, but comparison conclusions seem to be more general and concerns all VCSELs. Validity limits of the simplified scalar approach have been determined by comparing its approximate results with more exact ones obtained with the aid of the accurate vectorial model. The scalar model has been found to be quite exact in the case of a determination of the wavelength of emitted radiation, whereas its exactness in the lasing threshold analysis is much worse, especially in the case of higher order modes, smaller aperture diameters and/or weak radial optical guidance. Our analysis leads also to more general designing conclusions concerning the optimal position and the thickness of the oxide layer assuring, respectively, the stable single mode operation and the lowest threshold gain
Vascular Malformations: Approach by an Interventional Radiologist

Abstract Children with vascular malformations are best managed with a multidisciplinary team of specialists. Interventional radiology may deliver primary treatment such as staged sclerotherapy and embolization for malformations that are poor candidates for primary surgical resection or play a supportive role such as preoperative or intraoperative embolization. A thorough understanding of vascular morphology and flow dynamics is imperative to choosing the best treatment tool and technique. In this review, the author discusses the selection of techniques and tools used to treat vascular malformations based on their angiographic morphology.