Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The evolution of intelligence in mammalian carnivores

Although intelligence should theoretically evolve to help animals solve specific types of problems posed by the environment, it is unclear which environmental challenges favour enhanced cognition, or how general intelligence evolves along with domain-specific cognitive abilities. The social intelligence hypothesis posits that big brains and great intelligence have evolved to cope with the labile behaviour of group mates. We have exploited the remarkable convergence in social complexity between cercopithecine primates and spotted hyaenas to test predictions of the social intelligence hypothesis in regard to both cognition and brain size. Behavioural data indicate that there has been considerable convergence between primates and hyaenas with respect to their social cognitive abilities. Moreover, compared with other hyaena species, spotted hyaenas have larger brains and expanded frontal cortex, as predicted by the social intelligence hypothesis. However, broader comparative study suggests that domain-general intelligence in carnivores probably did not evolve in response to selection pressures imposed specifically in the social domain. The cognitive buffer hypothesis, which suggests that general intelligence evolves to help animals cope with novel or changing environments, appears to offer a more robust explanation for general intelligence in carnivores than any hypothesis invoking selection pressures imposed strictly by sociality or foraging demands.
Standardized characterization of gene expression in human colorectal epithelium by two‐dimensional electrophoresis

New diagnostic and prognostic markers are needed in colorectal cancer. They can be found by differential analysis at DNA, RNA or protein level. The accuracy of phenotypic comparisons of tumor and normal tissues depends on the purity of the samples. We present an effective method to identify and isolate proteins that are differentially expressed under altered conditions, and a two‐dimensional reference protein map of the normal human colonic epithelium Normal colonic mucosa, primary tumors and liver metastases were prepared in the operating room. After washing in an ice‐cold medium containing protease inhibitors, crypts were isolated by mechanical preparation without using metalloproteinases. Epithelial cells were then selected using Ber‐EP4 Dynabeads. The samples were denaturated before processing for immobilized pH gradient two‐dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis according to SWISS‐2DPAGE standards. The samples contained more than 95% epithelial cells as confirmed by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting using pan‐anticytokeratin antibodies. Cell surfaces were not damaged, as assessed by scanning electronic microscope. A protein reference map of the normal colonic epithelium was defined. Using gel matching, N‐terminal sequencing and/or immunoblotting techniques, 60 polypeptides – including proteins specifically expressed in colorectal epithelium – have now been identified. This reproducible method of sample preparation permits the comparison of protein patterns found in various pathological states with the present reference map (http://www.expasy.ch). Some of these patterns might provide diagnostic or prognostic markers, or even molecular targets for therapy in the future.
Asset Legitimacy in Experimental Asset Markets

We investigate whether prices in experimental asset markets behave differently when participants are required to trade with earned wealth compared to unearned wealth. Unearned endowed wealth, the standard practice in experimental studies of asset price bubbles, may elicit greater than normal risk-seeking behavior. We test for this altered behavior by requiring some participants to earn their initial market allocation. We do not find a significant difference in the frequency, severity, or duration of mispricing between earned and unearned endowments. Our results confirm the validity of the existing methodologies used in the study of bubbles in experimental settings.
The Definition of Money: Net Wealth and Neutrality as Criteria

This paper is an excerpt from a monograph on Monetary Statistics of the IJnited States, scheduled for publication late in 1969 by the National Bureau of Economic Research. It is part of one of a number of chapters dealing with the definition of money. These chapters trace earlier usage, examine alternative theoretical approaches, discuss the criteria that we regard as relevant to the choice of definition, present our own choice for the United States for the past century, and give the historical and empirical evidence that has become available since we made our decision. The chapter from which this excerpt was taken considers two sets of theoretical approaches: those that have stressed the "medium of exchange" function of money, and those that have stressed the "asset function. " This excerpt is part of the discussion of approaches stressing the medium of exchange function. Though self-contained, it is clearly incomplete.
Mode Division Multiplexing Communication Using Microwave Orbital Angular Momentum: An Experimental Study

Mode division multiplexing (MDM) using orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a recently developed physical layer transmission technique, which has obtained intensive interest among optics, millimeter-wave, and radio frequency due to its capability to enhance communication capacity while retaining an ultra-low receiver complexity. In this paper, the system model based on OAM-MDM is mathematically analyzed and it is theoretically concluded that such system architecture can bring a vast reduction in receiver complexity without capacity penalty compared with conventional line-of-sight multiple-in-multiple-out systems under the same physical constraint. Furthermore, a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4\times 4$ </tex-math></inline-formula> OAM-MDM communication experiment adopting a pair of easily realized Cassegrain reflector antennas capable of multiplexing/demultiplexing four orthogonal OAM modes of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$l = {-3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, −2, +2, and +3 is carried out at a microwave frequency of 10 GHz. The experimental results show high spectral efficiency as well as low receiver complexity.
Intuitive, Online, Simultaneous, and Proportional Myoelectric Control Over Two Degrees-of-Freedom in Upper Limb Amputees

We propose an approach for online simultaneous and proportional myoelectric control of two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) of the wrist, using surface electromyographic signals. The method is based on the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) of the wrist muscle activation to extract low-dimensional control signals translated by the user into kinematic variables. This procedure does not need a training set of signals for which the kinematics is known (labeled dataset) and is thus unsupervised (although it requires an initial calibration without labeled signals). The estimated control signals using NMF are used to directly control two DoFs of wrist. The method was tested on seven subjects with upper limb deficiency and on seven able-bodied subjects. The subjects performed online control of a virtual object with two DoFs to achieve goal-oriented tasks. The performance of the two subject groups, measured as the task completion rate, task completion time, and execution efficiency, was not statistically different. The approach was compared, and demonstrated to be superior to the online control by the industrial state-of-the-art approach. These results show that this new approach, which has several advantages over the previous myoelectric prosthetic control systems, has the potential of providing intuitive and dexterous control of artificial limbs for amputees.
Pesticides and health: a review of evidence on health effects, valuation of risks, and benefit-cost analysis.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000-2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures. FINDINGS This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area. ORIGINALITY/VALUE This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.
Intelligent task scheduler with high throughput NoC for real-time mobile object recognition SoC

An Intelligent Task Scheduler (ITS) together with Congestion-avoiding Flexible Routing (CAFeR) are proposed to minimize network congestion of network-on-chip (NoC), so as to improve the throughput of multi-core system for fast and accurate object recognition. The ITS predicts the communication pattern of next frame and intelligently assigns tasks to consumer cores. It also adaptively controls buffer threshold of each link in NoC to support CAFeR to enhance packet transaction throughput, which enables packets to communicate with less congestion. Thanks to the proposed ITS with 91.4% of prediction accuracy and CAFeR, the overall latency is reduced by 50.2%.
Parametric and Semiparametric Modeling of the Off‐Farm Labor Supply of Agrarian Households in Transition Bulgaria

The reaction of labor marketsto economic reforms is an important indicator of the progress of transition. Because of diminished government support and the breakup of state and collective enterprises, labor market adjustments in the transition economies have been particularly severe in the agricultural sector. Thisarticle evaluatesthe off-farm labor market for a sample of agrarian households in transition Bulgaria. We give particular attention to the distributional assumptions that underlie standard approaches to the evaluation of labor supply. A variety of specification tests are considered and support for standard maximum likelihood estimates which rely on normality as a maintained hypothesis is mixed. Alternative semiparametric (distribution-free) estimators are also considered. The empirical results indicate that, five years after the initiation of the transition, off-farm labor supply patterns for Bulgarian agricultural households are similar to what is commonly observed in developed market economies. Labor supply is positively affected by factors such as education and work experience which are hypothesized to increase off-farm wages. Social benefit programs providing monetary or in-kind support payments are shown to significantly decrease off-farm work. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
A novel strategy of pricing for steady-state security in deregulated environment

Security in power systems refers to the ability of the system to withstand imminent disturbances (contingencies). Maintaining security is an issue that must be addressed at the system level. Although the power industry is undergoing restructuring process worldwide, pricing for security is one of problems remaining unresolved. As risk assessment technology has been developed very quickly, with the application of both it and economical theory, the paper suggests an approach to solve the above problem. Therefore, the security of power systems, risk assessment and economical theory are combined to give a mathematical model for security price in the new deregulated environment to trade-off technology and economy.
Religion, spirituality, and depressive symptoms in patients with HIV/AIDS

BackgroundDepression has been linked to immune function and mortality in patients with chronic illnesses. Factors such as poorer spiritual well-being has been linked to increased risk for depression and other mood disorders in patients with HIV.ObjectiveWe sought to determine how specific dimensions of religion, spirituality, and other factors relate to depressive symptoms in a contemporary, multi-center cohort of patients with HIV/AIDS.DesignPatients were recruited from 4 medical centers in 3 cities in 2002 to 2003, and trained interviewers administered the questionnaires. The level of depressive symptoms was measured with the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-10) Scale. Independent variables included socio-demographics, clinical information, 8 dimensions of health status and concerns, symptoms, social support, risk attitudes, self-esteem, spirituality, religious affiliation, religiosity, and religious coping. We examined the bivariate and multivariable associations of religiosity, spirituality, and depressive symptoms.Measurements and main resultsWe collected data from 450 subjects. Their mean (SD) age was 43.8 (8.4) years; 387 (86.0%) were male; 204 (45.3%) were white; and their mean CD4 count was 420.5 (301.0). Two hundred forty-one (53.6%) fit the criteria for significant depressive symptoms (CESD-10 score >-10). In multivariable analyses, having greater health worries, less comfort with how one contracted HIV, more HIV-related symptoms, less social support, and lower spiritual well-being was assocuated with significant depressive symptoms (P<0.5). ConclusionA majority of patients with HIV reported having significant depressive symptoms. Poorer health status and perceptions, less social support, and lower spiritual well-being were related to significant depressive symptoms, while personal regligiosity and having a religious affiliation was not associated when controlling for other factors. Helping to address the spiritual needs of patients in the medical or community setting may be one way to decrease depressive symptoms in patients with HIV/AIDS.
Plant Cuticular Lipid Export Requires an ABC Transporter

A waxy protective cuticle coats all primary aerial plant tissues. Its synthesis requires extensive export of lipids from epidermal cells to the plant surface. Arabidopsis cer5 mutants had reduced stem cuticular wax loads and accumulated sheetlike inclusions in the cytoplasm of wax-secreting cells. These inclusions represented abnormal deposits of cuticular wax and resembled inclusions found in a human disorder caused by a defective peroxisomal adenosine triphosphate binding cassette (ABC) transporter. We found that the CER5 gene encodes an ABC transporter localized in the plasma membrane of epidermal cells and conclude that it is required for wax export to the cuticle.
Helicobacter pylori antibiotic resistance in Iran.

AIM To examine the frequency of antibiotic resistance in Iranian Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) strains isolated from two major hospitals in Tehran. METHODS Examination of antibiotic resistance was performed on 120 strains by modified disc diffusion test and PCR-RFLP methods. In addition, in order to identify the possible causes of the therapeutic failure in Iran, we also determined the resistance of these strains to the most commonly used antibiotics (metronidazole, amoxicillin, and tetracycline) by modified disc diffusion test. RESULTS According to modified disc diffusion test, 1.6% of the studied strains were resistant to amoxicillin, 16.7% to clarithromycin, 57.5% to metronidazole, and there was no resistance to tetracycline. Of the clarithromycin resistant strains, 73.68% had the A2143G mutation in the 23S rRNA gene, 21.05% A2142C, and 5.26% A2142G. None of the sensitive strains were positive for any of the three point mutations. Of the metronidazole resistant strains, deletion in rdxA gene was studied and detected in only 6 (5%) of the antibiogram-based resistant strains. None of the metronidazole sensitive strains possessed rdxA gene deletion. CONCLUSION These data show that despite the fact that clarithromycin has not yet been introduced to the Iranian drug market as a generic drug, nearly 20% rate of resistance alerts toward the frequency of macrolide resistance strains, which may be due to the widespread prescription of erythromycin in Iran. rdxA gene inactivation, if present in Iranian H pylori strains, may be due to other genetic defects rather than gene deletion.
Anatomy of the Eurobond Market 1980-2000

In this paper, we provide descriptive evidence of primary market activity in the Eurobond market for the period 1980-2000. This study explores the Bondware Database that contains 33,024 publicly issued Eurobonds. We analyse some characteristics of the issuers (nationality, industry and credit quality), the intermediary parties (bookrunners, lead managers, .) and the structures used for the bonds (currencies, size, years to maturity, interest and repayment structure, embedded options).
Focus on Excellence: Decision Making in Rehabilitation Nursing

&NA; This article describes the conceptual framework, design, implementation, and evaluation of a series of workshops for rehabilitation nurses in which the Decision Profile, a practical model for clinical decision making, was used. Evaluations confirmed that the approach was exceptionally effective, not only in engaging the audience and presenting information that would assist in continued professional development, but also in validating and supporting the participants’ intuitive processes and decision‐making patterns through analyses presented by experts.
Convergent validation of two measures of organizational socialization

The convergent, divergent and predictive validities of two multidimensional measures of organizational socialization were assessed. Respondents completed Chao et al.'s (1994) six-part content areas of socialization (CAS) measure, Taormina's (1994) four-part organizational socialization inventory (OSI) and measures of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analyses yielded greater dimensional integrity for the OSI than for the CAS. Correlations and regressions demonstrated very strong convergent validity between the corresponding subscales, with the OSI covering an additional area of socialization not addressed by the CAS. In regression analyses using commitment and satisfaction as the criterion (outcome) variables, both measures also were able to explain significant amounts of variance, demonstrating excellent predictive validity.
Inhibition of De Novo Purine Biosynthesis and Interconversion by 6-Methylpurine in Escherichia coli

The inhibition of Escherichia coli strain B and strain W-11 by 6-methylpurine depended on the formation of 6-methylpurine ribonucleotide by the action of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (AMP: pyrophosphate phosphoribosyltransferase, EC 2.4.2.7). 6-Methylpurine ribonucleotide inhibited the de novo synthesis of purines, presumably via pseudofeedback inhibition of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase (EC 2.4.2.14). The same mechanism accounted for its inhibition of adenylosuccinate synthetase [IMP: l-aspartate ligase (GDP), EC 6.3. 4.4]. Adenine and 6-methylaminopurine prevented inhibition by competing for the action of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase. In addition, adenine reversed this inhibition by replenishing the AMP to bypass both sites of inhibition. Nonproliferating suspensions of strain B-94, which lacked adenylosuccinate lyase (EC 4.3.2.2), converted exogenous hypoxanthine and aspartate to succinoadenine derivatives which accumulated in the medium. Compounds which inhibited adenylosuccinate synthetase inhibited accumulation of the succinoadenine derivatives. A method was described for the isolation of mutants which potentially possessed an altered adenylosuccinate synthetase.
Endogenous Minimum Participation in International Environmental Treaties

Many international treaties come into force only after a minimum number of countries have signed and ratified the treaty. Minimum participation constraints are particularly frequent in the case of environmental treaties dealing with global commons, where free-riding incentives are strong. Why do countries that know they have an incentive to free-ride accept to “tie their hands” through the introduction of a minimum participation constraint? This article addresses the above issues by modeling the formation of an international treaty as a three-stage non-cooperative coalition formation game. Both the equilibrium minimum participation constraint and the number of signatories—the coalition size—are determined. This article, by showing that a non-trivial partial coalition, sustained by a binding minimum participation constraint, forms at the equilibrium, explains the occurrence of minimum participation clauses in most international environmental agreements. It also analyses the endogenous equilibrium size of the minimum participation constraint.
Growth, Poverty, and Inequality: Evidence from Post-Communist Economies

This article empirically examines the relationship between growth, poverty, and income inequality in 10 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries between 1991 and 2006 with a special focus given to the three most successful economies within this group: Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. Largely, by means of panel techniques, results support the pro-poor growth hypothesis as the author confirms that countries' increased aggregate income contributes to poverty reduction. Moreover, some evidence has been found supporting a Kuznets' type inverted-U shape amongst the 10 CIS countries, once a number of variables have been controlled for. The author found that initial conditions (particularly, initial inequality) play an important role in explaining differences in growth patterns. Oil-producing/exporting countries have benefited from that condition in terms of reducing domestic inequalities. Finally, no statistically significant causal relation was found between real gross domestic product and poverty or between real gross domestic product and inequality (in both causality directions).
Factors influencing container carriers’ use of coastal shipping

Coastal shipping is one of the most sustainable and economically competitive modes of transportation. This study employs the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to determine the importance of various factors influencing container carriers’ use of coastal shipping. A three-level hierarchical structure with the 17 attributes is proposed and tested. A previous AHP survey in Taiwan has indicated that port policy and infrastructure is the most critical factor influencing the coastal shipping by container carriers followed by operational cost, operational strategy and operational efficiency. Overall, the results indicate that the five most important attributes influencing the use of coastal shipping are simplified customs procedures; leasing a dedicated terminal; transhipment time; a favourable port charge system and efficient terminal operations.