Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental changes in brood size alter several levels of phenotypic variance in offspring and 1 parent pied flycatchers 2 3 4

Abstract: Parental provisioning of offspring should reflect selection on life-history aspects of parenting and on foraging behavior. Life history and foraging theory generally make predictions about mean behavior, but some circumstances might favor changes in the variance of parent and offspring behaviors. We analyzed data on free-living pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) experiencing a brood size manipulation. We used double-hierarchical generalized linear models to investigate patterns in means and variances of provisioning, brood begging, and parental mass. As predicted by lifehistory theory, parents with enlarged broods of intensely begging nestlings fed at higher rates and delivered more food per unit of time. They also delivered food at a more consistent rate. This contradicts the prediction from variance-sensitive foraging theory that parents facing increased brood demand should choose more variable foraging options. Indirect evidence suggests that reduced variance in trip time arose from shifts in parental time budgets. Exploratory analyses revealed patterns in residual variance of both nestling begging and parental mass changes, with enlarged broods begging less consistently and female body mass changes being more variable after longer foraging trips. We show that parent pied flycatchers simultaneously adjust means and variances in multiple aspects of their provisioning effort to changes in brood demand and that these responses might be linked with nestling begging and changes in parental body mass. Our study highlights both the importance of adopting sophisticated statistical approaches and the potential intersection of two bodies of theory that may affect strategic adjustments of individuals engaged in central-place provisioning.
Immortalization of human WI38 cells is associated with differential activation of the c‐myc origins

To study the possible relationships between origin activities and cellular processes leading to malignancy, we used an isogenic system of human embryo lung fibroblast cells WI38 and a SV40‐transformed variant, WI38 VA13 2RA (WI38(SV40)). We found that the activities of all initiation sites at the c‐myc locus were approximately two‐fold as high in WI38(SV40) cells as in WI38 cells. Thus, higher initiation frequency of origins at certain loci is induced with cell immortalization, one of the steps in the multi‐step process leading to malignancy. We measured the activities of the four c‐myc promoters P0, P1, P2, and P3 with nuclear runon assay in the two cell lines in order to detect potential individual promoter changes that may be also associated with immortalization by SV40 virus. The results show that the activities of the promoters P0, P1, and P3 did not significantly change, but the activity of the major promoter P2 in WI38(SV40) cells was about 7.5‐ to 8.0‐fold as high as that in WI38 cells. The increased activity of promoter P2, although ∼600 bp downstream of one of the major DNA replication initiation sites, had no preferential influence on the major sites of origin activity. Since the distribution of nascent strand abundance was not significantly altered, binding of transcription factors does not seem to facilitate the assembly of pre‐replication complex (pre‐RC) or otherwise preferentially alter the activities of the DNA replication proteins at this major initiation site. J. Cell. Biochem. 82:522–534, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Capsaicin Injections Ensembles Evolves Over Several Hours After Perioral Simultaneous Reorganization in Thalamocortical

[PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , December 15, 2000; 20 (24): 9277-9283. J. Neurosci. Salvatore M. Aglioti Michele Tinazzi, Antonio Fiaschi, Tiziana Rosso, Franco Faccioli, Johannes Grosslercher and Cervical Radicular Pain Somatosensory System: A Somatosensory-Evoked Potentials Study in Patients with Neuroplastic Changes Related to Pain Occur at Multiple Levels of the Human [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , October 1, 2002; 88 (4): 2096-2103. J Neurophysiol Vasco Galhardo, A. Vania Apkarian and Deolinda Lima Tactile but not Nociceptive Stimulation Peripheral Inflammation Increases the Functional Coherency of Spinal Responses to [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] 2008; 99 (2): 866-875. J Neurophysiol Mooney Richard D. Lane, Charles P. Pluto, Cynthia L. Kenmuir, Nicolas L. Chiaia and Richard D. Influence Development of Anomalous Circuits Within the Somatosensory Cortex? Does Reorganization in the Cuneate Nucleus Following Neonatal Forelimb Amputation
Adoption of Mobile Banking and Perceived Risk in GCC

The study deals with the adoption of mobile banking services by respondents in UAE and the perception of risk factors by them. A model was developed on the Customer Adoption Process of mobile banking. The model is validated based on the data col- lected using the questionnaire from a sample of 90 respondents in UAE. Factor analysis is used to evaluate and analyze the responses. Belief in technology and the value it cre- ates are the major driving force for respondents to adopt mobile banking. Respondents perceive that mobile banking helps in proper financial planning due to continuous monitoring the transactions and time saving. Lack of privacy in the mobile banking transactions and not all banks offering mobile banking services in UAE are the major challenges perceived by the respondents for non-adoption of mobile banking. Respondents identify time risk, financial risk and performance risk as the most pre- dominant risk factors compared to other risks in the adoption process.
Long-Range RNA-RNA Interactions Circularize the Dengue Virus Genome

ABSTRACT Secondary and tertiary RNA structures present in viral RNA genomes play essential regulatory roles during translation, RNA replication, and assembly of new viral particles. In the case of flaviviruses, RNA-RNA interactions between the 5′ and 3′ ends of the genome have been proposed to be required for RNA replication. We found that two RNA elements present at the ends of the dengue virus genome interact in vitro with high affinity. Visualization of individual molecules by atomic force microscopy reveled that physical interaction between these RNA elements results in cyclization of the viral RNA. Using RNA binding assays, we found that the putative cyclization sequences, known as 5′ and 3′ CS, present in all mosquito-borne flaviviruses, were necessary but not sufficient for RNA-RNA interaction. Additional sequences present at the 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions of the viral RNA were also required for RNA-RNA complex formation. We named these sequences 5′ and 3′ UAR (upstream AUG region). In order to investigate the functional role of 5′-3′ UAR complementarity, these sequences were mutated either separately, to destroy base pairing, or simultaneously, to restore complementarity in the context of full-length dengue virus RNA. Nonviable viruses were recovered after transfection of dengue virus RNA carrying mutations either at the 5′ or 3′ UAR, while the RNA containing the compensatory mutations was able to replicate. Since sequence complementarity between the ends of the genome is required for dengue virus viability, we propose that cyclization of the RNA is a required conformation for viral replication.
Incorporating Phrase-level Sentiment Analysis on Textual Reviews for Personalized Recommendation

Previous research on Recommender Systems (RS), especially the continuously popular approach of Collaborative Filtering (CF), has been mostly focusing on the information resource of explicit user numerical ratings or implicit (still numerical) feedbacks. However, the ever-growing availability of textual user reviews has become an important information resource, where a wealth of explicit product attributes/features and user attitudes/sentiments are expressed therein. This information rich resource of textual reviews have clearly exhibited brand-new approaches to solving many of the important problems that have been perplexing the research community for years, such as the paradox of cold-start, the explanation of recommendation, and the automatic generation of user or item profiles. However, it is only recently that the fundamental importance of textual reviews has gained wide recognition, perhaps mainly because of the difficulty in formatting, structuring and analyzing the free-texts. In this research, we stress the importance of incorporating textual reviews for recommendation through phrase-level sentiment analysis, and further investigate the role that the texts play in various important recommendation tasks.
Neighbourhood Discriminant Locally Linear Embedding in Face Recognition

Face images are often very high-dimensional and complex. However, the actual underlying structure can be characterized by a small number of features. Hence, locally linear embedding (LLE) is proposed as a nonlinear dimension reduction technique to deal this problem. LLE learns the intrinsic manifold embedded in the high dimensional ambient space by minimizing the global reconstruction error of the neighbourhood in the data set. LLE is popular in analyzing face images with different poses, illuminations or facial expressions for one subject class. It is developed based on the assumption that data that is distributed on a single manifold is having the same class label; hence the process of neighborhood selection is non class-specific. However, this is inappropriate to face recognition as face recognition learns in multiple manifolds where each representing data on one specific class. Here, we modify the original LLE by embedding prior class information in the process of neighborhood selection. Experimental results demonstrate that our technique consistently outperforms the original LLE in ORL, PIE and FRGC databases.
The Diversity and Geographical Structure of Orientia tsutsugamushi Strains from Scrub Typhus Patients in Laos

Orientia tsutsugamushi is the causative agent of scrub typhus, a disease transmitted by Leptotrombidium mites which is responsible for a severe and under-reported public health burden throughout Southeast Asia. Here we use multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to characterize 74 clinical isolates from three geographic locations in the Lao PDR (Laos), and compare them with isolates described from Udon Thani, northeast Thailand. The data confirm high levels of diversity and recombination within the natural O. tsutsugamushi population, and a rate of mixed infection of ~8%. We compared the relationships and geographical structuring of the strains and populations using allele based approaches (eBURST), phylogenetic approaches, and by calculating F-statistics (FST). These analyses all point towards low levels of population differentiation between isolates from Vientiane and Udon Thani, cities which straddle the Mekong River which defines the Lao/Thai border, but with a very distinct population in Salavan, southern Laos. These data highlight how land use, as well as the movement of hosts and vectors, may impact on the epidemiology of zoonotic infections.
Reasoning about Divergences via Span-liftings ( Extended Abstract )

Differential privacy (DP) [3] is a definition of data privacy that guarantee strong privacy against database attacks using background-knowledge. This privacy has attracted the attention of several academic and people in the industry. Differential privacy restricts the range of privacy loss random variables for any two “adjacent” datasets differing in at most one data record. Rényi differential privacy (RDP) [8] and zero-concentrated differential privacy (zCDP) [2] are relaxed notion of differential privacy constraining the moment of the privacy loss random variable. These relaxations can be good definitions of data privacy of machine learning mechanisms such as privacy-preserving mechanisms for Bayesian inference [4]. This work is motivated to verify such all privacypreserving mechanisms. Since distribution of datasets may be continuous, we also want to verify continuous probabilistic programs. We give semantic models for reasoning about RDP and zCDP by extending fpRHL [1] to suppport more general statistical divergences of both discrete and continuous distributions. Furthermore, our extended semantic models can be used not only for reasoning about differential privacy but also developing more general approximate logical relations reasoning about the probabilistic behavior of continuous probabilistic programs.
Cause-Related Marketing and Consumer Response: A Study of Nigerian Soft Drink Industry

This study examined consumers’ response to cause-related marketing. Data were drawn, mainly through questionnaire, from 308 lecturers of government-owned universities in South East, Nigeria. Analyzing the data using Pearson correlation coefficient, the study unveiled that there is significant relationship between cause-related marketing and consumers’ perception of a firm, purchase intentions and word-of-mouth. In conclusion, cause-related marketing, as a promotional strategy, can positively influence consumer attitude and purchase behaviour toward a firm. The study, therefore, recommended strategic tips to a successful cause-related marketing campaign. Keywords: Cause-related marketing, Consumer response, Nigerian soft drink industry, University lecturers.
Regulation of cardiac gene expression during myocardial growth and hypertrophy: molecular studies of an adaptive physiologic response

Studies from both in vivo and in vitro model systems have provided an initial skeleton of the potential signaling pathways that might regulate cardiac genes during growth and hypertrophy. One of the first detectable changes in cardiac gene expression is the activation of a program of immediate early gene expression, which is distinct for the hypertrophic response, and is conserved in multiple models of both in vivo and in vitro hypertrophy. Diverse and distinct hormonal stimuli have been documented to activate several features of the hypertrophic response, including several autocrine and paracrine factors. Although the signaling mechanisms that link these factors with the activation of cardiac gene expression are unclear, recent studies suggest that the activation of protein kinase C may represent one of the most proximal common events in this signaling cascade. The activation of cardiac target genes induces a program of embryonic gene expression, including the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) gene. The cis sequences that mediate cardiac‐specific and inducible expression of an embryonic marker gene (ANF) can be segregated by studies in both cultured cell models and in vivo models of hypertrophy in transgenic mice, suggesting that specific sets of regulatory elements may exist for inducible expression of this class of cardiac gene responses. However, the induction of a constitutively expressed contractile protein gene (MLC‐2) is mediated by a set of conserved elements that regulate both cardiac‐specific and inducible expression. Finally, a subset of cardiac muscle genes appears to be noninducible during in vivo or in vitro hypertrophy in myocardial cells, demonstrating specificity of transcriptional activation during the hypertrophic process. The development of a bona fide in vivo pressure overload model of hypertrophy in a small animal model that can be genetically manipulated, such as the in vivo murine model recently described, should allow a rigorous analysis of the role of these specific signaling mechanisms in the activation of the responses of cardiac genes during the hypertrophic process in vivo. —Chien, K. R. ; Knowlton, K. U. ; Zhu, H. ; Chien, S. Regulation of cardiac gene expression during myocardial growth and hypertrophy: molecular studies of an adaptive physiologic response. FASEB J. 5: 3037‐3046; 1991.
Is the Optimism in Optimistic Concurrency Warranted?

Optimistic synchronization allows concurrent execution of critical sections while performing dynamic conflict detection and recovery. Optimistic synchronization will increase performance only if critical regions are data independent--concurrent critical sections access disjoint data most of the time. Optimistic synchronization primitives, such as transactional memory, will improve the performance of complex systems like an operating system kernel only if the kernel's critical regions have reasonably high rates of data independence. This paper introduces a novel method and a tool called syncchar for exploring the potential benefit of optimistic synchronization by measuring data independence of potentially concurrent critical sections. Experimental data indicate that the Linux kernel has enough data independent critical sections to benefit from optimistic concurrency on smaller multiprocessors. Achieving further scalability will require data structure reorganization to increase data independence.
Optimization of multi-axis control for metal artifact reduction in X-ray computed tomography

When computed tomography (CT) is used to inspect electronic devices, strong streaks called metal artifacts are produced in the reconstructed image. One of the factors that induce metal artifacts is beam hardening, which is caused by a stack of metals contained in electronic devices saturating incident X-rays. To avoid saturation of X-ray intensities, we proposed a new CT approach with a multi-axis rotation mechanism in our previous study. In this paper, we investigate the optimization of multi-axis control and propose an effective reconstruction algorithm. The results of our simulation experiments show that metal artifacts could be suppressed by avoiding saturation of transmitted X-ray intensities.
Joint density of electronic states for one isolated single-wall carbon nanotube studied by resonant Raman scattering

Departamento de Fi´sica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte - MG, 30123-970 Brazil~Received 21 December 2000; published 6 June 2001! Resonant Raman scattering ~RRS! measurements made with a tunable laser provide a highly reliable tech-nique to study the shape of the joint density of electronic states ~JDOS! of isolated single-wall carbon nano-tubes ~SWNTs! RRS can be used to determine the energy value for the one-dimensional ~1D! van Hovesingularities of a SWNT with a precision better than 5 meV, thereby providing important information thatcould be used for subsequent measurements on this same SWNT. With RRS, the measured width of the JDOSis on the order of ;0.121. 0 meV, further demonstrating that SWNTs really provide a remarkably good modelfor 1D mesoscopic systems.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.63. 245416 PACS number~s! : 78.30. Na, 78.66. Tr
Fast prediction unit partition mode selection for high-efficiency video coding intercoding using motion homogeneous coding units

Abstract. The newest video compression standard, high-efficiency video coding (HEVC), obtains a higher coding efficiency than previous video compression standards, at the expense of a significant increase of computational complexity. To reduce computational complexity, implementation-friendly encoding algorithms that efficiently trade off coding efficiency and complexity should be designed. We address this issue by proposing a fast prediction unit (PU) partition mode selection scheme from the perspective of spatial correlation of visual signal. Motion similarity of spatially neighboring blocks is first introduced into the PU partition mode selection for HEVC, and the concept of motion homogeneous coding unit (CU) is first proposed. For the motion homogeneous CU, a new method is proposed to reduce the number of its candidate PU partition modes to speed up the PU partition mode selection. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme can achieve lower computational complexity than the five state-of-the-art fast methods while maintaining a similar rate distortion performance.
Asymptotically stable and deadbeat gait generation of four-linked bipedal walker by adjustment control of heel strike posture

This paper investigates the stability principle of a planar, underactuated, four-linked limit cycle walker which is strictly controlled to follow the desired-time trajectories. We first linearize the equation of motion of the robot and analytically derive the transition equations of the state error for the stance and heel-strike phases. Second, we investigate the limit-cycle stability, especially the relation between the heel-strike posture and the gait convergence, through numerical simulations. Throughout the gait analysis, it is shown that the gait convergence changes from the speed mode to the totter mode through the deadbeat mode with respect to the asymmetry of the heel-strike posture.
The Demand for Fish Products in Malawi: An Almost Ideal Demand System Estimation

The study analyzed the demand for fish products and the factors that affect the consumption of various fish products in Malawi. Considering four fish products, namely dried fish, smoked fish, fresh fish and tinned fish, the study employed a multivariate probit model and an Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model to analyze factors affecting consumption and demand for fish products respectively. Results indicate that consumption of various fish products in Malawi is affected by age, education, gender, marital status, area of residence (Urban versus rural), distance to nearest market, household annual expenditure and occupation of the household head. With regard to demand for fish products, the study found that the demand for dried fish, smoked fish, fresh fish and tinned fish is inelastic and the various fish products were found to be substitutes. It was also noticed that households would increase their expenditure on fish products if their income increases. The results are an important step in designing policies that will increase fish production and ultimately increase fish consumption. The results also show the importance of value chain development by, among others, building the capacity of the fish processors in order to help them better respond to the market and consumer needs. Keywords: Multivariate probit, Fish, Consumption, AIDS model, Demand
Research Paper: Evaluation of a "Lexically Assign, Logically Refine" Strategy for Semi-automated Integration of Overlapping Terminologies

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a "lexically assign, logically refine" (LALR) strategy for merging overlapping healthcare terminologies. This strategy combines description logic classification with lexical techniques that propose initial term definitions. The lexically suggested initial definitions are manually refined by domain experts to yield description logic definitions for each term in the overlapping terminologies of interest. Logic-based techniques are then used to merge defined terms. METHODS A LALR strategy was applied to 7,763 LOINC and 2,050 SNOMED procedure terms using a common set of defining relationships taken from the LOINC data model. Candidate value restrictions were derived by lexically comparing the procedure's name with other terms contained in the reference SNOMED topography, living organism, function, and chemical axes. These candidate restrictions were reviewed by a domain expert, transformed into terminologic definitions for each of the terms, and then algorithmically classified. RESULTS The authors successfully defined 5,724 (73%) LOINC and 1,151 (56%) SNOMED procedure terms using a LALR strategy. Algorithmic classification of the defined concepts resulted in an organization mirroring that of the reference hierarchies. The classification techniques appropriately placed more detailed LOINC terms underneath the corresponding SNOMED terms, thus forming a complementary relationship between the LOINC and SNOMED terms. DISCUSSION LALR is a successful strategy for merging overlapping terminologies in a test case where both terminologies can be defined using the same defining relationships, and where value restrictions can be drawn from a single reference hierarchy. Those concepts not having lexically suggested value restrictions frequently indicate gaps in the reference hierarchy.