Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of results from genome‐wide studies of language and reading in a novel independent dataset

Recent genome‐wide association scans (GWAS) for reading and language abilities have pin‐pointed promising new candidate loci. However, the potential contributions of these loci remain to be validated. In this study, we tested 17 of the most significantly associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from these GWAS studies (P < 10−6 in the original studies) in a new independent population dataset from the Netherlands: known as Familial Influences on Literacy Abilities. This dataset comprised 483 children from 307 nuclear families and 505 adults (including parents of participating children), and provided adequate statistical power to detect the effects that were previously reported. The following measures of reading and language performance were collected: word reading fluency, nonword reading fluency, phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming. Two SNPs (rs12636438 and rs7187223) were associated with performance in multivariate and univariate testing, but these did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing. Another SNP (rs482700) was only nominally associated in the multivariate test. For the rest of the SNPs, we did not find supportive evidence of association. The findings may reflect differences between our study and the previous investigations with respect to the language of testing, the exact tests used and the recruitment criteria. Alternatively, most of the prior reported associations may have been false positives. A larger scale GWAS meta‐analysis than those previously performed will likely be required to obtain robust insights into the genomic architecture underlying reading and language.
Effects of mixing conditions on the reaction of TESPT silane coupling agent during mixing with silica filler and tire rubber

The addition of a coupling agent to silica-rubber compounds enhances the filler-matrix compatibility. Under certain mixing conditions the surface of the filler may be only partly activated, which may have an adverse effect on the properties in the final product. A mixing temperature of at least 130°C is necessary to ensure that the reaction between the coupling agent and the silica proceeds, whereas the coupling agent starts to react with the rubber or to donate sulphur, resulting in scorching, at temperatures above 160°C. No scorching is observed when a coupling agent without sulphur is used. The reaction of the coupling agent to the silica surface or the rubber matrix is activated by the zinc oxide present in the compound. Another important parameter is the mixing time. It was observed that the coupling agent must be mixed with the silica for at least 10 minutes at 150°C to obtain a sufficient degree of coupling.
Systematic revision of the genus

The genus Maudheimia Dalenius, 1958 occurs on the Antarctic continent and contains four known species (M. wilsoni Dalenius, 1958; M. petronia Wallwork, 1962; M. marshalli Coetzee, 1997 and M. tanngardenensis Coetzee, 1997). Maudheimia marshalli has 15 pairs of notogastral setae in the adults for which Subías (2004) proposed the genus Multimaudheimia. The other three species have 10 pairs of notogastral setae in the adult stage. The value of “number of notogastral setae” as a single generic character has previously been shown as insufficient to distinguish a genus. The authors conclude that the genus Multimaudheimia Subías, 2004 is a synonym of Maudheimia. The relationship of Maudheimia is confirmed as a member of Ceratozetoidea in the family Maudheimiidae.
Forecast Method of Short - term Passenger Flow on Urban Rail Transit

Due to the greater randomness of short-term passenger flow forecasting, the current passenger flow forecasting method for short-term urban rail transit has a large error for predicting traffic with complex changes. Aiming at the shortcomings of forecasting accuracy of short-term urban rail transit traffic forecasting method, this paper adopts a more adaptable vehicle traffic forecasting method for urban rail transit line sites - based on genetic optimization particle filter, to improve the accuracy of short-term traffic forecast for passenger flow monitoring and emergency management, intelligent travel planning to provide decision-making basis.
Discovering homotypic binding events at high spatial resolution

MOTIVATION Clusters of protein-DNA interaction events involving the same transcription factor are known to act as key components of invertebrate and mammalian promoters and enhancers. However, detecting closely spaced homotypic events from ChIP-Seq data is challenging because random variation in the ChIP fragmentation process obscures event locations. RESULTS The Genome Positioning System (GPS) can predict protein-DNA interaction events at high spatial resolution from ChIP-Seq data, while retaining the ability to resolve closely spaced events that appear as a single cluster of reads. GPS models observed reads using a complexity penalized mixture model and efficiently predicts event locations with a segmented EM algorithm. An optional mode permits GPS to align common events across distinct experiments. GPS detects more joint events in synthetic and actual ChIP-Seq data and has superior spatial resolution when compared with other methods. In addition, the specificity and sensitivity of GPS are superior to or comparable with other methods. AVAILABILITY http://cgs.csail. mit.edu/gps.
Sensitivity of wheat growth to increased air temperature for different scenarios of ambient CO2 concentration and rainfall in Victoria, Australia - a simulation study

A wheat growth model that includes the direct responses of canopy photosynthesis and transpiration to elevated CO, and the response of crop growth to water stress has been developed and tested. Sensitivity analyses show that different cultivars have quite different responses to changes in ambient air temperature, ambient CO2 concentration and rainfall. Because crops reach maturity earlier under higher temperature, a n increase of 3 "C may not impose further water stress to growth of a wheat crop in Victoria, Australia. However shorter maturation time may lead to a net decrease in crop biomass accumulation and potential grain yield in some early maturing cultivars. It is suggested that selection of suitable cultivars is one of the key strategies for coping with climate change.
Is biofuel policy harming biodiversity in Europe?

We assessed the potential impacts of land‐use changes resulting from a change in the current biofuel policy on biodiversity in Europe. We evaluated the possible impact of both arable and woody biofuel crops on changes in distribution of 313 species pertaining to different taxonomic groups. Using species‐specific information on habitat suitability as well as land use simulations for three different biofuel policy options, we downscaled available species distribution data from the original resolution of 50 to 1 km. The downscaled maps were then applied to analyse potential changes in habitat size and species composition at different spatial levels. Our results indicate that more species might suffer from habitat losses rather than benefit from a doubled biofuel target, while abolishing the biofuel target would mainly have positive effects. However, the possible impacts vary spatially and depend on the biofuel crop choice, with woody crops being less detrimental than arable crops. Our results give an indication for policy and decision makers of what might happen to biodiversity under a changed biofuel policy in the European Union. The presented approach is considered to be innovative as to date no comparable policy impact assessment has been applied to such a large set of key species at the European scale.
Vicia faba Hypersensitivity and ASA Intolerance in a Farmer: A Case Report

The IgE-mediated allergic reactions to food are caused, generally, by ingestion. However, they can be rarely induced by exposure to airborne food particles through the handling or the cooking. Vicia faba is a vegetable which belongs to Legumes or Fabaceae family, Fabales order. Allergic reactions after ingestion of legumes and cases of asthma after exposure to the cooking vapors have been reported in the literature. A paper assessed the volatile substances (insect repellents) released by V. faba. The authors demonstrated that this plant produces several chemical substances, such as small quantities of methyl salicylate. We describe a case of occupational allergy, induced by handling during picking up of fresh broad beans, in a farmer with history of adverse reaction after eating the cooked and raw vegetable.
Fiber Laser Development for Dielectric Laser-driven Accelerator and Electron Beam Source

Our laboratory is working on developing Dielectric Laser Accelerators (DLAs) in order to construct table-top micro electron beam source for radiation biology researches in the future. If this device were realized, we could irradiate 1μm order electron beam whose energy is 1MeV onto cell nucleus (~1μm). For driving laser for DLAs, we choose Yb laser (λ:1030nm), and finally got 11.6W output with stable oscillator and PCF amplifier.
Stack-based Tree Searching Algorithm for V-Blast Detection with Implementation Friendly Reduction Techniques

V-BLAST (Vertical Bell Labs Layered Space-Time) system is considered as a key enabling technology for achieving high spectral efficiency in wireless communication. To meet the requirements of low complexity and high constant throughput in practical V-BLAST system design, we propose a computationally efficient stack-based tree searching algorithm (SBSA) from a hardware implementation point of view. To reduce the complexity, we introduce sub-space division method, which divides the constellation search space into four or nine sub- spaces. Stack size is adapted to eliminate redundant tree searching and early termination is employed to ensure a constant throughput. Consequently, the SBSA increases the system throughput with significant complexity reduction while achieving near-ML performance, compared with ML detector.
Ontological Cliques - Analogy as an Organizing Principle in Ontology Construction

Ontology matching is a process that can be sensibly applied both between ontologies and within ontologies. The former allows for inter-operability between agents using different ontologies for the same domain, while the latter allows for the recognition of analogical symmetries within a single ontology. These analogies indicate the presence of higher-order similarities between instances or categories that should be reflected in the fine-grained structure of the ontology itself. In this paper we show how analogies between categories in the same ontology can be detected via linguistic analysis of large text corpora. We also show how these analogies can be clustered via clique-analysis to create meaningful new category structures in an ontology. We describe experiments in the context of a large ontology of proper-named entities called NameDropper, and show how this ontology and its analogies are automatically acquired from web corpora.
A9145, a new adenine-containing antifungal antibiotic. II. Biological activity.

A9145 is a new adenine-containing antifungal antibiotic. A9145 showed weak in vitro activity against Candida albicans in SABOURAUD'S medium, but was strongly inhibitory in a chemically defined medium. Viability counts of C. albicans following extended exposure to A9145 indicated a fungistatic action. Following a 100mg/kg dose, a peak of 64μg/mlof A9145 activity was detected in mouse blood. Administration of 10 mg/kg for 3 days extended the survival time of mice infected with C. albicans 128%; equivalent doses of amphotericin B extended survival time 112%. A total dose of 31.25 mg/kg administered over a 5-day period reduced by 400-fold the number of Candida recovered from kidney homogenates of infected mice. A combination of amphotericin B and A9145 caused a possible synergistic effect against C. albicans in vitro and an additive effect in vivo.
Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Acids and Markers of Kidney Function among Children and Adolescents Living near a Chemical Plant

Background: Serum levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have been associated with decreased renal function in cross-sectional analyses, but the direction of the association is unclear. Objectives: We examined the association of measured and model-predicted serum PFOA concentrations with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a marker of kidney function, in a highly exposed population (median serum PFOA, 28.3 ng/mL). Methods: We measured serum creatinine, PFOA, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and calculated eGFR in 9,660 children 1 to < 18 years of age at study enrollment. We predicted concurrent and historical serum PFOA concentrations using a validated environmental, exposure, and pharmacokinetic model based on individual residential histories, and used linear regression to estimate the association between eGFR and measured and predicted serum PFOA concentrations. We hypothesized that predicted serum PFOA levels would be less susceptible to reverse causation than measured levels. Results: An interquartile range increase in measured serum PFOA concentrations [IQR ln(PFOA) = 1.63] was associated with a decrease in eGFR of 0.75 mL/min/1.73 m2 (95% CI: –1.41, –0.10; p = 0.02). Measured serum levels of PFOS, PFNA, and PFHxS were also cross-sectionally associated with decreased eGFR. In contrast, predicted serum PFOA concentrations at the time of enrollment were not associated with eGFR (–0.10; 95% CI: –0.80, 0.60; p = 0.78). Additionally, predicted serum PFOA levels at birth and during the first ten years of life were not related to eGFR. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the cross-sectional association between eGFR and serum PFOA observed in this and prior studies may be a consequence of, rather than a cause of, decreased kidney function.
Sexual Dimorphism in Melanin Pigmentation, Feather Coloration and Its Heritability in the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Melanin is the main pigment in animal coloration and considerable variation in the concentrations of the two melanin forms (pheo- and eumlanin) in pigmented tissues exists among populations and individuals. Melanin-based coloration is receiving increasing attention particularly in socio-sexual communication contexts because the melanocortin system has been hypothesized to provide a mechanistic basis for covariation between coloration and fitness traits. However, with few notable exceptions, little detailed information is available on inter-individual and inter-population variation in melanin pigmentation and on its environmental, genetic and ontogenetic components. Here, we investigate melanin-based coloration in an Italian population of a passerine bird, the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica rustica), its sex- and age-related variation, and heritability. The concentrations of eu- and pheomelanin in the throat (brown) and belly (white-to-brownish) feathers differed between sexes but not according to age. The relative concentration of either melanin (Pheo:Eu) differed between sexes in throat but not in belly feathers, and the concentrations in males compared to females were larger in belly than in throat feathers. There were weak correlations between the concentrations of melanins within as well as among plumage regions. Coloration of belly feathers was predicted by the concentration of both melanins whereas coloration of throat feathers was only predicted by pheomelanin in females. In addition, Pheo:Eu predicted coloration of throat feathers in females and that of belly feathers in males. Finally, we found high heritability of color of throat feathers. Melanization was found to differ from that recorded in Hirundo rustica rustica from Scotland or from H. r. erythrogaster from North America. Hence, present results show that pigmentation strategies vary in a complex manner according to sex and plumage region, and also among geographical populations, potentially reflecting adaptation to different natural and sexual selection regimes, and that some coloration components seem to be highly heritable.
Robust event-stream pattern tracking based on correlative filter

Object tracking based on retina-inspired and event-based dynamic vision sensor (DVS) is challenging for the noise events, rapid change of event-stream shape, chaos of complex background textures, and occlusion. To address these challenges, this paper presents a robust event-stream pattern tracking method based on correlative filter mechanism. In the proposed method, rate coding is used to encode the event-stream object in each segment. Feature representations from hierarchical convolutional layers of a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) are used to represent the appearance of the rate encoded event-stream object. The results prove that our method not only achieves good tracking performance in many complicated scenes with noise events, complex background textures, occlusion, and intersected trajectories, but also is robust to variable scale, variable pose, and non-rigid deformations. In addition, this correlative filter based event-stream tracking has the advantage of high speed. The proposed approach will promote the potential applications of these event-based vision sensors in self-driving, robots and many other high-speed scenes.
Crowd-Sensing Meets Situation Awareness: A Research Roadmap for Crisis Management

When disaster strikes, human lives may depend upon emergency organizations' rapid establishment of Situation Awareness (SAW) to take the appropriate decisions and actions. Recently, systems emerged, enabling humans to act as crowd sensors contributing valuable crisis information via mobile devices through social media channels. This should allow enhancing situational pictures gained through traditional SAW systems, as employed in control center domains. A common understanding about the necessary functionality of such crowd-sensed SAW systems for crisis management, however, is not yet reached nor is a detailed comparison thereof available up to now. This paper makes a first attempt towards this by a reference architecture incorporating crowd-sensed crisis information into SAW systems. Based on that, a systematic catalog of evaluation criteria is derived and used for an in-depth comparison of nine existing systems, thereby highlighting current capabilities and directions for further research.
Resource tracking in marine parasites: going with the flow?

Understanding how diversity interacts with energy supply is of broad ecological interest. Most studies to date have investigated patterns within trophic levels, refl ecting a lack of food webs which include information on energy fl ow. We added parasites to a published marine energy-fl ow food web, to explore whether parasite diversity is correlated with energy fl ow to host taxa. Parasite diversity was high with 36 parasite taxa aff ecting 40 of the 51 animal taxa. Adding parasites increased the number of trophic links per species, trophic link strength, connectance, and food chain lengths. Th ere was evidence of an asymptotic relationship between energy fl owing through a food chain and parasite diversity, although there were clear outliers. High parasite diversity was associated with host taxa which were highly connected within the food web. Th is suggests that energy fl ow through a taxon may favour parasite diversity, up to a maximal value. Th e evolutionary and energetic basis for that limitation is of key interest in understanding the basis for parasite diversity in natural food webs and thus their role in food web dynamics.
A longitudinal diary study of the effects of causalityorientations on exercise-related affect

According to self-determination theory, a tendency to view causes of a behavior as autonomous, controlled, or impersonal can influence motivation, self-regulation, and experience. We propose that causality orientations for exercise may shape self-determined regulations for exercise by leading to more positive exercise-related affect, leading to greater internalization of exercise behavior and more self-determined regulations to exercise (e.g., regulation on the basis of inherent interest and personally-held values). Methods: Participants (N = 104) kept an online diary for four weeks documenting exercise behavior and affect experienced during exercise. Exercise causality orientations were measured at baseline and exercise regulations were measured at follow-up. Analyses were performed using multilevel modeling and path analysis. Results: Exercise-related affect was more positive for those with higher levels of the autonomy orientation and lower levels of the impersonal orientation. Exercise-related affect partially mediated the relationship between autonomy and impersonal orientations and self-determined regulations for exercise. Conclusions: Affective responses to self-selected exercise were more positive for those who tend to perceive exercise opportunities as more autonomous, which in turn led to more self-determined regulations.
Strategies for Computational Sprints ∗

Computational sprinting is a class of mechanisms that boost performance but dissipate additional power. We describe a sprinting architecture in which many, independent chip multiprocessors share a power supply and sprints are constrained by the chips’ thermal limits and the rack’s power limits. Moreover, we present the computational sprinting game, a multi-agent perspective on managing sprints. Strategic agents decide whether to sprint based on application phases and system conditions. The game produces an equilibrium that improves task throughput for data analytics workloads by 4-6× over prior greedy heuristics and performs within 90% of an upper bound on throughput from a globally optimized policy.
Secure Sessionbased Authentication Schemes

Authentication is a process of verifying the identity of someone (a user, device, or an entity) who wants to access data, resources, or applications. Validating the identity shall establish a trust relationship for further interactions. Authentication even enables the accountability by making it possible to integrate both access and actions to specific identities. There are a huge number of techniques to provide security in terms of authentication. But still there is wide scope for much enhanced authentication schemes. Hence in this paper, we proposed a novel technique which is based of one-time Draw-a-secret method.
An Orientation Dependent Size Illusion Is Underpinned by Processing in the Extrastriate Visual Area, LO1

We use the simple, but prominent Helmholtz’s squares illusion in which a vertically striped square appears wider than a horizontally striped square of identical physical dimensions to determine whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) BOLD responses in V1 underpin illusions of size. We report that these simple stimuli which differ in only one parameter, orientation, to which V1 neurons are highly selective elicited activity in V1 that followed their physical, not perceived size. To further probe the role of V1 in the illusion and investigate plausible extrastriate visual areas responsible for eliciting the Helmholtz squares illusion, we performed a follow-up transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) experiment in which we compared perceptual judgments about the aspect ratio of perceptually identical Helmholtz squares when no TMS was applied against selective stimulation of V1, LO1, or LO2. In agreement with fMRI results, we report that TMS of area V1 does not compromise the strength of the illusion. Only stimulation of area LO1, and not LO2, compromised significantly the strength of the illusion, consistent with previous research that LO1 plays a role in the processing of orientation information. These results demonstrate the involvement of a specific extrastriate area in an illusory percept of size.