Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Malic Enzyme Is Required for Optimal Photoautotrophic Growth of Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803 under Continuous Light but Not under a Diurnal Light Regimen

ABSTRACT A mutation was recovered in the slr0721 gene, which encodes the decarboxylating NADP+-dependent malic enzyme in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803, yielding the mutant 3WEZ. Under continuous light, 3WEZ exhibits poor photoautotrophic growth while growing photoheterotrophically on glucose at rates nearly indistinguishable from wild-type rates. Interestingly, under diurnal light conditions (12 h of light and 12 h of dark), normal photoautotrophic growth of the mutant is completely restored.
Creating expressive synthetic voices by unsupervised clustering of audiobooks

In this work we design an approach for automatic feature selection and voice creation for expressive synthesis. Our approach is guided by two main goals: (1) increasing the flexibility of expressive voice creation and (2) overcoming the limitations of speaking styles in expressive synthesis. We define a novel set of features, combining traditionally used prosodic features with spectral features and proposing the use of iVectors. With these features we perform unsupervised clustering of an audiobook excerpt and, from these clusters, we create synthetic voices using the SAT technique. To evaluate the clustering performance we propose an objective evaluation of the unsupervised clustering results technique based on perplexity reduction. This objective evaluation indicates that both prosodic and spectral features contribute to separate speaking styles and emotions, achieving the best results when including iVectors in the feature set, leading to a perplexity reduction of the expressions and audiobook characters by factors 14 and 2, respectively. We also designed a novel subjective evaluation method where the participants have to edit a small excerpt of an audiobook using synthetic voices created from clusters. The results suggest that our feature set is effective in the task of expressiveness and character detection.
Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ‘Protocol of San Salvador’, 1988

Considering the close relationship that exists between economic, social and cultural rights, and civil and political rights, in that the different categories of rights constitute an indivisible whole based on the recognition of the dignity of the human person, for which reason both require permanent protection and promotion if they are to be fully realized, and the violation of some rights in favor of the realization of others can never be justified;
Friendships Influence Hispanic Students' Implicit Attitudes Toward White Non-Hispanics Relative to African Americans

This study examined the role of Hispanic students' friendships with White non-Hispanics (n-Hs) and African Americans (AAs) in predicting implicit and explicit prejudices toward these groups. Participants (N = 73) completed implicit and explicit attitude measures and a friendship questionnaire. Friendships were associated with implicit attitudes such that participants with more White n-H than AA friends exhibited implicit favoritism for White n-Hs. Friendships did not influence explicit attitudes. The authors discuss findings relative to the unique contributions Hispanic samples make to research on the contact hypothesis, systems justification, and environmental association models of implicit attitudes.
Boosting sonographic birth weight prediction

Extended pairwise local alignment of wild card DNA/RNA sequences using dynamic programming Methods for the integration of biological network knowledge into classification algorithms 15:00-15:30 André Burkovski (Ulm) Aggregating diverse high-throughput data for the identification of common differences between young and old 15:30-16:00 Alfred Ultsch (Marburg) Functional genomic and transcriptomic analysis of the human olfactory bulb A pragmatic procedure for stepwise feature selection 09:30-10:00 Benjamin Hofner (Erlangen) Controlling false discoveries in high dimensional situations: Boosting with stability selection Extended pairwise local alignment of wild card DNA/RNA-sequences with wild-type protein-sequences using dynamic programming Axel Fürstberger and Hans A. Kestler! 7 Using VennMaster to evaluate and analyse shRNA data Sebastian Behrens and Hans A. Kestler! 8 Methods for the integration of biological network knowledge into classification algorithms Tim Beißbarth! 10 Aggregating diverse high-throughput data for the identification of common differences between young and old Functional genomic and transcriptomic analysis of the human olfactory bulb Alfred Ultsch, Jörn Lötsch et al.! 13 A generic method to find disease-associated genes in databases A model of the crosstalk between the Wnt and the IGF signaling pathways A pragmatic procedure for stepwise feature selection Anna Telaar and Carmen Theek! 19 Controlling false discoveries in high dimensional situations: Boosting with stability selection Benjamin Hofner and Michael Drey! 20 R is a multi-paradigm language with a dynamic type system, different object systems and functional characteristics. These characteristics support the development of statistical algorithms at a high level of abstraction. Although R is commonly used in the statistics domain, a big disadvantage are its performance problems when handling computation-intensive algorithms. Especially in the domain of machine learning, for example when analyzing high-dimensional genomic data, the execution of R programs is often unacceptably slow. Morandat et al. [2] analyzed R programs from different fields of statistics and were able to show major performance issues. Our goal is to overcome these issues, particularly focusing on machine learning programs [1]. As a first step towards this goal, we used the traceR tool [2] to analyze the bottlenecks arising in this domain. Here, we measured the runtime and overall memory consumption on a well-defined set of classical machine learning applications and gained detailed insights into the performance issues of these programs. Bottlenecks we identified inculde: boxing of scalar values, vector allocation and copy, environment and promise creation and in particular vector subsetting. As in R every value is a vector, scalar values are boxed …
Suppression of Electron Transfer to Dioxygen by Charge Transfer and Electron Transfer Complexes in the FAD-dependent Reductase Component of Toluene Dioxygenase*

Background: Toluene dioxygenase reductase converts the redox equivalents of NADH under oxic conditions. Results: Reduced reductase forms a stable complex with NAD+ that shows slower electron transfer to dioxygen. Conclusion: Charge transfer complex formation regulates the reactivity of the reductase. Significance: Charge transfer complexes between flavins and nicotinamides are abundant and likely to have diverse mechanistic functions. The three-component toluene dioxygenase system consists of an FAD-containing reductase, a Rieske-type [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin, and a Rieske-type dioxygenase. The task of the FAD-containing reductase is to shuttle electrons from NADH to the ferredoxin, a reaction the enzyme has to catalyze in the presence of dioxygen. We investigated the kinetics of the reductase in the reductive and oxidative half-reaction and detected a stable charge transfer complex between the reduced reductase and NAD+ at the end of the reductive half-reaction, which is substantially less reactive toward dioxygen than the reduced reductase in the absence of NAD+. A plausible reason for the low reactivity toward dioxygen is revealed by the crystal structure of the complex between NAD+ and reduced reductase, which shows that the nicotinamide ring and the protein matrix shield the reactive C4a position of the isoalloxazine ring and force the tricycle into an atypical planar conformation, both factors disfavoring the reaction of the reduced flavin with dioxygen. A rapid electron transfer from the charge transfer complex to electron acceptors further reduces the risk of unwanted side reactions, and the crystal structure of a complex between the reductase and its cognate ferredoxin shows a short distance between the electron-donating and -accepting cofactors. Attraction between the two proteins is likely mediated by opposite charges at one large patch of the complex interface. The stability, specificity, and reactivity of the observed charge transfer and electron transfer complexes are thought to prevent the reaction of reductaseTOL with dioxygen and thus present a solution toward conflicting requirements.
Using Semantic Cues to Learn Syntax

We present a method for dependency grammar induction that utilizes sparse annotations of semantic relations. This induction set-up is attractive because such annotations provide useful clues about the underlying syntactic structure, and they are readily available in many domains (e.g., info-boxes and HTML markup). Our method is based on the intuition that syntactic realizations of the same semantic predicate exhibit some degree of consistency. We incorporate this intuition in a directed graphical model that tightly links the syntactic and semantic structures. This design enables us to exploit syntactic regularities while still allowing for variations. Another strength of the model lies in its ability to capture non-local dependency relations. Our results demonstrate that even a small amount of semantic annotations greatly improves the accuracy of learned dependencies when tested on both in-domain and out-of-domain texts.
Geodetic SAR Tomography

In this paper, we propose a framework referred to as “geodetic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) tomography” that fuses the SAR imaging geodesy and tomographic SAR inversion (TomoSAR) approaches to obtain absolute 3-D positions of a large amount of natural scatterers. The methodology is applied on four very high resolution TerraSAR-X spotlight image stacks acquired over the city of Berlin. Since all the TomoSAR estimates are relative to the same reference point object whose absolute 3-D positions are retrieved by means of stereo SAR, the point clouds reconstructed using data acquired from different viewing angles can be geodetically fused. To assess the accuracy of the position estimates, the resulting absolute shadow-free 3-D TomoSAR point clouds are compared with a digital surface model obtained by airborne LiDAR. It is demonstrated that an absolute positioning accuracy of around 20 cm and a meter-order relative positioning accuracy can be achieved by the proposed framework using TerraSAR-X data.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN OVULATION RATE , LITTER SIZE AND PRENATAL SURVIVAL COMPONENTS IN RABBIT

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between ovulation rate (OR), implanted embryos (IE), total born (TB), number born alive (NBA) and embryo (ES), fetal (FS) and prenatal survival (PS) in females of high reproductive performance, resulting from a complete diallelic cross between four Spanish maternal lines of rabbits. Sixteen genetic types were studied (the four lines, and their twelve simple crosses). A total of 2025 does in their third, fourth or fifth gestations were subjected to a laparoscopy 11-12 days after mating. The previous traits were analysed with a model that included for all the traits, the genetic group-farm-year-season combination (GFYS), the parity order and the lactation state. For all the traits, excepted OR, the linear and quadratic effects of a covariate were considered. The covariate OR was included for the analysis of the other traits; IE for TB, NBA and FS; and NBA for TB for NBA. The general means obtained for the traits were: 15.2 ova for OR, 13.4 embryos for IE, 11.1 rabbits for TB, 10.2 rabbits for NBA, 87.9% for ES, 84.9% for FS and 74.0% for PS. None effects of parity order and lactation stages were observed, but the GFYS effect was significant. It is remarkable that survival rates obtained were high, with prenatal survival higher than 70% and proportional distribution of losses before and after 12 day of gestation. A negative curvilinear and significant relationship was found between ovulation rate and litter size components, affecting in the same sense the survival rates, but only the coefficients of regression of the quadratic term were significant for ES and PS. Moreover, the relationship of the covariate implanted embryos with TB, NBA and FS, and also the covariate TB with NBA were also significant and negative. This could be considered as a primary expression of the uterine capacity limits. The significant regression coefficients of the linear term ranged between 1.20 and 1.36, and the corresponding coefficients of the quadratic term, between -0.03 and -0.02 for IE, TB and TBA. In spite of significance of the quadratic coefficients, they might be not relevant because it closed to zero. No effects of parity order and lactation status were observed. A negative curvilinear and significant relationship was found between ovulation rate and the rest of litter size components, affecting in the same sense the survival rates.
Loss distribution and thermal behaviour of the Y-source converter for a wide power and voltage range

The Y-source converter is one of the recent proposed impedance source converters. It has some advantages as having a high voltage gain between the input and output voltage sides using very small duty cycle ratios. For many applications, the input voltage needs to be boosted to higher output voltage, such as for fuel cell, battery electric vehicles and renewable energy applications. Understanding the loss distribution and thermal performance is very important in order to be able to design a reliable converter with longer lifetime. In this paper, the loss distribution of a Y-source converter for a wide voltage and power range is presented. The influence of the heat losses generated in the converter is also considered for different analysis. A simulation model is developed and verified experimentally rated at 300 W.
Sex-Related Online Behaviors and Adolescents’ Body and Sexual Self-Perceptions

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This study investigated: (1) the prevalence and development of 2 receptive (sexually explicit Internet material [SEIM] use and sexual information seeking) and 2 interactive (cybersex and general social networking site [SNS] use) online behaviors in adolescence; (2) whether development of these behaviors predict adolescents’ body and sexual self-perceptions; and (3) whether parental strategies regarding adolescents’ Internet use reduce engagement in sex-related online behaviors. METHODS: Four-wave longitudinal data among 1132 seventh- to 10th-grade Dutch adolescents (mean age at wave 1: 13.95 years; 52.7% boys) were collected. Developmental trajectories of sex-related online behaviors were estimated by using latent growth curve modeling. Self-perception outcomes at wave 4 and parental strategies predicting online behaviors were investigated by adding regression paths to growth models. RESULTS: Boys occasionally and increasingly used SEIM. Patterns for girls’ SEIM use and boys’ and girls’ sexual information seeking and cybersex were consistently low. SNS use, however, was a common, daily activity for both. Higher initial levels and/or faster increases in sex-related online behaviors generally predicted less physical self-esteem (girls’ SNS use only), more body surveillance, and less satisfaction with sexual experience. Private Internet access and less parental rule setting regarding Internet use predicted greater engagement in sex-related online behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Although most sex-related online behaviors are not widespread among youth, adolescents who engage in such behaviors are at increased risk for developing negative body and sexual self-perceptions. Particular attention should be paid to adolescents’ SNS use because this behavior is most popular and may, through its interactive characteristics, elicit more critical self-evaluations. Prevention efforts should focus on parents’ role in reducing risky sex-related online behaviors.
Psychological characteristics of individuals who engage in online sexual activity (OSA)

Engaging in online sexual activity (OSA) is a growing phenomenon in much of the Western world. It is frequently argued that excessive involvement in such activity can result in a number of negative consequences including increased psychopathology and psychosocial difficulties, however to date there is little empirical research supporting this claim (Daneback, Cooper, & Mansson, 2005). The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the expression of sexuality on the Internet using an online questionnaire that surveyed the psychological characteristics and online behaviours of individuals who engage in online sexual activity (OSA). The anonymous questionnaire was posted on sexually oriented newsgroups yielding a sample of 1325 men and women. Participants were aged 18 to 80 years of age, (M = 42 years), and approximately 60% of participants identified as non-heterosexual. Ninety-two percent were male and most engaged in OSA for at least 12 hours per week. Participants in the current study were older, more likely to be male, identify as non-heterosexual (gay, lesbian, bisexual), and be heavier users of OSA than participants from earlier online studies (e.g., Cooper, MorahanMartin, Mathy, & Meheu, 2002; Cooper, Sheerer, Bois, & Gordon, 1999). Results from the Internet Sex Screening Test (ISST, Delmonico, 1997) indicated that most participants were classified within the At-Risk or High-Risk groups, suggesting that their OSA was likely to be interfering with important aspects of their lives. Participants’ sex and their sexual orientation were related to their pattern of OSA and their offline meeting behaviour. Participants’ Risk-level on the ISST and their sexual orientation were related to scores on depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness and impulsivity, however this pattern was not the same for males and females. Adult attachment style was also related to participants’ OSA. Securely attached participants were more likely to be classified within the Low-Risk group on the ISST and spend less time engaged in OSA. Overall, spending more time engaged in OSA and scoring higher on the ISST was associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, impulsivity, social loneliness and emotional loneliness. Findings were discussed in terms of methodological implications, suggestions for future research and also implications for clinical psychologists.
Duality Derived Transformer Models for Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Transients—Part I: Topological Models

The objective of this two-part paper is to provide clarity to physical concepts used in the field of transformer modeling, to dispel common misconceptions regarding numerical instabilities, and to present unified modeling techniques for low-frequency transients. This paper focuses on proper modeling of nonlinearities (magnetizing branches) since these components are critical to determine the low-frequency behavior. A good low-frequency model should properly represent: normal operation, inrush currents, open and short circuit, out-of-phase synchronization transient of step-up transformers, geomagnetic-induced currents, ferroresonance, and harmonics. This paper discusses the derivation of electrical dual models from the equivalent (magnetic) reluctance networks and the direct application of the principle of duality. It is shown that different dual models need to be derived for different transformer geometries and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. This paper also compares double-sided versus single-sided dual models, and shows that the double-sided model is a more general approach. The mathematical equivalency of several leakage models (negative inductance, mutual coupling, and BCTRAN) is demonstrated for three-winding transformers. It is also shown that contrary to common belief, a negative inductance is not the source of numerical oscillations, but they occur due to the use of noncorrect topological models for representing the core.
A handheld device for simultaneous detection of electrical and mechanical cardio-vascular activities with synchronized ECG and CW-Doppler Radar

This paper presents a handheld miniaturized sensor embodiment that allows simultaneous measurement of the electrical and related mechanical cardio-vascular activity. Mechanical motion is detected with a continuous wave Doppler radar sensor and interpreted with a synchronously detected ECG. The patient's posture and activity is measured using accelerometers. Challenges of the current technical approach are the positioning of the sensors, the influence of posture and the correct interpretation of the signals. The Doppler signals are compared with phonocardiography measurements, with a focus on the challenges of this technique. There is still research in an improved modeling of the sensor setup and signal interpretation required.
Softening quantization in bag-of-audio-words

The audio component of multimedia data can be crucial for multimedia content analysis. Bag-of-audio-words (BoAW) approach is one of the most frequently used methods to represent audio content in multimedia event detection and related tasks. The method, however, has numerous criticisms, amongst which is the loss of information in the “vector quantization” step which generates word-like units. In this work, we address this issue by employing a soft quantization representation where the distance to the nearest codeword is incorporated into the model, rather than only using the nearest codeword's index as is the case with hard quantization. We explore two techniques for soft quantization and apply it to the BoAW for multimedia event detection. We find the best setup yields a 13% improvement in mean average precision, improving performance for 27 of the 30 video events.