Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TESTING THE EFFECTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ON ALGAL METABOLISM: CONSIDERATIONS FOR EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS 1

Ocean acidification describes changes in the carbonate chemistry of the ocean due to the increased absorption of anthropogenically released CO2. Experiments to elucidate the biological effects of ocean acidification on algae are not straightforward because when pH is altered, the carbon speciation in seawater is altered, which has implications for photosynthesis and, for calcifying algae, calcification. Furthermore, photosynthesis, respiration, and calcification will themselves alter the pH of the seawater medium. In this review, algal physiologists and seawater carbonate chemists combine their knowledge to provide the fundamental information on carbon physiology and seawater carbonate chemistry required to comprehend the complexities of how ocean acidification might affect algae metabolism. A wide range in responses of algae to ocean acidification has been observed, which may be explained by differences in algal physiology, timescales of the responses measured, study duration, and the method employed to alter pH. Two methods have been widely used in a range of experimental systems: CO2 bubbling and HCl/NaOH additions. These methods affect the speciation of carbonate ions in the culture medium differently; we discuss how this could influence the biological responses of algae and suggest a third method based on HCl/NaHCO3 additions. We then discuss eight key points that should be considered prior to setting up experiments, including which method of manipulating pH to choose, monitoring during experiments, techniques for adding acidified seawater, biological side effects, and other environmental factors. Finally, we consider incubation timescales and prior conditioning of algae in terms of regulation, acclimation, and adaptation to ocean acidification.
Troponin testing at the point of care: What is needed, and when?

The ability to measure the cardiac troponins (cTnI and cTnT) has produced a paradigm shift in the assessment of patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes (ACS). The availability of immunoassays for cardiac troponins, a milestone in the care of patients with chest pain, led to two new definitions of myocardial infarction and to the publication of several position papers and guidelines [1-3].
A Knowledge Based GA for Path Planning of Multiple Mobile Robots in Dynamic Environments

In this paper, a knowledge based genetic algorithm (GA) for on-line path planning of multiple mobile robots in dynamic environments is proposed. The proposed GA uses a unique problem representation method to represent 2D robot environments with complex obstacle layouts and obstacles are allowed to be of arbitrary shapes. Correspondingly, an effective evaluation method is developed specially for the proposed GA. The proposed evaluation method is capable of accurately detecting collisions among robot paths and arbitrarily shaped obstacles, and assigns costs that are effective for the proposed GA. Problem-specific GA instead of the standard GAs are used for robot path planning. The proposed knowledge based GA incorporates the domain knowledge into its specialized operators, some of which also combine a local search technique. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed genetic algorithm is demonstrated by simulation studies
Distribution of vertical forces in the pads of Greyhounds and Labrador Retrievers during walking.

OBJECTIVE To document peak vertical force (PVF) and vertical impulse (VI) in the pads of Greyhounds and Labrador Retrievers. ANIMALS 8 Greyhounds and 8 Labrador Retrievers. PROCEDURE Velocity and acceleration were restricted to ranges of 0.9 to 1.1 m/s and -0.1 to 0.1 m/s2, respectively. The PVF and VI measurements were collected from digital pad (DP)-2, -3, -4, and -5 and the metacarpal pad (McP) or metatarsal pad (MtP) of each limb in each dog. RESULTS We found no significant differences between the left and right forelimbs or hind limbs for any pad in either breed. Vertical forces in the forelimb were always greater than those in the hind limb. The PVF in the forelimbs of Greyhounds was greatest in DP-3, -4, and -5 and DP-3, DP-4, and the MtP in the hind limbs. The VI in Greyhound forelimbs was greatest in DP-3, -4, and -5 but greatest in DP-4 in the hind limbs. The PVF in the forelimbs of Labrador Retrievers was greatest in the McP, whereas in the hind limbs it was greatest in DP-4. The VI in Labrador Retriever forelimbs was greatest in DP-3, DP-4, and the McP but greatest in DP-3 and -4 in the hind limbs. Significant differences were detected in load distribution between the breeds. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE This study confirms that DP-3 and DP-4 are major weight-bearing pads in dogs. However, loads were fairly evenly distributed, and DP-5 and the McP or MtP bear a substantial amount of load in both breeds.
Serological and virological investigation of the role of the herpesviruses EBV, CMV and HHV‐6 in post‐infective fatigue syndrome

Multiple previous studies have sought evidence for ongoing, active infection with, or reactivation of, Herpesviruses in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), with conflicting results. This study aimed to clarify this by studying 20 patients enrolled in a well‐characterized model of the onset and evolution of CFS, the prospective cohort of the Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study (DIOS). The patients selected for examination included five CFS patients with primary Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection; five CFS patients with acute viral infection not caused by EBV; and 10 matched controls with prompt resolution of primary EBV infection. Serum samples from three timepoints were assayed using a comprehensive range of serological assays for EBV, HHV‐6, and CMV. Viral genomes were assessed using quantitative PCR assays. All patients were seropositive for HHV‐6, and 10 were seropositive for CMV at infection baseline (five patients and five controls). Low titer CMV IgM antibodies were found at infection baseline in two of these cases and three control patients. HHV‐6 IgG antibody titers were highest at infection baseline but did not differ between the CFS cases and the control patients. There were increases in EBV IgG VCA p18, EBNA‐1 IgG, and EA IgG titers over time, but these did not differ between CFS cases and control patients. EBV and HHV6 DNA levels were at control levels in a minority of samples, and CMV was undetectable in all samples. These data do not support the hypothesis of ongoing or reactivated EBV, HHV‐6, or CMV infection in the pathogenesis of CFS. J. Med. Virol. 82:1684–1688, 2010. 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Using students’ motivational and learning profiles in investigating their perceptions and achievement in case-based and lecture-based learning environments

A teaching method may not work for all students. Therefore, attention should be paid to the type of students entering the learning environment in order to explain how they perceive the learning environment and achieve. This study investigates students’ perceptions and achievement in four learning environments that differed in the degree to which case-based and lecture-based learning were implemented (either separately or combined), hereby making use of students’ motivational and learning profiles. Participants were 1098 first-year student teachers who took a course on child development. Results showed that autonomously motivated deep-strategic learners were significantly more positive about each type of learning environment than little motivated and less pronounced deep-strategic learners. However, with regard to achievement, student profiles did not differ. Instead, the learning environment proved to be of significant influence: students in a gradually implemented case-based setting and a completely lecture-based setting scored significantly higher than students in a completely case-based setting.
Social Structures, Isomorphic Pressures, and B2B Utilisation in the Thai Tourism Industry

This study aims to develop and test a theoretical model to investigate how Thai firms use B2B technology for interorganisational collaboration and productivity. We apply the institutional theory to investigate factors affecting firms' B2B technology utilisation and performance in the Thai tourism industry. This study posits that mimetic, coercive and normative pressures may influence B2B technology utilization and performance. Survey-based research was carried out to test this model. Following questionnaire development, pretest, and a pilot study, data were collected from firms that have adopted B2B technology in the Thai tourism industry. The Partial Least Squares method was used for data analysis. Results show that normative and coercive pressures had a significant influence on firms' utilisation of B2B technology, while only normative pressure had a significant influence on performance.
An efficient framework for data-plane verification with geometric windowing queries

Modern networks have complex configurations to provide advanced functions, but the complexity also makes them error-prone. Network verification is attracting attention as a key technology to detect inconsistencies between a configuration and a policy before deployment. Existing verifiers, however, either generally verify various properties over the policy at the cost of efficiency, or efficiently perform configuration analysis without paying much attention to the policy. This paper presents a novel framework of data-plane verification, which flexibly checks the inconsistency with great efficiency. For the purpose of generality, our framework formalizes a verification process with three abstract steps: each step is related to 1) packet behaviors defined by a configuration, 2) operator intentions described in a policy, and 3) the inspection of their relation. These steps work efficiently with each other on the simple quotient set of packet headers. This paper also reveals how the second step can be regarded as the windowing query problem in computational geometry. Two novel windowing algorithms are proposed with solid theoretical analyses. Experiments on real network datasets show that our framework with the windowing algorithms is surprisingly fast even when verifying the policy compliance; e.g., in a medium-scale network with thousands of switches, our framework reduces the verification time of all-pairs reachability from ten hours to ten minutes.
GASS: identifying enzyme active sites with genetic algorithms

MOTIVATION Currently, 25% of proteins annotated in Pfam have their function unknown. One way of predicting proteins function is by looking at their active site, which has two main parts: the catalytic site and the substrate binding site. The active site is more conserved than the other residues of the protein and can be a rich source of information for protein function prediction. This article presents a new heuristic method, named genetic active site search (GASS), which searches for given active site 3D templates in unknown proteins. The method can perform non-exact amino acid matches (conservative mutations), is able to find amino acids in different chains and does not impose any restrictions on the active site size. RESULTS GASS results were compared with those catalogued in the catalytic site atlas (CSA) in four different datasets and compared with two other methods: amino acid pattern search for substructures and motif and catalytic site identification. The results show GASS can correctly identify >90% of the templates searched. Experiments were also run using data from the substrate binding sites prediction competition CASP 10, and GASS is ranked fourth among the 18 methods considered.
UMass/Hughes: Description of the CIRCUS System Used for TIPSTER Text

The primary goal of our effort is the development of robust and portable language processing capabilities for information extraction applications. The system under evaluation here is based on language processing components that have demonstrated strong performance capabilities in previous evaluations [Lehnert et al. 1992a]. Having demonstrated the general viability of these techniques, we are now concentrating on the practicality of our technology by creating trainable system components to replace hand-coded data and manually-engineered software.
Melatonin Application to Pisum sativum L. Seeds Positively Influences the Function of the Photosynthetic Apparatus in Growing Seedlings during Paraquat-Induced Oxidative Stress

Melatonin, due to its pleiotropic effects plays an important role improving tolerance to stresses. Plants increase endogenous melatonin synthesis when faced with harsh environments as well as exogenously applied melatonin limits stress injuries. Presented work demonstrated that single melatonin application into the seeds during pre-sowing priming improved oxidative stress tolerance of growing seedlings exposed to paraquat (PQ). PQ is a powerful herbicide which blocks the process of photosynthesis under light conditions due to free radicals excess production, when O2 is rapidly converted to O2•– and subsequently to other reactive oxygen species. The parameters of chlorophyll fluorescence [Fv/Fm, Fv/Fo, Rfd, ΦPSII, qP, and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ)] in all variants of pea leaves (derived from control non-treated seeds – C, and those hydroprimed with water – H, and hydroprimed with melatonin water solution 50 or 200 μM – H-MEL50 and H-MEL200, respectively) were analyzed as a tool for photosynthetic efficacy testing. Moreover stability of the photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a, b, and carotenoids) was also monitored under oxidative stress conditions. The results suggest that melatonin applied into the seed significantly enhances oxidative stress tolerance in growing seedlings. This beneficial effect was reflected in reduced accumulation of O2•– in leaf tissues, preservation of photosynthetic pigments, improved functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus and higher water content in the tissues during PQ-mediated stress. Our findings provide evidence for the physiological role of this molecule and serve as a platform for its possible applications in agricultural or related areas of research.
Mining Aspects from Version History

Aspect raining identifies cross-culling concerns in a program, to help migrating it to an aspect-oriented design. Such concerns may not exist from the beginning, but emerge over time. By analysing where developers add code to a program, our history-based aspect mining (BAM) identifies and ranks cross-cutting concerns. We evaluated the effectiveness of our approach with the history of three open-source projects. BAM scales up to Industrial-sized projects: for example, we were able to identify a locking concern that cross-cuts 1284 methods in Eclipse. Additionally, the precision of HAM increases with project size and history: for Eclipse, it reaches 90% for the top-10 candidates
Prelamination of Neourethra with Uterine Mucosa in Radial Forearm Osteocutaneous Free Flap Phalloplasty in the Female-to-Male Transgender Patient

Radial forearm free flap phalloplasty is the most commonly performed flap for neophallus construction in the female-to-male (FtM) transgender patient. Urological complications, however, can arise quite frequently and can prevent the patient from urinating in the standing position, an important postsurgical goal for many. Using mucosa to construct the fixed urethra and to prelaminate the penile urethra has been successful in reducing urologic complications, particularly strictures and fistulas. Until now, only buccal, vaginal, colonic, and bladder sites have been described as sources for these mucosal grafts. We present the successful use of uterine mucosa for prelamination of the neourethra in an FtM patient who underwent hysterectomy and vaginectomy at the prelamination stage of a radial forearm phalloplasty. Three months postoperatively, the patient was able to void while standing and showed no evidence of stricture or fistula on retrograde cystogram. These results suggest that uterine mucosa may be used for prelamination of the penile neourethra in patients undergoing phalloplasty.
Deflating the big bang: fast and scalable deep packet inspection with extended finite automata

Deep packet inspection is playing an increasingly important role in the design of novel network services. Regular expressions are the language of choice for writing signatures, but standard DFA or NFA representations are unsuitable for high-speed environments, requiring too much memory, too much time, or too much per-flow state. DFAs are fast and can be readily combined, but doing so often leads to state-space explosion. NFAs, while small, require large per-flow state and are slow. We propose a solution that simultaneously addresses all these problems. We start with a first-principles characterization of state-space explosion and give conditions that eliminate it when satisfied. We show how auxiliary variables can be used to transform automata so that they satisfy these conditions, which we codify in a formal model that augments DFAs with auxiliary variables and simple instructions for manipulating them. Building on this model, we present techniques, inspired by principles used in compiler optimization, that systematically reduce runtime and per-flow state. In our experiments, signature sets from Snort and Cisco Systems achieve state-space reductions of over four orders of magnitude, per-flow state reductions of up to a factor of six, and runtimes that approach DFAs.
Accuracy, Resolution, and Stability Properties of a Modified Chebyshev Method

While the Chebyshev pseudospectral method provides a spectrally accurate method, integration of partial differential equations with spatial derivatives of order $M$ requires time steps of approximately $O(N^{-2M})$ for stable explicit solvers. Theoretically, time steps may be increased to $O(N^{-M})$ with the use of a parameter, $\alpha$-dependent mapped method introduced by Kosloff and Tal-Ezer [{\em J.\ Comput. \ Phys}. , 104 (1993), pp. 457--469]. Our analysis focuses on the utilization of this method for reasonable practical choices for $N$, namely $N \lesssim 30$, as may be needed for two- or three-dimensional modeling. Results presented confirm that spectral accuracy with increasing $N$ is possible both for constant $\alpha$ (Hesthaven, Dinesen, and Lynov [{\em J.\ Comput.\ Phys}., 155 (1999), pp. 287--306]) and for $\alpha$ scaled with $N$, $\alpha$ sufficiently different from $1$ (Don and Solomonoff [{\em SIAM J.\ Sci.\ Comput}., 18 (1997), pp. 1040--1055]). Theoretical bounds, however, show that any realistic choice for $\alpha$, in which both resolution and accuracy considerations are imposed, permits no more than a doubling of the time step for a stable explicit integrator in time, much less than the $O(N)$ improvement claimed by Kosloff and Tal-Ezer. On the other hand, by choosing $\alpha$ carefully, it is possible to improve on the resolution of the Chebyshev method; in particular, one may achieve satisfactory resolution with fewer than $\pi$ points per wavelength. Moreover, this improvement is noted not only for waves with the minimal resolution but also for waves sampled up to about $8$ points per wavelength. Our conclusions are verified by calculation of phase and amplitude errors for numerical solutions of first and second order one-dimensional wave equations. Specifically, while $\alpha$ can be chosen such that the mapped method improves the accuracy and resolution of the Chebyshev method, for practical choices of $N$, it is not possible to achieve both single precision accuracy and gain the advantage of an $O(N^{-M})$ time step.
Toward a Broadened Theory of Preference Formation and the Diffusion of Innovations: Cases from Zinder Province, Niger Republic

The standard model for the diffusion of innovations in consumer behavior does not adequately account for the incorporation of novel items of non-local origin into the material culture inventory of Hausa-speaking peasants in Niger. A synthetic, culturally relative model composed of elements drawn from the standard diffusion paradigm, from world-systems theory, and from economic and symbolic anthropology provides a more satisfactory account of these processes. Analysis shows that novel goods provide a medium through which alternative paradigms of consumer behavior and reality contend. Among the Hausa, a premarket model, a Western market-mediated model, and an Islamic ethnonationalist model compete for consumer affiliation.
Can Corrective Information Reduce Negative Appraisals of Intrusive Thoughts in a Community Sample?

Background: Improving mental health literacy in the general population is important as it is associated with early detection and treatment-seeking for mental health problems. Target areas for mental health literacy programs should be guided by research that tests the impact of improving knowledge of psychological constructs associated with the development of mental health problems. Aims: This study investigated the impact of providing corrective information about the nature of intrusive thoughts on their subsequent appraisal in a community sample. Method: In an online, experimental design, 148 community participants completed measures of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and appraisals (Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised [OCI-R]; Intrusions Inventory [III]). Individuals were instructed to read either a brief informational text about the nature of intrusive thoughts or a control text. All participants then completed post-test measurements of appraisals. Intervention effectiveness was analysed using hierarchical multiple regression. Results: Individuals in the intervention group reported significantly lower levels of maladaptive appraisals than those in the control group (α = .05). Conclusions: The results of this study support the efficacy of provision of brief written information in reducing negative appraisals of intrusive thoughts in a community sample. It suggests a possible role for education about intrusive thoughts as a prevention strategy for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Relationship among Information Department' Technicians' Performance Influencing Factors in Taiwan Public and Private Colleges

The Information Technology (IT) departments in nearly every business unit play important roles. Managers must anticipate potential problems of key factors affecting performance. This study explores performance influencing factors and establishes a performance model for comparing performances of technician in Taiwanese public and private colleges (i.e., non-profit organizations vs. profit-making enterprises), respectively, along with the relationships among performance influencing factors. Results suggest that task-technology fit (TTF), core competencies, and professional involvement determine technicians' performance along with technology characteristics. Technician's motivation for achievement motivation and personality traits significantly affect the degree of job involvement and core competency.