Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Art Expertise on Eye Fixation-Related Potentials During Aesthetic Judgment Task in Focal and Ambient Modes

This study aimed to determine the effect of expertise on the eye fixation-related potentials (EFRPs) during the aesthetic evaluation of images, independently in focal and ambient modes of visual processing. Focal and ambient modes were identified by averaging EFRP waveforms about the beginning of long eye fixations followed by short saccades and short fixations followed by long saccades, respectively. Thirty experts with formal training in visual arts and thirty-two non-experts freely viewed 150 figurative paintings presented for 20 s, each. After viewing the painting, the participant answered the question: “Is this painting beautiful? ” Differences were found between the group of experts and non-experts due to the amplitude of EFRPs but only in focal mode, which is related to top-down, focused attention on the objects. Long fixations of experts had a higher amplitude of the parietal P2 recorded from right site than non-experts. In the group of experts, the frontal P2 was higher for long fixations on not beautiful paintings in comparison to long fixation on beautiful paintings. Moreover, in focal mode, there were higher occipital lambda response and N1-P2 complex for not beautiful than beautiful paintings. These results are discussed in the light of the results of studies on the effect of visual art expertise on event-related potentials (ERPs), ERP studies during aesthetic judgment task, and the knowledge of different modes of visual processing and EFRPs.
Innate visual preferences and behavioral flexibility in Drosophila

ABSTRACT Visual decision making in animals is influenced by innate preferences as well as experience. Interaction between hard-wired responses and changing motivational states determines whether a visual stimulus is attractive, aversive or neutral. It is, however, difficult to separate the relative contribution of nature versus nurture in experimental paradigms, especially for more complex visual parameters such as the shape of objects. We used a closed-loop virtual reality paradigm for walking Drosophila to uncover innate visual preferences for the shape and size of objects, in a recursive choice scenario allowing the flies to reveal their visual preferences over time. We found that Drosophila melanogaster display a robust attraction/repulsion profile for a range of object sizes in this paradigm, and that this visual preference profile remains evident under a variety of conditions and persists into old age. We also demonstrate a level of flexibility in this behavior: innate repulsion to certain objects could be transiently overridden if these were novel, although this effect was only evident in younger flies. Finally, we show that a neuromodulatory circuit in the fly brain, Drosophila neuropeptide F (dNPF), can be recruited to guide visual decision making. Optogenetic activation of dNPF-expressing neurons converted a visually repulsive object into a more attractive object. This suggests that dNPF activity in the Drosophila brain guides ongoing visual choices, to override innate preferences and thereby provide a necessary level of behavioral flexibility in visual decision making. Summary: An operant conditioning paradigm in a multiple-choice maze shows that innate visual preferences can be transiently modulated in Drosophila via optogenetic activation of NPF-expressing neurons.
The role of social motivation and sociability of gamers in online game addiction

Massively multiplayer online (MMO) games represent a long-standing, intensive and wide spread type of online applications whose popularity continues to grow. Although just a mere entertainment and leisure activity for most gamers, its potentially negative and addictive outcomes were intensively studied and recently also acknowledged by the American Psychiatric Association (2013). MMOs are essentially a social activity, but empirical studies are equivocal in identifying whether and to what extent the social factors help develop the addictive gaming habits associated with these applications. The present study seeks to directly identify the role of social factors in online addictive gaming. Survey data from 667 MMO gamers were analysed. Together with an online game addiction scale, the investigated psychological factors included social motivation for gaming, online peer attachment and social self-efficacy. The results revealed that although social motivation was a predictor of addictive gaming, high social motivation was typical for intensive gamers regardless of their level of addiction. However, gamers at-risk of addiction scored lower in their social self-efficacy and interpersonal trust measured by peer attachment. This supports the poor-get-poorer hypothesis, that generally less socially skilled gamers face further problems online. However, social factors were only modestly associated to online addictive gaming which indicates higher relevance of other factors identified by literature, e.g. immersion and in-game rewards systems.
Effect of host diet and adult parasitoid diet on egg load dynamics and egg size of braconid parasitoids attacking Anastrepha ludens

The quantity and quality of host nutrients can affect fitness‐related traits in hymenopteran parasitoids, including oogenesis. The present study tested the prediction that a high host quality will influence oogenesis‐related traits positively in synovigenic parasitoids, and that a high‐quality adult parasitoid diet can positively affect the same parameters, potentially compensating for development on low‐quality hosts. Four braconid parasitoid species with contrasting life histories are reared on a low‐quality diet [Anastrepha ludens Loew (Diptera: Tephritidae) larvae reared on mango] or a high‐quality (artificial) diet. Adult parasitoids are provided with a high‐quality (honey ad libitum), moderate‐quality (honey every other day) or low‐quality (guava pulp) diet. Generalist species that encounter high variation in host quality naturally are predicted to be more flexible in dealing with nutrient shortfalls than specialist species. By contrast to the predictions, low‐quality hosts yield parasitoids with higher egg loads in two species: Opius hirtus Fisher and Diachasmimorpha longicaudata Ashmead. However, as predicted, a high‐quality adult diet exerts a positive effect on egg load (Utetes anastrephae Viereck), egg size (Doryctobracon crawfordi Viereck) and egg maturation rate (D. longicaudata, O. hirtus and U. anastrephae). The generalist D. longicaudata varies in egg load and maturation rate depending on host quality and adult diet, respectively. Evidence of the combined effect of both factors on parasitoid fertility is presented for the specialist O. hirtus. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Estimating the carbon flux through main phytoplankton groups in the northwestern Mediterranean

We performed dilution experiments and primary production measurements in surface waters during a cruise in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea in June 2000 to quantify the carbon (C) flux through phytoplankton groups that can be distinguished by their pigment markers. Pigments in the dilution experiments were measured by highpressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Pigment per cell and synthesis rates of photoprotectant versus light‐harvesting pigments indicated that cells did not undergo photoacclimation during the 24‐h dilution experiments. Mean chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration was 0.128 mg m−3, and mean primary production was 4.99 mg of C m−3 d−1. Prymnesiophyceae contributed 51% of the total Chl a, green algae 21%, diatoms 13%, cyanobacteria 6%, and Pelagophyceae and Dinophyceae 4% each. Size fractionation showed that 68% of total phytoplankton were <5 µm. A mean growth rate of 0.89 d−1 was completely offset by a mean grazing rate of 1.01 d−1. Growth and mortality were also balanced for the individual phytoplankton groups, with highest rates for diatoms and lowest for green algae. Despite the high growth rates measured, nutrient‐amended incubations showed that these rates were nutrient limited, although to a different extent for each group. Green algae experienced the most severe limitation and cyanobacteria the least. The comparison of C incorporation rates and Chl a synthesis rates permitted the estimation of a C: Chl a ratio of 47 (g : g) for newly produced organic matter in the study area. This value, corrected for the different degree of nutrient limitation, was used to estimate the C flow through the different phytoplankton groups. Because of their high growth rates, diatoms played a disproportionate role in the C flux compared to their biomass contribution.
Detecting Oil Spills in the Offshore Nile Delta Coast Using Image Processing of ERS SAR Data

Egypt, being one of the Mediterranean Sea basin countries, is highly concerned with the protection and preservation of the marine environment and the ecological integrity of its territorial waters and coasts. The Mediterranean is a fragile environment having an increasing international concern to minimize the degree of environmental stress resulting from marine pollution. The major source of pollution in this water body is the industrial waste water discharges. In addition, the accidental oil spills which usually results from collision of oil tankers, irrational dumping of bilge and ballast water from ships is considered as significant source of pollution within the Mediterranean Sea. Such pollution incidents cause serious damage to marine living resources and natural habitats. Early warning of oil spills can help planning intense monitoring schemes, formulating an effective protection measures and reducing the damages to the marine environment. One of the appropriate means for detecting a large sea area for oil spill is by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data. The present study is devoted to reliable detection, identification and classification of oil spills using different image processing techniques for ERS SAR data. This includes reception and processing of SAR raw data offshore Nile delta coast, analysis of these data and production of an interpreted oil spills. This has been done on three steps: (i) filtering and georeferencing of the raw data (ii) oil spills detection, identification and enhancement (iii) feature extraction (classification) in which oil spills are distinguished from other phenomena. The determination of environmental conditions (winds and sea currents intensities) gave a clear indication of what can be expected (i.e. predicting the moves of the oil spills). A total of eleven SAR images of high radiometric quality acquired within the period between February to July 2000 were processed. The number of identified cases was sixteen. The largest oil spill has a coverage area of about 186.66 km 2 on 23/5/2000. Several confirmed observations of these identified oil spills have been reported by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Authority. The frequent satellite coverages of RADARSAT, ENVISAT and ALOS can be effectively used for continuous monitoring of the Egyptian territorial water for oil spills occurrences.
Lane Change For System-Driven Vehicles Using Dynamic Information

Over the years, the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) has evolved into a mature system-controlled driving. This includes automatic parking, obstacle detection, etc. One of the important aspects that still need to successfully investigate is the automatic lane change across different traffic scenarios and the different nature of roads. While it is still easier to identify the road, the rapid change in the traffic makes it difficult to safely carry out automatic lane change in real-time. This work proposes a mechanism by first modeling the behavior of vehicles in a dynamic environment by generating fusion data from various externally mounted sensors, RADAR and cameras and then develop a visual perception of the same using multi-object tracker and tracking Kalman filter.
Opening the Black Box: Internal Capital Markets and Managerial Power

We analyze the internal capital markets of a multinational conglomerate to determine whether more powerful unit managers enjoy larger allocations. We use a new dataset of planned and actual allocations to business units to show that, although all unit managers systematically over-budget capital expenditures, more powerful and better connected managers obtain larger shares of cash windfalls and increase investment about 40% more than their less powerful peers. Results survive robustness tests and are not explained by differences in managerial abilities or an endogenous allocation of managers across units. Our findings support bargaining-power theories and provide direct evidence of a source of capital allocation frictions.
Fabrication of Porous Chitosan Affinity Membranes-A Kinetic Study

Affinity membranes with surface functional groups that can be used as adsorptive sites for separation, are of great interest in many industrial and environmental applications. Among the various reactive functional groups, the amino-groups are more reactive than others, such as the hydroxyl groups, and can therefore be used directly as affinity adsorption sites. Recently, chitosan (CS) biopolymer has been increasingly studied as an adsorptive material due to its abundance in the free amino groups for various applications, in the form of powders, flakes or gel beads. In the present study, novel semi-permeable affinity membranes were fabricated from CS to be used in the adsorption of Cu(II) ions from aqeous solutions. Porogens including polyethylene glycol (PEG) and NaCl, were tested for their effect on the membranes’ affinity for Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions. Batch shake flask tests were conducted at different temperatures, and the equilibrium-, Freudlich-, and Langmuirisotherms were constructed. The CS-NaCl membrane adsorbed almost 500 mg/g of CS. The kinetics of the adsorption were determined according to Lagergren's models and the adsorption process was best described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. The activation energy and thermodynamic parameters were also determined and the negative value of G° suggested the feasibility of adsorption. SEM examinations were conducted to determine the membranes’ morphologies.
Towards a new realization of the SI-base unit “ Candela “

The SI-base unit “Candela” for luminous intensity at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is achieved through a traceability chain to the radiometric national standard of PTB following the definition of the “Candela” in 1979 [1]. The unit is realised with a network of photometers and luminous intensity standard lamps [2]. By means of the planned new realization the traceability route will become shorter and a lower uncertainty in the realization of luminous intensity and the derived photometric units will become possible.
Loss of C-5 Sterol Desaturase Activity in Candida albicans: Azole Resistance or Merely Trailing Growth?

Increased expression of drug efflux pumps and changes in the target enzyme Erg11p are known to contribute to azole resistance in Candida albicans, one of the most prevalent fungal pathogens. Mutations that inactivate ERG3, which encodes sterol Δ5,6-desaturase, also confer in vitro azole resistance. ABSTRACT Increased expression of drug efflux pumps and changes in the target enzyme Erg11p are known to contribute to azole resistance in Candida albicans, one of the most prevalent fungal pathogens. Mutations that inactivate ERG3, which encodes sterol Δ5,6-desaturase, also confer in vitro azole resistance. However, it is unclear whether the loss of Erg3p activity is sufficient to confer resistance within the mammalian host, and relatively few erg3 mutants have been reported among azole-resistant clinical isolates. Trailing growth (residual growth in the presence of the azoles) is a phenotype observed with many C. albicans isolates and, in its extreme form, can be mistaken for resistance. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the growth of Erg3p-deficient C. albicans mutants in the presence of the azoles possesses the characteristics of azole resistance or of an exaggerated form of trailing growth. Our results demonstrate that, similar to trailing isolates, the capacity of an erg3Δ/Δ mutant to endure the consequences of azole exposure is at least partly dependent on both temperature and pH. This contrasts with true azole resistance that results from enhanced drug efflux and/or changes in the target enzyme. The erg3Δ/Δ mutant and trailing isolates also appear to sustain significant membrane damage upon azole treatment, further distinguishing them from resistant isolates. However, the insensitivity of the erg3Δ/Δ mutant to azoles is unaffected by the calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporin A, distinguishing it from trailing isolates. In conclusion, the erg3 mutant phenotype is qualitatively and quantitatively distinct from both azole resistance and trailing growth.
Therapeutic Approaches to the Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke

The traditional therapeutic goals in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke have been confined to stabilization of the general medical state, prevention of systemic medical complications, and efforts to prevent acute recurrence or progression of stroke (1). By contrast, in this era of rapid medical advances in understanding the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke, we should now be concerned with several novel therapeutic possibilities: (a) restoration or enhancement of tissue perfusion; (b) neuroprotective strategies to limit the injurious metabolic consequences of tissue ischemia; and (c) new means to facilitate stroke rehabilitation. In this chapter, I briefly consider clot thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke but concentrate mainly on novel neuroprotective strategies—an area which I have recently reviewed in detail (2).
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR MODELING AVIAN NEST SURVIVAL

Estimation of avian nest survival has traditionally involved simple measures of apparent nest survival or Mayfield constant-nest-survival models. However, these methods do not allow researchers to build models that rigorously assess the importance of a wide range of biological factors that affect nest survival. Models that incorporate greater detail, such as temporal variation in nest survival and covariates representative of individual nests represent a substantial improvement over traditional estimation methods. In an attempt to improve nest survival estimation procedures, we introduce the nest survival model now available in the program MARK and demonstrate its use on a nesting study of Mountain Plovers (Charadrius montanus Townsend) in Montana, USA. We modeled the daily survival of Mountain Plover nests as a function of the sex of the incubating adult, nest age, year, linear and quadratic time trends, and two weather covariates (maximum daily temperature and daily precipitation) during a six-year stud.
A set theoretic approach to the simultaneous localization and map building problem

Self localization of mobile robots is one of the most important problems in long range autonomous navigation. When moving in an unknown environment, the navigator must exploit measurements from exteroceptive sensors to build a map, identify landmarks and, at the same time, localize itself with respect to them. This problem is known as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). In the paper a set theoretic approach to the SLAM problem is presented. Estimates of the position of the robot and the selected landmarks are derived in terms of uncertainty regions, under the hypothesis that the errors affecting all sensor measurements are unknown but bounded. Set approximation techniques are adopted in order to provide efficient recursive algorithms, suitable for online implementation.
Cardiovascular biomarkers predict fragility fractures in older adults

Objective To assess the role of four biomarkers of neuroendocrine activation and endothelial dysfunction in the longitudinal prediction of fragility fractures. Methods We analysed a population-based prospective cohort of 5415 community-dwelling individuals (mean age, 68.9±6.2 years) enrolled in the Malmö Preventive Project followed during 8.1±2.9 years, and investigated the longitudinal association between C-terminal pro-arginine vasopressin (CT-proAVP), C-terminal endothelin-1 precursor fragment (CT-proET-1), the mid-regional fragments of pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) and pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP), and incident vertebral, pelvic and extremity fractures. Results Overall, 1030 (19.0%) individuals suffered vertebral, pelvic or extremity fracture. They were older (70.7±5.8 vs 68.4±6.3 years), more likely women (46.9% vs 26.3%), had lower body mass index and diastolic blood pressure, were more often on antihypertensive treatment (44.1% vs 38.4%) and had more frequently history of fracture (16.3% vs 8.1%). Higher levels of MR-proADM (adjusted HR (aHR) per 1 SD: 1.51, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.28, p<0.001) and MR-proANP (aHR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.45, p<0.001) were independently associated with increased risk of any fracture. The fracture risk increased linearly across MR-proANP quartiles. Individuals who were in the top quartile of all four biomarkers had a significant higher risk of fracture at any site (aHR: 2.32, 95% CI 1.86 to 2.91), vertebral fracture (aHR: 3.16, 95% CI 1.97 to 5.07) and femoral fracture (aHR: 2.35, 95% CI 1.64 to 3.36). Conclusions Elevated levels of MR-proADM and MR-proANP independently predict fragility fractures in older adults. In subjects with top quartile levels of all four biomarkers there is a twofold to threefold increase in risk of vertebral and femoral fractures.
Factors affecting the use of home-based services and out-of-home respite care services: A survey of family caregivers for older persons with dementia in Northern Norway

Background Family caregivers contribute substantially to the care for older home-dwelling people with dementia, although community healthcare services tend to be underutilized. In this study, we aimed to explore the use and predictors of use of home-based and out-of-home respite care services available to older home-dwelling persons with dementia, as reported by the family caregivers. Method A cross-sectional survey was administered to family caregivers (n = 430) in Northern Norway during April to November 2016. The use of healthcare services was categorized into two types according to principal component analysis: home-based services and out-of-home respite care services (R2 = 44.1%). Predictors of service use were examined with bivariate correlation, multiple linear regression, and Poisson regression analyses. Results The use of home-based services among persons with dementia was significantly higher for persons with advanced age, persons living in urban areas, persons living in an assisted living facility, persons living alone, and persons able to manage being alone for a short period of time. Among the family caregiver variables, higher age, status as a daughter, son, or other family member, higher educational level, and full-time employment also predicted greater use of home-based services. Same ethnicity was associated with use of fewer home-based services. The use of out-of-home respite care services was significantly higher among male persons with dementia and among those living in urban areas. In addition, fewer out-of-home respite care services were used by male caregivers or daughters of the care recipient, while the use was higher when the caregivers experienced more caregiving demands or had provided care for longer periods of time. Conclusions These results indicate areas that policymakers and healthcare providers should consider to identify families who underutilize healthcare services and to achieve a more equal and efficient allocation of services in accordance with families' needs.