Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MORPHOMETRIC ADAPTATION OF THE HOUSEFLY, MUSCA DOMESTICA L., IN THE UNITED STATES

It has long been recognized that morphometric difference among geographic populations of a species can reveal modes of adaptation to environment and of eventual speciation. Most early studies of such variation were limited to few characters (e.g., Alpatov, 1929; Dobzhansky, 1933), and not until the advent of computers could large suites of characters be analyzed by appropriate techniques of covariation, such as principal component or factor analysis, to isolate and identify underlying patterns of morphogenesis (Blackith, 1960). The statistical revolution in geographic variation analysis, however, has not generated a similar revolution of insight into population dynamics, and for the most part, morphometric approaches have been abandoned by population biologists uninterested in systematics. A part of this problem is that few modern studies attempt to separate spatial from temporal aspects of variability or genetic causation from environmental induction of phenotype, typically present in early work (e.g., Goldschmidt, 1934; Stalker and Carson, 1947, 1948, 1949). This paper attempts to partition morphometric variation in the housefly, Musca domestica L. , in the United States into temporal, spatial, and genetic components, and thereby elucidate the dynamics of adaptation to differing environments in this species. The lack of systematically recognized variatioi of the housefly in the United States offers reasonable assurance of common niche and habitat requirements of flies from widespread populations, so that sample partitions of variation can be compared to reveal trends of populational adaptation to changing environments. The essence of the methodology utilized here, paralleling an analysis of variance, was to collect flies from numerous localities throughout the United States, return to selected localities at the same times in subsequent years to assess year-to-year variation within sites, and then to follow at least one population throughout the year to determine a seasonal component of morphometric change. Thus variance components can be estimated at these various levels of potential variation, to discern underlying causes of morphometric adaptation. Comparisons among repeated collections within localities and between wild and laboratory reared flies were used to determine repeatability and consistency in patterns of covariation and to ascertain the extent of genetic commitment to morphometric response.
Vertebrae numbers of the early hominid lumbar spine.

General doctrine holds that early hominids possessed a long lumbar spine with six segments. This is mainly based on Robinson's (1972) interpretation of a single partial Australopithecus africanus skeleton, Sts 14, from Sterkfontein, South Africa. As its sixth last presacral vertebra exhibits both thoracic and lumbar characteristics, current definitions of lumbar vertebrae and lumbar ribs are discussed in the present study. A re-analysis of its entire preserved vertebral column and comparison with Stw 431, another partial A. africanus skeleton from Sterkfontein, and the Homo erectus skeleton KNM-WT 15000 from Nariokotome, Kenya, did not provide strong evidence for the presence of six lumbar vertebrae in either of these early hominids. Thus, in Sts 14 the sixth last presacral vertebra has on one side a movable rib. In Stw 431, the corresponding vertebra shows indications for a rib facet. In KNM-WT, 15000 the same element is very fragmentary, but the neighbouring vertebrae do not support the view that it is L1. Although in all three fossils the transitional vertebra at which the articular facets change orientation seems to be at Th11, this is equal to a large percentage of modern humans. Indeed, a modal number of five lumbar vertebrae, as in modern humans, is more compatible with evolutionary principles. For example, six lumbar vertebrae would require repetitive shortening and lengthening not only of the lumbar, but also of the entire precaudal spine. Furthermore, six lumbar vertebrae are claimed to be biomechanically advantageous for early hominid bipedalism, yet an explanation is lacking as to why the lumbar region should have shortened in later humans. All this raises doubts about previous conclusions for the presence of six lumbar vertebrae in early hominids. The most parsimonious explanation is that they did not differ from modern humans in the segmentation of the vertebral column.
Cartographie Sémantique : des connaissances à la carte

Cette etude a debute avec un constat important: les organisations sont submergees par le nombre toujours croissant d'informations qu'il est necessaire de maitriser pour mener a bien leurs activites. En effet, etant obligees de faire face a la mondialisation des flux et des services, les organisations ont decouvert de nouveaux besoins et elles ont developpe de nouvelles activites : veille strategique, gestion de l'innovation, capitalisation des savoirs, gestion du capital intellectuel et humain, intelligence economique, etc. Depuis, elles collectent et stockent toujours plus d'informations et leur espace informationnel ne cesse de grandir. Dans ce contexte mondialise, l'avenir des organisations passe par la maitrise de leur espace informationnel. La maitrise d'un espace est une problematique universelle qui preoccupe l'homme depuis son origine. La cartographie resulte de cette problematique ; elle permet de visualiser un espace pour mieux l'apprehender. Chaque carte joue alors le role de support externe de la pensee pour amplifier la cognition des personnes qui l'utilisent. L'etude de la cartographie nous a appris que pour construire des cartes a partir de l'espace informationnel des organisations, il est necessaire de mettre en œuvre des paradigmes de representation, de visualisation et d'interaction. Cette « recette» est maintenant bien connue et maitrisee. Cependant elle ne repond que partiellement a nos besoins. En effet, il subsiste deux problematiques a resoudre pour y parvenir: comment proposer une cartographie basee sur la semantique du domaine ? comment determiner les paradigmes a mettre en œuvre pour fournir des cartes adaptees a l'utilisateur ? Face a cette double problematique, nous avons defini une nouvelle cartographie capable de construire des cartes adaptees aux besoins des organisations. Nous la nommons « cartographie semantique ». Elle repose sur nos differentes propositions et sur leurs realisations. La mise en œuvre de la cartographie semantique dans le monde des entreprises nous a permis de valider l'ensemble de l'etude mais surtout de s'assurer que la problematique etait bien resolue
In vivo intracellular responses of the medial geniculate neurones to acoustic stimuli in anaesthetized guinea pigs

In the present study, we investigated the auditory response features of the medial geniculate neurones, using in vivo intracellular recordings in anaesthetized guinea pigs. Of the 76 neurones examined, 9 showed ‘off’ or ‘on–off’ responses to an acoustic stimulus and thus were defined as ‘off’ or ‘on–off’ neurones. Among the remaining 67 neurones, 42 showed an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) to acoustic stimuli and 25 showed either a pure inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP, 7 neurones), or an IPSP preceded by an EPSP (EPSP–IPSP type, 18 neurones). The EPSP responses exhibited a mean latency of 15.7 ± 6.1 ms, which was significantly shorter than that of the IPSP responses (21.3 ± 8.6 ms, P < 0.01). The IPSP responses also showed a significantly greater duration than the EPSP responses (208.5 ± 128.2 ms versus 122.4 ± 84.8 ms, P < 0.05), while there were no significant differences between the amplitudes of IPSP and EPSP (8.3 ± 3.2 mV versus 8.7 ± 5.3 mV). Of the 11 neurones that showed EPSP responses to acoustic stimuli and were histologically labelled, 7 were located in the lemniscal medial geniculate body (MGB) and 4 in the non‐lemniscal MGB. Another 6 labelled neurones that showed IPSP responses to acoustic stimuli were located in the non‐lemniscal MGB. With a membrane potential of above −72 mV, the neurones showed greater EPSP or IPSP to an acoustic stimulus when their membrane potential was depolarized. However, upon hyperpolarization to below −74 mV, the neurones shifted to low‐threshold calcium spikes (LTS)/LTS bursts. In response to auditory stimuli of different durations, ‘off’ neurones that responded to the offset of the acoustic stimulus and were located in the non‐lemniscal MGB showed different response latencies or deviations of latencies in addition to exhibiting different numbers of spikes, suggesting that the timing of the spikes could be another component utilized by thalamic neurones to encode information on the stimulus. Given that some non‐lemniscal neurones are multisensory and project to the entire auditory cortex, the selective corticofugal inhibition in the non‐lemniscal MGB would enable the ascending pathway to prepare the auditory cortex to receive subsequent auditory information, avoiding the interference of other sensory inputs.
Learning experiences within authentic demonstrations research project demonstrations at Viksu 2014 Camp

Externally funded research, development and innovation (RDI) projects can be seen as a learning environment creating new skills and competencies for students, teachers, researchers, companies and public organizations. Laurea University of Applied Sciences' RDI project model develops academic knowledge and competencies by solving real problems in real-life situations. This paper describes how this learning process is realized and integrated into a RDI project in an environment, where students from various degree programmes were creating demonstrations for evaluating the project outcomes. These demonstrations were planned within the Multi-Agency Cooperation in Cross-Border Operations (MACICO) project and were held during Viksu 2014 International Camp for Young Firefighters. The demonstrations will result in five theses. Narrative interviews of the students gave knowledge on how learning has happened in such environment, what kind of competences the students have gained and what should be taken into account when creating similar learning environments. Especially the good experiences from co-operation between the students encourages to combine students from different orientations into multidisciplinary teams.
Review and categorization of spectral processing methods

In this paper numerous known spectral analysis methodologies available to geologic remote sensing are reviewed. According to their requirement for reference data, the techniques are categorized into knowledge-based (KB) or data-driven (DD) approaches. The two categories are comparatively studied and their advantages, disadvantages, and major geologic outcomes are emphasized. Next ways to bridge between the spectral data and geochemical, mineralogic, and lithologic information are noted. Subsequently present and potential hybridization lines among the groups and sub-groups are discussed and at the end the challenges that spectral processing methods should meet are pointed out. In conclusion, hybridization of the two categories is proposed to be one of the lines of attack to yield the most robust processing methodologies, capable of fulfilling the demands of multi- and hyperspectral geological remote sensing.
Baryons at the Edge of the X-ray–Brightest Galaxy Cluster

The Suzaku satellite provides a census of the gas, metals, and dark matter out to the outskirts of the Perseus Cluster. Studies of the diffuse x-ray–emitting gas in galaxy clusters have provided powerful constraints on cosmological parameters and insights into plasma astrophysics. However, measurements of the faint cluster outskirts have become possible only recently. Using data from the Suzaku x-ray telescope, we determined an accurate, spatially resolved census of the gas, metals, and dark matter out to the edge of the Perseus Cluster. Contrary to previous results, our measurements of the cluster baryon fraction are consistent with the expected universal value at half of the virial radius. The apparent baryon fraction exceeds the cosmic mean at larger radii, suggesting a clumpy distribution of the gas, which is important for understanding the ongoing growth of clusters from the surrounding cosmic web.
Relationship of Bradykinin B2 Receptor Gene C-58T Variation with Total-Cholesterol and Glucose in Essential Hypertension

Objective: Hypertension, which affects 25% of the world’s population, is a complex disease, with 30% genes affecting its pathogenesis. In this study, we aimed to examine the frequency of the bradykinin B2 receptor gene C-58T genotypes in patients with essential hypertension and non-hypertensive controls. In addition, we evaluated the effects of C-58T genotypes on demographic characteristics, phenotypes related to obesity, and hypertension. Methods: Genotyping was performed in 63 hypertensive patients and 56 non-hypertensive subjects by PCR-RFLP. Results: The frequency of bradykinin B2 receptor gene C-58T genotypes in hypertensive patients and control subjects was 25.4% and 28.6% for homozygous wild-type (T/T), 49.2% and 58.9% for heterozygous (T/C), and 25.4% and 12.5% for homozygous polymorphic (C/C) genotypes, respectively. Genotype frequencies did not differ significantly among study groups. The C allele was found to have an increasing effect on blood glucose levels (p=0.05) and decreasing effect on total cholesterol levels (p=0.008) in hypertensive patients, whereas it was found to have an increasing effect on waist circumference (p=0.041) in control subjects. Hypertensive patients with C allele were found to use sulfonylurea drugs (p=0.021) at a higher frequency than those with T allele. Further, hypertensive patients with T allele were found to use diuretic drugs (p=0.007) at a higher frequency than those with C allele. Conclusions: The C-58T polymorphism is found to have a positive association with total cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels, and waist circumference but no association with systolic/diastolic blood pressure.
Measuring Bias in Uncontrolled Brain Tumor Trials – to Randomize or Not to Randomize?

ABSTRACT: Purpose: To help investigators decide if new therapies for glioma warrant definitive evaluation in randomized studies we have been developing a method for assessing the degree to which patient selection may have enhanced the results of uncontrolled treatment trials. In this study, we analyzed the impact of case selection on the survival of patients with malignant glioma receiving adjuvant stereotactic radiosurgery, a promising therapy reserved for those with small tumors and good performance status. Methods: Following published eligibility criteria we simulated the patient selection process for stereotactic radiosurgery given as a boost at the conclusion of conventional radiotherapy. Eligible patients were culled from a pre-existing clinical/imaging database of 101 consecutive conventionally-treated patients with biopsy-proven malignant glioma and known survival times. Median durations of survival and 2- and 3-year survival rates were determined for those judged eligible or ineligible for stereotactic radiosurgery. Results: Twenty-seven percent of patients were deemed eligible for stereotactic radiosurgery, eligible patients had more favorable prognostic factors and significantly longer median survival than ineligible patients (23.4 vs. 8.6 months; 2-year rate, 48% vs. 15%; 3-year rate, 30% vs. 7%); eligible patients also had a longer median survival than the entire group of unselected patients (23.4 vs. 11.4 months). Radiosurgery-eligible, conventionally-treated patients with glioblastoma multiforme and a group of radiosurgery-treated patients at a special referral center had similar median survival times (16.4 vs. 19.7 months). Conclusion: We provide additional evidence for selection bias in uncontrolled trials of stereotactic radiosurgery and by simulating the selection process accurately have detected a larger bias effect than noted previously. Judging from experience with interstitial radiation and intraarterial chemotherapy where substantial selection bias also occurred and randomized controlled trials proved disappointing, we conclude that a phase III study of stereotactic radiosurgery for malignant glioma is unlikely to yield a positive result and may not be necessary.
Power density & thermal limits of the flyback SMPS

The paper properly plays on the power density and thermal limits of the flyback converter (SMPS) in terms of the power quality, tight line regulations, efficiency, robust reliability, compactness, wider range of load variations, dc to dc power point conversions and the generic performance. The high switching frequency operation not only decreases the overall dimension, weight and heat sink size but also increases the substantial power density and compactness of the power converters as improved strategies for the portable urbanized and customer products.
Teraflops Sustained Performance With Real World Applications

This paper provides a comprehensive performance evaluation of the NEC SX-8 system at the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart which has been in operation since July 2005. It provides a description of the installed hardware together with its performance for some synthetic benchmarks and five real world applications. All the applications achieved sustained Tflop/s performance. Additionally, the measurements presented show the ability of the system to solve not only large problems with a very high performance, but also medium sized problems with high efficiency using a large number of processors.
Network Partitioning Domain Knowledge Multiobjective Application Mapping for Large-Scale Network-on-Chip

This paper proposes a multiobjective application mapping technique targeted for large-scale network-on-chip (NoC). As the number of intellectual property (IP) cores in multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC) increases, NoC application mapping to find optimum core-to-topology mapping becomes more challenging. Besides, the conflicting cost and performance trade-off makes multiobjective application mapping techniques even more complex. This paper proposes an application mapping technique that incorporates domain knowledge into genetic algorithm (GA). The initial population of GA is initialized with network partitioning (NP) while the crossover operator is guided with knowledge on communication demands. NP reduces the large-scale application mapping complexity and provides GA with a potential mapping search space. The proposed genetic operator is compared with state-of-the-art genetic operators in terms of solution quality. In this work, multiobjective optimization of energy and thermal-balance is considered. Through simulation, knowledge-based initial mapping shows significant improvement in Pareto front compared to random initial mapping that is widely used. The proposed knowledge-based crossover also shows better Pareto front compared to state-of-the-art knowledge-based crossover.
Life history of the Atlantic sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) (Richardson, 1836) off the southeastern United States

The life history of the Atlantic sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) was described from 1093 specimens collected from Virginia to northern Florida between April 1997 and March 1999. Longitudinally sectioned vertebral centra were used to age each specimen, and the periodicity of circuli deposition was verified through marginal increment analysis and focus-to-increment frequency distributions. Rhizoprionodon terraenovae reached a maximum size of 828 mm precaudal length (PCL) and a maximum age of 11+ years. Mean back-calculated lengths-at-age ranged from 445 mm PCL at age one to 785 mm PCL at age ten for females, and 448 mm PCL at age one to 747 mm PCL at age nine for males. Observed lengthat-age data (estimated to 0.1 year) yielded the following von Bertalanffy parameters estimates: L∞= 749 mm PCL (SE=4.60), K = 0.49 (SE=0.020), and t0= –0.94 (SE=0.046) for females; and L∞= 745 mm PCL (SE = 5.93), K = 0.50 (SE=0.024), and t0= –0.91 (SE = 0.052) for males. Sexual maturity was reached at age three and 611 mm PCL for females, and age three and 615 mm PCL for males. Rhizoprionodon terraenovae reproduced annually and had a gestation period of approximately 11 months. Litter size ranged from one to eight (mean=3.85) embyros, and increased with female PCL.
Elevated μ‐opioid receptor expression in the nucleus of the solitary tract accompanies attenuated withdrawal signs after chronic low dose naltrexone in opiate‐dependent rats

We previously described a decrease in withdrawal behaviors in opiate‐dependent rats that were chronically treated with very low doses of naltrexone in their drinking water. Attenuated expression of withdrawal behaviors correlated with decreased c‐Fos expression and intracellular signal transduction elements [protein kinase A regulatory subunit II (PKA) and phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB)] in brainstem noradrenergic nuclei. In this study, to determine whether similar cellular changes occurred in forebrain nuclei associated with drug reward, expressions of PKA and pCREB were analyzed in the ventral tegmental area, frontal cortex, striatum, and amygdala of opiate‐treated rats that received low doses of naltrexone in their drinking water. No significant difference in PKA or pCREB was detected in these regions following drug treatment. To examine further the cellular mechanisms in noradrenergic nuclei that could underlie attenuated withdrawal behaviors following low dose naltrexone administration, the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and locus coeruleus (LC) were examined for opioid receptor (OR) protein expression. Results showed a significant increase in μOR expression in the NTS of morphine‐dependent rats that received low doses of naltrexone in their drinking water, and increases in μOR expression were also found to be dose dependent. Protein expression of μOR in the LC and δOR in either brain region remained unchanged. In conclusion, our previously reported decreases in c‐Fos and PKA expression in the NTS following pretreatment with low doses of naltrexone may be partially explained by a greater inhibition of NTS neurons resulting from increased μOR expression in this region. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Linguistica “ T . Bolelli ” ) Argument alternations in Italian verbs : a computational study 1

Syntactic subcategorization frames generalize over the different syntactic contexts required by a verb1, and represent the possible syntactic expressions of its semantic arguments, i.e. its argument realization properties (Levin and Rappaport Hovav 2005). The core structure of a verb syntactic frame typically consists of a (possibly empty) set of labeled slots, representing the number and types of its syntactic dependencies (e.g., subject, direct object, prepositional complements, etc.). Verbs are normally associated with several syntactic frames, each marking different types of syntagmatic contexts in which the verb may appear. This phenomenon is typically referred to as multiple argument realization. For instance, the verb believe can appear both in a syntactic frame including a finite clausal slot introduced by the complementizer that (e.g., John believes that Mary is nice), and in a syntactic frame that includes an oblique complement introduced by the preposition in (e.g., John believes in God). A particular instance of syntactic polymorphism is represented by argument alternations (Levin 1993). In this case, a verb has more than one syntactic frame that overtly realizes a single set of semantic arguments, and in each syntactic variant the same semantic argument is expressed in different syntactic slots. This is nicely shown by (1), a case of the wellknown dative alternation in English, in which the verb give is associated both with a prepositional frame “NPsubj V NPobj to NP” and with a double object frame “NPsubj V NP2 NPobj”: