Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental Concern and Environmental Behavior in Foley, a Small Town in Minnesota

Research on environmental concern is extensive, and studies have identified factors that determine environmental behavior. These factors, however, are often related to specific behaviors, such as recycling, and they are not applicable to environmental behavior in a general sense. Most studies have also failed to measure correlations among the variables studied. This lack of comprehensive understanding suggests the need for explorative and qualitative approaches. This article examines households' and individuals' environmental behavior from the perspectives of human geography and ethnography. Its objective is to explore motives for environmental actions, as well as to identify major impediments to changed behavior. Twenty households, 10 households with high environmental activity and 10 households with low environmental activity, were selected from among the respondents to a community-wide questionnaire distributed in Foley, a small town in Minnesota. Research methodology was qualitative: ethnographic interviews. The article's main conclusion is that people cite a wide variety of reasons for their behavioral change. This conclusion itself reflects the difficulties in identifying the factors that determine environmental behavior. In this article, five groups of conserving informants are identified: the Depression generation, children of the Depression generation, the Vietnam generation, role models, and gradual evolvers. Among non-conserving informants, three reasons for not taking environmental action emerged: lack of time, no monetary reward, and inconvenience. The findings indicate that a variety of measures and strategies must be developed to change people's behavior.
FTP@VDTN - A file transfer application for Vehicular Delay-Tolerant Networks

Vehicular Delay-Tolerant Networks (VDTNs) aim to provide non-real time services and applications, such as electronic mail or file transfer, in environments with sparse and intermittent connectivity, variable delays, or where an end-to-end connection may not exist. Gathering contributions from opportunistic and cooperative networks, VDTN tries to generalize the delay-tolerant networks concept and apply it to vehicular networks. In VDTNs, data is carried between network nodes using vehicles that allow network connectivity. This paper presents a file transfer application for VDTNs, called FTP@VDTN, and studies its performance through a laboratory VDTN testbed using two routing mechanisms (Epidemic, and Spray and Wait) combined with different scheduling and dropping policies. It was demonstrated that FTP@VDTN works properly in a VDTN testbed. In terms of performance evaluation of VDTNs using FTP@VDTN, it was shown that remaining lifetime combination of scheduling and dropping policies perform better for both routing schemes.
The interleukin-6 -174 G/C promoter polymorphism is associated with risk of coronary heart disease and systolic blood pressure in healthy men.

AIMS Inflammation is a key component of coronary heart disease, and genes coding for cytokines are candidates for predisposing to coronary heart disease risk. We have examined the effect of two polymorphisms (-174G>C and -572G>C) in the promoter of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene on risk of coronary heart disease, and on intermediate risk traits including fibrinogen and systolic blood pressure, in 2751 middle-aged healthy U.K. men. RESULTS The -174C allele (frequency 0.43, 95% CI 0.42-0.44) was not associated with significant effects on fibrinogen levels, but was associated with a significantly (P=0.007) higher systolic blood pressure (mean mmHg (95% CI): GG=135.5 (134.3-136.7); GC=137.9 (136.9-138.9); CC= 138.0 (136.3-139.8)). This effect was of similar magnitude in smokers and non-smokers, and was greater in men in the top two tertiles of body mass index (>24.86 kg x m(-2)) than in those in the bottom tertile. Compared to those with the genotype GG, men carrying the -174C allele had a relative risk of coronary heart disease of 1.54 (95% CI 1.0-2.23, P=0.048) and this effect was greatest in smokers (compared to GG non-smokers, RR 2.66, CI 1.64-4.32). These effects remained statistically significant after adjusting for classical risk factors including blood pressure (P=0.04). The -572C allele (frequency 0.05, 0.04-0.06) was not associated with a significant effect on blood pressure, fibrinogen or relative risk of coronary heart disease. In a subset of the genotyped men (n=494), carriers of the -174C allele had higher levels of C-reactive protein than non-carriers. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm the importance of the inflammatory system in the development of coronary heart disease. They suggest that, at least in part, the effect of the IL-6 -174G>C polymorphism on blood pressure is likely to be operating through inflammatory mechanisms, but the genotype effect on coronary heart disease risk is largely unexplained by its effect on blood pressure. The molecular mechanisms whereby genetically determined differences in plasma levels of IL-6 are having these effects remain to be determined.
Music and language: Do they draw on similar syntactic working memory resources?

The cognitive processing similarities between music and language is an emerging field of study, with research finding evidence for shared processing pathways in the brain, especially in relation to syntax. This research combines theory from the shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis (SSIRH; Patel, 2008) and syntactic working memory (SWM) theory (Kljajevic, 2010), and suggests there will be shared processing costs when music and language concurrently access SWM. To examine this, word lists and complex sentences were paired with three music conditions: normal; syntactic manipulation (out-of-key chord); and a control condition with an instrument manipulation. As predicted, memory for sentences declined when paired with the syntactic manipulation compared to the other two music manipulations, but the same pattern did not occur in word lists. This suggests that both sentences and music with a syntactic irregularity are accessing SWM. Word lists, however, are thought to be primarily accessing the phonological loop, and therefore did not show effects of shared processing. Musicians performed differently from non-musicians, suggesting that the processing of musical and linguistic syntax differs with musical ability. Such results suggest a separation in processing between the phonological loop and SWM, and give evidence for shared processing mechanisms between music and language syntax.
The political role of the Japanese media

Abstract This article examines the political role of the mass media in contemporary Japan. Journalists, especially newspaper reporters, have long enjoyed privileged access to politicians through a system of kisha (reporters') clubs, a system which allows for a cosy rapport between reporters and their sources, but often works against the public interest. In recent years, however, some television journalists have adopted a more rigorous approach to political stories. Critical programming by television stations such as TV Asahi may have contributed to the end of 38 years of Liberal Democrat Party rule in 1993. Nevertheless, there is insufficient evidence to argue that the Japanese media is now acting as an effective political watchdog. Like the mass media in many other Asian countries, the Japanese media continues to enjoy an ambiguous relationship with holders of political power.
Morphogenesis of the telencephalic commissure requires scaffold protein JNK-interacting protein 3 (JIP3)

The murine JNK-interacting protein 3 (JIP3) protein (also known as JSAP1) is expressed exclusively in neurons and has been identified as a scaffold protein for the c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway and as an adapter protein for cargo transport by the microtubule motor protein kinesin. To investigate the physiological function of JIP3, we examined the effect of Jip3 gene disruption in mice. The Jip3–/– mice were unable to breathe and died shortly after birth. Microscopic analysis demonstrated that Jip3 gene disruption causes severe defects in the morphogenesis of the telencephalon. Jip3–/– mice lack the telencephalic commissure, a major connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The central nervous system abnormalities of Jip3–/– mice may be accounted for in part by a reduction in signal transduction by RhoA and its effector ROCK.
Reported adverse event cases of methemoglobinemia associated with benzocaine products.

BACKGROUND Methemoglobinemia (MHb) is characterized by abnormal levels of oxidized hemoglobin that cannot bind and transport oxygen. When induced by benzocaine anesthetic spray and other chemicals, it can result in cyanosis and life-threatening complications. METHODS From 818 439 adverse event reports received by the US Food and Drug Administration from November 1997 through March 2002, we extracted every report for use of a benzocaine product. We classified each case by product type (eg, spray, gel, or solution), by whether MHb was involved, and by the dose given. RESULTS Among 198 reported adverse events of all types associated with benzocaine, 132 cases (66.7%) involved definite or probable MHb. The MHb cases included 107 serious adverse events (81.1%) and 2 deaths (1.5%). In 123 cases (93.2%), the product was a spray; in 2 cases (1.5%), a benzocaine-containing lozenge; and 1 case, a gel. In the 69 cases that specified a dose, 37 (53.6%) indicated that a single spray was applied (approximately the recommended amount). CONCLUSIONS Health professionals involved in endoscopy, intubation, bronchoscopy, or similar invasive procedures using benzocaine-containing sprays should know that (1) administration may cause MHb with potentially serious consequences, (2) identifying the reaction to benzocaine usually requires cooximetry (although it can be implied by symptoms), and (3) treatment involves immediate intravenous administration of 1 to 2 mg/kg of methylene blue.
Gaussian Process Approach to Spiking Neurons for Inhomogeneous Poisson Inputs

This article presents a new theoretical framework to consider the dynamics of a stochastic spiking neuron model with general membrane response to input spike. We assume that the input spikes obey an inhomogeneous Poisson process. The stochastic process of the membrane potential then becomes a gaussian process. When a general type of the membrane response is assumed, the stochastic process becomes a Markov-gaussian process. We present a calculation method for the membrane potential density and the firing probability density. Our new formulation is the extension of the existing formulation based on diffusion approximation. Although the single Markov assumption of the diffusion approximation simplifies the stochastic process analysis, the calculation is inaccurate when the stochastic process involves a multiple Markov property. We find that the variation of the shape of the membrane response, which has often been ignored in existing stochastic process studies, significantly affects the firing probability. Our approach can consider the reset effect, which has been difficult to deal with by analysis based on the first passage time density.
Germline BRCA2 mutations detected in pediatric sequencing studies impact parents’ evaluation and care

There has been no indication to test for BRCA1/2 in children (with the rare exception of Fanconi anemia) as screening begins in adult years and there is a potential to induce anxiety related to adult-onset cancers. However, in the setting of pediatric cancer, with increasing utility and frequency of companion tumor-normal sequencing without regard for phenotype and with BRCA1/2 included in tumor profiling panels, germline mutations in BRCA1/2 and other DNA damage repair genes have been found. When mutations in these genes are revealed, there are implications for immediate family members. Here we present two children in whom BRCA2 mutations identified through tumor sequencing prompted parental genetic testing and medical action. These cases illustrate the potential importance of including a matched normal DNA sample when performing tumor profiling of pediatric cancer patients to ensure optimal care.
EasyESA: A Low-effort Infrastructure for Explicit Semantic Analysis

Distributional semantic models (DSMs) are semantic models which are based on the statistical analysis of co-occurrences of words in large corpora. DSMs can be used in a wide spectrum of semantic applications including semantic search, question answering, paraphrase detection, word sense disambiguation, among others. The ability to automatically harvest meaning from unstructured heterogeneous data, its simplicity of use and the ability to build comprehensive semantic models are major strengths of distributional approaches. The construction of distributional models, however, is dependent on processing large-scale corpora. The English version of Wikipedia 2014, for example, contains 44 GB of article data. The hardware and software infrastructure requirements necessary to process large-scale corpora bring high entry barriers for researchers and developers to start experimenting with distributional semantics. In order to reduce these barriers we developed EasyESA, a high-performance and easy-to-deploy distributional semantics framework and service which provides an Explicit Semantic Analysis (ESA) [4] infrastructure.
Effects of collocational restrictions in the interpretation of adjective-noun combinations

An experiment is reported in which the interpretation of adjective-noun combinations was investigated. Semantic characteristics of adjectives and nouns were varied. Central adjectives were members of pairs of frequent antonyms (e.g., big-small, wet-dry). Peripheral adjectives were near-synonyms of such antonyms (e.g., sturdy, swampy). Compared to central adjectives, peripheral adjectives have additional collocational restrictions that account for their more restricted usages. Combinations contained nouns in which dimensions that matched the collocational restrictions of the peripheral adjectives were of high or low salience. A speeded classification task for meaningfulness was used. Combinations consisting of peripheral adjectives and low salient nouns resulted in particularly low percentages of meaningful responses. The results confirm important predictions of schema-based theory, but they also point to required elaborations of this theory.
An integrated circuit with transmit beamforming flip-chip bonded to a 2-D CMUT array for 3-D ultrasound imaging

State-of-the-art 3-D medical ultrasound imaging requires transmitting and receiving ultrasound using a 2-D array of ultrasound transducers with hundreds or thousands of elements. A tight combination of the transducer array with integrated circuitry eliminates bulky cables connecting the elements of the transducer array to a separate system of electronics. Furthermore, preamplifiers located close to the array can lead to improved receive sensitivity. A combined IC and transducer array can lead to a portable, high-performance, and inexpensive 3-D ultrasound imaging system. This paper presents an IC flip-chip bonded to a 16times16-element capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array for 3-D ultrasound imaging. The IC includes a transmit beamformer that generates 25-V unipolar pulses with programmable focusing delays to 224 of the 256 transducer elements. One-shot circuits allow adjustment of the pulse widths for different ultrasound transducer center frequencies. For receiving reflected ultrasound signals, the IC uses the 32-elements along the array diagonals. The IC provides each receiving element with a low-noise 25-MHz-bandwidth transimpedance amplifier. Using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) clocked at 100 MHz to operate the IC, the IC generated properly timed transmit pulses with 5-ns accuracy. With the IC flip-chip bonded to a CMUT array, we show that the IC can produce steered and focused ultrasound beams. We present 2-D and 3-D images of a wire phantom and 2-D orthogonal cross-sectional images (Bscans) of a latex heart phantom.
Economic valuation of a toll road concession with traffic guarantees and the abandonment option

Governments worldwide have been encouraging private participation in transportation infrastructure. To increase the feasibility of a project, public-private partnership (PPP) may include guarantees or other support to reduce the risks for private investors. It is necessary to value these opportunities under a real options framework and thereby analyze the project's economic feasibility and risk allocation. However, within this structure, sponsors have an implicit option to abandon the project that should be simultaneously valued. Thus, this article proposes a hypothetical toll road concession in Brazil with a minimum traffic guarantee, a maximum traffic ceiling, and an implicit abandonment option. Different combinations of the minimum and maximum levels are presented, resulting in very high or even negative value added to the net present value (NPV). The abandonment option impacts the level of guarantee to be given. Governments should calibrate an optimal level of guarantees to avoid unnecessarily high costs, protect the returns of the sponsor, and lower the probability of abandonment.
Integrative ChIP-seq/Microarray Analysis Identifies a CTNNB1 Target Signature Enriched in Intestinal Stem Cells and Colon Cancer

Background Deregulation of canonical Wnt/CTNNB1 (beta-catenin) pathway is one of the earliest events in the pathogenesis of colon cancer. Mutations in APC or CTNNB1 are highly frequent in colon cancer and cause aberrant stabilization of CTNNB1, which activates the transcription of Wnt target genes by binding to chromatin via the TCF/LEF transcription factors. Here we report an integrative analysis of genome-wide chromatin occupancy of CTNNB1 by chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) and gene expression profiling by microarray analysis upon RNAi-mediated knockdown of CTNNB1 in colon cancer cells. Results We observed 3629 CTNNB1 binding peaks across the genome and a significant correlation between CTNNB1 binding and knockdown-induced gene expression change. Our integrative analysis led to the discovery of a direct Wnt target signature composed of 162 genes. Gene ontology analysis of this signature revealed a significant enrichment of Wnt pathway genes, suggesting multiple feedback regulations of the pathway. We provide evidence that this gene signature partially overlaps with the Lgr5+ intestinal stem cell signature, and is significantly enriched in normal intestinal stem cells as well as in clinical colorectal cancer samples. Interestingly, while the expression of the CTNNB1 target gene set does not correlate with survival, elevated expression of negative feedback regulators within the signature predicts better prognosis. Conclusion Our data provide a genome-wide view of chromatin occupancy and gene regulation of Wnt/CTNNB1 signaling in colon cancer cells.
Optimal Transmission Scheduling of Cooperative Communications with a Full-Duplex Relay

Most existing research studies in cooperative communication are based on a half-duplex assumption. Motivated by recent successes in hardware implementation of wireless full-duplex transmission, we propose a full-duplex cooperative communication (FDCC) approach to maximize the minimum transmission rate among a set of users to a common destination with the help of a dedicated relay. Under the consideration of hardware cost, only the relay node requires full-duplex wireless equipment in our design. We derive the achievable transmission rate for the proposed FDCC scheme under both amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) modes. Further, as the transmission scheduling of users plays a critical role in determining the achievable transmission rate in FDCC, we formulate the max-min rate scheduling problem as a nonconvex mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem. By applying linearization and convex approximation techniques, we propose an optimal algorithm based on a branch-and-bound framework to solve the problem efficiently. Extensive simulation results show that FDCC can significantly improve the transmission rate as compared with direct transmission and half-duplex cooperative communication (HDCC).
Performance of confocal scanning laser tomograph Topographic Change Analysis (TCA) for assessing glaucomatous progression.

PURPOSE To determine the sensitivity and specificity of confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope's Topographic Change Analysis (TCA; Heidelberg Retina Tomograph [HRT]; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) parameters for discriminating between progressing glaucomatous and stable healthy eyes. METHODS The 0.90, 0.95, and 0.99 specificity cutoffs for various (n=70) TCA parameters were developed by using 1000 permuted topographic series derived from HRT images of 18 healthy eyes from Moorfields Eye Hospital, imaged at least four times. The cutoffs were then applied to topographic series from 36 eyes with known glaucomatous progression (by optic disc stereophotograph assessment and/or standard automated perimetry guided progression analysis, [GPA]) and 21 healthy eyes from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (DIGS), all imaged at least four times, to determine TCA sensitivity and specificity. Cutoffs also were applied to 210 DIGS patients' eyes imaged at least four times with no evidence of progression (nonprogressed) by stereophotography or GPA. RESULTS The TCA parameter providing the best sensitivity/specificity tradeoff using the 0.90, 0.95, and 0.99 cutoffs was the largest clustered superpixel area within the optic disc margin (CAREA(disc) mm(2)). Sensitivities/specificities for classifying progressing (by stereophotography and/or GPA) and healthy eyes were 0.778/0.809, 0.639/0.857, and 0.611/1.00, respectively. In nonprogressing eyes, specificities were 0.464, 0.570, and 0.647 (i.e., lower than in the healthy eyes). In addition, TCA parameter measurements of nonprogressing eyes were similar to those of progressing eyes. CONCLUSIONS TCA parameters can discriminate between progressing and longitudinally observed healthy eyes. Low specificity in apparently nonprogressing patients' eyes suggests early progression detection using TCA.
A Conflict of Interests: The Case of Mark Black

In this paper, the author describes the case of a teacher, Mark Black, as he struggles to adapt to the calls for the reform of teaching in California. Drawing on a set of interviews and observations that are part of a larger study (see Cohen, Ball, and Peterson in this volume), the author explores how Mark enacts the curriculum of Real Math, the textbook that his school district recently adopted. Through the lenses of his beliefs about the nature and structure of mathematical knowledge, his beliefs about how students best learn mathematics, and his beliefs about his role as a teacher, Mark transforms the innovative textbook into a more familiar, traditional elementary mathematics curriculum. The author discusses four real and perceived constraints that influence Mark’s ability to enact the curricular policy proposed by the Framework and argues that teachers are themselves learners who need to be supported and nurtured as they try to change their practice.