Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative Trait Loci for Apolipoprotein B, Cholesterol, and Triglycerides in Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia Pedigrees

Objective—Familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL) is a genetically complex lipid disorder that is diagnosed in families by combinations of increased cholesterol, triglycerides, and/or apolipoprotein B (apoB) levels in patients and their first-degree relatives. Identifying the predisposing genes promises to reveal the primary risk factors and susceptibility pathways and suggest methods of prevention and treatment. As with most genetically complex disorders, a clinical definition of disease may not be the most useful phenotype for finding the complement of predisposing genes, and the quantitative traits used to define the disorder can provide important information. This is a report of a quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of FCHL. Methods and Results—A full genome scan of 377 multi-allelic markers genotyped at ≈10 centimorgan (cM) intervals was conducted in 150 sibling pairs from 22 nuclear families in FCHL pedigrees. These data were analyzed by 2 multipoint QTL linkage methods using the nonparametric and Haseman–Elston procedures of the Genehunter software. Using a criterion of P<0.001 by the nonparametric analysis, we found evidence of 2 apoB QTL at 1p21-31 (P<0.000009) and 17p11-q21 (P<0.000009), a total serum cholesterol QTL at 12p13 (P<0.0001), and a serum triglycerides QTL at 4p15-16 (P<0.0002). Using the criterion of P<0.03 for at least 2 traits at the same locus, additional evidence for cholesterol (P<0.01) and a triglycerides P<0.02) was observed at 17p11-21, as well as suggestive evidence for apoB (P<0.02) and triglycerides (P<0.01) at 4q34-35, and cholesterol (P<0.01) and triglycerides (P<0.02) and a binary FCHL trait (lod=1.5) at 16p12-13. Conclusions—QTL analyses of the traits that define FCHL are effective for localizing disease-predisposing genes.
Global Transcriptome Analysis of Constitutive Resistance to the White Pine Weevil in Spruce

Constitutive defense mechanisms are critical to the understanding of defense mechanisms in conifers because they constitute the first barrier to attacks by insect pests. In interior spruce, trees that are putatively resistant and susceptible to attacks by white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi) typically exhibit constitutive differences in traits such as resin duct size and number, bark thickness, and terpene content. To improve our knowledge of their genetic basis, we compared globally the constitutive expression levels of 17,825 genes between 20 putatively resistant and 20 putatively susceptible interior spruce trees from the British Columbia tree improvement program. We identified 54 upregulated and 137 downregulated genes in resistant phenotypes, relative to susceptible phenotypes, with a maximum fold change of 2.24 and 3.91, respectively. We found a puzzling increase of resistance by downregulated genes, as one would think that “procuring armaments” is the best defense. Also, although terpenes and phenolic compounds play an important role in conifer defense, we found few of these genes to be differentially expressed. We found 15 putative small heat-shock proteins (sHSP) and several other stress-related proteins to be downregulated in resistant trees. Downregulated putative sHSP belong to several sHSP classes and represented 58% of all tested putative sHSP. These proteins are well known to be involved in plant response to various kinds of abiotic stress; however, their role in constitutive resistance is not yet understood. The lack of correspondence between transcriptome profile clusters and phenotype classifications suggests that weevil resistance in spruce is a complex trait.
Assessment as a Scholarship of Teaching.

Academic institutions are caught in a position of needing continued commitment to assessment and yet dealing with strong faculty sentiment on the subject. This paper proposes that faculty assessment activity be re-conceptualized according to Ernest Boyer's (1990) "scholarship of teaching"--as a scholarly process whose products make a contribution to the broader conversation about teaching and learning in higher education. In making a case for this rightful elevation of assessment activity by members of the academy, the paper first shows that assessment is not "service," but scholarship. Second, in applying recognized qualities of scholarship, the paper discusses assessment as a legitimate form of research that meets both the definition and spirit of the term. Third, it considers that the fact that much assessment activity is "praxis" (practice, as distinguished from theory) extends its value--and, hence, its value as scholarship--to both scholarly and non-scholarly audiences. Finally, the paper finds that assessment involves a great deal of invention, creativity, development, rigor, and reflection, which moves the activity into the realm of creative and scholarly endeavor and beyond "mere" service. Contains a figure and 31 references. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Running Head: ASSESSMENT/SCHOLARSHIP Assessment as a Scholarship of Teaching
Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization Paying for Shelf Space : An Investigation of Merchandising Allowances in the Grocery Industry

Merchandising allowances are fees paid by manufacturers to retailers in order to encourage the allocation of in-store promotional activities to the manufacturers' brand. I use a three-stage game framework to formulate a vertical structural model, which endogenizes manufacturer, retailer, and consumer decisions in the presence of merchandising allowances. The model allows for non-linear vertical pricing contracts using merchandising allowances paid to retailers. This differs from previous work which has focused on franchise fees paid to manufacturers. The model is estimated using store-level weekly data from the ketchup industry. In addition to estimates of consumer taste parameters, the model also yields predictions of wholesale prices and the size (dollar value) of the merchandising allowances. Counterfactual simulations reveal that merchandising allowances lead to an increase in retail profits, a decline in manufacturer profits, a decline in consumer surplus, and reduction in total welfare.
Private Peering Among Internet Backbone Providers

We develop a model, in which Internet backbone providers decide on private peering agreements, comparing the benefits of private peering relative to being connected only through National Access Points. Backbone providers compete by setting capacities for their networks, capacities on the private peering links, if they choose to peer privately, and access prices. The model is formulated as a multistage game. We examine the model from two alternative modelling perspectives - a purely non-cooperative game, where we solve for Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibria through backward induction, and a network theoretic perspective, where we examine pairwise stable and efficient networks. While there are a large number of Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibria, both the pairwise stable and the efficient network are unique and the stable network is not efficient and vice versa. The stable network is the complete network, where all the backbone providers choose to peer with each other, while the efficient network is the one, where the backbone providers are connected to each other only through the National Access Points.
Incorporating fat tails in financial models using entropic divergence measures

In the existing financial literature, entropy based ideas have been proposed in portfolio optimization, in model calibration for options pricing as well as in ascertaining a pricing measure in incomplete markets. The abstracted problem corresponds to finding a probability measure that minimizes the relative entropy (also called $I$-divergence) with respect to a known measure while it satisfies certain moment constraints on functions of underlying assets. In this paper, we show that under $I$-divergence, the optimal solution may not exist when the underlying assets have fat tailed distributions, ubiquitous in financial practice. We note that this drawback may be corrected if `polynomial-divergence' is used. This divergence can be seen to be equivalent to the well known (relative) Tsallis or (relative) Renyi entropy. We discuss existence and uniqueness issues related to this new optimization problem as well as the nature of the optimal solution under different objectives. We also identify the optimal solution structure under $I$-divergence as well as polynomial-divergence when the associated constraints include those on marginal distribution of functions of underlying assets. These results are applied to a simple problem of model calibration to options prices as well as to portfolio modeling in Markowitz framework, where we note that a reasonable view that a particular portfolio of assets has heavy tailed losses may lead to fatter and more reasonable tail distributions of all assets.
The entorhinal map of space $

How do we know where we are, and how do we remember the places we visited? Since the discovery of place cells in 1971, our understanding of the brain׳s maps of external space has exploded. Yet the origin of the place-cell signal remained elusive. The discovery of grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) in 2005 put place cells in a context, since the existence of grid cells pointed to circuit mechanisms that might explain the formation of place cells. In this review, I shall review recent experimental and theoretical advances in the understanding of how space is mapped in the medial entorhinal cortex. I will also review recent studies of interactions between hippocampus and the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC). Research on spatial mapping in
Using DynamoGraph: application scenarios for large-scale temporal graph processing

Current trends in graph analytics show a trend towards analysing networks of ever growing size and a strong interest of analysing chronological development in networks. This paper provides a brief introduction to possible processing paradigms for large-scale temporal graphs and a real-world implementation called DynamoGraph. The paper motivates the necessity of further research in this area by highlighting three use-case scenarios. It is elaborated how the click-behavior of users visiting the web can be used to better understand the structure of the actively used web, it shows how temporal graphs provide a model for social network analysis over online discourse, and it provides first insight in how temporal graph analytics can help us better understand social learning networks.
Modeling of Total Parameter Variations

Aggressive downscaling of CMOS devices in every technology generation resulted in higher integration density and performance. At the same time, yield, which is the ratio of flawless versus all fabricated chips, drastically decreased. Failed chips are divided in defect devices (defect yield) and devices, which failed the desired performance (parametric yield). Parameter variations, which strongly increase with reduced technology sizes, are responsible for decreasing parametric yield [1]. Parameter variations are divided into intra-die and inter-die variations. Due to the latter, the same circuits might have different characteristics on different dies. Intra-die variations are the variations of transistor characteristics within a single chip. Both kinds of variations are expected to be truly random in nature [2]. The parameter variations are based on different effects, such as variations in process parameters, temperature, or supply voltage. These variations lead to changes in transistor characteristics, which might result in longer delays. In established static timing analysis (STA), which is used to determine circuit performance, the effect of parameter variation is modeled with corner-case models. Each gate is set to its worst-case delay value at this corner-case timing analysis. Signal arrival times at the output of a gate are estimated by adding the gate delay to the signal arrival time at the inputs. Corner-case STA is based on assumptions of inter-die variations only. But, intra-die variations cannot be ignored in technologies with gate length below 100nm [1]. Hence, traditional corner-case STA is quite pessimistic and underestimates the value for typical performance and overestimates the worst-case timing behavior [3]. In contrast, statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) considers intra-die variations. The gate delay is based on probability functions. Hence, signal arrival times are modeled as probabilistic functions. The delay variability can be described with cumulative probability distribution function (CDF) or probability density function (PDF). A CDF describes the probability that the delay is lower than a given value x. In contrast, a PDF describes the probability that the delay has the value x:
“Chain Enrollment” and College “Enclaves”: Benefits and Drawbacks for Latino College Students (WP-04-01)

While Latino college enrollments have risen in recent decades, degree completion continues to lag. This study uses interviews with 33 students (including 17 Latino/as), as well as a survey of nearly 4,400 students at 14 two-year colleges in a major metropolitan area to examine the factors influencing Latino college enrollment and retention. Person and Rosenbaum employ theoretical frameworks from studies on immigrant communities to analyze the effects of “chain enrollment” and Latino student “enclaves” at some colleges. They find that social networks help Latino students to enroll in college and support them during their studies. At the same time, however, students relying on family and friends for information on college enrollment tend to rely exclusively on this information, without considering further options. Once in college, Latino students report having less information about college requirements than other students, but the effect is true only for Latinos in schools with relatively low levels (0 to 14 percent) of Latino enrollment. They conclude by suggesting that college administrators need to recognize and support the role of social networks in Latino students’ college experience and to enhance Latino students’ information about college.
Metal Cations in G-Quadruplex Folding and Stability

This review is focused on the structural and physicochemical aspects of metal cation coordination to G-Quadruplexes (GQ) and their effects on GQ stability and conformation. G-quadruplex structures are non-canonical secondary structures formed by both DNA and RNA. G-quadruplexes regulate a wide range of important biochemical processes. Besides the sequence requirements, the coordination of monovalent cations in the GQ is essential for its formation and determines the stability and polymorphism of GQ structures. The nature, location, and dynamics of the cation coordination and their impact on the overall GQ stability are dependent on several factors such as the ionic radii, hydration energy, and the bonding strength to the O6 of guanines. The intracellular monovalent cation concentration and the localized ion concentrations determine the formation of GQs and can potentially dictate their regulatory roles. A wide range of biochemical and biophysical studies on an array of GQ enabling sequences have generated at a minimum the knowledge base that allows us to often predict the stability of GQs in the presence of the physiologically relevant metal ions, however, prediction of conformation of such GQs is still out of the realm.
Interglomerular Connectivity within the Canonical and GC-D/Necklace Olfactory Subsystems

The mammalian main olfactory system contains several subsystems that differ not only in the receptors they express and the glomerular targets they innervate within the main olfactory bulb (MOB), but also in the strategies they use to process odor information. The canonical main olfactory system employs a combinatorial coding strategy that represents odorant identity as a pattern of glomerular activity. By contrast, the "GC-D/necklace" olfactory subsystem—formed by olfactory sensory neurons expressing the receptor guanylyl cyclase GC-D and their target necklace glomeruli (NGs) encircling the caudal MOB—is critical for the detection of a small number of semiochemicals that promote the acquisition of food preferences. The formation of these socially-transmitted food preferences requires the animal to integrate information about two types of olfactory stimuli: these specialized social chemosignals and the food odors themselves. However, the neural mechanisms with which the GC-D/necklace subsystem processes this information are unclear. We used stimulus-induced increases in intrinsic fluorescence signals to map functional circuitry associated with NGs and canonical glomeruli (CGs) in the MOB. As expected, CG-associated activity spread laterally through both the glomerular and external plexiform layers associated with activated glomeruli. Activation of CGs or NGs resulted in activity spread between the two types of glomeruli; there was no evidence of preferential connectivity between individual necklace glomeruli. These results support previous anatomical findings that suggest the canonical and GC-D/necklace subsystems are functionally connected and may integrate general odor and semiochemical information in the MOB.
Optimal covariant quantum networks

A sequential network of quantum operations is efficiently described by its quantum comb [1], a non‐negative operator with suitable normalization constraints. Here we analyze the case of networks enjoying symmetry with respect to the action of a given group of physical transformations, introducing the notion of covariant combs and testers, and proving the basic structure theorems for these objects. As an application, we discuss the optimal alignment of reference frames (without pre‐established common references) with multiple rounds of quantum communication, showing that i) allowing an arbitrary amount of classical communication does not improve the alignment, and ii) a single round of quantum communication is sufficient.
Data Cleaning Methods

Cleaning methods are used for finding duplicates within a file or across sets of files. This overview provides background on the Fellegi-Sunter model of record linkage. The Fellegi-Sunter model provides an optimal theoretical classification rule. Fellegi and Sunter introduced methods for automatically estimating optimal parameters without training data that we extend to many real world situations.
An Information-Theoretic Approach to Routing Scalability

Many of our computer networks, not the least of which the Internet, are built upon hop-by-hop routing. At the moment, it is not clear whether we will be able to scale these networks into the future economically. In this paper, we propose a new information-theoretic model to study routing scalability, we present preliminary analysis suggesting that hop-by-hop routing tolerates network growth surprisingly efficiently, and we sketch the scalability map of the Internet which we then use to make some bold predictions.
System for automatic faces detection

The effectiveness of biometric authentication based on face mainly depends on the method used to locate the face in the image or video. This paper presents a hybrid system for faces detection, in a color image or video, in unconstrained cases, i.e. situations in which illumination, pose, occlusion and size of the face are uncontrolled. To do this, the new method of detection proposed in this system is based primarily on a technique of automatic learning by using the decision of three neural networks, a new method of feature extraction based on the principal of energy compaction in the DC coefficient using the discrete cosine transform and a technique of segmentation by skin color to reduce the space of research and to accelerate the process of detection. A whole of pictures (faces and no faces) are transformed to vectors of data which will be used for entrain the neural networks to separate between the two classes while the discrete cosine transform is used to reduce the dimension of the vectors, to eliminate the redundancies of information, and to store only the useful information in a minimum number of coefficients. The experimental results have showed that this hybridization of methods will gave a very significant improvement of the rate of the recognition, quality of detection and the time of execution.
Potentials of Sub-Saharan Africa in the Global Market for International Tourism

Abstract This paper examines the future prospects of Sub-Saharan African region in the international market for tourism. This was achieved by analyzing past trends of international tourism arrivals and receipts in the region, and projecting these trends to the year 2010 using an amalgamation of four different time-series projection models after being evaluated by the MAPE. Results are given as confidence limits in three different scenarios. They show that arrivals of international tourists to Sub-Saharan Africa would increase from 17.9 millions in 2000 (end of observed period) to 28.9 million and 44.9 million tourists by the year 2010. The figures for receipts would go from $7.0b in 2000 to $11.0b and $15.3b by the year 2010. Receipts per capita (i.e., per tourist) would however decline at an annual rate of between −0.48% and −0.91% during the projection period. Socioeconomic impacts of these findings are given, and their implications for international marketing strategies and government public policies in Sub-Saharan Africa are discussed.
Trends and Structural Changes in South African Macroeconomic Volatility

The international financial crisis that started in 2007 and the subsequent end of the long expansion in South Africa has refocused attention on the business cycle. Prior to the crisis, the economies of both developed and developing countries experienced an extended period of low and stable inflation and stable real economic growth, an episode that has been called the "great moderation". The disruption of this era by the financial crisis has highlighted the importance of understanding the nature and causes of the great moderation, to assist policy makers in facilitating its resumption. This paper considers the historical evidence for the great moderation in South Africa with the aid of a time-varuing stochastic volatility model and various break-point tests
Metrics and statistical techniques used to evaluate internal quality of object-oriented software: A systematic mapping

Efficient ways to measure and evaluate internal quality of object-oriented (OO) software are widely discussed in the literature. Studies in software engineering has used statistical techniques/models to evaluate quality in different aspects (quality characteristics and sub characteristics) and using different variables (traditional and object-oriented software metrics) to quantify it. This paper presents results of applying a systematic mapping to identify the most software metrics cited and the most statistical techniques/models used to evaluate quality in OO software. As a result, we highlighted 79 papers related to the research question in a total of 8,231 papers published in scientific journals. The main contributions of this work are (i) a list of the most used metrics and measurable properties, (ii) a list of the most used statistical techniques/models, and (ii) the main references, themes to be explored and recommendations for future research.
Fuzzy Logic Supported Coloured Image Information Enhancement

High dynamic range of illumination may cause serious distortions and information loss in the viewing and further processing of digital images. On the other hand, digital processing can often improve the visual quality of real-world photographs or views. Recently, HDR imaging techniques have come into the focus of research because of their high theoretical and practical importance. In this paper, a new fuzzy supported colour tone reproduction algorithm is introduced which may help in developing hardly or non-viewable features and content of colour images. It results in high quality colour HDR images containing the maximum level of details and colour information.