Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scalable versioning in distributed databases with commuting updates

Presents a multiversioning scheme for a distributed system with the workload consisting of read-only transactions and update transactions, (most of) which commute on individual nodes. The scheme introduces a version advancement protocol that is completely asynchronous with user transactions, thus allowing the system to scale to very high transaction rates and frequent version advancements. Moreover, the scheme never creates more than three copies of a data item. Combined with existing techniques to avoid global concurrency control for commuting transactions that execute in a particular version, our multiversioning scheme results in a protocol where no user transaction on a node can be delayed by any activity (either version advancement or another transaction) occurring on another node. Non-commuting transactions are gracefully handled. Our technique is of particular value to distributed recording systems where guaranteeing global serializability is often desirable, but rarely used because of the high performance cost of running distributed transactions. Examples include calls on a telephone network, inventory management in a "point-of-sale" system, operations monitoring systems in automated factories, and medical information management systems.
The Effect of Concept Mapping on Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions of Junior and Senior Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Teaching and assessing critical thinking have great professional benefit to nursing education (Daley, 1996, Facione, 1996). Major issues still center on and are discussed by nurse educators about the importance of teaching strategies that enhance critical thinking skills and measurements of critical thinking (Adams, 1999; Daley, Shaw, & Balistrieri, 1999; Facione & Facione, 1997). The purposes of this quasi experimental study, using a pretest – posttest control group design were twofold. The first purpose was to explore the effect of concept mapping, as a metacognitive teaching strategy on the critical thinking skills and dispositions of junior and senior level baccalaureate nursing students. The second purpose was to evaluate the changes in students' concept mapping skills over time. This research was based upon David Ausubel’s theory of meaningful learning (1968) and Joseph Novak and Bob Gowin’s (1984) work on the application of meaningful learning using concept mapping. The convenience sample included 32 students in the experimental group and 45 students in the control group. The participants were enrolled in accredited generic baccalaureate nursing programs. The students in the experimental group developed two concept maps over the course of a full academic semester. The California Critical Skills Test (CCTST) and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) were used to measure the variables. Novak and Gowin's (1984) scoring criteria were used to score the concept maps. The pretest scores of the two groups did not differ significantly. The experimental and control groups did not differ on CCTST or CCTDI posttest scores. There was no relationship between critical thinking skills and dispositions scores. Nursing students who used concept mapping showed no increase in their CCTST and CCTDI on posttest scores. The first concept maps showed fewer concepts, and less connecting of concepts than the second concept maps, supporting Ausabel’s Meaningful Learning Theory. The findings of this study suggest that concept mapping triggers critical thinking, which guides the student to engage in meaningful learning. However, the need still exists for researchers to use other critical thinking tools that may capture students’ growth of critical thinking over time.
M31 Transverse Velocity and Local Group Mass from Satellite Kinematics

We present several different statistical methods to determine the transverse velocity vector of M31. The underlying assumptions are that the M31 satellites on average follow the motion of M31 through space and that the galaxies in the outer parts of the Local Group on average follow the motion of the Local Group barycenter through space. We apply the methods to the line-of-sight velocities of 17 M31 satellites, to the proper motions of the two satellites M33 and IC 10, and to the line-of-sight velocities of five galaxies near the Local Group turnaround radius, respectively. This yields four independent but mutually consistent determinations of the heliocentric M31 transverse velocities in the west and north directions, with weighted averages ⟨vW⟩ = − 78 ± 41 km s−1 and ⟨vN⟩ = − 38 ± 34 km s−1. The uncertainties correspond to proper motions of ~10 μas yr−1, which will be difficult to verify observationally within the next decade. The galactocentric tangential velocity of M31 is 42 km s−1, with 1 σ confidence interval Vtan ⩽ 56 km s−1. The implied M31-Milky Way orbit is bound if the total Local Group mass M exceeds 1.72−0.25+0.26 × 1012 M☉. If the orbit is indeed bound, then the timing argument combined with the known age of the universe implies that M = 5.58−0.72+0.85 × 1012 M☉. This is on the high end of the allowed mass range suggested by cosmologically motivated models for the individual structure and dynamics of M31 and the Milky Way, respectively. It is therefore possible that the timing mass is an overestimate of the true mass, especially if one takes into account recent results from the Millenium Simulation that show that there is also a theoretical uncertainty of 41% (Gaussian dispersion) in timing mass estimates. The M31 transverse velocity implies that M33 is in a tightly bound orbit around M31. This may have led to some tidal deformation of M33. It will be worthwhile to search for observational evidence of this.
Nesfatin‐1 Influences the Excitability of Neurons in the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract

Nesfatin‐1 is a recently discovered neuropeptide that has been shown to decrease food intake in animals when injected both intracerebroventricularly and peripherally. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical studies have revealed the expression of nesfatin‐1 throughout the brain and, in particular, in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), a medullary structure with important roles in the regulation of feeding. In order to shed light on the mechanisms by which nesfatin‐1 exerts its satiety‐promoting actions, this study examined the effect of nesfatin‐1 on the excitability of NTS neurons. Whole‐cell current clamp recordings from rat NTS neurons in slice preparation were performed and the effects of bath application of nesfatin‐1 (10nM) on membrane potential examined. Of 14 cells tested, 43% (6/14) were influenced by nesfatin‐1. Depolarizing effects were seen in 50% of responsive cells (mean depolarization = 5.1 ± 1.4 mV, n=3) while the remaining 50% of cells hyperpolarized (mean hyperpolarization = −8.6 ± 0.9 mV, n=3) in response to nesfatin‐1. These findings identify the NTS as a potential site at which nesfatin‐1 acts to influence central control of food intake.
Activated G Protein αs Subunits Increase the Ethanol Sensitivity of Human Glycine Receptors

It is well known that ethanol modulates the function of the Cys loop ligand-gated ion channels, which include the inhibitory glycine receptors (GlyRs). Previous studies have consistently shown that transmembrane and extracellular sites are essential for ethanol actions in GlyRs. In addition, recent evidence has shown that the ethanol modulation of GlyRs is also affected by G protein activation through Gβγ subunits. However, more specific roles of G protein α subunits on ethanol actions are unknown. Here, we show that the allosteric effect of ethanol on the human α1 GlyR is selectively enhanced by the expression of Gαs Q-L. For example, constitutively active Gαs, but not Gαq or Gαi, was able to displace the alcohol sensitivity of GlyRs toward low millimolar concentrations (17 ± 4 versus 48 ± 5% at 100 mM). Experiments under conditions that increased cAMP and protein kinase A (PKA)-mediated signaling, on the contrary, did not produce the same enhancement in sensitivity, suggesting that the Gαs Q-L effect was not dependent on cAMP/PKA-dependent signaling. On the other hand, the effect of Gαs Q-L was blocked by a Gβγ scavenger (9 ± 3% of control). Furthermore, two mutant receptors previously shown to have impaired interactions with Gβγ were not affected by Gαs Q-L, suggesting that Gβγ is needed for enhancing ethanol sensitivity. These results support the conclusion that activated Gαs can facilitate the Gβγ interaction with GlyRs in presence of ethanol, independent of increases in cAMP signaling. Thus, these data indicate that the activated form of Gαs is able to positively influence the effect of ethanol on a type of inhibitory receptor important for motor control, pain, and respiration.
Automated game balancing of asymmetric video games

Designing a (video) game such that it is balanced — i.e. fair for all players — is a prevailing challenge in game design. Perhaps counter-intuitively, games that are symmetric with respect to (board) design, starting conditions, and the employed action set, are not necessarily fair games. Indeed, perfect play from all players does not automatically lead to a draw, but may probabilistically favour e.g., the first player to move. Even more so, asymmetric games — in which the action set of one player is typically highly distinct from that of another player — are generally unbalanced unless meticulous care has been taken to ensure that the asymmetry in the design does not skew win probabilities. In this context, the present paper contributes a method for automatically balancing the design of asymmetric games. It employs Monte Carlo simulation to analyse the relative impact of game actions, and iteratively adjusts attributes of the game actions till the game design is balanced by approximation. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed method, experiments were performed with automatically balancing a set of tower-defence games. Preliminary experimental results revealed that the proposed method (1) is able to identify the principal component of a game's imbalance, and (2) can automatically adjust the game design till it is balanced by approximation.
WAVELET SIGNAL AND IMAGE DENOISING

The paper deals with the use of wavelet transform for signal and image de-noising employing a selected method of thresholding of appropriate decomposition coefficients. The proposed technique is based upon the analysis of wavelet transform and it includes description of global modification of its values. The whole method is verified for simulated signals and applied to processing of biomedical signals representing EEG signals and MR images corrupted by additional random noise.
Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Low Frequency Fluctuations in Bold Fmri of Rats

Introduction: Resting state functional connectivity and spontaneous low frequency fluctuations (LFFs) in the BOLD signal [1] have gained considerable interest among the fMRI and neuroscience communities in the past few years. Functional connectivity has been observed in humans, monkeys and rats [1, 2, 3]. To date, most analysis techniques (cross-correlation e.g. [1], independent component analysis e.g. [4], and clustering e.g. [5]) have been based on the assumption that connectivity remains unchanged over time needed to acquire the data (usually several minutes), and the spatiotemporal properties of the LFFs have not been explored in detail. This work presents some initial findings about temporal and spatial dynamics of LFFs in rat cerebral cortex.
Visualizing Human Concept Linking Through Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a unique information network of all collective human knowledge together with the relationships between different entities and concepts. Articles range a variety of subjects and are usually contributed to by an active community knowledgeable on that subject. An article’s text can contain inline hyper links to other articles if an editor deems the conceptual connection strong enough to warrant explicit annotation. Previous work in [1] and [2] has made the observation that articles exhibit a sort of small world phenomenon in which one can navigate between two conceptually distant topics just by following inline page hyperlinks in relatively few hops. This work is motivated by trying to understand how the Wikipedia link graph became able to be navigated this way. By examining the Wikipedia hyperlink graph evolution, I hope to better understand the criteria used by editors for deciding if a conceptual relationship exists between two concepts worthy of addition; in effect capturing some escence of human thought processes. My early comparisons between articles created in different generations of Wikipedia’s lifetime show far heavier linking activity throughout from older articles. By examining context aware evolution, noticing which topics are linking to each other and when, seemingly intuitive hypotheses for this initial observation do not seem to be the best explanation.
Kirchhoff Inversion In Image Point Coordinates Recast As Source/Receiver Point Processing

Kirchhoff inversion theory tells us that reflection data provides information about the Fourier transform of the reflectivity function at each point in the illuminated subsurface. Thus, inversion formulas expressed as integrals in image point coordinates that closely characterize that Fourier domain are attractive for their relative simplicity. On the other hand, integrals over source/receiver coordinates are more natural to implement on seismic data. We propose a general principle for seismic migration/inversion (MI) processes: think image point coordinates; compute in surface coordinates. This principle allows the natural separation of multiple travel paths of energy from a source to a reflector to a receiver. Furthermore, the Beylkin determinant is particularly simple in this formalism, and transforming to surface coordinates transforms deconvolution-type imaging and inversion operators into convolution-type operators with the promise of better numerical stability.
A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism of the Neuropeptide B/W Receptor-1 Gene Influences the Evaluation of Facial Expressions

Neuropeptide B/W receptor-1 (NPBWR1) is expressed in discrete brain regions in rodents and humans, with particularly strong expression in the limbic system, including the central nucleus of the amygdala. Recently, Nagata-Kuroiwa et al. reported that Npbwr1 −/− mice showed changes in social behavior, suggesting that NPBWR1 plays important roles in the emotional responses of social interactions. The human NPBWR1 gene has a single nucleotide polymorphism at nucleotide 404 (404A>T; SNP rs33977775). This polymorphism results in an amino acid change, Y135F. The results of an in vitro experiment demonstrated that this change alters receptor function. We investigated the effect of this variation on emotional responses to stimuli of showing human faces with four categories of emotional expressions (anger, fear, happiness, and neutral). Subjects' emotional levels on seeing these faces were rated on scales of hedonic valence, emotional arousal, and dominance (V-A-D). A significant genotype difference was observed in valence evaluation; the 404AT group perceived facial expressions more pleasantly than did the 404AA group, regardless of the category of facial expression. Statistical analysis of each combination of [V-A-D and facial expression] also showed that the 404AT group tended to feel less submissive to an angry face than did the 404AA group. Thus, a single nucleotide polymorphism of NPBWR1 seems to affect human behavior in a social context.
Exploration the load of molecular motors based on F0F1-ATPase

the potential ofmotorprotein FOF1ATPase is explored in the paper. A fluorescence probe F1300 labeled in inner chromatophores was used as apH indicatorfor detectingproton flux driven by ATP synthesis in FOFI-ATPase. Furthermore, the F1f, subunit ofFOF1ATPase was attached by a system ofanti-fl antibody-biotin-avidin -biotin-second antibody (specic fofor clenbuterol) as a load ofmolecular motors. The capturing mechanism was based on antibody-antigen reaction, while the detecting mechanism depended onfluorescence change responding topH changes during rotary catalytic ATP synthesis process. The results shows that the activity ofFOFI-ATPase is affected with different loads. KeywordsFOFI-ATPase; fluorescence probe; proton flux; molecular motors; clenbuterol.
Search Reduction in Hierarchical Distributed

Knoblock and Korf have determined that abstraction can reduce search at a single agent from exponential to linear complexity Knoblock, 1991; Korf, 1987]. We extend their results by showing how concurrent problem solving among multiple agents using abstraction can further reduce search to logarithmic complexity. We empirically validate our formal analysis by showing that it correctly predicts performance for the Towers of Hanoi problem (which meets all of the assumptions of the analysis). Furthermore, a powerful form of abstraction for large multi-agent systems is to group agents into teams, and teams of agents into larger teams, to form an organizational pyramid. We apply our analysis to such an organization of agents, and demonstrate the results in a delivery task domain. Our predictions about abstraction's beneets can also be met in this more realistic domain, even though assumptions made in our analysis are violated. Our analytical results thus hold the promise for explaining in general terms many experimental observations made in speciic distributed AI systems, and we demonstrate this ability with examples from prior research.
Working memory deficits in psychotic bipolar disorder: Trait marker for psychosis

Working Memory Deficits in Psychotic Bipolar Disorder: Trait Markers for Psychosis By Carol Randall Dr. Daniel N. Allen, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of Psychology University of Nevada, Las Vegas There is significant overlap in the symptom presentation and cognitive impairment found in individuals with bipolar disorder with psychotic features and in those with some subtypes of schizophrenia. Due to this overlap, debate regarding the existence and nature of a relationship between these disorders has been an ongoing and complicated one. Some continue to view these disorders as they are conceptualized in the current psychiatric diagnostic manual, as distinct and categorical in nature. Others have proposed an “affective-psychotic spectrum” with schizophrenia lying at one end of this spectrum, non-psychotic affective disorders lying at the opposite end of the spectrum, and schizoaffective and psychotic bipolar disorders falling near the middle of the spectrum. To better imderstand the relationship between these disorders, some studies have compared the neurocognitive profiles of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Because neurocognitive abilities are highly heritable and under strong genetic influence, deficits in these abilities can serve as trait markers or endophenotypes for bipolar disorder, as well as for schizophrenia. An overlap in the
Engineers meet clinicians: augmenting Parkinson's disease patients to gather information for gait rehabilitation

Many people with Parkinson's disease suffer from freezing of gait, a debilitating temporary inability to pursue walking. Rehabilitation with wearable technology is promising. State of the art approaches face difficulties in providing the needed bio-feedback with a sufficient low-latency and high accuracy, as they rely solely on the crude analysis of movement patterns allowed by commercial motion sensors. Yet the medical literature hints at more sophisticated approaches. In this work we present our first step to address this with a rich multimodal approach combining physical and physiological sensors. We present the experimental recordings including 35 motion and 3 physiological sensors we conducted on 18 patients, collecting 23 hours of data. We provide best practices to ensure a robust data collection that considers real requirements for real world patients. To this end we show evidence from a user questionnaire that the system is low-invasive and that a multimodal view can leverage cross modal correlations for detection or even prediction of gait freeze episodes.
Generation of skeletal muscle cells from pluripotent stem cells: advances and challenges

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) possess unlimited proliferative potential while maintaining the ability to differentiate into any cell type including skeletal muscle cells (SMCs). hPSCs are amenable to genetic editing and can be derived from patient somatic cells, and thus represent a promising option for cell therapies for the treatment of degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophies. There are unresolved challenges however associated with the derivation and scale-up of hPSCs and generation of differentiated cells in large quantity and high purity. Reported myogenic differentiation protocols are long, require cell sorting and/or rely on ectopic expression of myogenic master regulators. More recent advances have been made with the application of small molecules to enhance the myogenic differentiation efficiency and the identification of more selective markers for the enrichment of myogenic progenitors with enhanced regenerative potential. Here we review the field of myogenic differentiation and highlight areas requiring further research.
The Role of Target “Humanness” on Killing: A Study of Moral Disengagement within a Bug-Killing Paradigm

Dehumanization—the stripping of human qualities from someone—has been theorized to exclude that individual from the bounds of morality, thereby making violent and transgressive behavior perpetrated against that individual acceptable and appropriate. Although past research has indeed found this to be the case, various qualities of these previous findings cloud confidence in the causal nature of these relationships and the relationship between dehumanization and observed behavior. The present studies were designed to provide an experimental examination of the moral exclusion properties of dehumanization on killing behavior. This was accomplished with an experimental bug-killing paradigm in which the humanness of insects was manipulated through anthropomorphism (Studies 1-3) and dehumanization (Study 4) techniques. The present studies also sought to provide evidence for all aspects of the moral disengagement process. As such, participants were more willing to volunteer to kill (Study 1), killed to a greater degree (Studies 2-3), and experienced less guilt for their actions (Studies 3-4) when killing dehumanized (vs. anthropomorphized or neutral) insects. Evidence also revealed that the effects of the humanness manipulations were mediated by participants’ ability to justify their actions as moral. The theoretical implications and importance of these findings within the greater moral disengagement and moral exclusion literatures will be discussed.