Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling three-dimensional nonlinear acoustic wave fields in media with spatially varying coefficient of nonlinearity, attenuation and speed of sound

Numerical methods capable of modeling nonlinear pressure wave fields propagating through inhomogeneous biomedical tissue are essential for the design and optimization of ultrasound transducers or devices. The Iterative Nonlinear Contrast Source (INCS) method is an accurate method for modeling three-dimensional nonlinear acoustic wave fields. Originally it was capable of modeling nonlinear wave fields in homogeneous lossy tissue. Recently, it has been extended to deal with spatially varying coefficient of nonlinearity and attenuation. The method recasts a generalized form of the Westervelt equation into an integral equation which was originally solved using a Neumann scheme. This scheme allows to model moderate losses and nonlinearity. Problems with the convergence may occur for realistic speed of sound contrast. Here, we present a different solution method which makes it possible to treat, besides spatially varying coefficient of nonlinearity and attenuation, also realistic speed of sound contrasts. The nonlinear integral equation is solved using a steepest descent scheme. The method has been used to compute the three-dimensional nonlinear pressure wave field generated by a 40 element linear array and propagating through a medium with spatially varying coefficient of nonlinearity, attenuation and speed of sound. Simulations have been performed up to the 5th harmonic component.
Dementia research – what do different public groups want? A survey by the Scottish Dementia Clinical Research Network

Scotland's National Dementia Strategy calls for people with dementia and their carers to give voice to what they see as the priorities for dementia research. We sent questionnaires on dementia research priorities, locus and type of research, desired outcome measures and willingness to volunteer, to two groups of dementia research stakeholders: (1) people with dementia and their carers who may or may not be participating in research and (2) those who are directly participating in research. We also made the questionnaire available on a national dementia research website. Five hundred and fourteen responses were received. The top four topics rated by importance were identical across all three groups of respondents: early detection (38.1%), drug trials (14.2%), studies on people living at home (9.7%) and study of carers (6.0%). The data can help shape the dementia research agenda, but more information needs to be made available to the public about other potential research areas.
Economic development and growth convergence in China

We investigate the issue of per capita real GDP growth convergence of the Chinese economy. The shrinkage method for panel data models is used to estimate the convergence rates of the individual provinces. The empirical evidence shows that growth convergence exists in China. Our analysis allows us to estimate the convergence rates for individual provinces. The results also show that the low-income provinces of the middle and the western regions are experiencing higher convergence rates.
Learning Action Pattern for Activity Recognition

This paper studies the challenging activity recognition task and a novel discriminative action pattern is proposed. We construct action cube pool and propose a novel scheme to represent action cubes as action patterns. Candidates of discriminative patterns are selected among action patterns according to motion energy of corresponding action cube. Spatial constraint clustering algorithm clusters these candidates into several disjoint clusters. Discriminative patterns are learned with the help of negative patterns and multi-class SVM. The presented approach is validated on the MSRAction3D dataset and the MSRDailyActivity3D dataset. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of our approach.
[Abundance of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in response to environmental variables of hot springs in Yunnan Province, China].

OBJECTIVE Investigation of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) in hot springs is of significant importance to understand global nitrogen cycling. However, we still know little about the abundance of AOMs in hot springs. In this research, the abundance of AOMs in thirteen hot springs located in Yunnan Province, China, and the effects of environmental variables (e. g. temperature, pH and ammonia concentration, and certain ions) on the AOM abundance were studied. METHODS Microbial abundance in collected hot spring samples was determined by using an integrated approach including reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridisation. RESULTS Total biomass in the collected hot spring samples was 10(8) - 10(9) cells/g, among which ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) occupied 0.02%-1.32%, whereas no ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were detected. Statistical analysis indicated that AOA abundance was significantly (P < 0.05) correlated with concentrations of NH3, NO2-, NO3-, pH and temperature, but not related (P > 0.05) to salinity and concentrations of Fe2+ and salinity. CONCLUSION AOA were the major component of AOM in the studied hot springs, and play an important role in ammonia oxidation in hot springs. Multiple environmental variables (e. g. NH3, NO2-, NO3-, pH and temperature) were together controlling the AOA distribution among hot springs of different conditions, and some environmental variables, such as Fe2+ and salinity may not be the key factors for AOA in hot springs.
Tracing an allosteric pathway regulating the activity of the HslV protease

Significance Molecular machines, such as the proteasome in eukaryotes and archaea as well as the HslU–HslV complex in bacteria, play critical roles in maintaining cellular homeostasis. Here, we have used methyl-Transverse Relaxation-Optimized Spectroscopy to study the 230 kDa HslV dodecamer that cleaves substrate polypeptides. The initial catalytic step is investigated by measuring the pKa of the terminal amine of catalytic residue T1. Furthermore, we show that single site mutations in key regions, which contact HslU or change on HslU binding, lead to propagated changes in structure along an allosteric pathway, affecting proteolysis rates. NMR relaxation experiments are consistent with a coupling of millisecond timescale dynamics throughout regions of HslV that link HslU and substrate binding with catalysis. The HslU–HslV complex functions as a bacterial proteasome, degrading substrate polypeptides to preserve cellular homeostasis. Here, we use methyl-Transverse Relaxation-Optimized Spectroscopy (TROSY) and highly deuterated, methyl-protonated samples to study the 230 kDa dodecameric HslV protease component that is structurally homologous to the stacked pair of β7-rings of the proteasome. Chemical shift assignments for over 95% of the methyl groups are reported. From the pH dependence of methyl chemical shifts, a pKa of 7.7 is measured for the amine group of the catalytic residue T1, confirming that it can act as a proton acceptor during the initial step in substrate proteolysis. Analyses involving a series of single site mutants in HslV, localized to HslU binding sites or regions undergoing significant changes on HslU binding, have identified hot spots whose perturbation leads to an allosteric pathway of propagated changes in structure and ultimately, substrate proteolysis efficiency. HslV plasticity is explored through methyl-TROSY 13C relaxation dispersion experiments that are sensitive to millisecond timescale dynamics. The data support a dynamic coupling between residues involved in both HslU and substrate binding and residues localized to the active sites of HslV that facilitate the allostery between these distal sites. An important role for dynamics has also been observed in the archaeal proteasome, suggesting a more generally conserved role of motion in the function of these barrel-like protease structures.
Abundance of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria along an Estuarine Salinity Gradient in Relation to Potential Nitrification Rates

ABSTRACT Abundance of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea (AOA) was found to be always greater than that of ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria along an estuarine salinity gradient, and AOA abundance was highest at intermediate salinity. However, AOA abundance did not correlate with potential nitrification rates. This lack of correlation may be due to methodological limitations or alternative energy sources.
Depression and anxiety symptoms affect change in exercise capacity during cardiac rehabilitation

Background To study whether symptoms of depression and anxiety would affect changes in exercise capacity and body mass index (BMI) during rehabilitation. Design Comprehensive cardiac outpatient rehabilitation intervention program. Methods We investigated exercise capacity, BMI, and symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after cardiac rehabilitation in 114 patients with coronary artery disease. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was applied to assess symptoms of depression (HADS-D) and anxiety (HADS-A). Results Exercise capacity increased (127 ± 47 vs. 144 ± 51 watts, P < 0.001) and symptoms of depression (4.0 ± 3.6 vs. 2.7 ± 2.7, P < 0.001) and anxiety (5.4 ± 4.4 vs. 4.1 ± 3.6, P < 0.001) decreased with the program, whereas BMI did not change. After controlling for covariates, HADS-D (r = −0.19, P = 0.47) and HADS-A (r = 0.17, P < 0.09) correlated with change in exercise capacity. Change in HADS-A also correlated with that in exercise capacity (r = 0.18, P < 0.06). Changes in depression and anxiety were not significantly related to those in BMI. Conclusion Symptoms of depression and anxiety affected change in exercise capacity during cardiac rehabilitation. Depressive symptoms may impair improvement in exercise capacity, thereby mitigating the cardiovascular benefit achieved by cardiac rehabilitation programs. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil 15:704–708 © 2008 The European Society of Cardiology
Analysis of Human Syndromes with Disordered Chromatin Reveals the Impact of Heterochromatin on the Efficacy of ATM-Dependent G2/M Checkpoint Arrest

ABSTRACT Heterochromatin (HC) poses a barrier to γH2AX focus expansion and DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair, the latter being relieved by ATM-dependent KAP-1 phosphorylation. Using high-resolution imaging, we show here that the HC superstructure markedly restricts ATM signaling to cell cycle checkpoint proteins. The impact of HC is greater than anticipated from the percentage of HC-DNA and, in distinction to DSB repair, ATM only partly overcomes the constraints posed by HC. Importantly, we examine ATM signaling in human syndromes with disordered HC. After depletion of MeCP2 and DNMT3B, proteins defective in the Rett and immunodeficiency with centromere instability and facial anomalies (ICF) syndromes, respectively, we demonstrate enhanced γH2AX signal expansion at HC-chromocenters in mouse NIH 3T3 cells, which have visible HC-chromocenters. Previous studies have shown that the G2/M checkpoint is inefficient requiring multiple DSBs to initiate arrest. MeCP2 and DNMT3B depletion leads to hypersensitive radiation-induced G2/M checkpoint arrest despite normal DSB repair. Cell lines from Rett, ICF, and Hutchinson-Guildford progeria syndrome patients similarly showed hyperactivated ATM signaling and hypersensitive and prolonged G2/M checkpoint arrest. Collectively, these findings reveal that heterochromatin contributes to the previously described inefficient G2/M checkpoint arrest and demonstrate how the signaling response can be uncoupled from DSB repair.
Exploring Diversity in Accounting Through Faculty Journal Perceptions

The accounting research community has frequently been described as being both diverse and focused on local issues. At the same time, increasing pressure is being placed on researchers to publish in internationally highly regarded journals. Since faculty evaluations depend on journal rankings, such rankings need to take into account the diversity of the research community. Therefore, this study examines how contextual factors such as a researcher's location and research orientation may influence journal quality perceptions and readership patterns based on an international sample of 1,230 accounting academics. The perceived quality of journals is measured across a number of dimensions, including journal familiarity, average rank position, percent of respondents who classify a journal as top tier, and readership. The results support that a significant variation in journal quality perceptions exists based on a researcher's geographic origin, research orientation, and affiliation with a journal.
Consumer Motivations in Browsing Online Stores with Mobile Devices

We examine the effects of consumer motivations on browsing online stores with mobile devices and compare them with those on browsing physical stores. The results of the simultaneous analysis in multiple populations with structural equation modeling show that four kinds of motivations affect browsing mobile-based online stores, whereas three motivations affect browsing physical stores. This study implies that idea motivation is the most important determinant of both mobile and offline browsing. Also, it implies that adventure motivation and value motivation are important for mobile-based online stores, whereas gratification motivation is important for physical stores. This is the first study to examine the determinants of browsing intention in both physical stores and mobile-based online stores and will contribute to better understanding in-store browsing activity.
FACULTY NEEDS ASSOCIATED WITH AGRICULTURAL DISTANCE EDUCATION

A census survey of the teaching faculty in a land grant university’s College of Agriculture was conducte dThe survey instrument was a three-part questionnaire designed by the researchers . The purpose of this study was to provide baseline data and focus for the improvement of instruction in a College of Agriculture through the utilization of electronic teaching technologies . The objectives, stated as questions, were: I) What are selected personal andprofessionaf characteristics of the teaching faculty? ; 2) What is the perceived level of competence that members of the teaching faculty have in using electronic technologies associated with distance education ? ; 3) How important do teaching faculty members perceive that these technologies are or will be in teaching and learning? ; and 4) What is the perceived availablilty of equipment, facilities, and training for faculty to use these technologies? Findings indicatd that teaching faculty lack both competence in using these electronic technologies, and confidence in their ability to use appropriate distance teaching methodologies to deiiver courses . However, they believe that using electronic technologies would enhance their teaching, and that the development and use of electronic teaching technologies will change how, but not change what, they teach over the next five years.
Retrieving Categorical Emotions Using a Probabilistic Framework to Define Preference Learning Samples

Preference learning is an appealing approach for affective recognition. Instead of predicting the underlying emotional class of a sample, this framework relies on pairwise comparisons to rank-order the testing data according to an emotional dimension. This framework is relevant not only for continuous attributes such as arousal or valence, but also for categorical classes (e.g., is this sample happier than the other? ). A preference learning system for categorical classes can have applications in several domains including retrieving emotional behaviors conveying a target emotion, and defining the emotional intensity associated with a given class. One important challenge to build such a system is to define relative labels defining the preference between training samples. Instead of building these labels from scratch, we propose a probabilistic framework that creates relative labels from existing categorical annotations. The approach considers individual assessments instead of consensus labels, creating a metrics that is sensitive to the underlying ambiguity of emotional classes. The proposed metric quantifies the likelihood that a sample belong to a target emotion. We build happy, angry and sad rank-classifiers using this metric. We evaluate the approach over cross-corpus experiments, showing improved performance over binary classifiers and rank-based classifiers trained with consensus labels.
Using Self-employment as Proxy for Entrepreneurship : Some Empirical Caveats

Self-employment is the most frequently used measure of entrepreneurship. However, its definition varies between countries, which makes comparisons difficult. We present an analysis of Swedish self-employment data and show that even within one country, the depicted development differs greatly depending on the source used. Unlike previous claims in cross-country studies, we find that there is no basis for categorising Sweden as having increased its self-employment rate more than others. This demonstrates a need to carefully specify the characteristics of the data, and their advantages and disadvantages, before drawing conclusions about the frequency of entrepreneurship in different countries.
The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Unionization in the United States

State right-to-work laws, the subject of considerable controversy in the industrial relations field, typically state that no person will be required to become a union member or, conversely, be required to abstain from union membership as a condition of obtaining or retaining employment. Little hard evidence exists on the effect of right-to-work laws. Meyers (1955) concludes that in Texas the law does not appear to have had a noticeable impact on union strength. Kuhlman (1955) finds that the Virginia law has caused little change in hiring practices, and he cites lack of enforcement as a major cause. Novit (1969), in examining Indiana as the only state to pass a right-to-work law and subsequently repeal it, argues that the law was ineffective because unions found ways to circumvent its restrictions. During the period 1957-65 when the law was in force in Indiana, there was a dramatic increase in the agency shop which allows nonunion workers but which requires all employees to pay union dues. A Fortune (1957) survey of employers and union leaders in states with right-to-work laws concluded that the laws had little effect on overall union strength. In many states the laws were not being enforced, and in some instances employers were unwilling or unable to avoid de facto union shops. For example, in Arizona it was reported that the
Planning Gains, Providing Homes

Planning gain has long been used in Britain for infrastructure funding and has been increasingly used to secure land and funding from private developers for new affordable homes. This paper examines the theoretical and policy underpinnings of planning gain. It describes the growth in the number of new affordable, including intermediate, homes delivered through planning gain, the variations between planning authorities in the incidence of planning gain and the value of the contributions developers make. In the light of the environment after the credit crunch it considers the extent to which planning gain mechanisms can any longer deliver new affordable homes.
High Serum Uric Acid as a Novel Risk Factor for Type 2 Diabetes

We read with interest the recent article by Dehghan et al. (1), who suggest that serum uric acid might be a strong and independent risk factor for diabetes. In particular, it was reported that the age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratios for diabetes were 1.30 for the 2nd quartile, 1.63 for the 3rd quartile, and 2.83 for the 4th quartile of serum uric acid, in comparison with the 1st quartile. To further investigate the association between uric acid and glucose homeostasis, we performed a retrospective analysis on the database of the Laboratory Information System of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at the Verona University Hospital to retrieve results …
The Employment Effects of Innovations in High-Tech Industries

The issue of technological unemployment receives perennial popular attention. Although there are previous empirical investigations that have focused on the relationship between innovation and employment, the originality of our approach lies in our choice of method. We focus on four 2-digit manufacturing industries that are known for their high patenting activity. We then use Principal Components Analysis to generate a firm- and year-specific 'innovativeness' index by extracting the common variance in a firmâ€™s patenting and R&D expenditure histories. To begin with, we explore the heterogeneity of firms by using semi-parametric quantile regression. Whilst some firms may reduce employment levels after innovating, others increase employment. We then move on to a weighted least squares (WLS) analysis, which explicitly takes into account the different job-creating potential of firms of different sizes. As a result, we focus on the effect of innovation on total number of jobs, whereas previous studies have focused on the effect of innovation on firm behavior. Indeed, previous studies have typically taken the firm as the unit of analysis, implicitly weighting each firm equally according to the principle of 'one firm equals one observation'. Our results suggest that firm-level innovative activity leads to employment creation that may have been underestimated in previous studies.
Influence of oral characteristics and food products on masticatory function

Mastication is a complex process that involves activities of the facial muscles, the elevator and suprahyoidal muscles, and the tongue. These activities result in patterns of rhythmic mandibular movements, food manipulation, and the crushing of food between the teeth. Saliva facilitates mastication by moistening food particles, making a bolus, and assisting swallowing, whereas food consistency modifies masticatory forces, the mandibular jaw movements, the duration of the mastication cycle, and the number of cycles preceding the first swallow. Jaw elevator EMG activity research shows a clear relation between muscular activity and food properties. The teeth, masticatory muscles, and temporomandibular joints are also important because together they form the mechanism by which the food particles are fragmented. Hard and dry foods require more chewing cycles and a longer time in the mouth until swallowing for sufficient breakdown to take place and for enough saliva to be added to form a coherent bolus safe enough for swallowing. Product characteristics, the amount of saliva, dentition, and bite force affect the chewing performance. This study presents an update and synopsis of the effects of saliva, food, dentition, muscle force, and temporomandibular disorders on the masticatory process.
THE RECENT TREND TOWARDS LATER RETIREMENT

A dramatic decline in work at older ages persisted over most of the twentieth century. Recently, however, retirement ages stabilized, prompting debate as to whether the early retirement trend had stopped or simply paused. This brief shows that the trend towards earlier retirement has not just leveled off but has apparently reversed, with especially large increases in labor supply of women in late middle age. It then offers some explanations for this apparent reversal. Many of the likely causes of delayed retirement could potentially have greater effects on successive birth cohorts nearing retirement, making it possible that the trend towards delayed retirement will continue.
Escalation of Commitment: When To Stay the Course?

When an important venture seems to unravel, decision makers may face a dilemma. Do they persist and risk becoming caught up in a spiral of escalating commitment, or “apply the brakes” when they may be within an ace of success? Escalation of commitment is thought to be a ubiquitous and costly mistake. Yet sometimes organizations should “press on the accelerator” and stay the course despite adversity. This paper explores what might drive organizations to erroneously abandon a potentially successful venture.