Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Television: What's on, Who's Watching, and What It Means

Television: What's On, Who's Watching, and What It Means. George Comstock and Erica Sharrer. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1999. 388 pp. S48 hbk. George Comstock has had plenty of experience summarizing research pertaining to the social impact of television. As Senior Research Coordinator of the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee, he helped edit several of the technical reports issued in 1970 as part of that landmark project. He was the lead author of Television and Human Behavior, a 1978 volume that summarized the research literature concerning the effects of TV. In 1991, Comstock and Hae-Jung Park collaborated on Television and the American Child, a thorough look at studies examining the impact of TV on youngsters. Comstock, a professor at Syracuse University, has collaborated with Ercia Sharer, a faculty member at the State University of New York, Geneseo, to produce the latest of his efforts to pull together what the social and behavioral research tells us about the impact of this pervasive medium. Television: What's On, Who's Watching and What It Means is a comprehensive review of the television research in selected areas. It is the end result of what must have been an enormous amount of work. The reference section contains nearly 1,200 entries; the author index is nearly ten pages long. Comstock and Sharrer are to be commended for compiling and organizing this massive body of information. They are also to be commended for including the "what it means" perspective in their reviews. As a result, the book is more than a cataloging of the available literature. The authors include their interpretations of the studies they cite and try to give the reader a sense of what it all means. Yet another commendable feature is the authors' statement of the principles they used to interpret their findings. They argue that truth ties in patterns and that no single study is perfect. Even though some data sets may have imperfections, they still provide valuable information when interpreted in the context of other studies. The authors dismiss the "fatal flaw" argument (used by some in the advertising, tobacco, and television industry to dismiss the importance of some studies) as a political expedient employed by vested interests. The book is divided into three sections. The first, "The Industry and the Audience," begins with a brief history of television followed by a review of the research dealing with the content, form, and effectiveness of commercials. …
Regional Distribution of White Matter Hyperintensities in Vascular Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Aging

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI scans indicate lesions of the subcortical fiber system. The regional distribution of WMH may be related to their pathophysiology and clinical effect in vascular dementia (VaD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and healthy aging. Methods: Regional WMH volumes were measured in MRI scans of 20 VaD patients, 25 AD patients and 22 healthy elderly subjects using FLAIR sequences and surface reconstructions from a three-dimensional MRI sequence. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient for interrater reliability of WMH volume measurements ranged between 0.99 in the frontal and 0.72 in the occipital lobe. For each cerebral lobe, the WMH index, i.e. WMH volume divided by lobar volume, was highest in VaD and lowest in healthy controls. Within each group, the WMH index was higher in frontal and parietal lobes than in occipital and temporal lobes. Total WMH index and WMH indices in the frontal lobe correlated significantly with the MMSE score in VaD. Category fluency correlated with the frontal lobe WMH index in AD, while drawing performance correlated with parietal and temporal lobe WMH indices in VaD. Conclusions: A similar regional distribution of WMH between the three groups suggests a common (vascular) pathogenic factor leading to WMH in patients and controls. Our findings underscore the potential of regional WMH volumetry to determine correlations between subcortical pathology and cognitive impairment.
Disorganization, COMT, and Children's Social Behavior: The Norwegian Hypothesis of Legacy of Disorganized Attachment

Why is disorganized attachment associated with punitive-controlling behavior in some, but caregiving-controlling in others? Hygen et al. (2014) proposed that variation in the Catechol-O-methyl transferase(COMT) Val158Met genotype explains this variation, providing preliminary data to this effect. We offer a conceptual replication, analyzing data on 560 children (males: 275) drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. As predicted, competitive model-fitting indicated that disorganized infants carrying Met alleles engage in more positive behavior and less negative behavior than other children at age 5 and 11, with the reverse true of Val/Val homozygotes, seemingly consistent with caregiving-controlling and punitive-controlling styles, respectively, but only in the case of maternal and not teacher reports, thereby confirmating a relationship-specific hypothesis.
Application of Structuration Theory and Activity Theory in Enterprise Resources Planning Systems Implementation for Universities

An integration of organization culture in the conceptualization and development of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs) is critical for an organization to reap potential benefits of the system. In this paper, the authors present an analytical approach through the Structuration Theory: How a university can assess its culture for the purposes of design and development of the ERPs. The authors extend the Structuration Theory by integrating it with the Activity Theory to provide the means of evaluating the activities that the system is to perform. The modified Orlikowski model is applied to depict the relationship between institutional properties, human agents, and technology in the university setup and how this offers a more inclusive approach to ERP systems development and implementation.
Performance Assessment of Caching and Forwarding Algorithms for Vehicular Delay Tolerant Networks

Vehicular delay tolerant networks (VDTNs) were proposed as a novel disruptive network concept based on the delay tolerant networking (DTN) paradigm. VDTN network architecture uses vehicles to relay messages, enabling network connectivity in challenged scenarios. Due to intermittent connectivity, network nodes carry messages in their buffers, relaying them only when a proper contact opportunity occurs. The storage capacity and message retrieving of intermediate nodes directly affects the network performance. Therefore, efficient and robust caching and forwarding mechanisms are needed. This paper proposes a content storage and retrieval solution for VDTN networks. It consists on storage and retrieval control labels, attached to every message of aggregated traffic (data bundles). These labels define cacheable contents, and apply cache-control and forwarding restrictions on data bundles. This solution is fully automated, providing a fast, safe, and reliable data transfer and storage management, while improves the applicability and performance of VDTN networks significantly. The proposed algorithms were evaluated and validated through a VDTN testbed.
Optimal interconnect termination for on-chip high speed signaling

This paper presents the analysis for high speed signaling over on-chip interconnects. The paper deals with the interconnect as a finite length transmission line, and derives the necessary equations that describe the response of the link at high and low frequencies. A new design methodology, based on resistive termination is introduced to eliminate the dispersion effect. This is done by equalizing the propagation speed of the low frequency components with the high frequency components of the signal. A comparison is done between the effect of resistive and capacitive terminations on the response of the on-chip link.
Molybdenum oxide MoOx: A versatile hole contact for silicon solar cells

This letter examines the application of transparent MoOx (x < 3) films deposited by thermal evaporation directly onto crystalline silicon (c-Si) to create hole-conducting contacts for silicon solar cells. The carrier-selectivity of MoOx based contacts on both n- and p-type surfaces is evaluated via simultaneous consideration of the contact recombination parameter J0c and the contact resistivity ρc. Contacts made to p-type wafers and p+ diffused regions achieve optimum ρc values of 1 and 0.2 mΩ·cm2, respectively, and both result in a J0c of ∼200 fA/cm2. These values suggest that significant gains can be made over conventional hole contacts to p-type material. Similar MoOx contacts made to n-type silicon result in higher J0c and ρc with optimum values of ∼300 fA/cm2 and 30 mΩ·cm2 but still offer significant advantages over conventional approaches in terms of contact passivation, optical properties, and device fabrication.
Robust principal curvatures on multiple scales

Geometry processing algorithms often require the robust extraction of curvature information. We propose to achieve this with principal component analysis (PCA) of local neighborhoods, defined via spherical kernels centered on the given surface Φ Intersection of a kernel ball Br or its boundary sphere Sr with the volume bounded by Φ leads to the so-called ball and sphere neighborhoods. Information obtained by PCA of these neighborhoods turns out to be more robust than PCA of the patch neighborhood Br∩Φ previously used. The relation of the quantities computed by PCA with the principal curvatures of Φ is revealed by an asymptotic analysis as the kernel radius r tends to zero. This also allows us to define principal curvatures "at scale r" in a way which is consistent with the classical setting. The advantages of the new approach are discussed in a comparison with results obtained by normal cycles and local fitting; whereas the former method somewhat lacks in robustness, the latter does not achieve a consistent behavior at features on coarse scales. As to applications, we address computing principal curves and feature extraction on multiple scales.
Reduced Carbon Availability to Bacteroids and Elevated Ureides in Nodules, But Not in Shoots, Are Involved in the Nitrogen Fixation Response to Early Drought in Soybean1[OA]

Nitrogen fixation (NF) in soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) is highly sensitive to soil drying. This sensitivity has been related to an accumulation of nitrogen compounds, either in shoots or in nodules, and a nodular carbon flux shortage under drought. To assess the relative importance of carbon and nitrogen status on NF regulation, the responses to the early stages of drought were monitored with two soybean cultivars with known contrasting tolerance to drought. In the sensitive cultivar (‘Biloxi’), NF inhibition occurred earlier and was more dramatic than in the tolerant cultivar (‘Jackson’). The carbon flux to bacteroids was also more affected in ‘Biloxi’ than in ‘Jackson’, due to an earlier inhibition of sucrose synthase activity and a larger decrease of malate concentration in the former. Drought provoked ureide accumulation in nodules of both cultivars, but this accumulation was higher and occurred earlier in ‘Biloxi’. However, at this early stage of drought, there was no accumulation of ureides in the leaves of either cultivar. These results indicate that a combination of both reduced carbon flux and nitrogen accumulation in nodules, but not in shoots, is involved in the inhibition of NF in soybean under early drought.
Submesoscale currents in the ocean

This article is a perspective on the recently discovered realm of submesoscale currents in the ocean. They are intermediate-scale flow structures in the form of density fronts and filaments, topographic wakes and persistent coherent vortices at the surface and throughout the interior. They are created from mesoscale eddies and strong currents, and they provide a dynamical conduit for energy transfer towards microscale dissipation and diapycnal mixing. Consideration is given to their generation mechanisms, instabilities, life cycles, disruption of approximately diagnostic force balance (e.g. geostrophy), turbulent cascades, internal-wave interactions, and transport and dispersion of materials. At a fundamental level, more questions remain than answers, implicating a programme for further research.
Developmental Distribution of the Plasma Membrane-Enriched Proteome in the Maize Primary Root Growth Zone

Within the growth zone of the maize primary root, there are well-defined patterns of spatial and temporal organization of cell division and elongation. However, the processes underlying this organization remain poorly understood. To gain additional insights into the differences amongst the defined regions, we performed a proteomic analysis focusing on fractions enriched for plasma membrane (PM) proteins. The PM is the interface between the plant cell and the apoplast and/or extracellular space. As such, it is a key structure involved in the exchange of nutrients and other molecules as well as in the integration of signals that regulate growth and development. Despite the important functions of PM-localized proteins in mediating these processes, a full understanding of dynamic changes in PM proteomes is often impeded by low relative concentrations relative to total proteins. Using a relatively simple strategy of treating microsomal fractions with Brij-58 detergent to enrich for PM proteins, we compared the developmental distribution of proteins within the root growth zone which revealed a number of previously known as well as novel proteins with interesting patterns of abundance. For instance, the quantitative proteomic analysis detected a gradient of PM aquaporin proteins similar to that previously reported using immunoblot analyses, confirming the veracity of this strategy. Cellulose synthases increased in abundance with increasing distance from the root apex, consistent with expected locations of cell wall deposition. The similar distribution pattern for Brittle-stalk-2-like protein implicates that this protein may also have cell wall related functions. These results show that the simplified PM enrichment method previously demonstrated in Arabidopsis can be successfully applied to completely unrelated plant tissues and provide insights into differences in the PM proteome throughout growth and development zones of the maize primary root.
INTERNET PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS

In this paper we design methodical Internet data collection experiments to meausre the performance metrics of the Internet using some existing Internet performance measurement tools namely, traceroute and VisualRoute. These experiments are intended to evaluate different Web servers. We analyze the results of these experiments to predict possible problems and behavior. We characterize and quantize collected data including Internet latencies, packet loss rates, and available bandwidths. The characterized and quantized collected data is used to model traffic behavior. We also analyze the routing behavior for pathological conditions and routing stability. The results can be used by Internet customers or Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to track Internet servers behavior and response time at application level and to monitor Internet path connectivity. In addition, we present a new INTERNET PERFORMANCE. 158 methodology to model and analyze end-to-end Internet behavior. This methodology is based on finding the transfer function of the end-to-end Interent path between the client and Web server. Only preliminary results of the design of this new methodology are presented at this time. The results agree with other work done in the related field and show that our methodology is effective in measuring the Internet performance.
Epidemiology of Candidemia: 3-Year Results from the Emerging Infections and the Epidemiology of Iowa Organisms Study

ABSTRACT Bloodstream infections due to Candida species cause significant morbidity and mortality. Surveillance for candidemia is necessary to detect trends in species distribution and antifungal resistance. We performed prospective surveillance for candidemia at 16 hospitals in the State of Iowa from 1 July 1998 through 30 June 2001. Using U.S. Census Bureau and Iowa Hospital Association data to estimate a population denominator, we calculated the annual incidence of candidemia in Iowa to be 6.0 per 100,000 of population. Candida albicans was the most common species detected, but 43% of candidemias were due to species other than C. albicans. Overall, only 3% of Candida species were resistant to fluconazole. However, Candida glabrata was the most commonly isolated species other than C. albicans and demonstrated some resistance to azoles (fluconazole MIC at which 90% of the isolates tested are inhibited, 32 μg/ml; 10% resistant, 10% susceptible dose dependent). C. glabrata was more commonly isolated from older patients (P = 0.02) and caused over 25% of candidemias among persons 65 years of age or older. The investigational triazoles posaconazole, ravuconazole, and voriconazole had excellent in vitro activity overall against Candida species. C. albicans is the most important cause of candidemia and remains highly susceptible to available antifungal agents. However, C. glabrata has emerged as an important and potentially antifungal resistant cause of candidemia, particularly among the elderly.
Blind Source Separation with Distributed Microphone Pairs Using Permutation Correction by Intra-Pair TDOA Clustering

—In this paper, we present a novel framework of distributed microphone array for blind source separation (BSS), where stereo microphones or proximately-placed microphone pairs are distributed. Unlike distributing all microphones individually, the time difference of arrival (TDOA) in the paired channels can be robustly estimated without suffering spatial aliasing. Based on it, sound sources are separated by the frequency-domain independent component analysis (ICA) with the permutation correction by clustering the intra-pair TDOAs. The experimental results in real reverberant environment are also shown.
Progesterone metabolite influence feeding behaviour

Obesity is increasing worldwide and is associated with increased risk of developing metabolic diseases. One of the factors that have been demonstrated to influence the regulation of appetite and food intake is the different sex hormones, one of these being progesterone that in humans increase food intake (Hirschberg, 2012). In this issue of Acta Physiologica, Holmberg and colleagues present their work where they have investigated the diurnally effect of the progesterone metabolite allopregnanolone in male Wistar rats (Holmberg et al., 2013). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
SCAR is a primary regulator of Arp2/3-dependent morphological events in Drosophila

The Arp2/3 complex and its activators, Scar/WAVE and Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASp), promote actin polymerization in vitro and have been proposed to influence cell shape and motility in vivo. We demonstrate that the Drosophila Scar homologue, SCAR, localizes to actin-rich structures and is required for normal cell morphology in multiple cell types throughout development. In particular, SCAR function is essential for cytoplasmic organization in the blastoderm, axon development in the central nervous system, egg chamber structure during oogenesis, and adult eye morphology. Highly similar developmental requirements are found for subunits of the Arp2/3 complex. In the blastoderm, SCAR and Arp2/3 mutations result in a reduction in the amount of cortical filamentous actin and the disruption of dynamically regulated actin structures. Remarkably, the single Drosophila WASp homologue, Wasp, is largely dispensable for these numerous Arp2/3-dependent functions, whereas SCAR does not contribute to cell fate decisions in which Wasp and Arp2/3 play an essential role. These results identify SCAR as a major component of Arp2/3-dependent cell morphology during Drosophila development and demonstrate that the Arp2/3 complex can govern distinct cell biological events in response to SCAR and Wasp regulation.
Health effects of particles in ambient air.

UNLABELLED A summary of a critical review by a working group of the German commission on Air Pollution Prevention of VDI and DIN of the actual data on exposure and health effects (excluding cancer) of fine particulate air pollution is presented. EXPOSURE Typical ambient particle concentrations for PM10 (PM2.5) in Germany are in the range of 10-45 (10-30) microg/m3 as annual mean and 50-200 (40-150) microg/m3 as maximum daily mean. The ratio of PM2.5/PM10 generally amounts between 0.7 and 0.9. HEALTH EFFECTS During the past 10 years many new epidemiological and toxicological studies on health effects of particulate matter (PM) have been published. In summary, long-term exposure against PM for years or decades is associated with elevated total, cardiovascular, and infant mortality. With respect to morbidity, respiratory symptoms, lung growth, and function of the immune system are affected. Short-term studies show consistant associations of exposure to daily concentrations of PM with mortality and morbidity on the same day or the subsequent days. Patients with asthma, COPD, pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases as well as patients with cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes are especially affected. The strongest associations are found for PM2.5 followed by PM10, with no indication of a threshold value for the health effects. The data base for ultra fine particles is too small for final conclusions. The available toxicological data support the epidemiological findings and give hints as to the mechanisms of the effects. CONCLUSION The working group concludes that a further reduction of the limit values proposed for 2005 will substantially reduce health risks due to particulate air pollution. Because of the strong correlation of PM10 with PM2.5 at most German sites there is no specific need for limit values of PM2.5 for Germany in addition to those of PM10.
Cosmological parameters from supernova observations: A critical comparison of three data sets

We extend our previous analysis of cosmological supernova type Ia data (Padmanabhan & Choudhury 2003) to include three recent compilation of data sets. Our analysis ignores the possible correlations and systematic effects present in the data and concentrates mostly on some key theoretical issues. Among the three data sets, the first set consists of 194 points obtained from various observations while the second discards some of the points from the first one because of large uncertainties and thus consists of 142 points. The third data set is obtained from the second by adding the latest 14 points observed through HST. A careful comparison of these different data sets help us to draw the following conclusions: (i) All the three data sets strongly rule out non-accelerating models. Interestingly, the first and the second data sets favour a closed universe; if Ωtot ≡ Ωm +Ω Λ, then the probability of obtaining models with Ωtot > 1i s>0.97. Hence these data sets are in mild disagreement with the "concordance" flat model. However, this disagreement is reduced (the probability of obtaining models with Ωtot > 1 being ≈0.9) for the third data set, which includes the most recent points observed by HST around 1 0.34) redshift supernova, it turns out that these two subsets, individually, admit non-accelerating models with zero dark energy because of different magnitude zero-point values for the different subsets. This can also be seen when the data is analysed while allowing for possibly different magnitude zero-points for the two redshift subsets. However, the non-accelerating models seem to be ruled out using only the low redshift data for the other two data sets, which have less uncertainties. (iii) We have also found that it is quite difficult to measure the evolution of the dark energy equation of state wX(z) though its present value can be constrained quite well. The best-fit value seems to mildly favour a dark energy component with current equation of state wX 0.2.