Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social stability and helping in small animal societies

In primitively eusocial societies, all individuals can potentially reproduce independently. The key fact that we focus on in this paper is that individuals in such societies instead often queue to inherit breeding positions. Queuing leads to systematic differences in expected future fitness. We first discuss the implications this has for variation in behaviour. For example, because helpers nearer to the front of the queue have more to lose, they should work less hard to rear the dominant's offspring. However, higher rankers may be more aggressive than low rankers, even if they risk injury in the process, if aggression functions to maintain or enhance queue position. Second, we discuss how queuing rules may be enforced through hidden threats that rarely have to be carried out. In fishes, rule breakers face the threat of eviction from the group. In contrast, subordinate paper wasps are not injured or evicted during escalated challenges against the dominant, perhaps because they are more valuable to the dominant. We discuss evidence that paper-wasp dominants avoid escalated conflicts by ceding reproduction to subordinates. Queuing rules appear usually to be enforced by individuals adjacent in the queue rather than by dominants. Further manipulative studies are required to reveal mechanisms underlying queue stability and to elucidate what determines queue position in the first place.
Races to consume: revisiting South Africa's history of race, consumption and the struggle for freedom

Abstract In 2007, Smuts Ngonyama, then leading spokesperson for the South African government and the ANC, triggered a public controversy by proclaiming, ‘I didn't join the struggle to be poor’: a frank conjunction of liberation with wealth and what it can buy. For all the vociferous critique of Ngonyama, there are many whose life trajectories seem to underwrite his position. This article reflects on some of the historical antecedents of this version of freedom, arguing for an historically constitutive relationship between the regulation of race in South Africa and the regulation of consumption.
Studies on Therapeutic Effects and Pathological Features of an Antithrombin Preparation in Septic Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation Patients

Purpose Few reports have been made on the therapeutic effects as well as pathological features of an antithrombin preparation in patients diagnosed with septic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) by the diagnostic criteria for acute DIC. Materials and Methods A total of 88 sepsis patients who had received inpatient hospital care during the period from January 2000 through December 2008 were divided into two groups, an antithrombin group and a non-antithrombin group, to study the outcomes. Furthermore, the relationship between sepsis-related factors and DIC in 44 patients was studied. Results The antithrombin group contained 34 patients, and the non-antithrombin group contained 54 patients. The outcomes were significantly better in the antithrombin group. The levels of protein C were low in DIC patients. Conclusion Our results suggest that early administration of antithrombin might improve outcomes of septic DIC patients in the diagnostic criteria for Japanese Association for Acute Medicine acute DIC.
Antibacterial and antivirulence effect of 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine in Listeria monocytogenes

Abstract The emerging development of antibiotic resistant bacteria calls for novel types of antibacterial agents. In this work we examined the putative antibacterial effect of purine analogs in Listeria monocytogenes. We show that, among several tested purine analogs, only 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine (6-N-HAP) reduces the viability of the Gram-positive pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. As in Bacillus subtilis, 6-N-HAP terminates expression at guanine riboswitches in L. monocytogenes hence preventing expression of their downstream genes. However, we show that the bacteriocidal effect of the compound was unlinked to the terminated expression at the guanine riboswitches. When further examining the antimicrobial effect, we observed that 6-N-HAP acts as a potent mutagen in L. monocytogenes, by increasing the mutation rate and inducing the SOS-response. Also, addition of 6-N-HAP decreased virulence gene expression by reducing both the levels and activity of the virulence regulator PrfA.
Game-based feedback for educational multi-user virtual environments

It is generally accepted that informative and timely feedback is important to a student's learning experience within higher education. In the study of commercial digital games it has also become increasingly understood that games are particularly good at providing effective feedback of this form to gameplayers. We discuss recent game based learning research that attempts to harness the motivating qualities of digital games to inform the design of educational technology. Results from this research demonstrate student participation and performance can be improved by providing Game-Based Feedback (GBF) to students. The GBF approach awards points to students for the successful completion of tasks throughout a course of study. Points and achievements accumulated over time builds a profile that provides a student with a potentially powerful representation of their educational identity. In this paper, we argue that virtual worlds are particularly suitable for this form of GBF and can further enhance a student's understanding of their educational standing. We outline a Virtual Learning Landscape (VLL) design that is embedded within a multi-user virtual environment, where educational feedback is supplied to students via their avatar and a virtual world's landscape. The core structural principles of the proposed VLL are explained and several examples of the use of the VLL are provided to illustrate the system.
A Preliminary Study on the Prevalence of Challenging Behaviours

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of challenging behaviour among subjects with learning disabilities in an English health district. Subjects' disabilities included incontinence, lack of communication skills, and need of assistance with domestic activities, feeding, washing, and dressing. Some also had physical impairments. The most common behaviours were hyperactivity and irritability and the most common psychiatric disorders included severe anxiety, affective disorder, and adjustment disorder.
Eliminating “Hunger” in the U.S.: Changes in Policy Regarding the Measurement of Food Security

In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the word “hunger” would be removed from official policy statements, substituting it with “very low food security. ” Technically, this change is valid given that the term “hunger” can have various meanings and that, while the Food Security Supplement (FSS) in the Current Population Survey (CPS) identifies problems with food access and nutritional adequacy at the household level, it does not objectively measure hunger among individuals. Yet, this reframing of policy does not convey the lived experience of “hunger” among Americans in terms of food insecurity. This article examines the potential consequences of this change in policy, and the reasons behind it. To contextualize this discussion, we offer a brief overview of the way in which “hunger” has been defined, and of the history of hunger policy, food assistance, and food security measures in the U.S. In the end, we suggest that although the exclusion of “hunger” may be technically valid, it is important that this term remain part of the food policy lexicon. Omitting “hunger” will only mask the dire conditions experienced by millions of Americans who struggle day-by-day to provide food for their families. This is especially true given the marked increases in the cost of food since mid–2008 and the fact that we are experiencing the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Algebra Subsystem for an Intelligent Tutoring System

To help a student in an introductory physics course do quantitative homework problems, an intelligent tutoring system must determine information of an algebraic nature. This paper describes a subsystem which resolves such questions for Andes2. The capabilities of the subsystem would be useful for any ITS which deals with problems involving complex systems of equations. This subsystem is capable of 1) solving the systems of equations at the level of introductory physics problems, 2) checking the validity of equations the students enter, 3) investigating whether an equation is independent from a set of other equations, and if not, determining on which equations it does depend, and nally 4) providing tools to help the student with algebraic manipulations, including a \solve-tool" that solves her equations. The ability to determine dependence of equations is rst used by Andes during problem generation, by providing information to that component of the ITS which generates correct solutions to the problem. Later, during tutoring, it enables the help module to model which equations the student appears to know. One new feature of our algebra system is that it deals with the dimensional units of physical quantities throughout. An important change from a previous approach is in the meaning of \correctness" of an equation and in the method of determining which equations it can be derived from. An evaluation of the theoretical dierences between the two methods, and the pros and cons of each, is given here.
Unconjugated Bilirubin Exhibits Spontaneous Diffusion through Model Lipid Bilayers and Native Hepatocyte Membranes*

The liver is responsible for the clearance and metabolism of unconjugated bilirubin, the hydrophobic end-product of heme catabolism. Although several putative bilirubin transporters have been described, it has been alternatively proposed that bilirubin enters the hepatocyte by passive diffusion through the plasma membrane. In order to elucidate the mechanism of bilirubin uptake, we measured the rate of bilirubin transmembrane diffusion (flip-flop) using stopped-flow fluorescence techniques. Unconjugated bilirubin rapidly diffuses through model phosphatidylcholine vesicles, with a first-order rate constant of 5.3 s−1 (t 1 2 = 130 ms). The flip-flop rate is independent of membrane cholesterol content, phospholipid acyl saturation, and lipid packing, consistent with thermodynamic analyses demonstrating minimal steric constraint to bilirubin transmembrane diffusion. The coincident decrease in pH of the entrapped vesicle volume supports a mechanism whereby the bilirubin molecule crosses the lipid bilayer as the uncharged diacid. Transport of bilirubin by native rat hepatocyte membranes exhibits kinetics comparable with that in model vesicles, suggesting that unconjugated bilirubin crosses cellular membranes by passive diffusion through the hydrophobic lipid core. In contrast, there is no demonstrable flip-flop of bilirubin diglucuronide or bilirubin ditaurate in phospholipid vesicles, yet these compounds rapidly traverse isolated rat hepatocyte membranes, confirming the presence of a facilitated uptake system(s) for hydrophilic bilirubin conjugates.
Product category familiarity and preference construction

Marketers often base decisions about marketing strategies on the results of research designed to elicit information about consumers' preferences. A large body of research indicates, however, that preferences often are labile. That is, preferences can be reversed depending on factors such as how the preference is elicited. In three studies, we examine the effect of familiarity in two preference-elicitation tasks, choice and matching judgments. We provide evidence of an interaction between familiarity and response mode (choice or matching) in each study. In study 3, we test the explanation that preference reversals may occur when the interaction of response mode with product-category familiarity leads to systematic changes in attribute weighting.
AN ACTUATED FLEXIBLE SPINAL MECHANISM FOR A BOUNDING QUADRUPEDAL ROBOT

AN ACTUATED FLEXIBLE SPINAL MECHANISM FOR A BOUNDING QUADRUPEDAL ROBOT Utku Culha M.S. in Computer Engineering Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Uluc Saranli January, 2012 Evolution and experience based learning have given animals body structures and motion capabilities to survive in the nature by achieving many complicated tasks. Among these animals, legged vertebrates use their musculoskeletal bodies up to the limits to achieve actions involving high speeds and agile maneuvers. Moreover the flexible spine plays a very important role in providing auxiliary power and dexterity for such dynamic behaviors. Robotics research tries to imitate such dynamic abilities on mechanical platforms. However, most existing robots performing these dynamic motions does not include such a flexible spine architecture. In this thesis we investigate how quadrupedal bounding can be achieved with the help of an actuated flexible spine. Depending upon biological correspondences we first present a novel quadruped robot model with an actuated spine and relate it with our proposed new bounding gait controller model. By optimizing our model and a standard stiff backed model via repetitive parametric methods, we investigate the role of spinal actuation on the performance enhancements of the flexible model. By achieving higher ground speeds and hopping heights we discuss the relations between flexible body structure and stride properties of a dynamic bounding gait. Furthermore, we present an analytical model of the proposed robot structure along with the spinal architecture and analyze the dynamics and active forces on the overall system. By gathering simulation results we question how such a flexible spine system can be improved to achieve higher performances during dynamic gaits.
Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction in Humans: Tale or Myth

Hypoxic Pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) describes the physiological adaptive process of lungs to preserves systemic oxygenation. It has clinical implications in the development of pulmonary hypertension which impacts on outcomes of patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. This review examines both acute and chronic hypoxic vasoconstriction focusing on the distinct clinical implications and highlights the role of calcium and mitochondria in acute versus the role of reactive oxygen species and Rho GTPases in chronic HPV. Furthermore it identifies gaps of knowledge and need for further research in humans to clearly define this phenomenon and the underlying mechanism.
Millimeter-wave wireless backhauling for 5G small cells: Scalability of mesh over star topologies

Mobile backhauling, small cells and MmWave are key supportive technologies for 5G revolution. Mobile backhauling is the key enabler and also a showstopper for 5G small cells deployments. Scalability and reliability with high data rate and larger bandwidth are important factors to choose the small cell backhauling topology. In this paper, We consider the star and mesh topologies for the MmWave wireless backhauling. Simulations are conducted over random networks. The system throughput, scalability, reliability and fairness are used to compare the two different topologies under different considered scenarios. These scenarios include the Line-Of-Sight (LoS) and the Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLoS) connections as well as different cell sizes.
Antipsychotics: is it time to introduce patient choice?

Summary Evidence regarding overestimation of the efficacy of antipsychotics and underestimation of their toxicity, as well as emerging data regarding alternative treatment options, suggests it may be time to introduce patient choice and reconsider whether everyone who meets the criteria for a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis requires antipsychotics in order to recover.
The evolution of the Harrington instrumentation technique in scoliosis.

Four major modifications in the operative management of scoliosis, using Harrington instrumentation, are described with the results each modification brought about. The final regimen, used in 109 patients, included a dowel articular-process fusion and a lateral gutter fusion, as well as the Harrington apparatus and cast. A 65 per cent curve correction was obtained with the regimen.
Towards mining the density and discriminative information of data in dimensionality reduction

Recently these has been a lot of interest in geometrically motivated approaches to data analysis in high dimensional space. Locally linear embedding (LLE) is one of the nonlinear dimensionality reduction algorithms. LLE is an unsupervised learn ing algorithm. It computes low-dimensional by neighborhood-preserving embeddings of high-dimensional inputs. However, different structure of neighbors will produce different reconstruction errors, which will make the results hurt. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm called Density and Discriminate-based Weight ed locally linear Embedding (DDWLLE). Different from WLLE[1], DDWLLE aims at preserving the local neighborhood structure and mining the density and discriminative information of the neighborhoods on the data manifold. Several experiments on gene expression profile database and image retrieval database demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm.
Accretion models of Sgr A

The supermassive black hole in the center of our Galaxy, Sgr A*, is unique because the angular size of the black hole is the largest in the sky thus providing detailed boundary conditions on, and much less freedom for, accretion fbw models. In this paper I review advection-dominated accretion fbw (ADAF; another name is radiatively inefficient accretion fbw) models for Sgr A*. This includes the dynamics and developments of ADAFs, and how to explain observational results including the multi-waveband spectrum, radio polarization, IR, and X-ray fares, and the size measurements at radio wavebands.
Connections of contralaterally projecting isthmotectal axons and GABA-immunoreactive neurons in Xenopus tectum: An ultrastructural study

To investigate the circuitry that mediates binocular interactions in the tectum of Xenopus frogs, we have begun to identify the tectal cells that receive ipsilateral eye input relayed via the nucleus isthmi. Isthmotectal axons were labeled with horseradish peroxidase, and thin sections were labeled by postembedding immunogold reaction with antibodies to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Ultrastructural examination reveals that many isthmotectal axons terminate on GABA-immunoreactive dendrites. Other isthmotectal axons contact postsynaptic structures that are unlabeled but have an appearance consistent with previously described GABA-poor zones of GABA-immunoreactive dendrites. We also examined the unlabeled inputs to the dendrites that were postsynaptic to filled isthmotectal axons. The most common nonisthmic inputs to those dendrites were GABA-immunoreactive processes with symmetric morphology. Surprisingly, we found only one input with the retinotectal characteristics of densely packed round, clear vesicles and minimal GABA immunoreactivity. These results indicate that isthmotectal axons synapse onto inhibitory interneurons, that retinotectal and isthmotectal axons do not synapse close to each other on the same dendrites, and that inhibitory connections are the closest neighbors to isthmotectal synapses.
Visualization of centrioles and basal bodies by fluorescent staining with nonimmune rabbit sera

Several sera from nonimmunized rabbits have been found which stain centrioles and basal bodies by indirect immunofluorescence in a wide variety of cell types. So far, approximately 10% of the rabbit sera that we have examined gave strong positive staining of centrioles and basal bodies. Cytoplasmic networks, mitotic spindles, and ciliary axonemes, however, remain unstained. This specific fluorescent staining of centrioles and basal bodies could not be abolished by absorption of sera with purified brain tubulin. This technique is superior to previous methods for the visualization of basal bodies and centrioles at the light microscopic level and should be useful for rapid and convenient detection of these organelles in large populations of cells.
Geranylgeranyltransferase I Inhibitors Target RalB To Inhibit Anchorage-Dependent Growth and Induce Apoptosis and RalA To Inhibit Anchorage-Independent Growth

ABSTRACT Geranylgeranyltransferase I inhibitors (GGTIs) are presently undergoing advanced preclinical studies and have been shown to disrupt oncogenic and tumor survival pathways, to inhibit anchorage-dependent and -independent growth, and to induce apoptosis. However, the geranylgeranylated proteins that are targeted by GGTIs to induce these effects are not known. Here we provide evidence that the Ras-like small GTPases RalA and RalB are exclusively geranylgeranylated and that inhibition of their geranylgeranylation mediates, at least in part, the effects of GGTIs on anchorage-dependent and -independent growth and tumor apoptosis. To this end, we have created the corresponding carboxyl-terminal mutants that are exclusively farnesylated and verified that they retain the subcellular localization and signaling activities of the wild-type geranylgeranylated proteins and that Ral GTPases do not undergo alternative prenylation in response to GGTI treatment. By expressing farnesylated, GGTI-resistant RalA and RalB in Cos7 cells and human pancreatic MiaPaCa2 cancer cells followed by GGTI-2417 treatment, we demonstrated that farnesylated RalB, but not RalA, confers resistance to the proapoptotic and anti-anchorage-dependent growth effects of GGTI-2417. Conversely, farnesylated RalA but not RalB expression renders MiaPaCa2 cells less sensitive to inhibition of anchorage-independent growth. Furthermore, farnesylated RalB, but not RalA, inhibits the ability of GGTI-2417 to suppress survivin and induce p27Kip1 protein levels. We conclude that RalA and RalB are important, functionally distinct targets for GGTI-mediated tumor apoptosis and growth inhibition.
Childhood illness-related parenting stress: the pediatric inventory for parents.

OBJECTIVE To develop a measure of parenting stress related to caring for a child with an illness and to evaluate its psychometric properties with a group of parents of children with cancer. METHODS One hundred twenty-six parents (105 mothers, 21 fathers) of children (65 boys and 61 girls, M: age: 12.75 years) being followed by an oncology service were assessed using the 42-item self-report Pediatric Inventory for Parents (PIP). Internal consistency was assessed and construct validity was investigated with standardized, general self-report measures of anxiety and parenting stress. RESULTS Internal consistency reliability for the PIP was high (Cronbach alpha range:80-.96). PIP scores were significantly correlated with a measure of state anxiety and also with parenting stress, demonstrating construct validity. After we controlled for demographic variables and general parenting stress, PIP scores showed strong independent associations with state anxiety. CONCLUSIONS Preliminary data indicate that the PIP is a reliable and valid tool to assess parenting stress in pediatric oncology populations. As a measure of illness-related parenting stress, the PIP may be used to provide information about parent well-being that extends beyond that obtained from general measures.