Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-regulation and the intention behaviour gap. Exploring dietary behaviours in university students.

The aim of this study was to explore whether two aspects of self-regulation (impulsivity and temporal orientation) could reduce the intention–behaviour gap for two dietary behaviours: fruit and vegetable consumption and saturated fat consumption. Australian undergraduate students (N = 154) completed questionnaires (the Barratt impulsiveness scale and the consideration of future consequences scale) and intention measures, and 1 week later behaviour was measured using the Block rapid food screener. After controlling for demographics, intention was associated with fruit and vegetable consumption, but the self-regulation measures did not further improve the variance accounted for. For saturated fat, gender was associated with consumption, such that males tended to consume more saturated fat. Intention was significantly associated with consumption, and impulsivity further improved the model such that those who were more impulsive tended to consume more saturated fat. These findings suggest that health protective and health risk behaviours, such as those investigated in the current study, may have different determinants.
Using body-measurement indices and wrist-type photoplethysmography signals to categorize consumer electronic users' health state through a smartwatch application

The development of wearable technologies has been boosted considerably. On one hand, due to Internet of Things market expansion, and on the other, owing to health awareness on users demanding the convergence of wearable technology with applications that track their activity during the day, providing feedback on how to improve their consuming experience employing human vital signs. The availability of sensors on most of the wrist smartwatches and fitness bands, make this convergence a precondition for consumer devices industry and stakeholders. This article presents an analytical exploitation of this valuable data, and uses the embedded heart rate sensor from an attainable smartwatch to meet the prior requirements, parting the users according to the level of physical activity in pursuance of make a suitable recommendation from a specific consumer device edible catalog, according to the number of calories recommended for a healthy state.
Ecological and evolutionary lability of plant traits affecting carbon and nutrient cycling

Efforts to understand the effects of plant traits on carbon and nutrient cycling have recently focused on species variation and the potential for species data to improve predictions of past, present and future variation in ecosystems. However, the evolutionary lability of relevant traits among closely related species and the extent of intraspecific variation warrant further consideration. Here, we examine interspecific and intraspecific variation in leaf N, LMA, root N and SRL at multiple scales, using Helianthus as a representative study system. Substantial evolutionary lability of traits is demonstrated by interspecific variation in phylogenetically explicit analyses of closely related Helianthus species, and population differentiation of wild H. anomalus and cultivated H. annuus. Intraspecific variation in leaf N and LMA, including genetic, environmental and ontogenetic responses, demonstrates that trait values for a single species can encompass a surprisingly large portion of the range encompassed by species in the leaf economics spectrum. Synthesis. We recommend using data from selected natural populations to model effects of leaf N and LMA on decomposition, while using data from common garden experiments to determine evolutionary lability and thus inform potential for evolutionary change. If the high evolutionary lability of traits demonstrated for Helianthus is found for other important genera, this would suggest that these key ecophysiological traits are likely to respond to the selective pressures of global climate and land‐use change.
Transcription factor binding site recognition by regularity matrices based on the natural classification method

A principally new approach to the classifications of nucleotide sequences based on the "natural" classification concept is proposed. As a result of "natural" classification of the nucleotide sequences, we obtain regularity matrices, where nucleotides are interconnected by regularities. Method, algorithm and software system DNANatClass for performing the "natural" classification have been developed. Experimental results comparing weight matrices with regularity matrices are presented. In this experiment, site recognition by regularity matrices appears to be more accurate than by weight matrixes.
Bulk Property Modification of Fiber Forming Polymers using Vapor Phase Techniques

PADBURY, RICHARD PAUL. Bulk Property Modification of Fiber Forming Polymers using Vapor Phase Techniques. (Under the direction of Dr. Jesse S. Jur). Atomic layer deposition provides the opportunity to introduce nanoscale inorganic coatings to organic polymers creating coatings with varied compositions of finish and distinctive interfaces. Prior research has shown that ALD materials nucleation on polymers varies in composition and structure based on how the precursor interacts with the polymer chemistry and the process conditions. To study this in more detail, in-situ quartz crystal microgravimetry is employed to understand the infiltration and saturation behavior of trimethyl aluminum in polymer thin films. Emphasis is placed on understanding reactive vapor diffusion into polymers as the exposure temperature is varied. Potential growth mechanisms based on the temperature dependent observations in this work are proposed which leads to the understanding of hybrid organic-inorganic formation in polymers. Furthermore, polymers which have subtle variations in microstructure are explored to elucidate the nucleation behavior of inorganic coatings on polymers in more detail. Specifically, in-situ quartz crystal microgravimetry is employed to understand the nucleation behavior of alumina ALD in a series of poly-n-methacrylate and polyester thin films. The work indicates the effect that a subtle change in polymer microstructure has on the properties of the polymer film and the resultant absorption/desorption characteristics during TMA/water exposures. The effect of % crystallinity on the infiltration mechanism is also investigated in polymer films with varied crystallinities. Finally, the effect of the hybrid modification on the mechanical behavior of fibrous materials is also explored. In particular this dissertation highlights the process-property relationships between modified and unmodified fibers infiltrated with TMA. The results indicate that the peak load and elongation of the fibers increase with exposure to TMA. Therefore, this work has important implications on high impact applications as well as the introduction of inorganic material properties to flexible polymer systems.
Application-Tailored I/O with Streamline

Streamline is a stream-based OS communication subsystem that spans from peripheral hardware to userspace processes. It improves performance of I/O-bound applications (such as webservers and streaming media applications) by constructing tailor-made I/O paths through the operating system for each application at runtime. Path optimization removes unnecessary copying, context switching and cache replacement and integrates specialized hardware. Streamline automates optimization and only presents users a clear, concise job control language based on Unix pipelines. For backward compatibility Streamline also presents well known files, pipes and sockets abstractions. Observed throughput improvement over Linux 2.6. 24 for networking applications is up to 30-fold, but two-fold is more typical.
LIBOR models with multiple curves

We introduce a multiple curve framework that combines tractable dynamics and semi-analytic pricing formulas with positive interest rates and basis spreads. Negatives rates and positive spreads can also be accommodated in this framework. The dynamics of OIS and LIBOR rates are specified following the methodology of the affine LIBOR models and are driven by the wide and flexible class of affine processes. The affine property is preserved under forward measures, which allows us to derive Fourier pricing formulas for caps, swaptions and basis swaptions. A model specification with dependent LIBOR rates is developed, that allows for an efficient and accurate calibration to a system of caplet prices.
Density, distance and energy based clustering algorithm for data aggregation in wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are wireless networks which consist of distributed sensor nodes monitoring physical and environmental conditions. Due to the energy limit of sensor nodes, prolonging lifetime of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is a big challenge. In this paper, we propose a new clustering method called Density, Distance and Energy based Clustering (DDEC) to improve network performance. DDEC partitions the network into clusters with similar member number, so as to achieve load balancing. Then a cluster head is selected for each cluster based on three criteria: residual energy, distance and density, which achieves to minimize intra-communication cost and prolong cluster lifetime. In our performance analysis, we compare DDEC with another clustering method called DDCHS. The results show that DDEC outperforms DDCHS in terms of alive node number and energy consumption.
The role of male contest competition over mates in speciation

Research on the role of sexual selection in the speciation process largely focuses on the diversifying role of mate choice. In particular, much attention has been drawn to the fact that population divergence in mate choice and in the male traits subject to choice directly can lead to assortative mating. However, male contest competition over mates also constitutes an important mechanism of sexual selection. We review recent empirical studies and argue that sexual selection through male contest competition can affect speciation in ways other than mate choice. For example, biases in aggression towards similar competitors can lead to disruptive and negative frequency-dependent selection on the traits used in contest competition in a similar way as competition for other types of limited resources. Moreover, male contest abilities often trade-off against other abilities such as parasite resistance, protection against predators and general stress tolerance. Populations experiencing different ecological conditions should therefore quickly diverge non-randomly in a number of traits including male contest abilities. In resource based breeding systems, a feedback loop between competitive ability and habitat use may lead to further population divergence. We discuss how population divergence in traits used in male contest competition can lead to the build up of reproductive isolation through a number of different pathways. Our main conclusion is that the role of male contest competition in speciation remains largely scientifically unexplored.
Cytological endometritis in dairy cows: diagnostic threshold, risk factors, and impact on reproductive performance

We determined the threshold proportion of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) for a diagnosis of cytological endometritis (CEM), the risk factors for this condition, and its impact on reproductive performance in dairy cows. Uterine cytology was performed on 407 Holstein cows 4 weeks postpartum to determine the proportions of endometrial cells and PMNs. A receiver operator characteristics curve was used to determine the threshold above which the PMN proportion affected the likelihood of cows conceiving by 200 days postpartum. The optimal threshold was ≥ 14% PMN (sensitivity, 31.3%; specificity, 81.7%; p < 0.05). The farm identity, retained placenta (odds ratio [OR] = 1.87), and septicemic metritis (OR = 3.07) were risk factors for CEM (p < 0.05). Cows with CEM were less likely to resume cyclicity (OR = 0.58) and to conceive by 200 days postpartum (hazard ratio = 0.58). Cows with CEM tended (p < 0.1) to be less likely to become pregnant after their first insemination (OR = 0.65) and to require a greater number of inseminations per conception (2.3 vs. 2.2). In conclusion, a PMN threshold of 14% defined the presence of CEM at 4 weeks postpartum. The farm, retained placenta, and septicemic metritis were risk factors for CEM, which reduces subsequent reproductive performance.
Functional bloom filter, better than hash tables

Hash tables have been widely used in many applications, which need to return values corresponding to each input key. However, hash-based data structures have an intrinsic problem of collision, where different keys have the same index of a hash table. As the load factor of the hash table increases, the number of collisions increases. Elements that could not be stored because of the collision cause failures in returning values. Variant structures such as multi-hashing, cuckoo hashing, and d-left hashing have been studied, but none of the structures solve completely the collision problem. In this paper, we claim that a functional Bloom filter can replace a hash table. While the hash table requires to store each input key itself or the signature of each input key in addition to the return value, the functional Bloom filter can store the return value only, since different combinations of Bloom filter indexes can work as the signature of each input key. Performance evaluation results show that the functional Bloom filter is more efficient than hash-based data structures in storing more number of elements into a fixed size memory and hence in producing less failures.
Bioinformatic characterization of the Anoctamin Superfamily of Ca2+-activated ion channels and lipid scramblases

Our laboratory has developed bioinformatic strategies for identifying distant phylogenetic relationships and characterizing families and superfamilies of transport proteins. Results using these tools suggest that the Anoctamin Superfamily of cation and anion channels, as well as lipid scramblases, includes three functionally characterized families: the Anoctamin (ANO), Transmembrane Channel (TMC) and Ca2+-permeable Stress-gated Cation Channel (CSC) families; as well as four families of functionally uncharacterized proteins, which we refer to as the Anoctamin-like (ANO-L), Transmembrane Channel-like (TMC-L), and CSC-like (CSC-L1 and CSC-L2) families. We have constructed protein clusters and trees showing the relative relationships among the seven families. Topological analyses suggest that the members of these families have essentially the same topologies. Comparative examination of these homologous families provides insight into possible mechanisms of action, indicates the currently recognized organismal distributions of these proteins, and suggests drug design potential for the disease-related channel proteins.
The PSE-3D instability analysis methodology for flows depending strongly on two and weakly on the third spatial dimension

The present contribution discusses the development of a PSE-3D instability analysis algorithm, in which a matrix forming and storing approach is followed. Alternatively to the typically used in stability calculations spectral methods, new stable high-order finite- dierence-based numerical schemes for spatial discretization 1 are employed. Attention is paid to the issue of eciency, which is critical for the success of the overall algorithm. To this end, use is made of a parallelizable sparse matrix linear algebra package which takes advantage of the sparsity oered by the finite-dierence scheme and, as expected, is shown to perform substantially more eciently than when spectral collocation methods are used. The building blocks of the algorithm have been implemented and extensively validated, focusing on classic PSE analysis of instability on the flow-plate boundary layer, temporal and spatial BiGlobal EVP solutions (the latter necessary for the initialization of the PSE-3D), as well as standard PSE in a cylindrical coordinates using the nonparallel Batchelor vortex basic flow model, such that comparisons between PSE and PSE-3D be possible; excellent agreement is shown in all aforementioned comparisons. Finally, the linear PSE-3D instability analysis is applied to a fully three-dimensional flow composed of a counter-rotating pair of nonparallel Batchelor vortices.
Please Scroll down for Article Journal of Sports Sciences Visual Search, Anticipation and Expertise in Soccer Goalkeepers Visual Search, Anticipation and Expertise in Soccer Goalkeepers

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. We used a novel methodological approach to examine skill-based diþ erences in anticipation and visual search behaviour during the penalty kick in soccer. Expert and novice goalkeepers were required to move a joystick in response to penalty kicks presented on ® lm. The proportion of penalties saved was assessed, as well as the frequency and time of initiation of joystick corrections. Visual search behaviour was examined using an eye movement registration system. Expert goalkeepers were generally more accurate in predicting the direction of the penalty kick, waited longer before initiating a response and made fewer corrective movements with the joystick. The expert goalkeepers used a more eý cient search strategy involving fewer ® xations of longer duration to less disparate areas of the display. The novices spent longer ® xating on the trunk, arms and hips, whereas the experts found the kicking leg, non-kicking leg and ball areas to be more informative, particularly as the moment of foot± ball contact approached. No diþ erences in visual search behaviour were observed between successful and unsuccessful penalties. The results have implications for improving anticipation skill at penalty kicks.
Spectral Generative Models for Graphs

Generative models are well known in the domain of statistical pattern recognition. Typically, they describe the probability distribution of patterns in a vector space. The individual patterns are defined by vectors and so the individual features of the pattern are well defined. In contrast, very little work has been done with generative models of graphs because graphs do not have a straightforward vectorial representation. Because of this, simple statistical quantities such as mean and variance are difficult to define for a group of graphs. While we can define statistical quantities of individual edges, it is not so straightforward to define how sets of edges in graphs are related. In this paper we examine the problem of creating generative distributions over sets of graphs. We use the spectral representation of the graphs to construct a dual vector space for the graphs. The spectral decomposition of a graph can be used to extract information about the relationship of edges and parts in a graph. Distributions are then defined on the vector spaces and used to generate new samples. Finally, these points must be used to reconstruct the sampled graph.
Improving handover of 5G networks by network function virtualization and fog computing

In Fifth Generation (5G) cellular networks, it is necessary to meet a number of requirements, such as high scalability, ultra-low latency, reduced energy consumption, and high energy efficiency. Particularly in the high mobility scenario, the optimization of handover through managing signalling overhead and delay is of primarily importance. In this paper, the idea of integrating Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Fog Computing is explored. NFV has the advantage of improving network flexibility whilst reducing overall overhead. The Fog-Computing Access Points (F-APs) are then employed with certain caches in the edge of networks. Moreover, a direct-X2 based handover scheme is proposed. Taking advantages of both edge caching and Virtual Machines (VMs), this proposed handover scheme has superior performance: the signalling cost of handovers can be as little as 65% of that of a conventional LTE network.
Substrate Inhibition of VanA by d-Alanine Reduces Vancomycin Resistance in a VanX-Dependent Manner

ABSTRACT The increasing resistance of clinical pathogens against the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin, a last-resort drug against infections with Gram-positive pathogens, is a major problem in the nosocomial environment. Vancomycin inhibits peptidoglycan synthesis by binding to the d-Ala–d-Ala terminal dipeptide moiety of the cell wall precursor lipid II. Plasmid-transferable resistance is conferred by modification of the terminal dipeptide into the vancomycin-insensitive variant d-Ala–d-Lac, which is produced by VanA. Here we show that exogenous d-Ala competes with d-Lac as a substrate for VanA, increasing the ratio of wild-type to mutant dipeptide, an effect that was augmented by several orders of magnitude in the absence of the d-Ala–d-Ala peptidase VanX. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis showed that high concentrations of d-Ala led to the production of a significant amount of wild-type cell wall precursors, while vanX-null mutants produced primarily wild-type precursors. This enhanced the efficacy of vancomycin in the vancomycin-resistant model organism Streptomyces coelicolor, and the susceptibility of vancomycin-resistant clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecium (VRE) increased by up to 100-fold. The enhanced vancomycin sensitivity of S. coelicolor cells correlated directly to increased binding of the antibiotic to the cell wall. Our work offers new perspectives for the treatment of diseases associated with vancomycin-resistant pathogens and for the development of drugs that target vancomycin resistance.
Temporal and spatial coherence properties of Free Electron Laser pulses in the XUV regime

A. Singer, K. Tiedtke, and I. A. Vartanyants Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Notkestrasse 85, 22603 Hamburg, Germany (Dated: June 30, 2011) Abstract The average temporal (longitudinal) and spatial (transverse) coherence of free electron laser pulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) at FLASH is measured by interfering two time-delayed partial beams directly on a CCD camera. Wavelengths between λ = 32nm and λ =8 nm are examined. A decrease of the coherence time for the fundamental wavelengths from τc = (6 ± 0.5) fs at 32 nm to τc = (2.9 ± 0.5) fs at 8 nm is measured. At λ = 8 nm the fundamental wavelength and the third harmonic of 24 nm are compared to each other. For 8 nm radiation as third harmonic of 24 nm a coherence time of τc = (2.5 ± 0.5) fs is observed. The spatial coherence of 24 nm and 8 nm fundamental pulses are found to be very similar. The visibility decreases to 50% of the maximum visibility at about 3.2 mm overlap of the partial beams, which corresponds to 42% of the beam diameter (FWHM) at a distance of 90 m from the exit of the undulator. These results are analysed in terms of the Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) resulting in six contributing modes to the total radiation. In addition, the correlation of the visibility between the fundamental radiation at 24 nm and its third harmonic at λ = 8 nm is investigated for identical shots.