Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards polite virtual agents using social reasoning techniques

The use of polite agents is a new approach in order to improve efficiency and naturalism in navigation for player characters in crowded virtual worlds. This paper aims to model the politeness of virtual humans using logic‐based approaches, subject to theory of politeness decomposed of conventional and interpersonal politeness. To do so, we propose a high‐level agent architecture combined with normative framework to model and reason about ‘polite’ behaviours in social situations. With this architecture, we demonstrate (i) specifying polite behaviours as a form of social norms; (ii) generating polite behaviours using social reasoning technique; (iii) deliberation with such norms in belief–desire–intention agents; and (iv) realising physical actions based on the decision. Implementation for social reasoning is achieved by InstAL, based on the semantics of answer set programming. Using experiments with simple collision avoidance model, we show the effectiveness of polite behaviour in navigation designed by such architecture, as well as the adequacy of this architecture for modelling theory of politeness in all circumstances. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Are Sexual Experiences in Childhood Related to Eating Disorders in a Sample of College Students

A link has been suggested by psychologists and clinicians between sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence, and later eating disorders. The present study investigates childhood sexual experiences and the appearance of eating disorders in a college. sample. The Eating Attitudes Test and the Finkelhor Sexual Victimization Scale were used in a sample of 158 undergraduates. The data confirmed the hypotheses that there is a significant association between childhood sexual abuse and eating disorders. Those sexually abused between the ages of 12-16 reported significantly higher eating disorders. Therefore the possibility of sexual abuse must be assessed and results included in a comprehensive therapy plan for eating disordered clients.
Myocardial perfusion defects and associated systemic ventricular dysfunction in congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries

Background Patients with systemic ventricles of right ventricular morphology are at high risk of contractile dysfunction, the cause of which has not been fully elucidated. Objective To assess whether ischaemia or infarction contributes to ventricular impairment in unoperated patients with uncomplicated congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (TGA) by studying myocardial perfusion and function. Setting Paediatric and adult congenital cardiac clinics of a tertiary referral centre. Patients Five patients with congenitally corrected TGA but without associated structural cardiac defects (aged 3.5 to 34 years). Interventions Maximal exercise stress testing using standard or modified Bruce protocols. Sestamibi (technetium-99m methoxy isobutyl isonitrile) scanning after isotope injection at maximal exercise and rest. Main outcome measures Maximum exercise capacity; right ventricular myocardial perfusion, regional wall motion, and thickening; right ventricular ejection fraction. Results The two youngest patients (3.5 and 11 years) had normal exercise capacity for age, while the others had reduced exercise performance. Sestamibi scanning showed reversible myocardial ischaemia in four patients and fixed defects indicating infarction in five. Irreversible defects were mostly associated with impaired wall motion and thickening. The ejection fraction was normal (65%) in the youngest patient but < 55% in the others (mean (SD) 47(11)%). Conclusions Patients with unoperated congenitally corrected TGA have a high prevalence of myocardial perfusion defects, with consequent abnormalities of regional wall motion and thickening, and impaired ventricular contractility. These data suggest that ischaemia and infarction are important in the pathogenesis of ventricular failure in this condition.
Adverse reactions to azathioprine cannot be predicted by thiopurine S‐methyltransferase genotype in Japanese patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Background and Aims: Azathioprine (AZA) is associated with a high frequency of adverse reactions. We examined polymorphism of the thiopurine S‐methyltransferase (TPMT) gene to determine whether the TPMT genotype would be a predictive marker for the development of adverse reactions to AZA.
Radon partitions in convexity spaces

Tverberg's theorem asserts that every (k-1)(d+1)+1 points in R^d can be partitioned into k parts, so that the convex hulls of the parts have a common intersection. Calder and Eckhoff asked whether there is a purely combinatorial deduction of Tverberg's theorem from the special case k=2. We dash the hopes of a purely combinatorial deduction, but show that the case k=2 does imply that every set of O(k^2 log^2 k) points admits a Tverberg partition into k parts.
Melatonin Content of the Pineal Gland in Different Mouse Strains

Pineal melatonin content at several times during the day and night was measured in 36 inbred strains of mice (Mus musculus) kept under LD 12:12 cycles. The results have indicated that only five inbred strains have pineal melatonin content, with higher levels during the night and lower levels during the day; the other 31 strains do not contain detectable melatonin in their pineal gland at any of times examined. The former group includes two commonly used strains (C3H/He and CBA/Ms) and three wild‐derived strains (Mol‐A, Mol‐Nis, MOM). C3H and CBA mice showed a similar pattern of pineal melatonin rhythm with a peak at 2 hours before lights on. The peak levels were about 150 pg/gland in both strains. The rhythmic patterns of melatonin content in Mol‐A, Mol‐Nis, and MOM were slightly different from those in CBA and C3H. In the wild‐derived strains, the peak of melatonin content did not occur at 2 hours before lights on but tended to occur at midnight. The peak levels were 67–91 pg/gland at the highest point in these strains.
XMeis 3 protein activity is required for proper hindbrain patterning in Xenopus laevis embryos

Formation of the central nervous system (CNS) in vertebrates such as Xenopus i initiated during gastrulation and largely depends on the inductive interaction between the ectoderm and adjacent dorsal mesoderm (Spemann organizer). The CNS is characterized by distinct anteroposterior (AP) and dorsoventral patterning (review by Hamburger, 1988; Doniach, 1993). The predominant concept of how AP patterning is established was suggested by Nieuwkoop (Nieuwkoop, 1952). In this two-step model, the initial neural inducing signal is thought to specify anterior neuroectodermal structures, such as cement gland and forebrain; this first step is referred to as ‘activation’. The second caudalizing step is called ‘transformation. ’ During this second step, anterior neural tissue is respecified to more posterior fates, such as midbrain, hindbrain and spinal cord. Several molecules have been identified which participate in the ‘activation’ and ‘transformation’ processes. Non-neural ectoderm is induced to anterior-neural tissue by inhibition of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) activity (reviewed by Harland and Gerhart, 1997). Secreted BMP antagonist molecules bind the BMP molecule and inhibit its receptor binding activity (Zimmerman et al., 1996; Piccolo et al., 1996; Fainsod et al., 1997; Hsu et al., 1998). BMP antagonists are expressed in Spemann’s organizer during gastrulation and induce anterior neural tissue in adjacent ectoderm (Lamb et al., 1994; Hemmati-Brivanlou and Melton, 1994; Sasai et al., 1994). Three secreted ‘transformation’ factors have been shown to caudalize neural tissue in whole embryos or explants: retinoic cid (Durston et al., 1989; Sive et al., 1990; Ruiz i Altaba and Jessell, 1991; Sharpe, 1991; Kolm and Sive, 1995; Papalopulu, and Kintner, 1996; Godsave et al., 1998), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF; Kenkgaku and Okamato, 1995; Lamb and Harland, 1995; Cox and Hemmati-Brivanlou, 1995) and Xwnt3a (McGrew et al., 1995; McGrew et al., 1997). These factors and/or their receptors are expressed in the neural plate in a temporal and regional manner, supporting their roles as caudalizers of the nervous system. All three of these molecules caudalize in non-equivalent manners and it is still not clear how they interact to specify proper AP pattern in the CNS (Kolm et al., 1997; rev. in Gamse and Sive, 2000). In Xenopusembryos and explants, Meis homeobox proteins have been shown to caudalize and dorsalize the CNS (Salzberg et al., 1999; Maeda et al., 2001). The caudalizing Xenopus Meis3gene (Salzberg et al., 1999) was originally identified as a Drosophila homothorax (hth) gene homolog (Rieckhof et al., 1997; Kurant et al., 1998). In neurula embryos, XMeis3 is 3415 Development 128, 3415-3426 (2001) Printed in Great Britain © The Company of Biologists Limited 2001 DEV3403
Evidence for iron‐mediated anaerobic methane oxidation in a crude oil‐contaminated aquifer

In a methanogenic crude oil contaminated aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota, the decrease in dissolved CH4 concentrations along the groundwater flow path, along with the positive shift in δ13CCH4 and negative shift in δ13CDIC, is indicative of microbially mediated CH4 oxidation. Calculations of electron acceptor transport across the water table, through diffusion, recharge, and the entrapment and release of gas bubbles, suggest that these processes can account for at most 15% of the observed total reduced carbon oxidation, including CH4. In the anaerobic plume, the characteristic Fe(III)‐reducing genus Geobacter was the most abundant of the microbial groups tested, and depletion of labile sediment iron is observed over time, confirming that reduced carbon oxidation coupled to iron reduction is an important process. Electron mass balance calculations suggest that organic carbon sources in the aquifer, BTEX and non‐volatile dissolved organic carbon, are insufficient to account for the loss in sediment Fe(III), implying that CH4 oxidation may also be related to Fe(III) reduction. The results support a hypothesis of Fe(III)‐mediated CH4 oxidation in the contaminated aquifer.
Outage constrained secrecy rate maximization using cooperative jamming

We consider a Gaussian MISO wiretap channel, where a multi-antenna source communicates with a single-antenna destination in the presence of a single-antenna eavesdropper. The communication is assisted by multi-antenna helpers that act as jammers to the eavesdropper. Each helper independently transmits noise, which lies in the null space of the helper-destination channel, thus creating no interference to the destination. Under source-eavesdropper channel uncertainty, we derive the optimal source covariance matrix that maximizes the secrecy rate subject to probability of outage and power constraints. Further, for the case in which the helper-eavesdropper channels follow a zero-mean Gaussian model with known covariances, we derive the outage probability in a closed form. Simulation results in support of the analysis are provided.
New developments in goal setting and task performance.

Introduction / Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham -- Goal setting theory, 1990 / Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham -- The economic value of goal setting to employers / Frank L. Schmidt -- Stretch goals : risks, possibilities and best practices / Steve Kerr and Doug LePelley -- Attributions and emotions as mediators and/or moderators in the goal striving process / Marion B. Eberly, Dong Liu, Terence R. Mitchell and Thomas W. Lee -- Feedback, goal setting and task performance revisited / Susan J. Ashford and Kathleen E. M. DeStobbeleir -- Goal commitment / Howard J. Klein, Joseph T. Cooper and Christina A. Monahan -- Goals, goal orientations, strategies and performance / Robert E. Wood, Jennifer Whelan, Victor Sojo and Moureen Wong -- Special goal topics -- Goals and affect / Stefanie A. Plemmons and Howard M. Weiss -- Determinants of goals / Peter A. Heslin and Karyn L. Wang -- The role of self efficacy in goal-based motivation / Albert Bandura --^
The effects of mood status and competitive anxiety in elite basketball players

Interest has developed in studying the relationship between pre-competitive mood and anxiety with athletic performance (eg. Beedie, Terry & Lane, 2000; Morgan, Ellickson, O'Connor & Bradley, 1992). The most commonly used instrument for measuring mood states in sport psychology is the Profile of Mood States (POMS). A weak to moderate relationship exists between pre-competitive mood and the performance of similarly skilled athletes (Cox, 2002). The current study examined the relationship between pre-game mood status (POMS), competitive-anxiety (SCAT), task-ego orientation (TEOSQ) and game statistics during the season of an elite basketball competition.
Characterization of the Transposase Encoded by IS256, the Prototype of a Major Family of Bacterial Insertion Sequence Elements

ABSTRACT IS256 is the founding member of the IS256 family of insertion sequence (IS) elements. These elements encode a poorly characterized transposase, which features a conserved DDE catalytic motif and produces circular IS intermediates. Here, we characterized the IS256 transposase as a DNA-binding protein and obtained insight into the subdomain organization and functional properties of this prototype enzyme of IS256 family transposases. Recombinant forms of the transposase were shown to bind specifically to inverted repeats present in the IS256 noncoding regions. A DNA-binding domain was identified in the N-terminal part of the transposase, and a mutagenesis study targeting conserved amino acid residues in this region revealed a putative helix-turn-helix structure as a key element involved in DNA binding. Furthermore, we obtained evidence to suggest that the terminal nucleotides of IS256 are critically involved in IS circularization. Although small deletions at both ends reduced the formation of IS circles, changes at the left-hand IS256 terminus proved to be significantly more detrimental to circle production. Taken together, the data lead us to suggest that the IS256 transposase-mediated circularization reaction preferentially starts with a sequence-specific first-strand cleavage at the left-hand IS terminus.
Overexpression of Mucin 13 due to Promoter Methylation Promotes Aggressive Behavior in Ovarian Cancer Cells

Purpose Recent discoveries suggest that aberrant DNA methylation provides cancer cells with advanced metastatic properties. However, the precise regulatory mechanisms controlling metastasis genes and their role in metastatic transformation are largely unknown. To address epigenetically-regulated gene products involved in ovarian cancer metastasis, we examined the mechanisms regulating mucin 13 (MUC13) expression and its influence on aggressive behaviors of ovarian malignancies. Materials and Methods We injected SK-OV-3 ovarian cancer cells peritoneally into nude mice to mimic human ovarian tumor metastasis. Overexpression of MUC13 mRNA was detected in metastatic implants from the xenografts by expression microarray analysis and quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The DNA methylation status within the MUC13 promoter region was determined using bisulfite sequencing PCR and quantitative methylation-specific PCR. We evaluated the effects of exogenous MUC13 on cell invasion and migration using in vitro transwell assays. Results MUC13 mRNA expression was up-regulated, and methylation of specific CpG sites within the promoter was reduced in the metastatic implants relative to those in wild-type SK-OV-3 cells. Addition of a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor to SK-OV-3 cells induced MUC13 expression, thereby implying epigenetic regulation of MUC13 by promoter methylation. MUC13 overexpression increased migration and invasiveness, compared to control cells, suggesting aberrant up-regulation of MUC13 is strongly associated with progression of aggressive behaviors in ovarian cancer. Conclusion We provide novel evidence for epigenetic regulation of MUC13 in ovarian cancer. We suggest that the DNA methylation status within the MUC13 promoter region may be a potential biomarker of aggressive behavior in ovarian cancer.
Subchronic treatment with phencyclidine in adolescence leads to impaired exploratory behavior in adult rats without altering social interaction or N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor binding levels

Although both the onset of schizophrenia and human phencyclidine (PCP) abuse typically present within the interval from adolescence to early adulthood, the majority of preclinical research employing the PCP model of schizophrenia has been conducted on neonatal or adult animals. The present study was designed to evaluate the behavioral and neurochemical sequelae of subchronic exposure to PCP in adolescence. Male 35–42‐day‐old Sprague Dawley rats were subcutaneously administered either saline (10 ml · kg−1) or PCP hydrochloride (10 mg · kg−1) once daily for a period of 14 days (n = 6/group). The animals were allowed to withdraw from treatment for 2 weeks, and their social and exploratory behaviors were subsequently assessed in adulthood by using the social interaction test. To examine the effects of adolescent PCP administration on the regulation of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors (NMDARs), quantitative autoradiography was performed on brain sections of adult, control and PCP‐withdrawn rats by using 20 nM 3H‐MK‐801. Prior subchronic exposure to PCP in adolescence had no enduring effects on the reciprocal contact and noncontact social behavior of adult rats. Spontaneous rearing in response to the novel testing arena and time spent investigating its walls and floor were reduced in PCP‐withdrawn animals compared with control. The long‐term behavioral effects of PCP occurred in the absence of persistent deficits in spontaneous locomotion or self‐grooming activity and were not mediated by altered NMDAR density. Our results document differential effects of adolescent PCP administration on the social and exploratory behaviors of adult rats, suggesting that distinct neurobiological mechanisms are involved in mediating these behaviors. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Memory propagator matrix for long-time dissipative charge transfer dynamics

Iterative path integral methods provide a numerically exact approach to the dynamics of a quantum system coupled to a dissipative bath. These methods involve step-by-step propagation of a generalized multi-time reduced density matrix with a propagator that includes influence functional interactions that span the bath-induced memory length. Low-frequency baths lead to long memory that can span many time steps, necessitating the use of filtering procedures that select and store only statistically significant path segments, avoiding storage of the entire sparse propagator. The present paper further enhances the iterative path integral methodology through a deterministic procedure that identifies at the start of the calculation all memory-length path segments whose weights exceed a chosen threshold and builds the propagator matrix for use in all propagation steps. A binning procedure allows efficient pairing of path segments required in the construction of the propagator. Additional savings are achieved via a simple criterion for assessing the adequacy of a chosen path selection threshold prior to propagation. Application to a tight-binding model for charge transfer in extended systems reveals the important role of bath-induced memory on the dynamics of these systems.
Food-web structure and network theory: The role of connectance and size

Networks from a wide range of physical, biological, and social systems have been recently described as “small-world” and “scale-free. ” However, studies disagree whether ecological networks called food webs possess the characteristic path lengths, clustering coefficients, and degree distributions required for membership in these classes of networks. Our analysis suggests that the disagreements are based on selective use of relatively few food webs, as well as analytical decisions that obscure important variability in the data. We analyze a broad range of 16 high-quality food webs, with 25–172 nodes, from a variety of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Food webs generally have much higher complexity, measured as connectance (the fraction of all possible links that are realized in a network), and much smaller size than other networks studied, which have important implications for network topology. Our results resolve prior conflicts by demonstrating that although some food webs have small-world and scale-free structure, most do not if they exceed a relatively low level of connectance. Although food-web degree distributions do not display a universal functional form, observed distributions are systematically related to network connectance and size. Also, although food webs often lack small-world structure because of low clustering, we identify a continuum of real-world networks including food webs whose ratios of observed to random clustering coefficients increase as a power–law function of network size over 7 orders of magnitude. Although food webs are generally not small-world, scale-free networks, food-web topology is consistent with patterns found within those classes of networks.
The Homeotic Protein AGAMOUS Controls Late Stamen Development by Regulating a Jasmonate Biosynthetic Gene in Arabidopsis[W]

The Arabidopsis thaliana floral homeotic gene AGAMOUS (AG) plays a central role in reproductive organ (stamen and carpel) development. AG RNA is expressed in the center of floral primordia from a time prior to the initiation of stamen and carpel primordia until late in flower development. While early AG expression acts in specification of stamens and carpels, the role, if any, of continued AG expression in later flower development is unknown. To examine the timing of AG action and its possible late-stage functions, we performed a series of time-course experiments using a transgenic line with inducible AG activity in an ag homozygous mutant background. We show that AG controls late-stage stamen development, including anther morphogenesis and dehiscence, as well as filament formation and elongation. We further show that AG coordinates late stamen maturation by controlling a biosynthetic gene of the lipid-derived phytohormone jasmonic acid (JA). Expression analysis and in vivo binding of AG indicate that AG directly regulates the transcription of a catalytic enzyme of JA, DEFECTIVE IN ANTHER DEHISCENCE1. Our results indicate that stamen identity and differentiation control by AG is achieved by the regulation of different transcriptional cascades in different floral stages, with organ specification induced early, followed by phytohormone biosynthesis to coordinate stamen maturation.
Secure Two-Party Differentially Private Data Release for Vertically Partitioned Data

Privacy-preserving data publishing addresses the problem of disclosing sensitive data when mining for useful information. Among the existing privacy models, ϵ-differential privacy provides one of the strongest privacy guarantees. In this paper, we address the problem of private data publishing, where different attributes for the same set of individuals are held by two parties. In particular, we present an algorithm for differentially private data release for vertically partitioned data between two parties in the semihonest adversary model. To achieve this, we first present a two-party protocol for the exponential mechanism. This protocol can be used as a subprotocol by any other algorithm that requires the exponential mechanism in a distributed setting. Furthermore, we propose a two-party algorithm that releases differentially private data in a secure way according to the definition of secure multiparty computation. Experimental results on real-life data suggest that the proposed algorithm can effectively preserve information for a data mining task.