Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reproductive competition promotes the evolution of female weaponry

Secondary sexual traits in females are a relatively rare phenomenon. Empirical studies have focused on the role of male mate choice in their evolution; however, recently it has been suggested that secondary sexual traits in females are more likely to be under selection via reproductive competition. We investigated female competition and the influence of female phenotype on fitness in Onthophagus sagittarius, a species of dung beetle that exhibits female-specific horns. We compared reproductive fitness when females were breeding in competition versus breeding alone and found that competition for breeding resources reduced fitness for all females, but that smaller individuals suffered a greater fitness reduction than larger individuals. When females were matched for body size, those with the longest horns gained higher reproductive fitness. The fitness function was positive and linear, favouring increased horn expression. Thus, we present evidence that female body size and horn size in O. sagittarius are under directional selection via competition for reproductive resources. Our study is a rare example of female contest competition selecting for female weaponry.
Functional and Structural Network Impairment in Childhood Frontal Lobe Epilepsy

In childhood frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE), cognitive impairment and educational underachievement are serious, well-known co-morbidities. The broad scale of affected cognitive domains suggests wide-spread network disturbances that not only involves, but also extends beyond the frontal lobe. In this study we have investigated whole brain connectional properties of children with FLE in relation to their cognitive impairment and compared them with healthy controls. Functional connectivity (FC) of the networks was derived from dynamic fluctuations of resting state fMRI and structural connectivity (SC) was obtained from fiber tractograms of diffusion weighted MRI. The whole brain network was characterized with graph theoretical metrics and decomposed into modules. Subsequently, the graph metrics and the connectivity within and between modules were related to cognitive performance. Functional network disturbances in FLE were related to increased clustering, increased path length, and stronger modularity compared to healthy controls, which was accompanied by stronger within- and weaker between-module functional connectivity. Although structural path length and clustering appeared normal in children with FLE, structural modularity increased with stronger cognitive impairment. It is concluded that decreased coupling between large-scale functional network modules is a hallmark for impaired cognition in childhood FLE.
Prosody takes over: a prosodically guided dialog system

In this paper first experiments with naive persons using the speech understanding and dialog system EVAR are discussed. The domain of EVAR is train table inquiry. We observed that in real human-human dialogs when the officer transmits the information the customer very often interrupts. Many of these interruptions are just repetitions of the time of day given by the officer. The functional role of these interruptions is determined by prosodic cues only. An important result of the experiments with EVAR is that it is hard to follow the system giving the train connection via speech synthesis. In this case it is even more important than in human-human dialogs that the user has the opportunity to interact during the answer phase. Therefore we extended the dialog module to allow the user to repeat the time of day and we added a prosody module guiding the continuation of the dialog.
A practical guide to the study of social relationships

Behavioral ecologists have devoted considerable effort to identifying the sources of variation in individual reproductive success. Much of this work has focused on the characteristics of individuals, such as their sex and rank. However, many animals live in stable social groups and the fitness of individuals depends at least in part on the outcome of their interactions with other group members. For example, in many primate species, high dominance rank enhances access to resources and reproductive success. The ability to acquire and maintain high rank often depends on the availability and effectiveness of coalitionary support. Allies may be cultivated and coalitions may be reinforced by affiliative interactions such as grooming, food sharing, and tolerance. These findings suggest that if we want to understand the selective pressures that shape the social behavior of primates, it will be profitable to broaden our focus from the characteristics of individuals to the properties of the relationships that they form with others. The goal of this paper is to discuss a set of methods that can be used to quantify the properties of social relationships.
Depression Symptoms in Cancer Caregivers

Patients with cancer are living longer as the disease has become a more chronic condition. Family and friends assume the role of caregiver as more cancer care shifts to the home. The value of informal caregivers and the support they provide to patients will continue to increase. However, caregiving has physical and psychological consequences, including depression. The purpose of this article is to increase awareness of the problem of caregiver depression because of its impact on health deterioration and early death in caregivers. This article discusses caregiving, depression, factors that may contribute to caregiver depression, and implications for oncology nurses. A case study, examples of instruments that can be used to identify caregivers exhibiting depressive symptoms, caregiver resources, and mental health resources are provided.
The Extent, Pattern, and Degree of Market Integration: A Multivariate Approach for the Brazilian Rice Market

The extent, pattern, and degree of integration are analyzed in a multivariate system with cointegrating restrictions. The extent of the market is found by identifying locations that are linked by trade and where prices share identical long-run information (permanent component). The pattern of integration characterizes interdependence and is analyzed by estimating a vector error correction model. The degree of integration is calculated with persistence profiles of the long run relations. We demonstrate that bivariate models are inadequate for capturing the spatial dynamics of price adjustment. The methodology is applied to the Brazilian rice market and policy implications are discussed. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.
What makes strategic deception difficult for children - the deception or the strategy?

Tests of strategic deception are normally assumed to measure children's understanding of mental representation and to demonstrate 3-year-olds' lack of such understanding. However they also make significant executive demands, namely: (a) provisional disengagement from a target object whilst (b) indicating a place where the target is absent. If these executive requirements constitute the core difficulty with strategic deception, young children should continue to fail such tests when there is no opponent to deceive but when the executive requirements are unchanged. Experiment 1 showed that removing the opponent did not affect the behaviour of 3-year-old subjects: they typically referred to the object location on the first test trial and often continued to do so throughout the subsequent 20 trials. Experiment 2 showed that the younger children's difficulty was caused by knowledge of the target's location not by sight of it. We discuss these data in terms of the possibility that there may be an executive contribution to the age 3–4 year transition in mental knowledge; but also caution that the role of executive factors in strategic deception should ideally be assessed by mechanical procedures.
Denial of Reward in the Neonate Shapes Sociability and Serotonergic Activity in the Adult Rat

Background Manipulations of the early environment are linked to long-lasting alterations of emotionality and social capabilities. Denial of rewarding mother-pup interactions in early life of rats could serve as model for child neglect. Negative consequences for social competence in later life, accompanied by changes in the serotonergic system would be expected. In contrast, rewarding mother-pup contact should promote adequate social abilities. Methodology/Principal Findings Male Wistar rats trained in a T-maze during postnatal days 10–13 under denial (DER) or permission (RER) of maternal contact were tested for play behavior in adolescence and for coping with defeat in adulthood. We estimated serotonin (5-HT) levels in the brain under basal conditions and following defeat, as well as serotonin receptor 1A (5-HT1A) and serotonin transporter (SERT) expression. DER rats exhibited increased aggressive-like play behavior in adolescence (i.e. increased nape attacks, p<0.0001) and selected a proactive coping style during defeat in adulthood (higher sum of proactive behaviors: number of attacks, flights, rearings and defensive upright posture; p = 0.011, p<0.05 vs RER, non-handled-NH). In adulthood, they had lower 5-HT levels in both the prefrontal cortex (p<0.05 vs RER) and the amygdala (p<0.05 vs NH), increased 5-HT levels following defeat (PFC p<0.0001) and decreased serotonin turnover (amygdala p = 0.008). The number of 5-HT1A immunopositive cells in the CA1 hippocampal area was increased (p<0.05 DER, vs RER, NH); SERT levels in the amygdala were elevated (p<0.05 vs RER, NH), but were lower in the prefrontal cortex (p<0.05 vs NH). Conclusions/Significance Denial of expected maternal reward early in life negatively affects sociability and the serotonergic system in a complex manner. We propose that our animal model could contribute to the identification of the neurobiological correlates of early neglect effects on social behavior and coping with challenges, but also in parallel with the effects of a rewarding early-life environment.
Aging and the Response to Changes in Task Difficulty

RÉSUMÉ Un exercice de repérage de signaux discontinus a été employé pour évaluer le processus de planification du mouvement (relié aux paramètres de direction et d'amplitude) comme source du ralentissement de l'initiation et de la production du mouvement chez les personnes âgées. Les personnes âgées ont démontré des temps de réaction et de mouvement plus lents, cette lenteur variant en fonction de la quantité d'informations traitées pour accomplir le mouvement. Cependant, les personnes âgées ont semblé aussi capables que des individus plus jeunes de corriger des erreurs imprévues de mouvement. Les données suggèrent que, bien que le processus de sélection du mouvement puisse constituer un facteur qui contribue au ralentissement chez les personnes âgées, l'identification de paramètres spécifiques du mouvement peut s'avérer plus importante dans l'accomplissement de certains mouvements que les quelques déficits généralisés associés au vieillissement. ABSTRACT A discrete step-input tracking task was used to assess the extent to which movement planning processes (related to the parameters of direction and extent) underlie the slowing of response initiation and response production in the elderly. Elderly subjects had slower reaction and movement times, with this difference being greater as the information processing demands of the task increased. However, the elderly appeared to be as capable as their younger counterparts of correcting unanticipated movement errors. The data are interpreted as suggesting that while response selection may be a contributing factor to the slowing with age, the identification of specific movement parameters may be more relevant to particular tasks than to some generalized deficit associated with aging.
Instructional Responsibilities of College Faculty to Minority Students.

The shockingly poor performance in public education of minority students1 from Black, Hispanic, and Native American ethnic groups throughout the years has become a given, even a starting point, for almost any discussion on education for these students. While there is no need to establish basic evidence for a phenomenon so well known, we will present some of the data that demonstrate the attrition of these students, beginning from the high school years through graduate and/ or professional schools. Astin (1982) reports that minority students are "increasingly underrepresented at each higher level of degree attainment" (p. 17). He identifies five points at which minority students drop out of the educational system: completion of high school entry to college, completion of college, entry to graduate or professional school, and completion of graduate or professional school. The loss of minorities at those five transition points, Astin reports, "accounts for their substantial underrepresentation in high-level positions" (p. 14). The figures clearly show that minority students trail White students significantly at each of the transition points identified above. For example, the rate of minority students (Blacks, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and/ or Native Americans) dropping out of high school is 65 to 165 percent higher than that for White students. Among those going on to college (twoand four-year), 11 to 31 percent fewer minority students complete college than Whites. Finally, minority students drop out of graduate or professional schools at rates 10 to 27 percent higher than Whites (Astin,
Toward an integrated software platform for systems pharmacology

Understanding complex biological systems requires the extensive support of computational tools. This is particularly true for systems pharmacology, which aims to understand the action of drugs and their interactions in a systems context. Computational models play an important role as they can be viewed as an explicit representation of biological hypotheses to be tested. A series of software and data resources are used for model development, verification and exploration of the possible behaviors of biological systems using the model that may not be possible or not cost effective by experiments. Software platforms play a dominant role in creativity and productivity support and have transformed many industries, techniques that can be applied to biology as well. Establishing an integrated software platform will be the next important step in the field. © 2013 The Authors. Biopharmaceutics & Drug Disposition published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
THE BEHAVIOUR OF IDIOTS INTERPRETED BY PIAGET'S THEORY OF SENSORI‐MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Summary. Piaget's observations on sensori-motor intelligence and the concept of permanent objects in the development of the normal infant were applied to the study of 147 mentally defective children. The postulated order of difficulty of responses typical of each of Piaget's sensori-motor stages was confirmed. Repetitive behaviour with objects was readily classifiable into the types of manipulation which Piaget terms secondary, derived secondary and tertiary circular reactions; most of the hand mannerisms resembled the hand movements of infants to which Piaget has given the name of primary circular reactions. The postulated correspondence between the type of problem-solving or grasping behaviour and the type of circular reaction was found in 43 per cent of the cases. The postulated correspondence between the stage of sensori motor intelligence and object concept development was found in 87 per cent of the cases. It was concluded that the sensori-motor activities of severe mental defectives could be classified into the six main types distinguished by Piaget.
Dynamic register file resizing and frequency scaling to improve embedded processor performance and energy-delay efficiency

With CMOS scaling leading to ever increasing levels of transistor integration on a chip, designers of high-performance embedded processors have ample area available to increase processor resources in order to improve performance. However, increasing resource sizes can increase power dissipation and also reduce access time, which can limit maximum achievable operating frequency. In this paper, we explore optimizations for the processor register file (RF), to improve performance and reduce the energy-delay product. We show that while increasing the size of the RF can potentially increase the IPC, overall it results in an increase in program execution time. In response we propose L2MRFS - a dynamic register file resizing scheme in tandem with frequency scaling, which exploits L2 cache misses to noticeably improve processor performance (11% on average) and also significantly reduce the energy-delay product (7%).
Safety enhancement through situation-aware user interfaces

Due to their privileged position halfway between the physical and the cyber universes, user interfaces may play an important role in preventing, tolerating, and learning from scenarios potentially affecting mission safety and the user's quality of experience. This vision is embodied here in the main ideas and a proof-of-concepts implementation of user interfaces that combine dynamic profiling with context- and situation-awareness and autonomic software adaptation.
The impact of ENSO on coral heat stress in the western equatorial Pacific

The Coral Triangle encompasses an extensive region of coral reefs in the western tropical Pacific with marine resources that support millions of people. As in all other reef regions, coral reefs in the Coral Triangle have been impacted by anomalously high ocean temperature. The vast majority of bleaching observations to date have been associated with the 1998 La Niña phase of ENSO. To understand the significance of ENSO and other climatic oscillations to heat stress in the Coral Triangle, we use a 5‐km resolution Regional Ocean Model System for the Coral Triangle (CT‐ROMS) to study ocean temperature thresholds and variability for the 1960–2007 historical period. Heat‐stress events are more frequent during La Niña events, but occur under all climatic conditions, reflecting an overall warming trend since the 1970s. Mean sea surface temperature (SST) in the region increased an average of ~ 0.1 °C per decade over the time period, but with considerable spatial variability. The spatial patterns of SST and heat stress across the Coral Triangle reflect the complex bathymetry and oceanography. The patterns did not change significantly over time or with shifts in ENSO. Several regions experienced little to no heat stress over the entire period. Of particular interest to marine conservation are regions where there are few records of coral bleaching despite the presence of significant heat stress, such as in the Banda Sea. Although this may be due to under‐reporting of bleaching events, it may also be due to physical factors such as mixing and cloudiness, or biological factors that reduce sensitivity to heat stress.
SQOWL2: Transactional Type Inference for OWL 2 DL in an RDBMS

SQOWL2 is a compiler which allows an RDBMS to support sound reasoning of SROIQ(D) description logics, by implementing ontologies expressed in the OWL 2 DL language as a combination of tables and triggers in the RDBMS. The reasoning process is divided into two phases of classification of the T-Box and type inference of the A-Box. SQOWL2 establishes a relational schema based on classification completed using the Pellet reasoner, and performs type inference by using SQL triggers. SQOWL2 supports type inference over all OWL 2 DL constructs, and supports a more conventional relational schemas, rather than naively mapping OWL classes and properties to relational tables with one and two columns. Moreover, SQOWL2 is a transactional reasoning system (with full ACID properties), since the results of reasoning are available within the same transaction as that in which the base data of the reasoning was inserted.
Prospected Randomized Study of Two Y Devices in Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD)

To evaluate acceptability, safety, and efficacy of a y set with two short branches (TAs) filled with electrolytic chloroxidizer solution during the dwell time, 60 patients were randomly allocated to be treated with the traditional y set (TCs) or with the T AS. Twenty-three were new patients whereas the remaining 37 were patients already on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) with the TCs. The follow-up was 416.5 months in the control group and 387.4 months in the test group. During the study period there were 6 peritonitis episodes in each group with an incidence of 1 episode every 69.4 patient-months in the control group and 1 episode every 64.6 patient-months in the test group. Twenty-four patients (80%) in the control group and 27 (90%) in the test group were free from peritonitis. The probability to remain free from peritonitis was respectively 87% and 83% in the test group and in control group after 12 months, 70% and 78% after 21 months. seventy -nine percent of the patients who used both systems preferred the T AS for better handling, lower encumbrance, and major safety. One patient preferred the TCs, three patients did not find any differences between the two devices.
Massive allograft implantation following radical resection of high-grade tumors requiring adjuvant chemotherapy treatment.

Since 1976, the authors have performed a total of 36 resections of malignant tumors of the limbs with reconstruction of these by implantation of allografts. All allografts have been supplied by the University of Miami Tissue Bank. Following resection of the long-bone tumor and obtaining acceptable margins, the allograft was inserted to the limb defect with three different techniques: (1) in addition to a custom prosthesis as a hemi-joint reconstruction, i.e., a custom Neer prosthesis and proximal humerus allograft; (2) an osteoarticular graft to replace an articular surface resected with the metaphyseal-diaphyseal portion of the tumor; and (3) an intercalary diaphyseal-metaphyseal graft replacing the resected tumor but preserving the recipient articular surface. Of the 36 tumors, one was in Stage III disease. The remainder were Stage II A or B by the System of Enneking. All of these patients had adjuvant chemotherapy. The follow-up time was 24 months to 96 months. The resection of tumors in 36 patients and treatment with postoperative chemotherapy resulted in a mortality of eight out of 36 and one amputation due to recurrence. Satisfactory results were obtained in 19 of 36 patients. If the tumor failures (eight deaths) and the amputation are subtracted from this number, the success rate is 70% (19/27). Intercalary grafts were more successful than osteoarticular grafts. Chemotherapy was started one to two weeks postoperation for all but four patients to whom it was also given preoperation. These patients were in a Children's Cancer Study Group (CCSG) protocol for prospective study of the effects of preoperative chemotherapy. There was no apparent difference in the allograft success in these patients as compared to patients receiving only postoperative chemotherapy. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Better models for people tracking

People tracking is a key component for robots operating in populated environments. Previous works have employed different filtering and data association techniques for this purpose that typically rely on a set of generic assumptions on target behavior and detector characteristics. In this paper, we focus on these assumptions rather than the tracking approach itself and show that with informed models, people tracking can be made substantially more accurate without compromising efficiency. Concretely, we present better, human-specific models for the occurrence of new tracks, false alarms, track occlusions, and track deletions. In the experiments with a large-scale outdoor data set collected with a laser range finder, the models and combinations thereof are experimentally compared using a multi-hypothesis baseline tracker and the CLEAR MOT metrics. The results show how some models selectively improve tracking performance at the expense of other measures. The final combination is then able to resolve the trade-offs, leading to a reduction of data association errors by more than a factor of two at the same cost.