Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activation Is Commonly Invoked by Reputation of Self and Romantic Partners

The reputation of others influences partner selection in human cooperative behaviors through verbal reputation representation. Although the way in which humans represent the verbal reputations of others is a pivotal issue for social neuroscience, the neural correlates underlying the representation of verbal reputations of others are unclear. Humans primarily depend on self-evaluation when assessing reputation of self. Likewise, humans might primarily depend on self-evaluation of others when representing their reputation. As interaction promotes the formation of more nuanced, individualized impressions of an interaction partner, humans tend to form self-evaluations of persons with whom they are intimate in their daily life. Thus, we hypothesized that the representation of reputation of others is modulated by intimacy due to one’s own evaluation formation of that person. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment with 11 pairs of romantic partners while they viewed an evaluation of a target person (self, partner [intimate other], or stranger [non-intimate other]), made by other evaluators. When compared with strangers, viewing evaluations of self and partner activated overlapping regions in the medial prefrontal cortex. Verbal reputation of self-specific activation was found in the precuneus, which represents self-related processing. The data suggest that midline structures represent reputation of self. In addition, intimacy-modulated activation in the medial prefrontal cortex suggests that the verbal reputation of intimate others is represented similarly to reputation of self. These results suggest that the reputation representation in the medial prefrontal cortex is engaged by verbal reputation of self and intimate others stemming from both own and other evaluators’ judgments.
Explanations of Mathematical Concepts in Japanese, Chinese, and U.S. First-and Fifth-Grade Classrooms

In this research, I examine some of the classroom processes that may be responsible for the stellar mathematical performance among Asian children compared to U.S. children. The study documents differences in the frequency and type of mathematical explanations during lessons observed in 80 U.S., 40 Chinese, and 40 Japanese 1st- and 5th-grade classrooms. Explanations occurred more frequently in the Japanese and Chinese classrooms than in U.S. classrooms. Furthermore, typical explanations in the Asian classrooms were more substantive than those in the U.S. lessons, and Japanese children were learning about more complex topics than their peers in Taiwan or the United States.
Analytic Dynamic Factor Copula Model

The Gaussian factor copula model is the market standard model for multi-name credit derivatives. Its main drawback is that factor copula models exhibit correlation smiles when calibrating against market tranche quotes. To overcome the calibration deficiency, we introduce a multi-period factor copula model by chaining one-period factor copula models. The correlation coefficients in our model are allowed to be timedependent, and hence they are allowed to follow certain stochastic processes. Therefore, we can calibrate against market quotes more consistently. Usually, multi-period factor copula models require multi-dimensional integration, typically computed by Monte Carlo simulation, which makes calibration extremely time consuming. In our model, the portfolio loss of a completely homogeneous pool possesses the Markov property, thus we can compute the portfolio loss distribution analytically without multi-dimensional integration. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency and flexibility of our model to match market quotes. This research was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, 10 King’s College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G4, Canada; krj@cs.toronto. edu Algorithmics Inc., 185 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5T 2C6, Canada; alex.kreinin@algorithmics.com Royal Bank of Canada, 200 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, M5J 2J5, Canada; zhangw@cs.toronto. edu
A Genetic RNAi Screen for IP3/Ca2+ Coupled GPCRs in Drosophila Identifies the PdfR as a Regulator of Insect Flight

Insect flight is regulated by various sensory inputs and neuromodulatory circuits which function in synchrony to control and fine-tune the final behavioral outcome. The cellular and molecular bases of flight neuromodulatory circuits are not well defined. In Drosophila melanogaster, it is known that neuronal IP3 receptor mediated Ca2+ signaling and store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) are required for air-puff stimulated adult flight. However, G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that activate intracellular Ca2+ signaling in the context of flight are unknown in Drosophila. We performed a genetic RNAi screen to identify GPCRs that regulate flight by activating the IP3 receptor. Among the 108 GPCRs screened, we discovered 5 IP3/Ca2+ linked GPCRs that are necessary for maintenance of air-puff stimulated flight. Analysis of their temporal requirement established that while some GPCRs are required only during flight circuit development, others are required both in pupal development as well as during adult flight. Interestingly, our study identified the Pigment Dispersing Factor Receptor (PdfR) as a regulator of flight circuit development and as a modulator of acute flight. From the analysis of PdfR expressing neurons relevant for flight and its well-defined roles in other behavioral paradigms, we propose that PdfR signaling functions systemically to integrate multiple sensory inputs and modulate downstream motor behavior.
Physical Model of Electric Aging and Breakdown of Extruded Pplymeric Insulated Power Cables

This paper postulates a physical model of electric aging and breakdown of polymeric insulated high voltage cables and substantiates this model with results of tests. In accordance with the model, scission of molecular chains and formation of craters at discharging voids are responsible for the electric aging and voltage breakdown of polymeric insulation.
Electrical Neuroimaging of Music Processing Reveals Mid-Latency Changes with Level of Musical Expertise

This original research focused on the effect of musical training intensity on cerebral and behavioral processing of complex music using high-density event-related potential (ERP) approaches. Recently we have been able to show progressive changes with training in gray and white matter, and higher order brain functioning using (f)MRI [(functional) Magnetic Resonance Imaging], as well as changes in musical and general cognitive functioning. The current study investigated the same population of non-musicians, amateur pianists and expert pianists using spatio-temporal ERP analysis, by means of microstate analysis, and ERP source imaging. The stimuli consisted of complex musical compositions containing three levels of transgression of musical syntax at closure that participants appraised. ERP waveforms, microstates and underlying brain sources revealed gradual differences according to musical expertise in a 300–500 ms window after the onset of the terminal chords of the pieces. Within this time-window, processing seemed to concern context-based memory updating, indicated by a P3b-like component or microstate for which underlying sources were localized in the right middle temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate and right parahippocampal areas. Given that the 3 expertise groups were carefully matched for demographic factors, these results provide evidence of the progressive impact of training on brain and behavior.
High performance Fortran

A basic problem in programming for parallel architectures is that each machine has its own design, and also its own specific software for accessing its hardware features. In 1992, as a response to this situation, the High Performance Fortran Forum (HPFF) was founded, under the guidance of Professor Ken Kennedy, to produce a portable Fortran-based interface to parallel machines for the solution of data-parallel problems, mainly involving regular grids. Over 40 organizations participated, and the work used existing dialects, such as Fortran D (Rice University), Vienna Fortran and CM Fortran (Thinking Machines), as inspiration. It was realised early on that much of the desired functionality already existed in the, then, very new Fortran 90 (see [1]), and this was selected as the base language on which to build HPF itself. The array processing features of Fortran 90 are particularly relevant. This enabled the goal of producing an ad hoc standard for HPF within a year to be met, and full details can be found in [2]. The standard document itself is obtainable by anonymous ftp at titan.cs. rice.edu in the directory public/HPFF/draft as the file hpf-v10-final.ps. Z. At the time of writing, HPFF has reconvened to produce a second, more advanced, version – HPF II. One new feature is expected to be an extension for irregular grids. The basic approach adopted was that of designing a set of directives that may be added to Fortran 90 programs, together with a few syntactical additions and some extra libraries, thus creating a data parallel programming language that is independent of the details of the architecture of the parallel computer it is run on. The principle is to arrange for locality of reference of the data by aligning related data sets to one another, and distributing the aligned sets over memory regions such that, usually, calculations on a given processor are performed between operands already on that processor. Any message passing that might nevertheless be necessary to communicate data between processors is handled by the compiler and run-time system.
The Economic Value of Bilingualism for Asians and Hispanics

This study examines how bilingualism affects the wages of Asian and Hispanic workers using 2000 Census data. In contradiction to the general belief that bilingualism can provide a competitive advantage in the labor market, we find no evidence that 1.5-generation and U.S.-born Asian and Hispanic bilingual workers generally have higher wages than their English monolingual co-ethnics; in some cases, in fact, their wages are significantly lower. In search of specific circumstances under which bilingualism might provide an economic advantage, we also examine interactions of language with such variables as education, employment in the public rather than the private sector, and the size of the population of mother-tongue speakers. With limited exceptions, we find no sign of greater economic returns to bilingualism. Since bilingualism requires considerable effort to maintain across generations in the United States, we conclude that the virtual absence of economic rewards for it creates pressure for linguistic assimilation.
Continued cigarette smoking by patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer is associated with decreased survival.

PURPOSE To determine the impact of continued smoking by patients receiving chemotherapy (CHT) and radiotherapy (RT) for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LSCLC) on toxicity and survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective review was carried out on 215 patients with LSCLC treated between 1989 and 1999. Treatment consisted of six cycles of alternating cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and etoposide, cisplatin (EP). Thoracic RT was concurrent with EP (cycle 2 or 3) only. Patients were known smokers, with their smoking status recorded at the start of chemoradiotherapy (CHT/RT). RT interruption during concurrent CHT/RT was used as the marker for treatment toxicity. RESULTS Of 215 patients, smoking status was recorded for 186 patients (86.5%), with 79 (42%) continuing to smoke and 107 (58%) abstaining during CHT/RT. RT interruptions were recorded in 38 patients (20.5%), with a median duration of 5 days (range, 1 to 18 days). Median survival for former smokers was greater than for continuing smokers (18 v 13.6 months), with 5-year actuarial overall survival of 8.9% versus 4%, respectively (log-rank P =.0017). Proportion of noncancer deaths was comparable between the two cohorts. Continuing smokers did not have a greater incidence of toxicity-related treatment breaks (P =.49), but those who continued to smoke and also experienced a treatment break had the poorest overall survival (median, 13.4 months; log-rank P =.0014). CONCLUSION LSCLC patients who continue to smoke during CHT/RT have poorer survival rates than those who do not. Smoking did not have an impact on the rate of treatment interruptions attributed to toxicity.
A Survey of Socially Interactive Robots : Concepts , Design , and Applications

This report reviews “socially interactive robots”: robots for which social human-robot interaction is important. We begin by discussing the context for socially interactive robots, emphasizing the relationship to other research fields and the different forms of “social robots”. We then present a taxonomy of design methods and system components used to build socially interactive robots. Following this taxonomy, we survey the current state of the art, categorized by use and application area. Finally, we describe the impact of these these robots on humans and discuss open issues. An abbreviated version of this report, which does not contain the application survey, is available as [T. Fong, I. Nourbakhsh, K. Dautenhahn, A survey of socially interactive robots, Robotics and Autonomous Systems
Rebuilding Local Food Systems From the Grassroots Up

The restructuring of the world food system under corporate control since the Second World War has resulted in a crisis with environmental, economic, and social dimensions. The symptoms of the crisis include loss of farmland and fan oers (and in the United States, especially minority farmers), impoverishment of rural economies and the decline of small towns, shrinking of the farmer's share of the food dollar, erosion of the soil, pollution of air and water with synthetic pesticides and farm run-off, the spread of monoculture and the correspondent decline of biodiversity—the litany of problems goes on and on. In the absence of a unified organizational response, a wide variety of individuals and groups have tackled different aspects of these problems and proposed solutions.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
Higher Education in American Society

This is the most widely used volume on the subject of American higher education. Now completely revised and updated, this third edition provides in-depth coverage of economic, social, and political issues by leading experts in their fields. Among the topics covered are: the financing of higher education; the relationship between American universities and government at the state and federal levels; the changing legal aspects of higher education; academic freedom. The contributors also discuss how the key elements of academic institutions - students, faculty, and administrators - have been affected by societal trends.This is the only volume that offers a multi-faceted and comprehensive analysis of the relationship between one of our most important institutions - the university - and the political and social system of which it is a part. The contributors include Philip G. Altbach; Robert O Berdahl; Burton Clark; Eric L Dey; Lawrence E Gladieux; Patricia J Gumport; W Lee Hansen; Fred F Harcleroad; Arthur M Hauptman; Walter C Hobbs; Sylvia Hurtado; Clark Kerr; Laura Green Knapp; TR McConnell; Aims C McGuinness Jr; Walter Metzger; Sheila Slaughter; Irving J Spitzsberg Jr; Jacob O Stampern; John R Thelin; Martin Trow; and Ami Zusman.
A Differential LSI Method for Document Classification

We have developed an effective probabilistic classifier for document classification by introducing the concept of the differential document vectors and DLSI (differential latent semantics index) spaces. A simple posteriori calculation using the intra- and extra-document statistics demonstrates the advantage of the DLSI space-based probabilistic classifier over the popularly used LSI space-based classifier in classification performance.
Simvastatin in the acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND Studies in animals and in vitro and phase 2 studies in humans suggest that statins may be beneficial in the treatment of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This study tested the hypothesis that treatment with simvastatin would improve clinical outcomes in patients with ARDS. METHODS In this multicenter, double-blind clinical trial, we randomly assigned (in a 1:1 ratio) patients with an onset of ARDS within the previous 48 hours to receive enteral simvastatin at a dose of 80 mg or placebo once daily for a maximum of 28 days. The primary outcome was the number of ventilator-free days to day 28. Secondary outcomes included the number of days free of nonpulmonary organ failure to day 28, mortality at 28 days, and safety. RESULTS The study recruited 540 patients, with 259 patients assigned to simvastatin and 281 to placebo. The groups were well matched with respect to demographic and baseline physiological variables. There was no significant difference between the study groups in the mean (±SD) number of ventilator-free days (12.6±9.9 with simvastatin and 11.5±10.4 with placebo, P=0.21) or days free of nonpulmonary organ failure (19.4±11.1 and 17.8±11.7, respectively; P=0.11) or in mortality at 28 days (22.0% and 26.8%, respectively; P=0.23). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the incidence of serious adverse events related to the study drug. CONCLUSIONS Simvastatin therapy, although safe and associated with minimal adverse effects, did not improve clinical outcomes in patients with ARDS. (Funded by the U.K. National Institute for Health Research Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme and others; HARP-2 Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN88244364.).
Effects of Hidden Unit Sizes and Autoregressive Features in Mental Task Classification

Classification of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals extracted during mental tasks is a technique that is actively pursued for Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) designs. In this paper, we compared the classification performances of univariate- autoregressive (AR) and multivariate autoregressive (MAR) models for representing EEG signals that were extracted during different mental tasks. Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network (NN) trained by the backpropagation (BP) algorithm was used to classify these features into the different categories representing the mental tasks. Classification performances were also compared across different mental task combinations and 2 sets of hidden units (HU): 2 to 10 HU in steps of 2 and 20 to 100 HU in steps of 20. Five different mental tasks from 4 subjects were used in the experimental study and combinations of 2 different mental tasks were studied for each subject. Three different feature extraction methods with 6 th order were used to extract features from these EEG signals: AR coefficients computed with Burg's algorithm (ARBG), AR coefficients computed with stepwise least square algorithm (ARLS) and MAR coefficients computed with stepwise least square algorithm. The best results were obtained with 20 to 100 HU using ARBG. It is concluded that i) it is important to choose the suitable mental tasks for different individuals for a successful BCI design, ii) higher HU are more suitable and iii) ARBG is the most suitable feature extraction method.
The Forecasting Performance of German Stock Option Densities

In this paper the authors estimate risk-neutral densities (RND) for the largest euro-area stock market (the index of which is the German DAX), reporting their statistical properties, and evaluating their forecasting performance. The authors have applied an innovative test procedure to a new, rich, and accurate data set. They have two main results. First, They have recorded strong negative skewness in the densities. Second, they find evidence for a significant difference between the actual density and the risk-neutral density, leading to the conclusion that market participants were surprised by the extent of both the rise and the fall of the DAX.
Small molecule inhibitors of influenza A and B viruses that act by disrupting subunit interactions of the viral polymerase

Influenza viruses are the cause of yearly epidemics and occasional pandemics that represent a significant challenge to public health. Current control strategies are imperfect and there is an unmet need for new antiviral therapies. Here, we report the identification of small molecule compounds able to effectively and specifically inhibit growth of influenza A and B viruses in cultured cells through targeting an assembly interface of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Using an existing crystal structure of the primary protein–protein interface between the PB1 and PA subunits of the influenza A virus polymerase, we conducted an in silico screen to identify potential small molecule inhibitors. Selected compounds were then screened for their ability to inhibit the interaction between PB1 and PA in vitro using an ELISA-based assay and in cells, to inhibit nuclear import of a binary PB1–PA complex as well as transcription by the full viral ribonucleoprotein complex. Two compounds emerged as effective inhibitors with IC50 values in the low micromolar range and negligible cytotoxicity. Of these, one compound also acted as a potent replication inhibitor of a variety of influenza A virus strains in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, including H3N2 and H1N1 seasonal and 2009 pandemic strains. Importantly, this included an oseltamivir-resistant isolate. Furthermore, potent inhibition of influenza B viruses but not other RNA or DNA viruses was seen. Overall, these compounds provide a foundation for the development of a new generation of therapeutic agents exhibiting high specificity to influenza A and B viruses.
A methodology for web-based manufacturing management and control

The objective of this work is to present a methodology for Web-based manufacturing management and control. This methodology is a part of the WebMachining system, which is based on the Electronic-Manufacturing concept. The WebMachining virtual company encompasses three distributed manufacturing systems, all of them located in different cities in Brazil, i.e. Flexible Manufacturing Cell (FMC) at Graco/UnB (Brasilia), FMS at SOCIESC (Joinville), and Lathe at UFSC (Florianopolis). The proposed methodology includes planning, scheduling, control, and remote manufacturing of parts. The user (customer) uses the manufacturing services based on the SOA (Service Oriented Application) provided by the WebMachining virtual company through the Internet, in order to execute operations and processes to design and manufacture the parts. The proposed methodology integrates engineering and manufacturing management through an ERP software that will preview which of the three systems will produce the ordered part, and this decision is based on parameters related to each of the three systems. After the decision, the ERP system will generate the production schedule. Also in this work the implementation aspects of a Web-based shop floor controller for the FMC at Graco/UnB are presented. The FMC consists of a Romi Galaxy 15M turning center, an ASEA IRB6 robot manipulator, a Mitutoyo LSM-6100 laser micrometer, an AGV, and a pallet to store the blank and finished parts. The functional model, which depicts the modules and their relationships in the Web-based shop floor controller, serves as a basic model to implement the real system. After that, the proposed implementation architecture based on the object oriented technology is presented.