Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formal Models of Collective Action

This review focuses on formal theories and models of collective action. There are many types of collective action, and they cannot all be captured with the same formal model. Four types of models are reviewed: single-actor models which treat the "group" behavior as given; models of the interdependent aggregation of individual choices into collective action; models of the collective decisions of individuals with different interests; and models of the dynamic interactions among collective actors and their opponents. All models require simplifying assumptions about some aspects of a situation so that others may be addressed. Models of the aggregation of individual choices have shown the greatest recent growth, have employed a wide variety of assumptions about individual behavior and coordination mechanisms, have identified complex interaction effects of group heterogeneity, and generally exhibit thresholds, discontinuities, and internal group differentiation. Models of dynamic interactions require further development but promise to be enriched by accumulating empirical time series data on collective events. Greater attention is urged to technical issues of formal symbolic mathematical analysis, experimental design, response surface analysis, and technical problems in the reduction and presentation of complex interactions.
Analysing Australian stone artefacts: An agenda for the twenty first century

Over the last twenty five years we have had repeated evaluations of the history of stone artefact analysis in Australia (e.g. Mulvaney 1977; Hiscock 1983, 1998; Fullagar 1994; Holdaway 1995). Each of these reviews brought a different emphasis to the quest for an understanding of the trends, motive factors and constraints in archaeological investigations of bygone years. Although it is pleasing to observe the progress of analytical practice it is equally clear that the major benefit of these historical reviews is their ability to identify those subject areas requiring remedial attention and warranting emphasis in future investigations. With this point in mind it is not our intention to revisit the intellectual history of artefact analysis, but to concentrate on developing a summary of issues that might be the focus of our research efforts over coming decades. Our purpose is to define elements of a research agenda for the study of archaeological stone artefacts, and to this end we do not offer solutions to those problems that remain but seek to identify components of research design deserving attention. We have chosen a number of methodological and substantive issues to explore and that remain problematic in archaeological research within Australia. Because scientific research designs are primarily concerned with investigating problems in our current knowledge base, the key to refining them is to identify those issues that problematise the existing discipline or subdiscipline. Hence our interest here is to list some of the numerous problems that remain to be adequately addressed in artefact analysis in Australia; and we take this project to be central to the improvement of analyses of Australian stone artefacts. Our general approach is to emphasise a need for more explicit discussion about the nature of our questions, the theory underlying our methods, and the connection between the two. The specific questions and methods that we raise in the context of this discussion are intended as a means of initiating a dialogue about research direction in artefact analysis and are not intended to be proscriptive.
Dual foraging and pair coordination during chick provisioning by Manx shearwaters: empirical evidence supported by a simple model

ABSTRACT The optimal allocation of time and energy between one's own survival and offspring survival is critical for iteroparous animals, but creates a conflict between what maximises the parent's fitness and what maximises fitness of the offspring. For central-place foragers, provisioning strategies may reflect this allocation, while the distance between central-places and foraging areas may influence the decision. Nevertheless, few studies have explored the link between life history and foraging in the context of resource allocation. Studying foraging behaviour alongside food load rates to chicks provides a useful system for understanding the foraging decisions made during parent–offspring conflict. Using simultaneously deployed GPS and time–depth recorders, we examined the provisioning strategies in free-living Manx shearwaters Puffinus puffinus, which were caring for young. Our results showed a bimodal pattern, where birds alternate short and long trips. Short trips were associated with higher feeding frequency and larger meals than long trips, suggesting that long trips were performed for self-feeding. Furthermore, most foraging was carried out within 100 km of sea fronts. A simple model based on patch quality and travel time shows that for Manx shearwaters combining chick feeding and self-maintenance, bimodal foraging trip durations optimise feeding rates. Summary: A simple model based on patch quality and travel time shows that for Manx shearwaters combining chick feeding and self-maintenance, bimodal foraging trip durations optimise feeding rates.
Using the red-near infrared spectral to estimate ground cover based on vegetative indices

ABSTRACT Rapid and accurate estimation of Ground Cover (GC) at regional and global scales for agricultural management application is only possible by using remote sensing (RS). In this study, two Vegetation Indices (VIs) including the Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were used for estimating GC. Since the parameters of the bare soil line have an important role in calculating GC based on PVI, this line was extracted based on the red-NIRmin (minimum near infrared) method with different intervals (0.0001, 0.0005, and 0.0010). In addition to traditional statistics such as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), the sensitivity analysis (S) was also used to sharpen the accuracy of the models' estimations. The results indicated that the PVI-based method, in contrast to the NDVI-based approach, had a better performance in estimating GC of wheat. The highest correlation between the observed GC and the estimated GC based on PVI method was achieved in interval length of 0.0005 (R2 = 0.91) with RMSE equal to 8.82. This regression line (GCEST = -3.47 + 0.96 GCOBS) was not significantly different from the 1:1 line. As expected, the best estimation was achieved when the sensitivity of estimated GC based on PVI (length of the interval: 0.0005) was almost constant and low compared to the other models.
Methods and Goals of Speech Production Research

A personal view of current issues in speech production research is presented with some historical comments. Particular emphasis is placed on issues directly concerned with the relation between abstract phonological representations and speech signals, using a model of speech organization in reference to articulatory movement patterns. Experimental methods to support such linguistic research efforts, including some instrumental methods for recording articulatory data, are also reviewed from this particular point of view. Preparatory sections review the physical process and some physiological studies. The discussion focuses on the temporal organization of speech, deviating from the classical segmental concatenation and coarticulation principles, and discussing new possibilities about phonetic implementation in conjunction with an abstract representation framework of nonlinear phonology.
Detection of four diabetes specific autoantibodies in a single radioimmunoassay: an innovative high‐throughput approach for autoimmune diabetes screening

Highly sensitive and specific radioimmunoassays have been validated for autoantibodies reacting with the four major autoantigens identified so far in autoimmune diabetes. However, the analysis of this large number of autoantigens has increased the costs and time necessary for complete autoantibody screenings. Our aim was to demonstrate that it is possible to detect the immunoreactivity against a combination of four different autoantigens by a single assay, this representing a rapid, low‐cost first approach to evaluate humoral autoimmunity in diabetes. By using this novel multi‐autoantigen radioimmunoassay (MAA), in subsequent steps we analysed 830 sera, 476 of known and 354 of unknown diabetes‐specific immunoreactivity, collected from various groups of individuals including type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients, autoantibody‐positive patients with a clinical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (LADA), prediabetic subjects, individuals at risk to develop autoimmune diabetes, siblings of type 1 diabetic patients, coeliac patients and healthy control subjects. All sera reacting with one or more of the four autoantigens by single assays also resulted positive with MAA, as well as eight of 24 type 1 diabetic patients classified initially as autoantibody‐negative at disease onset based on single autoantibody assays. In addition, MAA showed 92% sensitivity and 99% specificity by analysing 140 blinded sera from type 1 diabetic patients and control subjects provided in the 2010 Diabetes Autoantibody Standardization Program. MAA is the first combined method also able to evaluate, in addition to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and tyrosine phosphatase (IA)‐2, insulin and islet beta‐cell zinc cation efflux transporter (ZnT8) autoantibodies. It appears to be particularly appropriate as a first‐line approach for large‐scale population‐based screenings of anti‐islet autoimmunity.
A Guide to Singular Value Decomposition for Collaborative Filtering

As the market of electronic commerce grows explosively, it is important to provide customized suggestions for various consumers. Collaborative filtering is an important technique which models and analyzes the preferences of customers, and gives suitable recommendations. Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is one of the popular algorithms used for collaborative filtering. However, directly applying conventional SVD algorithms to collaborative filtering may result in poor performance. In this report, we discuss problems that beginners may face and present effective SVD variants for collaborative filtering.
Coarse-grained computer simulation of dynamics in thylakoid membranes: methods and opportunities

Coarse-grained simulation is a powerful and well-established suite of computational methods for studying structure and dynamics in nanoscale biophysical systems. As our understanding of the plant photosynthetic apparatus has become increasingly nuanced, opportunities have arisen for coarse-grained simulation to complement experiment by testing hypotheses and making predictions. Here, we give an overview of best practices in coarse-grained simulation, with a focus on techniques and results that are applicable to the plant thylakoid membrane–protein system. We also discuss current research topics for which coarse-grained simulation has the potential to play a key role in advancing the field.
Development and evaluation of multimedia blackboard system for improving mathematical problem solving

The purpose of this paper is to promote a new online mathematical learning model that students not only use electronic blackboard to write down their mathematical problem solving solutions but also use the voice recording tool to give oral explanations about their thinking behind the solutions. To cultivate students' critical thinking capability and encourage collaborative peer learning, the new learning model also requests students to criticize others' solutions and to reply others' arguments. With the multimedia supporting tools, students are more easily to communicate with each other about what they think and how they solve mathematical problems by using the electronic blackboard and voice recording tools. After analyzed the recorded information with statistical method, we found that the performance of female students is superior to those male students in communications and mathematical problem solving. Additionally, students with higher final exam grades have better mathematical abilities of doing critiques, arguments and communications.
Trajectory based hand gesture recognition

The recognition of hand gestures from image sequences is an important and challenging problem. This paper presents a robust solution to track and recognize a list of hand gestures from their trajectory. The CamShift algorithm is used for hand tracking and the resulting trajectory is segmented into strokes. The trajectory of recognized gestures consists of at least 2 strokes. The gestures are classified based on the number of strokes, the strokes' angle sequence and, eventually, strokes proportionality. The low computational cost of the algorithm allows implementation on low-cost processing systems.
Public Disclosure on Social Networking Sites

This position paper focuses on social practices of selfdisclosure and privacy on Social Networking Sites (SNSs). It describes how disclosures on SNSs, in particular Facebook, challenge traditional understanding of self-disclosure because they are shared publicly with a network of SNS friends instead of privately in dyadic interactions. Its further focus is on how a public context in which disclosure is enacted may affect receivers’ perceptions of disclosure. The results of an experimental study demonstrate that a public context of disclosure influences perceptions of disclosure intimacy and appropriateness.
Deletion of Estrogen Receptor Beta in Osteoprogenitor Cells Increases Trabecular but Not Cortical Bone Mass in Female Mice

Although the role of ERα in regulating bone metabolism has been extensively studied, ERβ has been largely dismissed as a relevant modulator of bone mass. Previous studies examining ERβ utilized a germline knockout mouse expressing transcript variants of ERβ and displaying systemic hormonal changes that confounded interpretation of the skeletal phenotype. Thus, we used a conditional ERβ mouse model to achieve deletion of ERβ specifically in early osteoprogenitor cells using the Prx1‐Cre driver. We observed marked increases in the trabecular bone volume fraction (of 58% [p < 0.003] and 93% [p < 0.0003] in 6‐ and 12‐week‐old female ERβPrx1–CKO mice, respectively) but no changes in cortical bone. Serum estradiol and IGF‐I levels were unaltered in ERβPrx1–CKO mice. Bone formation and resorption indices by histomorphometry and serum assays were unchanged in these mice, suggesting that alterations in bone turnover may have occurred early in development. However, the ratio of colony‐forming unit‐osteoblasts (CFU‐OBs) to CFU‐fibroblasts (CFU‐Fs) was increased in bone marrow cultures from ERβPrx1–CKO compared with control mice, indicating increased differentiation of osteoblast precursor cells into osteoblasts in ERβPrx1–CKO mice. Detailed quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses of 128 genes in 16 prespecified pathways revealed significant downregulation of 11 pathways in ERβPrx1–CKO mice. Thus, deletion of ERβ specifically in osteoblast lineage cells, in the absence of all splice variants, increases trabecular bone mass and modulates multiple pathways related to bone metabolism. These findings suggest that pharmacological inhibition of ERβ in bone may provide a novel approach to treat osteoporosis. © 2015 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Guiding Users to Improve Personal Information Management

The challenges involved in the practice of personal information management (PIM) has become greater than ever due to dynamic and diverse environment, and increased responsibility for the user. Based on this observation, this position paper argues that more research efforts should be put on guiding users to improve their own PIM practices (behavioral approach), as opposed to building and evaluating tools (tool-based approach). I first describe several trends in the practice of PIM, and difficulties involved in the tooloriented approach. Then I propose the behavioral approach as a promising research direction, suggesting a three-stage model of user guidance.
Motion bias and structure distortion induced by calibration errors

This article provides an account of sensitivity and robustness of structure and motion recovery with respect to the errors in intrinsic parameters of the camera. We demonstrate both analytically and in simulation, the interplay between measurement and calibration errors and their effect on motion and structure estimates. In particular we show that the calibration errors introduce an additional bias towards the optical axis, which has opposite sign to the bias typically observed by egomotion algorithms. The overall bias causes a distortion of the resulting 3D structure, which we express in a parametric form. The analysis and experiments are carried out in the differential setting for motion and structure estimation from image velocities. While the analytical explanations are derived in the context of linear techniques for motion estimation, we verify our observations experimentally on a variety of optimal and suboptimal motion and structure estimation algorithms. The obtained results illuminate and explain the performance and sensitivity of the differential structure and motion recovery techniques in the presence of calibration errors.
Vitamin D deficiency aggravates ischemic acute kidney injury in rats

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) increases the risk of death in hospitalized patients. Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) induces acute kidney injury (AKI), which activates cell cycle inhibitors, including p21, a cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor and genomic target of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D, which is in turn a potent immunomodulator with antiproliferative effects. In this study, we assess the impact of VDD in renal IRI. Wistar rats were divided into groups, each evaluated for 30 days: control (receiving a standard diet); VDD (receiving a vitamin D‐free diet); IRI (receiving a standard diet and subjected to 45‐min bilateral renal ischemia on day 28); and VDD + IRI (receiving a vitamin D‐free diet and subjected to 45‐min bilateral renal ischemia on day 28). At 48 h after IRI, animals were euthanized; blood, urine, and kidney tissue samples were collected. Compared with IRI rats, VDD + IRI rats showed a more severe decrease in glomerular filtration rate, greater urinary protein excretion, a higher kidney/body weight ratio and lower renal aquaporin 2 expression, as well as greater morphological damage, characterized by increased interstitial area and tubular necrosis. Our results suggest that the severity of tubular damage in IRI may be associated with downregulation of vitamin D receptors and p21. VDD increases renal inflammation, cell proliferation and cell injury in ischemic AKI.
Motion of glossy objects does not promote separation of lighting and surface colour

The surface properties of an object, such as texture, glossiness or colour, provide important cues to its identity. However, the actual visual stimulus received by the eye is determined by both the properties of the object and the illumination. We tested whether operational colour constancy for glossy objects (the ability to distinguish changes in spectral reflectance of the object, from changes in the spectrum of the illumination) was affected by rotational motion of either the object or the light source. The different chromatic and geometric properties of the specular and diffuse reflections provide the basis for this discrimination, and we systematically varied specularity to control the available information. Observers viewed animations of isolated objects undergoing either lighting or surface-based spectral transformations accompanied by motion. By varying the axis of rotation, and surface patterning or geometry, we manipulated: (i) motion-related information about the scene, (ii) relative motion between the surface patterning and the specular reflection of the lighting, and (iii) image disruption caused by this motion. Despite large individual differences in performance with static stimuli, motion manipulations neither improved nor degraded performance. As motion significantly disrupts frame-by-frame low-level image statistics, we infer that operational constancy depends on a high-level scene interpretation, which is maintained in all conditions.
Pathogenesis of chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura

Purpose of reviewThis article summarizes recent insights into the pathophysiology of immune thrombocytopenic purpura, a disorder in which autoantibodies against cell-specific glycoproteins (GPIIb-IIIa, GPIb-IX and others) accelerate platelet destruction. Recent findingsAutoantibodies are produced by a limited number of B-cell clones. Platelet antibodies may also impair megakaryocyte development and platelet turnover, thromobopoietin levels are normal or only modestly increased and a compensatory increase in platelet production is not effective in many patients. Patients may show impaired immune regulation manifested by increased proliferation of helper T lymphocytes. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes from patients can lyse platelets in vitro. If cytotoxic T lymphocytes are also capable of perturbing megakaryocyte function, this mechanism may contribute to impaired platelet production. Polymorphisms in the Fcγ-RIIIa gene may correlate with response to certain forms of therapy and similar genetic approaches may help to identify subsets of patients that differ in their natural history and response to various interventions. SummaryBetter understanding of autoantibody development, inhibition of thrombopoiesis and Fcγ receptor and other polymorphisms will assume increased importance in elucidating the pathogenesis and targeting treatment of chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura.
17-β-Estradiol Enhanced Allodynia of Inflammatory Temporomandibular Joint through Upregulation of Hippocampal TRPV1 in Ovariectomized Rats

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) predominantly affect reproductive female patients, with pain the most frequent complaint. Although estrogens are believed to play important roles in TMD pain, the mechanism underlying modulation of TMD pain by estrogens remains largely unknown. Accumulating evidence implies that the hippocampus is involved in sexual dimorphism of pain sensitivity. In this study, we investigated the hippocampal TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid 1) expression in ovariectomized rats that received 17-β-estradiol substitution and found that 17-β-estradiol enhanced the mechanical allodynia of inflamed temporomandibular joint (TMJ) induced by complete Freund's adjuvant. Real-time PCR and immunoblotting demonstrated that TMJ inflammation significantly induced hippocampal TRPV1 expression compared with the control group but failed to induce it in the ovariectomized rats that received no estradiol replacement. In addition, estradiol potentiated TMJ inflammation-induced hippocampal TRPV1 expression in a dose-dependent manner in the ovariectomized rats. In contrast, TRPV1 transcription in amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and thalamus was not affected by TMJ inflammation and estradiol. Immunostaining showed TRPV1 localized in the processes and cytoplasm of pyramidal neurons in CA1–CA3 regions of the hippocampus. Moreover, intrahippocampal injection of TRPV1 antagonists capsazepine and 5′-iodo-resiniferatoxin into the CA1 region of the hippocampus significantly attenuated allodynia of inflamed TMJ in both nonovariectomized and ovariectomized rats that received estradiol replacement. Our results suggested that hippocampal TRPV1 can modulate central pain processing and estradiol may contribute to the sexual dimorphism of TMD pain sensitivity through upregulation of TRPV1 expression in the hippocampus.