Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lakeside Cemeteries in the Sahara: 5000 Years of Holocene Population and Environmental Change

Background Approximately two hundred human burials were discovered on the edge of a paleolake in Niger that provide a uniquely preserved record of human occupation in the Sahara during the Holocene (∼8000 B.C.E. to the present). Called Gobero, this suite of closely spaced sites chronicles the rapid pace of biosocial change in the southern Sahara in response to severe climatic fluctuation. Methodology/Principal Findings Two main occupational phases are identified that correspond with humid intervals in the early and mid-Holocene, based on 78 direct AMS radiocarbon dates on human remains, fauna and artifacts, as well as 9 OSL dates on paleodune sand. The older occupants have craniofacial dimensions that demonstrate similarities with mid-Holocene occupants of the southern Sahara and Late Pleistocene to early Holocene inhabitants of the Maghreb. Their hyperflexed burials compose the earliest cemetery in the Sahara dating to ∼7500 B.C.E. These early occupants abandon the area under arid conditions and, when humid conditions return ∼4600 B.C.E. , are replaced by a more gracile people with elaborated grave goods including animal bone and ivory ornaments. Conclusions/Significance The principal significance of Gobero lies in its extraordinary human, faunal, and archaeological record, from which we conclude the following: The early Holocene occupants at Gobero (7700–6200 B.C.E.) were largely sedentary hunter-fisher-gatherers with lakeside funerary sites that include the earliest recorded cemetery in the Sahara. Principal components analysis of craniometric variables closely allies the early Holocene occupants at Gobero with a skeletally robust, trans-Saharan assemblage of Late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene human populations from the Maghreb and southern Sahara. Gobero was abandoned during a period of severe aridification possibly as long as one millennium (6200–5200 B.C.E). More gracile humans arrived in the mid-Holocene (5200–2500 B.C.E.) employing a diversified subsistence economy based on clams, fish, and savanna vertebrates as well as some cattle husbandry. Population replacement after a harsh arid hiatus is the most likely explanation for the occupational sequence at Gobero. We are just beginning to understand the anatomical and cultural diversity that existed within the Sahara during the Holocene.
Implicit memory: how it works and why we need it

Since the discovery that amnesiacs retained certain forms of unconscious learning and memory, implicit memory research has grown immensely over the past several decades. This review discusses two of the most intriguing questions in implicit memory research: how we think it works and why it is important to human behaviour. Using priming as an example, this paper surveys how historic behavioural studies have revealed how implicit memory differs from explicit memory. More recent neuroimaging studies are also discussed. These studies explore the neural correlate of priming and have led to the formation of the sharpening, fatigue, and facilitation neural models of priming. The latter part of this review discusses why humans have evolved with highly flexible explicit memory systems while still retaining inflexible implicit memory systems. Traditionally, researchers have regarded the competitive interaction between implicit and explicit memory systems to be fundamental for essential behaviours like habit learning. However, recently documented collaborative interactions suggest that both implicit and explicit processes are potentially necessary for optimal memory and learning performance. The literature reviewed in this paper reveals how implicit memory research has and continues to challenge our understanding of learning, memory, and the brain systems that underlie them.
Iterative CZT-based frequency offset estimation for frequency-selective channels

In this paper, we present an accurate frequency offset estimation method for frequency-selective channels. Through the iterative use of the chirp z-transform (CZT) algorithm, an accurate frequency offset estimator is proposed, approaching the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) even at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Further, the estimation can he achieved within one block of training sequence, thus avoiding the transmission of repetitive known blocks as is usually required in many conventional methods. Meanwhile, the overall complexity is acceptable. More importantly, the CZT operation can utilize the fast Fourier transform (FFT) structure that is favourable for digital signal processor (DSP) implementation. Simulation results show that two or at most three iterations of the CZT computation are sufficient for an accurate frequency offset estimation in the SNR range from 0 dB to 30 dB.
Progress in structure-based drug design against influenza A virus

Introduction: The 2009-H1N1 influenza pandemic has prompted new global efforts to develop new drugs and drug design techniques to combat influenza viruses. While there have been a number of attempts to provide drugs to treat influenza, drug resistance has been a major problem with only four drugs currently approved by the FDA for its treatment. Areas covered: In this review, the drug-resistant problem of influenza A viruses is discussed and summarized. The article also introduces the experimental and computational structures of drug targeting proteins, neuraminidases, and of the M2 proton channel. Furthermore, the article illustrates the latest drug candidates and techniques of computer-aided drug design with examples of their application, including virtual in silico screening and scoring, AutoDock and evolutionary technique AutoGrow. Expert opinion: Structure-based drug design is the inventive process for finding new drugs based on the structural knowledge of the biological target. Computer-aided drug design strategies and techniques will make drug discovery more effective and economical. It is anticipated that the recent advances in structure-based drug design techniques will greatly help scientists to develop more powerful and specific drugs to fight the next generation of influenza viruses.
Design Heuristic for Parallel Many Server Systems under FCFS-ALIS

We study a parallel service queueing system with servers of types $s_1,\ldots,s_J$, customers of types $c_1,\ldots,c_I$, bipartite compatibility graph $\mathcal{G}$, where arc $(c_i, s_j)$ indicates that server type $s_j$ can serve customer type $c_i$, and service policy of first come first served FCFS, assign longest idle server ALIS. For a general renewal stream of arriving customers and general service time distributions, the behavior of such systems is very complicated, in particular the calculation of matching rates $r_{c_i,s_j}$, the fraction of services of customers of type $c_i$ by servers of type $s_j$, is intractable. We suggest through a heuristic argument that if the number of servers becomes large, the matching rates are well approximated by matching rates calculated from the tractable FCFS bipartite infinite matching model. We present simulation evidence to support this heuristic argument, and show how this can be used to design systems for given performance requirements.
Outcomes of Child Sleep Problems Over the School-Transition Period: Australian Population Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND. Adequate sleep optimizes children's learning and behavior. However, the natural history and impact of sleep problems during school transition is unknown. OBJECTIVES. To determine (1) the natural history of sleep problems over the 2-year period spanning school entry and (2) associations of children's health-related quality of life, language, behavior, learning, and cognition at ages 6.5 to 7.5 years with (a) timing and (b) severity of sleep problems. METHODS. Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Children were aged 4 to 5 years at wave 1 and 6 to 7 years at wave 2. Parent-reported predictors included (1) timing (none, persistent, resolved, incident) of moderate/severe sleep problems over the 2 waves and (2) severity (none, mild, moderate/severe) of sleep problems at wave 2. Outcomes included parent-reported health-related quality of life and language, parent- and teacher-reported behavior, teacher-reported learning, and directly assessed nonverbal (matrix reasoning) and verbal (receptive vocabulary) cognition. Linear regression, adjusted for child age, gender, and social demographic variables, was used to quantify associations of outcomes with sleep-problem timing and severity. RESULTS. Sleep data were available at both waves for 4460 (89.5%) children, of whom 22.6% (17.0% mild, 5.7% moderate/severe) had sleep problems at wave 2. From wave 1, 2.9% persisted and 2.8% developed a moderate/severe problem, whereas 10.1% resolved. Compared with no sleep problems, persistent and incident sleep problems predicted poorest health-related quality of life, behavior, language, and learning scores, whereas resolving problems showed intermediate outcomes. These outcomes also showed a dose-response relationship with severity at wave 2, with effect sizes for moderate/severe sleep problems ranging from −0.25 to −1.04 SDs. Cognitive outcomes were unaffected. CONCLUSIONS. Sleep problems during school transition are common and associated with poorer child outcomes. Randomized, controlled trials could determine if population-based sleep interventions can reduce the prevalence and impact of sleep problems.
A Clustering-Based Niching Framework for the Approximation of Equivalent Pareto-Subsets

In many optimization problems in practice, multiple objectives have to be optimized at the same time. Some multi-objective problems are characterized by multiple connected Pareto-sets at different parts in decision space — also called equivalent Pareto-subsets. We assume that the practitioner wants to approximate all Pareto-subsets to be able to choose among various solutions with different characteristics. In this work, we propose a clustering-based niching framework for multi-objective population-based approaches that allows to approximate equivalent Pareto-subsets. Iteratively, the clustering process assigns the population to niches, and the multi-objective optimization process concentrates on each niche independently. Two exemplary hybridizations, rake selection and DBSCAN, as well as SMS-EMOA and kernel density clustering demonstrate that the niching framework allows enough diversity to detect and approximate equivalent Pareto-subsets.
Your Neighbors are Listening: Evaluating PostMessage Use in OAuth

The postMessage feature in HTML5 allows web components of different origins to communicate with each other. However, the message receivers do not differentiate the origins of a message, making information leakage possible. Being aware of this vulnerability, We examine its implication under the context of Single Sign On (SSO) mechanism. Nowadays, many websites integrate SSO to facilitate easier user authentication by relying on an identifier provider such as Facebook to provide the identity of a user. However, many websites with SSO log-on rely on postMessage to transmit the Access Token. We identify the problem and demonstrate that any postMessage Receiver on this web page can eavesdrop on the token and hijack the user account. As a result, significant information leakage and account takeover are likely to happen.
Möglichkeitsräume der kooperativen Professionalitätsentwicklung. SprachkursleiterInnen in der Erwachsenenbildung zwischen Prekariat und Profilierung

Der vorliegende Beitrag versteht sich als eine Problemanalyse. Er beschreibt die Rahmenbedingungen von Unterrichtenden in der Erwachsenenbildung und fragt nach Qualifizierungsmasnahmen, die eine umfassende und nachhaltige Erweiterung ihrer Handlungskompetenz ermoglichen helfen. Das Spannungsfeld zwischen Prekariat und Profilierung, in dem sich viele Unterrichtende gegenwartig befinden, wird am Beispiel der SprachkursleiterInnen an den Volkshochschulen analysiert. Konnen kooperative Qualifizierungsmasnahmen gerade fur sie einen Mehrwert darstellen? Der Beitrag entwirft Szenarien einer gelungenen Professionalitatsentwicklung und zeigt auf, wie und warum kooperative Lernszenarien speziell fur die Professionalitat von Sprachkursleitenden forderlich sind und zur Verwirklichung alternativer Lehr- und Lernmuster beitragen konnen. Vorgestellt werden u.a. die kollegialen Unterrichtsbesuche an der VHS Tirol, die sich als probates Mittel zur Initiierung der Zusammenarbeit in einem sonst isolierten KursleiterInnenalltag erwiesen haben. (DIPF/Orig.) This article is to be understood as a problem analysis. It describes the basic working conditions for teachers and tutors in adult education and investigates ways of professional development that allow the teachers to increase their professional skills and abilities comprehensively and sustainably. At present many teachers find themselves trapped between the threat of being part of the precariat and the need for profiling: this situation is illustrated by using language instructors at adult education centres (Volkshochschulen in German) as an example. Can this group in particular benefit from cooperative professional development? The article presents scenarios for successful professional development. It shows how and why cooperative learning is especially useful for the professionalism of language teachers and how it can contribute to the implementation of alternative teaching and learning. The article presents peer lesson observations at the adult education centres in the Tyrol, which have proven to be an effective way of initiating cooperation in an adult education teacherÂ‘s otherwise isolated daily routine. (DIPF/Orig.)
A design method for microstrip pseudocombline filter

A design method for developing a microstrip pseudocombline filter from traditional combline filter is presented. Explicit design equations and general equivalent circuits for improved parts are derived. Finally the proposed design technique is used to construct a 14%-fraction-bandwidth pseudocombline filter with center frequency of 4.3 GHz. Simulation and measurement results are plotted.
A Measurement of the ability to assess imagery vividness based on a model of working memory and signal detection theory

本研究では，Aプライムが，主観的なイメージ鮮明度査定能力の指標として妥当か否かを検討した．視覚イメージ鮮明度質問紙(VVIQ)の，16項目のうち半数の項目に対しては閉眼・描画動作条件で，また，残りの半数の項目に対しては，開眼・眼球運動条件でイメージ形成が行われた．前者の条件では鮮明度が増加し，後者の条件では鮮明度が減少した．前者における評定値1(実際の知覚と同じくらい鮮明)もしくは2(実際ほどではないが，かなり鮮明)の選択をHit，後者における同様な選択をFalse Alarmとみなして， Aプライムが計算された．Aプライムは，VVIQの合計評定値よりも記憶成績をよく予測した．この結果は，鮮明度評定値の合計という慣習的な指標よりも，新しい指標Aプライムのほうが，イメージ能力をより鋭敏に測定できることを示唆している．さらに，Aプライムは，視空間ワーキングメモリでイメージの生成に携わっている内的書記の機能を測ると想定される，心的回転テストの得点と相関がなかった．この結果は，イメージの査定と生成が相互に独立であることを示唆している．
Topical talk, ritual and the social organization of relationships

This is a study of how acquainted and unacquainted dvads initiated topical talk in an experimental setting in which they were told to "get to knou"'' one another or to "warm up' before they were to debate an assigned topic. Referencing the setting uwas a device for initiating talk used by both acquainted and unacquainted dyads. When not doing "setting talk," unacquainted dyads introduced topical talk wvith announcements that relied upon interpersonal common knowledge. Unacquainted participants utilized "pre-topical sequences," by which they discovered and displayed categorical memberships and activities. Pre-topical sequences are examined in detailfor how, they allow the in situ negotiation of who will talk and what will be talked about. Pre-topical sequences can also be considered as ritual devices by wthich autobiographical talk is properly initiated. Setting talk, topical announcements, and pre-topical sequences are involved in the ongoing construction of intimacy and distance in relationship.
From deep TLS validation to ensembles of atomic models built from elemental motions. Addenda and corrigendum

Some key parts of the algorithm for interpretation of TLS matrices in terms of elemental atomic motions and corresponding ensembles of atomic models described in the article by Urzhumtsev et al. [(2015) Acta Cryst. D71, 1668–1683] are clarified and developed, and a reference on a wrong model is corrected.
Cechy osobowosci jako predyktor motywacji i efektywnosci dzialan przedsiebiorcy (Personality traits as a predictor of motivation and entrepreneurial effectiveness)

The aim of the paper was to present the relationship between personality traits of candidates for entrepreneurs, the motivation which drives them to start running their own business and firm performance considered both as subjective assessments of satisfaction and as quantitative measures describing the firm. The study was prospective and longitudinal and a time of year passed between the personality assessment and firm performance measurement. The subjects was 124 participant of EU’s funded entrepreneurship stimulation program. 81 of participants undertook entrepreneurial activity and started their own business. Traits of personality were assessed by using full version of five factor personality inventory developed by Costa & McCrae, the types of motivation and firm performance – by survey developed for this study. The results showed, as was expected, the studied sample differed in personality characteristic from the whole Polish population. The results showed also the number of significant relationships between personality traits, types of motivation and firm performance. The conclusion is that personality of potential and actual entrepreneur matter, although looking for the factors which mediate the relationship between personality traits and intention and performance seems to be crucial.
Lack of Interaction Between the Peptidomimetic Substrates Captopril and Cephradine

Intestinal peptide transporters, including hPEPT1, facilitate the absorption of cephalosporins and angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors, and have been investigated as a means to improve oral drug absorption. Renal peptide transporters including hPEPT2, may also facilitate renal reabsorption of such compounds. In vitro and animal studies suggest that co‐administration of peptidomimetic compounds may alter oral pharmacokinetics, although this has not been well studied in humans. The purpose of this study was to determine whether co‐administration of the hPEPT substrates captopril and cephradine alters the oral pharmacokinetics of either agent. Nine healthy male volunteers received a single oral 25‐mg dose of captopril, a single oral 500‐mg dose of cephradine, or concurrent ingestion of captopril and cephradine in a cross‐over manner. Venous blood samples were taken and captopril and cephradine pharmacokinetics were determined using noncompartmental analyses. No significant differences were observed in captopril or cephradine pharmacokinetics when administered together as compared to each agent alone (a marginal decrease in Cmax was observed for both captopril and cephradine during co‐administration [5–15%]; however, differences were not statistically significant). The results of our study suggest that hPEPT1 and hPEPT2 are unlikely to contribute to clinically important drug interactions in humans.
Convergent adaptation to dangerous prey proceeds through the same first‐step mutation in the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis

Convergent phenotypes often result from similar underlying genetics, but recent work suggests convergence may also occur in the historical order of substitutions en route to an adaptive outcome. We characterized convergence in the mutational steps to two independent outcomes of tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistance in separate geographic lineages of the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) that coevolved with toxic newts. Resistance is largely conferred by amino acid changes in the skeletal muscle sodium channel (NaV1.4) that interfere with TTX‐binding. We sampled variation in NaV1.4 throughout western North America and found clear evidence that TTX‐resistant changes in both lineages began with the same isoleucine‐valine mutation (I1561V) within the outer pore of NaV1.4. Other point mutations in the pore, shown to confer much greater resistance, accumulate later in the evolutionary progression and always occur together with the initial I1561V change. A gene tree of NaV1.4 suggests the I1561V mutations in each lineage are not identical‐by‐decent, but rather they arose independently. Convergence in the evolution of channel resistance is likely the result of shared biases in the two lineages of T. sirtalis—only a few mutational routes can confer TTX resistance while maintaining the conserved function of voltage‐gated sodium channels.
Body Talk—Group Specific Talk? A Focus Group Study of Variations in Body Ideals and Body Talk among Norwegian Youth1

The study investigates how body ideals are discussed and conceptualized among groups of Norwegian youth. Altogether 48 girls and 15 boys, most aged 17 years, took part in nine focus groups, in order to study subcultural body ideals. Major differences were found between east-end and west-end boys (representing socioeconomic differences), where the former were more concerned about being big. Even though the ideals were more or less the same across the groups, the ways of addressing, conceptualizing and discussing body ideals clearly differed between the groups. The analyses reveal that body talk within peer groups seems to contribute to define adequate levels of effort that should be put into reaching the dominating body ideal.
Relationships between methoxyindole and kynurenine pathway metabolites in plasma and urine in children suffering from febrile and epileptic seizures

The methoxyindole pathway metabolite, melatonin (aMT), and the kynurenine pathway metabolites, kynurenic acid (KYNA), xanturenic acid (XA) and 3‐hydroxyantranilic acid (3HANA) are anticonvulsants, whereas the kynurenine pathway metabolites, l‐kynurenine (KYN) and 3‐hydroxykynurenine (3HK), are proconvulsants. It is thought that alterations in the concentrations of these compounds may be responsible for the excitotoxic aspect of human seizures. The aim of this study was to determine whether alterations in tryptophan metabolism might be related to the occurrence and type (febrile or non‐febrile) of seizures in children.
A Novel Multiple Digital Watermarking Scheme for the Copyright Protection of Image

In this paper, an improved dual-wrap watermarking scheme was proposed that is based on HLC watermarking scheme. HLC watermarking scheme has many advantages, however, it has the ambiguity problem. This paper solves the problem of HLC watermarking scheme and provides similar robustness. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme is unambiguity and robustness.
Topology preservation in self-organizing feature maps: exact definition and measurement

The neighborhood preservation of self-organizing feature maps like the Kohonen map is an important property which is exploited in many applications. However, if a dimensional conflict arises this property is lost. Various qualitative and quantitative approaches are known for measuring the degree of topology preservation. They are based on using the locations of the synaptic weight vectors. These approaches, however, may fail in case of nonlinear data manifolds. To overcome this problem, in this paper we present an approach which uses what we call the induced receptive fields for determining the degree of topology preservation. We first introduce a precise definition of topology preservation and then propose a tool for measuring it, the topographic function. The topographic function vanishes if and only if the map is topology preserving. We demonstrate the power of this tool for various examples of data manifolds.