Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurement, time-stamping, and analysis of electrodermal activity in fMRI

A low cost fMRI-compatible system was developed for detecting electrodermal activity without inducing image artifact. Subject electrodermal activity was measured on the plantar surface of the foot using a standard recording circuit. Filtered analog skin conductance responses (SCR) were recorded with a general purpose, time-stamping data acquisition system. A conditioning paradigm involving painful thermal stimulation was used to demonstrate SCR detection and investigate neural correlates of conditioned autonomic activity. 128x128 pixel EPI-BOLD images were acquired with a GE 1.5T Signa scanner. Image analysis was performed using voxel-wise multiple linear regression. The covariate of interest was generated by convolving stimulus event onset with a standard hemodynamic response function. The function was time-shifted to determine optimal activation. Significance was tested using the t-statistic. Image quality was unaffected by the device, and conditioned and unconditioned SCRs were successfully detected. Conditioned SCRs correlated significantly with activity in the right anterior insular cortex. The effect was more robust when responses were scaled by SCR amplitude. The ability to measure and time register SCRs during fMRI acquisition enables studies of cognitive processes marked by autonomic activity, including those involving decision-making, pain, emotion, and addiction.
Failure of a Second X-ray Dose to Activate Nuclear Factor κB in Normal Rat Astrocytes*

Induced gene expression and subsequent cytokine production have been implicated in the normal tissue injury response to radiotherapy. However, studies of radiation-induced gene expression have used single radiation doses rather than the fractionated exposures typical of the clinical situation. To study the effects of multiple radiation doses on gene expression, we investigated nuclear factor κB (NFκB) DNA binding activity in primary astrocyte cultures after one and two exposures to x-rays. After a single dose of x-rays (3.8–15 gray (Gy)), NFκB binding activity in astrocytes increased in a dose-dependent manner, reaching a maximum by 2–4 h and returning to control levels by 8 h after irradiation. In split-dose experiments, when an interval of 24 h was used between two doses of 7.5 Gy, the second 7.5-Gy exposure failed to induce NFκB activation. The period of desensitization induced by the first radiation exposure was dose-dependent, persisting approximately 72 h after 7.5 Gy compared with 24 h after 1.5 Gy. No changes in IκBα protein levels were detected. However, the presence of a transcription inhibitor prevented the desensitizing effect of the initial irradiation. Irradiation also prevented NFκB activation in astrocytes by a subsequent exposure to H2O2, but it had no effect on the activation induced by tumor necrosis factor-α. These data indicate that an initial x-ray exposure can desensitize astrocytes to the NFκB-activating effects of a subsequent radiation exposure. Furthermore, they suggest that this desensitization depends on gene transcription and may have some specificity for NFκB activation mediated by reactive oxygen species.
PLOIDALLY ANTAGONISTIC SELECTION MAINTAINS STABLE GENETIC POLYMORPHISM

Understanding the maintenance of genetic variation in the face of selection remains a key issue in evolutionary biology. One potential mechanism for the maintenance of genetic variation is opposing selection during the diploid and haploid stages of biphasic life cycles universal among eukaryotic sexual organisms. If haploid and diploid gene expression both occur, selection can act in each phase, potentially in opposing directions. In addition, sex‐specific selection during haploid phases is likely simply because male and female gametophytes/gametes tend to have contrasting life histories. We explored the potential for the maintenance of a stable polymorphism under ploidally antagonistic as well as sex‐specific selection. Furthermore, we examined the role of the chromosomal location of alleles (autosomal or sex‐linked). Our analyses show that the most permissible conditions for the maintenance of polymorphism occur under negative ploidy‐by‐sex interactions, where stronger selection for an allele in female than male diploids is coupled with weaker selection against the allele in female than male haploids. Such ploidy‐by‐sex interactions also promote allele frequency differences between the sexes. With constant fitness, ploidally antagonistic selection can maintain stable polymorphisms for autosomal and X‐linked genes but not for Y‐linked genes. We discuss the implications of our results and outline a number of biological settings where the scenarios modeled may apply.
Considering quality factors for business processes during requirement engineering

Business process (BP) modelling is considered as an important part of Requirement Engineering in describing the context within which requirements are articulated, specified and analysed. The intertwining of business and information systems imposes considerable stresses on requirements engineers to consider quality factors that need to be present in both business processes and the software that supports these processes. We argue that the quality of BPs has to be taken into account at the requirement engineering stage, where quality requirements are to be defined, along with the corresponding quality factors and the metrics that will be used to evaluate them. We consider that a BP is represented by a model and that quality requirements are to be examined within the BP model. In this work, our goal is to provide a support for evaluating the quality of a BP through the corresponding model. We present a quality framework for BPs and a quality-oriented BP metamodel. This metamodel is enriched with quality-related attributes that will be used to evaluate the quality factors. To demonstrate the utility of the proposed quality framework we will use a BP model relating to the management of spectators at an Olympics venue, we will show the instantiation of our metamodel in this context along with evaluation results for some quality factors.
The True Confessions of a White Rawlsian Liberal: An Argument for a Capacities Approach to Democratic Legitimacy

Abstract This paper takes as its point of departure the constitutional talks in South Africa in the early 1990’s. I suggest that liberal rather than democratic values held a particular attraction to South African political philosophers like me. Taking the example of Rawlsian liberalism, I show how liberalism locates the normative anchors of legitimacy outside the democratic process and is content with a weak interpretation of political equality. As an alternative I sketch a capacities approach to democratic legitimacy drawing on the work of Sen and Nussbaum. In particular I argue that the capacity to participate in democratic practices is what grounds and legitimizes principles of democratic justice agreed to by citizens. I conclude by suggesting that South Africa’s democracy would have been stronger if the state had attended to the capacities of citizens to participate in the democratic process.
Encounters with Aboriginal Sites in Metropolitan Sydney: A Broadening Horizon for Cultural Tourism?

This paper reports on a subject which has historically received little attention in tourism studies, namely, the place of Indigenous heritage in a major metropolitan centre. In Australia, a dominant discourse has promoted the perspective that 'authentic' Aboriginal culture is confined to the relatively undeveloped, under-populated, and isolated, north of the continent. Images of 'tradition oriented' Aboriginality have played a central role in the promotion of Australia as a distinctive tourist destination. The dominance of such images has served to comprehensively marginalise the Aboriginal heritage of metropolitan areas. The paper explores some of the reasons why an ahistorical 'tradition oriented' construction of Aboriginality has retained its resilience in Australia. It discusses some of the events of the past decade, which have seen new Aboriginal perspectives beginning to be incorporated into the metropolitan landscape of Sydney and considers the implications of such developments for the visitor experience and sustainable tourism.
Some Problems in the Traditional Approaches to Predicting the Use of a Technology-driven Invention

While direct user involvement has started to find its way into commercial product development, most companies still rely on more traditional ways to investigate and represent users. This paper is a case study of the methods and means employed by small high-tech companies in their effort to learn about the users of their emerging new technology through the use of market surveys, user interviews, design studies and pilot use. Theoretically, the discussion focuses on how users' anticipation of their future needs co-evolves in relation to the changing social and technical environment. The gradual emergence of user needs sheds light on some of the shortcomings of the methods representing the users employed in the case studied. It may also help us to explain some of the success of participatory design methods and adjust the existing methodologies for studying user requirements.
Sums of products of polynomials in few variables : lower bounds and polynomial identity testing

We study the complexity of representing polynomials as a sum of products of polynomials in few variables. More precisely, we study representations of the form $$P = \sum_{i = 1}^T \prod_{j = 1}^d Q_{ij}$$ such that each $Q_{ij}$ is an arbitrary polynomial that depends on at most $s$ variables. We prove the following results. 1. Over fields of characteristic zero, for every constant $\mu$ such that $0 \leq \mu < 1$, we give an explicit family of polynomials $\{P_{N}\}$, where $P_{N}$ is of degree $n$ in $N = n^{O(1)}$ variables, such that any representation of the above type for $P_{N}$ with $s = N^{\mu}$ requires $Td \geq n^{\Omega(\sqrt{n})}$. This strengthens a recent result of Kayal and Saha [KS14a] which showed similar lower bounds for the model of sums of products of linear forms in few variables. It is known that any asymptotic improvement in the exponent of the lower bounds (even for $s = \sqrt{n}$) would separate VP and VNP[KS14a]. 2. We obtain a deterministic subexponential time blackbox polynomial identity testing (PIT) algorithm for circuits computed by the above model when $T$ and the individual degree of each variable in $P$ are at most $\log^{O(1)} N$ and $s \leq N^{\mu}$ for any constant $\mu < 1/2$. We get quasipolynomial running time when $s < \log^{O(1)} N$. The PIT algorithm is obtained by combining our lower bounds with the hardness-randomness tradeoffs developed in [DSY09, KI04]. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first nontrivial PIT algorithm for this model (even for the case $s=2$), and the first nontrivial PIT algorithm obtained from lower bounds for small depth circuits.
Soil-Transmitted Helminth Reinfection after Drug Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections (i.e., Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, and Trichuris trichiura) affect more than a billion people. Preventive chemotherapy (i.e., repeated administration of anthelmintic drugs to at-risk populations), is the mainstay of control. This strategy, however, does not prevent reinfection. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess patterns and dynamics of STH reinfection after drug treatment. Methodology We systematically searched PubMed, ISI Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and Google Scholar. Information on study year, country, sample size, age of participants, diagnostic method, drug administration strategy, prevalence and intensity of infection pre- and posttreatment, cure and egg reduction rate, evaluation period posttreatment, and adherence was extracted. Pooled risk ratios from random-effects models were used to assess the risk of STH reinfection after treatment. Our protocol is available on PROSPERO, registration number: CRD42011001678. Principal Findings From 154 studies identified, 51 were included and 24 provided STH infection rates pre- and posttreatment, whereas 42 reported determinants of predisposition to reinfection. At 3, 6, and 12 months posttreatment, A. lumbricoides prevalence reached 26% (95% confidence interval (CI): 16–43%), 68% (95% CI: 60–76%) and 94% (95% CI: 88–100%) of pretreatment levels, respectively. For T. trichiura, respective reinfection prevalence were 36% (95% CI: 28–47%), 67% (95% CI: 42–100%), and 82% (95% CI: 62–100%), and for hookworm, 30% (95% CI: 26–34%), 55% (95% CI: 34–87%), and 57% (95% CI: 49–67%). Prevalence and intensity of reinfection were positively correlated with pretreatment infection status. Conclusion STH reinfections occur rapidly after treatment, particularly for A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura. Hence, there is a need for frequent anthelmintic drug administrations to maximize the benefit of preventive chemotherapy. Integrated control approaches emphasizing health education and environmental sanitation are needed to interrupt transmission of STH.
Closing the Loop in ICU Decision Support: Physiologic Event Detection, Alerts, and Documentation

Automated physiologic event detection and alerting is a challenging task in the ICU. Ideally care providers should be alerted only when events are clinically significant and there is opportunity for corrective action. However, the concepts of clinical significance and opportunity are difficult to define in automated systems, and effectiveness of alerting algorithms is difficult to measure. This paper describes recent efforts on the Simon project to capture information from ICU care providers about patient state and therapy in response to alerts, in order to assess the value of event definitions and progressively refine alerting algorithms. Event definitions for intracranial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure were studied by implementing a reliable system to automatically deliver alerts to clinical users alphanumeric pagers, and to capture associated documentation about patient state and therapy when the alerts occurred. During a 6-month test period in the trauma ICU at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 530 alerts were detected in 2280 hours of data spanning 14 patients. Clinical users electronically documented 81% of these alerts as they occurred. Retrospectively classifying documentation based on therapeutic actions taken, or reasons why actions were not taken, provided useful information about ways to potentially improve event definitions and enhance system utility.
The Dilemmas of Education in Ceylon

school they become focused on the question of the language through which instruction will take place. This language issue is tied up with ethnic group rivalry, antiwestern feeling, and Buddhist revivalism. Inequality in educational opportunity has played an important part in stimulating each of these underlying forces. The island of Ceylon was colonized 2500 years ago by North Indian invaders. This Aryan-speaking people established the early Anuradhapura civilization based on irrigated rice culture, a feudal-caste social structure, and Buddhism. This society became the Sinhalese nation. From early times, however, Ceylon was subject to invasions from South India. The northern and to some extent the eastern parts of the island became Hindu Tamil strongholds. Here, especially in the northerly Jaffna Peninsula, the civilization of Tamilnad was transplanted. As the centuries rolled by the Sinhalese came to occupy the central, southern, and western parts of the island. The ancient capital of Anuradhapura stands today on the frontier of Tamil and Sinhalese settlements.
Novel Threshold Cryptography-based Group Authentication (TCGA) Scheme for the Internet of Things (IoT)

: Internet of things (IoT) is an emerging paradigm where the devices around us (persistent and non-persistent) are connected to each other to provide seamless communication, and contextual services. In the IoT, each device cannot be authenticated in the short time due to unbounded number of devices, and receipt of their authentication request at the same time. Therefore, secure, and efficient group authentication, and authorization scheme is required that authenticates a group of devices at once in the context of resource constrained IoT. This paper presents novel Threshold Cryptography-based Group Authentication (TCGA) scheme for the IoT which verifies authenticity of all the devices taking part in the group communication. This paper also presents TCGA framework which is flexible and secure. The proposed TCGA scheme is implemented for WI-FI environment, and the result shows that TCGA scheme is lightweight, and alleviates the effect of battery exhaustion attack. This paper also presents time analysis, and formal security analysis of TCGA scheme which shows that the proposed TCGA scheme is safe from the replay, man-in-the-middle attack, and is scalable in nature.
Node localization using mobile robots in delay-tolerant sensor networks

We present a novel scheme for node localization in a delay-tolerant sensor network (DTN). In a DTN, sensor devices are often organized in network clusters that may be mutually disconnected. Some mobile robots may be used to collect data from the network clusters. The key idea in our scheme is to use this robot to perform location estimation for the sensor nodes it passes based on the signal strength of the radio messages received from them. Thus, we eliminate the processing constraints of static sensor nodes and the need for static reference beacons. Our mathematical contribution is the use of a robust extended Kalman filter (REKF)-based state estimator to solve the localization. Compared to the standard extended Kalman filter, REKF is computationally efficient and also more robust. Finally, we have implemented our localization scheme on a hybrid sensor network test bed and show that it can achieve node localization accuracy within 1 m in a large indoor setting.
Monitoring the effect of belinostat in solid tumors by H4 acetylation

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition is a novel entity in medical oncology, and several HDAC inhibitors are in clinical trials. One of them is the hydroxamic acid belinostat (PXD101) that has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy for several clinical indications. Acetylation of histones is a key event after treatment with HDAC inhibitors, and could thus be used as a marker for monitoring cellular response to HDAC inhibitor treatment. Here we describe the utility of a newly described monoclonal antibody against acetylated H4 for immunohistochemistry on paraffin‐embedded fine needle biopsies from nude mice carrying A2780 human ovarian cancer xenografts. Acetylated H4 was monitored in vivo by immunohistochemistry during treatment with belinostat, and compared with pharmacokinetics in plasma and tumor tissue. We found an increased level of acetylated H4 15 min after a single treatment (200 mg/kg i.v.) with maximum level reached after 1 h. H4 acetylation intensity reflected the belinostat concentration in plasma and tumor tissue. The threshold level for belinostat activity, indicated by acetylated H4, correlated with belinostat plasma concentrations above 1,000 ng/ml. In conclusion, examination of H4 acetylation in fine needle biopsies using the T25 antibody may prove useful in monitoring HDAC inhibitor efficacy in clinical trials involving humans with solid tumors.
Numerical simulation of electromagnetic acoustic transducer in the time domain

A novel multistage numerical modeling approach to simulate acoustic‐wave generation and propagation of an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) is presented. The model assumes a uniform static magnetic field in a conducting half‐space. A meander coil winding situated above the half‐space is driven by a transient high‐frequency current pulse. The numerically computed eddy currents in the conducting specimen are combined with the static magnetic field to yield spatially and temporally diffusive Lorentz forces which in turn are coupled into the elastic‐wave equation. This hyperbolic elastodynamic system is solved for the displacement field vector which gives rise to propagating elastic waves. Numerical transduction results are discussed for a generic two‐wire transient EMAT configuration and for an isotropic half‐space with electric and acoustic material parameters equivalent to those of aluminum.
Epigenetic Variation in Monozygotic Twins: A Genome-Wide Analysis of DNA Methylation in Buccal Cells

DNA methylation is one of the most extensively studied epigenetic marks in humans. Yet, it is largely unknown what causes variation in DNA methylation between individuals. The comparison of DNA methylation profiles of monozygotic (MZ) twins offers a unique experimental design to examine the extent to which such variation is related to individual-specific environmental influences and stochastic events or to familial factors (DNA sequence and shared environment). We measured genome-wide DNA methylation in buccal samples from ten MZ pairs (age 8–19) using the Illumina 450k array and examined twin correlations for methylation level at 420,921 CpGs after QC. After selecting CpGs showing the most variation in the methylation level between subjects, the mean genome-wide correlation (rho) was 0.54. The correlation was higher, on average, for CpGs within CpG islands (CGIs), compared to CGI shores, shelves and non-CGI regions, particularly at hypomethylated CpGs. This finding suggests that individual-specific environmental and stochastic influences account for more variation in DNA methylation in CpG-poor regions. Our findings also indicate that it is worthwhile to examine heritable and shared environmental influences on buccal DNA methylation in larger studies that also include dizygotic twins.
High Precision U/Th Dating of First Polynesian Settlement

Previous studies document Nukuleka in the Kingdom of Tonga as a founder colony for first settlement of Polynesia by Lapita peoples. A limited number of radiocarbon dates are one line of evidence supporting this claim, but they cannot precisely establish when this event occurred, nor can they afford a detailed chronology for sequent occupation. High precision U/Th dates of Acropora coral files (abraders) from Nukuleka give unprecedented resolution, identifying the founder event by 2838±8 BP and documenting site development over the ensuing 250 years. The potential for dating error due to post depositional diagenetic alteration of ancient corals at Nukuleka also is addressed through sample preparation protocols and paired dates on spatially separated samples for individual specimens. Acropora coral files are widely distributed in Lapita sites across Oceania. U/Th dating of these artifacts provides unparalleled opportunities for greater precision and insight into the speed and timing of this final chapter in human settlement of the globe.