Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influences on the Choice of Math/Science Major by Gender and Ethnicity

Women and minorities continue to be underrepresented in quantitatively based fields of study. Additionally, selection by all students of such majors is declining. Math/Science major choice is of concern in light of the occupational demands created by advancing technology as well as the potential gaps in occupational and economic attainment of women and minorities. This article reports the analysis of a longitudinal model of math/science major choice upon entrance to college for black and white, female and male students. The model was tested using a sample drawn from the “High School and Beyond” data base. The model included background characteristics of students, ability, and an array of high school experience factors to explain choice of quantitative major. Significant predictors of major choice for the subgroups included sophomore choice of major, mathematics attitudes, math and science completed by senior year, and various parental factors. However, there were differences across groups and the model explained nearly twice as much variance for the black male, black female, and white male subgroups compared with the white female subgroup. Recommendations include broadening our ways of researching migration into and out of the mathematics/science pipeline. Argument is made for a focus on success of students enrolled in low level college mathematics classes as a way of augmenting the mathematics/scientific pipeline.
Stress fracture risk analysis of the human femur based on computational biomechanics

The lack of predictive tools to assess the relative risk of stress fracture injury has posed a great challenge for military readiness and competitive athletic training. This article presents a methodology of assessing such risks using computational models and biomechanical stress analysis in a human femur. Preliminary results have demonstrated the capability of our methodology in studying the effect of risk factors as independent variables, which would be very difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish by any other means. We have shown that certain geometric features are significant risk factors for femoral neck stress fracture. Further development of our methodology will enable more accurate prediction of stress fracture risk and will help in the design of optimal training regimens to minimize the risk of injury.
Photodimerisation of enones in a clay microenvironment

The photodimerisation of 2-cyclohexenone, 2-cyclopentenone and their 3-methyl derivatives is studied in the confined environment of clay interlayers. In the photolysis of 2-cyclohexenone, a remarkable regioselectivity is observed in favour of the head-to-head dimer when carried out in cation-exchanged bentonite clays while the dimerisation of 2-cyclopentenone favours the formation of the head-to-tail dimer. The results are explained on the basis of the ground state pre-organisation of enones and also the complexing ability of charge-balancing cations with the carbonyl oxygen of enone. In addition to the observed regioselectivity, other advantages of employing clays in photochemical studies are highlighted.
Openmp Compiler for a Software Distributed Shared Memory System Scash

In this paper, we present an implementation of OpenMP compiler for a page-based software distributed shared memory system, SCASH on a cluster of PCs. For programming distributed memory multiprocessors such as clusters of PC/WS and MPP, message passing is usually used. A message passing system requires programmers to explicitly code the communication and makes writing parallel programs cumbersome. OpenMP is attracting wide-spread interests because of its easy-to-use parallel programming model. While OpenMP is designed as a programming model for shared memory hardware, one way to support OpenMP in a distributed memory environment is to use a software distributed shared memory system (SDSM) as an underlying runtime system for OpenMP. Our target SDSM is a page-based software distributed shared memory system, SCASH[2], which is running on a cluster of PCs connected by a high speed network Myrinet. In the most SDSMs, only part of the address space is shared. In SCASH, the address space allocated by a shared memory allocation primitive can be shared among the processors. Variables declared in global scope are private in the processor. We call this memory model, \shmem memory model". Parallel programs using the Unix \shmem" system calls use this memory model. In this model, all shared variables must be allocated at run-time at the beginning of execution. We have implemented the OpenMP compiler for \shmem memory model" using Omni OpenMP compiler system [4]. The compiler detects references to a shared data object, and rewrite it to the reference into objects re-allocated in shared memory area. H. Lu, et.al. [3] present an OpenMP implementation for TreadMarks[1] software DSM. Their compiler only supports a subset of OpenMP. Instead, they propose some modi cations of OpenMP standard to make OpenMP programs run easier and more e cient. This approach may loose portability of OpenMP programs. Our compiler supports a full set of OpenMP so that OpenMP compliant programs runs on SDSMs without any modi cations. In the next section, we present overview of the Omni OpenMP compiler system and SCASH as background. Section 3 describes how to translate the OpenMP programs for \shmem memory model" and some preliminary results. Section 4 presents our concluding remarks.
Effects of Inhibition of the Polyol Pathway during Chronic Peritoneal Exposure to a Dialysis Solution

♦ Background Peritoneal dialysis with glucose- and lactate-containing dialysis solutions stimulates peritoneal angiogenesis and fibrosis. These serious side effects can also be induced by chronic peritoneal exposure to dialysis solutions in nonuremic rats. The high glucose concentrations of the dialysis solutions may saturate physiological glucose metabolism pathways and stimulate the polyol pathway that has been described to damage nerves and vessels in diabetes mellitus. To investigate the role of the polyol pathway in the development of fibrosis and angiogenesis during chronic peritoneal exposure, the rate-limiting aldose reductase activity in the polyol pathway was inhibited in a chronic peritoneal exposure model in the rat, in which different administration routes were compared. ♦ Experimental Procedures Three groups of rats received daily intraperitoneal infusion with lactate/glucose (3.86%)- containing dialysate via a peritoneal catheter with a subcutaneous puncture device, for 14 weeks: group 1 received only the dialysis solution, groups 2 and 3 received, in addition, zopolrestat, administered either orally (group 2) or intraperitoneally (group 3). After sacrifice, omental tissue was examined by histology for the presence of fibrosis (Picro Sirius Red) and the number of blood vessels (CD31). ♦ Results Histology revealed significantly less Picro Sirius Red-positive tissue in perivascular areas of both experimental groups and submesothelial areas of the oral group in comparison to the control group. There were significantly fewer CD31-positive vessels per field in both groups treated with zopolrestat compared to the infusion-only group: group 2, 9 (7 – 12); group 3, 17 (13 – 38), compared to group 1, 37 (32 – 39), p < 0.05. ♦ Conclusion The combination of peritoneal exposure to dialysis fluids and administration of zopolrestat, a newly developed inhibitor of aldose reductase activity, resulted in less fibrosis and fewer peritoneal vessels than exposure to dialysis fluids only, in a long-term exposure model in the rat. Inhibition of the polyol pathway may thus offer an important contribution to allow long-term continuation of peritoneal dialysis.
Ejaculate Economics: Testing the Effects of Male Sexual History on the Trade-Off between Sperm and Immune Function in Australian Crickets

Trade-offs between investment into male sexual traits and immune function provide the foundation for some of the most prominent models of sexual selection. Post-copulatory sexual selection on the male ejaculate is intense, and therefore trade-offs should occur between investment into the ejaculate and the immune system. Examples of such trade-offs exist, including that between sperm quality and immunity in the Australian cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. Here, we explore the dynamics of this trade-off, examining the effects that increased levels of sexual interaction have on the viability of a male's sperm across time, and the concomitant effects on immune function. Males were assigned to a treatment, whereby they cohabited with females that were sexually immature, sexually mature but incapable of copulation, or sexually mature and capable of copulation. Sperm viability of each male was then assessed at two time points: six and 13 days into the treatment, and immune function at day 13. Sperm viability decreased across the time points, but only for males exposed to treatment classes involving sexually mature females. This decrease was similar in magnitude across both sexually mature classes, indicating that costs to the expression of high sperm viability are incurred largely through levels of pre-copulatory investment. Males exposed to immature females produced sperm of low viability at both time points. Although we confirmed a weak negative association between sperm viability and lytic activity (a measure of immune response to bacterial infection) at day 13, this relationship was not altered across the mating treatment. Our results highlight that sperm viability is a labile trait, costly to produce, and subject to strategic allocation in these crickets.
Optimal Monetary and Fiscal Policy in a Currency Union

We lay out a tractable model for the analysis of optimal monetary and fiscal policy in a currency union. The monetary authority sets a common interest rate for the union, whereas fiscal policy is implemented at the country level, through the choice of government spending. In the presence of country-specific shocks and nominal rigidities, the policy mix that is optimal from the viewpoint of the union as a whole requires that inflation be stabilized at the union level by the common central bank, whereas fiscal policy has a country-specific stabilization role, one beyond the efficient provision of public goods.
Flow experiences at work: for high need achievers alone?

Applying Csikszentmihalyi's (1990) flow theory of optimal experience to the workplace, two studies examined the relationships of employees' perceived skill and challenge at work and need for achievement with their positive mood, intrinsic task interest, and extra-role performance. Among achievement-oriented employees only, high skill and challenge was associated with greater positive mood, task interest, and performance than other skill/challenge combinations. Additionally, positive mood mediated the interactive relationship of skill/challenge and need for achievement with performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Metric based on multi-order spaces for cross-modal retrieval

This paper proposes a novel method for cross-modal retrieval. Different from vector (text)-to-vector (image) framework of the traditional cross-modal methods, we adopt a vector (text)-to-matrix (image) framework. We assume that compared with vectors, matrices can directly represent images and characterize the structure of feature space. Furthermore, we propose a Metric based on Multi-order spaces (MMs). Multi-order statistic features are used to represent images for enriching the semantic information, and metrics among the multi-spaces are jointly learned to measure the similarity between two different modalities. Specifically, there are three steps for MMs. First, we jointly use the bags of visual features (zero-order), mean (first-order) and covariance (second-order) to characterize each image. Second, considering that covariance matrices and vectors lie on a Riemannian manifold and an Euclidean space respectively, we embed multi-order spaces into their corresponding Hilbert spaces to reduce the heterogeneity among the original spaces. Finally, the similarity between two different modalities can be measured by learning multiple transformations from the different Hilbert spaces to a common subspace. The performance of the proposed method over the state-of-the-art has been demonstrated through the experiments on two public datasets.
Pivotal Advance: CTLA‐4+ T cells exhibit normal antiviral functions during acute viral infection

Previous studies have shown that T cells, which are genetically deficient in CTLA‐4/CD152 expression, will proliferate uncontrollably, resulting in lethal autoimmune disease. This and other evidence indicate that CTLA‐4 plays a critical role in the negative regulation of effector T cell function. In contrast to expectations, BrdU incorporation experiments demonstrated that CTLA‐4 expression was associated with normal or even enhanced in vivo proliferation of virus‐specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells following acute lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus or vaccinia virus infection. When compared with CTLA‐4– T cells directly ex vivo, CTLA‐4+ T cells also exhibited normal antiviral effector functions following stimulation with peptide‐coated cells, virus‐infected cells, plate‐bound anti‐CD3/anti‐CTLA‐4, or the cytokines IL‐12 and IL‐18. Together, this indicates that CTLA‐4 does not directly inhibit antivral T cell expansion or T cell effector functions, at least not under the normal physiological conditions associated with either of these two acute viral infections.
The Black Hole: Scatterer, Absorber and Emitter of Particles

Accurate and powerful computational methods developed by the author for the wave scattering by black holes allow to obtain the highly non trivial total absorption spectrum of the Black Hole. As well as partial wave phase shifts and cross sections (elastic and inelastic), the angular distribution of absorbed and scattered waves, and the Hawking emission rates. The exact total absorption spectrum of waves by the Black Hole has as a function of frequency a remarkable oscillatory behaviour characteristic of a diffraction pattern. This is an unique distinctive feature of the black hole absorption, and due to its r = 0 singularity. Ordinary absorptive bodies and optical models do not present these features. The unitarity optical theorem is generalized to the Black Hole case explicitly showing that absorption ocurrs only at the origin. All these results allow to understand and reproduce the Black Hole absorption spectrum in terms of Fresnel-Kirchoff diffraction theory: by the interference of the absorbed rays arriving at the origin through different optical paths. These fundamental features of the Black Hole Absorption will be present for generic higher dimensional Black Hole backgrounds, and whatever the low energy effective theory they arise from. In recent and increasing litterature devoted to compute absorption cross sections (grey body factors) of black holes (whatever ordinary, stringy, D-braned), the fundamental remarkable features of the Black Hole Absorption spectrum are overlooked.
The Novel SDN Testbed with Virtual Network Functions Placement

The network architecture has been inadequate to meet the increasing internet demands driving the transformation of traditional network infrastructure. Software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV) are complementary technologies that provide new solutions to design, build and operate networks. The purpose of this paper is to design and implement an SDN testbed that can provide experiment environment for researchers. NFV is the infrastructure upon which the SDN software can be run in addition to enhancing the operation efficiency and reducing the virtual network delays. The Shortest Path Algorithm based Sliced network Weighted Graph (SPA-SNWG) scheme is adopted to select the best use of virtual network resource for improving network utilization in the tsetbed. The experimental results show that the use of this mechanism can reduce the transmission delay from 3.21ms 0.46ms improving network performance and balancing bandwidth consumption among virtual network services.
Enhanced perceptual distance functions and indexing for image replica recognition

The proliferation of digital images and the widespread distribution of digital data that has been made possible by the Internet has increased problems associated with copyright infringement on digital images. Watermarking schemes have been proposed to safeguard copyrighted images, but watermarks are vulnerable to image processing and geometric distortions and may not be very effective. Thus, the content-based detection of pirated images has become an important application. In this paper, we discuss two important aspects of such a replica detection system: distance functions for similarity measurement and scalability. We extend our previous work on perceptual distance functions, which proposed the Dynamic Partial Function (DPF), and present enhanced techniques that overcome the limitations of DPF. These techniques include the Thresholding, Sampling, and Weighting schemes. Experimental evaluations show superior performance compared to DPF and other distance functions. We then address the issue of using these perceptual distance functions to efficiently detect replicas in large image data sets. The problem of indexing is made challenging by the high-dimensionality and the nonmetric nature of the distance functions. We propose using Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH) to index images while using the above perceptual distance functions and demonstrate good performance through empirical studies on a very large database of diverse images.
A Conserved Long Noncoding RNA Affects Sleep Behavior in Drosophila

Metazoan genomes encode an abundant collection of mRNA-like, long noncoding (lnc)RNAs. Although lncRNAs greatly expand the transcriptional repertoire, we have a limited understanding of how these RNAs contribute to developmental regulation. Here, we investigate the function of the Drosophila lncRNA called yellow-achaete intergenic RNA (yar). Comparative sequence analyses show that the yar gene is conserved in Drosophila species representing 40–60 million years of evolution, with one of the conserved sequence motifs encompassing the yar promoter. Further, the timing of yar expression in Drosophila virilis parallels that in D. melanogaster, suggesting that transcriptional regulation of yar is conserved. The function of yar was defined by generating null alleles. Flies lacking yar RNAs are viable and show no overt morphological defects, consistent with maintained transcriptional regulation of the adjacent yellow (y) and achaete (ac) genes. The location of yar within a neural gene cluster led to the investigation of effects of yar in behavioral assays. These studies demonstrated that loss of yar alters sleep regulation in the context of a normal circadian rhythm. Nighttime sleep was reduced and fragmented, with yar mutants displaying diminished sleep rebound following sleep deprivation. Importantly, these defects were rescued by a yar transgene. These data provide the first example of a lncRNA gene involved in Drosophila sleep regulation. We find that yar is a cytoplasmic lncRNA, suggesting that yar may regulate sleep by affecting stabilization or translational regulation of mRNAs. Such functions of lncRNAs may extend to vertebrates, as lncRNAs are abundant in neural tissues.
Optimization of the Vagus Nerve Stimulation Parameters with CI-Methods

In order to improve the Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) statistical efficacy increase for certain parameter vectors was investigated. Such vectors are used in real cases. Although immediate tests on humans are not possible it was possible to find rats as adequate substitute models. The rats were stimulated with a protocol of 81 parameter vectors. Their physical response was recorded. Each rat is different but it is assumed that for some vectors similar response will occur. If only enough rats were recorded then a statistically safe prediction could be made about what parameter vectors will result in effects mostly desired by the therapist. It is the primary goal of the project to find similarities in different response cases for some of the typical vectors and eventually provide deeper insights on the treatment. The project faces extremely large data amounts from data acquisition. Methods of Computational Intelligence (CI) are used for the conversion of data to knowledge. After conventional data pre-processing evolutionarily designed artificial neural networks are used in order to evaluate available data and to help medical staff verify their medical thesis.
Guessing in True-False Tests

It has been assumed that the guessing which a pupil does on true-false tests is similar to flipping a penny; half the time on the average he is lucky and wins by marking correctly and the other half he loses. The study here reported tends to show that pupils have determining tendencies in their marking, that is, some mark most of the statements true while others mark most of the statements false. In this case to encourage pupils to guess at answers and then to give them scores determined by the number of rights minus the number of wrongs would tend to be less accurate than to have them omit the statements concerning which they know little or nothing and then to arrive at scores by deducting from the total possible number of points 2 for each error and i for each omission.
The Morality of the Market and the Medieval Schoolmen

Recently among analytic political philosophers there has been a considerable revival of interest in the normative evaluation of the market and of economic processes more generally. While not rejecting markets in toto, philosophers such as Elizabeth Anderson and Amartya Sen have raised questions about the proper range of the market, explored the role of normative considerations in economic decision-making and raised doubts about the view that normative constraints are never legitimately placed on economic activity. In this article I experience the relevance to such explorations of the economic casuistry of the medieval schoolmen.
Nuclear insertions help and hinder inference of the evolutionary history of gorilla mtDNA

Numts are fragments of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that have been translocated to the nucleus, where they can persist while their mitochondrial counterparts continue to rapidly evolve. Thus, numts represent ‘molecular fossils’ useful for comparison with mitochondrial variation, and are particularly suited for studies of the fast‐evolving hypervariable segment of the mitochondrial control region (HV1). Here we used information from numts found in western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei) to estimate that these two species diverged about 1.3 million years ago (Ma), an estimate similar to recent calculations for the divergence of chimpanzee and bonobo. We also describe the sequence of a gorilla numt still possessing a segment lost from all contemporary gorilla mtDNAs. In contrast to that sequence, many numts of the HV1 are highly similar to authentic mitochondrial organellar sequences, making it difficult to determine whether purported mitochondrial sequences truly derive from that genome. We used all available organellar HV1 and corresponding numt sequences from gorillas in a phylogenetic analysis aimed at distinguishing these two types of sequences. Numts were found in several clades in the tree. This, in combination with the fact that only a limited amount of the extant variation in gorillas has been sampled, suggests that categorization of new sequences by the indirect means of phylogenetic comparison would be prone to uncertainty. We conclude that for taxa such as gorillas that contain numerous numts, direct approaches to the authentication of HV1 sequences, such as amplification strategies relying upon the circularity of the mtDNA molecule, remain necessary.