Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phytanic acid: measurement of plasma concentrations by gas–liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis and associations with diet and other plasma fatty acids

Epidemiological data suggest that a diet rich in animal foods may be associated with an increased risk of several cancers, including cancers of the prostate, colorectum and breast, but the possible mechanism is unclear. It is hypothesised that phytanic acid, a C20 branched-chain fatty acid found predominantly in foods from ruminant animals, may be involved in early cancer development because it has been shown to up regulate activity of α-methylacyl-coenzyme A racemase, an enzyme commonly found to be over-expressed in tumour cells compared with normal tissue. However, little is known about the distribution of plasma phytanic acid concentrations or its dietary determinants in the general population. The primary aim of the present cross-sectional study was to determine circulating phytanic acid concentrations among ninety-six meat-eating, lacto-ovo-vegetarian and vegan women, aged 20–69 years, recruited into the Oxford component of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford). Meat-eaters had, on average, a 6.7-fold higher geometric mean plasma phytanic acid concentration than the vegans (5·77 v. 0·86 μmol/l; P < 0·0001) and a 47 % higher mean concentration than the vegetarians (5·77 v. 3·93 μmol/l; P = 0·016). The strongest determinant of plasma phytanic acid concentration appeared to be dairy fat intake (r 0·68; P < 0·0001); phytanic acid levels were not associated with age or other lifestyle factors. These data show that a diet high in fat from dairy products is associated with increased plasma phytanic acid concentration, which may play a role in cancer development.
Analysis of variable retroduplications in human populations suggests coupling of retrotransposition to cell division

In primates and other animals, reverse transcription of mRNA followed by genomic integration creates retroduplications. Expressed retroduplications are either “retrogenes” coding for functioning proteins, or expressed “processed pseudogenes,” which can function as noncoding RNAs. To date, little is known about the variation in retroduplications in terms of their presence or absence across individuals in the human population. We have developed new methodologies that allow us to identify “novel” retroduplications (i.e., those not present in the reference genome), to find their insertion points, and to genotype them. Using these methods, we catalogued and analyzed 174 retroduplication variants in almost one thousand humans, which were sequenced as part of Phase 1 of The 1000 Genomes Project Consortium. The accuracy of our data set was corroborated by (1) multiple lines of sequencing evidence for retroduplication (e.g., depth of coverage in exons vs. introns), (2) experimental validation, and (3) the fact that we can reconstruct a correct phylogenetic tree of human subpopulations based solely on retroduplications. We also show that parent genes of retroduplication variants tend to be expressed at the M-to-G1 transition in the cell cycle and that M-to-G1 expressed genes have more copies of fixed retroduplications than genes expressed at other times. These findings suggest that cell division is coupled to retrotransposition and, perhaps, is even a requirement for it.
Real-Time Traffic Management in Sensor Networks

In this work we propose a traffic management mechanism to support real-time flows in highly unpredictable sensor network environments. The mechanism is based on a joint traffic regulation and end-to-end scheduling approach; a traffic regulation component adjusts the incoming packet rate to implicitly control the channel load and intelligently rejects packets that are more likely to miss their deadline while a laxity-based scheduling component projects the packets' per-hop delay and compensates for network end-to-end delays. Thus, high success ratios without severely degrading the fidelity are achieved. Our mechanism attempts to maintain accuracy in a resource-efficient manner even under extremely unstable network conditions where delays are difficult to model and compute. Furthermore, the adoption of a component-based approach allows for substantial independence from both the MAC and routing layers. We thoroughly evaluate our mechanism and demonstrate its accuracy and performance merits
A Semidefinite Programming Based Search Strategy for Feature Selection with Mutual Information Measure

Feature subset selection, as a special case of the general subset selection problem, has been the topic of a considerable number of studies due to the growing importance of data-mining applications. In the feature subset selection problem there are two main issues that need to be addressed: (i) Finding an appropriate measure function than can be fairly fast and robustly computed for high-dimensional data. (ii) A search strategy to optimize the measure over the subset space in a reasonable amount of time. In this article mutual information between features and class labels is considered to be the measure function. Two series expansions for mutual information are proposed, and it is shown that most heuristic criteria suggested in the literature are truncated approximations of these expansions. It is well-known that searching the whole subset space is an NP-hard problem. Here, instead of the conventional sequential search algorithms, we suggest a parallel search strategy based on semidefinite programming (SDP) that can search through the subset space in polynomial time. By exploiting the similarities between the proposed algorithm and an instance of the maximum-cut problem in graph theory, the approximation ratio of this algorithm is derived and is compared with the approximation ratio of the backward elimination method. The experiments show that it can be misleading to judge the quality of a measure solely based on the classification accuracy, without taking the effect of the non-optimum search strategy into account.
Modélisation, formalisation et mise en œuvre d'un agent rationnel dialoguant émotionnel empathique

Les recherches tendent a montrer que les agents virtuels capables d'exprimer des emotions d'empathie permettent d'ameliorer l'interaction humain-machine. De tels agents doivent connaitre dans quelles circonstances quelles emotions peuvent apparaitre durant l'interaction. Pour ce faire, une analyse exploratoire de situations de dialogues reels humain-machine ayant amene l'utilisateur a exprimer des emotions a ete realisee. Ces resultats ont ete etudies a la lumiere des descriptions theoriques des emotions en psychologie cognitive afin d'identifier les types d'emotions pouvant apparaitre durant un dialogue humain-machine et leurs conditions de declenchement. A partir de ces informations, un modele formel des emotions d'un agent rationnel dialoguant a ete construit. Les emotions y sont definies par leurs conditions de declenchement representees par des etats mentaux particuliers, i. E. Des combinaisons de croyances, d'incertitudes et d'intentions. L'intensite de ces emotions est calculee a partir de ces memes attitudes mentales. Cette formalisation permet a un agent rationnel dialoguant de determiner dans quelles situations durant le dialogue quelle emotion d'empathie envers son interlocuteur il devrait exprimer. Ce modele formel d'emotions a ete implemente sous la forme d'un module de gestion des emotions pour les agents rationnels dialoguants JSA. Une evaluation aupres d'utilisateurs d'un agent rationnel dialoguant emotionnel empathique a permis de mettre en evidence l'amelioration de la perception qu'a l'utilisateur de l'agent lorsque celui exprime des emotions d'empathie.
Influence of the perceived taste intensity of chemesthetic stimuli on swallowing parameters given age and genetic taste differences in healthy adult women.

PURPOSE This study examined whether the perceived taste intensity of liquids with chemesthetic properties influenced lingua-palatal pressures and submental surface electromyography (sEMG) in swallowing, compared with water. METHOD Swallowing was studied in 80 healthy women, stratified by age group and genetic taste status. General Labeled Magnitude Scale ratings of taste intensity were collected for deionized water; carbonated water; 2.7% w/v citric acid; and diluted ethanol. These stimuli were swallowed, with measurement of tongue-palate pressures and submental sEMG. Path analysis differentiated stimulus, genetic taste status, age, and perceived taste intensity effects on swallowing. Signal amplitude during effortful saliva swallowing served as a covariate representing participant strength. RESULTS Significant differences (p < .05) in taste intensity were seen across liquids: citric acid > ethanol > carbonated water > water. Supertasters perceived greater taste intensity than did nontasters. Lingua-palatal pressure and sEMG amplitudes were correlated with the strength covariate. Anterior palate pressures and sEMG amplitudes were significantly higher for the citric acid stimulus. Perceived taste intensity was a significant mediator of stimulus differences. CONCLUSION These data provide confirmatory evidence that high-intensity sour stimuli do influence swallowing behaviors. In addition, taste genetics influence the perception of taste intensity for stimuli with chemesthetic properties, which modulates behavioral responses.
Physically Violent Mothers Are a Reason for Young People's Leaving Home

In a qualitative study, 302 homeless young people (aged 12 to 20 years) were asked to discuss their reasons for leaving home. Some 103 youth cited physical violence by a parent or stepparent, and of these, 39 cited their mother's or stepmother's violence as the reason for leaving home. Females were more likely than males to report being the target of violence by their mother; however, the converse was true for stepmothers. Several discrete reasons for maternal violence were identified, including maternal personal characteristics and behaviors, issues associated with blended families, or young people's own behavior. In some cases, young people reported violence by both parents. Their attributions of maternal violence centered on a single dimension of the mother/stepmother or her relationship with a partner. They rarely discussed the contribution that they had made to the conflict or acknowledged the social context that may have been a catalyst for violence.
Dependency Trees and the Strong Generative Capacity of CCG

We propose a novel algorithm for extracting dependencies from the derivations of a large fragment of CCG. Unlike earlier proposals, our dependency structures are always tree-shaped. We then use these dependency trees to compare the strong generative capacities of CCG and TAG and obtain surprising results: Both formalisms generate the same languages of derivation trees --- but the mechanisms they use to bring the words in these trees into a linear order are incomparable.
Total variation regularization for Poisson vector-valued image restoration with a spatially adaptive regularization parameter selection

We propose a flexible and computationally efficient method to solve the non-homogeneous Poisson (NHP) model for grayscale and color images within the TV framework. The NHP model is relevant to image restoration in several applications, such as PET, CT, MRI, etc. The proposed algorithm uses a novel method to spatially adapt the regularization parameter; it also uses a quadratic approximation of the negative log-likelihood function to pose the original problem as a non-negative quadratic programming problem. The reconstruction quality of the proposed algorithm outperforms state of the art algorithms for grayscale image restoration corrupted with Poisson noise. Moreover, it places no prohibitive restriction on the forward operator, and to best of our knowledge, the proposed algorithm is the only one that explicitly includes the NHP model for color images and that spatially adapts its regularization parameter within the TV framework.
'To catch a criminal, you have to think like one!' A critical examination into the theories of serial killing and how criminal profiling can aid and hinder the investigative process

This literature based research sought to get to grips with the behaviour of serial killers which has fast become an area of interest throughout the world. The most relevant biological, psychological and sociological / socio-cultural theories are critically examined, as applied to serial killers. Discovering that a multi-disciplinary approach is a better way of explaining their complex behaviour, the current problems associated with the investigation of serial murder are addressed. Using the prominent work of Steven Egger (2002) as a framework, issues of communication and organisation are discovered, questioning a need for future improvement in such areas. By reviewing the many problems faced by investigators, the dissertation then critically examines the role of criminal profiling as an alternative tool in the overall investigatory effort, and also as a method of helping us to comprehend the behaviour of serial killers. It is discovered that the process of inferring personality characteristics from the killer's crime scenes, makes profiling a particularly relevant discipline in terms of comprehending their behaviour. However, negative aspects such as inaccuracy, ambiguity, lack of empirical testing, validity and others make the discipline debatable. To finally build a clearer picture of the behavioural science, and discover what it has to offer in terms of understanding homicidal behaviour and its value within an investigation, the key themes and points raised are applied to relevant cases. The findings suggest that it can be of use to future investigations if the discipline is seen to adopt a more professionalised practice.
Panoramic overviews for navigating real-world scenes

This paper describes an interface which helps people maintain a sense of spatial context while navigating virtual realworld scenes. First, a single panoramic image of the entire space is constructed from the separate partial, but detailed, images which constitute the original video sampling of the scene. The user can then navigate through this real-world data by manipulating either the panoramic overview or the original detailed views appearing in a separate window. Clicking or dragging the cursor over regions in the panoramic overview updates the corresponding detailed view. Using the panorama in this way frees the user from the traditional linear modes of interacting with virtual real-word scenes. In addition, interacting with the detailed view highlights the corresponding region in the panoramic overview and leaves a "trail" of the user's path through the space. These methods of visualizing and interacting with digital video described in this paper can also be applied to collections of digital video which do not correspond to a physical space such as standard linear movies.
Mechanism of the postural dependence of vital capacity in tetraplegic subjects.

It is well established that unlike normal subjects patients with cervical cord transection have an increase in VC when changing from the seated to the supine posture. To investigate the mechanism of this paradoxical increase, we measured static lung volumes in both the seated and supine posture in 14 consecutive patients with tetraplegia (C4-C7) and in 4 patients with paraplegia (Th4-Th7). The increase in VC in the supine compared with the seated posture was (mean +/- SE) 0.41 +/- 0.07 L (16.0% of the seated value) in the tetraplegic subjects and 0.40 +/- 0.01 L (11.2% of the seated value) in the paraplegic subjects (p less than 0.001). However, TLC in all subjects was 0.28 +/- 0.05 L smaller in the supine posture (p less than 0.001), thus indicating that the larger VC in this posture is related to a reduction in residual volume (RV) rather than to an increased mechanical advantage of the diaphragm. The reduction in RV in the supine posture was consistent, averaging 0.72 +/- 0.06 L (29.1% of the seated value) in the tetraplegic subjects and 0.62 +/- 0.21 L (37.6 percent of the seated value) in the paraplegic subjects (p less than 0.001). Inflating blood pressure cuffs at the bases of the legs prior to the assumption of the supine posture diminished the reduction in RV with recumbency by only 0.10 +/- 0.02 L. In contrast, the postural dependence of RV was abolished when the abdomen was tightly supported by elastic straps and maintained constant in configuration during postural changes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lipoma of the Broad Ligament

type. A great deal of the voluntary muscle is certainly embryonic, having a homogeneous core containing numerous nuclei, whifst contractile fibrils are confined to the periphery. ' Atypical nuclei such as are seen in malignant neoplasms are not present. The nerves are normal in structure. The tissue is supplied with normally formed blood-vessels amongst which are veins such as are found in cavernous tissue. The growth, therefore, appears to be a teratoblastoma displaying certain embryonic features, but does not appear to be obviously malignant. I have to thank Dr. Hubert Turnbull, of the London Hospital Pathological Institute for his kind assistance in preparing the Pathological Report.
Software Evolution towards Model-Centric Runtime Adaptivity

Runtime adaptivity is a promising direction towards achieving adaptive behavior for software systems that operate within highly dynamic and non-deterministic environments. Model-centric approaches have proven to be able to successfully address various aspects of runtime adaptivity. In this paper, we propose a target architecture for self-adaptive software systems and show how it facilitates adaptation by interpreting models at runtime. Our approach supports adaptivity using models, which are causally connected to the software application. These models can be queried and transformed dynamically in reaction to changes in the software system's operating environment. We demonstrate how to implement an infrastructure to support the target architecture, and how to prepare and integrate non-adaptive software to comply with this architecture.
Comprehending Multiple Texts: A Theme Approach Incorporating the Best of Children's Literature

Traditionally, students’ experiences with literature consist of reading a single text and answering teacherdirected questions. And, traditionally, that practice often disengages as many students (if not more) than it engages. So, why does this tradition linger? Perhaps it is because, like the Thanksgiving tradition of always cooking the turkey in a particular pan, we fail to consider better ways of accomplishing our goal, like buying a turkey already cooked!
Measurements of Far-uv Emission from Elliptical Galaxies at Z = 0.375

The “UV upturn” is a sharp rise in spectra of elliptical galax ies shortward of rest-frame 2500 Ȧ. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nearby giant ellipticals, and is thought to ar ise primarily from low-mass evolved stars on the extreme horizontal branch and beyond. Models suggest that t he UV upturn is a very strong function of age for these old stellar populations, increasing as the galaxy get s older. In some models the change in UV/optical flux ratio is a factor of 25 over timescales of less than 3 Gyr. To test the predictions for rapid evolution of the UV upturn, we have observed a sample of normal elliptical galaxies in thez = 0.375 cluster Abell 370 with theFaint Object Camera aboard theHubble Space Telescope. A combination of two long-pass filters was used to isolate wave lengths shortward of rest-frame 2700 Ȧ, providing a measurement of the UV upturn at a lookback time of approxima tely 4 Gyr. Surprisingly, the four ellipticals observed show a range of UV upturn strength that is similar to that seen in nearby ellipticals, with an equivalent m1550−V color ranging from 2.9–3.4 mag. Our result is inconsistent w ith some models for the UV upturn; other models are consistent only for a high redshift of formation ( z f ≥ 4). Subject headings: galaxies: evolution — galaxies: abundances — galaxies: ste llar content — ultraviolet: galaxies — ultraviolet: stars
SuperPin: Parallelizing Dynamic Instrumentation for Real-Time Performance

Dynamic instrumentation systems have proven to be extremely valuable for program introspection, architectural simulation, and bug detection. Yet a major drawback of modern instrumentation systems is that the instrumented applications often execute several orders of magnitude slower than native application performance. In this paper, we present a novel approach to dynamic instrumentation where several non-overlapping slices of an application are launched as separate instrumentation threads and executed in parallel in order to approach real-time performance. A direct implementation of our technique in the Pin dynamic instrumentation system results in dramatic speedups for various instrumentation tasks - often resulting in order-of-magnitude performance improvements. Our implementation is available as part of the Pin distribution, which has been downloaded over 10,000 times since its release
Maternal Nutrition Knowledge and Children's Diet Quality and Nutrient Intakes.

We found significant evidence that the more a mother knows about health and nutrition the better is the overall quality of her children’s diet, for preschoolers more so than older children. We also found that a mother’s years of schooling, smoking status, race, and ethnicity influence her children’s diet. Our results imply that health and nutrition education may be more effective if targeted toward mothers with young children but directly toward school-age children. We assessed overall diet quality using the Healthy Eating Index, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s instrument for measuring overall diet quality incorporating 10 recommended nutritional guidelines.
Climate mediates the effects of disturbance on ant assemblage structure

Many studies have focused on the impacts of climate change on biological assemblages, yet little is known about how climate interacts with other major anthropogenic influences on biodiversity, such as habitat disturbance. Using a unique global database of 1128 local ant assemblages, we examined whether climate mediates the effects of habitat disturbance on assemblage structure at a global scale. Species richness and evenness were associated positively with temperature, and negatively with disturbance. However, the interaction among temperature, precipitation and disturbance shaped species richness and evenness. The effect was manifested through a failure of species richness to increase substantially with temperature in transformed habitats at low precipitation. At low precipitation levels, evenness increased with temperature in undisturbed sites, peaked at medium temperatures in disturbed sites and remained low in transformed sites. In warmer climates with lower rainfall, the effects of increasing disturbance on species richness and evenness were akin to decreases in temperature of up to 9°C. Anthropogenic disturbance and ongoing climate change may interact in complicated ways to shape the structure of assemblages, with hot, arid environments likely to be at greatest risk.
Networks of Complements

We consider a network of sellers, each selling a single product, where the graph structure represents pair-wise complementarities between products. We study how the network structure affects revenue and social welfare of equilibria of the pricing game between the sellers. We prove positive and negative results, both of "Price of Anarchy" and of "Price of Stability" type, for special families of graphs (paths, cycles) as well as more general ones (trees, graphs). We describe best-reply dynamics that converge to non-trivial equilibrium in several families of graphs, and we use these dynamics to prove the existence of approximately-efficient equilibria.