Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fusion of short telomeres in human cells is characterized by extensive deletion and microhomology, and can result in complex rearrangements

Telomere fusion is an important mutational event that has the potential to lead to large-scale genomic rearrangements of the types frequently observed in cancer. We have developed single-molecule approaches to detect, isolate and characterize the DNA sequence of telomere fusion events in human cells. Using these assays, we have detected complex fusion events that include fusion with interstitial loci adjacent to fragile sites, intra-molecular rearrangements, and fusion events involving the telomeres of both arms of the same chromosome consistent with ring chromosome formation. All fusion events were characterized by the deletion of at least one of the telomeres extending into the sub-telomeric DNA up to 5.6 kb; close to the limit of our assays. The deletion profile indicates that deletion may extend further into the chromosome. Short patches of DNA sequence homology with a G:C bias were observed at the fusion point in 60% of events. The distinct profile that accompanies telomere fusion may be a characteristic of the end-joining processes involved in the fusion event.
An Efficient Multiplex PCR-Based Assay as a Novel Tool for Accurate Inter-Serovar Discrimination of Salmonella Enteritidis, S. Pullorum/Gallinarum and S. Dublin

Salmonella enterica serovars Enteritidis, Pullorum/Gallinarum, and Dublin are infectious pathogens causing serious problems for pig, chicken, and cattle production, respectively. Traditional serotyping for Salmonella is costly and labor-intensive. Here, we established a rapid multiplex PCR method to simultaneously identify three prevalent Salmonella serovars Enteritidis, Pullorum/Gallinarum, and Dublin individually for the first time. The multiplex PCR-based assay focuses on three genes tcpS, lygD, and flhB. Gene tcpS exists only in the three Salmonella serovars, and lygD exists only in S. Enteritidis, while a truncated region of flhB gene is only found in S. Pullorum/Gallinarum. The sensitivity and specificity of the multiplex PCR assay using three pairs of specific primers for these genes were evaluated. The results showed that this multiplex PCR method could accurately identify Salmonella Enteritidis, Pullorum/Gallinarum, and Dublin from eight non-Salmonella species and 27 Salmonella serovars. The least concentration of genomic DNA that could be detected was 58.5 pg/μL and the least number of cells was 100 CFU. Subsequently, this developed method was used to analyze clinical Salmonella isolates from one pig farm, one chicken farm, and one cattle farm. The results showed that blinded PCR testing of Salmonella isolates from the three farms were in concordance with the traditional serotyping tests, indicating the newly developed multiplex PCR system could be used as a novel tool to accurately distinguish the three specific Salmonella serovars individually, which is useful, especially in high-throughput screening.
Fragmentation of Ordered Partitions and Intervals

Fragmentation processes of exchangeable partitions have already been studied by several authors. This paper deals with fragmentations of exchangeable compositions, i.e. partitions of $\mathbb{N}$ in which the order of the blocks matters. We will prove that such a fragmentation is bijectively associated to an interval fragmentation. Using this correspondence, we then study two examples: Ruelle's interval fragmentation and the interval fragmentation derived from the standard additive coalescent.
The Semantics of Semantic Annotation

This is a speculative paper, describing a recently started effort to give a formal semantics to semantic annotation schemes. Semantic annotations are intended to capture certain semantic information in a text, which means that it only makes sense to use semantic annotations if these have a well-defined semantics. In practice, however, semantic annotation schemes are used that lack any formal semantics. In this paper we outline how existing approaches to the annotation of temporal information, semantic roles, and reference relations can be integrated in a single XML-based format and can be given a formal semantics by translating them into second-order logic. This is argued to offer an incremental aproach to the incorporation of semantic information in natural language processing that does not suffer from the problems of ambiguity and lack of robustness that are common to traditional approaches to computational semantics.
The Lions-Mercier splitting algorithm and the alternating direction method are instances of the proximal point algorithm

Suppose we have two maximal monotone operators A and B over a Hilbert space and wish to find a zero of the operator A+B. We introduce an auxiliary maximal monotone operator SAAB whose set of zeroes is very closely related to that of A+B. In the case that B is the normal cone operator of a linear subspace, SL,A,B is virtually identical to the partial inversion oper-the operator G(X) of Lions-Mercier [9]. Thus, the algorithm of Lions-Mercier is in fact the proximal point algorithm applied to S;AB. We also conclude that Spingarn's technique for minimizing a convex function over a linear subspace is essentially a special case of the Lions-Mercier approach. Further, as the Lions-Mercier algorithm generalizes the alternating direction method for convex programming [4]-[8], as shown by Gabay [5], we obtain that the alternating direction method is in fact an instance of the proximal point algorithm. We will rederive this result directly.
An Exploration of Nonprehensile Two-Palm Manipulation

When two hands manipulate a part, they perform three basic opera tions : holding or rotating the part in an equilibrium grasp, allowing the part to fall in disequilibrium, and sliding one hand or the other relative to the part. This paper discusses a method for represent ing these primitive operations, focusing in particular on the sliding motions. The basic idea is to partition the combined configuration space of the part and palms into volumes of invariant contact me chanics. Within each volume, the possible motions of the part and palms are qualitatively equivalent. The precise accelerations may vary, but the contact mode is invariant. The possible part and palm motions are a function of the overlap of the contact friction cones with the line of gravity acting through the part's center of mass. A critical event analysis of this dependence allows the robot to parti tion the combined configuration space into the volumes of invariant contact mechanics. This system generates plans for manipulating the part by searching the resulting graph.
Outcomes and indicators of a positive start to school

Outcomes and Indicators of a Positive Start to School is world-leading research. It provides the first evidence to support an understanding of how to measure the outcomes and indicators of a positive transition to school. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) commissioned this research to examine the application of an outcomes measurement of a positive transition to school and build upon the findings of an earlier project that identified these outcomes for children, their families and educators (Nolan, Hamm, McCartin and Hunt, 2009). The evidence is clear that children’s readiness, transition and initial adjustment to school is critical for their development, wellbeing and progress throughout the school years. This evidence has informed a number of Victorian State Government policies and initiatives and much has been learnt about transition processes. However, until recently, little research had examined what a positive start to school looks like for children, families and educators.
Analyzing the Internet's BGP Routing Table

The Internet continues along a path of seeming inexorable growth, at a rate which has, at a minimum, doubled in size each year. How big it needs to be to meet future demands remains an area of somewhat vague speculation. Of more direct interest in the question of whether the basic elements of the Internet can be extended to meet such levels of future demand, whatever they may be. To rephrase this question, are there inherent limitations in the technology of the Internet, or its architecture of deployment that may impact on the continued growth of the Internet to meet ever expanding levels of demand?
Social Context: A Review of Autobiography of a Disease

Autobiography of Disease by Patrick Anderson thoroughly examines the author’s life threatening experience with Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) osteomyelitis. Through notes kept by the author and caregiver/mother Anderson tells an evocative ethnography as told from the perspective of MRSA itself. This complex weaving of narratives highlights how multiple social and environmental considerations interact to impact Anderson's experience with illness. This book may be of interest to anyone seeking to learn more about the social context of illness.
Model-Free Precompensator Tuning Based on the Correlation Approach

High-performance output tracking can be achieved by precompensator or feedforward controllers based on the inverse of either the closed-loop system or the plant model, respectively. However, it has been shown that these inverse controllers can adversely affect the tracking performance in the presence of model uncertainty. In this paper, a model-free approach based on only one set of acquired data from a simple closed-loop experiment is used to tune the controller parameters. The approach is based on the decorrelation of the tracking error and the desired output and is asymptotically not sensitive to noise and disturbances. From a system identification point of view, the stable inverse of the closed-loop system is identified by an extended instrumental variable algorithm in the framework of errors-in-variables identification methods. By a frequency-domain analysis of the criterion, it is shown that the weighted two-norm of the difference between the controller and the inverse of the closed-loop transfer function can be minimized. The method is successfully applied to a high-precision position control system.
Shannon Shakes Hands with Chernoff: Big Data Viewpoint On Channel Information Measures

Shannon entropy is the most crucial foundation of Information Theory, which has been proven to be effective in many fields such as communications. Renyi entropy and Chernoff information are other two popular measures of information with wide applications. The mutual information is effective to measure the channel information for the fact that it reflects the relation between output variables and input variables. In this paper, we reexamine these channel information measures in big data viewpoint by means of ACE algorithm. The simulated results show us that decomposition results of Shannon and Chernoff mutual information with respect to channel parametersare almost the same. In this sense, Shannon shakes hands with Chernoff since they are different measures of the same information quantity. We also propose a conjecture that there is nature of channel information which is only decided by the channel parameters.
The building blocks of complexity: a unified criterion and selected applications in risk management

The analysis of many complex problems and complex dynamic systems suggests that there are dependencies between high complexity and properties of the underlying structures, as the existence of large grids, non-regularities and inhomogeneous structures and irregular flows of information. These observations indicate the existence of a unified criterion that defines structural elements of complex entities. We present the idea of such a criterion basing on concepts from computational and parametric complexity theory and analyse its impact in financial risk management. It is shown that selected real-world problems in risk managements are complex in the sense of NP-completeness. Here the criterion is used to analyse the structural reasons for the proved complexity. We show how selected risk management methods fit into the picture of our complexity criterion and derive some implications for the future generation of risk management methods from the viewpoint of complexity.
Ultrasonographic measurement of cricothyroid space in speech

The physiological background of sentence declination (fundamental frequency, F0, drop) was studied using ultrasound (US) examination of the cricothyroid (CT) space. The US probe was placed anteriorly in the region of middle cricothyroid ligament. The echoes caused by the antero-inferior edge of thyroid and antero-superior edge of the cricoid cartilages were used as points of measurement. The test utterances consisted of threeand five-word sentences. F0, sound level and CT space were measured from recordings. F0 declination and CT space widening showed a phase relationship. E.g., in a long sentence in which the F0 declined from 194 Hz to 85 Hz the CT space change was 4 mm (from 0.83 cm to 1.25 cm). The correlation between the F0 declination and CT space was r=-0.85. The main pitch regulating system connected with CT joint movements seems to contribute to sentence declination production. These biomechanical events can be monitored using the US method.
Simultaneous Transcatheter Closure of Ventricular Septal Defect and Pulmonary Valvuloplasty

Background Transcatheter balloon valvuloplasty has been the accepted first line treatment for congenital pulmonic stenosis (PS) in children. Transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect (VSD) with Amplatzer VSD occluder is an alternative to surgical repair. Case Presentation A 12 year old boy presented with history of exertional dyspnea and atypical chest pain. Physical findings were suggestive of severe pulmonic stenosis. Transthoracic echocardiography, right and left ventricular angiography showed medium to large sized perimembranous VSD and severe valvar pulmonary stenosis. Transcatheter closure of VSD was done first so as to avoid large left to right shunt across VSD after balloon pulmonary valvuplasty. Conclusion We demonstrated the feasibility and success in treating combined ventricular septal defect and severe pulmonary valve stenosis with transcatheter interventional procedure in the same session.
Exploiting Temporal Locality to Determine User Bias in Microblogging Platforms

Bias is the human tendency to favor one side of a discussion in argumentation, lacking neutrality and balance. Determining user biases is key to applications that process, interpret, and recommend content generated by those users in social media platforms. This paper addresses the problem of determining (in a supervised way) biases of microbloggers from the stream of messages. In this paper, we evaluate the use of a new criterion to identify user bias in social media systems: the temporal locality among users that have similar bias, i.e., the fact that people having similar biases express at about the same time. We show that this remarkable property indeed holds in some domains discussed in Twitter and may be explained mainly by the real-time use of the microblogging platform, i.e., users with similar biases react altogether to the outcome of events that are in accordance with their opinion (e.g., their favorite soccer teams scores a goal). Besides the precision of the computed biases, our proposal presents two major advantages that are consequences of not considering content at all (only temporal information is used). First, it is very efficient, i.e., a modest hardware can process on the fly the whole stream of messages about a popular topic commented in Twitter. Second, we believe that it may be applied to a wide range of domains regardless the language in which the messages are written. The experimental section of this paper reports the efficient learning of precise biases in both sportive and political contexts where the numerous messages are either written in English or in Portuguese.
Are Children Really Inferior Goods?: Evidence from Displacement-Driven Income Shocks

This paper explores the causal link between income and fertility by analyzing women's fertility response to the large and permanent income shock generated by a husband's job displacement. I find that the shock reduces total fertility, suggesting that the causal effect of income on fertility is positive. A model that incorporates the time cost of children and assortative matching of spouses can simultaneously explain this result and the negative cross-sectional relationship. I also find that a husband's displacement accelerates childbearing, which is consistent with lifecycle models of fertility in which the incentive to delay is driven by expected earnings growth.
"Opening the Black Box": The Development and Prospect on the Mediating Variable for the Transformational Leadership

The research for the mechanism of how transformational leadership takes effect is popular at present. It is generally agreed that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and leadership effectiveness. As the main dimensions of psychological empowerment, meaningfulness and self-efficacy significantly mediate the relationship. It is also reported that trust and organizational justice significantly mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance. In addition, leader-member exchange and job characteristics play the mediating role between transformational leadership and subordinate behavior. In the future, goal setting will be explored as a different way for explaining the effects of transformational leaders.
Face Recognition Method Based on SURF Feature

Wu-yi Zhang 1st Author Lian-lian Hua 2nd Author Faculty of Management and Economics Faculty of Management and Economi Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming, China Kunming, China Wuyi20000@yahoo.com. cn yunnanhll@yahoo.cn Hua-rong Du 3rd Author Yun-long Deng 4th Author Faculty of Management and Economics Director Office Kunming University of Science and Technology Yunnan Tobacco Science Research Institute Kunming China Yuxi, China Abstract—In this paper, considering the knowledge map’s function of indexing and mining knowledge, we use computer technology to develop a new approach based on key words and knowledge owners to map the knowledge and skills of one firm we choose. This approach provides a mechanism to allow firms and industries to better understand what they know and help them to deploy their skills in new and potentially lucrative ways.
Reversible MCMC on Markov equivalence classes of sparse directed acyclic graphs

Author(s): He, Y; Jia, J; Yu, B | Abstract: Graphical models are popular statistical tools which are used to represent dependent or causal complex systems. Statistically equivalent causal or directed graphical models are said to belong to a Markov equivalent class. It is of great interest to describe and understand the space of such classes. However, with currently known algorithms, sampling over such classes is only feasible for graphs with fewer than approximately 20 vertices. In this paper, we design reversible irreducible Markov chains on the space of Markov equivalent classes by proposing a perfect set of operators that determine the transitions of the Markov chain. The stationary distribution of a proposed Markov chain has a closed form and can be computed easily. Specifically, we construct a concrete perfect set of operators on sparse Markov equivalence classes by introducing appropriate conditions on each possible operator. Algorithms and their accelerated versions are provided to efficiently generate Markov chains and to explore properties of Markov equivalence classes of sparse directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) with thousands of vertices. We find experimentally that in most Markov equivalence classes of sparse DAGs, (1) most edges are directed, (2) most undirected subgraphs are small and (3) the number of these undirected subgraphs grows approximately linearly with the number of vertices. © Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 2013.
An EI-Based Theory of Performance From the book The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace

In 1998, in Working with Emotional Intelligence, I set out a framework of emotional intelligence (EI) that reflects how an individual's potential for mastering the skills of Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management translates into on-the-job success. This model is based on EI competencies that have been identified in internal research at hundreds of corporations and organizations as distinguishing outstanding performers. Focusing on EI as a theory of performance, this chapter presents a new version of that model, looks at the physiological evidence underlying EI theory, and reviews a number of studies of the drivers of workplace performance and the factors that distinguish the best individuals from the average ones. As I define it, an emotional competence is " a learned capability based on emotional intelligence that results in outstanding performance at work " (Goleman, 1998b). To be adept at an emotional competence like Customer Service or Conflict Management requires an underlying ability in EI fundamentals, specifically, Social Awareness and Relationship Management. However, emotional competencies are learned abilities: having Social Awareness or skill at managing relationship does not guarantee we have mastered the additional learning required to handle a customer adeptly or to resolve a conflict—just that we have the potential to become skilled at these competencies. Emotional competencies are job skills that can, and indeed must, be learned. An underlying EI ability is necessary, though not sufficient, to manifest competence in any one of the four EI domains, or clusters that I introduced in Chapter Two. Consider the IQ corollary that a student can have excellent spatial abilities yet never learn geometry. So too can a person be highly empathic yet poor at handling customers if he or she has not learned competence in customer service. Although our emotional intelligence determines our potential for learning the practical skills that underlie the four EI clusters, our emotional competence shows how much of that potential we have realized by learning and mastering skills and translating intelligence into on-the-job capabilities. Figure 3.1 presents the current version of my EI framework. Twenty competencies nest in four clusters of general EI abilities. The framework illustrates, for example, that we cannot demonstrate the competencies of trustworthiness and conscientiousness without mastery of the fundamental ability of Self-Management or the Competencies of Influence, Communication, Conflict Management, and so on without a handle on Managing Relationships.
The Nature of 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-Induced Serotonergic Dysfunction: Evidence for and Against the Neurodegeneration Hypothesis

High doses of the recreational drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”) have been well-documented to reduce the expression of serotonergic markers in several forebrain regions of rats and nonhuman primates. Neuroimaging studies further suggest that at least one of these markers, the plasma membrane serotonin transporter (SERT), may also be reduced in heavy Ecstasy users. Such effects, particularly when observed in experimental animal models, have generally been interpreted as reflecting a loss of serotonergic fibers and terminals following MDMA exposure. This view has been challenged, however, based on the finding that MDMA usually does not elicit glial cell reactions known to occur in response to central nervous system (CNS) damage. The aim of this review is to address both sides of the MDMA-neurotoxicity controversy, including recent findings from our laboratory regarding the potential of MDMA to induce serotonergic damage in a rat binge model. Our data add to the growing literature implicating neuroregulatory mechanisms underlying MDMA-induced serotonergic dysfunction and questioning the need to invoke a degenerative response to explain such dysfunction.