Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding urban inequality: a comparative analysis of three cases from Quito, Ecuador

Cities exist within unique socio-spatial contexts, acting as magnifiers of larger socioeconomic processes and relationships. This thesis explores the history of urban inequality in Ecuador and its relationship to inequality in Latin America. It offers a comparative analysis of attempts by various actors to address urban inequalities in Metropolitan Quito: the first case is the Environmental Sanitation Program, a top-down project funded by the InterAmerican Development Bank; the second is the Program of Participatory Urban Agriculture, a project administered by the City of Quito that takes a middleground approach to local-skills development; and the third case, the Association of Women Fighting for Life, uses a grassroots approach to create low-income housing. A critical analysis of the effects of these projects to address physical, state, and socio-cultural barriers and contribute to socio-economic empowerment is used to offer a series of lessons-learned about how to overcome urban inequalities in Quito and elsewhere. Key terms: urban studies; urban development; socio-economics; urban empowerment
Some of the What?, Why?, How?, Who? and Where? of Graphics Processing Unit Computing for Bayesian Analysis

Over the last 20 years or so, a number of Bayesian researchers and groups have invested a good deal of time, effort and money in parallel computing for Bayesian analysis. The growth of “small research group” to “institutionally supported” cluster computational facilities has had a substantial impact on a number of areas of Bayesian analysis, enabling analyses that are otherwise practically infeasible. Parallel computing has also motivated new approaches to simulation and optimisation-based Bayesian computations that aim to maximally exploit the “master-slave” and “embarrassingly parallel” computational model [e.g., 3, 4, 6]. In more recent years, increasingly prevalent multi-core CPUs in standard servers, desktops and laptops have engendered some interest in relatively simple and easy multi-threading of existing Bayesian analysis code, whether implemented in low level languages (C/C++) or through parallelisation facilities in environments such as R and Matlab R ©. Much progress in research and in advancing the use of Bayesian methods in increasingly computationally challenging problems has resulted. As we look ahead, however, the potential impact of parallel computation on both immediate research and the development of more broadly useful software is clearly – to some of us – dramatically enhanced by the advent of scientific computation using desktop and laptop graphical processing units (GPUs). Major new opportunities for orders-of-magnitude speed-up in computation are emerging through GPU programming, and the technology is cheap, both to purchase and run, and easily available.
Access and Persistence of Students from Low�?Income Backgrounds in Canadian Post�?Secondary Education: A Review of the Literature

Whether to attend a post‐secondary education (PSE) institution, which one to attend, and how to complete its degree or diploma requirements are extraordinarily complex decisions that are faced by millions of young Canadians. Factors such as financial considerations, family background, information constraints and inherent ability all interact to determine whether or not young Canadians will attend, and ultimately graduate from, any one of the variety of PSE institutions across the country. Until recently, the study of these decisions in Canada has been hindered by a general lack of policy interest as well as the lack of appropriate data to adequately tackle these complex questions. This paper attempts to review the state of knowledge regarding access to and persistence in PSE in Canada, with emphasis on the experiences of students from low‐income families, a group which has historically not benefited from publicly financed PSE as much as those from middle‐ and high‐income families, yet whose participation is seen as fundamental to Canada’s competitiveness in the global knowledge‐based economy. The focus is on the empirical work done is this area in Canada, as well as the United States, since there are many similarities in the educational systems between the two countries and studies in these areas have generally advanced further south of the border. The purpose is to assist researchers in accessing the state of knowledge and seeking new avenues of policy‐relevant research for Canada.
A Tale of Two Toxins: Helicobacter Pylori CagA and VacA Modulate Host Pathways that Impact Disease

Helicobacter pylori is a pathogenic bacterium that colonizes more than 50% of the world's population, which leads to a tremendous medical burden. H. pylori infection is associated with such varied diseases as gastritis, peptic ulcers, and two forms of gastric cancer: gastric adenocarcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. This association represents a novel paradigm for cancer development; H. pylori is currently the only bacterium to be recognized as a carcinogen. Therefore, a significant amount of research has been conducted to identify the bacterial factors and the deregulated host cell pathways that are responsible for the progression to more severe disease states. Two of the virulence factors that have been implicated in this process are cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA), which are cytotoxins that are injected and secreted by H. pylori, respectively. Both of these virulence factors are polymorphic and affect a multitude of host cellular pathways. These combined facts could easily contribute to differences in disease severity across the population as various CagA and VacA alleles differentially target some pathways. Herein we highlight the diverse types of cellular pathways and processes targeted by these important toxins.
Identification and Characterization of Spontaneous Auxotrophic Mutants in Fusarium langsethiae

Analysis of 49 strains of Fusarium langsethiae originating from northern Europe (Russia, Finland, Sweden, UK, Norway, and Latvia) revealed the presence of spontaneous auxotrophic mutants that reflect natural intraspecific diversity. Our investigations detected that 49.0% of F. langsethiae strains were auxotrophic mutants for biotin, and 8.2% of the strains required thiamine as a growth factor. They failed to grow on vitamin-free media. For both prototrophic and auxotrophic strains, no growth defect was observed in rich organic media. Without essential vitamins, a significant reduction in the growth of the auxotrophic strains results in a decrease of the formation of T-2 toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol. In addition, all analysed F. langsethiae strains were distinguished into two subgroups based on PCR product sizes. According to our results, 26 and 23 strains of F. langsethiae belong to subgroups I and II respectively. We determined that the deletion in the intergenic spacer (IGS) region of the rDNA of F. langsethiae belonging to subgroup II is linked with temperature sensitivity and causes a decrease in strain growth at 30 °C. Four thiamine auxotrophic strains were found in subgroup I, while 21 biotin auxotrophic strains were detected in subgroups II. To the best of our knowledge, the spontaneous mutations in F. langsethiae observed in the present work have not been previously reported.
Antioxidation and anti-inflammation by haem oxygenase-1 contribute to protection by tetramethylpyrazine against gentamicin-induced apoptosis in murine renal tubular cells.

BACKGROUND Gentamicin, a widely used antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial infection, can cause nephrotoxicity. Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) is a compound purified from the rhizome of Ligusticum wallichi (called chuanxiong in Chinese). Besides its protection against ischaemia-reperfusion injury and nephritis in mice, we previously reported that TMP reverses gentamicin-induced apoptosis in rat kidneys. Haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1) induction by TMP has also been shown to attenuate myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury in rats. METHODS We used rat renal tubular (NRK-52E) cells, transformed cells with HO-1 overexpression or knockdown, and an adenovirus carrying the HO-1 gene (Adv-HO-1) as gene therapy targeting murine kidneys to explore the role of HO-1 in protection by TMP against gentamicin-induced toxicity both in vitro and in vivo. We evaluated the protective effects of HO-1 on several apoptotic parameters induced by gentamicin: cleaved caspases-3 and -9, cycloxygenase-2 (Cox-2) and subcellular localization of nuclear factor kappa B-p65 (NF-kappaB-p65), Bcl-xl and HS-1-associated protein (Hax-1) in NRK-52E cells. RESULTS NRK-52E cells treated with TMP exhibited transcriptional upregulation of the HO-1 protein by approximately twofold. Overexpression of HO-1 in NRK-52E cells significantly increased mitochondrial protein levels of the antiapoptotic molecules, Bcl-xL and Hax-1, and markedly decreased the NADPH oxidase activity and proinflammatory molecules, NF-kappaB-p65 and Cox-2, which might decrease gentamicin-induced activation of caspases-9 and -3. Conversely, NRK-52E cells with HO-1 knockdown significantly exacerbated gentamicin-induced tubular cell apoptosis. Additionally, the concomitant HO-1 induction by TMP was also evident in vivo, and HO-1 therapy markedly attenuated gentamicin-induced renal apoptosis to a similar extent as TMP pretreatment. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, we suggest that HO-1 induced by TMP might, at least in part, protect against gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity through antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, and that it may have therapeutic potential for patients with renal disease. This is also the first demonstration that HO-1 increases Hax-1 mitochondrial localization.
Incremental and decremental LDA learning with applications

To adapt linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to real world applications, there is a pressing necessity to provide it with an incremental learning ability to integrate knowledge presented by one-pass data streams, a functionality to join multiple LDA models to make the knowledge-sharing between independent learning agents more efficient, and a forgetting functionality to avoid reconstruction of the overall discriminant eigenspace caused by some irregular changes. To this end, we introduce two adaptive LDA learning methods: LDA merging and LDA splitting, which show the following merits: ability of online learning with one-pass data streams, retained class separability identical to the batch learning method, high efficiency for knowledge-sharing due to condensed knowledge representation by the eigenspace model, and more preferable time and storage cost than traditional approaches under common application conditions. These properties are validated by the experiments on a benchmark face image dataset. By the case study on application of the proposed method to multi-agent cooperative learning and system alternation of a face recognition system, we further clarified the adaptability of the proposed methods to complex dynamic learning tasks.
The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Guidelines for the Biological Treatment of Bipolar Disorders, Part III: Maintenance Treatment

Summary As with the two preceding guidelines of this series, these practice guidelines for the pharmacological maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder were developed by an international task force of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP). Their purpose is to supply a systematic overview of all scientific evidence relating to maintenance treatment. The data used for these guidelines were extracted from a MEDLINE and EMBASE search, from recent proceedings from key conferences and various national and international treatment guidelines. The scientific justification of support for particular treatments was categorised into four levels of evidence (A-D). As these guidelines are intended for clinical use, the scientific evidence was not only graded, but also reviewed by the experts of the task force to ensure practicality.
Male Yawning Is More Contagious than Female Yawning among Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Yawn contagion is not restricted to humans and has also been reported for several non-human animal species, including chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Contagious yawning may lead to synchronisation of behaviour. However, the function of contagious yawning is relatively understudied. In this study, we investigated the function of contagious yawning by focusing on two types of signal providers: close social associates and leaders. We provided a captive chimpanzee colony with videos of all individuals of their own group that were either yawning, or at rest. Consistent with other studies, we demonstrated that yawning is contagious for chimpanzees, yet we did not find any effect of relationship quality on yawn contagion. However, we show that yawn contagion is significantly higher when the video model is a yawning male than when the video model was a yawning female, and that this effect is most apparent among males. As males are dominant in chimpanzee societies, male signals may be more relevant to the rest of the group than female signals. Moreover, since chimpanzees form male-bonded societies, male signals are especially relevant for other males. Therefore, we suggest that the sex-differences of yawning contagion among chimpanzees reflect the function of yawning in the synchronisation of behaviour.
Bronchoalveolar pH and inflammatory biomarkers in newly diagnosed IPF and GERD patients: A case-control study

Background Several studies have suggested that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may be related to repeated aspiration of gastric contents over long periods of time. We aimed to investigate differences between pH measured directly in the lung, and biomarkers of acute inflammation in patients with newly diagnosed IPF and in patients with newly diagnosed GERD. Material/Methods All subjects (N=61) underwent collection of medical history, physical examination, pulmonary function testing, bronchoscopy, endoscopy, arterial blood gas analyses, and biochemical testing. Results Previously diagnosed GERD was found in 56.7%, typical symptoms of reflux in 80%, and Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsy specimens in 76.6% of the cases. pH in peripheral branches of bronchi in the cases was 5.32±0.44 and was 6.27±0.31 (p<0.001) in the control group. The average values of LDH, ALP, and CRP in bronchoalveolar aspirate and in serum, as well as TNF-α in bronchoalveolar aspirate, were significantly higher in IPF patients. Conclusions The more acidic environment in the bronchoalveolar aspirate of the IPF subjects could contribute to the development or progression of IPF, possibly via changes in local metabolism or by damaging local cells and tissue. However, further studies with larger numbers of patients are required to clarify the role of gastric fluid aspiration in IPF pathogenesis. Our preliminary work has identified inflammatory biomarkers LDH, ALP, and TNF-α as potentially important in the pathologic processes in IPF. Further research is needed to determine their importance in clinical intervention and patient care.
Reliable and Locality-driven scheduling in Hadoop

The increasing use of computing resources in our daily lives leads to data being generated at an astonishing rate. The computing industry is being repeatedly questioned for its ability to accommodate the unpredictable growth rate of data, and its ability to process them. This has encouraged the development of cluster based data-intensive applications. Hadoop is a popular open source framework known for its massive cluster based data processing power. Hadoop is widely used in the computer industry because of its scalability, reliability, ease of use, and low cost of implementation. Cloud computing in the recent years has gained increasingly popularity by its cost-efficient and flexible way to leverage the power of commodity hardware. Hadoop based services on the Cloud have also emerged as one of the prominent choices for smaller businesses. However, evidence in the literature shows that faults on the Cloud do occur and normally result with performance problems. Hadoop hides the complexity of discovery and handling failures from the schedulers, but the expenses of failure recovery rest entirely on users, regardless of root causes. We systematically assess these expenses through a set of experiments, and argue that more effort to reduce this cost to users is desirable. We also analyze the drawback of current Hadoops mechanism in prioritizing failed tasks. By trying to launch failed tasks as soon as possible regardless of locality, it significantly increases the execution time of jobs with failed tasks, due to two reasons: 1) available slots might not be free up as quickly as expected and 2) the slots might belong to machines with no data on it, introducing extra cost for data transfering through network, which is normally the most scare resource in nowadays data centers. This thesis then introduces a new algorithmic approach called the waste-free preemption. The waste-free preemption saves Hadoop scheduler from choosing solely between kill, which instantly releases the slots but is wasteful, and wait, which does not waste any previous effort but falls for the two above mentioned reasons. With this new option, a preemptive version of Hadoops default scheduler (FIFO) is implemented. The evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of the new feature by comparing its performance with the traditional Hadoops mechanism.
The Value of Human Capital and Health Behavior

The paper examines an effect of the return to human capital on health behavior. An approach is assumed in the paper which implies that health is an investment good complimentary for human capital. The latter is treated as actual skills and knowledge yielding a bonus above earnings. We propose a model relating health demand to human capital. According to the model, human capital determines health behavior via the expected effect of health on the return to human capital. The main implication of the model is that the educated people will not much differ from those lacking any education with regard to health behavior if their education does not generate the bonus.
Fluxbrane and S-brane solutions with polynomials related to Lie algebras of rank 2

Composite fluxbrane and S-brane solutions for a wide class of intersection rules are considered. These solutions are defined on a product manifold M1 × . × Mn which contains n Ricci-flat spaces M1, . ,Mn with 1-dimensional M1 . They are defined up to a set of functions obeying non-linear differential equations equivalent to Toda-type equations with certain boundary conditions imposed. Exact solutions corresponding to configurations with two branes and intersections related to simple Lie algebras C2 and G2 are obtained. In these cases the functions Hs(z) , s = 1, 2 , are polynomials of degrees: (3, 4) and (6, 10) , respectively, in agreement with a conjecture suggested previously in [1]. igorg@inbox.ru ivas@vniims.ru melnikov@phys.msu. ru
Clustering Player Paths

Player traces can result in a vast amount of high-dimensional data. This information is crucial to game designers trying to understand player behaviour and for tailoring the game experience. In this work we investigate different approaches to clustering player traces in order to expose useful game information. We consider three trace similarity metrics, as well as two clustering algorithms. We evaluate and compare the different approaches using trivial and non-trivial game levels from different game genres, giving guidance on clustering and metric choices, and illustrating the potential value of cluster information.
FINGERPRINT MATCHING ON SMALL IMAGES

The uniqueness of the ridges’ flow pattern is the basis of forensic applications on fingerprints, the accuracy of matching two or more fingerprints being its most important issue. A big problem arises when the fingerprint image used is small. In this paper we aim at introducing a method of analyzing a small image so that valid minutiae points can be extracted. For this purpose a constraint satisfaction based technique for finding a match between a candidate fingerprint with one from a database of fingerprints is introduced. We also provide experimental results and a comparison with other similar existing approaches.
The sex-determining gene doublesex in the fly Megaselia scalaris: conserved structure and sex-specific splicing.

The well-known sex-determining cascade of Drosophila melanogaster serves as a paradigm for the pathway to sexual development in insects. But the primary sex-determining signal and the subsequent step, Sex-lethal (Sxl), have been shown not to be functionally conserved in non-Drosophila flies. We isolated doublesex (dsx), which is a downstream step in the cascade, from the phorid fly Megaselia scalaris, which is a distant relative of D. melanogaster. Conserved properties, e.g., sex-specific splicing, structure of the female-specific 3' splice site, a splicing enhancer region with binding motifs for the TRA2/RBP1/TRA complex that activates female-specific splicing in Drosophila, and conserved domains for DNA-binding and oligomerization in the putative DSX protein, indicate functional conservation of dsx in M. scalaris. Hence, the dsx step of the sex-determining pathway appears to be conserved among flies and probably in an even wider group of insects, as the analysis of a published cDNA from the silkmoth indicates.
Video dynamic interpolation based on weighted shift interframe motion model

A dynamic filtering algorithm for video sequence interpolation, which based on weighted shift interframe motion model, is proposed in this article. This paper reviews classical monoframe interpolation and multiframe interpolation. We also analyze the characteristic of the motion model in the video sequence. And after that, the motion model is modified to reduce the computation and system complexity. In the end of the paper, we make use of Kalman filtering algorithm to interpolate the image dynamically to gain high resolution. Experimental results show the validity of the algorithm.
Auto Diagnostics of Lung Nodules Using Minimal Characteristics Extraction Technique

Computer-aided detection (CAD) systems provide useful tools and an advantageous process to physicians aiming to detect lung nodules. This paper develops a method composed of four processes for lung nodule detection. The first step employs image acquisition and pre-processing techniques to isolate the lungs from the rest of the body. The second stage involves the segmentation process using a 2D algorithm to affect every layer of a scan eliminating non-informative structures inside the lungs, and a 3D blob algorithm associated with a connectivity algorithm to select possible nodule shape candidates. The combinations of these algorithms efficiently eliminate the high rates of false positives. The third process extracts eight minimal representative characteristics of the possible candidates. The final step utilizes a support vector machine for classifying the possible candidates into nodules and non-nodules depending on their features. As the objective is to find nodules bigger than 4mm, the proposed approach demonstrated quite encouraging results. Among 65 computer tomography (CT) scans, 94.23% of sensitivity and 84.75% in specificity were obtained. The accuracy of these two results was 89.19% taking into consideration that 45 scans were used for testing and 20 for training. The rate of false positives was 0.2 per scan.