Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Evolution of Delayed Dispersal in Cooperative Breeders

Why do the young of cooperative breeders-species in which more than two individuals help raise offspring at a single nest-delay dispersal and live in groups? Answering this deceptively simple question involves examining the costs and benefits of three alternative strategies: (1) dispersal and attempting to breed, (2) dispersal and floating, and (3) delayed dispersal and helping. If, all other things being equal, the fitness of individuals that delay dispersal is greater than the fitness of individuals that disperse and freed on their own, intrinsic benefits are paramount to the current maintenance of delayed dispersal. Intrinsic benefits are directly due to living with others and may include enhanced foraging efficienty and redudec susceptibility to predation. However, if individuals that disperse and attempt to breed in high-quality habitat achieve the highest fitness, extrinsic constraints on the ability of offspring to obtain such high-quality breeding opportunities force offspring to either delay dispersal or float. The relevant constraint to independent reproduction has frequently been termed habitat saturation. This concept, of itself, fails to explain the evolution of delayed dispersal. Instead, we propose the delayed-dispersal threshold model as a guide for organizing and evaluating the ecological factors potentially responsible for this phenomenon. We identify five parameters critical to the probability of delayed dispersal: relative population desnity, the fitness differential between early dispersal/breeding and delayed dispersal, the observed or hypothetical fitness of floaters, the distribution of territory quality, and spatiotemporal environmental variability. A key conclusion from the model is that no one factor by itself causes delayed dispersal and cooperative breeding. However, a difference in the dispersal patterns between two closely related species or populations (or between individuals in the same population in different years) may be attributable to one or a small set of factors. Much remains to be done to pinpoint the relative importance of different ecological factors in promoting delayed dispersal. This is underscored by our current inability to explain satisfactory several patterns including the relative significance of flooting, geographic biases in the incidence of cooperative breeding, sexual asymmetries in delayed dispersal, the relationship between delayed dispersal leading to helping behavior and cooperative polygamy, and the rarity of the co-occurrence of helpers and floaters within the same population. Advances in this field remain to be made along several fronts. In particular, we advocate experimental tests of specific ecological factors affecting the parameters of the delayed-dispersal threshold model, studies of noncooperatively breeding taxa focusing on what constraints to independent reproduction exist and why they do not result in delayed dispersal, and studies of intraspecific variation in group size and composition of cooperative breeders in relation to local habitat gradients and patchiness.
Dynamic Verification of Cache Coherence

Proposed is a method for improving the fault tolerance of cache coherent multiprocessors. By dynamically verifying coherence operations in hardware, errors caused by manufacturing faults, soft errors, and design mistakes can be detected. Analogous to the DIVA concept for single-processor systems, a simple version of the protocol functions as a checker for the aggressive implementation. An example implementation is shown, and the overhead is estimated for a small SMP system. This is work in progress, and detailed simulation results are not yet available.
TWO-PRIMARY ALGEBRAIC K-THEORY OF RINGS OF INTEGERS IN NUMBER FIELDS

In the early 1970’s, Lichtenbaum [L1, L2] made several distinct conjectures about the relation between the algebraic K-theory, étale cohomology and zeta function of a totally real number field F . This paper confirms Lichtenbaum’s conjectural connection between the 2-primary K-theory and étale cohomology of F , and (when Gal(F/Q) is Abelian) to the zeta function. Up to a factor of 21 , we obtain the relationship conjectured by Lichtenbaum in [L2, 2.4 and 2.6]. In the special case F = Q, this result was obtained in [W3]. Our methods depend upon the recent spectacular results of Voevodsky [V2], Suslin and Voevodsky [SV], and Bloch and Lichtenbaum [BL]. Together with Appendix B to this paper, they yield a spectral sequence starting with the étale cohomology of any field of characteristic zero and converging to its 2-primary K-theory. For number fields, this is essentially the spectral sequence whose existence was conjectured by Quillen in [Q4]. The main technical difficulties with this spectral sequence, overcome in this paper, are that it does not degenerate at E2 when F has a real embedding, and that it has no known multiplicative structure. To describe our result we introduce some notation. If A is an Abelian group, we let A{2} denote its 2-primary torsion subgroup, and let #A denote its order when A is finite. We write Kn(R) for the nth algebraic K-group of a ring R, and H ét(R;M) for the nth étale cohomology group of Spec(R) with coefficients in M . Theorem 0.1. Let F be a totally real number field, with r1 real embeddings. Let R = OF [ 12 ] denote the ring of 2-integers in F . Then for all even i > 0 21 · #K2i−2(R){2} #K2i−1(R){2} = #H ét(R; Z2(i)) #H1 ét(R; Z2(i)) .
Stigmatizing Materialism: On Stereotypes and Impressions of Materialistic and Experiential Pursuits

Five studies examined the stigmatization of materialism. Participants expressed negative stereotypes of materialistic people, considering them to be more selfish and self-centered than experiential people (Study 1). Participants also viewed materialistic pursuits as more extrinsically motivated than experiential pursuits (Study 2). These stereotypes led respondents from varied demographic backgrounds to form less favorable impressions of individuals who were associated with prototypically materialistic versus experiential purchases, a result that was statistically mediated by impressions that materialistic purchases were more extrinsically motivated (Study 3). These differential impressions are primarily attributable to the denigration of materialistic people rather than the admiration of experiential people (Study 4). The stigmatization of materialism led participants to like less and enjoy interacting less with their conversation partners when discussing materialistic rather than experiential purchases (Study 5). The authors discuss these findings’ implications for self-perception, accurate social perception, and well-being.
They All Look the Same to Me (Unless They're Angry)

People often find it more difficult to distinguish ethnic out-group members compared with ethnic in-group members. A functional approach to social cognition suggests that this bias may be eliminated when out-group members display threatening facial expressions. In the present study, 192 White participants viewed Black and White faces displaying either neutral or angry expressions and later attempted to identify previously seen faces. Recognition accuracy for neutral faces showed the out-group homogeneity bias, but this bias was entirely eliminated for angry Black faces. Indeed, when participants' cognitive processing capacity was constrained, recognition accuracy was greater for angry Black faces than for angry White faces, demonstrating an out-group heterogeneity bias.
Comparison of Corneal Epithelial and Stromal Thickness Distributions between Eyes with Keratoconus and Healthy Eyes with Corneal Astigmatism ≥2.0 D

Purpose To identify corneal epithelial- and stromal-thickness distribution patterns in keratoconus using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Patients and Methods We analyzed SD-OCT findings in 20 confirmed cases of keratoconus (group 1) and in 20 healthy subjects with corneal astigmatism ≥2 D (group 2). Epithelial and stromal thicknesses were measured at 11 strategic locations along the steepest and flattest meridians, previously located by corneal topography. Vertical mirrored symmetry superimposition was used in the statistical analysis. Results The mean maximum keratometry measurements in groups 1 and 2 were 47.9±2.9 D (range, 41.8–52.8) and 45.6±1.1 D (range, 42.3–47.5), respectively, with mean corneal cylinders of 3.3±2.2 D (range, 0.5–9.5) and 3.6±1.2 D (range, 2.0–6.4), respectively. The mean epithelial thickness along the steepest meridian in group 1 was the lowest (37.4±4.4 µm) at 1.2 mm inferotemporally and the highest (59.3±4.4 µm) at 1.4 mm supranasally from the corneal vertex. There was only a small deviation in thickness along the steepest meridian in group 2, as well as along the flattest meridians in both groups. The stromal thickness distribution in the two groups was similar to the epithelial, while the stromal thickness was generally lower in group 1 than in group 2. Conclusions SD-OCT provides details about the distribution of corneal epithelial and stromal thicknesses. The epithelium and stroma in keratoconic eyes were thinner inferotemporally and thicker supranasally compared with control eyes. The distribution pattern was more distinct in epithelium than in stroma. This finding may help improve the early diagnosis of keratoconus. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02023619
CXCR7 Participates in CXCL12-mediated Cell Cycle and Proliferation Regulation in Mouse Neural Progenitor Cells

Background: Cell cycle regulation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) is an essential process for neurogenesis, neural development, and repair after brain trauma. Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1, CXCL12) and its receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7 are well known in regulating the migration and survival of NPCs. The effects of CXCL12 on NPCs proliferation, cell cycle regulation, and their associated signaling pathways remain unclear. Cyclin D1 is a protein required for progression through the G1 phase of the cell cycle and a known downstream target of β-catenin. Therefore, cyclin D1 plays critical roles of cell cycle regulation, proliferation, and survival in NPCs. Methods: Primary mouse NPCs (mNPCs) were derived from brain tissues of wild-type, Cxcr4 knockout, or Cxcr7 knockout mice at mouse embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5). Flow cytometry was used to perform cell cycle analysis by quantitation of DNA content. Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to evaluate mRNA and protein expressions, respectively. Ki67 immunostaining and TUNEL assay were used to assess the proliferation and survival of mNPCs, respectively. Results: CXCL12 pretreatment led to the shortening of G0/G1 phase and lengthening of S phase, suggesting that CXCL12 regulates cell cycle progression in mNPCs. Consistently, CXCL12 treatment increased the expression of CyclinD1 and β-catenin, and promoted proliferation and survival of mNPCs. Cxcr7 knockout of mNPCs blocked CXCL12-mediated mNPCs proliferation, whereas Cxcr4 knockout mNPC did not significantly effect CXCL12- mediated mNPCs proliferation. Conclusion: CXCR7 plays an important role in CXCL12-mediated mNPC cell cycle regulation and proliferation.
Nonadaptive lossy encoding of sparse signals

At high rate, a sparse signal is optimally encoded through an adaptive strategy that finds and encodes the signal’s representation in the sparsity-inducing basis. This thesis examines how much the distortion rate (D(R)) performance of a nonadaptive encoder, one that is not allowed to explicitly specify the sparsity pattern, can approach that of an adaptive encoder. Two methods are studied: first, optimizing the number of nonadaptive measurements that must be encoded and second, using a binned quantization strategy. Both methods are applicable to a setting in which the decoder knows the sparsity basis and the sparsity level. Through small problem size simulations, it is shown that a considerable performance gain can be achieved and that the number of measurements controls a tradeoff between decoding complexity and achievable D(R). Thesis Supervisor: Vivek K Goyal Title: Associate Professor
Adopting Agile Software Development: Issues and Challenges

In the recent few years more and more software development organizations are striving to adopt agile software development methods and techniques. Successful agile adoption leads to producing higher quality software, enhance developers moraland at a lower cost than the traditional water wall model approach. However, Agile adoption always comes with special challenges and accordingly, fundamental organizational changes are necessary for successful outcome. The main contribution of this paper is that we present a case study for agile adoption case in a government entity in the U.A. E and we compare and analyze the outcomesobtained with other published case studies in this domain.
Mixing high performance and portability for the design of active network framework with java

The field of active and programmable networks is rapidly expanding. These networks allow users and network designers to easily deploy new services. Active networks must deal with the need of portability for services to be easily implemented in active routers and the need of high performance design to efficiently transport multimedia streams. While most of proposed systems deal with adaptability, flexibility and new protocols by using JAVA, only few systems focus on high performance. We explore the design of intelligent network by proposing the Tamanoir 1 system, a complete framework dedicated to high performance active networking, which allows users to easily deploy and maintain services on distributed active routers. To guarantee the portability, Tamanoir routers, services and tools are programmed in Java. But, high performance aspects are also taken into account by minimizing JAVA software latency with a compiled approach. First experiments and comparisons with other active networks Java-based systems will show the effectiveness and pertinence of our approach.
The colour¿magnitude relations of ClJ1226.9+3332, a massive cluster of galaxies at z= 0.89

The colour-magnitude relations of one of the most massive (� 10 15 M⊙), high redshift (z = 0.89) clusters of galaxies known have been studied. Photometry has been measured in the V, R, I, z, F606W, F814W, J and K bands to a depth of K � 20.5 = K ∗ + 2.5 and spectroscopy confirms 27 K band selected galaxies as members of the cluster. The V K colours are equivalent to a rest-frame colour of � 2700u J, and provide a very sensitive measure of star-formation activity. Hubble Space Telescope imaging with the Advanced Camera for Surveys has been used to morphologically classify the galaxies. The cluster has a low early-type fraction compared to nearby clusters, with only 33 per cent of the confirmed cluster members having types E or S0. The early-type member galaxies form a clear red-sequence in all colours. The scatter and slope of the relations show no evolution compared to the equivalent Coma cluster relations, suggesting the stellar populations are already very old at z = 0.89. The normalisation of the relations has been compared to models based on synthetic stellar populations, and are most consistent with stellar populations forming at zf � 3. Some galaxies of late-type morphology were found to lie on the red-sequence of the colour-magnitude relation, suggesting that they have very similar stellar populations to the early-type galaxies. These results present a picture of a cluster in which the early-type galaxies are all old, but in which there must be future morphological transformation of galaxies to match the early-type fraction of nearby clusters. In order to preserve the tight colourmagnitude relation of early-types seen in nearby clusters, the late-type galaxies must transform their colours, through the cessation of star-formation, before the morphological transformation occurs. Such evolution is observed in the late-types lying on the colour-magnitude relation.
Honte, a go-playing program using neural nets

The Go-playing program HONTE is described. It uses neural nets together with more conventional AI-methods like alpha-beta search. A neural net is trained by supervised learning to imitate local shapes seen in a database of expert games. A second net is trained to estimate the safety of groups by self play using a modified version of TD(λ)-learning. A third net is trained to estimate territorial potential of unoccupied points, also based on self play and TD(λ)- learning. Although the program has not yet reached the level of the most popular commercial Go-programs, results are encouraging.
dachshund Potentiates Hedgehog Signaling during Drosophila Retinogenesis

Proper organ patterning depends on a tight coordination between cell proliferation and differentiation. The patterning of Drosophila retina occurs both very fast and with high precision. This process is driven by the dynamic changes in signaling activity of the conserved Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, which coordinates cell fate determination, cell cycle and tissue morphogenesis. Here we show that during Drosophila retinogenesis, the retinal determination gene dachshund (dac) is not only a target of the Hh signaling pathway, but is also a modulator of its activity. Using developmental genetics techniques, we demonstrate that dac enhances Hh signaling by promoting the accumulation of the Gli transcription factor Cubitus interruptus (Ci) parallel to or downstream of fused. In the absence of dac, all Hh-mediated events associated to the morphogenetic furrow are delayed. One of the consequences is that, posterior to the furrow, dac- cells cannot activate a Roadkill-Cullin3 negative feedback loop that attenuates Hh signaling and which is necessary for retinal cells to continue normal differentiation. Therefore, dac is part of an essential positive feedback loop in the Hh pathway, guaranteeing the speed and the accuracy of Drosophila retinogenesis.
FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE “ATTITUDES TOWARD RESEARCH” SCALE

SUMMARY Students at the undergraduate level usually tend to view research methods courses negatively. However, an understanding of these attitudes is necessary to help instructors facilitate the learning of research for their students, by enabling them to create more positive attitudes toward such courses. The aim of this study is to describe the development of an “attitudes toward research” scale and verify the dimensions of attitudes toward research among undergraduate students enrolled in introductory research courses. The basic hypothesis of this research study is that the concept of attitudes is multidimensional in nature. The sample of the study consisted of 226 students who had completed a research methods course. Based on a factor analysis, five factors of student attitudes toward research were identified. These were the factors of usefulness of research, anxiety, affect indicating positive feelings about research, life relevancy of research to the students’ daily lives, and difficulty of research.
Design and Analysis of a Zero Collision MAC Protocol

1 Abstract—This paper proposes and analyzes a zero collision MAC protocol that we call ZC. This protocol is a variation of previously proposed protocols that makes ZC particularly suitable for implementation. The variation enables nodes to join and leave the network randomly and it supports applications with very different characteristics. By preventing collisions, the protocol enhances the network throughput and reduces the transmission delays in comparison to the generic exponential backoff algorithm. We also measure the VoIP capacity on top of the IEEE 802.11b PHY/MAC and show that, together with 5 web users, the ZC algorithm can supports 18 VoIP connections while the CSMA network can barely support one VoIP connection.
Incremental Catmull-Clark subdivision

In this paper, a new adaptive method for Catmull-Clark subdivision is introduced. Adaptive subdivision refines specific areas of a model according to user or application needs. Naive adaptive subdivision algorithm changes the connectivity of the mesh, causing geometrical inconsistencies that alter the limit surface. Our method expands the specified region of the mesh such that when it is adaptively subdivided, it produces a smooth surface whose selected area is identical to when the entire mesh is refined. This technique also produces a surface with an increasing level of detail from coarse to fine areas of the surface. We compare our adaptive subdivision with other schemes and present some example applications.
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine/AMP and the bronchodilator response in asthmatic children

Bronchodilator response (BDR) is assessed to estimate the reversibility of airflow obstruction. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is a characteristic feature of asthma and is usually measured by means of bronchial challenges using direct or indirect stimuli. The aim of the present study was to compare BHR to methacholine (direct) and that to adenosine 5’-monophosphate (AMP) (indirect) with regard to their relationships to BDR in asthmatic children. Methacholine and AMP challenge tests were performed on 138 children with mild-to-moderate asthma, and the provocative concentration causing a 20% decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (PC20) was determined for each challenge. BDR was calculated as the change in FEV1, expressed as a percentage of the initial value, after inhalation of 400 &mgr;g salbutamol. Methacholine PC20 correlated significantly but weakly with BDR (r = -0.254; p = 0.003). However, there was a significant and strong correlation between AMP PC20 and BDR (r = -0.489; p = 0.000). For AMP PC20, the relationship was closer than for methacholine PC20 (p = 0.024 for comparison between correlation coefficients). The same figures were observed when BDR was expressed as a percentage of the predicted value. A stronger correlation of BDR with AMP PC20 than with methacholine PC20 suggests that BDR may be better reflected by BHR as assessed by AMP challenge than by methacholine challenge.
Site of opioid action in the human brain: mu and kappa agonists' subjective and cerebral blood flow effects.

OBJECTIVE Humans experience the subjective effects of mu and kappa opioid agonists differently: mu agonists produce mainly euphoria, while kappa agonists are more likely to produce dysphoria. This study tested the hypothesis that these subjective effects would be associated with anatomically distinct changes in regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) relative to baseline as assessed with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). METHOD Nine nondependent opioid abusers participated in the study. In the first phase of the study, the participants were acclimated to effects of the study drugs. In the second phase they underwent repeat challenges with the study drugs followed by an assessment of CBF with use of the SPECT tracer [99mTc]HMPAO. Medications tested were the prototypic mu agonist hydromorphone, the mixed agonist/antagonist butorphanol (which has a kappa agonist component of activity), and saline placebo. RESULTS Subjective effects of the drugs were distinctly different. Hydromorphone produced increased ratings of "good effects," while butorphanol led to more "bad effects. " Hydromorphone significantly increased regional CBF in the anterior cingulate cortex, both amygdalae, and the thalamus--all structures belonging to the limbic system. Butorphanol caused a less distinct picture of regional CBF increases, mainly in the area of both temporal lobes. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that opioids with different subjective effects also produce statistically significant patterns of change in regional CBF from baseline, and the regions of statistical significance appear in different brain regions. In addition, these results demonstrate the applicability of SPECT functional neuroimaging in the study of medications with potential abuse liability.