Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Search for sub-mm, mm and radio continuum emission from extremely red objects

We present the results of sub-mm, mm (850 m, 450 m and 1250 m) and radio (1.4 and 4.8 GHz) continuum observations of a sample of 27 K-selected Extremely Red Objects, or EROs, (14 of which form a complete sample with K 5) aimed at detecting dusty starbursts, deriving the fraction of UltraLuminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIGs) in ERO samples, and constraining their redshifts using the radio-FIR correlation. One ERO was tentatively detected at 1250 m and two were detected at 1.4 GHz, one of which has a less secure identication as an ERO counterpart. Limits on their redshifts and their star forming properties are derived and discussed. We stacked the observations of the undetected objects at 850 m, 1250 ma nd 4.8 GHz in order to search for possible statistical emission from the ERO population as a whole, but no signicant detections were derived either for the whole sample or as a function of the average NIR colours. These results strongly suggest that the dominant population of EROs with K< 20 is not comprised of ULIGs like HR 10, but is probably made of radio-quiet ellipticals and weaker starburst galaxies with L< 10 12 L and SFR < few hundred M yr 1 .
A role for habitat area in the geographic mosaic of coevolution between red crossbills and lodgepole pine

Understanding how resource abundance limits adaptive evolution and influences species interactions is an important step towards developing insight into the role of microevolutionary processes in establishing macroevolutionary patterns. We examined how variation in resource abundance (forest area of lodgepole pine Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia) influenced patterns of co‐adaptation and coevolution between red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra complex) and lodgepole pine populations. First, we found that crossbill abundance increased logarithmically as forest area increased in mountain ranges lacking a preemptive competitor (pine squirrels Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Second, seed defences against predation by crossbills increased with increases in crossbill density, suggesting that seed defences have likely evolved in proportion to the intensity of selection that crossbills exert. Third, the average bill size of crossbill populations increased with increasing seed defences, which implies that crossbill offenses increased with increases in seed defences. The large bill size on the largest range is the result of coevolution with lodgepole pine with this crossbill population perhaps speciating. Local adaptation of crossbill populations on smaller ranges, however, is more likely the result of resident crossbills representing a subset of the potential colonists (phenotypic sorting) than of local evolution. In the smallest range, migration and possibly more frequent extinction likely impede local adaptation and may result in maladaptation.
Agricultural Graduate Students' Attitudes towards Sustainable Agriculture: A Case of Razi University, Iran

This study was conducted to investigate agricultural graduate students' attitudes of Razi University towards sustainable agriculture. The sample included 165 agricultural graduate students using Krejcie and Morgan’s table (1970) for sample size. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.83 for the scales of attitudes which showed a highly satisfactory level of internal consistency. The findings revealed that students had positive attitude toward sustainable agriculture, such as negative effects of conventional agriculture, negative effects of agrochemical on human and animal health and so on. However, there were moderate attitudes towards the effect of mix cropping system on risk management. Respondents were strongly disagreeing regarding to maximize profit as the main objective of farmers. It was found that there is a high positive correlation between agricultural graduate students’ knowledge and attitudes towards sustainable agriculture. The results of this study can provide information of the knowledge and attitudes of agricultural graduate students and thus serve guidance for the future options concerning the development of agricultural graduate course. Finally, the outcome of this study indicates that further agricultural policy education in agricultural higher education system is urgently needed.
Electromagnetic Field Analysis of a Rectangular Aperture Inclined on Open-ended Cavity Fed by Probe

This paper presents the electromagnetic-field analysis of a probe inside rectangular aperture inclined on open-ended cavity. The field characteristics of the rectangular aperture primarily depend on the mode distribution of the electromagnetic field inside the structure. In the design, the aperture cross section should be selected to let only specified mode can be propagated. However, when the probe is contained inside the cavity, the discontinuity inside the cavity is occurred that makes the field distribution to be disturbed. Therefore, the mode distribution becomes complex in the vicinity of the probe. The mode distribution is necessary in order to accomplish the accurate results to find the radiation characteristics. The criteria for the mode distributions are first specified to yield efficient field solution. Subsequently, the finite number of the mode summation is determined to achieve the convergent condition. Furthermore, the radiation characteristics are obtained by using the dyadic Green function. The results from this work are significant to further design of this structure in the microwave and millimeter wave devices.
Essai d’utilisation du «Conversational Analysis Profile for People with Aphasia» (CAPPA)

The Conversational Analysis Profile for People with Aphasia is a good complement to the neuropsychological examination for aphasic patients. We have translated the CAPPA in order to propose it to some French speaking persons. The use of this tool has raised some questions that will be discussed in this paper. After a presentation of the CAPPA, a clinical example will illustrate how the answers of the patient and those of her conversational partner were analysed.
Studies of ribose metabolism. III. The pathway of ribose carbon conversion to glucose in man.

The conversion of ribose carbon to hexose via the reactions of the pentose phosphate pathway has been observed in studies with rat liver homogenates (1), rat liver slices (2), and in the intact mouse (3). Since most of these reactions are reversible (4), they provide mechanisms not only for ribose conversion to hexose, but for ribose synthesis as well. Indeed, recent work has demonstrated that a human carcinoma cell in tissue culture (5) as well as the intact human subject (6) synthesize ribose via this pathway. This report provides further evidence that in man the reactions of this pathway mediate the interconversion of ribose and glucose. D-Ribose specifically labeled with radioactive carbon was given to a patient with inoperable carcinoma. Isotope distribution in glucose subsequently isolated from this patient's blood is consistent with the conversion of ribose carbon to hexose via the pentose phosphate pathway.
The reliability of non-verbal cues for situated reference resolution and their interplay with language: implications for human robot interaction

When uttering referring expressions in situated task descriptions, humans naturally use verbal and non-verbal channels to transmit information to their interlocutor. To develop mechanisms for robot architectures capable of resolving object references in such interaction contexts, we need to better understand the multi-modality of human situated task descriptions. In current computational models, mainly pointing gestures, eye gaze, and objects in the visual field are included as non-verbal cues, if any. We analyse reference resolution to objects in an object manipulation task and find that only up to 50% of all referring expressions to objects can be resolved including language, eye gaze and pointing gestures. Thus, we extract other non-verbal cues necessary for reference resolution to objects, investigate the reliability of the different verbal and non-verbal cues, and formulate lessons for the design of a robot’s natural language understanding capabilities.
Salicylic Acid Regulates Plasmodesmata Closure during Innate Immune Responses in Arabidopsis[C][W]

Coordinated cell-to-cell communication is thought to play a crucial role in deploying effective immune responses both locally and throughout the whole plant system. This work provides insight into how the defense hormone salicylic acid and its signaling pathway regulate intercellular bridges called plasmodesmata. In plants, mounting an effective innate immune strategy against microbial pathogens involves triggering local cell death within infected cells as well as boosting the immunity of the uninfected neighboring and systemically located cells. Although not much is known about this, it is evident that well-coordinated cell–cell signaling is critical in this process to confine infection to local tissue while allowing for the spread of systemic immune signals throughout the whole plant. In support of this notion, direct cell-to-cell communication was recently found to play a crucial role in plant defense. Here, we provide experimental evidence that salicylic acid (SA) is a critical hormonal signal that regulates cell-to-cell permeability during innate immune responses elicited by virulent bacterial infection in Arabidopsis thaliana. We show that direct exogenous application of SA or bacterial infection suppresses cell–cell coupling and that SA pathway mutants are impaired in this response. The SA- or infection-induced suppression of cell–cell coupling requires an ENHANCED DESEASE RESISTANCE1– and NONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES1–dependent SA pathway in conjunction with the regulator of plasmodesmal gating PLASMODESMATA-LOCATED PROTEIN5. We discuss a model wherein the SA signaling pathway and plasmodesmata-mediated cell-to-cell communication converge under an intricate regulatory loop.
Biofilms isolated from washing machines from three continents and their tolerance to a standard detergent

The goal of this comparative study was to investigate biofilm forming microorganisms living in washing machines (WMs). Biofilms were sampled from 11 washing machines from four countries and three continents. Among the 94 isolated strains, 30% were potential human pathogens. Representative strains were selected and biofilm formation was evaluated with the crystal violet (CV) assay. The majority of the WM isolates formed more biofilm than their reference strains. Biofilms of P. putida WM (the largest biofilm producer) were exposed to different concentrations (0.0007–7 g l−1) of the standard detergent IEC-A* at 30°C for 30 min and observed with confocal laser scanning microscopy. Using quantitative CVA, P. putida WM biofilm removal required higher detergent concentrations than the type strain. However, for both strains the recommended detergent concentration (7 g l−1) was insufficient to completely clean surfaces from cell debris and exopolymeric substances.
CPAP titration for sleep apnea using a split-night protocol.

We studied 107 patients with sleep-disordered breathing to confirm the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration using a split-night protocol. Patients spent two consecutive nights in our laboratory with complete polysomnography. On the first night, we applied a split-night protocol; the first half of the night was used as a baseline (B), and after a diagnosis was made, CPAP was applied during the second half of the night (SN). On the second night (2N), patients spent the entire night on CPAP to confirm the effectiveness of CPAP treatment. The SN and 2N both revealed a significant reduction in arousal index (37.8 +/- 27.9 on B, 13.2 +/- 12.1 on SN, 11.4 +/- 8.0 on 2N, values are mean +/- SD, p < 0.001), apnea hypopnea index (AHI) (23.6 +/- 26.3/h on B, 3.0 +/- 3.7/h on SN, 2.4 +/- 2.6/h on 2N, p < 0.001), percent total sleep time below 90% SaO2 (21.0 +/- 27.2% on B, 8.2 +/- 13.8% on SN, 4.9 +/- 10.2% on 2N, p < 0.001), and percent total sleep time below 80% SaO2 (1.1 +/- 3.8% on B, 0.0 +/- 0.1% on SN, 0.1 +/- 0.5% on 2N, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the SN and the 2N for these measurements. Final CPAP pressure was significantly lower at the end of the SN when compared with the 2N (8.8 +/- 2.7 cm H2O on SN, vs 10.3 +/- 2.8 cm H2O on 2N, p < 0.001). When patients were divided into three groups (AHI < 20, n = 69; 20 < AHI < 40, n = 18; AHI > 40, n = 20), the final CPAP pressure was different only in the group with AHI < 20 (8.1 +/- 2.3 cm H2O on SN, 9.6 +/- 2.3 cm H2O on 2N, p < 0.001). We conclude that a split-night protocol may be sufficient to determine the effective CPAP pressure, especially in patients with an AHI > 20.
Hemizygous Le-Cre Transgenic Mice Have Severe Eye Abnormalities on Some Genetic Backgrounds in the Absence of LoxP Sites

Eye phenotypes were investigated in Le-CreTg/−; Pax6fl/+ mice, which were expected to show tissue-specific reduction of Pax6 in surface ectoderm derivatives. To provide a better comparison with our previous studies of Pax6+/− eye phenotypes, hemizygous Le-CreTg/− and heterozygous Pax6fl/+mice were crossed onto the CBA/Ca genetic background. After the Le-Cre transgene had been backcrossed to CBA/Ca for seven generations, significant eye abnormalities occurred in some hemizygous Le-CreTg/−; Pax6+/+ controls (without a floxed Pax6fl allele) as well as experimental Le-CreTg/−; Pax6fl/+ mice. However, no abnormalities were seen in Le-Cre−/−; Pax6fl/+ or Le-Cre−/−; Pax6+/+ controls (without the Le-Cre transgene). The severity and frequency of the eye abnormalities in Le-CreTg/−; Pax6+/+ control mice diminished after backcrossing Le-CreTg/− mice to the original FVB/N strain for two generations, showing that the effect was reversible. This genetic background effect suggests that the eye abnormalities are a consequence of an interaction between the Le-Cre transgene and alleles of unknown modifier genes present in certain genetic backgrounds. The abnormalities were also ameliorated by introducing additional Pax6 gene copies on a CBA/Ca background, suggesting involvement of Pax6 depletion in Le-CreTg/−; Pax6+/+ mice rather than direct action of Cre recombinase on cryptic pseudo-loxP sites. One possibility is that expression of Cre recombinase from the Pax6-Le regulatory sequences in the Le-Cre transgene depletes cofactors required for endogenous Pax6 gene expression. Our observation that eye abnormalities can occur in hemizygous Le-CreTg/−; Pax6+/+ mice, in the absence of a floxed allele, demonstrates the importance of including all the relevant genetic controls in Cre-loxP experiments.
Skeleton-space: a multiscale shape description combining region and boundary information

A multiscale extension to the medial axis transform(MAT) or skeleton can be obtained by combining information derived from a scale-space hierarchy of boundary representations with region information provided by the MAT. The skeleton-space is constructed by attributing each skeleton component with a hierarchically ordered sequence of residual values, each expressing the saliency of the component at a distinct resolution level. Since our method amounts to a rather symbolic than iconic computation of a multiscale MAT, it does not introduce the correspondence problem between distinct levels of detail, in contrast to other commonly proposed techniques. Our multiscale MAT is capable of describing complex shapes characterized by significantly jagged boundaries. Furthermore, tracking the evolution of prominent loci of the MAT such as nodes across scales permits to assess the most significant skeleton constituents and to automatically determine pruning parameters. A salient subset of the MAT (first order skeleton) can be extracted without the need of manual threshold adjustment. <<ETX>>
On second-order sliding mode observers with residuals' projection for switched systems

This paper outlines some results concerning the application of second-order sliding mode techniques to address the problem of simultaneous discrete and continuous state reconstruction for linear autonomous switched systems. A stack of dynamical observers produces suitable residual signals which are used for reconstructing the discrete state and, at the same time, for identifying the unique observer that provides an asymptotically converging estimate of the continuous state. Simple tuning formulas for the suggested schemes are constructively developed along the paper by means of appropriate Lyapunov analysis. The main result and most significant novelty of this work is a projection procedure for deriving residuals characterized by finite-time convergence. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Let's talk about it : factors influencing word-of-mouth content

People talk about things that occur over various time ABSTRACT Online reviews allow consumers to share information about their service experiences with other consumers. Theoretically, sharing this information should reduce market information asymmetries between potential consumers and service providers because many attributes of a service experience cannot be evaluated prior to consumption (i.e., they are credence or experience attributes rather than search attributes; Huang, Lurie, and Mitra 2009). For example, although a consumer might be able to evaluate the prices of entrees (a search attribute) prior to eating at a restaurant, it is very difficult to evaluate their tastiness (an experience attribute) without having con-sumed a meal, and even after eating them, a consumer cannot verify the claim that they are made with organic ingredients (a credence attribute). Because consumers cannot assess the quality of credence attributes, consumer reviews of services that are dominated by cre-118
Improving NAND Flash Based Disk Caches

Flash is a widely used storage device that provides high density and low power, appealing properties for general purpose computing. Today, its usual application is in portable special purpose devices such as MP3 players. In this paper we examine its use in the server domain - a more general purpose environment. Aggressive process scaling and the use of multi-level cells continues to improve density ahead of Moorepsilas Law predictions, making flash even more attractive as a general purpose memory solution. Unfortunately, reliability limits the use of flash. To seriously consider flash in the server domain, architectural support must exist to address this concern. This paper first shows how flash can be used in todaypsilas server platforms as a disk cache. It then proposes two improvements. The first improves performance and reliability by splitting flash based disk caches into separate read and write regions. The second improves reliability by employing a programmable flash memory controller. It can change the error code strength (number of correctable bits) and the number of bits that a memory cell can store (cell density) according to the demands of the application. Our studies show that flash reduces overall power consumed by the system memory and hard disk drive up to 3 times while maintaining performance. We also show that flash lifetime can be improved by a factor of 20 when using a programmable flash memory controller, if some performance degradation (below 5%) is acceptable.
Interventions in Social Networks: Impact on Mood and Network Dynamics

Results from two studies on longitudinal friendship networks are presented, exploring the impact of a gratitude intervention on positive and negative affect dynamics in a social network. The gratitude intervention had been previously shown to increase positive affect and decrease negative affect in an individual but dynamic group effects have not been considered. In the first study, the intervention was administered to the whole network. In the second study, two social networks are considered and in each only a subset of individuals, initially low/high in negative affect respectively received the intervention as "agents of change". Data was analyzed using stochastic actor-based modeling techniques to identify resulting network changes, impact on positive and negative affect and potential contagion of mood within the group. The first study found a group level increase in positive and a decrease in negative affect. Homophily was detected with regard to positive and negative affect but no evidence of contagion was found. The network itself became more volatile along with a fall in rate of change of negative affect. Centrality measures indicated that the best broadcasters were the individuals with the least negative affect levels at the beginning of the study. In the second study, the positive and negative affect levels for the whole group depended on the initial levels of negative affect of the intervention recipients. There was evidence of positive affect contagion in the group where intervention recipients had low initial level of negative affect and contagion in negative affect for the group where recipients had initially high level of negative affect.
Sensory substitution: an approach to the experimental study of perception / Sustitución sensorial: un abordaje para el estudio experimental de la percepción

Abstract Sensory substitution refers to the phenomenon where object and environment information normally acquired through one sense can be obtained by another sense. For example, visual input being provided by hearing or touching. Sensory substitution devices are technological designs that transform the characteristics of one sensory modality into stimuli of another sensory modality. These devices were developed with two purposes: (1) to assist people with sensory disabilities in daily tasks; and (2) to study the involved mechanisms of brain plasticity. This article reviews studies in which sensory substitution phenomenon is employed as a methodological strategy to study visual perception. Furthermore, its use is discussed as an experimental platform to contrast new perceptual theories and underlying neurophysiological mechanisms that are currently under review.
Quality of care at a children's hospital: the parent's perspective.

OBJECTIVES To develop a measure of parental perceptions of pediatric inpatient quality of care, to identify processes of care that influence these perceptions, and to describe these perceptions of care. DESIGN An interdisciplinary team modified an existing measure of inpatient care for adults using focus groups and expert review. The resulting survey was administered by telephone. SETTING Tertiary care pediatric hospital. PATIENTS Trained telephone interviewers obtained reports from parents of children discharged from the hospital during specified months. This report is based on the answers to 122 questions provided by 3622 (77%) of 4724 parents who responded when surveyed from 1991 through 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Parents provided reports about specific clinical experiences, overall ratings of care, and patient demographic and illness characteristics 2 weeks after patient discharge from the hospital. The analysis classified reports about pediatric care as either problems or not problems. Problems in different areas of care were averaged to create scores for the dimensions. RESULTS Parents most often noted problems related to hospital discharge planning (18%) and pain management (18%) and less often reported problems concerning communication about surgery (10%) or transmission of information to children (6%). Problems in communication between clinicians and parents correlated most strongly with overall quality ratings by parents (r=0.59). Parents' specific reports of problems with care accounted for 42% of the variation in their overall assessments of the inpatient care experience. CONCLUSIONS Parental assessment of inpatient pediatric care rests heavily on the quality of communication between the clinician and parent. Specific processes of care strongly influence overall assessments. Such reports could be used to focus the quality-improvement activities of hospitals and increase the accountability of providers of care to children and families.