Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards Flexible Teamwork

Many AI researchers are today striving to build agent teams for complex, dynamic multi-agent domains, with intended applications in arenas such as education, training, entertainment, information integration, and collective robotics. Unfortunately, uncertainties in these complex, dynamic domains obstruct coherent teamwork. In particular, team members often encounter differing, incomplete, and possibly inconsistent views of their environment. Furthermore, team members can unexpectedly fail in fulfilling responsibilities or discover unexpected opportunities. Highly flexible coordination and communication is key in addressing such uncertainties. Simply fitting individual agents with precomputed coordination plans will not do, for their inflexibility can cause severe failures in teamwork, and their domain-specificity hinders reusability. Our central hypothesis is that the key to such flexibility and reusability is providing agents with general models of teamwork. Agents exploit such models to autonomously reason about coordination and communication, providing requisite flexibility. Furthermore, the models enable reuse across domains, both saving implementation effort and enforcing consistency. This article presents one general, implemented model of teamwork, called STEAM. The basic building block of teamwork in STEAM is joint intentions (Cohen & Levesque, 1991b); teamwork in STEAM is based on agents' building up a (partial) hierarchy of joint intentions (this hierarchy is seen to parallel Grosz & Kraus's partial Shared-Plans, 1996). Furthermore, in STEAM, team members monitor the team's and individual members' performance, reorganizing the team as necessary. Finally, decision-theoretic communication selectivity in STEAM ensures reduction in communication overheads of teamwork, with appropriate sensitivity to the environmental conditions. This article describes STEAM's application in three different complex domains, and presents detailed empirical results.
Adaptive Temporal Integration of Motion in Direction-Selective Neurons in Macaque Visual Cortex

Direction-selective neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) and the extrastriate motion area MT/V5 constitute a critical channel that links early cortical mechanisms of spatiotemporal integration to downstream signals that underlie motion perception. We studied how temporal integration in direction-selective cells depends on speed, spatial frequency (SF), and contrast using randomly moving sinusoidal gratings and spike-triggered average (STA) analysis. The window of temporal integration revealed by the STAs varied substantially with stimulus parameters, extending farther back in time for slow motion, high SF, and low contrast. At low speeds and high SF, STA peaks were larger, indicating that a single spike often conveyed more information about the stimulus under conditions in which the mean firing rate was very low. The observed trends were similar in V1 and MT and offer a physiological correlate for a large body of psychophysical data on temporal integration. We applied the same visual stimuli to a model of motion detection based on oriented linear filters (a motion energy model) that incorporated an integrate-and-fire mechanism and found that it did not account for the neuronal data. Our results show that cortical motion processing in V1 and in MT is highly nonlinear and stimulus dependent. They cast considerable doubt on the ability of simple oriented filter models to account for the output of direction-selective neurons in a general manner. Finally, they suggest that spike rate tuning functions may miss important aspects of the neural coding of motion for stimulus conditions that evoke low firing rates.
BODY IMAGE, HOPELESSNESS AND PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS IN LOWER LIMB AMPUTEES

SUMMARY A sample of lower limb amputees and equal number of matched surgical controls was studied on body image, hopelessness and personality dimensions using Fisher's Body Distortion Questionnaire (BDQ). Beck's Hopelessness Scale and Hindi PEN Inventory. Amputees had significantly higher mean scores on body distortion (x 27.86), hopelessness (x 14.08) and neuroticism (x 9.30) as compared to surgical controls. Furthermore they had significantly lesser scores on extraversion (x 11.26) in comparison to their surgical counterparts. No significant differences were found on psychoticism in the two groups. Psychological aspects of amputation have not received much attention. By and large, amputees are believed to have more difficulty in dealing with people than things. It is the loss of ability to relate psychologically, socially, sexually and vocationally that inhibits the amputees most.
Transcriptional Responses of Bacillus cereus towards Challenges with the Polysaccharide

The antibacterial activity of the polysaccharide chitosan towards different bacterial species has been extensively documented. The response mechanisms of bacteria exposed to this biopolymer and the exact molecular mechanism of action, however, have hardly been investigated. This paper reports the transcriptome profiling using DNA microarrays of the type-strain of Bacillus cereus (ATCC 14579) exposed to subinhibitory concentrations of two water-soluble chitosan preparations with defined chemical characteristics (molecular weight and degree of acetylation (F A )). The expression of 104 genes was significantly altered upon chitosan A (weight average molecular weight (M w ) 36.0 kDa, F A = 0.01) exposure and 55 genes when treated with chitosan B (M w 28.4 kDa, F A =0.16). Several of these genes are involved in ion transport, especially potassium influx (BC0753-BC0756). Upregulation of a potassium transporting system coincides with previous studies showing a permeabilizing effect on bacterial cells of this polymer with subsequent loss of potassium. Quantitative PCR confirmed the upregulation of the BC0753 gene encoding the K + -transporting ATPase subunit A. A markerless gene replacement method was used to construct a mutant strain deficient of genes encoding an ATP-driven K + transport system (Kdp) and the KdpD sensor protein. Growth of this mutant strain in potassium limiting conditions and under salt stress did not affect the growth pattern or growth yield compared to the wild-type strain. The necessity of the Kdp system for potassium acquisition in B. cereus is therefore questionable. Genes involved in the metabolism of arginine, proline and other cellular constituents, in addition to genes involved in the gluconeogenesis, were also significantly affected. BC2798 encoding a chitin binding protein was significantly downregulated due to chitosan exposure. This study provides insight into the response mechanisms of B. cereus to chitosan treatment and the significance of the Kdp system in potassium influx under challenging conditions. no patents and no products developed). This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Durability of the Bond between CFRP Plates and Concrete Exposed to Harsh Environments

AbstractStrengthening and retrofitting structural members using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials has gained wide acceptance in the civil engineering community because of their superior mechanical properties, light weight, corrosion resistance, and ease of use. Numerous structural reinforced concrete (RC) members have been strengthened with externally-bonded CFRP plates using epoxy adhesives that produce an increase in their load-carrying capacities. However, there are some uncertainties regarding the durability of the bond between the concrete and FRP interfaces when subjected to severe environmental exposure. Most strengthening applications are exposed to outdoor conditions and hence durability under aggressive environments must be considered. This is the subject of this investigation. Several CFRP-concrete prisms have been subjected to several sets of environmental exposure conditions and preloaded with 3 and 5 kN of sustained loading, amounting to approximately 15 and 25% of ultimate lo.
Measuring Mindfulness: Pilot Studies with the Swedish Versions of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills

The present article describes data from pilot studies with the Swedish versions of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS). The MAAS and two of the KIMS scales, Act with Awareness and Accept without Judgment, were found to correlate in the predicted direction with measures of well‐being and emotional distress. The KIMS scales Observe and Describe showed more ambiguous results, possibly because these two scales measure a mixture of two opposite kinds of processes: healthy self‐observation (“experiential self‐focus”) and unhealthy rumination (“analytical self‐focus”). The KIMS was also used in an uncontrolled study with participants in an educational programme for close relatives of persons with borderline personality disorder, Family Connections (FC), which includes components of mindfulness training. The FC participants were found to (a) score lower than a comparison group on Act with Awareness and Accept without Judgment before treatment and (b) show significantly increased scores on Accept without Judgment after treatment.
A Theory for the Indian Ocean Dipole–Zonal Mode*

Abstract Four fundamental differences of air–sea interactions between the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans are identified based on observational analyses and physical reasoning. The first difference is represented by the strong contrast of a zonal cloud–SST phase relationship between the warm and cool oceans. The in-phase cloud–SST relationship in the warm oceans leads to a strong negative feedback, while a significant phase difference in the cold tongue leads to a much weaker thermodynamic damping. The second difference arises from the reversal of the basic-state zonal wind and the tilting of the ocean thermocline, which leads to distinctive effects of ocean waves. The third difference lies in the existence of the Asian monsoon and its interaction with the adjacent oceans. The fourth difference is that the southeast Indian Ocean is a region where a positive atmosphere–ocean thermodynamic feedback exists in boreal summer. A conceptual coupled atmosphere–ocean model was constructed aimed to understand th.
SHOULDER PAIN IN ELITE SWIMMERS

Much research has investigated shoulder pain which inhibits the performance of elite swimmers. An ever increasing understanding of the epidemiology and aetiology of what has been termed 'swimmer's shoulder' has enabled better treatment, rehabilitation and prevention programs to be implemented. This paper reviews the current research relevant to 'swimmer's shoulder' and the methods of treatment being employed to treat the problem.
Polarization Dependence of the Cr3+ R‐Line Fluorescence from Sapphire and Its Application to Crystal Orientation and Piezospectroscopic Measurement

The room-temperature polarization characteristics of the ruby R lines have been studied by monitoring the fluorescence intensity as a function of excitation direction relative to the crystallographic axes of the ruby crystal. The R lines are strongly polarized in the basal plane but have no preferred vibration direction within the basal plane. However, the degree of polarization, P, of the R1 and R2 lines is not the same, being PR1=87% and PR2=62%. The phenomenon is explained in terms of the absorption anisotropy and the probability of spontaneous emission. The findings provide the basis for a high-spatial-resolution spectrophotometric method to determine the optical c-axis of chromium-doped Al2O3 crystals using the angular dependence of the intensity ratio of the R2 line to the R1 line. The application to the orientation determination of sapphire fibers embedded in composites and the corresponding residual stress components are discussed together with the possibility of measuring the texture in the Al2O3 polycrystalline thin films such as oxidation scales. Furthermore, the consequences of polarization orientation on piezospectroscopic measurements are discussed.
Managing Consumer Privacy Concerns in Personalization: A Strategic Analysis of Privacy Protection

Advances in information technology and e-commerce enable firms to make personalized offers to individual consumers based on information about the consumers. However, the collection and use of private information have caused serious concerns about privacy invasion by consumers, creating a personalization ᾢ privacy tradeoff. The key approach to address privacy concerns is via the protection of privacy through the implementation of fair information practices, a set of standards governing the collection and use of personal information. In this paper, we take a game-theoretic approach to explore the motivation of firms for privacy protection and its impact on competition and social welfare in the context of product and price personalization. We find that privacy protection can work as a competition-mitigating mechanism by generating asymmetry in the consumer segments to which firms offer personalization, enhancing the profit extraction abilities of the firms. In equilibrium, both symmetric and asymmetric choices of privacy protection by the firms can result, depending on the size of the personalization scope and the investment cost of protection. Further, as consumers become more concerned about their privacy, it is more likely that all firms adopt privacy protection. In the perspective of welfare, we show that autonomous choices of privacy protection by personalizing firms can improve social welfare at the expense of consumer welfare. We further find that regulation enforcing the implementation of fair information practices can be efficient from the social welfare perspective mainly by limiting the incentives of the firms to exploit the competition-mitigation effect.
Please Scroll down for Article Social Neuroscience the Roles of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Striatum in Reputation Processing the Roles of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Striatum in Reputation Processing

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. How we are viewed by other individuals*our reputation*has a considerable influence on our everyday behaviors and is considered an important concept in explaining altruism, a uniquely human trait. Previously it has been proposed that processing one's own reputation requires a reputation representation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and a value representation in the striatum. Here, we directly tested this idea using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects disclosed their behavioral tendencies with reference to social norms in the presence or absence of other people, a manipulation that is known to greatly affect an individual's concern for their reputation. The mPFC showed strong activation during self-referential processing, and this activity was enhanced by the mere presence of observers. Moreover, the striatum was also strongly activated when subjects responded in front of observers. Thus, the present study demonstrated that the mPFC and striatum were automatically recruited when the task placed a high demand on processing how one is viewed by others. Taken together, our findings suggest that the mPFC and the striatum play a key role in regulating human social behaviors, and these results provide valuable insight into the neural basis of human altruism.
Nested polymerase chain reaction for high-sensitivity detection of enteroviral RNA in biological samples

A method based on nested polymerase chain reaction was developed for the detection of enteroviral genomes in biological samples. By taking advantage of the conserved 5' noncoding region of the enteroviral RNA, two sets of primers were utilized, enabling the detection either of a broad range of enteroviruses or of group B coxsackieviruses only. The sensitivity of the method is close to the detection of single molecules of viral RNA in as much as 1 mg of tissue sample. A preliminary study showed the usefulness of this technique for the analysis of endomyocardial biopsy samples from patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and myocarditis.
High-velocity impacts in porous solar system materials

High-velocity impacts on planetary surfaces are common events in the solar system. The conse-quences of such impacts depend, in part, on the properties of the target solar system body, such as surface strength, porosity and gravity. Bodies in the solar system exhibit a range of material properties, hence it is difficult to specify a general material model. Experimental investigations of impacts onto solar system sur- faces often use sand as an analogue material and hydrocode simulations of impact often assume a sand-like equation of state (EoS) and strength model, which is valid only for a limited range of porosities. To simu- late impact on smaller bodies in the solar system, such as asteroids, comets or smaller planetary satellites, requires a more appropriate material model. We compare iSALE-2D hydrocode simulations of impacts in porous granular materials with results from laboratory impact experiments made by [1] to test and refine a general-purpose material model applicable for a wide range of porous.
The Relationship Between Psychological and Somatoform Dissociation in the General Population

We assessed psychological and somatoform dissociation and their relationships in the general population. The study questionnaires included the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, and background characteristics. Four study groups were formed: subjects with low dissociation scores (N = 1334), with high psychological dissociation (N = 93), with high somatoform dissociation (N = 93), and with high psychological and somatoform dissociation (N = 65). Those with high psychological and somatoform dissociation differed clearly from the other groups. They had depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, a reduced working ability, a poor financial situation, poor general health, and inadequate social support more frequently than subjects in the other groups. Thus, a considerable amount of ill health was recorded in this group.
Alterations of cell volume regulation in the development of hepatocyte necrosis.

Intracellular Na+ accumulation has been shown to contribute to hepatocyte death caused by anoxia or oxidative stress. In this study we have investigated the mechanism by which Na+ overload can contribute to the development of cytotoxicity. ATP depletion in isolated hepatocytes exposed to menadione-induced oxidative stress or to KCN was followed by Na+ accumulation, loss of intracellular K+, and cell swelling. Hepatocyte swelling occurred in two phases: a small amplitude swelling (about 15% of the initial size) with preservation of plasma membrane integrity and a terminal large amplitude swelling associated with cell death. Inhibition of Na+ accumulation by the use of a Na+-free medium prevented K+ loss, cell swelling, and cytotoxicity. Conversely, blocking K+ efflux by the addition of BaCl2 did not influence Na+ increase and small amplitude swelling, but greatly stimulated large amplitude swelling and cytotoxicity. Menadione or KCN killing of hepatocytes was also enhanced by inducing cell swelling in an hypotonic medium. However, increasing the osmolarity of the incubation medium did not protect against large amplitude swelling and cytotoxicity, since stimulated Na+ accumulation and K+ efflux. Altogether these results indicate that the impairment of volume regulation in response to the osmotic load caused by Na+ accumulation is critical for the development of cell necrosis induced by mitochondrial inhibition or oxidative stress.
Activation of RNase L by Murine Coronavirus in Myeloid Cells Is Dependent on Basal Oas Gene Expression and Independent of Virus-Induced Interferon

ABSTRACT The oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS)-RNase L pathway is a potent interferon (IFN)-induced antiviral activity. Upon sensing double-stranded RNA, OAS produces 2′,5′-oligoadenylates (2-5A), which activate RNase L. Murine coronavirus (mouse hepatitis virus [MHV]) nonstructural protein 2 (ns2) is a 2′,5′-phosphodiesterase (PDE) that cleaves 2-5A, thereby antagonizing RNase L activation. PDE activity is required for robust replication in myeloid cells, as a mutant of MHV (ns2H126R) encoding an inactive PDE fails to antagonize RNase L activation and replicates poorly in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM), while ns2H126R replicates to high titer in several types of nonmyeloid cells, as well as in IFN receptor-deficient (Ifnar1 −/−) BMM. We reported previously that myeloid cells express significantly higher basal levels of OAS transcripts than nonmyeloid cells. Here, we investigated the contributions of Oas gene expression, basal IFN signaling, and virus-induced IFN to RNase L activation. Infection with ns2H126R activated RNase L in Ifih1 −/− BMM to a similar extent as in wild-type (WT) BMM, despite the lack of IFN induction in the absence of MDA5 expression. However, ns2H126R failed to induce RNase L activation in BMM treated with IFNAR1-blocking antibody, as well as in Ifnar1 −/− BMM, both expressing low basal levels of Oas genes. Thus, activation of RNase L does not require virus-induced IFN but rather correlates with adequate levels of basal Oas gene expression, maintained by basal IFN signaling. Finally, overexpression of RNase L is not sufficient to compensate for inadequate basal OAS levels. IMPORTANCE The oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS)-RNase L pathway is a potent antiviral activity. Activation of RNase L during murine coronavirus (mouse hepatitis virus [MHV]) infection of myeloid cells correlates with high basal Oas gene expression and is independent of virus-induced interferon secretion. Thus, our data suggest that cells with high basal Oas gene expression levels can activate RNase L and thereby inhibit virus replication early in infection upon exposure to viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) before the induction of interferon and prior to transcription of interferon-stimulated antiviral genes. These findings challenge the notion that activation of the OAS-RNase L pathway requires virus to induce type I IFN, which in turn upregulates OAS gene expression, as well as to provide dsRNA to activate OAS. Our data further suggest that myeloid cells may serve as sentinels to restrict viral replication, thus protecting other cell types from infection.