Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selective Learning and Teaching Among Japanese and German Children

Despite an increasing number of studies demonstrating that young children selectively learn from others, and a few studies of children’s selective teaching, the evidence almost exclusively comes from Western cultures, and cross-cultural comparison in this line of work is very rare. In the present research, we investigated Japanese and German children’s selective learning and teaching abilities. We found clear cultural differences. Japanese children were better at selectively teaching an ignorant person over a knowledgeable person than at selectively learning from knowledgeable others. By contrast, German children were better at choosing to learn from a knowledgeable rather than from an ignorant person than at selectively teaching ignorant others. The present findings suggest that the development of human learning and teaching, especially the tendency to take into account others’ knowledge status, is strongly affected by cultural background.
On the Non-STDP Behavior and Its Remedy in a Floating-Gate Synapse

This brief describes the neuromorphic very large scale integration implementation of a synapse utilizing a single floating-gate (FG) transistor that can be used to store a weight in a nonvolatile manner and demonstrate biological learning rules such as spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). The experimental STDP plot (change in weight against △t = tpost - tpre) of a traditional FG synapse from previous studies shows a depression instead of potentiation at some range of positive values of △t-we call this non-STDP behavior. In this brief, we first analyze theoretically the reason for this anomaly and then present a simple solution based on changing control gate waveforms of the FG device to make the weight change conform closely to biological observations over a wide range of parameters. The experimental results from an FG synapse fabricated in AMS 0.35-μm CMOS process design are also presented to justify the claim. Finally, we present the simulation results of a circuit designed to create the modified gate voltage waveform.
Nanopore sequencing enables near-complete de novo assembly of Saccharomyces cerevisiae reference strain CEN.PK113-7D

The haploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain CEN.PK113-7D is a popular model system for metabolic engineering and systems biology research. Current genome assemblies are based on short-read sequencing data scaffolded based on homology to strain S288C. However, these assemblies contain large sequence gaps, particularly in subtelomeric regions, and the assumption of perfect homology to S288C for scaffolding introduces bias. In this study, we obtained a near-complete genome assembly of CEN.PK113-7D using only Oxford Nanopore Technology’s MinION sequencing platform. 15 of the 16 chromosomes, the mitochondrial genome, and the 2-micron plasmid are assembled in single contigs and all but one chromosome starts or ends in a telomere cap. This improved genome assembly contains 770 Kbp of added sequence containing 248 gene annotations in comparison to the previous assembly of CEN.PK113-7D. Many of these genes encode functions determining fitness in specific growth conditions and are therefore highly relevant for various industrial applications. Furthermore, we discovered a translocation between chromosomes III and VIII which caused misidentification of a MAL locus in the previous CEN.PK113-7D assembly. This study demonstrates the power of long-read sequencing by providing a high-quality reference assembly and annotation of CEN.PK113-7D and places a caveat on assumed genome stability of microorganisms.
Characterization of Fine Metal Particles Derived from Shredded WEEE Using a Hyperspectral Image System: Preliminary Results

Waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the fastest-growing waste stream in Europe. The large amount of electric and electronic products introduced every year in the market makes WEEE disposal a relevant problem. On the other hand, the high abundance of key metals included in WEEE has increased the industrial interest in WEEE recycling. However, the high variability of materials used to produce electric and electronic equipment makes key metals’ recovery a complex task: the separation process requires flexible systems, which are not currently implemented in recycling plants. In this context, hyperspectral sensors and imaging systems represent a suitable technology to improve WEEE recycling rates and the quality of the output products. This work introduces the preliminary tests using a hyperspectral system, integrated in an automatic WEEE recycling pilot plant, for the characterization of mixtures of fine particles derived from WEEE shredding. Several combinations of classification algorithms and techniques for signal enhancement of reflectance spectra were implemented and compared. The methodology introduced in this study has shown characterization accuracies greater than 95%.
Advances in Whole-Body MRI Magnets

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the largest commercial application of superconductivity. MRI is a powerful diagnostic tool that the medical community considers as a procedure of choice for visualization of soft tissue. The recent decade has marked substantial progress in MRI magnets and systems. The 3.0 tesla horizontal field and 1.0 tesla vertical field open whole-body MRI systems have become commercially available. The superconducting magnet is the largest and most expensive component of an MRI system. The magnet configuration is determined by numerous competing requirements including optimized functional performance, patient comfort, ease of siting in a hospital environment, minimum acquisition and lifecycle cost including service. The factors that drive the magnet requirements are increased center field, maximized uniformity volume, minimized field decay and stray field, magnet compactness, long helium refill period, and more. Advances in the cryogenic technology and magnet design practice provide means for improvements in magnet performance while meeting the market requirement for continuous system cost reduction.
Formulation of Instant Soup Mix Powder Using Uncooked Palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) Tuber Flour and Locally Available Vegetables

Vegetable and prawn added soup prepared with palmyrah tuber flour known as ‘Odiyal Kool’ is one of the popular and traditional food of Northern Sri Lankan population. This study was aimed at to develop dehydrated instant soup mix to reduce the difficulty in the preparation of soup. An instant dehydrated vegetable and prawn added soup mix were developed using uncooked palmyrah tuber flour as thickening agent and dried vegetables, salt, spice and tamarind paste as other ingredients. Initially the saponin content of the flour was removed by a pretreatment before adding to the soup. The ingredients such as manioc, long bean, carrot, moringa leaves, onion and garlic were dehydrated in an oven using established procedures. The optimum concentrations of uncooked palmyrah tuber flour, tamarind paste and garlic powder were determined by carrying out preliminary trials using five point hedonic scale sensory evaluation tests. Then optimum amount of prawn powder was incorporated into prawn added soup mix in addition to other ingredients used in the vegetable soup mix using similar trials. Soup mix: water ratio of 1: 12.5 was selected as the most preferable level for the reconstitution of the soup mix. Proximate analysis revealed that the final vegetable and prawn added soup mix respectively contained 3.24 & 4.76 moisture; 1.16 & 1.50 fat; 5.9 & 7.15 protein; 5.58 & 8.66 asH 4.8 & 5.1 fibre; 79.32 & 72.8 carbohydrate; and 5.56 & 6.52 pH. The total plate count of fresh vegetable and prawn added soup mix was 2.1x103 and 2.9 x 103 cfu/g respectively which was within the safe range. The result of the shelf life evaluation studies namely moisture content, sensory evaluation and microbial analysis revealed that both soup mixes could be stored for two months without affecting their quality. The results of the cost of production analysis revealed that the unit price for vegetable and prawn added soup mix were 30.11and 51.06 rupees respectively. Key wordsDehydrated vegetables, Soup mix, Uncooked palmyrah tuber flour Formulation of Instant Soup Mix Powder Using Uncooked Palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) Tuber Flour and Locally Available Vegetables Niththiya, Na*, Vasantharuba, Sa, Subajini Mb and Srivijeindran Sb a Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, Sri Lanka b Palmyrah Research Institute, Jaffna, Sri Lanka *asnina@gmail.com
Semidefinite Programming and Nash Equilibria in Bimatrix Games

We explore the power of semidefinite programming (SDP) for finding additive ɛ-approximate Nash equilibria in bimatrix games. We introduce an SDP relaxation for a quadratic programming formulation of the Nash equilibrium problem and provide a number of valid inequalities to improve the quality of the relaxation. If a rank-1 solution to this SDP is found, then an exact Nash equilibrium can be recovered. We show that, for a strictly competitive game, our SDP is guaranteed to return a rank-1 solution. We propose two algorithms based on the iterative linearization of smooth nonconvex objective functions whose global minima by design coincide with rank-1 solutions. Empirically, we demonstrate that these algorithms often recover solutions of rank at most 2 and ɛ close to zero. Furthermore, we prove that if a rank-2 solution to our SDP is found, then a [Formula: see text]-Nash equilibrium can be recovered for any game, or a [Formula: see text]-Nash equilibrium for a symmetric game. We then show how our SDP approach can address two (NP-hard) problems of economic interest: finding the maximum welfare achievable under any Nash equilibrium, and testing whether there exists a Nash equilibrium where a particular set of strategies is not played. Finally, we show the connection between our SDP and the first level of the Lasserre/sum of squares hierarchy.
Evolution towards symmetry

The dynamics of timedependent evolution towards symmetry in Hamiltonian systems poses a dicult problem as the analysis has to be global in phasespace For one and two degrees of freedom systems this leads to the presence of one respectively two global adiabatic invariants and also the persistence of asymmetric features over a long time
Improving power in small‐sample longitudinal studies when using generalized estimating equations

Generalized estimating equations (GEE) are often used for the marginal analysis of longitudinal data. Although much work has been performed to improve the validity of GEE for the analysis of data arising from small‐sample studies, little attention has been given to power in such settings. Therefore, we propose a valid GEE approach to improve power in small‐sample longitudinal study settings in which the temporal spacing of outcomes is the same for each subject. Specifically, we use a modified empirical sandwich covariance matrix estimator within correlation structure selection criteria and test statistics. Use of this estimator can improve the accuracy of selection criteria and increase the degrees of freedom to be used for inference. The resulting impacts on power are demonstrated via a simulation study and application example. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Humidity‐dependent optical properties of fine particles during the Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational Study

[1] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Park Service (NPS) initiated a comprehensive field experiment called The Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational Study (BRAVO) to investigate the source of visibility-reducing aerosols at Big Bend National Park, Texas. The study was carried out over a period of 4 months starting in the first week of July 1999. One objective of the study was to gain insight into the atmospheric light-scattering properties of ambient aerosols, especially as they relate to their hygroscopicity. This paper will report on comparisons between measured and modeled estimations of dry and ambient scattering and comparisons between measured and modeled ratios of wet and dry scattering, f(RH), as a function of relative humidity (RH). Two equilibrium models, exercised in combination with Mie scattering theory, were used to predict atmospheric aerosol water content and associated increase in atmospheric scattering. Modeled and measured deliquescence and crystallization points were also compared. Measured and modeled deliquescence were always within 10% RH while crystallization RHs were always within a few percentage points. The analysis suggests that on most days some water is retained by the aerosol at low RHs (20–30%) and in most cases the hygroscopic growth of only inorganic salts accounted for all the observed increase in scattering as a function of RH.
Treatment strategies for central nervous system infections: an update

Introduction: Central nervous system infection continues to be an important cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Our incomplete knowledge on the pathogenesis of how meningitis-causing pathogens cause CNS infection and emergence of antimicrobial resistance has contributed to the mortality and morbidity. An early empiric antibiotic treatment is critical for the management of patients with bacterial meningitis, but early recognition of bacterial meningitis continues to be a challenge. Areas covered: This review gives an overview on current therapeutic strategies for CNS infection with a focus on recent literature since 2010 on bacterial meningitis. Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency, requiring early recognition and treatment. The selection of appropriate empiric antimicrobial regimen, after incorporating the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis, impact of vaccination, emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, role of adjunctive therapy and the current knowledge on the pathogenesis of meningitis and associated neuronal injury are covered. Expert opinion: Prompt treatment of bacterial meningitis with an appropriate antibiotic is essential. Optimal antimicrobial treatment of bacterial meningitis requires bactericidal agents able to penetrate the blood–brain barrier, with efficacy in cerebrospinal fluid. Emergence of CNS-infecting pathogens with resistance to conventional antibiotics has been increasingly recognized, but development of new antibiotics has been limited. More complete understanding of the microbial and host factors that are involved in the pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis and associated neurologic sequelae is likely to help in developing new strategies for the prevention and therapy of bacterial meningitis.
A Neurorobotic Experiment for Crossmodal Conflict Resolution in Complex Environments *

Crossmodal conflict resolution is crucial for robot sensorimotor coupling through the interaction with the environment, yielding swift and robust behaviour also in noisy conditions. In this paper, we propose a neurorobotic experiment in which an iCub robot exhibits human-like responses in a complex crossmodal environment. To better understand how humans deal with multisensory conflicts, we conducted a behavioural study exposing 33 subjects to congruent and incongruent dynamic audio-visual cues. In contrast to previous studies using simplified stimuli, we designed a scenario with four animated avatars and observed that the magnitude and extension of the visual bias are related to the semantics embedded in the scene, i.e., visual cues that are congruent with environmental statistics (moving lips and vocalization) induce the strongest bias. We implement a deep learning model that processes stereophonic sound, facial features, and body motion to trigger a discrete behavioural response. After training the model, we exposed the iCub to the same experimental conditions as the human subjects, showing that the robot can replicate similar responses in real time. Our interdisciplinary work provides important insights into how crossmodal conflict resolution can be modelled in robots and introduces future research directions for the efficient combination of sensory observations with internally generated knowledge and expectations.
The Case for Junk DNA

The search for function in the genome It has been known for several decades that only a small fraction of the human genome is made up of protein-coding sequences and that at least some noncoding DNA has important biological functions. In addition to coding exons, the genome contains sequences that are transcribed into functional RNA molecules (e.g., tRNA, rRNA, and snRNA), regulatory regions that control gene expression (e.g., promoters, silencers, and enhancers), origins of replication, and repeats that play structural roles at the chromosomal level (e.g., telomeres and centromeres). New discoveries regarding potentially important sequences amongst the nonprotein-coding majority of the genome are becoming more prevalent. By far the best-known effort to identify functional regions in the human genome is the recently completed Encyclopaedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project [1], whose authors made the remarkable claim that a “biochemical function” could be assigned to 80% of the human genome [2]. Reports that ENCODE had refuted the existence of large amounts of junk DNA in the human genome received considerable media attention [3], [4]. Criticisms that these claims were based on an extremely loose definition of “function” soon followed [5]–[8] (for a discussion of the relevant function concepts, see [9]), and debate continues regarding the most appropriate interpretation of the ENCODE results. Nevertheless, the excitement and subsequent backlash served to illustrate the widespread interest among scientists and nonspecialists in determining how much of the human genome is functionally significant at the organism level.
Atomic structure of dislocations in silicon, germanium and diamond

Abstract Atomic structures of perfect (90° and 60°) and partial (90°) dislocations including total and core energies have been calculated using four different interatomic potentials in silicon, germanium and diamond. The core energies of dislocations do not scale with the magnitudes of Burgers vectors associated with them. However, the energies of dislocations in the elastic region are found to be directly proportional to the square of the Burgers vector, as predicted by the theory of elasticity. The Stillinger-Weber (SW) and TersofT(T) potentials are more suitable for calculating the core structures with large distortions including the dangling bonds such as found in 60° dislocations. In the absence of dangling bonds, the core energies are highest for Keating (K) potentials, followed by T, SW and Baraff-Kane-Schluter (B) potentials (Si). The core energies calculated using B potentials are considerably lower as a result of much lower values for the bond-bending parameter. As an example, the core energies .
Prognostic role of high B7-H4 expression in patients with solid tumors: a meta-analysis

Background Recently, many studies have shown that B7-H4 exhibits altered expression in various cancers. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic role of B7-H4 expression in solid tumors. Results Data from 18 observational studies and 2467 patients were summarized. An elevated baseline B7-H4 was significantly associated with worse OS (pooled HR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.56–2.06). Differences across subgroups of tumor type, patients' ethnicity, analysis type, HR obtain method and cut-off value were not significant (PD = 0.313, PD = 0.716, PD = 0.896, PD = 0.290 and PD = 0.153, respectively). Furthermore, patients with high B7-H4 had a significantly shorter DFS (pooled HR = 2.12; 95%CI = 1.45–3.09). Materials and Methods We searched PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library (last update by November 26, 2015) to identify studies assessing the effect of B7-H4 on survival of cancer patients. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were estimated using fixed-effects models and random-effects models respectively. Conclusions This meta-analysis clarified that high B7-H4 expression in tissue was significantly associated with poor survival in patients with solid tumors. Future clinical studies are warranted to determine whether B7-H4 blockade has a favorable effect on disease recurrence and mortality.
Comparison of caffeine disposition following administration by oral solution (energy drink) and inspired powder (AeroShot) in human subjects

AIMS To determine the disposition and effects of caffeine after administration using a new dosage form (AeroShot) that delivers caffeine by inspiration of a fine powder into the oral cavity and compare it to an equivalent dose of an oral solution (energy drink) as the reference standard. METHODS Healthy human subjects (n = 17) inspired a 100 mg caffeine dose using the AeroShot device or consumed an energy drink on separate study days. Heart rate, blood pressure and subject assessments of effects were measured over an 8-h period. Plasma concentrations of caffeine and its major metabolites were determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Pharmacokinetic, cardiovascular and perceived stimulant effects were compared between AeroShot and energy drink phases using a paired t test and standard bioequivalency analysis. RESULTS Caffeine disposition was similar after caffeine administration by the AeroShot device and energy drink: peak plasma concentration 1790 and 1939 ng ml-1 , and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) 15 579 and 17 569 ng ml-1 × h, respectively, but they were not bioequivalent: AeroShot AUC of 80.3% (confidence interval 71.2-104.7%) and peak plasma concentration of 86.3% (confidence interval 62.8-102.8%) compared to the energy drink. Female subjects did have a significantly larger AUC compared to males after consumption of the energy drink. The heart rate and blood pressure were not significantly affected by the 100 mg caffeine dose, and there were no consistently perceived stimulant effects by the subjects using visual analogue scales. CONCLUSION Inspiration of caffeine as a fine powder using the AeroShot device produces a similar caffeine profile and effects compared to administration of an oral solution (energy drink).