Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on the Mechanism of N2O Emission from Biological Nitrogen Removal Process: The Use of Inhibitors

Batch Experiments with the combination use of inhibitors were conducted to identify the mechanism of N2O emission from anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactors (SBR) acclimated under different oxygenation levels. Oxygenation has an important effect on the N2O emission and most of the N2O was produced during the aerobic phase, in spite of the oxygenation level. During the anoxic phase, nitrate ammonification was the major producer of N2O while denitrification performed as a sink of N2O. During the aerobic phase, both nitrifier denitrification and coupled nitrification-denitrification were responsible for N2O emission in SBR with low and high oxygenation, while nitrifier denitrification was the major source of N2O emission in SBR with mid oxygenation.
Optimistic Consistency with Version Vector Weighted Voting

Mobile and loosely-coupled environments call for decentralized optimistic replication protocols that provide highly available access to shared objects. A fundamental property of most optimistic protocols is to guarantee an eventual consensus on a commit order among the set of tentatively issued updates. In this paper we propose a replicated object protocol that employs a novel epidemic weighted voting algorithm based on version vectors for achieving such goal. An epidemic voting strategy eliminates the single point of failure of primary commit approaches, while not imposing the simultaneous accessibility of a plurality quorum. Our protocol introduces a significant optimization over basic epidemic weighted voting solutions by allowing multiple-update candidates through the use of version vectors. As a result, it is able to commit multiple, causally related updates at a single distributed election round. We demonstrate that our proposed algorithm is especially advantageous when considering realistic, non-uniform update models. We support such assumptions by presenting comparison results obtained from side-by-side execution of reference protocols in a simulated environment.
Textisms, texting and spelling in Spanish

This study examines undergraduates’ perception of usage in smartphone text message and their relationship with the process of learning Spanish spelling. The aim is to establish whether subjects who have become competent language users in a digital environment accept the use of textisms and whether these textisms are perceived differently depending on their phonetic, lexical, and multimodal features. A total of 388 undergraduates from the Faculty of Education Science of the University of Seville participated in a non-experimental study of a descriptive type based on surveys. The data showed that both standard Spanish writing and digital usage coexisted harmoniously in participants’ texts. However, a clear difference was established between textisms that modified Spanish writing rules and those that incorporated new elements not included in standard writing. Whereas textisms which modified the relationship between phonemes and graphemes were considered a challenge to standard writing as well as to academic literacy among young students (12–16), lexical textisms, emoticons, images, and videos were not considered harmful to standard Spanish. The study suggested that evolution of the writing rules set by the Spanish Academy could be influenced by the digital writing habits of young students.
Developmental Differences in the Structure of Executive Function in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

Although it has been argued that the structure of executive function (EF) may change developmentally, there is little empirical research to examine this view in middle childhood and adolescence. The main objective of this study was to examine developmental changes in the component structure of EF in a large sample (N = 457) of 7–15 year olds. Participants completed batteries of tasks that measured three components of EF: updating working memory (UWM), inhibition, and shifting. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test five alternative models in 7–9 year olds, 10–12 year olds, and 13–15 year olds. The results of CFA showed that a single-factor EF model best explained EF performance in 7–9-year-old and 10–12-year-old groups, namely unitary EF, though this single factor explained different amounts of variance at these two ages. In contrast, a three-factor model that included UWM, inhibition, and shifting best accounted for the data from 13–15 year olds, namely diverse EF. In sum, during middle childhood, putative measures of UWM, inhibition, and shifting may rely on similar underlying cognitive processes. Importantly, our findings suggest that developmental dissociations in these three EF components do not emerge until children transition into adolescence. These findings provided empirical evidence for the development of EF structure which progressed from unity to diversity during middle childhood and adolescence.
Online Help Seeking in Emerging Adults: The Role of Attachment Style, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Disclosure

There is minimal research investigating the role of the Internet and computer-mediated technology in help seeking among emerging adults. The purpose of this study was to explore how and from whom emerging adults seek help online for their emotional and personal problems. In particular, the study examined the relations between attachment with intentions and behaviours of seeking help online, as well as from informal and formal sources of support. Three-hundred and fifty-four undergraduate university students (17 to 25 years of age) completed an online survey of questionnaires assessing their attachment style in close relationships, difficulties in emotion regulation, tendency to self-disclose distress to others, and help-seeking intentions and behaviours online and from informal (e.g., parents and friends) and formal sources of support (e.g., social workers and psychologists). Results showed that approximately 95% of the sample sought help for an emotional or personal problem by using online computer-mediated technology, in some capacity, over the past four weeks. Higher levels of attachment avoidance were significantly associated with lower intentions to seek help online by way of directly messaging close others (e.g., via text message), posting to large audiences (e.g., on social networking sites), and searching for and reading information relevant to the problem, as well as with engaging in fewer help-seeking behaviours of directly messaging close others. Similarly, greater attachment avoidance was significantly related to lower intentions to seek help from informal and formal sources of support, as well as to engaging in fewer help-seeking behaviours from informal and formal sources. Conversely, higher levels of attachment anxiety were significantly associated with greater intentions to seek help online by way of posting to anonymous sources of support and searching for and reading information, as well as with engaging in more online helpseeking behaviours of searching for and reading information pertaining to the problem. Greater attachment anxiety was significantly related to lower intentions to seek help from informal sources, but also to engaging in a greater number of help-seeking behaviours from professional sources. A series of significant mediation analyses revealed that higher levels of attachment avoidance predicted greater difficulties in emotional awareness, which in turn, predicted lower intentions (directly messaging close others and searching for/reading information) and fewer behaviours (directly messaging close others) of seeking help online. In contrast, higher levels of attachment anxiety predicted greater difficulties with access to effective emotion regulation strategies, which in turn, predicted a greater number of online help-seeking behaviours (searching for/reading information). Yet, higher levels of attachment anxiety predicted lower tendencies to disclose distress to others, which in turn, predicted lower intentions to seek help from informal sources. Similarly, higher levels of…
Self‐organizing nonlinear output (SONO): A neural network suitable for cloud patch–based rainfall estimation at small scales

Accurate measurement of rainfall distribution at various spatial and temporal scales is crucial for hydrological modeling and water resources management. In the literature of satellite rainfall estimation, many efforts have been made to calibrate a statistical relationship (including threshold, linear, or nonlinear) between cloud infrared (IR) brightness temperatures and surface rain rates (RR). In this study, an automated neural network for cloud patch–based rainfall estimation, entitled self‐organizing nonlinear output (SONO) model, is developed to account for the high variability of cloud‐rainfall processes at geostationary scales (i.e., 4 km and every 30 min). Instead of calibrating only one IR‐RR function for all clouds the SONO classifies varied cloud patches into different clusters and then searches a nonlinear IR‐RR mapping function for each cluster. This designed feature enables SONO to generate various rain rates at a given brightness temperature and variable rain/no‐rain IR thresholds for different cloud types, which overcomes the one‐to‐one mapping limitation of a single statistical IR‐RR function for the full spectrum of cloud‐rainfall conditions. In addition, the computational and modeling strengths of neural network enable SONO to cope with the nonlinearity of cloud‐rainfall relationships by fusing multisource data sets. Evaluated at various temporal and spatial scales, SONO shows improvements of estimation accuracy, both in rain intensity and in detection of rain/no‐rain pixels. Further examination of the SONO adaptability demonstrates its potentiality as an operational satellite rainfall estimation system that uses the passive microwave rainfall observations from low‐orbiting satellites to adjust the IR‐based rainfall estimates at the resolution of geostationary satellites.
THE WHITE DWARF IN EM CYGNI: BEYOND THE VEIL

We present a spectral analysis of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spectra of the eclipsing double-line spectroscopic binary EM Cygni (EM Cyg), a Z Cam DN system. The FUSE spectrum, obtained in quiescence, consists of four individual exposures (orbits): two exposures, at orbital phases ϕ ∼ 0.65 and ϕ ∼ 0.90, have a lower flux; and two exposures, at orbital phases ϕ = 0.15 and 0.45, have a relatively higher flux. The change of flux level as a function of the orbital phase is consistent with the stream material (flowing over and below the disk from the hot spot region to smaller radii) partially masking the white dwarf. We carry out a spectral analysis of the FUSE data, obtained at phase 0.45 (when the flux is maximal), using synthetic spectra generated with the codes TLUSTY and SYNSPEC. Using a single white dwarf spectral component, we obtain a white dwarf temperature of 40, 000 K ± 1000 K, rotating at 100 km s−1. The white dwarf, or conceivably, the material overflowing the disk rim, shows suprasolar abundances of silicon, sulphur, and possibly nitrogen. Using a white dwarf+disk composite model, we obtain that the white dwarf temperature could be even as high as 50,000 K, contributing more than 90% of the FUV flux, and the disk contributing less than 10% must have a mass accretion rate reaching 10−10 M☉ yr−1. The single white dwarf model fits the absorption lines better than the white dwarf+disk model, but the white dwarf+disk model fits better the continuum in the shorter wavelengths. In both cases, however, we obtain that the white dwarf temperature is much higher than previously estimated. We emphasize the importance of modeling the spectra of EM Cyg around phase ϕ < 0.5, when the white dwarf and disk are facing the observer, and we suggest that the discrepancy between the present analysis and previous spectral analysis might be due to the occulting effect of the stream veiling the white dwarf and disk.
The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol

This study tests the effect of multilingualism and language contact on consonant perception. Here, we explore the emergence of phonological stratification using two alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification task experiments to test listener perception of stop voicing with contrasting minimal pairs modified along a 10-step continuum. We examine a unique language ecology consisting of three languages spoken in Northern Territory, Australia: Roper Kriol (an English-lexifier creole language), Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Gurindji Kriol (a mixed language derived from Gurindji and Kriol). In addition, this study focuses on three distinct age groups: children (group I, 8>), preteens to middle-aged adults (group II, 10-58), and older adults (group III, 65+). Results reveal that both Kriol and Gurindji Kriol listeners in group II contrast the labial series [p] and [b]. Contrarily, while alveolar [t] and velar [k] were consistently identifiable by the majority of participants (74%), their voiced counterparts ([d] and [g]) showed random response patterns by 61% of the participants. Responses to the voiced stimuli from the preteen-adult Kriol group were, however, significantly more consistent than in the Gurindji Kriol group, suggesting Kriol listeners may be further along in acquiring the voicing contrast. Significant results regarding listener exposure to Standard English in both language groups also suggests constant exposure to English maybe a catalyst for setting this change in motion. The more varied responses from the Gurindji, Kriol, and Gurindji Kriol listeners in groups II and III, who have little exposure to English, help support these findings.
The TP53 fertility network

The TP53 gene, first described in 1979, was identified as a tumor suppressor gene in 1989, when it became clear that its product, the p53 nuclear phosphoprotein, was frequently inactivated in many different forms of cancers. Nicknamed “guardian of the genome”, TP53 occupies a central node in stress response networks. The p53 protein has a key role as transcription factor in limiting oncogenesis through several growth suppressive functions, such as initiating apoptosis, senescence, or cell cycle arrest. The p53 protein is directly inactivated in about 50% of all tumors as a result of somatic gene mutations or deletions, and over 80% of tumors demonstrate dysfunctional p53 signaling. Beyond the undeniable importance of p53 as a tumor suppressor, an increasing number of new functions for p53 have been reported, including its ability to regulate energy metabolism, to control autophagy, and to participate in various aspects of differentiation and development. Recently, studies on genetic variations in TP53 among different populations have led to the notion that the p53 protein might play an important role in regulating fertility. This review summarizes current knowledge on the basic functions of different genes of the TP53 family and TP53 pathway with respect to fertility. We also provide original analyses based on genomic and genotype databases, providing further insights into the possible roles of the TP53 pathway in human reproduction.
Beat-Event Detection in Action Movie Franchises

While important advances were recently made towards temporally localizing and recognizing specific human actions or activities in videos, efficient detection and classification of long video chunks belonging to semantically defined categories such as “pursuit” or “romance” remains challenging. We introduce a new dataset, Action Movie Franchises, consisting of a collection of Hollywood action movie franchises. We define 11 non-exclusive semantic categories — called beat-categories — that are broad enough to cover most of the movie footage. The corresponding beat-events are annotated as groups of video shots, possibly overlapping. We propose an approach for localizing beat-events based on classifying shots into beat-categories and learning the temporal constraints between shots. We show that temporal constraints significantly improve the classification performance. We set up an evaluation protocol for beat-event localization as well as for shot classification, depending on whether movies from the same franchise are present or not in the training data.
The role of face in a Chinese context of trust and trust building

The role of cultural factors in influencing the maintenance and/or enhancement of trust between two individuals acting as a dyad has received little research attention in trust and trust building. We discuss how a selected culture-specific factor (face) plays an influencing, if not imperative, role in trust and trust building in a Chinese context. We suggest that the preservation and/or enhancement of face acts as an indispensable factor to maintain and/or build trust in a Chinese context. We discuss the implications of our concept and offer suggestions for further research.
Towards The Inductive Acquisition of Temporal Knowledge

The ability to predict the future in a given domain can be acquired by discovering empirically from experience certain temporal patterns that tend to repeat unerringly. Previous works in time series analysis allow one to make quantitative predictions on the likely values of certain linear variables. Since certain types of knowledge are better expressed in symbolic forms, making qualitative predictions based on symbolic representations require a different approach. A domain independent methodology called TIM (Time based Inductive Machine) for discovering potentially uncertain temporal patterns from real time observations using the technique of inductive inference is described here.
Examining phonological processing in the healthy and damaged brain

In this thesis I explore the neural signature of different types of speech sound processing, in the healthy brain and after damage through stroke. The first two Experiments applied a newly developed fMRI language paradigm in healthy controls to study phonological retrieval from speech, orthography and semantics. This showed that there are at least two types of phonological processing that can be dissociated on a neuronal level. Bilateral superior temporal gyri were associated with processing auditory (phonological) representations of speech, consistent with the notion of input to phonology. In contrast, left putamen and precentral cortex/pars opercularis were associated with pre-articulatory activity, and thus with outputs from phonology. The validation of the results in a separate, larger sample increased confidence that these findings are robust rather than false positives. Experiment 3 was concerned with examining the role of a “key player” in phonological processing, which revealed that different parts of the supramarginal gyrus differ in their response profile during a set of language tasks. This is in accordance with cytoarchitectural and connectivity studies demonstrating the structural variability of the region, and has implications for prior imaging studies considering the supramarginal gyrus as a uniform entity in the phonological network. The final experiment revealed that the loss of supramarginal gyrus through stroke has inconsistent effects on language abilities, possibly due to other brain regions or white matter tracts that were damaged in some patients but not in others. It also showed that additional brain regions were recruited in patients compared to controls, which might reflect compensatory brain activation that supports recovery. Taken together, this work proposes a new way of interpreting phonological effects, in particular within the supramarginal gyrus, and new insights into how the brain supports phonological processing after stroke-induced damage.
High unexpected genetic diversity of a narrow endemic terrestrial mollusc

The Iberian Peninsula has an extensive record of species displaying strong genetic structure as a result of their survival in isolated pockets throughout the Pleistocene ice ages. We used mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data to analyze phylogeographic patterns in endemic land snails from a valley of central Portugal (Vale da Couda), putatively assigned to Candidula coudensis, that show an exceptionally narrow distributional range. The genetic survey presented here shows the existence of five main mitochondrial lineages in Vale da Couda that do not cluster together suggesting independent evolutionary histories. Our results also indicate a departure from the expectation that species with restricted distributions have low genetic variability. The putative past and contemporary models of geographic distribution of Vale da Couda lineages are compatible with a scenario of species co-existence in more southern locations during the last glacial maximum (LGM) followed by a post-LGM northern dispersal tracking the species optimal thermal, humidity and soil physical conditions.
Role of Self-Compassion on College Students’ Social Self-Evaluations and Affect Across Two Domains

Students regularly engage in self-evaluations by comparing their performance to their peers’ performance (Strickhouser & Zell, 2015), which may influence their feelings about themselves and willingness to persist in college. Because failure is a natural component of learning, it is important to examine how to promote students’ development when performance is weak relative to their peers. The current study examined if self-compassion moderates the impact of social comparisons on students’ self-evaluations and affect across two domains relevant to college life: academic and interpersonal competence. Students (N = 245) completed a test of academic or interpersonal skills and then received either no feedback or false feedback reporting their performance as below average, average, or above average relative to peers. Participants then completed measures of self-evaluation, affect, and self-compassion. In the academic, F(4,103) = 9.20, p < . 001, R2 = . 26, p < . 001, and interpersonal, F(4,105) = 14.88, p < . 001, R2 = . 36, p < . 001, domains, participants reported more negative affect (but not self-evaluations) when performance was below average compared to average, above average, or when no feedback was given. Self-compassion was associated with more positive affect, βs > . 25, p < . 001, and less negative affect, βs < -. 28, p < . 001, in both domains, with the impact of self-compassion in the interpersonal domain particularly important for positive affect, F(7, 102) = 13.74, ΔR2 = . 15, p < . 001, when performance was average or above average. Increasing students’ self-compassion shows potential for shaping their reactions to social comparisons. Open Materials badge earned for transparent research practices. Materials are available at https://osf.io/cjuzf/