Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From foraging to autonoetic consciousness: The primal self as a consequence of embodied prospective foraging

The capacity to adapt to resource distributions by modulating the frequency of exploratory and exploitative behaviors is common across metazoans and is arguably a principal selective force in the evolution of cognition. Here we (1) review recent work investigating behavioral and biological commonalities between external foraging in space and internal foraging over envi- ronments specified by cognitive representations, and (2) explore the implications of these commonalities for understanding the origins of the self. Behavioural commonalities include the capacity for what is known as area-restricted search in the ecological literature: this is search focussed around locations where resources have been found in the past, but moving away from locations where few resources are found, and capable of producing movement patterns mimicking Levy flights. Area-restricted search shares a neural basis across metazoans, and these biological commonalities in vertebrates suggest an evolutionary homology be- tween external and internal foraging. Internal foraging, and in particular a form we call embodied prospective foraging, makes available additional capacities for prediction based on search through a cognitive representation of the external environment, and allows predictions about outcomes of possible future actions. We demonstrate that cognitive systems that use embodied prospec- tive foraging require a primitive sense of self, needed to distinguish actual from simulated action. This relationship has implica- tions for understanding the evolution of autonoetic consciousness and self-awareness (Current Zoology 61 (2): 368-381, 2015). Keywords Self-projection, Mental time travel, Episodic future thinking, Foraging, Consciousness
Impact of groundwater level on the mechanical response of a flexible pavement structure: a case study at the Torpsbruk test section along county road 126 using Falling Weight Deflectometer

Excess moisture presence in pavement unbound layers can result in lower structural stiffness and reduce the service life of road systems. A field study was conducted along the county road 126 near Torpsbruk to investigate the effect of the moisture content on the bearing capacity of a flexible pavement structure and its unbound layers stiffness. The subsurface drainage system of the test road was clogged during a three-month period in summer 2010, raising the groundwater level under pavement structure and therefore increasing the moisture content of the pavement unbound layers. During this period, the groundwater level and the volumetric moisture content of the pavement was continuously monitored using the instrumentations at test site and the structural response of the pavement was evaluated by conducting frequent Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) tests with multilevel loads. Using the FWD data, the unbound layers stiffness were back-calculated and their sensitivity to the moisture content and load level were studied. The field measurements showed that the groundwater level can significantly affect the moisture condition of the unbound layers and therefore their stiffness. Both the unbound granular layer and the subgrade showed stress dependent behavior to multilevel FWD loads.
Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

evaluation of therapy leave much to be desired, and any results from these trials are worthless. I am at a loss, therefore, to know why this book was published. It contains no new data, and several of the reports claim that immunosuppressive therapy is of benefit in the progressive form of the disease while others find benefit only in patients with a relapsing course. This hotchpotch of clinical trials, some of them not even completed and some lacking suitable controls, cannot be recommended.
Polypyrrole/barium titanate/poly(acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate)–deposited cotton fabrics: Electromagnetic shielding

In this study, polypyrrole was deposited separately on barium titanate, barium titanate-poly (acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate) nanocomposite-coated textile fabrics by an in-situ chemical polymerization process. Electromagnetic shielding effectiveness, electrical conductivity, chemical structure, and morphology of fabrics were fully characterized and systematically studied for investigation of individual effects of barium titanate, pyrrole polymer, and barium titanate-poly (acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate) on obtained fabrics’ conductivity and shielding behaviour. Electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of the fabrics was determined according to the ASTM D4935-10 protocol, by using a coaxial transmission line measurement technique in the frequency range of 15–3000 MHz. Electrical characteristics were measured by the two-end method. Electromagnetic shielding effectiveness data suggested that polypyrrole-coated fabrics had better electromagnetic shielding effectiveness than polypyrrole-barium titanate and barium titanate-poly (acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate)-coated fabrics. On the other hand, conductivity increased due to the interaction between polypyrrole and barium titanate-poly (acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate), with fabric conductivity values also increased with the use of barium titanate. Spectroscopic characterizations of coated fabrics were determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Analyses demonstrated that there is a strong interaction between cotton and polypyrrole and barium titanate, and also with poly (acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate)-barium titanate. Morphological characterizations of the coated fabrics were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Colour measurements of fabric samples were performed for determination of colour intensity as a function of polymerization efficiency.
Microstructure and morphology of surface oxide films on Ti–6A1–4V

The microstructure of anodic oxide films grown on Ti–6A1–4V in H_2SO_4 was investigated by SEM, TEM, STEM, EDX, and AES, as a complement to a recent surface spectroscopic investigation of the same oxides by XPS, AES, and SIMS. The anodic oxide films are heterogeneous and the texture reflects the duplex microstructure (α and β phases) of the underlying metal. Porous oxide regions are observed with different appearances on α-phase and mixed-phase regions. The oxide films are essentially amorphous in the investigated thickness range 60–300 nm (in contrast to as-grown anodic films on pure Ti), but crystallize to the anatase structure upon annealing. Considerable lateral variation of the V content in the oxide is observed, reflecting the corresponding variation in the underlying metal. The results are compared with a previous, similar investigation of anodic oxides on pure Ti.
Incremental Learning-to-Learn with Statistical Guarantees

In learning-to-learn the goal is to infer a learning algorithm that works well on a class of tasks sampled from an unknown meta distribution. In contrast to previous work on batch learning-to-learn, we consider a scenario where tasks are presented sequentially and the algorithm needs to adapt incrementally to improve its performance on future tasks. Key to this setting is for the algorithm to rapidly incorporate new observations into the model as they arrive, without keeping them in memory. We focus on the case where the underlying algorithm is ridge regression parameterized by a positive semidefinite matrix. We propose to learn this matrix by applying a stochastic strategy to minimize the empirical error incurred by ridge regression on future tasks sampled from the meta distribution. We study the statistical properties of the proposed algorithm and prove non-asymptotic bounds on its excess transfer risk, that is, the generalization performance on new tasks from the same meta distribution. We compare our online learning-to-learn approach with a state of the art batch method, both theoretically and empirically.
Preparation and characterisation of TIG-alloyed hybrid composite coatings for high-temperature tribological applications

There is an increasing interest in the tribology community for developing high-performance composite coatings to meet severe tribological conditions in advanced mechanical systems which require high operating temperature and long life. In the present work, powder preplacement and tungsten inert gas (TIG) torch melting techniques have been employed to generate titanium carbide (TiC)-based composite coatings containing hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) or Ni–P coated hBN (Ni–P-hBN) lubricant additive. The effects of preplaced powder composition on the cross-sectional microstructures and surface hardnesses of the developed coatings were analysed. Furthermore, the friction and wear behaviours of the composite coatings at 600°C were evaluated using a Ducom ball-on-disc wear test rig. The results indicate that the TIG-melted surface containing TiC and Ni–P-hBN powder mixtures exhibits optimum properties combining good control of microstructures and uniformly distributed hardness as well as excellent tribological properties due to the enhanced wettability action of Ni–P encapsulated hBN particles.
Mask estimation for missing data speech recognition based on statistics of binaural interaction

This paper describes a perceptually motivated computational auditory scene analysis (CASA) system that combines sound separation according to spatial location with the "missing data" approach for robust speech recognition in noise. Missing data time-frequency masks are created using probability distributions based on estimates of interaural time and level differences (ITD and ILD) for mixed utterances in reverberated conditions; these masks indicate which regions of the spectrum constitute reliable evidence of the target speech signal. A number of experiments compare the relative efficacy of the binaural cues when used individually and in combination. We also investigate the ability of the system to generalize to acoustic conditions not encountered during training. Performance on a continuous digit recognition task using this method is found to be good, even in a particularly challenging environment with three concurrent male talkers.
Distributed Multi-Representative Re-Fusion Approach for Heterogeneous Sensing Data Collection

A multi-representative re-fusion (MRRF) approximate data collection approach is proposed in which multiple nodes with similar readings form a data coverage set (DCS). The reading value of the DCS is represented by an R-node. The set near the Sink is smaller, while the set far from the Sink is larger, which can reduce the energy consumption in hotspot areas. Then, a distributed data-aggregation strategy is proposed that can re-fuse the value of R-nodes that are far from each other but have similar readings. Both comprehensive theoretical and experimental results indicate that the MRRF approach increases lifetime and energy efficiency.
Integrated DNA methylation analysis identifies topographical and tumoral biomarkers in pilocytic astrocytomas

Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is the most common glioma in pediatric patients and occurs in different locations. Chromosomal alterations are mostly located at chromosome 7q34 comprising the BRAF oncogene with consequent activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Although genetic and epigenetic alterations characterizing PA from different localizations have been reported, the role of epigenetic alterations in PA development is still not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether distinctive methylation patterns may define biologically relevant groups of PAs. Integrated DNA methylation analysis was performed on 20 PAs and 4 normal brain samples by Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation27 BeadChips. We identified distinct methylation profiles characterizing PAs from different locations (infratentorial vs supratentorial) and tumors with onset before and after 3 years of age. These results suggest that PA may be related to the specific brain site where the tumor arises from region-specific cells of origin. We identified and validated in silico the methylation alterations of some CpG islands. Furthermore, we evaluated the expression levels of selected differentially methylated genes and identified two biomarkers, one, IRX2, related to the tumor localization and the other, TOX2, as tumoral biomarker.
Age‐related change of hepatic uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase and sulfotransferase activities in male chickens and pigs

The hepatic activities of uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) and sulfotransferase (SULT) of male Ross 708 broiler chickens at the age of 1, 7, 14, 28, and 56 days and male Camborough-29 pigs at the age of 1 day and 2, 5, 10, and 20 weeks were investigated. Glucuronidation and sulfation of 4-nitrophenol were used to evaluate the activities. Porcine hepatic UGT and SULT activities were low at birth, peaked at around 5-10 weeks, and then declined. Both hepatic UGT and SULT activities of chickens were high at hatch and declined. Chicken hepatic UGT activity had a peak at the age of 28 days. Affinity of hepatic SULT to 4-nitrophenol is similar in chickens and pigs, but the affinity of hepatic UGT in pigs was about 10 times higher than that in chickens. 4-nitrophenol was predominantly conjugated by SULT instead of UGT in chicken livers from hatch to day 56. Conversely, hepatic UGT contributed predominantly in 4-nitrophenol conjugation than the SULT in pigs from birth to 20 weeks. Therefore, age has significant impact on hepatic activities of UGT and SULT, and the importance of UGT and SULT on conjugation is different in chickens and pigs.
Glutamic acid decarboxylase isoform 65 immunoreactivity in the motor thalamus of humans and monkeys: γ‐aminobutyric acidergic connections and nuclear delineations

The neurotransmitter γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) plays an important role in the motor thalamic nuclei. This report analyzes the distribution of the GABA‐producing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase isoform 65 (GAD65), stained with monoclonal antibody, in human and rhesus monkey thalami and compares it with staining patterns of some widely used cytoskeletal and calcium binding protein markers. GAD65 immunoreactivity distinctly labeled two systems: fibers and terminals of basal ganglia thalamic afferents and local circuit neurons, revealing fine features of GABAergic circuitry in the human thalamus. Gross distribution patterns of GAD65 were identical in human and rhesus monkey thalami. The area displaying specific staining of large‐caliber beaded fibers coincided with nigro‐ and pallidothalamic afferent territories previously identified in monkeys with anterograde tracers. Accordingly, a similarly stained region in the human thalamus was considered basal ganglia territory. Except for cytoarchitecture, no specific markers differentiating between the nigro‐ and pallidothalamic projection zones within this territory were found. GAD65 staining in the cerebellar afferent territory reflected organization of its local circuit neuron network, distinguishing it from adjacent nuclei. Specific GAD65 staining pattern and negative calcium binding protein immunoreactivity identify the cerebellar afferent territory in humans. It is subdivided further into ventral and dorsal regions based on the cytoskeletal protein SMI31 staining pattern. The nuclear outlines revised according to the results are compared with those of Hassler (Schaltenbrand G and Bailey P [1959] Einfuhrung in die stereotaktishen Operationen mit einem Atlas des menschlichen Gehirns, vol 3. Stuttgart: Thieme) and discussed in light of the ongoing controversy regarding delineations of the motor thalamic nuclei in humans. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:2811–2837, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effective Stiffness of Reinforced Concrete Columns

This study uses the experimental response of 329 concrete columns to assess existing and proposed models of the effective stiffness of reinforced concrete columns subjected to lateral loads. Existing models appropriate for design applications are shown to overestimate the measured effective stiffness and are unacceptably inaccurate, because they generally neglect the influence of anchorage slip on the effective stiffness of the column. Based on simplifications of a three-component model, a new procedure is proposed that explicitly accounts for deformations due to flexure, shear, and anchorage-slip. The new procedure is shown to provide a more accurate estimate of the measured effective stiffness for the database columns. For this model, the ratio of the measured stiffness to the calculated stiffness had a mean and coefficient of variation of 1.02 and 22% for circular columns and 0.95 and 25% for rectangular columns. The proposed procedure is more accurate and rational than existing models, and could easily be incorporated into design provisions for concrete structures.
Relationship between muscle performance and DXA-derived bone parameters in community-dwelling older adults

Objectives: To examine association between muscle strength, jump test performance, muscle mass, bone mineral density (BMD), and bone strength in older adults. Methods: Sixty individuals (55-75 years) participated. Leg press strength and bilateral hip abduction strength were evaluated by one repetition-maximum testing. Jump power (JPow) and jump height (JHt) were assessed by jump test performance. Relative skeletal muscle mass index (RSMI), total hip BMD, femoral neck BMD, lumbar spine BMD, section modulus (Z), cross-sectional moment of inertia (CSMI), and bone strength index (BSI) were determined by DXA. Results: After adjusting for age and gender, leg press strength 1) positively correlated with the total hip BMD, femoral neck BMD, and Z (all P<0.05). Also, leg press strength predicted the total hip BMD (P=0.013) and femoral neck BMD (P=0.021), after adjusting for age, gender, and RSMI. No associations were found between jump test performance and bone density or strength. Conclusion: Leg press strength is positively associated with bone density and bone strength in older population. It might serve as an additional tool to identify at-risk individuals for osteoporosis.
Determinants of intention to use an online bill payment system among MBA students

This study investigates and examines the intention to use an online bill payment among part time MBA students in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang. A research framework based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) and Social Cognitive Theory is developed and modified in order to identify factors that would determine and influence the intention to use an online bill payment system. A survey involving a total of 120 university part time MBA students was conducted. The results reveal that perceived ease of use and perceived usefullness are the significant drivers of intention to use the online bill payment system. Subjective norm, image, result demonstrability and perceived ease of use were also found to be the key determinants of perceived usefulness whereas perceived risk was found to be negatively related to usefulness. This is very important as many researchers have shown that perceived usefulness is the most crucial factor in the decision to adopt and continue using a given technology. Computer self-efficacy plays a significant role in influencing the perceived ease of use of the online bill payment system.
Mathematical modeling ultra premium efficiency (IE5 class) PM assisted synchronous reluctance motor with ferrite magnets

This paper describes the mathematical modeling and developing of the synchronous reluctance motor with ferrite magnets in the rotor design (PM assisted SynRM, PMaSynRM). The mathematical model allows calculating the mechanical power and estimating the winding and core losses, the torque ripple and the flux ripple. The calculation results are considered in the paper. It is shown that adding cheap ferrite magnets significantly increase the quality of the motor. Calculated value of the motor efficiency exceeds the IE5 efficiency level according to new standard IEC 60034-30-2 “Rotating electrical machines — Part 30-2: Efficiency classes of variable speed AC motors (IE-code)”.
Polystyrene composites with very high carbon nanotubes loadings by in situ grafting polymerization

We introduce a novel method for producing polystyrene (PS)-grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which provides a direct route to composites where carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the major component. Infrared and Raman spectroscopies confirmed that the MWCNTs were functionalized with PS. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that CNTs increase thermal stability of the composite up to a critical loading (∼40 wt%) beyond which high nanotube loadings decrease the polymer degradation temperature, as a consequence of the thermal properties of CNTs and the composite morphology. Even at loadings as high as 80 wt% MWCNTs, the composite is an effective masterbatch material for both solution- and melt-processing. These results show that in situ polymerizations can be flexible and robust techniques for nanocomposite processing, overcoming limitations of conventional processing techniques to produce nanocomposites with very high nanotube loadings, not achieved hitherto.
Effect of different levels of nitrogen on the economic yield of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety Aas-11

The present study was planned to determine the effect of different levels of Nitrogen on the economic yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety Aas-11. Thus, an experiment was carried out in the research area of Regional Agriculture Research Institute Bahawalpur (RARI) during 2013-14 to test the effect of various Nitrogen levels on the yield and yield component of wheat. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. Nitrogen levels i.e, 0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 kg/ha were tested in this study. The results revealed that 120 and 150 kg/ha levels of nitrogen fertilizer significantly increased the fertile tillers, plant height, spike length, number of spikelet per spike, number of grains per spike, 1000 grain weight, grain yield per plot and grain yield kg/ha. The application of nitrogen fertilizer was found to be most effective for enhancing the quantitative and qualitative growth of wheat.
Improving satellite‐driven PM2.5 models with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer fire counts in the southeastern U.S.

Multiple studies have developed surface PM2.5 (particle size less than 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter) prediction models using satellite‐derived aerosol optical depth as the primary predictor and meteorological and land use variables as secondary variables. To our knowledge, satellite‐retrieved fire information has not been used for PM2.5 concentration prediction in statistical models. Fire data could be a useful predictor since fires are significant contributors of PM2.5. In this paper, we examined whether remotely sensed fire count data could improve PM2.5 prediction accuracy in the southeastern U.S. in a spatial statistical model setting. A sensitivity analysis showed that when the radius of the buffer zone centered at each PM2.5 monitoring site reached 75 km, fire count data generally have the greatest predictive power of PM2.5 across the models considered. Cross validation (CV) generated an R2 of 0.69, a mean prediction error of 2.75 µg/m3, and root‐mean‐square prediction errors (RMSPEs) of 4.29 µg/m3, indicating a good fit between the dependent and predictor variables. A comparison showed that the prediction accuracy was improved more substantially from the nonfire model to the fire model at sites with higher fire counts. With increasing fire counts, CV RMSPE decreased by values up to 1.5 µg/m3, exhibiting a maximum improvement of 13.4% in prediction accuracy. Fire count data were shown to have better performance in southern Georgia and in the spring season due to higher fire occurrence. Our findings indicate that fire count data provide a measurable improvement in PM2.5 concentration estimation, especially in areas and seasons prone to fire events.