Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Essay on Understanding the Mind

Several conjectures by A. S. Iberall on life and mind are used as a backdrop to sketch a theory of mental activity that respects both the contents of thought and the dynamics of thinking. The dynamics, in this case, refers fundamentally to animated, meaningfully coupled self-organizing processes (coordination dynamics) and exhibit multistability, switching, and, because of symmetry breaking, metastability. The interplay of 2 simultaneously acting forces underlies the metastable mind: the tendency for the coordinating elements to couple together (integration) and the tendency for the elements to express their individual autonomy (segregation). Metrics for metastability are introduced that enable these cooperative and competitive tendencies to be quantified. Whereas bistability is the basis for polarized, either/or thinking, the metastable régime—which contains neither stable nor unstable states, no states at all, in fact—gives rise to a far more fluid, complementary mode of operation in which it is possible for apparent contraries to coexist in the mind at the same time.
Determinants of classroom engagement: a prospective test based on self-determination theory

ABSTRACT This research has a dual purpose: to translate into Spanish and validate a classroom engagement measure and, over a semester, to analyse the effect of students’ perception of autonomy support on the need for autonomy and the effect of autonomy, in turn, on four types of engagement. Data were collected at three time points from 448 undergraduate students via a longitudinal design. The results revealed adequate psychometric properties for the engagement scale, and the hypothesised effects were supported. Autonomy support was a significant predictor of the need for autonomy, which, in turn, predicted changes in four types of classroom engagement. Emotional engagement displayed the strongest relationship with need for autonomy. Moreover, need for autonomy mediated the relationship between perceived autonomy support and each indicator of student engagement. The findings are interpreted as supporting self-determination theory’s motivation mediation model and could be considered in future intervention programmes to improve the teaching–learning process in education.
Small RNA Profiles of the Rice PTGMS Line Wuxiang S Reveal miRNAs Involved in Fertility Transition

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in the regulation of plant growth and developmental processes. In this study, RNA-seq was used to examine the expression profiles of miRNAs in a novel, photo-thermosensitive genic male sterile (PTGMS) rice line, Wuxiang S (WXS), during fertility transition. A total of 497 known miRNAs and 273 novel miRNAs were identified. In a differential expression analysis, 26 miRNAs exhibited significant differential expression between WXS (Sterile, S) and WXS (Fertile, F). Some of these miRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time PCR. Among these miRNAs, 11 showed decreased expression levels, and 15 showed increased expression levels in WXS (S) compared to WXS (F). Some of these miRNAs, such as osa-miR156a-j, osa-miR164d, and osa-miR528, were shown to be negatively correlated with their targets. These targets have previously been reported to be related to pollen development and male sterility, suggesting that these miRNAs may be involved in the regulation of pollen development in the rice PTGMS line WXS. Furthermore, miRNA-mediated editing events were also observed. In this study, a possible model for the control of signaling pathways during the process of fertility transition in the rice PTGMS line WXS by miRNAs was developed. These findings contribute to our understanding of the roles of miRNAs during anther development in PTGMS lines in rice.
Variational Lossy Autoencoder

Representation learning seeks to expose certain aspects of observed data in a learned representation that's amenable to downstream tasks like classification. For instance, a good representation for 2D images might be one that describes only global structure and discards information about detailed texture. In this paper, we present a simple but principled method to learn such global representations by combining Variational Autoencoder (VAE) with neural autoregressive models such as RNN, MADE and PixelRNN/CNN. Our proposed VAE model allows us to have control over what the global latent code can learn and , by designing the architecture accordingly, we can force the global latent code to discard irrelevant information such as texture in 2D images, and hence the VAE only "autoencodes" data in a lossy fashion. In addition, by leveraging autoregressive models as both prior distribution $p(z)$ and decoding distribution $p(x|z)$, we can greatly improve generative modeling performance of VAEs, achieving new state-of-the-art results on MNIST, OMNIGLOT and Caltech-101 Silhouettes density estimation tasks.
MIXED PERCOLATION AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN SITE AND BOND PERCOLATION

By using mixed percolation as a bridge between site and bond percolation, we derive a new inequality between the critical points of these processes that is optimal in a certain sense. We also extend a result on the crossover exponent of bond-diluted Potts models to site-diluted Potts models. Some newresults about the critical line in mixed percolation are also proved. 1. Introduction. Bond and site percolation are similar processes in various respects, and it is easy to overlook their differences and miss the fact that their comparison may sometimes be interesting and challenging. The issues addressed in this paper include a nontrivial relationship between the critical points of these two processes and a nontrivial extension to the site percolation setting of a result on diluted Potts models that was only available in the bond percolation setting. For these purposes, we study mixed site–bond percolation, which can be seen as a smooth bridge between site and bond percolation. As a by-product of our approach, we also derive some new results on the critical line in mixed percolation.
The Herschel Reference Survey

The Herschel Reference Survey is a Herschel guaranteed time key project and will be a benchmark study of dust in the nearby universe. The survey will complement a number of other Herschel key projects including large cosmological surveys that trace dust in the distant universe. We will use Herschel to produce images of a statistically-complete sample of 323 galaxies at 250, 350, and 500 μm. The sample is volume-limited, containing sources with distances between 15 and 25 Mpc and flux limits in the K band to minimize the selection effects associated with dust and with young high-mass stars and to introduce a selection in stellar mass. The sample spans the whole range of morphological types (ellipticals to late-type spirals) and environments (from the field to the center of the Virgo Cluster) and as such will be useful for other purposes than our own. We plan to use the survey to investigate (i) the dust content of galaxies as a function of Hubble type, stellar mass, and environment; (ii) the connection between the dust content and composition and the other phases of the interstellar medium; and (iii) the origin and evolution of dust in galaxies. In this article, we describe the goals of the survey, the details of the sample and some of the auxiliary observing programs that we have started to collect complementary data. We also use the available multifrequency data to carry out an analysis of the statistical properties of the sample.
Implementation considerations regarding improved Nyquist filters

This paper presents considerations regarding the design and implementation of improved Nyquist filters (INFs). Special attention is paid to the use of truncated root-pulse in the practical engineering perspective. A comparison of several INF pulses with hM-1 and hM-3 pulses that suffer no spectral regrowth is made. Although they are outperformed by the hM pulses in terms of spectral regrowth, the pulses generated by INFs are superior in terms of error probability up to one order of magnitude when sampled with a time offset.
A Predominant Cariogenic Genotype of Streptococcus mutans in Schoolchildren of Mexico City: A Follow-Up Study

Background: Streptococcus mutans is considered the primary bacterial species closely associated with the etiology of dental caries in humans. Recent studies suggest an association between caries and the genetic diversity of S. mutans . Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotypic diversity of S. mutans in schoolchildren, its stability in a one-year follow-up study, and its association with dental caries. Methods: We studied 25 schoolchildren. Representative S. mutans colonies were isolated from the dental plaque of each child, grownonmitis-salivarius-bacitracinagar,andinoculatedintrypticasesoybroth. Weperformed16SrRNAgenePCR-RFLPanalysison S. mutans isolates. Dental caries in deciduous and permanent surfaces was scored according to the WHO criteria. After 12 months, the caries incidence, S. mutans count, and genotypic diversity were compared. We grouped samples to observe similarities using cluster analysis. A similarity coeﬃcient of > 95% was considered for deﬁning the genotypes. Results: At baseline, we proved the genotypic diversity of S. mutans with ﬁve diﬀerent genotypes. Caries scores were higher in children with genotype A (dmfs 5.4 vs. 3.4). The genotypic diversity of S. mutans in the schoolchildren decreased after one year, with the predominance of genotype A (52% to 92%) that was also associated with high bacterial counts (P = 0.0063). Conclusions: This study supports that there are changes in the genotype of S. mutans over time, and the more cariogenic genotype is more stable than the others.
Features of cardiomyocyte proliferation and its potential for cardiac regeneration

The human heart does not regenerate. Instead, following injury, human hearts scar. The loss of contractile tissue contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. In contrast to humans, zebrafish and newts faithfully regenerate their hearts. Interestingly, regeneration is in both cases based on cardiomyocyte proliferation. In addition, mammalian cardiomyocytes proliferate during foetal development. Their proliferation reaches its maximum around chamber formation, stops shortly after birth, and subsequent heart growth is mostly achieved by an increase in cardiomyocyte size (hypertrophy). The underlying mechanisms that regulate cell cycle arrest and the switch from proliferation to hypertrophy are unclear. In this review, we highlight features of dividing cardiomyocytes, summarize the attempts to induce mammalian cardiomyocyte proliferation, critically discuss methods commonly used for its detection, and explore the potential and problems of inducing cardiomyocyte proliferation to improve function in diseased hearts.
Pulled over: how police stops define race and citizenship

erature to date, despite their voices being vital to securing public support and creating public legitimacy for CoSA. The section on police views, in particular, is engaging and provides important information for CoSA projects globally. Thompson et al.’s book thus raises a range of fundamental questions about CoSA and their operation and provides a platform for future inquiry about CoSA’s key facets. The book ought to be read by any student interested in CoSA, and will also be of relevance to practitioners, policy-makers, and other members of the international CoSA community. It is eminently accessible and should be commended on these grounds. It will be of particular interest to those outside the UK, as it provides an important starting point for international comparison.
Investigating the role of NSMCE2 in cell cycle progression and genome maintenance

Preserving genome integrity is vital for protection against the development and progression of cancer. The SMC5/6 complex is an evolutionarily conserved protein complex thought to be involved in this process, specifically its SUMO ligase NSMCE2 subunit. Prior to this thesis, CRISPR-Cas-9 mutant NSMCE2 cell lines were produced; NSMCE2 knockout, NSMCE2 knockout with wildtype NSMCE2 re-expression and NSMCE2 knockout cells with ligase-dead NSMCE2 expression. The purpose of this research was to characterize these cell lines with the aim of suggesting possible roles for NSMCE2. Both the NSMCE2 knockout and NSMCE2 ligase-dead cell lines demonstrated proliferation defects and slowed S phase progression by FACS analysis, with the defect exacerbated in the ligase-dead cells. The remainder of this project investigated the cause of these defects, determining that it is not due to the activation of the replication checkpoint, although the ligase-dead cell lines did activate the S phase DNA damage checkpoint. Based on what is already known about NSMCE2 function, it is suggested that the most likely cause of the proliferation defects is un-sensed, unresolved replication stress characteristics. Whilst other proteins may compensate for the total loss of NSMCE2, the ligase-dead cell line is expected to be the result of a dominant-negative mutation, which may explain the more pronounced S phase defect. The NSMCE2 ligase-dead cell lines also demonstrate a >4N DNA content, so it is speculated that unresolved replication stress characteristics may also cause segregation difficulties in this cell line. However, immunofluorescence and decatenation inhibitor treatment has shown that NSMCE2 may instead or also be involved in activating the decatenation checkpoint to allow for efficient segregation. A bioSUMO method for isolation of specific SUMOylation targets has also been developed with the aim to analyse specific NSMCE2 modifications within the future.
Induction of Vascular Progenitor Cells From Endothelial Cells Stimulates Coronary Collateral Growth

Rationale: A well-developed coronary collateral circulation improves the morbidity and mortality of patients following an acute coronary occlusion. Although regenerative medicine has great potential in stimulating vascular growth in the heart, to date there have been mixed results, and the ideal cell type for this therapy has not been resolved. Objective: To generate induced vascular progenitor cells (iVPCs) from endothelial cells, which can differentiate into vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) or endothelial cells (ECs), and test their capability to stimulate coronary collateral growth. Methods and Results: We reprogrammed rat ECs with the transcription factors Oct4, Klf4, Sox2, and c-Myc. A population of reprogrammed cells was derived that expressed pluripotent markers Oct4, SSEA-1, Rex1, and AP and hemangioblast markers CD133, Flk1, and c-kit. These cells were designated iVPCs because they remained committed to vascular lineage and could differentiate into vascular ECs and VSMCs in vitro. The iVPCs demonstrated better in vitro angiogenic potential (tube network on 2-dimensional culture, tube formation in growth factor reduced Matrigel) than native ECs. The risk of teratoma formation in iVPCs is also reduced in comparison with fully reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). When iVPCs were implanted into myocardium, they engrafted into blood vessels and increased coronary collateral flow (microspheres) and improved cardiac function (echocardiography) better than iPSCs, mesenchymal stem cells, native ECs, and sham treatments. Conclusions: We conclude that iVPCs, generated by partially reprogramming ECs, are an ideal cell type for cell-based therapy designed to stimulate coronary collateral growth.
Extended recipients but not extended donors are associated with poor outcomes following lung transplantation.

OBJECTIVES Extended donors (EDs) are safely used to increase the donor pool in lung transplantation (LT), but their influence in critically ill patients (extended recipients [ERs]) remains controversial. We compared LT outcomes matching optimal donors (ODs) or EDs with optimal recipients (ORs) or ERs. METHODS Three hundred and sixty-five LTs were reviewed. ED criteria: age >55, PaO2/FiO2 < 350 mmHg, pulmonary infiltrates/purulent secretions and ischaemic times >6 h (single LT [SLT]) and >9 h (double LT [DLT]). ER criteria: pulmonary fibrosis or pulmonary hypertension, pretransplant intubation, age >60 years and bypass >2 h. Four groups were created: Group 1 (OD/OR), Group 2 (OD/ER), Group 3 (ED/OR) and Group 4 (ED/ER). Thirty-day mortality, primary graft dysfunction (PGD), onset of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), long-term survival and other transplant outcomes were compared between OD and ED, OR and ER and among the four groups of study. RESULTS There were 151 SLTs and 214 DLTs. Donors: OD (n = 229) vs ED (n = 136); PGD 8 vs 10% (P = 0.43); 30-day mortality 19 vs 20% (P = 0.53) and survival (1, 5, 10 and 15 years) 67, 47, 34, 26 vs 69, 53, 46 and 29% (P = 0.33). Recipients: OR (n = 182) vs ER (n = 183); PGD 7 vs 10% (P = 0.10); 30-day mortality 15 vs 23% (P = 0.04) and survival (1, 5, 10 and 15 years): 73, 57, 46, 30 vs 61, 42, 29 and 23% (P = 0.002). Four donor/recipient (D/R) groups: Group 1 (n = 122), Group 2 (n = 106), Group 3 (n = 61), Group 4 (n = 76); PGD 10, 6, 3 and 16% (P = 0.05); 30-day mortality 13, 26, 19 and 20%, respectively (P = 0.13); survival (1, 5, 10 and 15 years) 74, 55, 44 and 35% (Group 1), 55, 39, 22 and 16% (Group 2), 70, 59, 48 and 26% (Group 3) and 68, 47, 37 and 22% (Group 4) (P = 0.004). No differences in the onset of BOS were observed among the four study groups. CONCLUSIONS LT in critically ill recipients is associated with poor early and long-term outcomes, irrespective of the quality of the donor and length of ischaemic times.
Parameter weighting for multi-dimensional fuzzy inference systems

Exponential growth of the number of rules of a multi-dimensional Fuzzy Inference System with growing number of input parameters makes it impractical for humans to populate the description of such a system via the Fuzzy Control Language by hand. In this paper we present a methodology for automatically generating rules. The generation process is influenced by a given weighting of the input parameters. The weighting is derived from a parameter weighting matrix used in the context of Analytic Hierarchy Process. The resulting Fuzzy Inference Systems are intended to be the starting point of an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System. As application of the methodology we present the security management at an airport. Here, Fuzzy Logic is used to evaluate the overall security situation.
The North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Center: Using a Multifaceted, Ecological Approach to Reduce Youth Violence in Impoverished, Rural Areas

Objective: Youth violence is best tackled through a multifaceted approach targeting risk and protective factors at multiple ecological levels. The North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Center (NC-YVPC) is an example of such an approach. This article provides a comprehensive synthesis of NC-YVPC design, implementation, and results. Method: NC-YVPC packaged and implemented 3 evidence-based programs to decrease youth violence in a rural North Carolina community where violence was prevalent. Positive Action, a universal school-based program, was administered in 13 middle schools for 3 years. Parenting Wisely, an online program to improve parenting skills, was provided to 300 parents. Teen Court, a community-based restorative justice alternative to the traditional juvenile-justice system, was provided to 400 adolescents. In addition, county-level data were collected to examine if and how the NC-YVPC programs changed county levels of youth violence. Results: Positive Action participation was associated with increased self-esteem and decreased school hassles; Parenting Wisely participants were more confident and had less conflict with their children; Teen Court participants reported improved mental and behavioral health. Some county-level indicators of violence decreased. Conclusions: This summary of NC-YVPC findings highlights the utility of implementing a multifaceted approach to decrease and prevent youth violence and the importance of fostering a strong partnership between academic institutions and the community.
The cubic nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in two dimensions with radial data

We establish global well-posedness and scattering for solutions to the mass-critical nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation $iu_t + \Delta u = \pm |u|^2 u$ for large spherically symmetric L^2_x(\R^2) initial data; in the focusing case we require, of course, that the mass is strictly less than that of the ground state. As a consequence, we deduce that in the focusing case, any spherically symmetric blowup solution must concentrate at least the mass of the ground state at the blowup time. We also establish some partial results towards the analogous claims in other dimensions and without the assumption of spherical symmetry.
Towards a continuum from know-how to show-how for developing EFL student-teachers’ assessment literacy

It mushrooms as an unerring fact that that assessment literacy has been a focus of interest as one of the major professional requirements of a teacher. Correlatively, there are some manifold standards for assessment and measures for assessment literacy. This study, hereat, aims to unearth the prospective English as a Foreign Language (henceforth EFL) teachers’ levels of assessment literacy. In this context, the Assessment Literacy Survey developed by Volante and Fazio (2007) together with the student questionnaire of the European Network of Language Testing and Assessment (ENLTA) which was developed in 2004 are exploited to collect data. The participants are thirty-six senior students from the department of English Language Teaching (henceforth ELT) at a state university in Turkey. Fundamentally, the preservice teachers’ utilization of the assessment approaches, and their understanding of underlying principles are at the major axis. As a result, it is reported that prospective EFL teachers are aware of the concept of assessment literacy though they perceive themselves as not adequately qualified. At the very same, practicum courses in which they enroll do not satisfactorily meet their expectations in developing their assessment skills. Similarly, they have a judicious amount of practical knowledge on different types of assessment approaches although they are mindful of the fact that in-class practices are to be laced with various kinds of assessment applications. Some practical recommendations and implications for teacher education are also listed in tow.
Phase diagrams and dynamics of a computationally efficient map-based neuron model

We introduce a new map-based neuron model derived from the dynamical perceptron family that has the best compromise between computational efficiency, analytical tractability, reduced parameter space and many dynamical behaviors. We calculate bifurcation and phase diagrams analytically and computationally that underpins a rich repertoire of autonomous and excitable dynamical behaviors. We report the existence of a new regime of cardiac spikes corresponding to nonchaotic aperiodic behavior. We compare the features of our model to standard neuron models currently available in the literature.
ICA-MLP classifier for fault diagnosis of rotor system

A novel classifier is proposed for fault diagnosis of rotor system, with independent component analysis (ICA) based feature extraction and multi-layer perceptron (MLP) based pattern classification. By the use of ICA, feature vectors are integratedly extracted from multi-channel vibration measurements collected under different operating patterns (in term of rotating speed and/or load). Thus, a robust multi-MLP classifier insensitive to the change of operation conditions is constructed. Experimental results indicate invariable fault features embedded in vibration observations can be effectively captured and different fault patterns (for example imbalance, impact and loose foundation) can be correctly classified, both of which imply great potential of the proposed ICA-MLP classifier in fault diagnosis of rotor system.