Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
developing interracial friendships From strangers to friends : The interpersonal process model of intimacy in

We examine the processes involved in the development of interracial friendships. Using Reis and Shaver’s intimacy model, we explore the extent to which disclosure and perceived partner responsiveness influence intimacy levels in developing interracial and intraracial friendships. White and ethnic minority participants completed diary measures of self and partner disclosure and partner responsiveness every two weeks for 10 weeks about an in-group and an out-group person whom they thought they would befriend over time. The results revealed that perceived partner responsiveness mediated the relationships between both self and partner disclosure and intimacy in interracial and intraracial relationships. The implications of these results for intergroup relations are discussed.
Intramuscular, rectal and oesophageal temperature during exercise.

Temperature recordings were made from the vastus lateralis of the m. quadriceps femoris, from the m. biceps brachii, from oesophagus and from rectum, before, during, and after exercise on a bicycle ergometer, using the loads of 900, 1,200 and 1,500 kpm/min. Three adult males served as subjects. The temperature of the vastus lateralis at rest was 33.5–35d C. The beginning of the work was followed by a rise which levelled after about 15 min. The final temperatures were 37.8–39.7d C, corresponding to the load. The changes from the temperature of the resting biceps brachii, 34.5–36.0d C, were slight, less than 0.5d C. The oesophageal temperature showed an initial fall of 0.1–0.4d C during the first minutes, followed by a rise; the temperature levelled within 15 min to 37.8—39.0d C, corresponding to the work load. The rectal temperature failed to show an initial fall, rose steadily throughout the 30 min exercise period. After exercise, the oesophageal temperature returned to resting values in half an hour, while the rectal temperature showed a steady fall over an hour. During the first minutes of exercise, the active muscles gain heat from the rest of the body.
Understanding Key Drivers of Mooc Satisfaction and Continuance Intention To Use

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have attracted global audiences who desire to learn. However, the completion rate of these courses is less than 10 percent. Few studies have systematically researched the influence of expectation-confirmation theory (ECT) and user experience (e.g., flow experience, perceived interest) on user satisfaction of and the continuance intention to use MOOCs. The present study examines the drivers of MOOC satisfaction based on ECT and the influence of satisfaction on user behavior. A research model reflecting the relationships among confirmation, usefulness, interest, flow, satisfaction, and continuance intention to use, and intention to recommend was developed and tested using data collected from 300 subjects. Our findings show that flow and interest are important variables that enhance MOOC satisfaction based on ECT.
Adaptive techniques for real-time haptic and visual simulation of bone dissection

Bone dissection is an important component of many surgical procedures. In this paper we discuss adaptive techniques for providing real-time haptic and visual feedback during a virtual bone dissection simulation. The simulator is being developed as a component of a training system for temporal bone surgery. We harness the difference in complexity and frequency requirements of the visual and haptic simulations by modeling the system as a collection of loosely coupled concurrent components. The haptic component exploits a multi-resolution representation of the first two moments of the bone characteristic function to rapidly compute contact forces and determine bone erosion. The visual component uses a time-critical particle system evolution method to simulate secondary visual effects, such as bone debris accumulation, blooding, irrigation, and suction.
Optimal tuning of temporary droop structure governor in the hydro power plant

Load-frequency control is the intrinsic function of the governor in the power plants. It would be used in variant structures depend on the controller type such as PID, adaptive, fuzzy or robust. Temporary droop structure governor (TDSG) was commonly used in hydro power plants (HPP). After representation of TDSG, this paper is dedicated to introducing a procedure for tuning TDSG parameters. The technique is based on pole placement for the closed loop poles of the system. These poles correspond to the TDSG parameters that by accurate tuning of them, pole placement is accomplished. The results for tuning TDSG of Abbaspour HPP have been presented as well.
Chapter 3 Neural Architecture Search

Deep Learning has enabled remarkable progress over the last years on a variety of tasks, such as image recognition, speech recognition, and machine translation. One crucial aspect for this progress are novel neural architectures. Currently employed architectures have mostly been developed manually by human experts, which is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Because of this, there is growing interest in automated neural architecture search methods. We provide an overview of existing work in this field of research and categorize them according to three dimensions: search space, search strategy, and performance estimation strategy.
Implementing the cubic and adaptive cubic regularization algorithms

Recent work by Nesterov and Polyak (2006) and Cartis et al. (2011) shows that with slight modifications to the well-known Newton’s method, global convergence to second-order critical points of an unconstrained optimization problem can be achieved under certain conditions. The main necessary condition is that the Hessian be Lipschitz continuous. This convergence guarantee is quite appealing, as we fairly frequently encounter problems with many saddle points (e.g., in some formulations of the matrix completion problem) where we want to be able to ensure that we converge to a minimum. Other recent work on this issue includes that by Anandkumar and Ge (2016), who use cubic regularization as part of their algorithm that converges to third order local optima. No open source code exists online for either the cubic or adaptive cubic regularization algorithms. In addition, Nesterov and Polyak (2006) note at the end of their paper that “Indeed, it could be too ambitious to derive from our purely theoretical results any conclusion on the practical efficiency of corresponding algorithmic implementations”. While Cartis et al. (2011) do perform some experiments, they do not use an estimate of the Hessian, which they tout as one of the benefits of adaptive cubic regularization, nor do they compare their results to those of other commonly used algorithms. The goal of this project is to provide an open-source version of both cubic and adaptive cubic regularization, to test these algorithms on a variety of problems, and compare them with other commonly used algorithms. To that end, I first describe the cubic and adaptive cubic regularization algorithms in the next section. Following this, I present and discuss results from running the algorithms on a variety of problems. The code for the implementations may be found on GitHub at https://github.com/cjones6/cubic_reg.
Study of the epidemiology of Alternaria alternata on potato

The involvement of A. alternata in early blight is discussed controversially. Brown spots developing on leaves of potato cultivar Markies are nevertheless often attributed to an A. alternata infestation. These symptoms appeared on Markies plants on two independent occasions in the greenhouse without any inoculation. In 75% of the necroses, neither A. alternata nor A. solani were present, which was confirmed by qPCR. Inoculation of Markies plants with A. alternata isolates derived from the same cultivar failed. Brown spots were also observed in field trials with Markies, but qPCR data did not indicate A. alternata as the causal agent of these necroses, either in the untreated control, in an artificial inoculation with A. solani, or in a double Ortiva treatment. DNA amounts for this fungus were always low (< 2ng fungal DNA/μg total DNA) and A. solani predominant (up to 138 ng fungal DNA/μg total DNA). The Markies brown spots may have physiological causes.
Effects of dopamine, dobutamine, dopexamine, phenylephrine, and saline solution on intramuscular blood flow and other cardiopulmonary variables in halothane-anesthetized ponies.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect on intramuscular blood flow (IMBF) and hemodynamic variables of 4 antihypotensive agents given during anesthesia. ANIMALS 8 ponies. PROCEDURE Halothane-anesthetized ponies (n = 6) positioned in lateral recumbency received, on separate occasions, infusions of each of the following 4 agents in serially increasing dosages or saline solution: phenylephrine hydrochloride (0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 microg/kg of body weight), dopamine (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 microg/kg), dobutamine (1, 2.5, 5, and 10 microg/kg), and dopexamine (0.5, 1, 5, and 10 microg/kg). Changes in IMBF (by laser-Doppler flowmetry) in nondependent and dependent triceps brachii muscles and cardiopulmonary variables were measured. RESULTS Phenylephrine at all dosages failed to improve IMBF or cardiac index (CI), but increased mean arterial pressure (MAP) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR); 2 ponies had forelimb lameness on recovery. Dopamine (10 microg/kg/min) increased CI, MAP, and IMBF in the dependent muscle. A higher dose (20 microg/kg/min) caused cardiac arrhythmias and muscular tremor. Dobutamine increased Cl, MAP, and IMBF of both forelimbs, effects being significant for 2.5 microg/kg/min, with further improvement as the dosage increased. In 2 ponies, 10 microg of dobutamine/kg/min caused cardiac arrhythmias. Dopexamine (1 and 5 microg/kg/min) increased CI, MAP, and IMBF in the nondependent muscle, and 10 microg/kg/min caused muscular tremor, sweating, and arrhythmias. SVR was reduced after infusion of dopamine, dobutamine, or dopexamine. CONCLUSION During anesthesia of equids, an increase in Cl and MAP is necessary to improve IMBF in the dependent forelimb. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Of the agents investigated, dobutamine proved the most consistent in improving IMBF.
Fruit and vegetable consumption in the former Soviet Union: the role of individual- and community-level factors

Abstract Objective To explain patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption in nine former Soviet Union countries by exploring the influence of a range of individual- and community-level determinants. Design Cross-sectional nationally representative surveys and area profiles were undertaken in 2010 in nine countries of the former Soviet Union as part of the Health in Times of Transition (HITT) study. Individual- and area-level determinants were analysed, taking into account potential confounding at the individual and area level. Setting Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. Subjects Adult survey respondents (n 17 998) aged 18–95 years. Results Being male, increasing age, lack of education and lack of financial resources were associated with lower probability of consuming adequate amounts of fruit or vegetables. Daily fruit or vegetable consumption was positively correlated with the number of shops selling fruit and vegetables (for women) and with the number of convenience stores (for men). Billboard advertising of snacks and sweet drinks was negatively related to daily fruit or vegetable consumption, although the reverse was true for billboards advertising soft drinks. Men living near a fast-food outlet had a lower probability of fruit or vegetable consumption, while the opposite was true for the number of local food restaurants. Conclusions Overall fruit and vegetable consumption in the former Soviet Union is inadequate, particularly among lower socio-economic groups. Both individual- and community-level factors play a role in explaining inadequate nutrition and thus provide potential entry points for policy interventions, while the nuanced influence of community factors informs the agenda for future research.
THE CRITICAL PERIOD AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Learning a second or foreign language is a long and time-consuming process, and not all language learners may be able to achieve a very high level of proficiency in the target language. It is even rarer to find second or foreign language learners who can use the target language as well as native speakers of the language. Researchers in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) have long been concerned with the factors that prevent learners from attaining such a successful level of language learning. Among various factors that have been empirically investigated, age has seemed to figure prominently in the literature. The critical period hypothesis (CPH) has been proposed to explicate the reason why adult language learners are unable to achieve native-like proficiency. This paper aims at providing a brief overview of the CPH. First, the origin of the CPH is pointed out. Second, studies that support the CPH and those that attempt to falsify the CPH are discussed respectively. It is argued that although it is hard for adult learners to attain native-like proficiency in another language, it may still be possible. Moreover, the importance of finding out if the CPH is true or not may not be as important as trying to help learners to use the language more effectively. It is concluded that helping learners to communicate effectively in the target language is more logically and realistic than trying to help them to emulate native speakers of the target language.
2 Oil , Economic Activity and Stock Prices : Transmission Channels and Related Works

Understanding the behaviour of stock prices and identifying the factors that affect their dynamics is an empirical question that has a decisive impact on portfolio management, asset and firm valuations, investment decisions, and other issues addressed by finance literature. Although there is a plethora of empirical work on asset pricing, the factors that play a role in stock return structures are still unclear. As oil prices have been highly volatile in recent years, now is surely the moment to examine their impact on stock market prices. One rationale for using oil price fluctuations as a factor affecting stock prices is that that, in theory, the value of stock equals the discounted sum of expected future cash-flows. These cash-flows are affected by macroeconomic variables that may be influenced by oil price changes.
Resistance in everyday encounters with racism

Racism can be maintained and spread in a society through seemingly small everyday actions. In Sweden, this everyday racism often aims to point out that a non-white body is not Swedish by questions and comments on a person’s, sometimes assumed, ‘origin’. A study on everyday racism in Sweden therefore raises questions of national belonging in a globalised world. To understand how racism is not only expressed, but also negotiated and challenged, the aim of the research has been to analyse the unorganised, individual everyday resistance repertoire against racism that young women of colour potentially offer in their everyday lives. In addition to this, it will identify significant factors affecting the repertoire. It will not try to evaluate the effectiveness of the resistance, but the potential of social change will be discussed. The data comes from five semi-structured interviews with respondents who have revealed experiences of everyday racism in a related social media forum. One important finding in the study was that the resistance repertoire was strongly affected by the relationships between the actors involved in the encounter. Clearly, everyday racism occurs everywhere and can be expressed by strangers, teachers, colleagues, customers, neighbours, friends and family and the resistance repertoire vary accordingly. One alarming conclusion of the study was that the respondents often left schools, workplaces, neighbourhoods and friendships due to lack of understanding and support from the people involved in that specific context. This was often the outcome after several attempts to negotiate and challenge the racism they experienced.
Definition and Management of Superior Sulcus Tumors

In 1838, Edwin Hare described the first case of Superior Sulcus Tumor who presented with 1) a history of pain, tingling, and numbness in the distribution of the left ulnar nerve, 2) Horner’s syndrome, and 3) a palpable mass in the “inferior triangular space” on the left side of his neck. The mass continued to grow until the patient became paraplegic, developed urinary retention, and eventually died of the disease. The postmortem examination revealed a hard tumor extending superiorly toward the origin of the brachial plexus and involving the carotid artery, the cervical sympathetic nerves, the vagal and phrenic nerves, the spine, and intervertebral foramina [1]. In 1932, Pancoast defined the SST as bronchogenic carcinomas that developed in the apex of the lungs and invaded the superior pulmonary sulcus [2-4]. These tumors are situated in the thoracic inlet and invade the lymphatics of the endothoracic fascia and extend to the lower roots of the brachial plexus, inter costal nerves, the stellate ganglion, the sympathetic chain, and adjacent ribs and vertebral bodies. The resulting severe pain and Horner’s syndrome (pupillary constriction, ptosis of the upper eyelid, slight elevation of lower lid, sinking in of the eye ball, narrowing of the palpebral fissure, an hidrosis and flushing of the affected side of the face) have been given the name “Pancoast’s syndrome” because of his description given above.
Seismic Exploration for VMS Deposits , Matagami , Québec

The south flank of the Galinée anticline in the Matagami mining camp is a favourable geological setting for reflection seismic profiling; the stratigraphy is moderately dipping and large acoustic impedances exist between rock units. Integrated highfrequency seismic profiling and borehole geophysical logging began in 1990 to evaluate their usefulness for deep (>500 m) mineral exploration. These surveys show that seismic methods are capable of mapping the volcanic stratigraphy that hosts the deposits in the Matagami camp and that strong reflections occur at the interfaces between gabbro and rhyolite units. Additional physical rock property measurements and a vertical seismic profile were acquired to study the reflectivity of the Bell Allard deposit, a 6 million tonne massive sulphide body discovered in 1992 at a depth of 1 km. Seismic forward modelling of this deposit predicted a spatially complex diffraction response that could be best resolved using 3-D seismic reflection methods. Therefore, a 20 km 3-D seismic experiment was designed and completed in 1996 to image the Bell Allard deposit. The results show that the ore body possesses a distinctive seismic response. Thus, 3-D seismic methods are suitable for mapping deep volcanic stratigraphy and can, under certain conditions, provide direct detection of massive sulphide bodies.
INDIGENOUS GOAT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN SELECTED DIST RICTS OF WESTER AMHARA, ETHIOPIA

Improvement in productivity of goats could be achie ved through identification the current production system with constraints, refining existi ng practices in the system and introduction of new technologies. This study was initiated to describe the goat production systems and to identify major constraints of goat productivity in the study area. Focus group discussion, field observation and interview were used to collect the data for this st udy. Goats were the most predominant species of livestock owned, followed by sheep, cattle, chicken , donkey, mule and horse respectively. Mean holding of the cattle, sheep and goat kept in the s udy area was 5.62±0.95, 7.27±2.93 and 16.53±3.50. Goats were ranked as the first in Ebnat (index of 0 .40) and Gonji kolela Districts (index of 0.37) important livestock species followed by cattle with an index of 0.27 and 0.32 in two Districts, respectively. However, in Farta District cattle was r nked as first (index of 0.37) followed by goats (index of 0.33) and sheep (index of 0.14). From thi s study it was possible to conclude that the genera l production system and goat management system in the study areas was similar to other western highland areas in Amhara region and was characteriz ed by mixed crop-livestock production system.
Recommended Use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement in the Superpave Mix Design Method : Guidelines

This NCHRP digest describes findings of NCHRP Project 9-12, “Incorporation of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement in the Superpave System,” conducted by Rebecca McDaniel of the North Central Superpave Center at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, with the assistance of R. Michael Anderson of the Asphalt Institute, Lexington, Kentucky. The digest is based upon Appendix D of the contractor’s final report.
Real Time damage scenario : case study for the L ’ Aquila earthquake

In this paper we describe the methodology developed to calculate real time damage scenario for a seism ic event, using a mechanical based method for the vulnerabili ty assessment of buildings, Ground Motion Predictio n Equations, exposure data and local site effects. Th e methodology has been developed for rapid assessme nt at regional scales, and is tested here by comparing th e results with real damage data collected after the L’Aquila earthquake. In the followings we compare the result s of scenarios obtained with information of differe nt level of detail and accuracy, from national exposure and soi l data used in conjunction with first hand earthqua ke information, to exposure data and site effects comi ng from detailed survey that have become available in the months following the event.
Optimal Signaling of Content Accuracy: Engagement vs. Misinformation

This paper studies information design in social networks. We consider a setting, where agents’ actions exhibit positive local network externalities. There is uncertainty about the underlying state of the world, which impacts agents’ payoffs. The platform can commit to a signaling mechanism that sends informative signals to agents upon realization of this uncertainty, thereby influencing their actions. Although this abstract setting has many applications, we discuss our results in the context of a specific one: A platform can send informative signals to agents in a social network to influence their engagement decisions with the available content, based on the realization of the inaccuracy of the content. We investigate how the platform should design its signaling mechanism to maximize engagement/minimize misinformation. The optimal (in terms of engagement/misinformation) signaling mechanism admits a simple threshold structure: The platform recommends that agents “engage” with the content if its inaccuracy level is below a threshold and recommends “do not engage” otherwise. For the mechanism that maximizes engagement, these thresholds depend on agents’ network positions, which we capture through a novel centrality measure. In the case where the platform seeks only to minimize misinformation (regardless of the induced engagement), common threshold mechanisms with identical thresholds across agents are optimal. This is in contrast to the engagement maximization setting, where when agents are heterogeneous in terms of their network positions, common threshold mechanisms induce substantially lower engagement than the optimal mechanisms. We also study the frontier of the engagement/misinformation levels that can be achieved via different mechanisms and characterize when common threshold mechanisms achieve optimal trade-offs. Finally, we supplement our theoretical findings with numerical simulations on a Facebook subgraph.