Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mental models, computational explanation and Bayesian cognitive science: Commentary on Knauff and Gazzo Castañeda (2023)

Abstract Knauff and Gazzo Castañeda (2022) object to using the term “new paradigm” to describe recent developments in the psychology of reasoning. This paper concedes that the Kuhnian term “paradigm” may be queried. What cannot is that the work subsumed under this heading is part of a new, progressive movement that spans the brain and cognitive sciences: Bayesian cognitive science. Sampling algorithms and Bayes nets used to explain biases in JDM can implement the Bayesian new paradigm approach belying any advantages of mental models theory (MMT) at the algorithmic level. Moreover, this paper argues that new versions of MMT lack a computational level theory and questions the grounds for MMTs much-vaunted generality. The paper then examines common ground on the importance of small-scale models/simulations of the world and the importance of argumentation in the social domain rather than individual reasoning. Finally, the paper concludes that although there may be prospects for moving reasoning research forward in a more collective, collaborative manner, many disagreements remain to be resolved.
Equivalence of the Transition Heat Capacities of Proteins and DNA

It has been reported for many globular proteins that the native heat capacity at 25°C, per gram, is the same. This has been interpreted to indicate that heat capacity is a fundamental property of native proteins that provides important information on molecular structure and stability. Heat capacities for both proteins and DNA has been suggested to be related to universal effects of hydration/solvation on native structures. Here we report on results from thermal denaturation analysis of two well-known proteins, human serum albumin and lysozyme, and a short DNA hairpin. The transition heat capacities at the Tm for the three molecules were quantitatively evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry. When normalized per gram rather than per mol the transition heat capacities were found to be precisely equivalent. This observation for the transition heat capacities of the proteins is consistent with previous reports. However, an identical transition heat capacity for DNA has not been reported and was unexpected. Further analysis of the collected data suggested a mass dependence of hydration effects on thermal denaturation that is preserved at the individual protein amino acid and DNA base levels. Equivalence of transition heat capacities suggests the possibility of a universal role of hydration effects on the thermal stability of both proteins and DNA.
Punching of slab–column connections strengthened using external steel shear bolts

This paper describes the use and effectiveness of external steel shear bolts as shear reinforcement for retrofitting of slab–column connections in reinforced concrete (RC) flat plates and also compares the behaviour of slab–column connections with finite-element analysis. Four full-scale test specimens, representing interior slab–column connections in RC flat plates, were cast. Two concrete grades – low strength (14 MPa) and normal strength (28 MPa) – were used. One specimen for each concrete grade was used as a control and the other was strengthened using external steel shear bolts as the transverse shear reinforcement. The slab–column specimens were tested experimentally and their numerical models were analysed using Ansys. The results obtained through static non-linear analysis compared well with the experimental data. Shear strengthening of slabs changed the failure mode of the test specimens from punching shear to flexural mode and increased the ultimate load capacity of the slab–column connection by.
Descriptive analysis of black walnut cultivars and relationship between consumer acceptance and descriptive analysis of black walnuts in a sugar cookie base

Researchers evaluated the flavor characteristics of seven black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) cultivars: Brown Nugget, Davidson, Emma K, Football, Sparks 127, Sparrow, and Tomboy using descriptive sensory analysis. Seven trained panelists developed a lexicon for the black walnuts and scored the intensities of the samples for 22 flavor and taste attributes. Results showed that the 7 samples differed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) on 13 of the attributes. For the majority of the attributes, only Emma K differed from the rest of the cultivars by being characterized with lower scores for black walnut ID, overall nutty, nutty-grain-like, nutty-buttery, floral/fruity, oily, and overall sweet. It also was higher in acrid, burnt, fruity-dark, musty/earthy, rancid, and bitter attributes. Researchers then incorporated the black walnut cultivars into a simple cookie recipe and evaluated the samples for differences in flavor attributes using the same trained panelists. Nine of the 25 attributes differed significantly across cultivars: black walnut ID, overall nutty, nutty-buttery, brown, toasted, acrid, rancid, overall sweet, and sweet (P ≤ 0.05). Lower mean scores in black walnut ID, overall nutty, and sweet and higher mean scores in rancid and acrid characterized the Emma K cookie. A PCA biplot revealed that cookies with Football, Sparks 127, and Sparrow walnuts related with one another and the attributes nutty-woody, leavening, and piney. A consumer acceptance test for six of the cookies (Tomboy cultivar was excluded) was also performed. There were four significant clusters of consumers that differed in their acceptance of the cookie samples. Cluster 1 preferred Football, clusters 2 and 3 each showed no overall preference, and cluster 4 preferred Emma K suggesting a set of niche consumers for black walnut cookies. Results presented in this paper can assist black walnut growers in determining which cultivars to plant and harvest. By knowing which cultivars have the most desirable flavor characteristics, growers can focus time and resources on select cultivars, therefore resulting in higher quality black walnuts as products to be sold to consumers in various formats. By consciously choosing which cultivars to harvest, black walnut growers can meet market demand and increase profit.
Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) as a Promising Point-of-Care Diagnostic Strategy in Avian Virus Research

Simple Summary Many of the existing screening methods of avian viruses depend on clinical symptoms and pathological gross examinations that still necessitate confirmatory microscopic testing. Confirmation of a virus is often conducted at centralized laboratories that are well-equipped with instruments for virus isolation, hemagglutinin inhibition, virus neutralization, ELISA, PCR and qPCR. These assays are known for their great accuracy and sensitivity, and hence are set as standard practices. Nevertheless, limitations arise due to the time, cost and on-site applicability. As the technology progresses, molecular diagnostics should be more accessible to isolated areas and even practicable for use by non-skilled personnel such as farmers and private breeders. One of the point-of-care diagnostic strategies to consider for such matters is loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). Abstract Over the years, development of molecular diagnostics has evolved significantly in the detection of pathogens within humans and their surroundings. Researchers have discovered new species and strains of viruses, while mitigating the viral infections that occur, owing to the accessibility of nucleic acid screening methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative (real-time) polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and reverse-transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR). While such molecular detection methods are widely utilized as the benchmark, the invention of isothermal amplifications has also emerged as a reliable tool to improvise on-field diagnosis without dependence on thermocyclers. Among the established isothermal amplification technologies are loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), recombinant polymerase amplification (RPA), strand displacement activity (SDA), nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), helicase-dependent amplification (HDA) and rolling circle amplification (RCA). This review highlights the past research on and future prospects of LAMP, its principles and applications as a promising point-of-care diagnostic method against avian viruses.
An Online International Collaborative Learning Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Nursing Students: Mixed Methods Study

Background Given the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a better understanding of how nursing programs around the globe have implemented distance education methods and related initiatives to provide international collaborative learning opportunities as well as complementary aspects of practical education would be constructive for nursing students. It is expected that international collaboratives through web-based communication will continue to be increasingly utilized after the pandemic; therefore, it is time to discuss the effects and direction of these developments. Objective We aimed to examine the impact of an online international collaborative learning program on prelicensure nursing students’ international and global competencies in South Korea. Methods We conducted a mixed methods study (web-based surveys and focus group interviews). A total of 15 students participated in the study. The surveys were used to examine changes in participants’ global leadership competencies, and the focus group interviews were used to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and to identify opportunities for improvement. The online international collaborative program consisted of 7 synchronous web-based classroom sessions. Each session ran for 60 to 90 minutes. Faculty experts and nurses working in the United States discussed various topics with students, such as nursing education in the United States and evidence-based teaching and learning. The students gave presentations on the South Korean nursing education system. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, and content analysis methods. Results Participants reported improvement in their global leadership competencies. Four main categories emerged from analysis of the focus interviews: (1) realistic applicability, (2) clarification, (3) expansion of perspectives, and (4) initiative. Conclusions The online international collaborative learning program had a positive impact on the development of students’ international competencies. The findings support the further development of international exchange programs through web-based meetings in the postpandemic era.
Large-caps liquidity provision, market liquidity and high-frequency market makers’ trading behaviour

This paper exploits the introduction of the liquidity provision scheme (LPS) in NASDAQ Stockholm (NOMX) to assess how the implementation of LPS affects market liquidity and the trading behaviors of high-frequency market makers. Unlike the traditional designated market makers (DMM) that target the liquidity supply of small and less traded stocks, LPS is implemented for large-caps and liquid stocks. LPS requires participants to submit buy and sell orders at the European best bid and offer quotes with a size larger than 50,000 Swedish Krona on each trade side. LPS delivers liquidity improvements by reducing order processing costs in the large-cap and cross-listed stocks in the NOMX and Chi-X markets, with no evidence of market liquidity migration from Chi-X to NOMX. As market makers registered with LPS are likely high-frequency traders, LPS stabilizes market liquidity as market makers’ decisions to supply or demand liquidity become less sensitive to market conditions like the spread and order imbalance.
Isolation and Characterization of Effective Bacteria That Reduce Ammonia Emission from Livestock Manure

Ammonia from livestock manure reacts with chemical components discharged from various emission sources to produce airborne particulate matter. This study aimed to investigate a novel effective microbial agent to suppress ammonia gas emitted from manure. Both isolated L12I and 12III strains, identified as Pediococcus acidilactici (PA), were selected for their superior activity in assays performed with the evaluation criteria such as acid production, ammonia decomposition, and urease inhibition, which are key factors influencing ammonia excretion. The survivability of PA strains was confirmed by an increase in DNA abundance in the manure. PA strains lowered the pH of manure and suppressed the growth of hyper-ammonia-producing bacteria (HAB) possessing urease activity. The L12I and 12III treatment groups showed 23.58% and 38.00% emission reductions, respectively. Especially, the 12III strain was proven to be the more effective strain for reducing ammonia gas emission, with the best ability to reduce pH and inhibit HAB. The strains could have an additive effect in improving the manure quality as a nitrogen fertilizer by preserving the total nitrogen and urea content. These results suggest that PA strains can be used as unprecedented microbial agents to improve manure-derived environmental pollution and improve fertilizer quality.
New S-Type Bounds of M-Eigenvalues for Elasticity Tensors with Applications

In this paper, based on the extreme eigenvalues of the matrices arisen from the given elasticity tensor, S-type upper bounds for the M-eigenvalues of elasticity tensors are established. Finally, S-type sufficient conditions are introduced for the strong ellipticity of elasticity tensors based on the S-type M-eigenvalue inclusion sets.
Development of a Multi-body Statistical Shape Model of the Wrist

DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-BODY STATISTICAL SHAPE MODEL OF THE WRIST Anton Semechko Advisors: University of Guelph, 2011 Dr. Michele Oliver Dr. Robert Dony With continually growing availability of high performance computing resources, the finite element methods (FEM) are becoming increasingly more efficient and practical research tools. In the domain of computational biomechanics, FEMs have been successfully applied in investigation of biomedical problems that include impact and fracture mechanics of bone, load transmission through the joints, feasibility of joint replacements, and many others. The present research study was concerned with the development of a detailed, anatomically accurate, finite element model of the human hand and wrist. As a first step in this direction, we used a publically available database of wrist bone anatomy and carpal kinematics to construct a multi-body statistical shape model (SSM) of the wrist. The resulting model provides an efficient parameterization of anatomical variations of the entire training set and can thus overcome the major shortcoming of conventional biomechanical models associated with limited generalization ability. The main contributions of this work are: A robust method for constructing multi-body SSM of the wrist from surface meshes. A novel technique for resampling closed genus-0 meshes to produce high quality triangulations suitable for finite element simulations. Additionally, all techniques developed in the course of this study could be directly applied to create an equivalent model of the tarsus.
Morning versus Evening Intake of Creatine in Elite Female Handball Players

A great deal of evidence has been gathered on the use of creatine as an ergogenic supplement. Recent studies show greater benefits when creatine ingestion is performed close in time to training, but few studies tackle the way that circadian rhythms could influence creatine consumption. The aim of this study was therefore to observe the influence circadian rhythms exert on sports performance after creatine supplementation. Our method involved randomly assigning fourteen women players of a handball team into two groups in a single-blind study: one that consumed the supplement in the morning and one that consumed it in the evening, with both groups following a specific training program. After twelve weeks, the participants exhibited a decreased fat percentage, increased body weight and body water, and improved performance, with these results being very similar in the two groups. It is therefore concluded that, although circadian rhythms may influence performance, these appear not to affect creatine supplementation, as creatine is stored intramuscularly and is available for those moments of high energy demand, regardless of the time of day.
Extracellular Enzymes of Endophytic Fungi Hosted Salt Marsh Plants in the South Eastern, Algeria

Endophyte microorganisms have great biotechnological interest, with features applicable to different areas and are potentially useful in agriculture. In the current study, the most dominant and representative endophytic fungal species of seven halophytic plants prevalent in the southeastern Algeria, Touggourt, were screened for their ability to produce four extracellular enzymes namely: cellulase, amylase, laccase, and lipase. Zygophyllum album came first by hosting diverse endophytic species among all the tested plants with eight species followed by Tamarix boveana and Limoniastrum guyonianum (46.66%) as well as Phragmites communis with 40% and Haloxylon articulatum and Aeluropus littoralis with 33.33%. Unlike J. effusus, it was the less diverse plant where only three species (20%) were identified. In term of enzymatic activities of the selected fungi, the two species of Chaetomium presented cellulase, amylase and lipase activity. Unlike, Trichoderma harzianum involved in lipase, Ulocladium sp. in cellulase, Bipolaris sp. and Botryostimphylium sp. in Amylase. Unlike, the two species of Chaetomium involved in cellulase, amylase and lipase. On the other hand, no enzyme activity was recorded in the colonies of Fusarium sp.
Information Flow from COVID-19 Pandemic to Islamic and Conventional Equities: An ICEEMDAN-Induced Transfer Entropy Analysis

With the steady growth in the data set on the COVID-19 pandemic, empirical works that employ novel and yet appropriate statistical techniques to corroborate previous findings of the pandemic and its consequences on financial markets are necessary. This paper examined the impact of COVID-19 information flow on the Islamic and conventional equities within the short-, mid-, and long-term horizons to assess possible diversification prospects in the era of the pandemic. To the studied equities markets, a novel technique based on a denoised frequency-domain entropy paradigm was applied. The operability of entrenched market dynamics in the long-term horizon of the COVID-19 pandemic period is reinforced by the results. The findings divulge diversification opportunities between Islamic and conventional equities in the short- and mid-term periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. The risks on equities from Japan or Bahrain could be diversified by equities from Jordan in the short-term, while in the intermediate-term stocks from Japan could diversify with the UAE and USA equities. The results imply that it is imperative for investors and fund managers to employ portfolio management techniques that show how to use benefits together with risk prevention and management across distinct time scales.
Finite groups with given systems of generalised σ-permutable subgroups

Let σ = {σi|i ∈ I } be a partition of the set of all primes ℙ and G be a finite group. A set ℋ of subgroups of G is said to be a complete Hall σ-set of G if every member ≠1 of ℋ is a Hall σi-subgroup of G for some i ∈ I and ℋ contains exactly one Hall σi-subgroup of G for every i such that σi ⌒ π(G) ≠ ∅. A group is said to be σ-primary if it is a finite σi-group for some i. A subgroup A of G is said to be: σ-permutable in G if G possesses a complete Hall σ-set ℋ such that AH x = H xA for all H ∈ ℋ and all x ∈ G; σ-subnormal in G if there is a subgroup chain A = A0 ≤ A1 ≤ … ≤ At = G such that either Ai − 1 ⊴ Ai or Ai /(Ai − 1)Ai is σ-primary for all i = 1, …, t; 𝔄-normal in G if every chief factor of G between AG and AG is cyclic. We say that a subgroup H of G is: (i) partially σ-permutable in G if there are a 𝔄-normal subgroup A and a σ-permutable subgroup B of G such that H = < A, B >; (ii) (𝔄, σ)-embedded in G if there are a partially σ-permutable subgroup S and a σ-subnormal subgroup T of G such that G = HT and H ∩ T ≤ S ≤ H. We study G assuming that some subgroups of G are partially σ-permutable or (𝔄, σ)-embedded in G. Some known results are generalised.
Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors in Deutschewelle Newspaper based on the Perspective of Linguistic Relativity

Generally, metaphor is a language style that is often used as a form of creativity in communicating. However, the wider scope of the use of metaphors has led to interference from other aspects, one of which is the cultural aspect. Cultural aspect is considered to play an important role in shaping the way each individual perceives something. To prove this perspective, this study aims to identify whether the use of metaphors can be influenced by culture, when compared to the perspective of linguistic relativity. The object of this research was discourse text in Deutchewelle newspapers in Indonesian and German. The 5-Step Metaphor Analysis Method was used in this research. From the results of the meaning analysis that has been done, it shows that there is a conceptual metaphor use which is influenced by cultural aspect. This means that the use of metaphors based on the perspective of linguistic realativity is acceptable.
Moral Intensity, Perceived Impacts, and Task Motivation: Evidence From Volunteers

Although work tasks often address substantive social issues, the effects of issue characteristics on task motivation are little understood. This study explores this topic by examining how the moral characteristics of an issue (moral intensity) affect motivation in tasks intended to address the issue (task motivation). Adopting the lens of work design theory, I hypothesize that moral intensity increases task motivation through the mediation of perceived task impacts on the community (perceived community impacts), and that this effect will occur after controlling for the effects of perceived task impact on the worker and their organization. In two studies in the context of volunteering I find that, rather than acting in parallel with other task impacts, the effect of moral intensity through perceived community impacts is fully mediated by perceived organization and self impacts in a three-stage mediation. These findings demonstrate the potential relevance of issue characteristics such as moral intensity to work design theory and shed new light on the psychological mechanisms through which perceived prosocial impacts promote task motivation. I discuss implications for research and practice.
Advances in Optical Based Turbidity Sensing Using LED Photometry (PEDD)

Turbidity is one of the primary metrics to determine water quality in terms of health and environmental concerns, however analysis typically takes place in centralized facilities, with samples periodically collected and transported there. Large scale autonomous deployments (WSNs) are impeded by both initial and per measurement costs. In this study we employ a Paired Emitter-Detector Diode (PEDD) technique to quantitatively measure turbidity using analytical grade calibration standards. Our PEDD approach compares favorably against more conventional photodiode-LED arrangements in terms of spectral sensitivity, cost, power use, sensitivity, limit of detection, and physical arrangement as per the ISO 7027 turbidity sensing standard. The findings show that the PEDD technique was superior in all aforementioned aspects. It is therefore more ideal for low-cost, low-power, IoT deployed sensors. The significance of these findings can lead to environmental deployments that greatly lower the device and per-measurement costs.