Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of the Mental Rotation Task on Mental Rotation Skills in Badminton

The current study is the first to examine the idea that badminton players may use mental rotation skills to imagine the flight direction of the shuttlecock. The study included badminton experts, near-experts, and non-badminton players and asked them to complete a specially designed mental rotation task, inspired by the methods from Shepard and Metzler (1971). The findings showed no significant group difference between the three expertise groups. This is in support of previous research examining visuo-spatial skills in badminton (Ozel, Larue, & Molinaro, 2002; 2004; Wang et al., 2015). The current study therefore concluded that badminton players may not have greater mental rotation capacity than other groups. However, these studies found that the badminton players responded quicker on the task than non-badminton players. The current study therefore hypothesised that badminton players might have greater mental rotation awareness, rather than mental rotation capacity, which allows them to respond quicker to visuo-spatial tasks.
Hypothesized drivers of the bias blind spot—cognitive sophistication,
 introspection bias, and conversational processes

Individuals often assess themselves as being less susceptible to common biases compared to others. This bias blind spot (BBS) is thought to represent a metacognitive error. In this research, we tested three explanations for the effect: The cognitive sophistication hypothesis posits that individuals who display the BBS more strongly are actually less biased than others. The introspection bias hypothesis posits that the BBS occurs because people rely on introspection more when assessing themselves compared to others. The conversational processes hypothesis posits that the effect is largely a consequence of the pragmatic aspects of the experimental situation rather than true metacognitive error. In two experiments (N = 1057) examining 18 social/motivational and cognitive biases, there was strong evidence of the BBS. Among the three hypotheses examined, the conversational processes hypothesis attracted the greatest support, thus raising questions about the extent to which the BBS is a metacognitive effect.
Physical closure of piecewise-smooth models

It is shown that non-smooth models behave like smooth systems in infinite dimensional settings under a broad range of conditions. A finite dimensional reduction of continuum non-smooth models is derived that keeps both slow and infinitely fast dynamics. The fast dynamics provides a correction to Filippov's closure that takes into account wave propagation and other infinite dimensional effects. With this correction the non-unique dynamics prescribed by Filippov's method becomes unique without any smoothing.
The Level of Student Engagement in Online Courses during the COVID-19 Pandemic at the ILT Department

This study aimed to investigate the level of student engagement in online courses in the Instructional and Learning Technologies Department (ILT) at the Sluat Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also explored the challenges that impeded student engagement in online courses. The study followed a descriptive design using a purposive sample of 111 students and five instructors. Mixed methods were used for gathering the data of the study. The level of student engagement was measured through the survey of student engagement and the analysis of Moodle reports. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six students and five instructors to investigate the challenges that hindered student engagement. Although, the study revealed some challenges that impeded student engagement in online courses such as, heavy workload on students, students' inability to manage their study time, low-level of class participation, and increase of instructors' burdens, the findings of the study indicated that the ILT students still showed a high level of engagement. Thus, the revealed challenges would help educators to plan for better strategies for student engagement. The study presents some recommendations and avenues for further research.
Social preferences before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in
 China

This study compares Chinese people’s trust and trustworthiness, risk attitude, and time preference before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. We compare the preferences of subjects in two online experiments with samples drawn from 31 provinces across mainland China before and after the onset of the pandemic. We test two competing hypotheses regarding trust and trustworthiness. On the one hand, the outbreak as a collective threat could enhance in-group cohesion and cooperation and thus increase trust and trustworthiness. On the other hand, to the extent that people expect their future income to decline, they may become more self-protective and self-controlled, and thus less trusting and trustworthy and more risk averse and patient. Comparing before and after the onset, we found that the subjects increased in trustworthiness. After the onset, trust and trustworthiness (and risk aversion and present bias too) were positively correlated with the COVID-19 prevalence rate in the provinces. Subjects with more pessimistic expectations about income change showed more risk aversion and lower discount rates, supporting the speculation concerning self-control.
CZT detector technology for medical imaging

Over the last two decades, the II–VI semiconductors CdTe and CdZnTe (CZT) has emerged as the material of choice for room temperature detection of hard X-rays and soft γ-rays. The techniques of growing the crystals, the design of the detectors, and the electronics used for reading out the detectors have been considerably improved over the last few years. CdTe/CZT materials find now applications in astrophysics, medical imaging and security applications. The paper discusses recent progress in CZT detector technology and outlines possible new application opportunities.
A spiking network model for clustering report in a visual working memory task

Introduction Working memory (WM) plays a key role in many cognitive processes, and great interest has been attracted by WM for many decades. Recently, it has been observed that the reports of the memorized color sampled from a uniform distribution are clustered, and the report error for the stimulus follows a Gaussian distribution. Methods Based on the well-established ring model for visuospatial WM, we constructed a spiking network model with heterogeneous connectivity and embedded short-term plasticity (STP) to investigate the neurodynamic mechanisms behind this interesting phenomenon. Results As a result, our model reproduced the clustering report given stimuli sampled from a uniform distribution and the error of the report following a Gaussian distribution. Perturbation studies showed that the heterogeneity of connectivity and STP are necessary to explain experimental observations. Conclusion Our model provides a new perspective on the phenomenon of visual WM in experiments.
Derivatives of 2-aminobenzimidazole potentiate ASIC open state with slow kinetics of activation and desensitization

The pharmacology of acid-sensitive ion channels (ASICs) is diverse, but potent and selective modulators, for instance for ASIC2a, are still lacking. In the present work we studied the effect of five 2-aminobenzimidazole derivatives on native ASICs in rat brain neurons and recombinant receptors expressed in CHO cells using the whole-cell patch clamp method. 2-aminobenzimidazole selectively potentiated ASIC3. Compound Ru-1355 strongly enhanced responses of ASIC2a and caused moderate potentiation of native ASICs and heteromeric ASIC1a/ASIC2a. The most active compound, Ru-1199, caused the strongest potentiation of ASIC2a, but also potentiated native ASICs, ASIC1a and ASIC3. The potentiating effects depended on the pH and was most pronounced with intermediate acidifications. In the presence of high concentrations of Ru-1355 and Ru-1199, the ASIC2a responses were biphasic, the initial transient currents were followed by slow component. These slow additional currents were weakly sensitive to the acid-sensitive ion channels pore blocker diminazene. We also found that sustained currents mediated by ASIC2a and ASIC3 are less sensitive to diminazene than the peak currents. Different sensitivities of peak and sustained components to the pore-blocking drug suggest that they are mediated by different open states. We propose that the main mechanism of action of 2-aminobenzimidazole derivatives is potentiation of the open state with slow kinetics of activation and desensitization.
Perspectives on heterogeneity-informed cognitive training for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition, posing a severe threat to quality of life. Pharmacological therapies are the front-line treatment; however, their shortages encourage the development of alternative treatments for AD/HD. One promising method of developing alternative treatments is cognitive training (CT). A CT-based therapy was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. However, due to heterogeneity in AD/HD, a CT protocol is unlikely to provide a one-size-fits-all solution for all patients with AD/HD. Therefore, this article highlights key aspects that need to be considered to further develop CT protocols for AD/HD, regarding training content, timing, suitability, and delivery mode. The perspectives presented here contribute to optimizing CT as an alternative option for treating AD/HD.
Altered brain activity and functional connectivity after MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder

Introduction 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has demonstrated promise in multiple clinical trials. MDMA is hypothesized to facilitate the therapeutic process, in part, by decreasing fear response during fear memory processing while increasing extinction learning. The acute administration of MDMA in healthy controls modifies recruitment of brain regions involved in the hyperactive fear response in PTSD such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and insula. However, to date there have been no neuroimaging studies aimed at directly elucidating the neural impact of MDMA-AT in PTSD patients. Methods We analyzed brain activity and connectivity via functional MRI during both rest and autobiographical memory (trauma and neutral) response before and two-months after MDMA-AT in nine veterans and first-responders with chronic PTSD of 6 months or more. Results We hypothesized that MDMA-AT would increase amygdala-hippocampus resting-state functional connectivity, however we only found evidence of a trend in the left amygdala—left hippocampus (t = –2.91, uncorrected p = 0.0225, corrected p = 0.0901). We also found reduced activation contrast (trauma > neutral) after MDMA-AT in the cuneus. Finally, the amount of recovery from PTSD after MDMA-AT correlated with changes in four functional connections during autobiographical memory recall: the left amygdala—left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), left amygdala—right PCC, left amygdala—left insula, and left isthmus cingulate—left posterior hippocampus. Discussion Amygdala—insular functional connectivity is reliably implicated in PTSD and anxiety, and both regions are impacted by MDMA administration. These findings compliment previous research indicating that amygdala, hippocampus, and insula functional connectivity is a potential target of MDMA-AT, and highlights other regions of interest related to memory processes. More research is necessary to determine if these findings are specific to MDMA-AT compared to other types of treatment for PTSD. Clinical trial registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02102802, identifier NCT02102802.
Identification of multiple novel genetic mechanisms that regulate chilling tolerance in Arabidopsis

Introduction Cold stress adversely affects the growth and development of plants and limits the geographical distribution of many plant species. Accumulation of spontaneous mutations shapes the adaptation of plant species to diverse climatic conditions. Methods The genome-wide association study of the phenotypic variation gathered by a newly designed phenomic platform with the over six millions single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) loci distributed across the genomes of 417 Arabidopsis natural variants collected from various geographical regions revealed 33 candidate cold responsive genes. Results Investigation of at least two independent insertion mutants for 29 genes identified 16 chilling tolerance genes governing diverse genetic mechanisms. Five of these genes encode novel leucine-rich repeat domain-containing proteins including three nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins. Among the 16 identified chilling tolerance genes, ADS2 and ACD6 are the only two chilling tolerance genes identified earlier. Discussion The 12.5% overlap between the genes identified in this genome-wide association study (GWAS) of natural variants with those discovered previously through forward and reverse genetic approaches suggests that chilling tolerance is a complex physiological process governed by a large number of genetic mechanisms.
A new method for estimating multi-source water supply considering joint probability distributions under uncertainty

A new method integrating techniques of copula and interval estimation to estimate multi-source water supply was proposed. Using the copula theory, joint probability distributions of multiple water sources were constructed for the estimation of water supply. In addition, the interval estimation was used to obtain the interval of water supply under uncertainty for the formulation of water-diversion strategies and the efficient allocation of water resources. This method can give an in-depth investigation on correlations and synchronous–asynchronous characteristics of runoff variations for multiple water sources, thus solving the uncertainty problem of water supply. To demonstrate its applicability, the method was applied to a case study in the Xiong’an New Area, a future metropolis in North China. The results showed that log-normal distributions for the marginal distributions of source 2 (i.e., the Water Diversion Project from the Yellow River to Baiyangdian Lake) and source 3 (i.e., the South-to-North Water Diversion Project) were feasible. The combined channel source, composed of source 2 and source 3, provided [5.20, 12.10] × 108 m3, and reservoir source provided [0.76, 3.60] × 108 m³ of water resources to the Xiong’an New Area per year. Furthermore, without the implementation of multi-source combined water supply pattern in the Xiong’an New Area, there would be a large water supply deficit. This research can provide effective practical suggestions and guidance on water-resource planning and management.
The relationship between mental representations of self and social evaluation: Examining the validity and usefulness of visual proxies of self-image

Reverse correlation (RC) method has been recently used to visualize mental representations of self. Previous studies have mainly examined the relationship between psychological aspects measured by self-reports and classification images of self (self-CIs), which are visual proxies of self-image generated through the RC method. In Experiment 1 (N = 118), to extend the validity of self-CIs, we employed social evaluation on top of self-reports as criterion variables and examined the relationship between self-CIs and social evaluation provided by clinical psychologists. Experiment 1 revealed that the valence ratings of self-CIs evaluated by independent raters predicted social evaluation after controlling for the effects of self-reported self-esteem and extraversion. Furthermore, in Experiment 2 (N = 127), we examined whether a computational scoring method – a method to assess self-CIs without employing independent raters – could be applied to evaluate the valence of participants’ self-CIs. Experiment 2 found that the computational scores of self-CIs were comparable to independent valence ratings of self-CIs. We provide evidence that self-CIs can add independent information to self-reports in predicting social evaluation. We also suggest that the computational scoring method can complement the independent rating process of self-CIs. Overall, our findings reveal that self-CIs are a valid and useful tool to examine self-image more profoundly.
Facial image inpainting for big data using an effective attention mechanism and a convolutional neural network

Big data facial image is an important identity information for people. However, facial image inpainting using existing deep learning methods has some problems such as insufficient feature mining and incomplete semantic expression, leading to output image artifacts or fuzzy textures. Therefore, it is of practical significance to study how to effectively restore an incomplete facial image. In this study, we proposed a facial image inpainting method using a multistage generative adversarial network (GAN) and the global attention mechanism (GAM). For the overall network structure, we used the GAN as the main body, then we established skip connections to optimize the network structure, and used the encoder–decoder structure to better capture the semantic information of the missing part of a facial image. A local refinement network has been proposed to enhance the local restoration effect and to weaken the influence of unsatisfactory results. Moreover, GAM is added to the network to magnify the interactive features of the global dimension while reducing information dispersion, which is more suitable for restoring human facial information. Comparative experiments on CelebA and CelebA-HQ big datasets show that the proposed method generates realistic inpainting results in both regular and irregular masks and achieves peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM), as well as other evaluation indicators that illustrate the performance and efficiency of the proposed model.
Paradox without satisfaction

According to Stephen Yablo, the above list generates a liar-like paradox without circularity (see Yablo 1985 and 1993). After all, in contrast with the usual liar paradox, no sentence in the Yablo list refers to itself, and as opposed to well-known liar cycles,1 no sentence refers to sentences above it in the list. However, similarly to the (usual or cyclic) liar, a contradiction is derivable from the list. But is Yablo’s paradox really non-circular? To this question, Graham Priest gave a surprising answer. In his view, despite initial appearances, the paradox is circular (Priest 1997). After all, if the formulation of the paradox doesn’t seem to involve circularity, the argument to contradiction definitely does. As Priest argued, Yablo’s paradox has ‘a fixed point . of exactly the same self-referential kind as in the liar paradox’. As a result, ‘the circularity is . manifest’ (Priest 1997: 238). 2 In this paper, we challenge Priest’s answer – in a new way. To the best of our knowledge, everyone in the debate has conceded the adequacy of Priest’s reconstruction of the argument to contradiction. We point out a limitation that hasn’t been noted. Priest’s argument requires the existence of a satisfaction relation that plays the role of a fixed point in Yablo’s
Case Report: Chemotherapy-free treatment with camrelizumab and anlotinib for elderly patients with KRAS and TP53 mutated advanced lung cancer

Background: Lung cancer is a major public health issue and an enormous burden on society in China. Most lung cancers occur in elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and many factors limit their treatment options. Chemotherapy-free therapy can avoid psychological fear, treatment pain, and adverse reactions caused by chemotherapy. Patients with non-small cell lung cancer with tumour protein p53 (TP53) gene mutations or Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue (KRAS) gene mutations tend to be more sensitive to anlotinib or programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) drugs. However, Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue is a proto-oncogene downstream of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene; therefore, if the Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue gene has an activating mutation, EGFR-targeted drug resistance may occur. Further studies are needed to explore whether patients with dual Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue and tumour protein p53 mutations can be treated with targeted immunotherapy without chemotherapy. Case presentation: A 74-year-old man was referred to the Lanzhou University Second Hospital due to chest tightness, shortness of breath, and weight loss for 2 months and was diagnosed with moderately to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Laboratory examinations showed increased alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA)-125, and CA199 levels, and gene sequencing indicated mutations in Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue and tumour protein p53. Immunohistochemical analysis showed positive PD-L1 and PD-1 expression. Peripheral blood immune checkpoint test using flow cytometry indicated that the PD-1 + CD8 levels were positive. After multi-disciplinary treatment, therapy with a combination of anlotinib and camrelizumab was initiated. Camrelizumab 200 mg was administered intravenously once every 3 weeks. Anlotinib 12 mg was administered orally daily before breakfast for 2 weeks with a week of rest in every cycle of 21 days. A reduction in alpha-fetoprotein, carcinoembryonic antigen, CA125, CA199, and CA724 levels was observed up to the first cycle, which decreased within the normal limits up to the second cycle and continued until the eighteenth cycle. The patient’s chest tightness, shortness of breath, weight loss, and other symptoms significantly improved following treatment. Computed tomography imaging showed that the neoplastic lesion was dramatically reduced. The patient is currently being followed-up for more than 2 years to evaluate the duration of the response. Conclusion: Chemotherapy-free immunotherapy combined with targeted therapy is an effective treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer in elderly patients with Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue and tumour protein p53 mutations. Such therapies should be supported with further clinical studies with larger sample sizes.