Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonlinear threshold behavior during the loss of Arctic sea ice

In light of the rapid recent retreat of Arctic sea ice, a number of studies have discussed the possibility of a critical threshold (or “tipping point”) beyond which the ice–albedo feedback causes the ice cover to melt away in an irreversible process. The focus has typically been centered on the annual minimum (September) ice cover, which is often seen as particularly susceptible to destabilization by the ice–albedo feedback. Here, we examine the central physical processes associated with the transition from ice-covered to ice-free Arctic Ocean conditions. We show that although the ice–albedo feedback promotes the existence of multiple ice-cover states, the stabilizing thermodynamic effects of sea ice mitigate this when the Arctic Ocean is ice covered during a sufficiently large fraction of the year. These results suggest that critical threshold behavior is unlikely during the approach from current perennial sea-ice conditions to seasonally ice-free conditions. In a further warmed climate, however, we find that a critical threshold associated with the sudden loss of the remaining wintertime-only sea ice cover may be likely.
Real-time rendering for realistic human skin on web-side

A web-side platform for rendering realistic skin based on three layers skin model is designed in web browser. Previous work on rendering realistic skin has been limited by client-side. We introduce WebGL technique that enables plugin-free running of a high-quality and realistic skin application with 3D graphics rendering and physics effects. For reducing rendering time, we propose a solution to the large computation problem by precomputing several 2D texture lookup tables. To enhance realism of rendering human skin, an improved bidirectional reflectance distribution function and sum-of-Gaussians diffusion profile are provided for efficiently approximating skin surface reflectance and subsurface scattering respectively. Different from using OpenGL, a new method is presented to compute a stretch-correction texture by convolving world-space coordinates texture. Combining specular reflection approximation with subsurface scattering approximation, an experiment is implemented to verify that a realistic human face skin can be rendered on web-side and the result is more realistic than using Phong model.
Exploring creative writing in the middle school classroom via the effective use of multimedia

The paper describes the process of developing a website designed for middle school students. The website facilitates the acquisition and application of literary elements via student authorship of a self-generated creatively written story. This story must exhibit the five major literary elements in their component parts initially, and then upon final completion of the project the students must put all of their component parts together to create an interactive PowerPoint of their story. Having reviewed literature relating to learning theories, instructional design, and the impact that technology has on writing, this paper also discusses, in depth, the impact all of these topics have had on this project in particular. The author has also taken web design into consideration, thus making the website user friendly and easily applicable to any classroom. The resulting website was reviewed by subject matter experts who deem it applicable to the intended audience. At completion of the website design it became evident that the design of this project was very time consuming and exhaustive, however the key to success was identified as
Sociality-aware resource allocation for device-to-device communications in cellular networks

Exploiting direct transmissions between geographically close mobile users without passing through the base stations, device-to-device (D2D) communications contribute significant improvement to the spectral efficiency of cellular networks. In D2D-assisted cellular networks, the social interaction of mobile users is an important property that will affect the practical performance and should be seriously accounted in the network resource allocation, which is yet to be fully explored. In this study, the authors investigate the social interactions for D2D transmissions and develop a contact time model to characterise the D2D links. A D2D link can be considered for resource allocation only when the two users encounter and their contact time is enough long to complete a meaningful transmission. They formulate and compare both sociality-blind and sociality-aware optimisation problems for resource allocation in D2D-assisted cellular networks. Extensive numerical results are presented, validating that the sociality-aware resource allocation can achieve higher performance than that of the sociality-blind approach.
Coordination and Learning Behavior in Large Groups with Asymmetric Players

We study a class of large-group, noncooperative, iterated market entry games with complete information, binary choices, and asymmetric players in which the incentive of each player to enter the market decreases the larger the number of entrants. Experimental results from two different studies show remarkable coordination on the aggregate level, which is accounted for successfully by the Nash equilibrium solution. The equilibrium solution is less successful in accounting for the differences among types of players with differential entry costs or differences among players of the same type. Rather, the behavioral patterns observed on the aggregate level are accounted for by a reinforcement-based learning model postulating an initial distribution of individual cutoff points. These cutoff points are assumed to change over time, at a decreasing rate, as a joint function of the decision and outcome of the preceding period. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C7, D5, D8. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).
A CMOS circuit implementation of a spiking neuron with bursting and adaptation on a biological timescale

This paper proposes a silicon neuron circuit which uses a slow-variable controlled leakage term to extend the repertoire of spiking patterns achievable in an integrate and fire model. The simulations reveal the potential of the circuit to provide a wide variety of neuron firing patterns observed in neocortex, including adapting and non-adapting, regular spiking, fast spiking, bursting, chattering, etc. The firing patterns of basic cell classes are obtained with a simple adjustment of four biasing voltages. The circuit operates in the sub-threshold regime, with time constants similar to biological neurons, and hence is suitable for use in systems requiring such operating speeds. Envisaged applications of the proposed circuit are in large-scale analogue VLSI systems for spiking neural network simulations, brain-inspired circuits for robotics and hybrid silicon/biology systems.
Analysis of Stage-Specific Gene Expression Profiles in the Uterine Endometrium during Pregnancy in Pigs

The uterine endometrium plays a critical role in regulating the estrous cycle and the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in mammalian species. Many studies have investigated the expression and function of genes in the uterine endometrium, but the global expression pattern of genes and relationships among genes differentially expressed in the uterine endometrium during gestation in pigs remain unclear. Thus, this study investigated global gene expression profiles using microarray in pigs. Diverse transcriptome analyses including clustering, network, and differentially expressed gene (DEG) analyses were performed to detect endometrial gene expression changes during the different gestation stages. In total, 6,991 genes were found to be differentially expressed by comparing genes expressed on day (D) 12 of pregnancy with those on D15, D30, D60, D90 and D114 of pregnancy, and clustering analysis of detected DEGs distinguished 8 clusters. Furthermore, several pregnancy-related hub genes such as ALPPL2, RANBP17, NF1B, SPP1, and CST6 were discovered through network analysis. Finally, detected hub genes were technically validated by quantitative RT-PCR. These results suggest the complex network characteristics involved in uterine endometrial gene expression during pregnancy and indicate that diverse patterns of stage-specific gene expression and network connections may play a critical role in endometrial remodeling and in placental and fetal development to establish and maintenance of pregnancy in pigs.
Prototyping pneumatic group actuators composed of multiple single-motion elastic tubes

We develop pneumatic actuators composed of multiple elastic tubes. Elastic tubes with mechanical constraints have the capability of performing a single various motion while multiple motions cannot be performed. Actuators composed of single-motion tubes can realize multiple motions by controlling air pressure imposed on individual tubes. We present the concept of group actuators and develop their prototypes.
A Novel Extracting Blob-like Object Method Based on Scale-Space

This paper presents a novel method, which can be used to extract blob-like object from a blob-like image. The method firstly uses an interest point detecting algorithm with automation scale selection to detect interest points and their scales. Secondly, centered at each interest point a local rectangle region can be constructed with two scales of the point in two different directions. Since such a region contains a single object, the set of these local regions can be regarded as an approximate segmentation for the original image. Further more, we can use a clustering method to extract a blob object from each local region. Experimental results show that our method can efficiently extract single object.
OCCUPATIONAL EXPECTATIONS OF DAY GENERAL LYCEUM STUDENTS IN GREECE AT A TIME OF ECONOMIC CRISIS

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences in the occupational expectations of Day General Lyceum students in Greece according to their social origin. Furthermore, their criteria for choosing a profession and the factors which influence their occupational expectations are explored. The research sample consists of Day General Lyceum students in Greece who attended the 2nd grade of Lyceum during the school year 2017-2018, and the research data were collected with the use of the semi-structured interview. The results of this study showed that students tend to have high occupational expectations, regardless of the volume of their ‘institutionalized’ cultural capital and the socio-economic status of their family of origin. Moreover, the economic crisis that Greece is facing today, and which influences the family and the students’ social life, has also had a significant impact on the formation of their occupational expectations, regardless of their socio-economic origin. Article visualizations:
Employing region ensembles in a statistical learning framework for robust 3D facial recognition

Recently, region approaches have been applied to 3D face recognition to mitigate performance degradation caused by variations in face expressions. In this work, we investigate the benefits of region ensembles for statistical learning based 3D face recognition. This investigation is conducted using 3D Fisherfaces and demonstrates that region ensembles improve the ability of the Fisherface approach to create discriminating features, even for untrained subject samples. In fact, comparable performance can be achieved using significantly fewer training subjects. In addition, gallery score normalization is integrated into the region ensemble framework and is shown to improve performance over a single normalization of the ensemble match score. Performance improvement is particularly evident at low false alarm rates. An All versus All comparison of the FRGC 2.0 database obtains a 97.1% True Accept Rate (TAR) at 0.1% False Accept Rate (FAR) when the approach is trained with 100 subjects and improves to 98.1% with integrated gallery score normalization.
An approximate dual subgradient algorithm for distributed non-convex constrained optimization

We consider a multi-agent optimization problem where agents aim to cooperatively minimize a sum of local objective functions subject to a global inequality constraint and a global state constraint set. In contrast to existing papers, we do not require that the objective, constraint functions, and state constraint sets are convex. We propose a distributed approximate dual subgradient algorithm to enable agents to asymptotically converge to a pair of approximate primal-dual solutions over dynamically changing network topologies. Convergence can be guaranteed provided that the Slater’s condition and strong duality property are satisfied.
Effects of Tai Chi Training on Antioxidant Capacity in Pre- and Postmenopausal Women

The risk of oxidative stress-related metabolic diseases increases with menopause and physical inactivity. We hypothesized that an 8-week Tai Chi (TC) training program (2 sessions in class; 2 sessions at home; 1-1:15/session) would improve antioxidant capacity and reduce cardiovascular risks in both pre- (n = 8) and postmenopausal (n = 7) sedentary women. Selected measures of physical fitness and blood parameters were analyzed before and after the program. Besides the well-known effects of TC on balance, flexibility, and maximum leg extensor strength, TC (1) increased erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity—an aerobic training-responsive antioxidant enzyme—and plasma total antioxidant status and (2) decreased plasma total homocysteine, a cardiovascular risk marker. In addition to being a low-velocity, low-impact, and relatively safe, TC is a suitable physical activity design for pre- and postmenopausal women to increase antioxidant defenses. Investigating breathing effects during TC movements would be an interesting area for further research in diseases prevention.
A Simple Approach to Optimize Web Services' Performance

The standard of data transfer and exchange between organizations through Web services has become exceedingly popular, especially in electronic commerce. Web services are somewhat loosely defined, but may be characterized in general as using existing web technologies and standards to build the distributed computing environments. Data transferred through web services is in the form of XML. Even though Web services can be beneficial and so it influences the effectiveness of the system as a whole. In this paper presents algorithm in optimizing the effectiveness of data transferring through the network using file transfer protocol. The mechanism has been reduces the data exchange time up to 70%. In addition, it can also send data through network with efficiency without losing standards of data transfer and avoid traffic from HTTP protocol.
PD-type control with neural-network-based gravity compensation for compliant joint robots

Since the gravity terms depend only on the link positions in compliant joint robots, a neural-network-based gravity compensation scheme is conceived while the gravity model is unknown or is too complicated to be expressed explicitly. A PD-type control with this compensation is developed with the high-gain torque inner loop such that singular perturbation theory may be used to analyze the stability and passivity. Finally, three experiments are implemented to validate the effectiveness of the invented PD-type control with neural-network-based gravity compensation.
It’s very different here: practice-based academic staff induction and retention

ABSTRACT The sociologist, Max Weber (1864–1920), suggested that few could withstand the frustrations of academic life. As the strategic management of human resources begins to differentiate higher education institutions (HEIs) in league tables, the costs of voluntary staff turnover (attrition) become more significant. In this paper, we consider links between induction (orientation) and retention for academic staff. We report on a qualitative study of thirty academic staff in five United Kingdom HEIs who were recruited on the basis of their professional experience. Their practice-based knowledge lends our participants particular insight into their HEI induction experience which, where found wanting, led in several cases to resignation. We analyse the induction experiences of our participants to glean explanations for these perceived shortcomings. Since induction interventions are thought to lead to improved retention, we recommend policy and practice changes to induction, which may benefit all academic staff.
Malaysian Rural Secondary School Students’ Attitudes towards Learning English as a Second Language

Students' attitudes towards learning English as a second language is not a new issue, yet much is to be known about the factors that actually affect the students' attitudes, especially those who live in rural areas that are known to have poor perceptions towards as well as poor performance in learning the English language as compared to Malaysian students who live in urban areas. Using Spolsky's (1989) Model of Second Language Learning and Gardner's (1985) Second Language Acquisition Theory, this study examines rural Malaysian students' attitudes towards learning English as a second language. The main objective is to investigate the individual elements or factors influencing rural secondary school students' attitude towards learning the English language. By employing a case study approach, four students from two different grade levels in a rural secondary school were purposely selected and individually interviewed and observed in their learning environments. The data were analysed using within and cross case analyses as well as thematic analysis, in which the authors read and annotated interview transcripts, identified themes, developed a coding scheme and coded the data. The findings suggest that there were two most significant factors influencing the students' attitudes towards the learning of English; i) lessons not catered to students' proficiency levels and interests, and ii) students' individual reactions to negative and positive experiences.
Genome Sequence of the First Coleopteran Iflavirus Isolated from Western Corn Rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte

ABSTRACT The genome sequence of a novel iflavirus was identified from the transcriptome of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera. The RNA sequence consists of 9,823 nucleotides (nt) with a 3′ polyadenylated tail, containing a single open reading frame that encodes a 3,028-amino-acid polyprotein.
Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience Sleep: from Muscle to Neocortex

Despite the predominance of sleep during the perinatal period in mammals, most investigations of the mechanisms and functions of sleep continue to focus on adults. This chapter reviews recent progress in our understanding of infant sleep and its development, including developmental transitions in the temporal expression of ultradian and circadian rhythms, the developmental emergence of sleep components (e.g., cortical delta activity), the neural mechanisms of infant sleep, and the contributions of sleep processes to neural development. In addition, it is argued that a thorough understanding of the development of sleep can help us to understand the relations between normal and pathological states as well as the evolutionary modifi cation of developmental mechanisms to shape species-specifi c features of sleep and wakefulness.
Metabolic Impacts of Using Nitrogen and Copper-Regulated Promoters to Regulate Gene Expression in Neurospora crassa

The filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa is a long-studied eukaryotic microbial system amenable to heterologous expression of native and foreign proteins. However, relatively few highly tunable promoters have been developed for this species. In this study, we compare the tcu-1 and nit-6 promoters for controlled expression of a GFP reporter gene in N. crassa. Although the copper-regulated tcu-1 has been previously characterized, this is the first investigation exploring nitrogen-controlled nit-6 for expression of heterologous genes in N. crassa. We determined that fragments corresponding to 1.5-kb fragments upstream of the tcu-1 and nit-6 open reading frames are needed for optimal repression and expression of GFP mRNA and protein. nit-6 was repressed using concentrations of glutamine from 2 to 20 mM and induced in medium containing 0.5–20 mM nitrate as the nitrogen source. Highest levels of expression were achieved within 3 hr of induction for each promoter and GFP mRNA could not be detected within 1 hr after transfer to repressing conditions using the nit-6 promoter. We also performed metabolic profiling experiments using proton NMR to identify changes in metabolite levels under inducing and repressing conditions for each promoter. The results demonstrate that conditions used to regulate tcu-1 do not significantly change the primary metabolome and that the differences between inducing and repressing conditions for nit-6 can be accounted for by growth under nitrate or glutamine as a nitrogen source. Our findings demonstrate that nit-6 is a tunable promoter that joins tcu-1 as a choice for regulation of gene expression in N. crassa.
MAP-Based Underdetermined Blind Source Separation of Convolutive Mixtures by Hierarchical Clustering and -Norm Minimization

We address the problem of underdetermined BSS. While most previous approaches are designed for instantaneous mixtures, we propose a time-frequency-domain algorithm for convolutive mixtures. We adopt a two-step method based on a general maximum a posteriori (MAP) approach. In the first step, we estimate the mixing matrix based on hierarchical clustering, assuming that the source signals are sufficiently sparse. The algorithm works directly on the complex-valued data in the time-frequency domain and shows better convergence than algorithms based on self-organizing maps. The assumption of Laplacian priors for the source signals in the second step leads to an algorithm for estimating the source signals. It involves the-norm minimization of complex numbers because of the use of the time-frequency-domain approach. We compare a combinatorial approach initially designed for real numbers with a second-order cone programming (SOCP) approach designed for complex numbers. We found that although the former approach is not theoretically justified for complex numbers, its results are comparable to, or even better than, the SOCP solution. The advantage is a lower computational cost for problems with low input/output dimensions.
Social Support Mechanisms Among Athletes With Disabilities

The purpose of this investigation was to describe social support mechanisms of swimmers with disabilities and examine relationships among social support, self-efficacy, and athletic satisfaction. Results indicated that athletes felt satisfied with the social support they received. Mothers and friends provided primary support in a variety of areas requiring non-sport-related knowledge. Additionally, there were important secondary sources of support in areas requiring sport-specific knowledge. Coaches were primary sources of support in areas that required sport expertise. Fathers were also important sources of secondary support in areas that required both sport expertise and nonsport expertise. Correlational results suggested that athletes who were supported by being listened to and by being challenged to become better athletes and people also reported strong self-efficacy.