Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Demographics of the Disappearing Bottlenose Dolphin in Argentina: A Common Species on Its Way Out?

Populations of the once common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in Argentina have precipitously declined throughout the country in the past decades. Unfortunately, local declines of common species are easily overlooked when establishing priorities for conservation. In this study, demographics of what may well be the last remaining resident population in the country were assessed using mark—recapture analysis (Pollock’s Robust Design) of a photo-identification dataset collected during 2006–2011 in Bahía San Antonio (Patagonia, Argentina). Total abundance, corrected for unmarked individuals, ranged from 40 (95%CI: 16.1–98.8) to 83 (95%CI = 45.8–151.8) individuals and showed a decrease over the years. Adult survival rates varied between 0.97 (± 0.037 SE) and 0.99 (± 0.010 SE). Average calving interval equalled 3.5 ± 1.03 years, with 3.5 births/year in the entire population and a minimum annual birth rate of 4.2%. However, data suggest that calves may have been born and lost before being documented, underestimating birth rate, calf mortality, and possibly the number of reproductive females. Either way, the recruitment rate of calves appears to be insufficient to support the size of the population. This population is relatively small and declining. Considering the disappearance of populations north and south of the study area, an incessant decline will have severe consequences for the continuous existence of this species in Argentina, indicating an urgent need for serious conservation efforts. This study provides insight into how the failure to recognize local population declines can threaten the national (and eventually the international) status of a common species like the bottlenose dolphin.
Energy savings in dyeing fixing process of cotton fabrics by steaming

In this work, a traditional dyeing fixing process by steaming is studied, in order to improve both the coloration quality of the final obtained fabrics and the energy performances of the process. Starting from the factor’s ranges currently in use by textile industrial operators, a full factorial design with two factors (steam flow rate and steaming time) and three levels is settled following the guidelines of Design of Experiments (DOE). A multiple response model characterized by different subset of regressors is proposed and the best one is chosen by means of Mallows’ Cp, R2 and R2(adj) and S criterions. The analysis puts in evidence that the obtained predictive models point out the high influence of the time spent by the fabric in the steaming chamber, while the one of the steam flow rate can be considered negligible. This fact leads to the opportunity to produce the best quality fabrics at the lowest level of steam flow rate, maintaining the steaming time under the traditionally employed one of 14 minutes, actually 11.1 minutes, results which can be translated in consistent energy and, consequently, economical savings if applied to industrial size equipment.
Older Adults Show Impaired Modulation of Attentional Alpha Oscillations: Evidence From Dichotic Listening

Auditory attention is critical for selectively listening to speech from a single talker in a multitalker environment (e.g., Cherry, 1953). Listening in such situations is notoriously more difficult and more poorly encoded to long-term memory in older than in young adults (Tun, O’Kane, & Wingfield, 2002). Recent work by Payne, Rogers, Wingfield, and Sekuler (2017) in young adults demonstrated a neural correlate of auditory attention in the directed dichotic listening task (DDLT), where listeners attend to one ear while ignoring the other. Measured using electroencephalography, differences in alpha band power (8–14 Hz) between left and right hemisphere parietal regions mark the direction to which auditory attention is focused. Little prior research has been conducted on alpha power modulations in older adults, particularly with regard to auditory attention directed toward speech stimuli. In the current study, an older adult sample was administered the DDLT and delayed recognition procedures used by Payne et al. (2017). Compared to young adults, older adults showed reduced selective attention in the DDLT, evidenced by a higher rate of intrusions from the unattended ear. Moreover, older adults did not exhibit attention-related alpha modulation evidenced by young adults, nor did their event-related potentials (ERPs) to recognition probes differentiate between attended or unattended probes. Older adults’ delayed recognition did not reveal a pattern of suppression of unattended items evidenced by young adults. These results serve as evidence for an age-related decline in selective auditory attention, potentially mediated by age-related decline in the ability to modulate alpha oscillations.
Comparative evaluation of modulation strategies for a single-phase PV micro-inverter with high-frequency transformer

Micro-inverter topologies have several advantages for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems, such as: flexible system design, simplified installation and enhanced safety characteristics. In this paper, a single-phase micro-inverter with a high-frequency transformer is introduced. The micro-inverter is composed by: an isolated high-frequency full bridge dc-dc converter, an inverter and LCL filter. Performance evaluation of the converter using three modulation strategies are analyzed by comparing harmonic distortion of injected current and semiconductor losses. The aforementioned modulation strategies (MS) are: phase-shift with unipolar PWM (MS1), phase-shift with hybrid PWM (MS2), and sinusoidal phase-shift with unfolding stage (MS3). Simulation results using PSIM corroborate the feasibility of the micro-inverter adopting different modulation strategies, being MS2 more equilibrated between semiconductor losses and injected current THD. Finally, a 250 W prototype was manufactured to validate the performance of the micro-inverter.
Unexpected instabilities explain batch‐to‐batch variability in cell‐free protein expression systems

Cell‐free methods of protein synthesis offer rapid access to expressed proteins. Though the amounts produced are generally only at a small scale, these are sufficient to perform protein‐protein interaction assays and tests of enzymatic activity. As such they are valuable tools for the biochemistry and bioengineering community. However the most complex, eukaryotic cell‐free systems are difficult to manufacture in house and can be prohibitively expensive to obtain from commercial sources. The Leishmania tarentolae system offers a relatively cheap alternative which is capable of producing difficult to express proteins, but which is simpler to produce in large scale. However, this system suffers from batch‐to‐batch variability, which has been accepted as a consequence of the complexity of the extracts. Here we show an unexpected origin for the variability observed and demonstrate that small variations in a single parameter can dramatically affect expression, such that minor pipetting errors can have major effects on yields. L. tarentolae cell‐free lysate activity is shown to be more stable to changes in Mg2+ concentration at a lower ratio of feed solution to lysate in the reaction than typically used, and a higher Mg2+ optimum. These changes essentially eliminate batch‐to‐batch variability of L. tarentolae lysate activity and permit their full potential to be realized.
New Conditions for Global Asymptotic Stability of Memristor Neural Networks

Recent papers in the literature introduced a class of neural networks (NNs) with memristors, named dynamic-memristor (DM) NNs, such that the analog processing takes place in the charge–flux domain, instead of the typical current–voltage domain as it happens for Hopfield NNs and standard cellular NNs. One key advantage is that, when a steady state is reached, all currents, voltages, and power of a DM-NN drop off, whereas the memristors act as nonvolatile memories that store the processing result. Previous work in the literature addressed multistability of DM-NNs, i.e., convergence of solutions in the presence of multiple asymptotically stable equilibrium points (EPs). The goal of this paper is to study a basically different dynamical property of DM-NNs, namely, to thoroughly investigate the fundamental issue of global asymptotic stability (GAS) of the unique EP of a DM-NN in the general case of nonsymmetric neuron interconnections. A basic result on GAS of DM-NNs is established using Lyapunov method and the concept of Lyapunov diagonally stable matrices. On this basis, some relevant classes of nonsymmetric DM-NNs enjoying the property of GAS are highlighted.
An adaptive semantic matching paradigm for reliable and valid language mapping in individuals with aphasia

Research on neuroplasticity in recovery from aphasia depends on the ability to identify language areas of the brain in individuals with aphasia. However, tasks commonly used to engage language processing in people with aphasia, such as narrative comprehension and picture naming, are limited in terms of reliability (test–retest reproducibility) and validity (identification of language regions, and not other regions). On the other hand, paradigms such as semantic decision that are effective in identifying language regions in people without aphasia can be prohibitively challenging for people with aphasia. This paper describes a new semantic matching paradigm that uses an adaptive staircase procedure to present individuals with stimuli that are challenging yet within their competence, so that language processing can be fully engaged in people with and without language impairments. The feasibility, reliability and validity of the adaptive semantic matching paradigm were investigated in sixteen individuals with chronic post‐stroke aphasia and fourteen neurologically normal participants, in comparison to narrative comprehension and picture naming paradigms. All participants succeeded in learning and performing the semantic paradigm. Test‐retest reproducibility of the semantic paradigm in people with aphasia was good (Dice coefficient = 0.66), and was superior to the other two paradigms. The semantic paradigm revealed known features of typical language organization (lateralization; frontal and temporal regions) more consistently in neurologically normal individuals than the other two paradigms, constituting evidence for validity. In sum, the adaptive semantic matching paradigm is a feasible, reliable and valid method for mapping language regions in people with aphasia.
A Novel Methodology of Powder-based Cementitious Materials in 3D Inkjet Printing for Construction Applications

Recently, additive manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing are becoming increasingly popular and widely used in a variety of applications. Inkjet 3D printing (i.e. powder-based printing) is one of the most reliable frequently-implemented techniques in 3D printers. This paper discusses a novel methodology to replace the currently used typical powders in 3D printing to make it possible to use the printed specimens in construction applications. The printed cubic (202020mm) and prism (6055mm) specimens with different saturation levels are printed to investigate the relative strength of the 3D printed specimens. Curing in different saturation environments can increase their strength and durability. In general, the experimental results show that the highest compressive strength was recorded (14.68MPa) for the samples that are first cured in water then dried in an oven for one hour at 40oC, comparing to the samples that are cured without drying at 40oC (4.81MPa). Accordingly, it has been discovered that the post-processing technique has an effective and significant impact on the strength of the printed specimens. Furthermore, samples which are cast using manual mixing have been also been compared in detail.
Field‐Dependent Electrical and Thermal Transport in Polycrystalline WSe2

Owing to their desirable electrical and thermoelectric properties, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted significant attention. It is important to develop an easy synthetic method and a simple device fabrication process for TMDs. In this study, WSe2 films were synthesized on a large scale by thermally assisted conversion (TAC) of W films on SiO2/Si substrates at 600 °C. The TAC process yields homogeneous polycrystalline films of controlled thickness over large areas which have the advantage that they can be adapted for mass production for applications in electronics and thermoelectrics. In this regard, pre‐patterning of the deposited metal films allows for devices to be easily fabricated without any etch process. UV‐lithography‐defined W structures have been deposited and after conversion to WSe2 their electrical and thermoelectric properties have been studied. Using e‐beam lithography, a field effect transistor (FET) with a WSe2 channel was fabricated. This showed p‐type behavior and reasonable field effect mobility value. The thermoelectric properties of WSe2 thin films were analyzed by additionally integrating micro heating elements to the WSe2 FET. The maximum Seebeck coefficient and power factor (S2·σ) values were calculated to be ≈61 mV·K−1 (Vg = 45 V) and ≈1.3 nW·K−2·cm−1, respectively.
Stretch-induced increase in cardiac contractility is independent of myocyte Ca2+ while block of stretch channels by streptomycin improves contractility after ischemic stunning

Stretching the cardiac left ventricle (LV) enhances contractility but its effect on myoplasmic [Ca2+] is controversial. We measured LV pressure (LVP) and [Ca2+] as a function of intra‐LV stretch in guinea pig intact hearts before and after 15 min global stunning ± perfusion with streptomycin (STM), a stretch‐activated channel blocker. LV wall [Ca2+] was measured by indo‐1 fluorescence and LVP by a saline‐filled latex balloon inflated in 50 μL steps to stretch the LV. We implemented a mathematical model to interpret cross‐bridge dynamics and myofilament Ca2+ responsiveness from the instantaneous relationship between [Ca2+] and LVP ± stretching. We found that: (1) stretch enhanced LVP but not [Ca2+] before and after stunning in either control (CON) and STM groups, (2) after stunning [Ca2+] increased in both groups although higher in STM versus CON (56% vs. 39%), (3) STM‐enhanced LVP after stunning compared to CON (98% vs. 76% of prestunning values), and (4) stretch‐induced effects on LVP were independent of [Ca2+] before or after stunning in both groups. Mathematical modeling suggested: (1) cooperativity in cross‐bridge kinetics and myofilament Ca2+ handling is reduced after stunning in the unstretched heart, (2) stunning results in depressed myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in the presence of attached cross‐bridges regardless of stretch, and (3) the initial mechanism responsible for increased contractility during stretch may be enhanced formation of cross‐bridges. Thus stretch‐induced enhancement of contractility is not due to increased [Ca2+], whereas enhanced contractility after stunning in STM versus CON hearts results from improved Ca2+ handling and/or enhanced actinomyosin cross‐bridge cycling.
PSF+ — Fast and improved electricity consumption prediction in campus environments

Smart meters are becoming ubiquitous around the world, and their use is even being legally mandated in some countries. This increased use of smart meters has led to a flurry of research activity surrounding the analysis of smart meter data. However, much of this work relates to consumer smart grids, and there exists limited work on analysing data in a campus-style environment. In this work, we illustrate the unique challenges next-day electricity load consumption forecasting in a heterogeneous campus environment entails, and develop methods to enhance a cluster-based forecasting technique to address these challenges. We develop a method to easily incorporate external information to the predictor, and also develop an ensemble of predictors which significantly improves prediction accuracy. We evaluate our methods using three real-world datasets obtained from smart meters of the campuses of the University of Melbourne, University College London and Cornell University. Our results show significant improvement in accuracy over all three real-world datasets, both in comparison to the original technique as well as other competitive linear and non-linear methods.
Context-Preserving Hashing for Fast Text Classification

There have been a number of approximate algorithms for text similarity computation, such as min-wise hashing, random projection, and feature hashing, which are based on the bag-of-words representation. A limitation of their “flat-set” representation is that context information and semantic hierarchy cannot be preserved. In this paper, we aim to fast compute similarities between texts while also preserving context information. To take into account semantic hierarchy, we consider a notion of “multi-level exchangeability” which can be applied at word-level, sentence-level, paragraph-level, etc. We employ a nested-set to represent a multi-level exchangeable object. To fingerprint nested-sets for fast comparison, we propose a Recursive Min-wise Hashing (RMH) algorithm at the same computational cost of the standard min-wise hashing algorithm. Theoretical study and bound analysis confirm that RMH is a highly-concentrated estimator. The empirical studies show that the proposed context-preserving hashing method can significantly outperform min-wise hashing and feature hashing in accuracy at the same (or less)
ColorMapND: A Data-Driven Approach and Tool for Mapping Multivariate Data to Color

A wide variety of color schemes have been devised for mapping scalar data to color. We address the challenge of color-mapping multivariate data. While a number of methods can map low-dimensional data to color, for example, using bilinear or barycentric interpolation for two or three variables, these methods do not scale to higher data dimensions. Likewise, schemes that take a more artistic approach through color mixing and the like also face limits when it comes to the number of variables they can encode. Our approach does not have these limitations. It is data driven in that it determines a proper and consistent color map from first embedding the data samples into a circular interactive multivariate color mapping display (ICD) and then fusing this display with a convex (CIE HCL) color space. The variables (data attributes) are arranged in terms of their similarity and mapped to the ICD's boundary to control the embedding. Using this layout, the color of a multivariate data sample is then obtained via modified generalized barycentric coordinate interpolation of the map. The system we devised has facilities for contrast and feature enhancement, supports both regular and irregular grids, can deal with multi-field as well as multispectral data, and can produce heat maps, choropleth maps, and diagrams such as scatterplots.
Iterative decoding of differentially space-time coded multiple descriptions of images

We consider transporting images over wireless fading channels rather than the on-off channels considered in most works related to multiple description (MD) coding. The idea is to treat MD coding as a special case of distributed source coding with co-located sources, and use iterative (turbo) decoding techniques developed for serially concatenated coding systems to improve the performance of the receiver with successive source decoding iterations. MDs of an input image are generated by embedded coding plus unequal error protection. The proposed receiver consists of a maximum a posterior (MAP) differential space-time decoder, an MD source decoder, an interleaver and a deinterleaver. The two decoders exchange extrinsic values or a priori probabilities of transmitted bits between themselves in successive iterations. Experimental results show that our iterative scheme can effectively improve the system performance. Furthermore, most of the gain in PSNR is achieved with only two iterations.
Synchronization of Coupled Reaction–Diffusion Neural Networks With Directed Topology via an Adaptive Approach

This paper investigates the synchronization issue of coupled reaction–diffusion neural networks with directed topology via an adaptive approach. Due to the complexity of the network structure and the presence of space variables, it is difficult to design proper adaptive strategies on coupling weights to accomplish the synchronous goal. Under the assumptions of two kinds of special network structures, that is, directed spanning path and directed spanning tree, some novel edge-based adaptive laws, which utilized the local information of node dynamics fully are designed on the coupling weights for reaching synchronization. By constructing appropriate energy function, and utilizing some analytical techniques, several sufficient conditions are given. Finally, some simulation examples are given to verify the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.
Phrase-Indexed Question Answering: A New Challenge for Scalable Document Comprehension

We formalize a new modular variant of current question answering tasks by enforcing complete independence of the document encoder from the question encoder. This formulation addresses a key challenge in machine comprehension by building a standalone representation of the document discourse. It additionally leads to a significant scalability advantage since the encoding of the answer candidate phrases in the document can be pre-computed and indexed offline for efficient retrieval. We experiment with baseline models for the new task, which achieve a reasonable accuracy but significantly underperform unconstrained QA models. We invite the QA research community to engage in Phrase-Indexed Question Answering (PIQA, pika) for closing the gap. The leaderboard is at: nlp.cs. washington.edu/piqa
The boundaries of auditory perception for within-word syllable segregation in untrained and trained adult listeners

ABSTRACT Syllable segregation is among the core diagnostic features of both childhood apraxia of speech and acquired apraxia of speech; however, little is known about the limen of perception of syllable segregation. The purpose of this research was therefore to explore adult listeners’ auditory perception of within-word syllable segregation in trained and untrained adult listeners. Two experimental design studies, each with two phases, were conducted. Study one included 40 untrained listeners (aged 18–28 years), and study two included 5 trained listeners (10–25 years of experience). Recorded audio samples of multisyllabic non-words were manipulated to insert gaps of increasing length to simulate syllable segregation. All stimuli were anchored against an unaltered control sample. In each phase, 32 stimuli were randomly presented twice in a free-field listening task with listeners making Yes/No decisions to record their perception of segregation. At a 90% accuracy threshold, the untrained listeners’ limen was 90ms, while the trained listeners’ was 85ms. At an 80% accuracy threshold, both sets of listeners had a limen of 80ms. Overall, there were no significant differences in accuracy between the two listening groups. Gap duration was positively correlated with accurate perception across both studies. Both groups demonstrated good intra-rater reliability and excellent inter-rater reliability, with no significant differences between the untrained and trained listeners. These findings have implications for developing a standardised criteria for rating syllable segregation in clinical contexts. No evidence was found for the hypothesis that training makes a difference in listeners’ accuracy or reliability when rating syllable segregation.