Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical Learning of Statistical Regularities over Multiple Timescales of Sound Sequence Processing: A Dynamic Causal Modeling Study

Abstract Our understanding of the sensory environment is contextualized on the basis of prior experience. Measurement of auditory ERPs provides insight into automatic processes that contextualize the relevance of sound as a function of how sequences change over time. However, task-independent exposure to sound has revealed that strong first impressions exert a lasting impact on how the relevance of sound is contextualized. Dynamic causal modeling was applied to auditory ERPs collected during presentation of alternating pattern sequences. A local regularity (a rare p = .125 vs. common p = .875 sound) alternated to create a longer timescale regularity (sound probabilities alternated regularly creating a predictable block length), and the longer timescale regularity changed halfway through the sequence (the regular block length became shorter or longer). Predictions should be revised for local patterns when blocks alternated and for longer patterning when the block length changed. Dynamic causal modeling revealed an overall higher precision for the error signal to the rare sound in the first block type, consistent with the first impression. The connectivity changes in response to errors within the underlying neural network were also different for the two blocks with significantly more revision of predictions in the arrangement that violated the first impression. Furthermore, the effects of block length change suggested errors within the first block type exerted more influence on the updating of longer timescale predictions. These observations support the hypothesis that automatic sequential learning creates a high-precision context (first impression) that impacts learning rates and updates to those learning rates when predictions arising from that context are violated. The results further evidence automatic pattern learning over multiple timescales simultaneously, even during task-independent passive exposure to sound.
All Work and No Play: Indigenous Women “Pulling the Weight” in Home Life

The invisible labor of household management, including child care, housework, and financial responsibilities, is a contemporary form of historical oppression adding strain and contributing to mothers’ role overload, depression, distress, and health impairments. The purpose of this article is to use the Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence to understand the experiences of gender dynamics in home life responsibilities among two Southeastern tribes. Reconstructive analysis from a critical ethnography with 436 participants revealed the following themes: (1) moms “mostly pulling the weight”; (2) women and child care: “We do it all,” and men—“If they’re there, they’re there”; (3) financial imbalances; and (4) women’s resilience and resistance. Despite experiencing the resilience of gender egalitarianism prior to colonization, women persistently experience the effects of the historical oppression of patriarchal colonialism through being overburdened and undervalued in home life. Decolonization is needed to reestablish gender egalitarianism to redress this patriarchal oppression.
Phenotypic plasticity can reverse the relative extent of intra- and interspecific variability across a thermal gradient

Intra- and interspecific variability can both ensure ecosystem functions. Generalizing the effects of individual and species assemblages requires understanding how much within and between species trait variation is genetically based or results from phenotypic plasticity. Phenotypic plasticity can indeed lead to rapid and important changes of trait distributions, and in turn community functionality, depending on environmental conditions, which raises a crucial question: could phenotypic plasticity modify the relative importance of intra- and interspecific variability along environmental gradients? We quantified the fundamental niche of five genotypes in monocultures for each of five ciliate species along a wide thermal gradient in standardized conditions to assess the importance of phenotypic plasticity for the level of intraspecific variability compared to differences between species. We showed that phenotypic plasticity strongly influences trait variability and reverses the relative extent of intra- and interspecific variability along the thermal gradient. Our results show that phenotypic plasticity may lead to either increase or decrease of functional trait variability along environmental gradients, making intra- and interspecific variability highly dynamic components of ecological systems.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE ON BURROW SYSTEM FEATURES OF A COLONIAL AND FOSSORIAL RODENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERPRETING FOSSIL TETRAPOD BURROWS

Abstract: This is a neoichnologic study of Microcavia australis (Rodentia: Caviidae) burrow systems from two environments of the semiarid region of central Argentina, with the main purpose of contributing to the interpretation of fossil tetrapod burrows. We compared three burrow systems from the Monte and three from the Espinal biogeographic provinces to discern which burrow system features vary with environmental parameters (soil texture, climatic conditions, and vegetation type) and identify the distinctive ichnologic features of M. australis burrow systems. Burrow systems from the Monte occur in nebkhas with sparse xerophytic, psammophilic, and halophilic shrubs in sandy and loose soils. In the Espinal province the burrows appear in Prosopis caldenia forest, with shrubs and herbs in silty and harder soils. The Monte burrow systems comprise an intricate pattern with two levels, closed circuits, and larger tortuosity and fractal dimension. The burrow systems from the Espinal display an L-shaped or linear pattern with a single level and commonly lack closed circuits. The average ratio of total chamber volume to tunnel volume and the tunnel diameter is significantly larger in the Monte systems, which is interpreted as a reflection of larger colony size and individuals having larger body mass. Primary surface ornamentation (sets of claw traces related to producer digging) is better developed in the Espinal burrow systems, and secondary surface ornamentation (herein interpreted as arthropod burrows) dominated in the Monte systems. We propose that the distinctive features of M. australis burrow systems can be used as a model to recognize fossil burrows of colonial and fossorial herbivorous rodents that construct a permanent burrow structure with open entrances in semiarid settings. A set of ichnotaxobases for fossil vertebrate burrows is also suggested.
Informal Care in the Context of Long-term Health Care for the Elderly in Slovenia: a Qualitative Study

Abstract Background Slovenia is an aging society. Social security expenditures for the elderly are rising steadily, and the majority of Slovenians are firmly convinced that the state must provide elder care. This situation means that informal caregivers face many challenges and problems in their altruistic mission. Objectives To explore the experiences and feelings of informal caregivers and to provide an understanding of how informal caregivers support the elderly and what challenges and difficulties they face in Slovenian society. Methods The study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 10 caregivers. In addition to descriptive statistics, we conducted a qualitative study using the qualitative content analysis method. Results We identified four themes among health caregivers’ experiences with challenges and problems in providing long-term health care for the elderly. Caregivers pointed out that they are mostly left to themselves and their altruistic mission of giving informal long-term care to their elderly relatives and friends. Systemic regulation of the national public health care system is the source of many problems. Conclusion Other social systems determine and limit the position of informal caregivers in Slovenia. This qualitative study should be understood as useful stepping-stone to future research and real improvement in this area.
Impact of inlet gas turbulence on the formation, development and breakup of interfacial waves in a two-phase mixing layer

Abstract Understanding the development and breakup of interfacial waves in a two-phase mixing layer between the gas and liquid streams is paramount to atomization. Due to the velocity difference between the two streams, the shear on the interface triggers a longitudinal instability, which develops to interfacial waves that propagate downstream. As the interfacial waves grow spatially, transverse modulations arise, turning the interfacial waves from quasi-two-dimensional to fully three-dimensional. The inlet gas turbulence intensity has a strong impact on the interfacial instability. Therefore, parametric direct numerical simulations are performed in the present study to systematically investigate the effect of the inlet gas turbulence on the formation, development and breakup of the interfacial waves. The open-source multiphase flow solver, PARIS, is used for the simulations and the mass–momentum consistent volume-of-fluid method is used to capture the sharp gas–liquid interfaces. Two computational domain widths are considered and the wide domain will allow a detailed study of the transverse development of the interfacial waves. The dominant frequency and spatial growth rate of the longitudinal instability are found to increase with the inlet gas turbulence intensity. The dominant transverse wavenumber, determined by the Rayleigh–Taylor instability, scales with the longitudinal frequency, so it also increases with the inlet gas turbulence intensity. The holes formed in the liquid sheet are important to the disintegration of the interfacial waves. The hole formation is influenced by the inlet gas turbulence. As a result, the sheet breakup dynamics and the statistics of the droplets formed also change accordingly.
The Power of Followers That do not Follow: Investigating the Effects of Follower Resistance, Leader Implicit Followership Theories and Leader Negative Affect on the Emergence of Destructive Leader Behavior

This study focuses on follower resistance as a potential antecedent of destructive leader behavior and examines leader-related moderators and mediators to help explain the relationship between follower resistance and destructive leader behavior. Drawing from implicit followership theories, we propose that the relationship between follower resistance and destructive leader behavior is moderated by leaders’ Theory X schema. Furthermore, we build on affective events theory to hypothesize that follower resistance increases destructive leader behavior via leaders’ negative affect. We tested our hypotheses in a within-subjects online field experiment. Our study findings demonstrate that follower resistance increases destructive leader behavior and that this relationship is mediated through leaders’ negative affect and moderated by leaders’ Theory X schema. We discuss theoretical implications regarding the impact of (resistant) follower behavior on destructive leadership and offer methodological advances in terms of research design and analytical approaches to deal with endogeneity issues and derive causal inferences. Lastly, we derive practical implications for utilizing follower resistance.
Team Leadership and Team Cultural Diversity: The Moderating Effects of Leader Cultural Background and Leader Team Tenure

By bringing team members with different cultural backgrounds together, teams in international business can benefit from cultural diversity and reach higher levels of performance. Cultural diversity also brings challenges, however, and diversity research has identified the need to consider moderating influences in the diversity–performance relationship. Team leadership should be particularly important in this respect and drawing on a theoretical analysis that puts an understanding of cultural diversity center stage, we propose that factors that reflect leaders’ experience with cultural diversity positively moderate the relationship between cultural diversity and team performance. We identify leader cultural background (local vs. foreign to the host culture) and leader team tenure as such factors. We predict that the influence of team nationality diversity (a form of cultural diversity) on team performance is more positive with a leader who is foreign to the host country than with a local leader, and with a leader with longer team tenure. In addition, we predict that the one moderating influence substitutes for the other, such that the effect of leader cultural background is stronger for leaders with shorter tenure with the team. Results from a survey of N = 66 teams (N = 336 individuals) from a multinational company support these hypotheses and inform our discussion of ways forward in the study of leadership and team diversity.
Molecular Weights and Intrinsic Viscosities of Polyisobutylenes

Abstract Experimental methods for fractionating polyisobutylene and for determining osmotic pressures have been described. The ratio π/c of osmotic pressure to concentration has been found in the case of cyclohexane solutions of polyisobutylene to vary nonlinearly with concentration, contrary to recent theories advanced by Huggins and the writer. The slope of this relationship appears to be independent of molecular weight. Reliable methods for extrapolating π/c to c=0 have been established, enabling the determination of absolute molecular weights with satisfactory precision up to values of about 1,000,000. Molecular weights of polyisobutylenes calculated from Staudinger's equation are too low; the discrepancy is more than ten-fold at high molecular weights. On the basis of data for carefully fractionated samples covering a two-hundred-fold molecular weight range, the intrinsic viscosity is found to be proportional to the 0.64 power of the molecular weight. This decided deviation from Staudinger's “law”can.
Extrapolation of Efficacy and Dose Selection in Pediatrics: A Case Example of Atypical Antipsychotics in Adolescents With Schizophrenia and Bipolar I Disorder

Pediatric labeling information for novel atypical antipsychotics can be significantly delayed as the result of time lag between initial drug approval in adults and the completion of pediatric clinical trials. This delay can lead health care providers to rely on limited evidence‐based literature to make critical therapeutic decisions for pediatric patients. Effective and scientifically justified dosing recommendations are needed to improve treatment outcomes in pediatric patients with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. Extrapolation‐based drug development strategies rely on leveraging prior data to reduce evidentiary requirements for newer data in establishing drug efficacy. On January 13, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a general advice letter to sponsors highlighting the acceptance of extrapolating efficacy of atypical antipsychotics to pediatric patients. This review provides insight into the FDA's justification for extrapolating efficacy from adult to pediatric patients and provides a rationale for dose selection in pediatric patients with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder.
Physical Comfort of Occupational Exoskeletons: Influence of Static Fit on Subjective Scores

Exoskeletons come in a variety of shapes and offer different mechanism to adapt to anthropometrics of different users. However, is not always clear how to relate those regulation mechanisms and anthropometric measurement in order to obtain a proper static fit. To this end, in order to maximize kinematic compatibility, we identify a minimal set of anthropometric measurements that affect lower back exoskeleton static fit. Correspondingly, we also provide a definition of static fit specific to lower back exoskeletons. For achieving such results, we present a pilot test of our hypothesis collecting subjective physical comfort evaluation of female and male subjects. The test allows to assess - by means of a custom defined survey -the influence that a customized fit, with respect to a reference fixed fit, has on the score of constructs, regarding perceived pressure, freedom of movement and attachments’ stability.
X-ray Image Classification Using Two-step DenseNet Classifiers

The classification of x-ray images is a crucial task in medical image analysis and can help the radiologist identify abnormalities with high precision. Accurate diagnosis of the x-ray images presents some challenges, as it requires some domain knowledge. Several attempts to solve this problem using machine learning have shown that better classifiers are not obtained only by increasing the amount of training, there is a need for different modalities to be combined and applied to achieve significant improvements. This paper proposes a two-step classification approach, whereby two sets of DenseNet classifiers are build to solve both the problem of body part identification and predicting the normality or abnormality of the x-ray image in a stepwise manner. The proposed method achieves an F1-score of 0.82 on average using the MURA dataset: an upper limbs x-ray image database. The performance of the proposed method is comparable to that of another state-of-the-art approach on the same dataset.
V-I Characteristics and Collection Performance of Dipolar Charging Electrostatic Precipitator

A new type of electrostatic precipitator(ESP) which named dipolar charging ESP was developed.The collection principles were analyzed,mainly including ionic wind,electric field force and electric agglomeration.The ionic wind velocity was measured by PIV technology.V-I characteristics and collection performance of dipolar charging ESP were tested.The experimental results have shown that the ionic wind velocity is about 2m/s,and the current and the collection efficiency of dipolar charging ESP for collecting fine particulates are obviously higher than that of the conventional ESP.
Managerial Technostress: A Qualitative Study on Causes and Consequences

Technostress is widespread among employees in modern work life. While research has identified the causes and consequences of technostress for the general working population, insights into how managers perceive technostress, i.e. managerial technostress, remains scarce. However, these insights are relevant as there are indications that the causes and consequences of technostress for managers are different than for non-managerial employees, for instance because they perceive divergent demands and resources at work related to their hierarchical status. We conduct a qualitative interview study with 20 managers and examine the relevance of multiple techno-stressors for managers as well as their adverse psychological and physical consequences. The results indicate that techno-overload and techno-complexity are high among managers. Results also show that techno-overload and techno-invasion are specifically demanding for managers compared to non-managerial employees, while techno-insecurity is not an issue for managers. We contribute to technostress research by revealing that the techno-stressors are differently relevant for managers, by highlighting which techno-stressors need to be addressed for managers by mitigation strategies. We also show that there are short-term as well as long-term consequences of techno-stressors among managers which both should be considered.
Low-temperature External-heat Potassium Dichromate Oxidation-photo-colorimetric Method for Determination of Organic Carbon in Dewatering Sludge

According to the principle of low-temperature external-heat potassium dichromate oxidation-photo-colorimetric method,organic carbon(OC) of sludge was determined in the municipal sewage plant.The results showed that absorbance of 0.005~0.04 g dry sludge was in the standard curve;relative standard deviation of the twelve parallel sludges OC results was 0.66%-the precision was well,and fiducially interval range of their population mean was smaller-the accuracy was also well.
Feedback processing in attack and defense conflicts: a neurophysiological study

Despite being extensively modelled to explore decision making processes in economic tasks, there are no studies exploring the neurophysiological correlates of the Predator-Prey Game, a game theory paradigm designed to operationalize attack and defence conflicts. In the present study, we explored the relationship between the ERP components associated with feedback, namely feedback-related negativity (FRN) and feedback -elated P3b, and investment in an adapted version of the Predator-Prey Game (PPG), operationalizing attack and defence. Forty-seven (28 female) community-dwelling volunteers without history of neurological disease were recruited. Participants played the PPG game both as attackers and defenders while EEG signal was recorded with a 128 channels sensor net. Behavioural results showed that individuals tend to invest more and decide faster when playing in defence, rather than in attack. Electrophysiological data showed FRN to be sensitive to the valence of feedback, with increased amplitudes of FRN loss feedbacks. On the other hand, the P3b amplitudes were sensitive to the role, with increased amplitude for attack when compared with defence. The integration of the behavioural and ERP findings supports the theoretical model positing that attack elicits more deliberate and less automatic brain processes than defence.
Effective Assessment of Cognitive Load in Real-World Scenarios using Wrist-worn Sensor Data

The ability to assess cognitive load of an user in real time, is an integral part of effective human-computer interactions. Several approaches are used in literature for assessing cognitive load of an user in labs, however, assessment in real world scenarios is still an issue. This study proposes an approach for classification of cognitive load based on physiological signals collected through wearable devices. We have applied the proposed approach on publicly available CogLoad dataset containing galvanic skin conductance, skin temperature and heart rate information of the participants while performing a task. A set of signal property based features are proposed and an optimal subset of features are selected. These features are finally used to train a machine learning model for classification of cognitive load. Proposed approach with selected features yields the classification accuracy of 69% for binary classification which is better than the current state-of-the-art. Proposed model can be applied in scenarios like online tutorials, meetings, interviews, call center support etc. to understan the cognitive load of the user and administer changes to make the interaction more amicable and fruitful.
Host-parasite coevolution promotes innovation through deformations in fitness landscapes

During the struggle for survival, populations occasionally evolve new functions that give them access to untapped ecological opportunities. Theory suggests that coevolution between species can promote the evolution of such innovations by deforming fitness landscapes in ways that open new adaptive pathways. We directly tested this idea by using high throughput gene editing-phenotyping technology (MAGE-Seq) to measure the fitness landscape of a virus, bacteriophage λ, as it coevolved with its host, the bacterium Escherichia coli. Through computer simulations of λ’s evolution on the empirical fitness landscape, we showed that λ was more likely to evolve to use a new receptor if it experienced a shift in its fitness landscape caused by coevolution. This result was further validated by additional laboratory experiments. This study provides direct evidence for the role of coevolution in driving evolutionary novelty and provides a quantitative framework for predicting evolution in coevolving ecological communities.