Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do male breeding displays function to attract mates or defend territories? The explanatory role of mate and site fidelity

-Many shorebirds show elaborate breeding displays that include aerial flights and ground displays accompanied by song. The mate attraction hypothesis suggests that breeding displays function to attract mates and maintain pair bonds, whereas the territory defense hypothesis suggests breeding displays function in defining and defending nesting and feeding territories. We tested these hypotheses in the Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) by contrasting the duration and level of male breeding displays among pairs that differed in their mate and site fidelity. As predicted by the mate attraction hypothesis, males performed the highest number of song sequences during pair formation, and males paired with their mate of a prior year sang less than males paired to new mates. Further, sitefaithful males mated to a new but experienced mate displayed significantly more than remated males or males new to the area. This suggests a male's prior familiarity with an area and his neighbors does not lessen his display rate as was predicted under the territory defense hypothesis. Limited support for the territory defense hypothesis came from observations of males performing breeding displays with neighboring males along nest territory boundaries. This behavior was short-lived, however, as males abandoned nesting areas after pair-formation and used adjacent or disjointed feeding areas during egg-laying and incubation. Male aggression (i.e., aerial and ground chases), as opposed to breeding displays, appeared to be the principal means of maintaining territory boundaries. Indeed, the rate at which males chased other males remained fairly constant and high throughout the breeding season. Male chasing behavior may also serve as a paternity guard to protect against extra-pair copulations. Our study also found that a female's prior breeding experience in an area correlated with a reduced display rate by her mate, particularly if that mate was new to the area. This indicates female characteristics may not only drive nest initiation, as has been shown in other studies, but are important in determining the duration and extent of male display. Received: 7February 2000, accepted 10 March 2000.
A lab for undergraduate control engineering education equipped with industrial distributed control systems

The paper demonstrates how a set of pilot plant air blower/heater systems connected to modern industrial distributed control systems (DCS) are used in different control engineering laboratories for the undergraduate level. Student's tasks include the identification of static and dynamic process models and the tuning and commissioning of Proportional‐Integral‐Derivative (PID) control loops, as well as the utilization of commercial tools for DCS engineering. Using the same pilot plants, DCS and scientific computing environment in different courses lowers the costs, allows the reutilization of results and enables an efficient lab organization. It also supports the process of learning the inner context of different control engineering related subjects. The use of industrial‐scale equipment and commercial software helps students to easily integrate in their later teams and to avoid the “reality shock” when making the transition from academia to industry. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:288–296, 2016; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21708
Autonomous Flight Control for RC Helicopter Using a Wireless Camera

In recent years, there are a lot of researches on the subject of autonomous flight control of a micro radio control helicopter. Some of them are about flight control of unmanned helicopter (Sugeno et al., 1996) (Nakamura et al., 2001). The approach using the fuzzy control system which consists of IF-Then control rules is satisfying the requirements for the flight control performance of an unmanned helicopter like hovering, takeoff, rotating, and landing. It is necessary to presume three dimensional position and posture of micro RC helicopter for the autonomous flight control. A position and posture presumption method for the autonomous flight control of the RC helicopter using GPS (Global Positioning System), IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), Laser Range Finder (Amida et al., 1998), and the image processing, etc. had been proposed. However, the method using GPS cannot be used at the place which cannot receive the electric waves from satellites. Therefore, it is a problem that it cannot be used for the flight control in a room. Although the method which uses various sensors, such as IMU and Laser Range Finder, can be used indoors, you have to arrange many expensive sensors or receivers in the room beforehand. So, these methods are not efficient. On the other hand, the method using an image inputted by a camera can be used in not only outdoors but also indoors, and is low price. However, this method needs to install many artificial markers in the surroundings, and it is a problem that the speed of the image inputting and image processing cannot catch up the speed of movement or vibration of a RC helicopter. A method presuming the three dimensional position and posture of a RC helicopter by the stereo measurement with two or more cameras installed in the ground was also proposed. In this case, the moving range of the RC helicopter is limited in the place where two or more cameras are installed. Moreover, there is a problem for which a high resolution camera must be used to cover a whole moving range. (Ohtake et al., 2009) Authors are studying an autonomous flight of a RC helicopter with a small-wireless camera and a simple artificial marker which is set on the ground. This method doesn’t need to set the expensive sensors, receivers, and cameras in the flight environment. And, we thought that a more wide-ranging flight is possible if the natural feature points are detected from the image obtained by the camera on the RC helicopter. This chapter contains the following contents.
Study of frequency offset behavior for artificial magnetic structure in compact mobile device

Frequency offset behavior of artificial magnetic structure (AMC) with finite size in real applications is investigated in this paper. A simplified model of wireless mobile device is adopted to observe this behavior. Two important features of AMC with finite size, number of unit-cells and total size of AMC structure, are analyzed to find main root cause of frequency offset behavior. A design suggestion for solving this problem is also provided in conclusion.
Feeling Good about Being Hungry: Food-Related Thoughts in Eating Disorders

Objectives This study explores the relationships to food and hunger in women living with anorexic type eating difficulties and asks how imagery-based elaborations of food and eating thoughts are involved in their eating restraint, and recovery. Design The qualitative idiographic approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used. Four in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with women self-selected as having experienced anorexia or anorexic like behaviour. Methods The data was analysed using IPA and an audit of the analysis was conducted to ensure that the process followed had been systematic and rigorous and appropriately considered reflexivity. Results Hunger was perceived positively by participants as confirmation that they were achieving their goal of losing weight, or avoiding weight gain. Hunger conferred a sense of being in control for the participants. Intrusive thoughts about food were reported as being quickly followed by elaborative mental imagery of the positive aspects of weight loss, and the negative consequences of eating. Imagery appeared to serve to maintain anorexic behaviours rather than to motivate food seeking. However, negative imagery of the consequences of anorexia were also described as supporting recovery. Conclusions The finding that physiological sensations of hunger were experienced as positive confirmation of maintaining control has potentially important clinical and theoretical implications. It suggests further attention needs to be focused upon how changes in cognitive elaboration, involving mental imagery, are components of the psychological changes in the development of, maintenance of, and recovery from, anorexia.
Assistive technology for the severely motor impaired by using online processing of motor unit action potentials of facial muscles

In some circumstances, a person may be deprived of natural abilities, such as walking and speaking, perhaps due to limb amputation, spinal cord injuries (SCI), or degenerative diseases. Assistive technology devices allows motor-impaired people to overcome their limitations promoting greater independence. Particularly suitable in the case of people with severe motor impairment, electrical biosignals have been successfully utilised to operate alternative communication devices. For over half a century, information extracted from the electromyographic signal for the purpose of operating a given device has not considered the information provided by the basic unit of the muscle: the motor unit. The objective of this study is to investigate how accessing information at motor unit level would improve the operator’s performance during a given task. The hypothesis is that the proposed methodology would allow generating more precise control commands, when compared to traditional approaches relying on global information obtained by conventional electromyographic signal acquisition and processing. A system to detect motor unit action potentials from the electromyographic signal was devised, including the electrode design, and the performance evaluated by measuring the time taken to perform several cursor control tasks. The specifications of the cursor control task were extracted from a different study, which used the traditional electromyographic signal-processing approach. Comparing the results from both studies proved that the novel approach provides better control than the traditional one, being 27% faster in the most difficult task.
Performance analysis of series asymmetrical half-bridge converter with voltage-auto-balance

In this paper, an isolated series asymmetrical half-bridge converter (SA-HBC) is proposed. The SA-HBC circuit consists of two series half-bridge cells, sharing one leakage inductance and one transformer. Two advantages make SA-HBC suitable for the high input voltage applications: (a) the voltage stress of each switch is reduced to half of the input voltage; (b) the voltages across the input capacitors are automatically balanced by the inherent switched capacitor technique, without additional circuits or control methods. Moreover, zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) condition is achieved for all switches. The operational principles, circuit performance including output voltage, ZVS condition and voltage-auto-balance scheme of SA-HBC are analyzed in detail. And all these analyses are confirmed by the experimental results from a prototype with 500–600V input and 48V/20A output.
Development and Test of JT-60SA Central Solenoid Model Coil

A central solenoid (CS) model coil (CSMC) was manufactured by using real manufacturing jigs and procedure to validate the CS manufacturing processes for JT-60SA. The winding accuracy and the temperature control precision during the heat treatment met the requirements. The vacuum pressure impregnation process was also successfully finished. The cold test of the CSMC was performed as a final check of the manufacturing process. The joint resistance, the Ic, and the pressure drop measurements were conducted as the verification test. The results of verification test satisfied the design requirements. These results indicate that the manufacturing processes of the JT-60SA CS has been established. The manufacturing of real CS pancakes just started after finishing the CSMC test.
Measuring Activity Energy Expenditure: Accuracy of the GT3X+ and Actiheart Monitors

The purpose was to determine the accuracy of the GT3X+ and Actiheart monitors for estimating energy expenditure (EE) and steps. Additionally, to investigate agreement between waist- and wrist-mounted GT3X+ EE outputs. Nineteen participants (mean age=30) completed three treadmill walking trials at self-selected slow, medium, and fast speeds while wearing two GT3X+ (waist and wrist) and an Actiheart. Activity monitor EE was compared to indirect calorimetry criterion EE using Pearson correlations and ANOVAs. A Bland-Altman plot was used to investigate agreement between GT3X+ waist- and wrist-determined EE. GT3X+ determined steps were compared to researcher-counted steps using ANOVAs. EE estimates from all monitors correlated highly with the criterion (r ranged from .72 to .82). However, the GT3X+ (waist and wrist) underestimated EE during slow walking and overestimated EE during fast walking. There were no differences among GT3X+ (waist and wrist) estimates of EE and the criterion during the medium trial. Actiheart estimated EE was not significantly different from measured EE during all trials. The Bland-Altman plot indicated that at EE rates above 4 kcal·min-1, the GT3X+ worn on the wrist underestimated EE compared to when it was worn on the waist. There were no differences between GT3X+ waist-determined steps and researcher-counted steps for all trials. GT3X+ EE correlates highly with measured EE, but has poor absolute agreement during slow and fast walking. GT3X+ step estimates are accurate across the continuum of walking speeds when waist (but not wrist) mounted. Wrist-mounted device outputs are not comparable to waist-mounted outputs. The Actiheart accurately estimates EE.
Single tranexamic acid dose to reduce perioperative morbidity in primary total hip replacement: a randomised clinical trial

Introduction Although prophylactic tranexamic acid (TXA) is a safe, low-cost option to reduce bleeding in patients undergoing total hip replacement (THR), its optimal dose and duration is unknown. We compared the safety and effectiveness of TXA given as either a single injection or continuous infusion in THR patients, hypothesising that a second TXA dose would not offer any clinical advantages over the single injection. Materials and methods One hundred and sixty-four patients undergoing unilateral THR were randomised. Exclusion criteria were history of thromboembolic events (TE), epilepsy, thrombophilia, and severe chronic renal failure. Patients received either a single dose of 30 mg/kg TXA on induction of surgery (one shot [OS] group), or a loading dose of 10 mg/kg TXA followed two hours later by a continuous infusion of 2 mg/kg per hour for 20 hours (one day [OD] group). The primary outcome was blood loss (BL) calculated from haematocrit levels. Secondary outcomes were mortality and TE events within 90 days postoperatively. Results All patients completed treatment, with none lost to follow-up. Mean BL was 1107 ± 508 ml in Group OS and 1047 ± 442 ml in Group OD (p = 0.43). No patients were transfused prior to Day 10 postoperatively. At final follow-up, no patients had died, and there were no occurrences of major TE. Conclusion The 30 mg/kg TXA single shot was as safe as continuous infusion. As it is also less cumbersome, we recommend it as part of routine care in THR patients.
Content of long‐term culture‐initiating cells, clonogenic progenitors and CD34+ cells in apheresis harvests of normal donors for allogeneic transplantation, and in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia or multiple myeloma

Using a limiting dilution assay the frequency of long‐term culture‐initiating cells (LTC‐IC) in the apheresis products following mobilization by granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) with or without chemotherapy from 14 normal donors (ND) for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, 16 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and 15 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), where the aphereses were intended for autologous transplantation, were compared.
An End User Development Approach for Mobile Web Augmentation

The trend towards mobile devices usage has made it possible for the Web to be conceived not only as an information space but also as a ubiquitous platform where users perform all kinds of tasks. In some cases, users access the Web with native mobile applications developed for well-known sites, such as, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. These native applications might offer further (e.g., location-based) functionalities to their users in comparison with their corresponding Web sites because they were developed with mobile features in mind. However, many Web applications have no native counterpart and users access them using a mobile Web browser. Although the access to context information is not a complex issue nowadays, not all Web applications adapt themselves according to it or diversely improve the user experience by listening to a wide range of sensors. At some point, users might want to add mobile features to these Web sites, even if those features were not originally supported. In this paper, we present a novel approach to allow end users to augment their preferred Web sites with mobile features. We support our claims by presenting a framework for mobile Web augmentation, an authoring tool, and an evaluation with 21 end users.
Reduced effects of pictorial distinctiveness on false memory following dynamic visual noise

ABSTRACT High levels of false recognition for non-presented items typically occur following exposure to lists of associated words. These false recognition effects can be reduced by making the studied items more distinctive by the presentation of pictures during encoding. One explanation of this is that during recognition, participants expect or attempt to retrieve distinctive pictorial information in order to evaluate the study status of the test item. If this involves the retrieval and use of visual imagery, then interfering with imagery processing should reduce the effectiveness of pictorial information in false memory reduction. In the current experiment, visual-imagery processing was disrupted at retrieval by the use of dynamic visual noise (DVN). It was found that effects of DVN dissociated true from false memory. Memory for studied words was not influenced by the presence of an interfering noise field. However, false memory was increased and the effects of picture-induced distinctiveness was eliminated. DVN also increased false recollection and remember responses to unstudied items.
Language and disadvantage: a comparison of the language abilities of adolescents from two different socioeconomic areas.

BACKGROUND It is recognized that children from areas associated with socioeconomic disadvantage are at an increased risk of delayed language development. However, so far research has focused mainly on young children and there has been little investigation into language development in adolescence. AIMS To investigate the language abilities of adolescents from two different socioeconomic areas. The paper aims to determine if a higher proportion of adolescents from an area of socioeconomic disadvantage have low language scores when compared with adolescents from a relatively advantaged area. METHODS & PROCEDURES Six standardized language assessments were used to measure expressive and receptive language skills across vocabulary, syntax and narrative in two cohorts of 13 and 14 year olds: one cohort attending a school in an area of socioeconomic disadvantage (103 participants) and the other cohort attending a school in an area of relative socioeconomic advantage (48 participants). OUTCOMES & RESULTS The cohort from the area of disadvantage performed significantly lower than the assessments' normative mean on all measures of language ability. There were significant differences between the two cohorts on four of the six language measures. More adolescents from the school in the area of socioeconomic disadvantage had standardized assessment scores that suggest hitherto undetected language difficulties. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Results suggest that socioeconomic background is associated with language ability in adolescence as measured by standardized tests. In particular, adolescents from an area of socioeconomic disadvantage were at risk of low vocabulary scores. The advantages and disadvantages of using standardized language assessments are discussed and the implications for clinical and educational practice and for school level policies are highlighted.
Topical Classification and Divergence on Reddit

Online discussion forums are virtual spaces for communities of users to discuss various topics. As an online discussion progresses, there is a tendency for comments to diverge from the initial topic, often degenerating into off-topic shouting matches. We would like to determine how this divergence happens, and identify comments that trigger this topic drift. We approach this problem by first building a neural topic model, which we later use to analyze topic divergence at aggregate and individual thread levels.
Performance limitations of adaptive parameter estimation and system identification algorithms in the absence of excitation

In this paper we address the problem of fundamental performance limitations in adaptive parameter estimation and system identification, occurring in environments where perturbations are present but there is lack of sufficient excitation. We construct a simple but general bursting scenario to derive an analytical lower bound on the worst-case lim sup performance of a wide class of parameter estimation and system identification algorithms. Our results show that in the absence of any excitation or other input constraints, arbitrarily small perturbations impose a serious limitation on the lim sup performance of these adaptive algorithms, in the sense that the worst-case performance deteriorates proportionally with the size of the parametric uncertainty set. Furthermore, this performance limitation is a consequence of some fairly general properties of adaptive algorithms and independent of their precise form.
Leveraging Clinical Time-Series Data for Prediction: A Cautionary Tale

In healthcare, patient risk stratification models are often learned using time-series data extracted from electronic health records. When extracting data for a clinical prediction task, several formulations exist, depending on how one chooses the time of prediction and the prediction horizon. In this paper, we show how the formulation can greatly impact both model performance and clinical utility. Leveraging a publicly available ICU dataset, we consider two clinical prediction tasks: in-hospital mortality, and hypokalemia. Through these case studies, we demonstrate the necessity of evaluating models using an outcome-independent reference point, since choosing the time of prediction relative to the event can result in unrealistic performance. Further, an outcome-independent scheme outperforms an outcome-dependent scheme on both tasks (In-Hospital Mortality AUROC .882 vs. .831; Serum Potassium: AUROC .829 vs. .740) when evaluated on test sets that mimic real-world use.