Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship Quality and Alcohol-Related Social Reinforcement During Couples Interaction

Individuals who are unhappy in their intimate partnerships are at risk for developing alcohol problems. But little is known about the mechanisms underlying this link. One possibility is that couples with poor relationship quality gain more reinforcement from alcohol in certain contexts—a possibility that has never previously been empirically examined. In the current study, 304 individuals (152 couples) were assigned to receive alcohol (target BAC .08%) or a nonalcoholic beverage. They then engaged in a conflict-resolution interaction with their partners. Videotaped interactions were coded by trained observers. Results revealed a significant interaction between alcohol and relationship quality across multiple measures. Alcohol decreased negative behaviors, decreased negative reciprocity, and enhanced self-reported experience to a greater extent during interactions involving individuals reporting low relationship quality and had comparatively little effect among those reporting high relationship quality. Findings point to a potential mechanism underlying problem drinking among couples with poor relationship quality.
Partnerships from cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st‐century business

Editor's Note: John Elkington's new book, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st-Century Business, has been hailed as “practical, compassionate and deeply informed, a brilliant synthesis of his genius for cutting through the thicket of tough issues–in the world of business and sustainability–and producing elegant solutions that can be applied today” (Paul Hawken). We are pleased to have the opportunity to publish a selection from this award-winning book. In this discussion of partnerships, Elkington explores how effective, long-term partnerships will be crucial for companies making the transition to sustainability and offers approaches and examples of keen interest. Special thanks to Capstone Publishers, U.K., for their gracious cooperation.
Multiobjective Reliability Redundancy Allocation Problem With Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Uncertainty

The multiobjective reliability redundancy allocation problem (MORRAP) aims to ensure high system reliability in the presence of optimally redundant components. This is one of the most important design considerations for system designers. Due to the associated uncertainty in component parameters, precise computations of overall system reliability, cost, and weight, etc., are difficult during design time. Hence, these parameters are befitting to be modeled as fuzzy quantities. As type-1 fuzzy numbers have limitations in representing higher order uncertainties, so this paper models the component parameters viz., reliability, cost, and weight with interval type-2 fuzzy numbers. Thus, we propose a novel formulation of MORRAP, termed as interval type-2 fuzzy multiobjective optimization problem (IT2FMORRAP). A popular multiobjective evolutionary algorithm, viz., nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II, is used to solve the proposed IT2FMORRAP, for which we have developed two novel algorithms in this paper. Numerical examples are included to demonstrate the solution approach. On comparing the outcomes with earlier results, we have found that the proposed IT2FMORRAP outperforms classical as well as other type-1 fuzzy-number-based approaches.
A performance evaluation of keypoints detection methods SIFT and AKAZE for 3D reconstruction

In this paper, we discuss 3-dimensional reconstruction from multi-view images. In particular, we focus on SIFT[1] and AKAZE[2], well-known as keypoint detection/feature descriptor used for 3D reconstruction, and evaluate the performance of them. 3D reconstruction quality highly depends on the results of keypoint matching between images, so that it is important to evaluate the performance. First, this paper shows the results of keypoint matching by SIFT and AKAZE. Next, 3D reconstruction is performed based on each of the matching results, and the accuracy of 3D points is evaluated. We also use Multi View Stereo (CMVS[4]) to obtain dense 3D points. Moreover, in this study, we propose a new method for which SIFT and AKAZE are combined to obtain further detailed reconstruction, and show the better reconstruction results than the ones obtained by using only SIFT or AKAZE.
Improving rotorcraft survivability to RPG attack using inverse methods

This paper presents the results of a preliminary investigation of optimal threat evasion strategies for improving the survivability of rotorcraft under attack by rocket propelled grenades (RPGs). The basis of this approach is the application of inverse simulation techniques pioneered for simulation of aggressive helicopter manoeuvres to the RPG engagement problem. In this research, improvements in survivability are achieved by computing effective evasive manoeuvres. The first step in this process uses the missile approach warning system camera (MAWS) on the aircraft to provide angular information of the threat. Estimates of the RPG trajectory and impact point are then estimated. For the current flight state an appropriate evasion response is selected then realised via inverse simulation of the platform dynamics. Results are presented for several representative engagements showing the efficacy of the approach.
The effect of partial brood loss on male desertion in a cichlid fish: an experimental test

There is little experimental evidence testing whether current brood size and past brood mortality influence mate desertion. In the cichlid Aequidens coeruleopunctatus both parents initially defend offspring. In a field study, all experimental broods, irrespective of initial brood size (222.9 60.4, mean SD), were manipulated to a size of 100 fry. Neither the duration nor investment of females in parental care differed between control and brood reduced pairs, even though care seemed costly. On average, females lost 5.1 4.8% of initial weight while guarding a brood until independence. In contrast, males with experimentally reduced broods guarded fry for significantly fewer days before deserting their mate than did males from control pairs with natural-sized broods (20.5 7.5 vs. 14.2 6.2 days). In at least 20% of cases (n 9/45), the deserting male immediately mated with another female. Males with experimentally reduced broods also spent less time guarding fry before deserting and attacked fewer brood predators than did males with control broods. For broods manipulated to have 100 fry, there was a significant negative relationship between the days until male desertion and the proportion of the initial brood removed. This indicates that male assessment of the future success of the current brood (hence its reproductive value) is based on past mortality and/or that there is variation among males in the expected size of future broods. Both current brood size and brood size relative to initial brood size are therefore predictors of male, but not female, parental behavior and mate desertion. Female care may be unaffected by brood reduction due to limited breeding opportunities and partial compensation for reduced male care.
On-line identification for cantilevered electromagnetic actuators with pull-in instability using oscillatory input stabilization

Accurate model is indispensable for high precision control of gap-closing actuators driven by electromagnetic / electrostatic force. For these actuators, it is not easy to identify the precise model all along the motion range, because its mobility region is severely limited due to the pull-in instability. In this paper, an on-line identification method for gap-closing actuators is presented which enables us to stabilize the actuators using oscillatory stabilization so that the electromagnetic force can be identified even in the pull-in instability region. Both simulation and experimental results indicate that the proper model is obtained through the proposed method.
Finite-Time Adaptive Fuzzy Tracking Control Design for Nonlinear Systems

This paper addresses the finite-time tracking problem of nonlinear pure-feedback systems. Unlike the literature on traditional finite-time stabilization, in this paper the nonlinear system functions, including the bounding functions, are all totally unknown. Fuzzy logic systems are used to model those unknown functions. To present a finite-time control strategy, a criterion of semiglobal practical stability in finite time is first developed. Based on this criterion, a novel adaptive fuzzy control scheme is proposed by a backstepping technique. It is shown that the presented controller can guarantee that the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin in a finite time, and the other closed-loop signals remain bounded. Finally, two examples are used to test the effectiveness of proposed control strategy.
Effects of food processing technology on valuable compounds in elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) varieties

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) is a potential source of natural food colorants because of its high anthocyanin content. The aim of this work is to reveal which technology step has effect on the valuable components (total anthocyanins, total polyphenols) and on the color parameters in elderberry and in this regard to determine possible differences between elderberry varieties. Based on experiment results concentrate production steps have great effects on the studied parameters in case of two varieties especially in the heating and microfiltration steps but in different ratio. Polyphenolic compounds in 'Samocco' are more stable during the juice production than 'Haschberg'. Color stability test revealed that in case of colored samples 'Samocco' had stronger color intensity in the foods/ models. These differences should be taken into account when selecting a certain variety for industrial utilization.
Lagrange Stability for T–S Fuzzy Memristive Neural Networks with Time-Varying Delays on Time Scales

The existed results of Lagrange stability for neural networks (NNs) are scale-free, and hence, conservativeness appears naturally. A class of Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy memristive NNs (FMNNs) with time-varying delays is considered on time scales. First, a class of FMNNs is formulated using characteristics of memristors and T–S fuzzy rules. Then some new scale-limited criteria of global exponential stability in Lagrange sense are obtained for FMNNs with bounded feedback functions on the basis of inequalities on time scales and inequality scaling techniques. Also, novel criteria for Lurie-type feedback functions are given, which mainly employ the constructed scale-limited generalized Halanay inequality. Moreover, by matrix-norm strategies, some matrix-norm-based scale-limited criteria are derived for bounded and Lurie-type feedback functions, respectively. It also can be seen that the matrix-norm-based criteria are in accordance with the matrix-measure-based conditions provided the time scale is specified as real set. All scale-limited criteria for Lagrange stability not only include continuous-time criteria and its discrete-time analogues, but also contain more complex cases such as the arbitrary combination of them. In the end, some numerical simulations exhibit the validity of the obtained results.
NEW RECORDS OF TAPIRUS FROM THE LATE PLEISTOCENE OF SOUTHWESTERN AMAZONIA, BRAZIL

The genus Tapirus has four living species and a disjunct distribution (America and Asia). Its fossil record extends back to the Oligocene in Europe and middle Miocene in North America, with more than 20 nominal species. We describe here three specimens from the Pleistocene of Rondonia and Acre states, southwestern Amazonia. Morphometric analysis indicates the presence of two morphotypes for the genus, which are different from the recent ones: a robust form, represented by Acre specimens, and a more gracile form represent by the specimens from Rondonia.
Temporal and spatial variation in macrofauna community composition imposed by ghost shrimp Callianassa filholi bioturbation

The impact of bioturbation by the burrowing ghost shrimp Callianassa filholi on benthic community composition was examined in relation to seasonal and small-scale spatial changes. Sites of naturally occurring low and high densities of C. filholi on an intertidal sandflat represented differences in bioturbation activity throughout the year. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed significant differences in community composition between high- and low-density sites. The total number of species and total number of individuals were lower at high-density sites. A corophiid amphipod, Paracorophium excavatum and a small bivalve, Perrierina turneri, appeared to have the greatest discriminating significance with lower abundances of both species at sites of high C. filholi density. Even though differences between sites of different density persisted throughout the year, the impact of bioturbation depended on season. Bioturbation had the highest maximum correlation to changes in macrofaunal community composition in winter, spring and, in association with seagrass biomass (Zostera novazelandica), in autumn. During summer, however, seagrass biomass contributed the most to observed differences and appeared to compensate for generally high bioturbation activity. The results imply that bioturbation impacted on macrofauna community composition over a small spatial scale and, although its impact varied seasonally, imposed patterns persisted throughout the year. As such, C. filholi can be considered a keystone species.
Socio-economic responses to the environment and ecosystem services in regional development

With environmental conditions coming to play an ever-greater role in regional development, this paper has sought to determine how multi-functionality of the environment relates to the formation of regions’ development potential, by way of attractor gravity and increased regional viscosity. The attendant analysis has addressed both the theoretical foundations for the modelling of reality and of presentation of the potential for ecological-economic models to be used in the devising of development policies. The proposals made in consequence offer a new perspective on the environment and the role it is playing in socio-economic development, particularly where responses to ecosystem services are concerned.
Digital Elevation Data Fusion Using Multiple-Point Geostatistical Simulation

This paper proposes advanced methods based on multiple-point geostatistical simulations (MPSs) for data fusion in digital elevation models (DEMs). MPS-based methods can capture similar patterns using the spatial correlation residing in the training images and then reproduce the area of interest in terms of spatial patterning through conditional simulation. For this, the FILTERSIM algorithm, which is based on MPS, can be applied to augment the prediction results from traditional geostatistical approaches to derive fused datasets from complementary sources. However, the FILTERSIM algorithm discerns similar patterns based on a filter-based prototyping process and does not account for nonstationarity of spatial structures. Thus, an enhanced data fusion method based on a modified FILTERSIM algorithm was proposed, in which new strategies for forming prototypes were incorporated. An experiment was carried out in a study area in Northwest China to test the proposed methods. The aim is to produce fused DEM datasets at fine spatial resolution by integrating fine-resolution but sparsely sampled SRTM data and regularly gridded coarse-resolution GMTED2010 data, and then to test three data fusion methods: 1) the traditional geostatistical interpolation, which provides baseline results for comparison; 2) the conventional FILTERSIM algorithm; and 3) a modified FILTERSIM algorithm. For both the first and second methods, three different kriging approaches were used; for the third method, three new schemes for building prototypes were tested for an improvement in performance. The results show that the improved FILTERSIM method can achieve greater accuracy and retain more spatial structure than the other two methods.
Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Meitei and Ao Naga Adolescents

Abstract The present study was conducted among Meitei and Ao Naga adolescent boys of Manipur and Nagaland respectively. A cross-sectional data was collected on 256 Meitei adolescent boys and 188 Naga adolescent boys aged 14-18 years from the urban areas of Imphal and Mokokchung respectively. Body mass index (BMI) for each subject was calculated. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was evaluated using the international cut off point. The prevalence of overweight (3.51%) and obesity (1.59%) was found to be higher among Meitei adolescent boys. The possible reason could be the difference in urban settings, geographical locations and socioeconomic development. The other possible reasons could be explained by changing lifestyles, physical activities and patterns of food habits adopted by these two populations.
Emerging MEMS & Sensor Technologies to Watch-2015

This brief report highlights important new topics and papers presented at this year’s academic conferences. Criteria for noteworthiness were commercial relevance, offers a solution to a known or anticipated problem, and technology game-changers. Nearly all of the technologies mentioned here will need many more years of intensive development and probably more than $100M in investment to bring them all the way to market. Nevertheless, they each hold potential to create new waves of commercial activity in the MEMS industry.
Discussion of Adaptive confidence intervals for the test error in classification by Laber and Murphy

Let me begin by congratulating the authors on the substantial progress that they have made on an important and challenging problem in classification. They provide penetrating insight into the reasons why the most obvious methods for constructing confidence intervals for the test error have poor coverage properties, and propose an innovative and effective solution that can readily be adopted in practice. The focus of the paper is on linear classifiers. While this is certainly an important family, it of course has limitations in terms of the complexity of the boundaries that can be handled. Here, we make a first attempt at extending the scope of the methodology in the paper to other types of classifiers.
Electromagnetic Modeling of Self-Tuning RFID Sensor Antennas in Linear and Nonlinear Regimes

Multistate chips for an UHF radio frequency identification ensure self-compensation of the variations in antenna impedance. This self-tuning capability can provide a digital information about the change in local boundary conditions within the vicinity of the tag. This feature can be exploited further for low-cost wireless sensing applications. An electromagnetic model of the tag in linear and nonlinear regimes allows prediction of analog and digital responses of the device depending on the boundary conditions that cause the variation of the antenna impedance and/or gain. In addition, the model provides estimation of the degradation in communication performance of the tag due to imperfect retuning of the chip impedance. The theoretical findings of the model are verified in sensing applications using a reference self-tuning tag. Sensing measurements of liquid compounds in linear regime and of the water-filling level of a box in nonlinear regime are demonstrated as a practical application of the proposed mathematical model.
Guaranteeing Local Differential Privacy on Ultra-Low-Power Systems

Sensors in mobile devices and IoT systems increasingly generate data that may contain private information of individuals. Generally, users of such systems are willing to share their data for public and personal benefit as long as their private information is not revealed. A fundamental challenge lies in designing systems and data processing techniques for obtaining meaningful information from sensor data, while maintaining the privacy of the data and individuals. In this work, we explore the feasibility of providing local differential privacy on ultra-low-power systems that power many sensor and IoT applications. We show that low resolution and fixed point nature of ultra-low-power implementations prevent privacy guarantees from being provided due to low quality noising. We present techniques, resampling and thresholding, to overcome this limitation. The techniques, along with a privacy budget control algorithm, are implemented in hardware to provide privacy guarantees with high integrity. We show that our hardware implementation, DP-Box, has low overhead and provides high utility, while guaranteeing local differential privacy, for a range of sensor/IoT benchmarks.
Automatic generation of exercises on passive transformation in Portuguese

Technology plays a very important role in education and Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (iCALL) has emerged as a complementary or even alternative method to the conventional language teaching practices. The automatic generation (and correction) of language exercises based on real texts extracted from corpora constitutes a non-trivial challenge to iCALL tutorial systems, and may involve the use of sophisticated Natural Language Processing tools and large-scale linguistic resources. This paper presents the main issues related to the automatic generation of exercises on the Passive transformation, a commonly occurring type of exercises in language textbooks, but also a very complex topic of Portuguese grammar. The paper describes the methods used to produce a large batch of passive-active sentence pairs, where the active sentence was automatically generated from naturally occurring passive sentences, taken from a large-sized, publicly available, corpus. Sentence pairs are ranked by difficulty level. A sample of randomly selected sentence pairs (40 from difficult level, 100 from medium, and 100 from easy level) was manually evaluated by an expert. Results are presented and error analysis is performed. The sentence pairs can be used as prime and correct answer for iCALL systems.
Rigour in qualitative case-study research.

AIM To provide examples of a qualitative multiple case study to illustrate the specific strategies that can be used to ensure the credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability of a study. BACKGROUND There is increasing recognition of the valuable contribution qualitative research can make to nursing knowledge. However, it is important that the research is conducted in a rigorous manner and that this is demonstrated in the final research report. DATA SOURCES A multiple case study that explored the role of the clinical skills laboratory in preparing students for the real world of practice. Multiple sources of evidence were collected: semi-structured interviews (n=58), non-participant observations at five sites and documentary sources. DISCUSSION Strategies to ensure the rigour of this research were prolonged engagement and persistent observation, triangulation, peer debriefing, member checking, audit trail, reflexivity, and thick descriptions. Practical examples of how these strategies can be implemented are provided to guide researchers interested in conducting rigorous case study research. CONCLUSION While the flexible nature of qualitative research should be embraced, strategies to ensure rigour must be in place.
Novel Ultrawide-band Miniature Antennas

Study of novel circular disc monopole ultrawide-band miniature antennas is presented in this paper. Based on the conventional circular disc monopole, two kinds of novel circular disc monopole ultrawide-band miniature antennas are proposed. The circular disc monopole is revolved or puckered. The improved antennas are not only favorable for satisfying ultrawide-band requirement but also advantageous in realizing the further miniaturization. Detailed analyses are conducted to determine the novel antennas' properties. And the return loss, current distributions, radiation patterns and gain of the antennas are discussed. The novel antenna proposed in this paper is suitable for the wireless, satellite and mobile communication systems with good prospects.