Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ambiguity and language evolution: Evolution of homophones and syllable number of words

We investigate the evolution of homophones and its relation to the evolution of syllable number of words, based on the quantitative analysis on the historical data and simulation. We suggest that homophones are the outcome of arranging form-meaning associations according to Zipf’s law to maximize the referential power under effort for the speaker constraints. We also discuss the neural bases of ambiguity and the relation between ambiguity and robustness in language evolution. Furthermore, we show that homophones are stable and cumulate with the times. To avoid creating homophones, syllable number of words increases, with more recent entry dates of words associated with more syllables. We also explore stability of homophones and instability of synonyms in children’s acquisition process. The mechanism of the evolution of homophones and syllable length of words works cross-linguistically from the emergence of language and goes on at present.
On the concentration of subgaussian vectors and positive quadratic forms in Hilbert spaces

In these notes, we investigate the tail behaviour of the norm of subgaussian vectors in a Hilbert space. The subgaussian variance proxy is given as a trace class operator, allowing for a precise control of the moments along each dimension of the space. This leads to useful extensions and analogues of known Hoeffding-type inequalities and deviation bounds for positive random quadratic forms. We give a straightforward application in terms of a variance bound for the regularisation of statistical inverse problems.
Active Policy Improvement from Multiple Black-box Oracles

Reinforcement learning (RL) has made significant strides in various complex domains. However, identifying an effective policy via RL often necessitates extensive exploration. Imitation learning aims to mitigate this issue by using expert demonstrations to guide exploration. In real-world scenarios, one often has access to multiple suboptimal black-box experts, rather than a single optimal oracle. These experts do not universally outperform each other across all states, presenting a challenge in actively deciding which oracle to use and in which state. We introduce MAPS and MAPS-SE, a class of policy improvement algorithms that perform imitation learning from multiple suboptimal oracles. In particular, MAPS actively selects which of the oracles to imitate and improve their value function estimates, and MAPS-SE additionally leverages an active state exploration criterion to determine which states one should explore. We provide a comprehensive theoretical analysis and demonstrate that MAPS and MAPS-SE enjoy sample efficiency advantage over the state-of-the-art policy improvement algorithms. Empirical results show that MAPS-SE significantly accelerates policy optimization via state-wise imitation learning from multiple oracles across a broad spectrum of control tasks in the DeepMind Control Suite. Our code is publicly available at: https://github.com/ripl/maps.
Mathematics meets the fashion industry on path to product innovation and sustainability

Mathematics remains an endless source of inspiration for both the conception and the fabrication of clothes and fashion products. Over the last century, the prominent role of mathematics in the fashion industry has evolved together with the progress in computational resources and fabrication technologies. Nowadays, mathematics not only provides useful theoretical and computational tools to assist design and fabrication, but also acts as a catalyst of creativeness. This survey discusses the latest advances on mathematical models and methods in the fashion industry, restricting our attention to clothing design and multi-scale modelling, and their applications for digital manufacturing of textiles and garments. Particular focus is given to the usage of mathematics to drive product innovation and to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
Rapamycin supplementation of Drosophila melanogaster larvae results in less viable adults with smaller cells

The intrinsic sources of mortality relate to the ability to meet the metabolic demands of tissue maintenance and repair, ultimately shaping ageing patterns. Anti-ageing mechanisms compete for resources with other functions, including those involved in maintaining functional plasma membranes. Consequently, organisms with smaller cells and more plasma membranes should devote more resources to membrane maintenance, leading to accelerated intrinsic mortality and ageing. To investigate this unexplored trade-off, we reared Drosophila melanogaster larvae on food with or without rapamycin (a TOR pathway inhibitor) to produce small- and large-celled adult flies, respectively, and measured their mortality rates. Males showed higher mortality than females. As expected, small-celled flies (rapamycin) showed higher mortality than their large-celled counterparts (control), but only in early adulthood. Contrary to predictions, the median lifespan was similar between the groups. Rapamycin administered to adults prolongs life; thus, the known direct physiological effects of rapamycin cannot explain our results. Instead, we invoke indirect effects of rapamycin, manifested as reduced cell size, as a driver of increased early mortality. We conclude that cell size differences between organisms and the associated burdens of plasma membrane maintenance costs may be important but overlooked factors influencing mortality patterns in nature.
A very public replication of the temporal pattern to people's regrets

Most people recognize that mistaken actions generally sting more than equally mistaken and consequential failures to act (Gleicher et al. 1990 Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 16, 284–295 (doi:10.1177/0146167290162009); Kruger et al. 2005 J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 88, 725–735 (doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.5.725); Landman 1987 Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 13, 524–536 (doi:10.1177/0146167287134009)). At the same time, most people have some intuitive appreciation of Whittier's claim that ‘For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, “It might have been”’. As a result, few are surprised to learn that when people look back on their lives and identify what they regret most, they mention regrets of inaction significantly more often than regrets of action. Gilovich and Medvec (Gilovich & Medvec 1994 J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 67, 357–365 (doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.3.357); Gilovich & Medvec 1995 Psychol. Rev. 102, 379–395 (doi:10.1037/0033-295X.102.2.379)) identified the overarching pattern that incorporates both intuitions: regrets of recent vintage tend to centre on mistakes of action, but long-term regrets tend to involve failures to act. We conducted a replication of Gilovich and Medvec in the field using a unique source: a new museum in Chicago devoted to psychological science. We replicated the significant interaction between action/inaction and temporal perspective, but the precise pattern of that interaction diverged from that reported earlier.
Hipparion tracks and horses' toes: the evolution of the equid single hoof

The traditional story of the evolution of the horse (family Equidae) has been in large part about the evolution of their feet. How did modern horses come to have a single toe (digit III), with the hoof bearing a characteristic V-shaped keratinous frog on the sole, and what happened to the other digits? While it has long been known that the proximal portions of digits II and IV are retained as the splint bones, a recent hypothesis suggested that the distal portion of these digits have also been retained as part of the frog, drawing upon the famous Laetoli footprints of the tridactyl (three-toed) equid Hipparion as part of the evidence. We show here that, while there is good anatomical and embryological evidence for the proximal portions of all the accessory digits (i.e. I and V, as well as II and IV) being retained in the feet of modern horses, evidence is lacking for the retention of any distal portions of these digits. There is also good ichnological evidence that many tridactyl equids possessed a frog, and that the frog has been part of the equid foot for much of equid evolutionary history.
Multiobjective control via successive over‐bounding of quadratic terms

This paper addresses less conservative control design for multiple design specifications. Problems are described by a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) and solved with non‐common LMI solutions in order to reduce the conservatism arising from seeking a common LMI solution in the past results. Noticing that completing the square can split two variables in bilinear matrix inequality (BMI) terms into two different LMI ones, we propose an iterative algorithm in which non‐positive quadratic terms are successively replaced by their upper bounds. An illustrated example is included. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Persuasion through people: The rhetorical categories of documentary subjects in Michael Moore’s films

ABSTRACT Michael Moore’s documentaries have been central to the development of the contemporary political documentary and have served as an instrument of political activism or, as some argue, even propaganda. Delving into the underlying mechanisms, in this article, I examine the ways in which documentary subjects are persuasively deployed in Moore’s documentaries. An analysis combining close reading, qualitative content analysis, and rhetorical analysis points to key rhetorical categories of documentary subjects. These subjects’ embodiment of six main rhetorical categories displays a correlation with Aristotle’s cornerstones of rhetoric: ethos, logos, and pathos. Further, the categories demonstrate how moral emotions are utilised in constructing the ethos of documentary subjects. In addition, the article addresses the significance of identification in Moore’s persuasive rhetoric. This research participates in deconstructing the mechanics of persuasive mediated communication and contributes to outlining a theory of audiovisual rhetoric.
Radiological assessment of skeletal muscle index and myosteatosis and their impact postoperative outcomes after liver transplantation

Abstract Background Liver transplantation offers curative treatment to patients with acute and chronic end-stage liver disease. The impact of nutritional status on postoperative outcomes after liver transplantation remains poorly understood. The present study investigated the predictive value of radiologically assessed skeletal muscle index (SMI) and myosteatosis (MI) on postoperative outcomes. Patients and methods Data of 138 adult patients who underwent their first orthotopic liver transplantation were retrospectively analysed. SMI and MI in computer tomography (CT) scan at the third lumbar vertebra level were calculated. Results were analyzed for the length of hospitalisation and postoperative outcomes. Results In 63% of male and 28.9% of female recipients, low SMI was found. High MI was found in 45(32.6%) patients. Male patients with high SMI had longer intensive care unit (ICU) stay (P < 0.025). Low SMI had no influence on ICU stay in female patients (P = 0.544), length of hospitalisation (male, P > 0.05; female, P = 0.843), postoperative complication rates (males, P = 0.883; females, P = 0.113), infection rate (males, P = 0.293, females, P = 0.285) and graft rejection (males, P = 0.875; females, P = 0.135). The presence of MI did not influence ICU stay (P = 0.161), hospitalization (P = 0.771), postoperative complication rates (P = 0.467), infection rate (P = 0.173) or graft rejection rate (P = 0.173). Conclusions In our study, changes in body composition of liver transplant recipients observed with SMI and MI had no impact on postoperative course after liver transplantation. CT body composition analysis of recipients and uniformly accepted cut-off points are crucial to producing reliable data in the future.
A new approach to modeling arbitrary transmission lines

A new method for calculating characteristics of arbitrary transmission lines on the basis of the solution to the three-dimensional electrodynamical problem for two transmission line segments is proposed. This analysis yields propagation constants and characteristic impedances of the line eigenwaves, as well as auxiliary matrices necessary for calculating the S-parameters of a line segment with arbitrary discontinuity. Examples of the individual and coupled strip line analysis on the basis of solving the three-dimensional electrodynamical problem by the straight line method are presented.
Design of four component T=4 tetrahedral, octahedral, and icosahedral protein nanocages through programmed symmetry breaking

Four, eight or twenty C3 symmetric protein trimers can be arranged with tetrahedral (T-sym), octahedral (O-sym) or icosahedral (I-sym) point group symmetry to generate closed cage-like structures1,2. Generating more complex closed structures requires breaking perfect point group symmetry. Viruses do this in the icosahedral case using quasi-symmetry or pseudo-symmetry to access higher triangulation number architectures3–9, but nature appears not to have explored higher triangulation number tetrahedral or octahedral symmetries. Here, we describe a general design strategy for building T = 4 architectures starting from simpler T = 1 structures through pseudo-symmetrization of trimeric building blocks. Electron microscopy confirms the structures of T = 4 cages with 48 (T-sym), 96 (O-sym), and 240 (I-sym) subunits, each with four distinct chains and six different protein-protein interfaces, and diameters of 33nm, 43nm, and 75nm, respectively. Higher triangulation number viruses possess very sophisticated functionalities; our general route to higher triangulation number nanocages should similarly enable a next generation of multiple antigen displaying vaccine candidates10,11 and targeted delivery vehicles12,13.
Development and deployment of improved Anopheles gambiae s.l. field surveillance by adaptive spatial sampling design

Accurate assessments of vector occurrence and abundance, particularly in widespread vector-borne diseases such as malaria, is essential for efficient deployment of disease surveillance and control interventions. This study emphasizes the need for flexible spatial sampling designs that can capture the dynamic relationships between disease vector species and the environment. Although previous studies have examined the benefits of adaptive sampling for disease hotspot identification (mostly by simulations), limited research has been conducted on field surveillance of malaria vectors. Here, an adaptive spatial sampling design targeting potential and uncertain An. gambiae hotspots, a major malaria vector in sub-Saharan Africa, is presented. The first phase of the proposed design involved ecological zone delineation and a proportional lattice with close pairs sampling design to maximise spatial coverage, representativeness of ecological zones and vector spatial autocorrelation (by the employment of close pairs). In the second phase, a spatial adaptive sampling design targeted high-risk areas with the largest uncertainty. For the second phase, the sample size was reduced compared to the first phase, but predictions improved for out-of-sample and training data. However, the overall model uncertainty increased, highlighting the trade-off in multi-criteria adaptive sampling designs. It is important that future research focuses on these trade-offs to reduce the timescale for effective malaria control and elimination efforts.
Scalable covariance-based connectivity inference for synchronous neuronal networks

We present a novel method for inferring connectivity from large-scale neuronal networks with synchronous activity. Our approach leverages Dynamic Differential Covariance to address the associated computational challenges. First, we analyze spike trains generated from Leaky Integrate-and-Fire network simulations and evaluate the performance of several off-the-shelf multivariate connectivity inference methods. Next, we introduce a new approach, Fractional Dynamic Differential Covariance (FDDC), and demonstrate that it consistently outperforms the other methods. Finally, we apply FDDC to experimental data to assess the topological organization of inferred graphs of in vitro neural network recordings obtained using high-density microelectrode arrays (HD-MEAs). Our results indicate that FDDC-derived graphs exhibit a significant negative correlation between small-worldness and measures of network synchrony. In contrast, graphs inferred through the well-established pairwise correlation method do not show such a correlation. This finding implies that the graphs obtained through FDDC provide stronger evidence in support of the theoretical notion that networks with clustered connections tend to exhibit higher levels of synchronizability. We hypothesize that our findings have implications for the development of scalable connectivity inference methods for large-scale neural network data.
Metal Ions and their Effects on Antimicrobial Resistance Development in Wastewater

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health challenge and there is increasing recognition of the role of the environment, particularly wastewater, in the development and spread of AMR. Although trace metals are common contaminants in wastewater, the quantitative effects of trace metals on AMR in wastewater settings remain understudied. We experimentally determined the interactions between common antibiotic residues and metal ions found in wastewater and investigated their effects on the development of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli over time. These data were then used to expand on a previously developed computational model of antibiotic resistance development in continuous flow settings to incorporate the effects of trace metals acting in combination with multiple antibiotic residues. We found that the common metal ions, copper and iron, interact with both ciprofloxacin and doxycycline at wastewater relevant concentrations. This can significantly affect resistance development due to antibiotic chelation of the metal ions causing a reduction in the antibiotics’ bioactivity. Furthermore, modeling the effect of these interactions in wastewater systems showed the potential for metal ions in wastewater to significantly increase the development of antibiotic resistant E. coli populations. These results demonstrate the need to quantitatively understand the effects of trace metal-antibiotic interactions on AMR development in wastewater.
Screening for variable drug responses using human iPSC cohorts

We have used a cohort of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines to develop a laboratory-based drug screening platform to predict variable drug responses of potential clinical relevance. Our approach is based on the findings that hiPSC lines reflect the genetic identity of the donor and that pluripotent hiPSC lines express a broad repertoire of gene transcripts and proteins. We demonstrate that a cohort of hiPSC lines from different donors can be screened efficiently in their pluripotent state using high-throughput cell painting assays, allowing detection of variable phenotypic responses to a wide range of clinically approved drugs, across multiple disease areas. Furthermore, we provide information on mechanisms of drug-cell interactions underlying the observed variable responses by using quantitative proteomic analysis to compare sets of hiPSC lines that had been stratified objectively using cell painting data. We propose that information derived from comparative drug screening using curated libraries of hiPSC lines can help to increase the success rate of drug development pipelines and improve the delivery of safe new drugs suitable for a broad range of genetic backgrounds and gender diversity within human populations.
Neuronal modeling of magnetoencephalography responses in auditory cortex to auditory and visual stimuli

Previous studies have demonstrated that auditory cortex activity can be influenced by crosssensory visual inputs. Intracortical recordings in non-human primates (NHP) have suggested a bottom-up feedforward (FF) type laminar profile for auditory evoked but top-down feedback (FB) type for cross-sensory visual evoked activity in the auditory cortex. To test whether this principle applies also to humans, we analyzed magnetoencephalography (MEG) responses from eight human subjects (six females) evoked by simple auditory or visual stimuli. In the estimated MEG source waveforms for auditory cortex region of interest, auditory evoked responses showed peaks at 37 and 90 ms and cross-sensory visual responses at 125 ms. The inputs to the auditory cortex were then modeled through FF and FB type connections targeting different cortical layers using the Human Neocortical Neurosolver (HNN), which consists of a neocortical circuit model linking the cellular– and circuit-level mechanisms to MEG. The HNN models suggested that the measured auditory response could be explained by an FF input followed by an FB input, and the crosssensory visual response by an FB input. Thus, the combined MEG and HNN results support the hypothesis that cross-sensory visual input in the auditory cortex is of FB type. The results also illustrate how the dynamic patterns of the estimated MEG/EEG source activity can provide information about the characteristics of the input into a cortical area in terms of the hierarchical organization among areas. Significance statement Laminar intracortical profiles of activity characterize feedforward– and feedback-type influences in the inputs to a cortical area. By combining magnetoencephalography (MEG) and biophysical computational neural modeling, we obtained evidence of cross-sensory visual evoked activity in human auditory cortex being of feedback type. The finding is consistent with previous intracortical recordings in non-human primates. The results illustrate how patterns of MEG source activity can be interpreted in the context of the hierarchical organization among cortical areas.
Proteasome-dependent degradation of histone H1 subtypes is mediated by its C-terminal domain

Histone H1 is involved in chromatin compaction and dynamics. In human cells, the H1 complement is formed by different amounts of somatic H1 subtypes, H1.0-H1.5 and H1X. The amount of each variant depends on the cell type, the cell cycle phase, and the time of development and can be altered in disease. However, the mechanisms regulating H1 protein levels have not been described. We have analyzed the contribution of the proteasome to the degradation of H1 subtypes in human cells using two different inhibitors: MG132 and bortezomib. H1 subtypes accumulate upon treatment with both drugs, indicating that the proteasome is involved in the regulation of H1 protein levels. Proteasome inhibition caused a global increase in cytoplasmatic H1, with slight changes in the composition of H1 bound to chromatin and chromatin accessibility and no alterations in the nucleosome repeat length. The analysis of the proteasome degradation pathway showed that H1 degradation is ubiquitin-independent, whereas the whole protein and its C-terminal domain can be degraded directly by the 20S proteasome. Our study shows that histone H1 protein levels are under tight regulation preventing its accumulation in the nucleus. We revealed a new regulatory mechanism for histone H1 degradation, where the C-terminal disordered domain is responsible for its targeting and degradation by the 20S proteasome. Statement Histone H1 subtypes are a family of proteins involved in the regulation of chromatin structure. This work describes the degradation mechanism controlling the levels of histone H1 subtypes and the region within these proteins involved in the initial recognition. This regulatory mechanism protects the cell nucleus from the damaging effects of its accumulation.