Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning and Dynamics

Almost all theories of human development acknowledge some role for experience-dependent changes in behavior, representation, and thinking with age. Because of the legacy of antipathy toward the behaviorists, these experience-dependent changes have not always been described as learning. It is clear, however, that learning does play a central role in development and that learning in development is not limited to associative learning. In our studies of infant learning we have a special interest in how the mechanisms of learning interact with the demands of development.
“AXE”: a simulation environment for actor-like computations on ensemble architectures

This paper introduces a set of experimental tools which have been designed to study dynamic run-time distribution of work on mesh-connected concurrent processors. The computation is modeled (and stimulated) at the “operating system level”. This environment is characterized by its fast turn-around time for model specification, simulation, as well as data collection.
Soft X-Ray Irradiation Effects of Li2O2, Li2CO3 and Li2O Revealed by Absorption Spectroscopy

Li2O2, Li2CO3, and Li2O are three critical compounds in lithium-air and lithium-ion energy storage systems. Extensive measurements have been carried out to study the chemical species and their evolutions at difference stages of the device operation. While x-ray spectroscopy has been demonstrated to be one of the most powerful tools for such purpose, no systematic study on the irradiation effects have been reported. Here we carry out extensive time, position, and irradiation dependent Li K-edge soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy on these compounds with so far the best energy resolution. The ultra-high resolution in the current study allows the features in the absorption spectra to be well-resolved. The spectral lineshape thus serves as the fingerprints of these compounds, enabling the tracking of their evolution under x-ray irradiation. We found that both Li2O2 and Li2CO3 evidently evolve towards Li2O under the soft x-ray irradiation with Li2CO3 exhibiting a surprisingly higher sensitivity to x-rays than Li2O2. On the other hand, Li2O remains the most stable compound despite experiencing substantial irradiation dose. We thus conclude that high resolution soft x-ray spectroscopy could unambiguously fingerprint different chemical species, but special cautions on irradiation effects would be needed in performing the experiments and interpreting the data properly.
SCHIFF BASES: FACILE SYNTHESIS, SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION AND BIOCIDAL STUDIES

A family of Schiff bases was synthesized by the reactions of o-aminobenzoic acid and Knovenegal condensate of β-ketoesters in 1:1 ratio. The newly synthesized Schiff bases were characterized by Elemental analyses and spectral (FT-IR, UV-Vis and 1 H-NMR) studies and the structures have been proposed tentatively. These compounds were subjected to study their biocidal efficacy against S. epidermidis, E. coli, B. cinerea and A. niger.
The pyroelectric energy harvesting capabilities of PMN–PT near the morphotropic phase boundary

This paper reports on direct thermal to electrical energy conversion by performing the Olsen cycle on pyroelectric materials. The energy harvesting capability of commercially available [001] oriented 68PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3–32PbTiO3 (PMN–32PT) single crystal capacitors was measured experimentally. An energy density of 100 mJ cm−3/cycle, corresponding to 4.92 mW cm−3, was obtained by successively dipping the material in oil baths at temperatures 80 and 170 °C and cycling the electric field between 2 and 9 kV cm−1. Similarly, an energy density of 55 mJ cm−3/cycle was obtained between 80 and 140 °C. An estimated 40% of this energy resulted from the strain polarization due to the rhombohedral to tetragonal phase transition. The strain from this transition disappeared when the maximum operating temperature exceeded the Curie temperature of about 150 °C. The optimal low electric field used in the Olsen cycle maximizing the energy harvested was found to be around 2 kV cm−1. In addition, the material suffered from (i) dielectric breakdown for electric fields larger than 9 kV cm−1 and (ii) cracking from thermal stress for operating temperature differences in excess of 90 °C. A physical model predicting the total amount of energy harvested was also derived, accounting for thermal expansion as well as temperature dependent dielectric constant and spontaneous polarization. The model predictions fell within 20% of the experimental results in the temperature range between 80 and 170 °C and electric fields ranging from 2 to 9 kV cm−1.
The Prognostic Significance of Multiple Station N2 in Patients with Surgically Resected Stage IIIA N2 Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Mediastinal (N2) lymph node involvement is heterogenous with huge variation in the extent and grouped together under stage IIIA. However, they showed a different survival even in the same stage. We tried to determine the prognostic implication of the multiple station N2 lymph node metastasis in stage IIIA N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The survival of stage IIIA N2 was analyzed according to the number of N2 station and their survival was compared with that of stage IIIB. In stage IIIA N2 NSCLC, multivariate analysis indicated that multiple station N2 was one of the independent prognostic factors for poor survival. The 5-yr survival of multiple station N2 IIIA (20.4%) was lower than that of single station N2 IIIA (33.8%) significantly (p=0.016). but when it was compared with that of stage IIIB (15.5%), there was no difference. Therefore, we suggest that multiple station N2 should be considered similar to stage IIIB disease with regard to predicting survival and accordingly should receive a new position in the TNM staging system.
Individuality-preserving Voice Conversion for Articulation Disorders Using Dictionary Selective Non-negative Matrix Factorization

We present in this paper a voice conversion (VC) method for a person with an articulation disorder resulting from athetoid cerebral palsy. The movements of such speakers are limited by their athetoid symptoms, and their consonants are often unstable or unclear, which makes it difﬁcult for them to communicate. In this paper, exemplar-based spectral conversion using Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) is applied to a voice with an articulation disorder. In order to preserve the speaker’s individuality, we use a combined dictionary that was constructed from the source speaker’s vowels and target speaker’s consonants. However, this exemplar-based approach needs to hold all the training exemplars (frames), and it may cause mismatching of phonemes between input signals and selected ex-emplars. In this paper, in order to reduce the mismatching of phoneme alignment, we propose a phoneme-categorized sub-dictionary and a dictionary selection method using NMF. The effectiveness of this method was conﬁrmed by comparing its effectiveness with that of a conventional Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)-based and conventional NMF-based method.
The Empirical Analysis of the Relation between the Financial Development and the Economic Growth in Thailand

Employing the Thailand Manufacturing Production Index as the proxy of the economic growth level, the sum of the loans of private sector, market capitalization of SET and Bonds outstanding as the proxy of the financial development level, we studied the relation between the Thailand economic growth level and the financial development level. We found the financial development level has a notable asymmetric non-linear impact to the economic growth level, when the two period lag financial development is below 6.06%, the financial development has a anxo-action to economic growth, when the two period lag financial development is above 6.06%, the financial development has a inhibition to economic growth.
Higher Education and Graduate Employment in Albania

In the social and economic transition, the Higher Education in Albania has tremendously ocercomed its capacities and the opportunities offered. Albania is considered the champion country in Europe for the high number of universities. Besides the public universities, in the country also operate dozens of private universities. in Albania there are about 20 universities per million inhabitants, (161500 students for a population of 2,8 million people), nearly eight times more than countries like UK that have internationalized higher education and have a very large percentage of foreign students. This paper takes into account the development of higher education and the responsible institutions of this development during the transition in Albania, the current structure of universities, the financial problems and the reform of higher education. It also examines issues such as: the measurement of quality, the ranking and the competition between public universities and private institutions. Then the focus of the paper runs on the employment of the young graduates who have finished albanian universities in the last five years. Firstly, relying on foreign literature, I have analyzed some of the main models of employment of graduates, their skills in the labor market, and also the changes that have occurred in the careers of the graduates in the last century. for the extraction of data are used questionnaires distributed electronically to over 230 employees that have brought significant conclusions about the employment of graduates in Albania, as well as the impact of such factors as: GPA, the training, the number of foreign languages spoken and other qualifications and skills that affect the level of salary and their position at work. Also starting from the above models, the scope is to identify the key elements that affect the careers of albanian graduates, and the key factors that have driven their employment. In the end of the paper are given some conclusions and recommendations on how higher education in Albania should be reformed, given by the sample responses of the interviewers, but also by a concrete analysis of the problems that are facing this sector in Albania, and how this reformation of higher education can increase its fruits on more qualified and employed youths in their respective fields. The methodology used is mainly from primary sources, ranging from the data collected by the respondents, as well as from secondary sources of data published for this area of study. The main limitation of such a work is the limited number of samples under the survey, the data of whom has been generalized for all the population of the paper.
Knowledge extraction from a class of support vector machines using the fuzzy all-permutations rule-base

Support vector machines (SVMs) proved to be highly efficient in various classification tasks. However, the knowledge learned by the SVM is encoded in a long list of parameter values and it is not easy to comprehend what the SVM is actually computing. We show that certain types of SVMs are mathematically equivalent to a specific fuzzy — rule base, the fuzzy all — permutations rule base (FARB). This equivalence can be used to provide a symbolic representation of the SVM functioning. This leads to a new approach for knowledge extraction from SVMs. Two simple examples demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.
Association of anthropometric obesity measures with chronic kidney disease risk in a non-diabetic patient population.

BACKGROUND Obesity is a risk factor for both chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease. The association of simple indices of obesity with CKD remains poorly understood. Evidence suggests that measures of central obesity such as waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are more accurate predictors of morbidity and cardiovascular risk than body mass index (BMI). This study aimed to investigate the association of BMI, WC and WHR with CKD risk in a population screened for type 2 diabetes. METHODS Data were drawn from a population-based screening programme of 6475 volunteers without pre-existing diabetes. A number of investigations and cardiovascular health-related assessments were performed. Participants were categorized into two groups: those with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥60 and <60 mL/min/1.73m(2). Participants were also categorized as low, medium and high risk according to each anthropometric variable. RESULTS CKD was independently associated with higher WC and BMI (P < 0.01) but not WHR (P = 0.47). Increasing obesity measured by BMI and WC was associated with a reduction in eGFR for both men and women (P < 0.001). Increasing risk categories for BMI and WC were also associated with lower eGFR in men and women (P < 0.001). Combining anthropometric measures provided no additional measure of risk for underlying CKD. CONCLUSIONS WC may be a simple and reliable clinical tool for the detection of underlying CKD within primary care. Given the complex interaction between adiposity and uraemia, a combined screening tool using BMI and WC or WHR is unlikely to provide any additional benefit to risk analysis.
Backpackers’ views on risk in the Cape Coast-Elmina area of Ghana

Abstract The backpacker market segment is recognized as one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism trade. Despite its growth, literature suggests that the peculiar characteristics of backpackers predispose them to varied forms of risks. Consequently, the study sought to examine backpackers’ perspectives on issues concerning risk in the Cape Coast-Elmina area. Data were obtained from 387 backpackers to the Cape Coast-Elmina area in Ghana using the systematic sampling method. A Chi-square test was performed to explore the relationship between backpackers’ perception of risk and their travel and socio-demographic characteristics. Making inference to the perceived risk theory, the study identified three main risk areas, health, finance and crime, to be of concern to backpackers surveyed from the study area. The results suggest significant associations between some socio-demographic characteristics (gender and highest level of education) and risk perception. Likewise, some significant associations were observed between the respondents’ perception of risk and their length of stay, accommodation preference and travel party size.
Parallelism of quantum computations from prequantum classical statistical field theory (PCSFT)

This paper is devoted to such a fundamental problem of quantum computing as quantum parallelism. It is well known that quantum parallelism is the basis of the ability of quantum computer to perform in polynomial time computations performed by classical computers for exponential time. Therefore better understanding of quantum parallelism is important both for theoretical and applied research, cf. e.g. David Deutsch [1]. We present a realistic interpretation based on recently developed prequantum classical statistical field theory (PCSFT). In the PCSFT-approach to QM quantum states (mixed as well as pure) are labels of special ensembles of classical fields. Thus e.g. a single (! ) “electron in the pure state” can be identified with a special “ electron random field,” say � (�). Quantum computer operates with such random fields. By one computational step for e.g. a Boolean function f(x1,.,xn) the initial random field � 0 (�) is trans
The Diagnosis of Tool Wear Based on EMD and GAB-Spline Network

In view of the strong background noise involved in vibration signal of tool wear and the difficulty to obtain fault frequencies, this paper proposed a tool wear fault feature extraction method based on morphological filters-singularity value decomposition (SVD) with empirical mode decomposition (EMD). Firstly, an experiment system of the cutting tool wear monitoring was set up and a variety of data coming from vibratory sensor were collected, then, the pulse components from the original signal were inhibited by morphological filters and the signal sequences removed outlier were reconstructed, the attractor track matrix was decomposed using SVD for further noise reduction, and then we got weak signal failure frequency after the de-noise signals were decomposed with EMD. Finally, tool wear was identified by GA-B-spline neural network. B-spline networks were trained using genetic algorithms to search for global optimization. The experimental results shown that the diagnosis approach put forward in this paper could identify tool wear fault patterns effectively in noise background. Copyright © 2013 IFSA.
Genetic algorithm for parameter optimization of image segmentation algorithm

In the current practice of medicine, histopathological examinations are some of the most important tools for clinical diagnoses of a large group of diseases. To help pathologists and to reduce the subjectivity level, it has been proposed that computer-aided procedures be used to provide objective results. The first step of these procedures is the segmentation of the tissue image. In our research, we try to detect nuclei, glands and surface epithelium in Haematoxylin and Eosin (HE) stained colon tissue samples. This paper focuses on the identification of epithelial cell nuclei.
Topic modeling for social media content: A practical approach

Perceiving the discussed topic in social media brings a great amount of value to different fields, such as marketing, security, education, and management. Topic modeling provides a powerful method for projecting text documents into topic space. In this paper, we explore an unsupervised topic modeling approach that incorporates LDA algorithm toward discovering the topics in social media content. Empirical experiments on social media datasets with 90,527 records reveal that this approach is quite effective for detecting the topic facets and extracting their dynamics over time. By analyzing the studied dataset, five main topics were discovered accurately by the presented algorithm according to the domain experts' comments. The presented model is quite general and can be applied in a wide variety of domains to automatically mining topics from the social media channels.
Get lost: facilitating serendipitous exploration in location-sharing services

This paper describes ongoing work in developing social computing systems and services to support serendipitous real life experiences. The paper introduces the location-aware prototype service "GetLostBot", which uses the Foursquare API to longitudinally monitor a user's check-in locations and intervenes when they have fallen into a predictable routine. Interventions take the form of mysterious walking directions on a map to unknown destinations that challenge the user to take an explorative attitude and go into the unknown. Early results from a user trial suggest that while users are extremely positive about the ideas and concept of delivering serendipity through social computing, in this case there was low engagement with the actual suggested new experiences and activity. Despite this, the act of the intervention itself is reported to still have intrinsic value. This finding is discussed in terms of potential design issues around supporting serendipity in future systems.
The Direct and Interactive Effects of Life Stressors and Dispositional Traits in the Prediction of Youth Psychopathology

Dispositional differences are likely to influence youth’s adjustment to stressors; however, the potential for interactions among stressors and dispositional traits is uncertain. Prior efforts to examine these interactions have yielded mixed results: whereas some results have shown that presence of both exposure to stressors and trait vulnerabilities are needed to trigger psychopathological responses (i.e., the diathesis-stress model), other results have shown that trait vulnerabilities trigger psychopathological responses regardless of exposure to stressors (i.e., the direct vulnerability model). Moreover, variability in operationalizations of stressors and dispositional traits has made it difficult to draw conclusions across studies. The current research aims to elucidate the potential interactive effects of stressors and dispositional traits while overcoming these limitations. To enhance consistency with results from prior investigations, the direct and interactive effects of stressors and dispositional traits were examined (1) across family-level versus youth-specific stressors (i.e., to allow the evaluation of specific effects across different types of stressors) and (2) using comprehensive models of dispositional trait (i.e., fivefactor model of child personality; higherand lower-order temperament traits). To this end, two investigations using nonclinical youth samples were conducted. In the first study, the hypothesis that child personality traits moderate stress-psychopathology associations during the transition
Effects of elevated temperature and CO2 on aboveground-belowground systems: a case study with plants, their mutualistic bacteria and root/shoot herbivores

Interactions between above- and belowground herbivores have been prominent in the field of aboveground-belowground ecology from the outset, although little is known about how climate change affects these organisms when they share the same plant. Additionally, the interactive effects of multiple factors associated with climate change such as elevated temperature (eT) and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (eCO2) are untested. We investigated how eT and eCO2 affected larval development of the lucerne weevil (Sitona discoideus) and colonization by the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum), on three cultivars of a common host plant, lucerne (Medicago sativa). Sitona discoideus larvae feed on root nodules housing N2-fixing rhizobial bacteria, allowing us to test the effects of eT and eCO2 across trophic levels. Moreover, we assessed the influence of these factors on plant growth. eT increased plant growth rate initially (6, 8 and 10 weeks after sowing), with cultivar “Sequel” achieving the greatest height. Inoculation with aphids, however, reduced plant growth at week 14. eT severely reduced root nodulation by 43%, whereas eCO2 promoted nodulation by 56%, but only at ambient temperatures. Weevil presence increased net root biomass and nodulation, by 31 and 45%, respectively, showing an overcompensatory plant growth response. Effects of eT and eCO2 on root nodulation were mirrored by weevil larval development; eT and eCO2 reduced and increased larval development, respectively. Contrary to expectations, aphid colonization was unaffected by eT or eCO2, but there was a near-significant 10% reduction in colonization rates on plants with weevils present belowground. The contrasting effects of eT and eCO2 on weevils potentially occurred through changes in root nodulation patterns.
The Layout Implementations of High-Speed Low-Power Sequential Logic Cells Based on MOS Current-Mode Logic

MOS Current-Mode Logic (MCML) is usually used for high-speed applications. In this paper, the design method of the high-speed low-power MCML is addressed. The layout implementations of MCML D-Flip flop cells are presented at a NCSU FreePDK 45nm technology. A mod-10 counter based on the proposed D-Flip flop cells is implemented to verify the efficiency of the proposed design method. The post-layout simulations are carried out. For normal supply voltage, the MCML sequential logic circuit can save more energy and have better performance than the traditional CMOS counterparts at 1GHz or higher operation frequencies. Scaling down the supply voltage of MCML circuits is investigated. The results show that the power consumption of MCML circuits can be reduced by lowering the supply voltage without performance degrading.