Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altered Relationship between Functional Connectivity and Fiber-Bundle Structure in High-Functioning Male Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by abnormalities in structure and function of the brain. However, how ASD affects the relationship between fiber-bundle microstructures and functional connectivity (FC) remains unclear. Here, we analyzed structural and functional images of 26 high-functioning adult males with ASD, alongside 26 age-, gender-, and full-scale IQ-matched typically developing controls (TDCs) from the BNI dataset in the ABIDE database. We utilized fixel-based analysis to extract microstructural information from fiber tracts, which was then used to predict FC using a multilinear model. Our results revealed that the structure–function relationships in both ASD and TDC cohorts were strongly aligned in the primary cortex but decoupled in the high-order cortex, and the ASD patients exhibited reduced structure–function relationships throughout the cortex compared to the TDCs. Furthermore, we observed that the disrupted relationships in ASD were primarily driven by alterations in FC rather than fiber-bundle microstructures. The structure–function relationships in the left superior parietal cortex, right precentral and inferior temporal cortices, and bilateral insula could predict individual differences in clinical symptoms of ASD patients. These findings underscore the significance of altered relationships between fiber-bundle microstructures and FC in the etiology of ASD.
Optimal output-feedback tracking of SISO stochastic nonlinear systems using multi-dimensional Taylor network

The randomness and nonlinearity of stochastic nonlinear systems increase computational complexity and impede their tracking performance. However, randomness and nonlinearity are inevitable in practical applications, and the existing methods can hardly achieve the desirable control effect, especially in real-time control. For this end, a new network control strategy based on multi-dimensional Taylor network (MTN), whose design depends only on the system output, is put forward to solve the optimal output-feedback tracking problem of the SISO stochastic nonlinear systems. The network structure of the MTN is given first, and its approximation properties are proven. Based on the quadratic cost function design learning algorithm, the tracking error is minimized to update the controller parameters, and the desired tracking performance is obtained. Using the Lyapunov stability theorem, it is proved that the corresponding closed-loop system is bounded in the sense of probability and it can be ensured that the output tracking error converges to a small residual set around the origin in the sense of probability. An example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design approach. Comparative simulation study reveals that the proposed solution promises desirable real-time dynamic performance.
Modeling the price of Bitcoin with geometric fractional Brownian motion: a Monte Carlo approach

The long-term dependence of Bitcoin (BTC), manifesting itself through a Hurst exponent $H>0.5$, is exploited in order to predict future BTC/USD price. A Monte Carlo simulation with $10^4$ geometric fractional Brownian motion realisations is performed as extensions of historical data. The accuracy of statistical inferences is 10\%. The most probable Bitcoin price at the beginning of 2018 is 6358 USD.
Preliminary Adaptation of Motor Tests to Evaluate Fine Motor Skills Associated with Mathematical Skills in Preschoolers

Mathematics is the subject in which many school-age children reveal difficulties. The literature has shown that fine motor skills, namely fine motor coordination and visuomotor integration, have been more robustly associated with mathematical performance. Studies have shown the importance that instruments have to evaluate these skills, however, the characteristics of these instruments do not fit the reality of kindergartens, they are usually time consuming and expensive and are usually administered by specialists. Thus, the main objective of this study was to identify, select, adapt and validate motor tests to evaluate fine motor skills associated with mathematical skills to allow the kindergarten teachers to apply them simultaneously to the class, with few material resources, in a short period of time and without the need for a lot of training to apply, score and classify. For this purpose, firstly, it was necessary to understand the main difficulties highlighted by kindergarten teachers regarding the use of instruments to evaluate fine motor skills and, thus, elaborate criteria to identify and select the tests that best fit the reality of kindergartens. The test identified, selected and adapted to evaluate fine motor coordination was threading beads from the Movement Evaluation Battery for Children, 2nd Edition. The main adaptation of the test was related to time, that is, instead of counting the time it takes the child to string the total number of cubes on the string, we counted the number of cubes the child strung on the string in a pre-defined time. To evaluate visual–motor integration, the test identified, selected and adapted was the Visual–Motor Integration (6th Edition) test. The main adaptation was related to material resources, that is, it will be possible to apply the test using only one sheet per child instead of the seven suggested by the original test. After the preliminary adaptation of the tests, their validation was performed by means of the degree of reliability (test-retest) and predictive validity. The results indicated that the adapted tests presented an excellent degree of reliability (>0.9) and could therefore be used to administer them simultaneously to the class group. The adapted Visual–Motor Integration test seems to be the most suitable one to be used by kindergarten teachers, in a classroom context, to simultaneously evaluate students’ fine motor skills and associate their results with mathematical skills.
An introduction to the edition of two Lemaître’s original manuscripts

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explain the contributions of G. Lemaître to Spinor Theory. At the end of the paper, we edited also, for the first time two short manuscripts: Spineurs et Quanta and Les spineurs et la physique quantique, written by Lemaître in December 1955 and in January 1956. This edition is a way of honouring Professor Michael Heller because he was the first, with Professor Odon Godart, who discovered, classified and published unedited manuscripts of G. Lemaître.
Biosensor Detection Methods for Salmonella: a Review

Salmonella is a pathogenic bacterium capable of causing serious food-borne illness, which has caused worldwide concern. It can enter the food supply chain at various stages of production, distribution, and marketing. Due to its high prevalence, it is necessary to develop effective and efficient methods for the identification, detection, and monitoring of Salmonella at an early stage. While traditional detection technologies often have long detection times, complex operation and low sensitivity, emerging biosensor technologies combine novel nanomaterials with signal amplification methods to achieve improved performance. Biosensors show several advantages over traditional assays in terms of specificity, accuracy, and sensitivity and show superiority in rapid response. They are now seen as promising alternative tools since they are accessible and applicable approaches for rapid detection. In recent years, there has been a boom in the development of biosensors for the detection of foodborne Salmonella. This paper focuses on the comparison of new methods for the detection of optical and electrochemical biosensors in recent years, analyzes the different separation strategies and determination methods used, and provides an outlook on the future development of biosensors for the detection of Salmonella.
Improvement of the accuracy in testing the effect in the Cox proportional hazards model using higher order approximations

Small-sample properties of the likelihood ratio test, the Wald test and the score test about significance of the effect in the Cox proportional hazards model for the right-censored and left-truncated data are investigated. These are large-sample tests, and therefore these are only approximate tests and they do not necessary maintain chosen significance level. Consequently, the p-value can be inaccurate as well. Higher order approximations of the likelihood function based on the Barndorff-Nielsen formula and the Lugannani-Rice formula are used in order to improve the accuracy of statistical inferences. The accuracy of these tests together with proposed approximations are compared by means of simulations under conditions of decreasing the sample size, and increasing proportion of right-censored and left-truncated data in the Cox model with the exponential and the Weibull distribution of the baseline hazard function. The results show that higher order approximations based on the Lugannani-Rice and the Barndorff-Nielsen formulas in combination with theWald statistic improve the accuracy.
The interaction between the major vault protein rs4788186 polymorphism, alcohol dependence, and depression among male Chinese problem drinkers

Objective Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the second most prevalent mental disorder and might be related to depression. Major vault protein (MVP) is a cytoplasmic protein related to vesicle transport. The present study aimed to investigate the interaction between a genetic variant (MVP rs4788186) and depression in adult male Han Chinese with AUD during withdrawal. Methods All participants (N = 435) were diagnosed with AUD. Alcohol dependence level was measured using the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, and depression was measured using the self-rating depression scale. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and genotyped. Results Hierarchical regression analysis identified an interaction between MVP rs4788186 and alcohol dependence level for depression (β = −0.17, p < 0.05). Then, a region of significance test was performed to interpret the interaction effect. Re-parameterized regression models revealed that the interaction between MVP rs4788186 and alcohol problem severity fit the strong differential susceptibility model (R2 = 0.08, p < 0.001), suggesting that the AA homozygotes would be more likely subjects with the G allele to experience major depression symptoms. Conclusion Carriers of the AA homozygote of MVP rs4788186 may be more susceptible to severe alcohol problems and higher levels of depression during withdrawal.
Bioavailability of Macroelements from Synbiotic Sheep’s Milk Ice Cream

To determine the potential bioavailability of macroelements (Ca, Mg, P, K), probiotic ice cream samples (Lactaseibacillus paracasei L-26, Lactobacillus casei 431, Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5, Lactaseibacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12) from sheep’s milk with inulin, apple fiber and inulin, or apple fiber and control samples were submitted to in vitro digestion in the mouth, stomach and small intestine. The bioavailability of calcium in the ice cream samples ranged from 40.63% to 54.40%, whereas that of magnesium was 55.64% to 44.42%. The highest bioavailability of calcium and magnesium was shown for the control samples. However, adding 4% inulin reduced the bioavailability of calcium by about 3–5% and magnesium only by about 5–6%. Adding 4% apple fiber reduced the bioavailability of calcium by as much as 6–12% and magnesium by 7–8%. The highest bioavailability of calcium was determined in ice cream with L. paracasei, and the highest bioavailability of magnesium was determined in ice cream with L. casei. The bioavailability of phosphorus in ice cream ranged from 47.82% to 50.94%. The highest bioavailability of phosphorus (>50%) was in sheep ice cream fermented by B. animalis. In the control ice cream, the bioavailability of potassium was about 60%. In ice cream with inulin, the bioavailability of potassium was lower by 3–4%, and in ice cream with apple fiber, the bioavailability of potassium was lower by up to 6–9%. The bioavailability of potassium was significantly influenced only by the addition of dietary fiber. The results of the study confirmed the beneficial effect of bacteria on the bioavailability of Ca, Mg and P.
Social media literacy: Sociocultural instruction and community college students

During the summer of 2021, we taught a series of lessons on social media literacy during a 6-week summer bridge program designed to prepare students for their first year of community college. Community college students represent nearly 40% of all U.S. undergraduates (AACC, 2022), with nearly 50% of all first-generation college students attending community college (Cataldi et al., 2018). However, community college students are rarely participants in research studies on media or information literacy (Latham et al., 2022), including in this journal. We also specifically focused on social media literacy, a topic not typically addressed in schools (Higdon, 2022), even though young adults are regularly engaging with social media, including as a source for news and information about the world (Anderson & Jiang, 2018; Robb, 2017). This study was designed in part to fill these gaps.
Logic programming and cardinality constraints : theory and practice

Answer set programming (ASP) is a method for solving hard problems using computational logic. We describe a problem as a set of formulas of a declarative logical language in such way that the solutions correspond to the models (answer sets) of the set and then use a generalpurpose inference engine to find the answer sets. In this work we define an ASP language, cardinality constraint programs (CCP). The language extends normal logic programs by adding cardinality and conditional literals as well as choice rules. These extensions allow us to represent many if not most NP-complete problems in a concise and intuitive way. The language is defined in two phases where we first introduce a simple basic language and then define the constructs of the full language in terms of translations to the basic language. The language has a declarative formal semantics that is based on the stable model semantics of normal logic programs. The semantics of a program with variables is defined via its ground instantiation. In addition of using the Herbrand instantiation a program can be instantiated with respect to some other universe, which makes it possible to have a direct support for interpreted functions in the semantics. The semantics is undecidable in the general case. We identify a syntactic subclass of CCPs, namely omega-restricted programs, that are decidable even when function symbols are allowed. The stable models of such programs are created by a finite relevant instantiation that we can always compute. We analyze the computational complexity of omega-restricted programs and show that deciding whether a program has a stable model is 2-NEXP-complete. We identify further subclasses of programs that are NPand NEXP-complete in the same sense. We also present an algorithm for instantiating omega-restricted programs. We discuss programming methodology and show how we can create uniform CCP encodings for different problems using the generate-andtest methodology. We examine how we can combine ASP with traditional programming languages by treating an ASP solver as an oracle. As an extended case study we examine how we can solve AI planning problems using ASP. We present a systematic translation from an action language planning formalism into CCPs and give encodings for three sample planning domains. We also examine how we can add domain-specific knowledge to the encodings to make them more efficient in practice.
New configurations of the tele-extraction concept

ABSTRACT Within cut-to-length forwarding, a theoretical semi-autonomous teleoperation concept called tele-extraction, with automation of crane work and teleoperation of driving, was modeled and simulated. Both configurations modeled had greater potential for cost reduction than a previously studied alternative where the driving was automated, and crane work was teleoperated. Teledrive with teleoperated driving empty, driving loaded, and driving between log piles while loading, showed a reduced cost of 10% for five operators on ten forwarders, whereas teledrive with both loading and driving while loading automated showed a reduced cost of 18% at four operators. In both configurations, the lowest cost was reached at about 10% lower productivity compared to standard forwarding. Increased extraction distance had a negative impact on potential for cost reduction since the driving was teleoperated while terminal activities were autonomous.
The Impact of Institutional Cross-shareholdings on Financial Distress

Using the data of 4,057 listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2012 to 2021, we explore the impact of institutional cross-shareholdings on financial distress and its mechanism of action. The research results show that institutional cross-shareholding is positively related to financial distress. Further research finds that: management shareholding ratio is an important channel for institutional cross-shareholding to influence financial distress; the impact of institutional cross-shareholding on financial distress is more significant in standard unqualified audit opinion and non-state-owned enterprises. The findings of this paper provide theoretical and empirical evidence for the effect of institutional cross-shareholding on corporate financial distress and its impact mechanism.
On the edge detection of an image by numerical differentiations for gray function

The detection of image edges is of great importance in image processing. One of the efficient implementations for this image recovery problem is based on the identification of sharp jumps of the gray function of the image. Mathematically, this problem can be modeled by the numerical differentiation of the gray function with 2 variables. For this ill‐posed problem with nonsmooth solution, we investigate the regularization schemes with total variation and L1 penalty term, respectively. We prove that the regularizing parameter under the Tikhonov regularization framework can be uniquely chosen in terms of the Morozov's discrepancy principle and then establish the convergence rate of the regularizing solutions in terms of the Bregman distance. The discrete schemes are performed by the lagged diffusivity fixed point iteration, with numerical implementations showing the validity of the proposed scheme.
A fifth wheel? Local language skills and work-related outcomes among foreign employees

Abstract Drawing on person-job fit theory, we theorize and empirically analyze the effects of host country language skills on two work-related outcomes: workplace social support and perceived overqualification. We further examine how these outcomes are related with job satisfaction. Empirically, we analyze these relationships using data from three sub-studies of foreign academics in the Nordic region. The first is a survey filled in by 496 foreign academics working at 18 universities in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The second is an interview study of 41 foreign academics employed by a large international university in Finland. The third consists of nine interviews across Finland, Sweden, and Norway where we followed up on the analysis of the data from the first two sub-studies. Whilst we use the quantitative dataset to test our hypotheses, our qualitative data allows us to dig deeper into how making investments in local language skills does not necessary lead to positive work-related outcomes as perceived by foreign academics, and what HR implications these perceptions have for international organizations, such as universities. Overall, our findings provide important insights into the complex and contextual nature of host country language skills’ role and effects in international organizations.
Local and landscape environmental heterogeneity drive ant community structure in temperate semi-natural upland grasslands

Environmental heterogeneity is an important driver of ecological communities. Here, we assessed the eﬀects of local and landscape spatial environmental heterogeneity on ant community structure in temperate semi-natural upland grasslands of Central Germany. We surveyed 33 grassland sites representing a gradient in elevation and landscape composition. Local environmental heterogeneity was measured in terms of variability of temperature and moisture within and between grasslands sites. Grass-land management type (pasture vs. meadows) was additionally included as a local environmental heterogeneity measure. The complexity of habitat types in the surroundings of grassland sites were used as a measure of landscape environmental heterogeneity. As descriptors of ant community structure, we considered species composition, community evenness, and functional response traits. We found that extensively grazed pastures and within-site heterogeneity in soil moisture at local scale, and a high diversity of land cover types at the landscape scale aﬀected ant species composition by promoting nest densities. Ant community evenness was high in wetter grasslands with low within-site variability in soil moisture and surrounded by a less diverse landscape. Fourth-corner models revealed that ant community structure response to environmental heterogeneity was mediated mainly by worker size, colony size, and life history traits related with colony reproduction and foundation. We discuss how within-site local variability in soil moisture and low intensity grazing promote ant species densities, and highlight the role of habitat temperature and humidity aﬀecting on community evenness. We hypothesize that a higher diversity of land cover types in a forest-dominated landscape buﬀers less favorable environmental conditions for ant species establishment and dispersal between grasslands. We conclude that spatial environmental heterogeneity at local and landscape scale plays an important role as deterministic force in ﬁltering ant species and, along with neutral processes (e.g. stochastic colonization), in shaping ant community structure in temperate semi-natural upland grasslands.
Grade 10 Namibian learners' problem-solving skills in algebraic word problems

This study investigated Grade 10 Namibian learners' problem-solving skills in algebraic word problems. A sample of 351 Grade 10 learners from ten secondary schools in the Ohangwena Region in Namibia participated in this study. The study followed a qualitative approach and adopted Polya's Problem-Solving Model as the framework. The data were collected using the Algebra Word Problem-solving Test and Interview. The findings showed that the learners needed better problem-solving skills in algebraic word problems. Only 6% and 7% of the learners showed an ability to understand the problems and devise a plan, respectively, while only 5% could carry out the plans. Based on the findings, it is recommended that teachers introduce learners to Polya's steps of problem-solving and incorporate word problems into mathematics teaching.