Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The uptake and excretion of partially oxidized sulfur expands the repertoire of energy resources metabolized by hydrothermal vent symbioses

Symbiotic associations between animals and chemoautotrophic bacteria crowd around hydrothermal vents. In these associations, symbiotic bacteria use chemical reductants from venting fluid for the energy to support autotrophy, providing primary nutrition for the host. At vents along the Eastern Lau Spreading Center, the partially oxidized sulfur compounds (POSCs) thiosulfate and polysulfide have been detected in and around animal communities but away from venting fluid. The use of POSCs for autotrophy, as an alternative to the chemical substrates in venting fluid, could mitigate competition in these communities. To determine whether ESLC symbioses could use thiosulfate to support carbon fixation or produce POSCs during sulfide oxidation, we used high-pressure, flow-through incubations to assess the productivity of three symbiotic mollusc genera—the snails Alviniconcha spp. and Ifremeria nautilei, and the mussel Bathymodiolus brevior—when oxidizing sulfide and thiosulfate. Via the incorporation of isotopically labelled inorganic carbon, we found that the symbionts of all three genera supported autotrophy while oxidizing both sulfide and thiosulfate, though at different rates. Additionally, by concurrently measuring their effect on sulfur compounds in the aquaria with voltammetric microelectrodes, we showed that these symbioses excreted POSCs under highly sulfidic conditions, illustrating that these symbioses could represent a source for POSCs in their habitat. Furthermore, we revealed spatial disparity in the rates of carbon fixation among the animals in our incubations, which might have implications for the variability of productivity in situ. Together, these results re-shape our thinking about sulfur cycling and productivity by vent symbioses, demonstrating that thiosulfate may be an ecologically important energy source for vent symbioses and that they also likely impact the local geochemical regime through the excretion of POSCs.
Regret-based Reward Elicitation for Markov Decision Processes

The specification of a Markov decision process (MDP) can be difficult. Reward function specification is especially problematic; in practice, it is often cognitively complex and time-consuming for users to precisely specify rewards. This work casts the problem of specifying rewards as one of preference elicitation and aims to minimize the degree of precision with which a reward function must be specified while still allowing optimal or near-optimal policies to be produced. We first discuss how robust policies can be computed for MDPs given only partial reward information using the minimax regret criterion. We then demonstrate how regret can be reduced by efficiently eliciting reward information using bound queries, using regret-reduction as a means for choosing suitable queries. Empirical results demonstrate that regret-based reward elicitation offers an effective way to produce near-optimal policies without resorting to the precise specification of the entire reward function.
The effects of circulating testosterone and pubertal maturation on risk for disordered eating symptoms in adolescent males

Background Testosterone may be a biological factor that protects males against eating disorders. Elevated prenatal testosterone exposure is linked to lower levels of disordered eating symptoms, but effects emerge only after mid-puberty. Whether circulating levels of testosterone account for decreased risk for disordered eating in boys after mid-puberty is currently unknown; however, animal data support this possibility. In rodents, prenatal testosterone's masculinizing effects on sex-differentiated behaviors emerge during puberty when circulating levels of testosterone increase and ‘activate’ the expression of masculinized phenotypes. This study investigated whether higher levels of circulating testosterone predict lower levels of disordered eating symptoms in adolescent boys, and in particular whether effects are associated with advancing pubertal maturation. Method Participants were 213 male twins from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. The Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey and Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire assessed several disordered eating symptoms. The Pubertal Development Scale assessed pubertal status. Afternoon saliva samples were assayed for testosterone using enzyme immunoassays. Results Consistent with animal data, higher levels of circulating testosterone predicted lower levels of disordered eating symptoms in adolescent boys and effects emerged with advancing puberty. Results were not accounted for by several important covariates, including age, adiposity, or mood/anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Findings suggest that elevated circulating testosterone may be protective and underlie decreased risk for eating pathology in males during/after puberty, whereas lower levels of testosterone may increase risk and explain why some, albeit relatively few, males develop eating disorders.
Genetic programming applied to biped locomotion control with sensory information

Generating biped locomotion in robotic platforms is hard. It has to deal with the complexity of the tasks which requires the synchronization of several joints, while monitoring stability. Further, it is also expected to deal with the great heterogeneity of existing platforms. The generation of adaptable locomotion further increases the complexity of the task.
Analysis of the Big‐five Personality Factors in Terms of the PAD Temperament Model

Abstract The big-five personality factors were investigated using the trait pleasure-arousability-dominance (PAD) temperament model to assess overlap, and, specifically, similarities and differences, among the five dimensions. Results showed that extraverts were primarily dominant and secondarily pleasant, Agreeableness resembled dependency with pleasant, arousable, and submissive characteristics, but involved greater pleasantness. Conscientiousness included equal degrees of pleasant and dominant qualities. Emotional stability involved almost equal degrees of pleasant and unarousable characteristics, lacking the important dominant feature in this trait. Sophistication was weighted primarily by dominant, and secondarily by arousable, characteristics. The PAD scales explained approximately 75% of the reliable variance in three of the factors (extraversion emotional stability, agreeableness) that have been identified, albeit sometimes with differing labels, in alternative general approaches to personality de.
Telling Technological Tales

This article examines the relationship between technology and the organization of work. Several theoretical positions are outlined and are drawn upon in the context of historical evidence relating to an industry case study. The empirical focus is the early US animation industry and in particular the introduction of cel animation in the second decade of the century and after. Standard histories of major studios and figures are examined, along with the patent applications for the cel animation process. A model of the main elements in the analysis is outlined and its connections with the theoretical positions that centre on technology and work are examined. The analysis emphasizes the importance of the wider institutional environment within which the technology of cel animation was designed and different aspects of its `interpretive flexibility'.
The index of microvascular resistance identifies patients with periprocedural myocardial infarction in elective percutaneous coronary intervention

Background This study was designed to assess whether measurement of the index of microvascular resistance (IMR) could help prospectively identify patients who develop periprocedural myocardial infarction (PPMI). Methods and results IMR was measured in 54 patients before and following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a culprit vessel with a PressureWire using the equation IMR = PaHyp × TmnHyp (PdHyp−Pw/PaHyp−Pw). IMR was also measured in an angiographically normal reference vessel. The relative pre-IMR ratio (rPIMR) defined as IMR Culprit divided by IMR Non-Culprit was also calculated. Troponin was sequentially sampled up to 24 h following PCI. Mean troponin post-PCI was 0.37±0.8 ng/ml. 33 (61%) patients fulfilled the criteria for PPMI. IMR pre-PCI was the most significant correlate of post-PCI troponin (r=0.43 p=0.001), however, the number of balloon inflations (r=0.3, p=0.02) and rPIMR (r=0.33 p=0.017) were also correlated. IMR pre-PCI was higher in patients with periprocedural myocardial infarction compared with patients without PPMI (IMR pre-PCI 21.2±2.1 PPMI vs 15.6±1.8 No PPMI, p=0.02). The strongest predictor of troponin post-PCI was IMR pre-PCI (β 0.7, p=0.02). Both IMR pre- and rPIMR were predictive of PPMI (OR 11 (1.3 to 90.5) p=0.026, OR 1.09 (1 to 1.19) p=0.03, respectively). Conclusion Microvascular function prior to PCI is an important determinant of PPMI. Measuring IMR pre-PCI and rPIMR may allow prospective identification of patients at risk of periprocedural myocardial infarction. Future studies in a larger cohort are required to establish the predictive ability of IMR in PPMI.
Co‐morbidity of crying and feeding problems with sleeping problems in infancy: Concurrent and predictive associations

The co-morbidity of crying, feeding and sleeping problems at 5 months of age was investigated in a representative sample of 432 infants in South Germany. A crying, sleeping or feeding problem was reported in 32.7% of these infants by their parents and a further 14.6% had two or more of these problems. Little co-morbidity between crying and feeding problems was found. There were moderate to strong associations between crying and sleeping behaviours. Feeding problems showed little relationship to sleeping behaviour, but feeding type and frequency of feeds were related to night waking. Breastfed infants woke much more often at night. Crying and feeding problems at 5 months were poor predictors of sleeping behaviour at 20 or 56 months of age. Later sleeping behaviour was best predicted by infant sleeping behaviour. At 56 months, maternal distress due to sleeping and co-sleeping practices was predicted by maternal distress due to crying and feeding practices at 5 months of age. The predictions were significant but generally weak to modest in strength. Future studies on the consequences of crying or feeding problems should take into account patterns of co-morbidity. So-called ‘post-colicky’ sleep problems are not due to increased crying per se but rather appear to be the consequence of associated infant sleeping problems and parental caretaking patterns for dealing with night waking in infancy.
Embracing Non-Traditional Linguistic Resources for Low-resource Language Name Tagging

Current supervised name tagging approaches are inadequate for most low-resource languages due to the lack of annotated data and actionable linguistic knowledge. All supervised learning methods (including deep neural networks (DNN)) are sensitive to noise and thus they are not quite portable without massive clean annotations. We found that the F-scores of DNN-based name taggers drop rapidly (20%-30%) when we replace clean manual annotations with noisy annotations in the training data. We propose a new solution to incorporate many non-traditional language universal resources that are readily available but rarely explored in the Natural Language Processing (NLP) community, such as the World Atlas of Linguistic Structure, CIA names, PanLex and survival guides. We acquire and encode various types of non-traditional linguistic resources into a DNN name tagger. Experiments on three low-resource languages show that feeding linguistic knowledge can make DNN significantly more robust to noise, achieving 8%-22% absolute F-score gains on name tagging without using any human annotation
An empirical approach to software architectures

The research community in the emerging area of software architecture has developed little consensus over the definition of architecture except that architecture is related to the structure of a system and the interaction among its components. Current efforts of building models of architecture have focused on taxonomy, description languages, and verification of architectural properties. What is missing is the focus on the pragmatic role of architecture in software development activities. We describe the state of the practice and the problems faced by architects and engineers. The challenge for the software engineering research community is to address these problems and produce scalable, practical results that will have a real impact on the developers, improving their productivity and the quality of systems they build. <<ETX>>
Thermomechanical design and modeling of porous alumina-based thin film packages for MEMS

Thin film 0-level or wafer-level MEMS packages exhibit relatively low flexural strength and yet they are required to reliably protect the enclosed MEMS devices under extreme processing and operational conditions. In this paper, we present a thermomechanical study of porous alumina-based thin film MEMS packages by making use of finite element modeling (FEM) techniques. We developed a 2D axisymmetric FEM that includes a porosity-dependent orthotropic representation of the porous alumina layer. The results of the FEM for a typical thin film package show around 15% enhancement over an analytical circular plate model in terms of the accuracy of calculating the maximum cap deflection under 105Pa differential pressure. The simulated package performance illustrates the significance of several parameters such as the package geometry, external hydrostatic pressure, residual stresses in the thin film, and the ambient temperature. Simulations further show that a circular package of 180µm diameter, featuring an 8µm thick cap and a central supporting pillar of 20µm diameter can withstand hydrostatic pressures up to 9MPa, which could occur during the process of plastic packaging with an epoxy molding compound. Furthermore, the thermal expansion mismatch between the different materials composing the thin film package poses a challenge to fulfill the reliability characteristics of these packages. It is however possible, based on FEM simulation results, to achieve reliable operation in the temperature range between −55°C and +125°C for a circular package of 6µm cap thickness and 250µm diameter without a supporting pillar.
Vehicle self-localization for advanced driver assistance systems

In this paper a vehicle self-localization approach in an urban traffic intersection scenario is proposed. A sensor data fusion of azimuth angle of arrival (AOA) and estimated distance measurements with speed and heading information using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is carried out to track the vehicle location. Furthermore, a concept for cooperative localization (CL) is introduced based on device-to-device (D2D) communication with a spatial based selection algorithm, which classifies the significance of received signals from neighboring vehicles for cooperative localization. For simulation purposes an inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) is deployed in the network planning to mitigate the effect of interference from neighbor sectors of the same base station and from cells of neighbor base stations. Simulation results show that the proposed vehicle self-localization approach provides a lane accurate localization of the vehicle within 150m radius with respect to the traffic intersection origin considering inter-cell interference and multipath propagation.
Some aspects of the seasonal sea level variations around Spain

[1] Tide gauge stations are used to investigate the seasonal variability of sea level around Spain, which exhibits a well-defined annual cycle and a small but distinguishable semiannual cycle in all stations. The contribution of different sources to observed sea level has been analyzed. The effect of wind and atmospheric pressure has been explored, analyzing sea level residuals computed with a barotropic ocean model forced by the meteorological fields. Sea level corrected for meteorological forcing contains only an annual signal, indicating that the semiannual cycle in the observed sea levels is mainly forced by these meteorological agents. Additional data sets (sea surface temperature satellite images and climatologies) are used to show that the annual cycle is related to the seasonal steric anomaly, which accounts for ∼60% of the cycle amplitude. The lack of agreement between the annual phases of sea level and steric anomaly cycles for the stations located in the continental margin of the Atlantic Ocean suggests the existence of other effects in the observed sea levels related to seasonal changes in ocean circulation. On the contrary, open-ocean stations of the Canary Islands have sea level annual cycles phase locked with the steric anomaly cycles, although amplitudes differ significantly from one station to the other. This fact is interpreted as the local response to large-scale seasonal fluctuations of the Canary Current. Sea level cycle in stations within the semienclosed Mediterranean Sea suggests the existence of a hydrological cycle that must include a seasonal barotropic signal through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Hybrid Meta Density Functional Theory Methods for Thermochemistry, Thermochemical Kinetics, and Noncovalent Interactions: The MPW1B95 and MPWB1K Models and Comparative Assessments for Hydrogen Bonding and van der Waals Interactions

Based on the modified Perdew and Wang exchange functional (MPW) and Becke's 1995 correlation functional (B95), we developed two hybrid meta density functional theory (HMDFT) methods, namely MPW1B95 and MPWB1K. In addition, based on the new X functional of Xin and Goddard, again combined with B95 correlation functional, we developed two other new HMDFT methods, X1B95 and XB1K. MPW1B95 and X1B95 were optimized against a representative database of six atomization energies (AE6). MPWB1K and XB1K were optimized against a kinetics database of three forward barrier heights, three reverse barrier heights, and three energies of reaction for the reactions in the BH6 representative barrier height database. We compared the newly developed methods to other HMDFT and hybrid DFT methods for atomization energies, ionization potentials, electron affinities, barrier heights, saddle point geometries, hydrogen bonding, and weak van der Waals weak interactions. In addition, we optimized scaling factors for calculating zero-po.
Very-Low-Density Lipoprotein: Complex Particles in Cardiac Energy Metabolism

The heart is a major consumer of energy and is able to utilise a wide range of substrates including lipids. Nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) were thought to be a favoured carbon source, but their quantitative contribution is limited because of their relative histotoxicity. Circulating triacylglycerols (TAGs) in the form of chylomicrons (CMs) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) are an alternative source of fatty acids and are now believed to be important in cardiac metabolism. However, few studies on cardiac utilisation of VLDL have been performed and the role of VLDL in cardiac energy metabolism remains unclear. Hearts utilise VLDL to generate ATP, but the oxidation rate of VLDL-TAG is relatively low under physiological conditions; however, in certain pathological states switching of energy substrates occurs and VLDL may become a major energy source for hearts. We review research regarding myocardial utilisation of VLDL and suggest possible roles of VLDL in cardiac energy metabolism: metabolic regulator and extracardiac energy storage for hearts.
On Arithmetic Progressions of Cycle Lengths in Graphs

A question recently posed by Häggkvist and Scott asked whether or not there exists a constant c such that, if G is a graph of minimum degree ck, then G contains cycles of k consecutive even lengths. In this paper we answer the question by proving that, for k > 2, a bipartite graph of average degree at least 4k and girth g contains cycles of (g/2 − 1)k consecutive even lengths. We also obtain a short proof of the theorem of Bondy and Simonovits, that a graph of order n and size at least 8(k − 1)n1+1/k has a cycle of length 2k.
Which Mask is the Most Efficient: A Pattern or a Noise? It Depends on the Task

The aim of the paper is to test the hypothesis that masking efficiency is related to the mask energy on the spatial frequency (SF) range critical to the task, irrespective on whether the mask is a noise or a pattern. Two experiments were run in which targets were fragmented forms of objects masked at various intervals either by a pattern or by the three noise masks varying in the size of their elements. In Experiment 1, in which participants had to discriminate the target global shape (oval vs. round), masking efficiency was directly related to the mask energy on the low SFs critical to this task, whatever the mask. This conclusion extends to the medium to high SF ranges critical to the naming task used in Experiment 2. These results are not compatible with the qualitative noise/pattern distinction used by Turvey (1973) to operationalize his integration/interruption conception of masking. An interpretation in terms of early interactions between SF channels better account for the results.
Effect of social networks on 10 year survival in very old Australians: the Australian longitudinal study of aging

Study objectives: To examine if social networks with children, relatives, friends, and confidants predict survival in older Australians over 10 years after controlling for a range of demographic, health, and lifestyle variables. Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study (the Australian longitudinal study of aging) Setting: Adelaide, South Australia. Participants: 1477 persons aged 70 years or more living in the community and residential care facilities. Main results: After controlling for a range of demographic, health, and lifestyle variables, greater networks with friends were protective against mortality in the 10 year follow up period. The hazard ratio for participants in the highest tertile of friends networks compared with participants in the lowest group was 0.78 (95%CI 0.65 to 0.92). A smaller effect of greater networks with confidants (hazard ratio = 0.84; 95%CI = 0.71 to 0.98) was seen. The effects of social networks with children and relatives were not significant with respect to survival over the following decade. Conclusions: Survival time may be enhanced by strong social networks. Among older Australians, these may be important in lengthening survival.
The Conceptual Self in Context: Culture Experience Self Understanding

List of contributions Part I. The Self in Culture: 1. Concepts and self-concepts Ulric Neisser 2. Selfways: diversity in modes of cultural participation Hazel Rose Markus, Patricia R. Mullally, and Shinobu Kitayama 3. Depression and the cultural context of the self-serving bias Linda J. Koenig 4. How is the self conceptualized? Variations among cultures Fredrik Barth 5. The internal structure of the self George Lakoff 6. Why Lakoff needs psychoanalysis: on cultural ambivalence and concepts of the self Charles W. Nuckolls 7. Children's self-awareness and self-understanding in cultural context Daniel Hart and Suzanne Fegley 8. Situating the self in interpersonal space John F. Kihlstrom, Lori A. Marchese-Foster, and Stanley B. Klein 9. The self as socially constructed: a commentary Robyn Fivush and Janine Buckner Part II. Experiencing the Self: 10. Mindfulness mediation and the private (? ) self Eleanor Rosch 11. The consciousness machine: self and subjectivity in schizophrenia and modern culture Louis A. Sass Part III. Philosophical Perspectives on the Self: 12. The self and contemporary theories of ethics Sheila Mason 13. A 'self of selves'? David A. Jopling Author index Subject index.