Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impairment of Self-control and its manifestations in Continuous Word Association Test

The aim of work is to find out how self–control influences word associations. The research presented herein provides new insight into manifestations of self–control. Experimental study is based on the Strength model (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998), which assumes that self–control relies on limited resources of ego which 70 G. Marhevská, L. Lovaš / Psychologie a její kontexty, 4 (2), 2013, 69–84 become depleted with increased exercising of self–control (Ego depletion). The aim of this experiment was to verify in an empirical manner that the impairment of self–control can be manifested in word association tests. Continuous word association test (Kondáš, 1979) was used in this experiment. Distinct indicators of continuous word associations were divided into the following 4 categories; verbal dynamics, abnormalities in association, errors in the reproduction of association reactions and the overall number of mistakes. Parallel task and “e letter” crossing out exercises were used in order to impair ego resource. One–Way ANOVA was used in the analysis. The results of the study indicate that impaired self–control, induced by the “e letter” crossing out task, increased verbal dynamics. According to the obtained results, Continuous word association test provoke automatic processes. Further important indicators of impaired self–control were increased perseverations of potentially conflicting word ′control′, erroneous reproductions of potentially conflicting word ′explosions′ and the overall indicator of mistakes in conflict word‚ explosions and control‘. The experiment results show an increase in the number of mistakes of word association production when self–control is impaired.
Investigation of SNM with Random Dopant Fluctuations for FD SGSOI and FinFET 6T SOI SRAM Cell by Three-dimensional Device Simulation

As CMOS technology is dramatically scaled down in recent years, the operation of SRAM becomes one of critical issues for further scaling. In this paper, we have focused on both FD SGSOI and DG (FinFET) devices because of the scaling capabilities, and we have simulated SRAM SNM with discrete dopant fluctuations in the channel regions by 3D simulation. As for SNM, FinFET is a promising candidate up to 32 nm node, but for 22 nm node, it will be difficult to operate even a FinFET with stability. As for fluctuations, the total number of dopant in channel depletion layer is a key factor. The fluctuations of SNM in FinFET are reduced by balancing fin thickness and dopant density in the channel
Unified approach for performance analysis of Cognitive Radio Spectrum Sensing over correlated multipath fading channels

In this work, we analyse the performance of Cognitive Radio Spectrum Sensing (CRSS) systems with multiple receiving antennas considering the effect of correlation among fading branches. Exact closed-form expressions for the average detection probabilities (P̅D) are derived employing Probability Density Functions (PDF) approach for n.i. i.d. -L number of diversity branches over Nakagami-m fading channels with Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) diversity. Performance analysis reveals the detrimental effect of the correlation on detection performance thus decreasing detection probability. However, results also show that this effect could be compensated through employing diversity combining technique and by increasing the diversity branches.
Challenges of knowledge production and knowledge use among researchers and policy-makers

Abstract The knowledge value chain has multiple stakeholders such as researchers and policy-makers. These are conventionally knowledge producers and knowledge users, respectively. Knowledge producers and knowledge users sometimes have conflicting interests, expectations, concerns, and priorities. To mitigate these differences, one of the strategies used is knowledge co-production. However, at times the knowledge co-production process demonstrates the implications of the adage that ‘knowledge is power’. The manifestations of power or powerlessness are demonstrated in knowledge production and knowledge use/consumption. This paper discusses the metamorphosis of research approaches during a project and the concomitant adjustment of power relations and stakeholder expectations regarding knowledge production and consumption in the VakaYiko Project. It employs theoretical approaches from conventional research, applied research and participatory action research to analyse the concomitant negotiations for power. Power was demonstrated in decision-making with regard to how to undertake the study, composition of the research team, sampling of participants, and what to include/exclude in the research report. The data for this study were gathered through interviews with representatives of organisations that participated in the project and from the project research reports. The four key findings are that (1) the interface of knowledge producers and knowledge users is a site for the contestation of power because of competing priorities and lack of mutual understanding, (2) unresolved knowledge co-creation concerns inhibit the knowledge production process, (3) research uptake is not automatic; it is determined by several factors, and (4) project conceptualisation oversights translate to glitches at subsequent stages of the project.
Statistical learning generates implicit conjunctive predictions

The cognitive system readily detects statistical relationships where the presence of an object predicts a specific outcome. What is less known is how the mind generates predictions when multiple objects predicting different outcomes are present simultaneously. Here we examine the rules with which predictions are made in the presence of two objects that are associated with two distinct outcomes. In three experiments, participants first implicitly learned that an object predicted a specific target location in a visual search task. When two objects predicting two different target locations were present simultaneously, participants were reliably faster to find the target when it appeared in the conjunctive location than in disjunctive locations. This was true even if participants were not consciously aware of the association between the objects and target locations. The results suggest that in the presence of multiple predictors, statistical learning generates implicit expectations about the outcomes in a conjunctive fashion.
Postoperative Changes in Paraspinal Muscle Volume: Comparison between Paramedian Interfascial and Midline Approaches for Lumbar Fusion

In this study, we compared the paramedian interfascial approach (PIA) and the traditional midline approach (MA) for lumbar fusion to determine which approach resulted in the least amount of postoperative back muscle atrophy. We performed unilateral transforaminal posterior lumbar interbody fusion via MA on the symptomatic side and pedicle screw fixation via PIA on the other side in the same patient. We evaluated the damage to the paraspinal muscle after MA and PIA by measuring the preoperative and postoperative paraspinal muscle volume in 26 patients. The preoperative and postoperative cross-sectional area, thickness, and width of the multifidus muscle were measured by computed tomography. The degree of postoperative paraspinal muscle atrophy was significantly greater on the MA side than on the contralateral PIA side (-20.7% and -4.8%, respectively, p<0.01). In conclusion, the PIA for lumbar fusion yielded successful outcomes for the preservation of paraspinal muscle in these 26 patients. We suggest that the success of PIA is due to less manipulation and retraction of the paraspinal muscle and further studies on this technique may help confirm whether less muscle injury has positive effects on the long-term clinical outcome.
Thyroid function in lung cancer

Thyroid function was assessed at the time of initial diagnosis in 204 patients with lung cancer and compared with that of age and sex-matched patients with non-malignant lung disease. Abnormalities in thyroid function were found in 67 patients (33%). The most prevalent abnormality was a low T3 concentration; this was not associated with other clinical or biochemical evidence of hypothyroidism, but the short-term prognosis of these patients was worse than that of matched patients with lung cancer having normal T3 concentrations. Primary hypothyroidism occurred in three patients, low T4 concentrations and free thyroxine index (FTI) with normal thyrotrophin (TSH) concentrations in four patients, and moderately raised TSH with normal thyroid hormone concentrations in six patients; nine patients had a raised FTI with or without raised T4 concentration as the sole abnormality. Overall, the pattern of thyroid hormone metabolism in lung cancer was a tendency towards reduced T3 concentrations with significantly increased T4/T3 ratios and modestly increased 3,3′,5′-triiodothyronine (rT3) concentrations. The altered T4/T3 ratio was particularly noticeable in patients with anaplastic tumours of small (“oat cell”) and large cell types, but was not apparently related to detectable extrathoracic metastases. These data suggest that thyroid hormone metabolism is altered in patients with lung cancer by decreased 5′-monodeiodination of T4. The resulting low T3 concentrations and altered T4/T3 ratio may be partly responsible for the reduced ratio of androsterone to aetiocholanolone observed in lung cancer, which is known to be a poor prognostic sign.
Breathalising games: understanding the potential of breath control in game interfaces

This paper explores the potential for breath control as an interaction medium for gaming. In particular it examines the positioning of breath control within the stack of interface paradigms: As the only control, as a secondary control and as an ancillary or ambient control. It describes a technology developed using specially adapted gas masks to measure breath flow. By describing five simple games (or game modifications), each developed using breath in a somewhat different way, we show some of the possibilities of this unique interface paradigm. Crucially, the paper aims to demonstrate that breathing, though in principle a one dimensional interface medium, is actually a subtle and viable control mechanism that can be used either as a control mechanism in itself, or to enhance a more traditional game interface, ultimately leading to a satisfying and immersive game experience.
Dietary protein influences the rate of 15N incorporation in blood cells and plasma of Yellow-vented bulbuls (Pycnonotus xanthopygos)

SUMMARY The rate at which an animal's tissues incorporate the isotopic composition of food determines the time window during which ecologists can discern diet changes. We investigated the effect of protein content in the diet on the incorporation rate of 15N into the plasma proteins and blood cells of Yellow-vented bulbuls (Pycnonotus xanthopygos). Using model comparison analyses, we found that one-compartment models described incorporation data better than two-compartment models. Dietary protein content had a significant effect on the residence time of 15N in plasma proteins and blood cells. The diet with the highest protein content led to a 15N retention time of 21 and 5 days for cells and plasma, respectively. In contrast, average 15N retention time in the cells and plasma of birds fed on the diet with the lowest protein was 31 and 7 days, respectively. The isotopic discrimination factorΔ 15N=δ15Ntissues–δ15Ndiet was also dependent on dietary protein content, and was lowest in birds fed the diet with the highest protein content. Blood, plasma and excreta were enriched in 15N relative to diet. In contrast, ureteral urine was either significantly depleted of 15N in birds fed the diet with the lowest protein content or did not differ in δ15N from the diets with the intermediate and high protein content. Thus, isotopic incorporation rates and tissue-to-diet discrimination factors cannot be considered fixed, as they depend on diet composition.
A proportional mean-field feedback for the desynchronization and inhibition of Kuramoto oscillators

In this paper we summarize recent advances in the controlled alteration of synchronization in networks of in- terconnected Kuramoto oscillators. Motivated by neuroscience applications, and in particular by the deep brain stimulation treatment for Parkinson's disease, we show that a scalar signal, proportional to the mean behaviour of the oscillators population, may either desynchronize or inhibit the resulting oscillations.
Quasimonomorphic Mononucleotide Repeats for High-Level Microsatellite Instability Analysis

Microsatellite instability (MSI) analysis is becoming more and more important to detect sporadic primary tumors of the MSI phenotype as well as in helping to determine Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC) cases. After some years of conflicting data due to the absence of consensus markers for the MSI phenotype, a meeting held in Bethesda to clarify the situation proposed a set of 5 microsatellites (2 mononucleotide repeats and 3 dinucleotide repeats) to determine MSI tumors. A second Bethesda consensus meeting was held at the end of 2002. It was discussed here that the 1998 microsatellite panel could underestimate high-level MSI tumors and overestimate low-level MSI tumors. Amongst the suggested changes was the exclusive use of mononucleotide repeats in place of dinucleotide repeats. We have already proposed a pentaplex MSI screening test comprising 5 quasimonomorphic mononucleotide repeats. This article compares the advantages of mono or dinucleotide repeats in determining microsatellite instability.
Functional neuroimaging insights into how sleep and sleep deprivation affect memory and cognition

Purpose of reviewThe review summarizes current knowledge about what fMRI has revealed regarding the neurobehavioral correlates of sleep deprivation and sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Recent findingsFunctional imaging studies of sleep deprivation have characterized its effects on a number of cognitive domains, the best studied of these being working memory. There is a growing appreciation that it is important to consider interindividual differences in vulnerability to sleep deprivation, task and task difficulty when interpreting imaging results. Our understanding of the role of sleep and the dynamic evolution of offline memory consolidation has benefited greatly from human imaging studies. Both hippocampal-dependent and hippocampal-independent memory systems have been studied. SummaryFunctional imaging studies contrasting sleep-deprived and well-rested brains provide substantial evidence that sleep is highly important for optimal cognitive function and learning. The experimental paradigms developed to date merit evaluation in clinical settings to determine the impact of sleep disruption in sleep disorders.
Motivic Landweber exactness

We prove a motivic Landweber exact functor theorem. The main result shows the assignment given by a Landweber-type formula involving the MGL-homology of a motivic spectrum defines a homology theory on the motivic stable homotopy category which is representable by a Tate spectrum. Using a universal coefficient spec- tral sequence we deduce formulas for operations of certain motivic Landweber exact spectra including homotopy algebraic K-theory. Fi- nally we employ a Chern character between motivic spectra in order to compute rational algebraic cobordism groups over fields in terms of rational motivic cohomology groups and the Lazard ring.
Improvements in HRTF dataset of 3D game audio application

OpenAL-Soft is a 3D audio application programming interface (API), which can be used to render the 3D virtual soundscape through sound signal processing based on the head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). However, the performance is still unsatisfied because of the oversimplified HRTF dataset that is left-right symmetrical and incomplete in spatial sampling. In order to improve the 3D sound reproduction performance of game audio, in current work, the left-right asymmetric HRTFs with full space sampling are adopted. Simulated results show that the more accurate magnitude spectra can be rendered by the improved HRTF dataset. The enlarged HRTF dataset could increase the memory footprint, but computation expense varies little.
HIGH-VOLTAGE PROGRAMMABLE DELTA-SIGMA MODULATION VOLTAGE-CONTROL CIRCUIT

The following individuals read and discussed the thesis submitted by student Lucien Jan Bissey, and they also evaluated his presentation and response to questions during the final oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination, and that the thesis was satisfactory for a master's degree and ready for any final modifications that they explicitly required. v DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my family, and particularly my wife Michelle who has remained by my side throughout all of the trials encountered in an endeavor of this magnitude. Her encouragement and patience throughout all of my studies has kept me moving forward and this is the product of all our hard work. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Dr. Baker. He has been a significant source of education throughout my undergraduate and graduate experiences. His focus on the student and learning with practical application of the material has made a significant difference in my educational and professional life. The skills in the engineering field that I have absorbed from Dr. Baker have aided me in the past and will continue to serve me well throughout my career. At no time was it easy to understand the material to the degree that I desired, but Dr. Baker was there to challenge my knowledge and teach me different methods and ways to think about problem solving. The best experiences were solving difficult problems and experiencing the " Ah Ha " moments that inevitably arrive. It is in those moments that the true magnitude of my appreciation comes to light. I would refrain from calling him since it was usually in the middle of the night. I would also like to thank him for the many years of personal friendship that we have experienced. I would also extend my appreciation to Micron Technology, specifically Kevin Duesman, for allowing me to pursue this goal and financing my educational pursuits. Without this funding and support this would have been significantly more difficult to achieve. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Michelle. It is she who would tolerate my rants about how a simulation would not work. She would encourage me to sleep on vii it and try again in the morning and then not question when the inspiration would occur at 2am and I would stagger out of bed to try one …
Combined twist-bend for very compact inter-connections in integrated waveguide subsystems

A novel twist-bend solution is introduced providing a very compact interconnection of two waveguides with 90 degree oriented cross-sections and a perpendicular alignment of their axes. It allows additionally the transformation between different waveguide cross sections connected to the ports without any extra elements. The basic structure consists of a central waveguide section connected via two irises with the interfacing waveguides. This basic twist-bend design serves up to 20% bandwidth with good return loss properties. For larger bandwidth demands transformer sections are associated with the basic structure directly between the irises and connecting waveguides. For example, the extension of this solution with one transformer section at either side of the basic solution provides more than 38dB return loss over 35% bandwidth. Suitable implementations within integrated waveguide structures are introduced, e.g. for the interconnection of E- and H- plane waveguide components of a layer structure or a perpendicular interfacing of a waveguide layer subsystem. For the experimental validation a twist-bend design has been conducted with different waveguide ports (WR34 and WR28) at 28GHz. The good agreement of computed and measured results proves the design approach.
A performance profile of learner completion and retention in Australian VET MOOCs

Abstract The uptake of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has been substantial and they continue to flourish as an educational delivery model. Much of the available literature regarding student retention and completions in MOOCs comes from university-designed courses. The Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector has lagged behind its university counterparts as VET pedagogy relies heavily on skills acquisition and does not lend itself as easily to MOOC delivery. This paper analysed the attributes of 366,099 enrolled learners and 132,867 learners that were designated as ‘starters’ from 263 Australian universities, 27 transnational universities and 73 VET MOOCs to compare the differences in learning environments and to build a VET MOOC learner profile. The findings indicated that higher levels of VET MOOC learners were retained when compared to university MOOCs. It also revealed eight course design factors that may contribute to increased learner retention and completions for VET MOOCs.
SNR Limits on Kalman Filter Detect-Then-Track

In the common parlance of target tracking literature, conventional tracking refers to the sequential application of a single-frame detector to sensor data and a point-measurement association and estimation (tracking) algorithm. In contrast, Track-Before-Detect (TkBD) refers to the processing paradigm where detection and estimation are performed jointly. The TkBD literature reports significant sensitivity improvements over conventional tracking and tends to attribute this to losses at the single-frame detector. This article shows that this is not the case but rather the poor performance of conventional tracking at low signal power is more attributable to the Kalman Filter.