Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is a bad will a weak will? Cognitive dispositions modulate folk attributions of weakness of will

In line with recent efforts to empirically study the folk concept of weakness of will, we examine two issues in this paper: (1) How is weakness of will attribution (WWA) influenced by an agent’s violations of best judgment and/or resolution, and by the moral valence of the agent’s action? (2) Do any of these influences depend on the cognitive dispositions of the judging individual? We implemented a factorial 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design with judgment violation, resolution violation, and action valence as independent variables, and measured participants’ cognitive dispositions using Frederick’s Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). We conclude that intuitive and reflective individuals have two different concepts of weakness of will. The study supports this claim by showing that: (1) the WWA of intuitive subjects is influenced by the action’s (and probably also the commitment’s) moral valence, while the WWA of reflective subjects is not; (2) judgment violation plays a small role in the WWA of intuitive subjects, while reflective subjects treat resolution violation as the only relevant trait. Data were collected among students at two different universities. All subjects (N = 710) answered the CRT. A three-way ANOVA was first conducted on the whole sample and then on the intuitive and reflective groups separately. This study suggests that differences in cognitive dispositions can significantly impact the folk understanding of philosophical concepts and thus suggests that analysis of folk concepts should take cognitive dispositions into account.
Hawaii Wintering Area Mexico Wintering Area North Pacific Feeding Areas

Figure 32. Approximate distribution of humpback whales in the eastern North Pacific (shaded area). Feeding and wintering areas are presented above (see text). See Figure 31 for distribution of humpback whales in the western North Pacific. STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE The humpback whale is distributed worldwide in all ocean basins, though it is less common in Arctic waters. In winter, most humpback whales occur in the temperate and tropical waters of the North and South Hemispheres (from 10/-23/ latitude). Humpback whales in the North Pacific are seasonal migrants that feed on zooplankton and small schooling fishes in the cool, coastal waters of the western United States, western Canada, and the Russian Far East (NMFS 1991). The historic feeding range of humpback whales in the North Pacific encompassed coastal and inland waters around A recent vessel survey in the central Bering Sea in July of 1999 documented 17 humpback whale sightings, most of which were distributed along the eastern Aleutian Island chain and along the U.S.-Russia Convention Line south of St. Lawrence Island (Moore et al. in review). These recent sightings clearly demonstrate that the Bering Sea remains an important feeding area. Humpback whales have been known to enter the Chukchi Sea (Johnson and Wolman 1984). The humpback whale population in much of this range was considerably reduced as a result of intensive commercial exploitation during the 20th century. Aerial, vessel, and photo-identification surveys and genetic analyses indicate that within the U. S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) there are at least three relatively separate populations that migrate between their respective summer/fall feeding areas to winter/spring calving and mating areas (Calambokidis et al. 1997, Baker et al. 1998, Figs. 31 and 32): 1) winter/spring populations in coastal Central America and Mexico which migrate to the coast of California to southern British Columbia in summer/fall (Calambokidis et al. 1989, Steiger et al. 1991, Calambokidis et al. 1993)-referred to as the California/Oregon/Washington and Mexico stock; 2) winter/spring populations of the Hawaiian Islands which migrate to northern British Columbia/Southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound west to Kodiak (Baker et al. 1990, Perry et al. 1990, Calambokidis et al. 1997)-referred to as the Central North Pacific stock; and 3) winter/spring populations of Japan which, based on Discovery Tag information, probably migrate to waters west of the Kodiak Archipelago (the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands) in summer/fall (Berzin and Rovnin 1966, Nishiwaki 1966, Darling 1991)-referred to …
Model-checking higher-order functions

We propose a novel type-based model checking algorithm for higher-order recursion schemes. As shown by Kobayashi, verification problems of higher-order functional programs can easily be translated into model checking problems of recursion schemes. Thus, the model checking algorithm serves as a basis for verification of higher-order functional programs. To our knowledge, this is the first practical algorithm for model checking recursion schemes: all the previous algorithms always suffer from the n-EXPTIME bottleneck, not only in the worst, and there was no implementation of the algorithms. We have implemented a model checker for recursion schemes based on the proposed algorithm, and applied it to verification of functional programs, including reachability, flow analysis and resource usage verification problems. According to our experiments, the model checker is surprisingly fast: it could automatically verify a number of small but tricky higher-order functional programs in less than a second.
JOINT AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION ANGLE ESTIMATION USING INCOMPLETE DATA GENERATED BY A FACULTY ANTENNA ARRAY

In this study, we extend the "Fault Tolerant Matrix Pencil Method for Direction of Arrival Estimation (DOA)" proposed by the authors [1] to joint estimation of Azimuth and Elevation Angles from a data generated by Uniform Planar Antenna array (UPA), where at random locations a few of the elements due to failure are missing. Joint Azimuth and Elevation Angles estimation is generally known as Twodimensional DOA estimation. In the proposed technique, the observed incomplete data is imputed first using the Matrix Completion (MC) algorithm and later the 2D angles are jointly estimated using the Two dimensional Matrix Pencil Method (2D-MP). The resulting algorithm is robust in terms of failure of elements, is computationally efficient as it does not forms a correlation matrix and the angles are estimated using only a single snapshot. It is shown that the algorithm is able to estimate the DOAs when we have a fraction of the observed data. The numerical simulation results are provided to see the performance of the method for various incomplete data sizes and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).
Brane intersections in the presence of a worldvolume electric field

The study of brane intersections has provided important insights into a possible non-commutative structure of spacetime geometry. In this paper we focus on the D1⊥D3 system. We compare the D1 and D3 descriptions of the interesection and search for non-static solutions of the D3⊥D1 funnel equations in the presence of a worldvolume electric field. We find that the D1 and D3 descriptions do not agree. We find time dependent solutions that are a natural generalization of those found without the electric field.
RAB-Like 2 Has an Essential Role in Male Fertility, Sperm Intra-Flagellar Transport, and Tail Assembly

A significant percentage of young men are infertile and, for the majority, the underlying cause remains unknown. Male infertility is, however, frequently associated with defective sperm motility, wherein the sperm tail is a modified flagella/cilia. Conversely, a greater understanding of essential mechanisms involved in tail formation may offer contraceptive opportunities, or more broadly, therapeutic strategies for global cilia defects. Here we have identified Rab-like 2 (RABL2) as an essential requirement for sperm tail assembly and function. RABL2 is a member of a poorly characterized clade of the RAS GTPase superfamily. RABL2 is highly enriched within developing male germ cells, where it localizes to the mid-piece of the sperm tail. Lesser amounts of Rabl2 mRNA were observed in other tissues containing motile cilia. Using a co-immunoprecipitation approach and RABL2 affinity columns followed by immunochemistry, we demonstrated that within developing haploid germ cells RABL2 interacts with intra-flagella transport (IFT) proteins and delivers a specific set of effector (cargo) proteins, including key members of the glycolytic pathway, to the sperm tail. RABL2 binding to effector proteins is regulated by GTP. Perturbed RABL2 function, as exemplified by the Mot mouse line that contains a mutation in a critical protein–protein interaction domain, results in male sterility characterized by reduced sperm output, and sperm with aberrant motility and short tails. Our data demonstrate a novel function for the RABL protein family, an essential role for RABL2 in male fertility and a previously uncharacterised mechanism for protein delivery to the flagellum.
The privatization dividend : a worldwide analysis of the financial and operating performance of newly privatized firms

Private Sector Development Department ▪ Vice Presidency for Finance and Private Sector Development Surprisingly little direct empirical investigation has been done to see whether privatization is delivering the expected results. The main constraint has been getting postsale data for firms not publicly traded. Most of the early empirical work looked at only a small number of companies from a single country (usually Britain) and therefore lacked statistical significance, making it hard to draw strong conclusions. The consensus about privatization by the mid-1980s—to the extent that there was one—was summed up by Yarrow (1986), who argued that competition and managerial accountability are more important than privatization in promoting economic efficiency.
EXPLORING AESTHETIC IMPRESSION OF WEB PAGES FROM ASPECTS OF VISUAL ORDER AND COMPLEXITY

Recent advances of the broadband Internet and multimedia environment let web users demand from web pages not only cognitive usability but also related feelings. Drawing on existing theories of cognitive psychology and human–computer interaction, a research model has been developed to explain the relationship between the visual factors and aesthetic impression of a web page according to users’ emotional responses. In order to further understand users' feeling and preference, an investigation of web-based learning system were explored. The investigation has three phases: 1) 15 adjective pairs were classified into two major visual factors; order and complexity, through semantic difference survey and factor analysis. 2) Multi-dimensional scaling analysis was then used to define a perceptual map of four groups. 3) Finally, four groups were classified into: professional image type, graphics mainly type, main subject type, and informative mainly type, depending on each group’s characteristics. The results of the study revealed how visual complexity and order influence users’ initial emotional responses.
Adaptive Control of Acyclic Progressive Processing Task Structures

The progressive processing model allows a system to trade off resource consumption against the quality of the outcome by mapping each activity to a graph of potential solution methods. In the past, only semi-linear graphs have been used. We examine the application of the model to control the operation of an autonomous rover which operates under tight resource constraints. The task structure is generalized to directed acyclic graphs for which the optimal schedule can be computed by solving a corresponding Markov decision problem. We evaluate the complexity of the solution analytically and experimentally and show that it provides a practical approach to building an adaptive controller for this application.
Availability-Based Software Performability Model with User-Perceived Performance Degradation

This paper discusses software performability evaluation considering the real-time property. We assume that the software system has two operational states from the viewpoint of the end users: one is operating with the desirable performance level according to specification and the other is with degraded performance level. The time-dependent behavior of the system is described by the Markovian software availability model with performance degradation. Assuming that the system can process the multiple tasks simultaneously, we analyze the distribution of the number of tasks whose processes can be completed within the processing time limit with the infinite server queueing model. We derive several software performability measures; these are given as the functions of time and the number of debugging activities. Finally, we illustrate several numerical examples of the measures to investigate the impact of consideration of the performance degradation on the system performability evaluation.
Simple and Fast Implementation of Segmented Matrix Algorithm for Haar DWT on a Low Cost GPU

Haar discrete wavelet transform (DWT), the simplest among all DWTs, has diverse applications in signal and image processing fields. A traditional approach for 2D Haar DWT is 1D row operation followed by and 1D column operation. In 2002, Chen and Liao presented a fast algorithm for 2D Haar DWT based on segmented matrix. However, this method is infeasible for its high computational requirements for processing large sized images. In this paper, we have implemented the segmented matrix algorithm on a low cost NVIDIA’s GPU to achieve speedup in computation. The efficiency of our GPU based implementation is measured and compared with CPU based algorithms. Our experimental results show performance improvement over a factor of 28.5 compared with Chen and Liao’s CPU based segmented matrix algorithm and a factor of 8 compared to MATLAB’s wavelet function for an image of size 2560×2560.
Understanding Sensory Nerve Mechanotransduction through Localized Elastomeric Matrix Control

Background While neural systems are known to respond to chemical and electrical stimulation, the effect of mechanics on these highly sensitive cells is still not well understood. The ability to examine the effects of mechanics on these cells is limited by existing approaches, although their overall response is intimately tied to cell-matrix interactions. Here, we offer a novel method, which we used to investigate stretch-activated mechanotransduction on nerve terminals of sensory neurons through an elastomeric interface. Methodology/Principal Findings To apply mechanical force on neurites, we cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons on an elastic substrate, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), coated with extracellular matrices (ECM). We then implemented a controlled indentation scheme using a glass pipette to mechanically stimulate individual neurites that were adjacent to the pipette. We used whole-cell patch clamping to record the stretch-activated action potentials on the soma of the single neurites to determine the mechanotransduction-based response. When we imposed specific mechanical force through the ECM, we noted a significant neuronal action potential response. Furthermore, because the mechanotransduction cascade is known to be directly affected by the cytoskeleton, we investigated the cell structure and its effects. When we disrupted microtubules and actin filaments with nocodozale or cytochalasin-D, respectively, the mechanically induced action potential was abrogated. In contrast, when using blockers of channels such as TRP, ASIC, and stretch-activated channels while mechanically stimulating the cells, we observed almost no change in action potential signalling when compared with mechanical activation of unmodified cells. Conclusions/Significance These results suggest that sensory nerve terminals have a specific mechanosensitive response that is related to cell architecture.
Biomass combustion and potential health effects in the developing countries.

iomass combustion is a very large source of aerosol particles on a global scale. It is estimated that 20 % of the black carbon and 30 % of the organic carbon aerosol mass emissions are due to wild land ﬁ res and intentional burning of agricultural waste in Asia. However in those numbers residential fuel combustion is not included, which is considered a larger source of black carbon and organic carbon aerosol particles in developing countries. When it comes to residential fuel combustion it covers combustion of coal, kerosene, gas and biofuel in stoves, cookers and heaters
Maternal obesity during pregnancy and premature mortality from cardiovascular event in adult offspring: follow-up of 1 323 275 person years

Objectives To determine whether maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular events in adult offspring. Design Record linkage cohort analysis. Setting Birth records from the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal databank linked to the General Register of Deaths, Scotland, and the Scottish Morbidity Record systems. Population 37 709 people with birth records from 1950 to present day. Main outcome measures Death and hospital admissions for cardiovascular events up to 1 January 2012 in offspring aged 34-61. Maternal body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and weight measured at the first antenatal visit. The effect of maternal obesity on outcomes in offspring was tested with time to event analysis with Cox proportional hazard regression to compare outcomes in offspring of mothers in underweight, overweight, or obese categories of BMI compared with offspring of women with normal BMI. Results All cause mortality was increased in offspring of obese mothers (BMI >30) compared with mothers with normal BMI after adjustment for maternal age at delivery, socioeconomic status, sex of offspring, current age, birth weight, gestation at delivery, and gestation at measurement of BMI (hazard ratio 1.35, 95% confidence interval 1.17 to 1.55). In adjusted models, offspring of obese mothers also had an increased risk of hospital admission for a cardiovascular event (1.29, 1.06 to 1.57) compared with offspring of mothers with normal BMI. The offspring of overweight mothers also had a higher risk of adverse outcomes. Conclusions Maternal obesity is associated with an increased risk of premature death in adult offspring. As one in five women in the United Kingdom is obese at antenatal booking, strategies to optimise weight before pregnancy are urgently required.
Role of H2O2-activated TRPM2 calcium channel in oxidant-induced endothelial injury

Summary The transient receptor potential (melastatin) 2 (TRPM2), is an oxidant-activated non-selective cation channel that is widely expressed in mammalian tissues including the vascular endothelium. Oxidative stress, through the generation of oxygen meta-bolites including H2O2, stimulates intracellular ADP-ribose formation which, in turn, opens TRPM2 channels. These channels act as an endogenous redox sensor for mediating oxidative stress/ROS-induced Ca2+ entry and the subsequent specific Ca2+-dependent cellular reactions such as endothelial hyper-permeability and apoptosis. This review summarizes recent findings on the mechanism by which oxidants induce TRPM2 activation, the role of these channels in the signalling vascular endothelial dysfunctions, and the modulation of oxidant-induced TRPM2 activation by PKCα and phospho-tyrosine phosphates L1.
Cross-cultural studies of personality traits and their relevance to psychiatry

SUMMARY Aims – This article provides a brief review of recent cross-cultural research on personality traits at both individual and culture levels, highlighting the relevance of recent findings for psychiatry. Method – In most cultures around the world, personality traits can be clearly summarized by the five broad dimensions of the Five-Factor Model (FFM), which makes it feasible to compare cultures on personality and psychopathology. Results – Maturational patterns and sex differences in personality traits generally show cultural invariance, which generates the hypothesis that age of onset, clinical evolution, and sex differences in the prevalence of psychiatric disorders might follow similar universal patterns. The average personality profiles from 51 cultures show meaningful geographical distributions and associations with culture-level variables, but are clearly unrelated to national character stereotypes. Conclusions – Aggregate personality scores can potentially be related to epidemiological data on psychiatric disorders, and dimensional personality models have implications for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment around the world. Declaration of Interest: This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute on Aging. Robert R. McCrae receives royalties from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.
Modeling Pollinator Community Response to Contrasting Bioenergy Scenarios

In the United States, policy initiatives aimed at increasing sources of renewable energy are advancing bioenergy production, especially in the Midwest region, where agricultural landscapes dominate. While policy directives are focused on renewable fuel production, biodiversity and ecosystem services will be impacted by the land-use changes required to meet production targets. Using data from field observations, we developed empirical models for predicting abundance, diversity, and community composition of flower-visiting bees based on land cover. We used these models to explore how bees might respond under two contrasting bioenergy scenarios: annual bioenergy crop production and perennial grassland bioenergy production. In the two scenarios, 600,000 ha of marginal annual crop land or marginal grassland were converted to perennial grassland or annual row crop bioenergy production, respectively. Model projections indicate that expansion of annual bioenergy crop production at this scale will reduce bee abundance by 0 to 71%, and bee diversity by 0 to 28%, depending on location. In contrast, converting annual crops on marginal soil to perennial grasslands could increase bee abundance from 0 to 600% and increase bee diversity between 0 and 53%. Our analysis of bee community composition suggested a similar pattern, with bee communities becoming less diverse under annual bioenergy crop production, whereas bee composition transitioned towards a more diverse community dominated by wild bees under perennial bioenergy crop production. Models, like those employed here, suggest that bioenergy policies have important consequences for pollinator conservation.
Implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard on GPUs with the NVIDIA CUDA framework

High-bandwidth secure channels require a lot of computing power to encrypt the information. This power comes at a cost: dedicated cryptographic accelerators are often too expensive for most small-size companies. On the other hand, the GPU market has recently exploded and their processing power is also available for general computing. The developers have now access to high-performance and inexpensive parallel computing hardware. This paper presents an implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard on the NVIDIA CUDA architecture, and it draws some conclusions about the usefulness of GPUs for cryptographic computations.
Optimistic Realism over Selectivism

Abstract Selectivism holds that some theoretical contents of most present theories will be preserved in future theories. By contrast, optimistic realism holds that most theoretical contents of most present theories will be preserved in future theories. I construct a pessimistic induction over selectivists to undermine selectivism, and an optimistic induction over optimistic realists to support optimistic realism. The former holds that since the selectivists of the early twentieth century were overly cautious about their present theories, those of the early twenty-first century are also overly cautious about their present theories. The latter holds that since the optimistic realists of the early twentieth century were right about their present theories, those of the early twentyfirst century are also right about their present theories