Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory-model based assessment of the effects of hearing loss and hearing-aid compression on spectral and temporal resolution

Most state-of-the-art hearing aids apply multi-channel dynamic-range compression (DRC). Such designs have the potential to emulate, at least to some degree, the processing that takes place in the healthy auditory system. One way to assess hearing-aid performance is to measure speech intelligibility. However, due to the complexity of speech and its robustness to spectral and temporal alterations, the effects of DRC on speech perception have been mixed and controversial. The goal of the present study was to obtain a clearer understanding of the interplay between hearing loss and DRC by means of auditory modeling. Inspired by the work of Edwards (2002), we studied the effects of DRC on a set of relatively basic outcome measures, such as forward masking functions (Glasberg and Moore, 1987) and spectral masking patterns (Moore et al., 1998), obtained at several masker levels and frequencies. Outcomes were simulated using the auditory processing model of Jepsen et al. (2008) with the front end modified to include effects of hearing impairment and DRC. The results were compared to experimental data from normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.
Personalidad ante el trauma en el siglo XXI: fragilidad y antifragilidad ante el trauma

RESUMEN El trauma psicológico es un tema de máxima actualidad, tanto por la cantidad de literatura científica desarrollada en los últimos años como por los cambios producidos en su diagnóstico fruto de la investigación, produciéndose un gran debate al respecto desde la aparición del último manual de diagnóstico de los trastornos mentales de la Asociación Americana de Psiquiatría (APA). En este artículo se trata de dar una visión de conjunto y actual sobre el trauma y el estrés postraumático. Qué diferencias existen en las personas que las hacen a unas más frágiles y vulnerables ante los traumas, mientras que otras son más resistentes o antifrágiles. Factores como la herencia, la personalidad, o los trastornos previos de tipo mental, van a marcar estas diferencias. No se trata de la situación traumática, sino de cómo la vive cada persona, lo que marcará la diferencia en fragilidad. Todas las personas alguna vez en su vida se ven expuestas a situaciones traumáticas. Algunas por su trabajo tienen que afrontar de forma continua a estas situaciones, provocando, en ocasiones, lo que se denomina un estrés traumático secundario, que afecta a la persona y a la organización, mermando la operatividad, y asociado a determinados factores. Unos de tipo personal (Neuroticismo, extraversión, humor, empatía, etc.) y otros de la propia organización (Orgullo, liderazgo, equipo, estrés de rol, etc.). Es importante conocer estas fragilidades para realizar un tratamiento preventivo en la población afectada por una catástrofe, y en los profesionales en particular para poder identificar el perfil más adecuado para determinados puestos. (Militares, policías, bomberos, médicos.).
Estimating Brown Hyaena Occupancy Using Baited Camera Traps

Conservation and management of brown hyaenas (Hyaena brunnea) is hampered by a lack of information on abundance and distribution, which is difficult and labour-intensive to obtain. However, occupancy surveys offer a potentially efficient and robust means of assessing brown hyaena populations. We evaluate the efficacy of camera trapping for estimating brown hyaena occupancy, and the effect of environmental variables and lures on detection probability. We estimated population density in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa, at 2.8/100 km2, occupancy at 1.0 and model-averaged detection probability at 0.1. Using a fish lure increased detection probability to 0.2 and significantly increased encounter rates. We also found that brown hyaenas are more likely to be detected in areas of scrub or woodland rather than grassland. Our results suggest that 13 camera sites would be needed to achieve an occupancy estimate with S.E. of 0.05, and a minimum of 16–34 sampling occasions (with and without the fish lure) should be used in comparable study areas. We conclude that camera trapping is a viable method of estimating brown hyaena occupancy at local and landscape scales and capture—recapture analysis is also possible at a local scale.
Matrix weighted Poincare inequalities and applications to degenerate elliptic systems

We prove Poincar\'e and Sobolev inequalities in matrix A${}_p$ weighted spaces. We then use these Poincar\'e inequalities to prove existence and regularity results for degenerate systems of elliptic equations whose degeneracy is governed by a matrix A${}_p$ weight. Such results parallel earlier results by Fabes, Kenig, and Serapioni for a single degenerate equation governed by a scalar A${}_p$ weight. In addition, we prove Cacciopoli and reverse H\"older inequalities for weak solutions of the degenerate systems. As a means to prove the Poincar\'e inequalities we prove that the Riesz potential and fractional maximal function operators are bounded on matrix weighted $L^p$ spaces and go on to develop an entire matrix A${}_{p, q}$ theory.
Effect of Sex on Carcass and Meat Characteristics of New Zealand White Rabbits Aged 11 Weeks

This experiment was conducted to determine and compare some characteristics of the meat and carcass of rabbits aged 11 weeks according to sex. In the experiment thirty male and thirty female New Zealand White rabbits were slaughtered. The weights and percentages of cold carcasses, skin with head and limbs, liver, kidney, heart, lung, fore legs, hind legs, breast and ribs, loin and abdominal wall were recorded. The values for carcass length, lumbar circumference, pH in the muscles of Biceps femoris and Longissimus dorsi, meat to bone ratio and cooking loss were also determined. The mean values for cold carcass weight and cold dressing percentage were 832 g and 48.77% in male and 849 g and 48.69% in female, respectively. In this study no significant differences were shown between male and female rabbits in the characteristics of carcass and meat except the value of pH of Longissimus dorsi muscle which was markedly higher in males than that in females meat. Slaughter weight was positively correlated with the weights of carcass, skin with head and limbs, lung, liver, kidney, heart and weights of joints (p<0.01) and dressing percentage (p<0.05). (
Numerical Computation of Spatially Varying Blur Operators A Review of Existing Approaches with a New One

Restoring images degraded by spatially varying blur is a problem encountered in many disciplines such as astrophysics, computer vision or biomedical imaging. One of the main challenges to perform this task is to design efficient numerical algorithms to compute matrix-vector products. We review the main approaches developped so far and detail their pros and cons. We then analyze the numerical complexity of the mainstream approach based on piecewise convolutions. We show that this method provides an $\epsilon$-approximation of the matrix-vector product in $\mathcal{O}\left(N \log(N) \epsilon^{-1}\right)$ operations where $N$ is the number of pixels. Moreover, we show that this bound cannot be improved even if further assumptions on the kernel regularity are made. We then introduce a new method based on a sparse approximation of the blurring operator in the wavelet domain. This method requires $\mathcal{O}\left(N \log(N) \epsilon^{-1/M}\right)$ operations to provide $\epsilon$-approximations, where $M\geq 1$ is a scalar describing the regularity of the blur kernel. We then propose variants to further improve the method by exploiting the fact that both images and operators are sparse in the same wavelet basis. We finish by numerical experiments to illustrate the practical efficiency of the proposed algorithms.
Genetic polymorphisms as predictive markers for statin therapy: a route to improved cardiovascular patient outcomes?

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A signi ﬁ cant risk factor for developing CVD is the presence of high plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. With regard to pharmacological inter-vention, ‘ fat busting ’ statins are seen as the wonder drugs for lipid lowering and reducing the risk of myocardial infraction and stroke. However, there is wide inter-patient variability in measureable responses to these HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, with individual patient genotypes being increasingly recognized as important contributors to this phenomenon. In recent years there have been great advances in our understanding of how personal genetics plays a role in controlling responses to drug therapies. Nevertheless, to date, there is no clinical application of identifying genetic markers that may predict responses to statins and subsequently modify cardiovascular outcomes. This review discusses the current literature regarding the potential roles of individual genetic polymorphisms in in ﬂ uencing responses to statins, and whether this can translate into clinical bene ﬁ ts for patients. While the signi ﬁ cance of individual single nucleotide polymorphisms is yet to be established, it is suggested from genome-wide association studies that combinations of polymorphisms could be of greater clinical relevance. Further studies investigating the long-term in ﬂ uence of personal genetics on responses to statins and hard clinical outcomes are essential. As technology advances and the cost of genome sequencing falls, it will become increasingly easier to use individual genetic pro ﬁ les to predict drug responses, tailor treatments and provide clinical bene ﬁ t across populations.
David Wajc Matching Algorithms Under Uncertainty , and Matching Lower Bounds

Uncertainty is all around us. Constantly-changing circumstances make prediction of future events difficult, if not impossible. On the other hand, lack of exact information (and even spread of disinformation) make attaining a complete picture of the present a near-unattainable goal. This uncertainty makes optimizing for all eventualities a seemingly paradoxical objective. Nonetheless, we should strive to overcome the challenges presented by this incomplete information, to the best of our abilities.
Forward-flyback converter with current-doubler rectifier: analysis, design, and evaluation results

Complete design-oriented steady-state analysis of the forward-flyback converter, with the current-doubler rectifier is provided. Advantages and disadvantages of this topology compared to the conventional forward converter are discussed. In particular, the transformer-secondary copper losses are evaluated. In addition, a step-by-step design procedure is given, Finally, experimental evaluation results obtained on a 3.3 V/50 A DC/DC converter prototype for the 40-60 V input-voltage range are presented.
On Partial Identification of the Pure Direct Effect

In causal mediation analysis, nonparametric identification of the pure (natural) direct effect typically relies on, in addition to no unobserved pre-exposure confounding, fundamental assumptions of (i) so-called "cross-world-counterfactuals" independence and (ii) no exposure- induced confounding. When the mediator is binary, bounds for partial identification have been given when neither assumption is made, or alternatively when assuming only (ii). We extend existing bounds to the case of a polytomous mediator, and provide bounds for the case assuming only (i). We apply these bounds to data from the Harvard PEPFAR program in Nigeria, where we evaluate the extent to which the effects of antiretroviral therapy on virological failure are mediated by a patient's adherence, and show that inference on this effect is somewhat sensitive to model assumptions.
What makes a city vital and safe : Bogotá case study

By 2030, 9% of the world’s population is expected to live in just 41 mega-cities, each of these accommodating more than 10M inhabitants. Thus, cities are playing an increasingly critical role in human society, as essential centers for innovation, tolerance, novelty, and economic prosperity but they are also facing challenges ranging from traffic and pollution to poverty and criminality. Moreover, urban areas allow for a more efficient use of resources and foster exchanges of ideas and knowledge creation. A fundamental research question that urban planners, sociologists, economists, and policy makers are investigating is related to the ingredients for a vital, safe, and liveable urban life. The urban activist Jane Jacobs in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, one of the most influential books in city planning, introduced the urban physical environment (the urban fabric) as an essential factor for urban vitality and urban safety. As the book title states, Jacobs dealt with the lifecycle and complexities of growth and decline of American cities. In its most basic form, her argument was that death was triggered by elimination of pedestrian activity (e.g., by highway construction, large-scale development projects, etc.), and that life was created by the presence of pedestrians at all times of the day. She argued that, to promote urban life in large cities, the physical environment should be characterized by diversity at both the district and street level. Diversity requires four essential conditions: (i) mixed land uses, that is, districts should serve more than two primary functions, which would attract people who have different purposes; (ii) small blocks, which promote opportunities for contact among people; (iii) buildings diverse in terms of rent and utility fees, which make it possible to mix high-rent and low-rent tenants; and (iv) sufficient dense concentration of people and buildings. She also emphasized natural surveillance as a key deterrent for fear and crime: as people are moving around an area, they will be the “eyes on the street,” able to observe what is going on around them. However, these conditions have not been empirically tested until recently, mainly because it is difficult to collect data about “city life”. A notable example of these recent collection efforts is the city of Seoul, which last year collected pedestrian activity through surveys at an unprecedented scale, with an effort spanning more than a decade, allowing researchers to conduct the first study successfully testing Jacobs’ conditions. Here, our team proposes a valuable alternative to the lengthy and costly collection of activity survey data: mobile phone data or call detail records (CDRs). In this investigation, we are extracting human activity from CDRs and collecting land use and socio-demographic information from sources such as the census and Open Street Map. This approach was recently tested on six Italian cities. Although these cities are very
Food concentration-dependent regulation of food selectivity of interception-feeding bacterivorous nanoflagellates

The significance of food concentration for selec- tivity was analyzed by video microscopy for 3 species of inter- ception-feeding bacterivorous nanoflagellates of the genera Spumella, Ochromonas and Cafeteria. Inert beads and live bacteria were offered simultaneously at 5 different concentra- tions. The fate of individual prey particles was recorded dur- ing the stages of the particle-flagellate interaction: capture, ingestion, digestion and egestion. The experiments revealed passive and active selection mechanisms that were regulated separately. Selective food uptake depended strongly on food concentration, whereas differential digestion was indepen- dent of the food concentration and independent of the num- ber of previously ingested food particles. In addition to active selection of food items, passive selection occurred due to the different contact probabilities of prey. In contrast to the chrysomonads Spumella sp. and Ochromonas sp. , the bico- soecid Cafeteria sp. showed no significant active selection, neither during food uptake nor during digestion. The results imply that it is more efficient for some interception-feeding flagellates to feed unselectively all particles that can be mor- phologically ingested and then to attempt to digest these par- ticles. Active selection in advance may only be efficient when the particle concentration is sufficiently high such that vac- uole formation becomes time limiting.
HeapHopper: Bringing Bounded Model Checking to Heap Implementation Security

Heap metadata attacks have become one of the primary ways in which attackers exploit memory corruption vulnerabilities. While heap implementation developers have introduced mitigations to prevent and detect corruption, it is still possible for attackers to work around them. In part, this is because these mitigations are created and evaluated without a principled foundation, resulting, in many cases, in complex, inefficient, and ineffective attempts at heap metadata defenses. In this paper, we present HEAPHOPPER, an automated approach, based on model checking and symbolic execution, to analyze the exploitability of heap implementations in the presence of memory corruption. Using HEAPHOPPER, we were able to perform a systematic analysis of different, widely used heap implementations, finding surprising weaknesses in them. Our results show, for instance, how a newly introduced caching mechanism in ptmalloc (the heap allocator implementation used by most of the Linux distributions) significantly weakens its security. Moreover, HEAPHOPPER guided us in implementing and evaluating improvements to the security of ptmalloc, replacing an ineffective recent attempt at the mitigation of a specific form of heap metadata corruption with an effective defense.
Dendrites and light mappings

It is shown that a metric continuum X is a dendrite if and only if for every compact space (continuum) Y and for every light confluent mapping f : Y → f(Y) such that X ⊂ f(Y) there is a copy X' of X in Y for which the restriction f|X': X' → X is a homeomorphism. As a corollary it follows that only dendrites have the lifting property with respect to light confluent mappings. Other classes of mappings f are also discussed. This is a continuation of a previous study by the authors (2000), where open mappings f were considered.
A Theory of Learning with Corrupted Labels

It is usual in machine learning theory to assume that the training and testing sets comprise of draws from the same distribution. This is rarely, if ever, true and one must admit the presence of corruption. There are many different types of corruption that can arise and as of yet there is no general means to compare the relative ease of learning in these settings. Such results are necessary if we are to make informed economic decisions regarding the acquisition of data. Here we begin to develop an abstract framework for tackling these problems. We present a generic method for learning from a fixed, known, reconstructible corruption, along with an analyses of its statistical properties. We demonstrate the utility of our framework via concrete novel results in solving supervised learning problems wherein the labels are corrupted, such as learning with noisy labels, semi-supervised learning and learning with partial labels.
Loon Copter: Implementation of a hybrid unmanned aquatic–aerial quadcopter with active buoyancy control

Aquatic–aerial unmanned vehicles recently became the focus of many researchers due to their various possible applications. Achieving a fully operational vehicle that is capable of aerial, water‐surface, and underwater operations is a significant challenge considering the vehicle's air–water–air transition, propulsion system, and stability underwater. We present in this paper an unconventional unmanned hybrid aquatic–aerial quadcopter with active buoyancy control that is capable of aerial flight and water‐surface operation, as well as subaquatic diving. We report on the first successful prototype of the vehicle, named the Loon Copter, to provide initial evaluation results of its performance in both mediums. The Loon Copter uses a single set of motors and propellers for both air and underwater maneuvering. It utilizes a ballast system to control vehicle buoyancy and depth underwater, as well as to perform seamless air‐to‐water and water‐to‐air transitions. A closed loop control algorithm is utilized for the vehicle's aerial and water‐surface stability and maneuver, whereas an open loop control algorithm is used for underwater maneuver. The experimental results show a fully operational prototype with six degrees of freedom underwater, stable flight, operation capabilities on water surface, and agile maneuvering underwater.
A decision support system for software technology selection

Abstract Software producing organisations face the challenge of including new technology in their products, such as cloud technologies and database management systems. As software architects and senior developers are not experts in this domain, they need to consult external experts or acquire the knowledge themselves. Software production, therefore, is a suitable domain to deploy decision support systems, that intelligently support these decision-makers in selecting the desirable technology for their product. We present a decision support system that supports decision-makers in choosing the most suitable database technology. The case studies and experts confirm that the approach increases insight into the selection process, provides a richer prioritised option list than if they had done their research independently, besides reduces the time and cost of the decision-making process.
Toxicity and Metal Corrosion of Glutaraldehyde-Didecyldimethylammonium Bromide as a Disinfectant Agent

The wide use of disinfectants has prompted resistance from the microbiome which will in turn reduce the bactericidal effect of disinfectants. Hence, glutaraldehyde (GA) and didecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) were used to develop a combination disinfectant with high stability and antimicrobial effects, which was named GA-DDAB combination disinfectant (GD). The bactericidal mechanism against Escherichia coli was studied in our earlier work. In this study, we focused on GD's bactericidal efficacy in both the laboratory and environment, the genetic toxicity to mouse lymphoma L5178Y TK+/− cells, acute peroral toxicity in mice, and its metal corrosion properties with a view to providing theoretical support for developing a high-efficiency, low toxicity, and weakly corrosive disinfectant for general use.
Factors predicting attitude toward disclosing personal data online

ABSTRACT To test a theoretical model, this study explores the effect of anxiety, trust, personality, and perceived benefits on the disclosure of personal information online. An online survey conducted among participants in the United States (n = 248, age range: 20–82 years) examined attitudes toward disclosing personal data online. Specifically, the study researches the impact of anxiety disclosing personal data, trust (both in the Internet and in institutions), the Big Five personality traits, and four sets of perceived shopping benefits (opportunity, bargain, purchase, and expected privacy benefits) in e-commerce disclosure and their role as antecedents for adoption and use of e-commerce. The study aligns with existing trust literature and corroborates other findings on how perceived purchase benefits impact individuals’ attitudes toward disclosing personal data online. The data suggest that both trust in the Internet and trust in institutions positively influence attitude toward disclosing personal data online. Perceived purchase benefits were also significant positive predictors for attitude toward disclosing personal data online. Furthermore, personality dimensions can affect attitude toward disclosing: the more neurotic a person is, the more negative their attitude is about disclosing personal data online. The study underscores that consumers have a responsibility to educate themselves about online disclosure and marketing practices, and about how to protect their online privacy. Most importantly, fostering trust, reducing anxiety, and promoting benefits are essential to the future of e-commerce. Implications for theory, consumers, marketing practice, and public policy are also discussed.