Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emergence of Orientation Pinwheels in a Self-Evolving Spiking Neural Network: Enhancing Visual Coding Efficiency and Reliability

Orientation preference maps (OPMs) in the primary visual cortex of primates organize orientation-tuned neurons into columnar structures, forming pinwheel-like patterns. However, lower-level animals like rodents typically exhibit a lack of OPMs, with neurons either randomly distributed or aggregated in small clusters. This distinction prompts an inquiry into whether more structured cortical columns correlate with improved visual computational or coding efficiency. To explore this, we propose a novel self-evolving spiking neural network (SESNN). To the best of our knowledge, the SESNN is the first spiking network, incorporating mechanisms of neural plasticity in forming neural connections without explicit objective functions. We reveal that the emergence of pinwheel structures is primarily driven by sparse coding constraints and local synaptic plasticity as fundamental mechanisms. Second, for higher mammals with expansive iso-orientation domains (IODs), the firing responses in pinwheel structures primarily emanate from pinwheel centers (PCs) and progressively extend toward the periphery, encompassing adjacent IODs. Third, the size and organization of these IODs across species are significantly influenced by the receptive fields’ ability to process overlapping visual information. Lastly, PCs within large IODs demonstrate enhanced robustness and population sparseness in detecting a variety of orientation features. These results indicate that the spatial pinwheel structure facilitates highly efficient and reliable coding performance.
Root exudation and rhizosphere microbial recruitment are influenced by novel plant trait diversity in carrot genotypes

Root exudate composition can influence rhizosphere microbial recruitment and is tightly controlled by plant genetics. However, little research has profiled root exudate in vegetable crops or determined their role in rhizosphere microbial community and metabolite composition. It is also not well understood how root exudates and resulting rhizosphere dynamics shift across plant trait diversity and with the development of novel crop genotypes. To address these knowledge gaps, this study paired metabolomics and microbiome analyses to evaluate associations between the composition of exudates, soil bacterial and fungal communities, and soil metabolites across four genotypes of organically produced carrot of differential breeding histories, including two experimental genotypes. Plant genotypes modified soil microbial diversity and composition, and differentially recruited bacterial taxa with demonstrated potential for plant-growth related functions including ammonia oxidation, nitrogen fixation, and phytohormone production. Bacterial rhizosphere recruitment from bulk soil was genotype and root exudate-mediated, while fungal recruitment was not. Moreover, root exudate composition was distinct in an heirloom genotype and a novel nematode resistant genotype, compared to other genotypes tested. Root exudate and rhizosphere metabolite composition was decoupled, and soil metabolites strongly associated with fungal, but not bacterial communities. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that novel crop trait diversity and breeding histories hold consequences for the functional potential of soils through the diversification of root exudate mediated plant-microbe interactions.
Spatially heterogeneous responses of planktonic foraminifera assemblages over 700,000 years of climate change

Aim To determine the degree to which assemblages of planktonic foraminifera track thermal conditions. Location The world’s oceans. Time period The last 700,000 years of glacial-interglacial cycles. Major taxa studied Planktonic foraminifera. Methods We investigate assemblage dynamics in planktonic foraminifera in response to temperature changes using a global dataset of Quaternary planktonic foraminifera, together with a coupled Atmosphere–Ocean General Circulation Model (AOGCM) at 8,000-year resolution. We use ‘thermal deviance’ to assess assemblage responses to climate change, defined as the difference between the temperature at a given location and the bio-indicated temperature (i.e., the abundance-weighted average of estimated temperature optima for the species present). Results Assemblages generally tracked annual mean temperature changes through compositional turnover, but large thermal deviances are evident under certain conditions. The coldest-adapted species persisted in polar regions during warming but were not joined by additional immigrants, resulting in decreased assemblage turnover with warming. The warmest-adapted species persisted in equatorial regions during cooling. Assemblages at mid latitudes closely tracked temperature cooling and showed a modest increase in thermal deviance with warming. Main conclusions Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages were generally able to track or endure temperature changes: as climate warmed or cooled, bio-indicated temperature also became warmer or cooler, although to a variable degree. At polar sites under warming and at equatorial sites under cooling, the change in temperature predicted from assemblage composition was less than, or even opposite to, expectations based on estimated environmental change. Nevertheless, all species survived the accumulation of thermal deviance—a result that highlights the resilience and inertia of planktonic foraminifera on an assemblage level to the last 700,000 years of climate change, which might be facilitated by broad thermal tolerances or depth shifts.
Influence of Harvesting and Threshing Methods on Storability of Rice Varieties

Present investigation is an attempt to study the effect of different harvesting and threshing methods on storability of rice varieties viz., CR1009 Sub1, improved white ponni and CO51. The seeds collected from different harvesting and threshing methods viz., manual harvesting and manual threshing, manual harvesting and mechanical threshing (axial flow thresher) and combine harvesting (with pneumatic wheel). The collected seeds were cleaned, graded and treated with water soluble polymer @ 4 ml + 12 ml water.kg-1 compared with control seeds. The treated seeds were stored under ambient temperature in both super grain bag and gunny bag containers along with control. The quality parameters were recorded initially and at monthly intervals for a period of 12 months to assess the storability of seeds. The result revealed that among the harvesting and threshing methods, CR1009 Sub 1 seeds obtained by manual harvesting and manual threshing registered maximum germination, longer root and shoot length, highest dry matter production, vigour index, lowest pathogen incidence and seed leachates. Between the containers, seeds stored in super grain bag registered higher germination, vigour index, lower pathogen incidence and seed leachates in CR1009 Sub 1 seeds irrespective of the harvesting and threshing method. The study concluded that different varieties of rice seed viz., CO51, CR1009 Sub 1 and improved white ponni harvested and threshed by different methods and coated with water soluble polymer @ 4 ml + 12 ml of water.kg-1 of seed and packed in super grain bag maintained seed quality above minimum seed certification standards up to twelve months.
It’s All Relative: Learning Interpretable Models for Scoring Subjective Bias in Documents from Pairwise Comparisons

We propose an interpretable model to score the subjective bias present in documents, based only on their textual content. Our model is trained on pairs of revisions of the same Wikipedia article, where one version is more biased than the other. Although prior approaches based on bias classification have struggled to obtain a high accuracy for the task, we are able to develop a useful model for scoring bias by learning to accurately perform pairwise comparisons. We show that we can interpret the parameters of the trained model to discover the words most indicative of bias. We also apply our model in three different settings by studying the temporal evolution of bias in Wikipedia articles, comparing news sources based on bias, and scoring bias in law amendments. In each case, we demonstrate that the outputs of the model can be explained and validated, even for the two domains that are outside the training-data domain. We also use the model to compare the general level of bias between domains, where we see that legal texts are the least biased and news media are the most biased, with Wikipedia articles in between.
Evaluation of cattle and sheep buildings with their surroundings using ‘visual quality assessment’ technique

This study was conducted to assess visual quality of cattle and sheep housings with their surroundings across the seven districts of İzmir province, located in western side of Turkey. A total of 58 animal farms consisting of 31 cattle and 27 sheep farms were investigated. After watching the videos of all animal housings with their environs, each sample lasts for approximately 60 seconds, the 250 photos derived from the video scenes were evaluated by an expert group of 30 respondents in one panel. The respondents were asked to rate visual quality of each photo and its features on a five-point scale in order of district and farm type (cattle or sheep). The results showed that efficiently constructed and managed animal farm buildings in compliance with their surroundings were rated higher than the ones that are built on an ad hoc basis as well as irrelevant to their environs. Visual quality scores increased directly with natural landscape features (topographic attributes such as hill and plain, the presence of plant cover) and decreased with the mostly presence of man-made elements (transformer and electric lines, road, water channel, settlement) besides unplanned layout of the buildings and its facilities, proximity to highway and urban/rural settlements, worse manure management.
Disaggregating soil erosion processes within an evolving experimental landscape

Soil‐mantled landscapes subjected to rainfall, runoff events, and downstream base level adjustments will erode and evolve in time and space. Yet the precise mechanisms for soil erosion also will vary, and such variations may not be adequately captured by soil erosion prediction technology. This study sought to monitor erosion processes within an experimental landscape filled with packed homogenous soil, which was exogenically forced by rainfall and base level adjustments, and to define the temporal and spatial variation of the erosion regimes. Close‐range photogrammetry and terrain analysis were employed as the primary methods to discriminate these erosion regimes. Results show that (1) four distinct erosion regimes can be identified (raindrop impact, sheet flow, rill, and gully), and these regimes conformed to an expected trajectory of landscape evolution; (2) as the landscape evolved, the erosion regimes varied in areal coverage and in relative contribution to total sediment efflux measured at the outlet of the catchment; and (3) the sheet flow and rill erosion regimes dominated the contributions to total soil loss. Disaggregating the soil erosion processes greatly facilitated identifying and mapping each regime in time and space. Such information has important implications for improving soil erosion prediction technology, for assessing landscape degradation by soil erosion, for mapping regions vulnerable to future erosion, and for mitigating soil losses and managing soil resources. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key

An encryption method is presented with the novel property that publicly revealing an encryption key does not thereby reveal the corresponding decryption key. This has two important consequences: (1) Couriers or other secure means are not needed to transmit keys, since a message can be enciphered using an encryption key publicly revealed by the intended recipient. Only he can decipher the message, since only he knows the corresponding decryption key. (2) A message can be "signed" using a privately held decryption key. Anyone can verify this signature using the corresponding publicly revealed encryption key. Signatures cannot be forged, and a signer cannot later deny the validity of his signature. This has obvious applications in "electronic mail" and "electronic funds transfer" systems. A message is encrypted by representing it as a number M, raising M to a publicly specified power e, and then taking the remainder when the result is divided by the publicly specified product, n, of two large secret prime numbers p and q. Decryption is similar; only a different, secret, power d is used, where e * d -----l (mod (p 1) * (q 1)). The security of the system rests in part on the difficulty of factoring the published divisor, n.
House Prices and Tourism Development in Cyprus: A Contemporary Perspective

This study investigates the nexus between tourism development and house prices in the Republic of Cyprus over the period spanning from 2005Q1 to 2016Q4. Tourism indicators vis-a-vis tourism arrivals along with other explanatory variables (domestic credit, land area per person, and the consumer price index) are employed in a multivariate Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)-bound test model. The empirical results indicate a significant evidence of cointegration. Indicatively, an observed adjustment of about 44% from short-run to long-run implies that the model is not relatively slow to adjust to disequilibrium. Importantly, a percent increase in tourism arrivals is observed to cause a rise in house price by about 37%. Expectedly, it is statistically observed that as the land area per person decreases, it is accompanied by a hike in house price. Also, the impacts of domestic credit offered to private enterprises and the consumer price index are different from the results in previous studies. As a policy guide, the government of Cyprus and stakeholders in the tourism and housing sectors should outline a strategy that will ensure the social welfare of people such that housing availability is not hampered by tourism activities.
Neurobiology of Aging

To elucidate the relationship between age and cognitive decline, it is important to consider structural brain changes such as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), which are common in older age and may affect behavior. Therefore, we aimed to investigate if WMH load is a mediator of the relationship between age and cognitive decline. Healthy participants (N = 166, 20–80 years) completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). WMHs were manually delineated on FLAIR scans. Mediation analysis was conducted to determine if WMH load mediates the relationship between age and cognition. Older age was associated with worse cognition ( p < 0.001), but this was an indirect effect: older participants had more WMHs, and, in turn, increased WMH load was associated with worse MoCA scores. WMH load mediates the relationship between age and cognitive decline. Importantly, this relationship was not moderated by age (i.e., increased WMH severity is associated with poorer MoCA scores irrespective of age). Across all ages, high cholesterol was associated with increased WMH severity. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier
Optimizing Grape Leaf Disease Identification Through Transfer Learning and Hyperparameter Tuning

—Grapes are a globally cultivated fruit with significant economic and nutritional value, but they are susceptible to diseases that can harm crop quality and yield. Identifying grape leaf diseases accurately and promptly is vital for effective disease management and sustainable viticulture. To address this challenge, we employ a transfer learning approach, utilizing well-established pre-trained models such as ResNet50V2, ResNet152V2, MobileNetV2, Xception, and In-ceptionV3, renowned for their exceptional performance across various tasks. Our primary objective is to identify the most suitable network architecture for the classification of grape leaf diseases. This is achieved through a rigorous evaluation process that considers key metrics such as accuracy, F1 score, precision, recall, and loss. By systematically assessing these models, we aim to select the one that demonstrates the best performance on our dataset. Following model selection, we proceed to the crucial phase of fine-tuning the model’s hyperparameters. This fine-tuning process is essential to enhance the model’s predictive capabilities and overall effectiveness in disease identification. To accomplish this, we conduct an extensive hyperparameter search using the Hyperband strategy. Hyperparameters play a pivotal role in shaping the behavior and performance of deep learning models, and by systematically exploring a wide range of hyperparameter combinations, our goal is to identify the most optimal configuration that maximizes the model’s performance on the given dataset. Additionally, the study’s results were compared with those of numerous relevant studies.
Implementation of porous material through eco-tech for deep cement–soil mixing

ABSTRACT In this study, a mixture design test and case study were performed in a laboratory and on field, respectively, to evaluate the applicability of an eco-friendly porous media binder (CMD-SOIL) using desulfurized ash left behind in a power plant by waste. The deep cement-soil mixing method using desulfurization ash (CMD-SOIL) is effective as a new material that can be used to cope with the cement used in the conventional deep cement mixing method. In the laboratory-based mixture design tests, the uniaxial compression strength of CMD-SOIL was up to 1.14 times higher than that of slag cement when varying water content, mixing rate, and water/binder ratio. In addition, the CMD-SOIL shown strength of up to 1.22 times higher than that of oyster shell content and up to 1.36 times higher than that of a floating soil mixture. The case study showed that the uniaxial compression strength ratio (λ) of the improved porous media of the field to that of the laboratory (qu(field)/qu(lab)) was 0.77, similar to the general rate, in the design criterion. Therefore, the CMD-SOIL has sufficient strength and economical effect on the coastal construction, in which the shell layer is mixed with shellfish, or in the application of a construction technique for treating floating soils.
Influence of water level on periphytic meiofaunal abundance in six lagoons of the Upper Paraná River floodplain, Brazil.

: Influence of water level on periphytic meiofaunal abundance in six lagoons of the Upper Paraná River floodplain, Brazil. The role of the hydrological regime in periphytic meiofauna abundance on the Upper Paraná River floodplain was evaluated through a comparative study of six lagoons located in two systems of the floodplain, during two hydrological periods (maximum and minimum fluviometric levels). The substratum chosen was Eichhornia azurea Kunth petioles and they were sampled in treplicate taken at random. The community adhered to each petiole was scraped and fixed in formaldehyde solution. The dry weight of ash, the ash-free dry mass and the chlorophyll a of the periphyton were measured. The abiotic data (water transparency (Secchi disc), water temperature, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, turbidity, pH, conductivity and total inorganic carbon) were also measured in the littoral region surrounding the macrophytes in each lagoon and period. The hydrological levels of the Paraná river were also obtained. Principal component analysis and Detrended Correspondence Analysis were used to understand the spatial and temporal variation of the limnological factors and periphytic meiofaunal abundance in the study. The two first axis scores of the DCA and PCA analyses were correlated using Regression Analysis. The most abundant organisms were rotifers and protozoa and the first group presented higher spatial and temporal variations than the second group of the periphytic meiofauna in the lagoons during the studied period. The hydrological regime and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the lagoons in the Ivinhema River and Baia River systems were the dominant factors in the organisms abundance in the periphytic meiofauna community
Artiﬁcial Intelligence and Online Spirituality

Digital technology, including artiﬁcial intelligence, is having a dramatic impact on the professions of medicine, law, jour-nalism, ﬁnance, and others. Some suggest that clergy will also be affected. We describe recent progress in designing artiﬁcially intelligent systems, suggesting that this is possible, perhaps even likely. We investigate ways in which technology currently is affecting ministry and outline some plausible scenarios in which digital systems could supplement or supplant clergy in some areas, speciﬁcally preaching and pastoral care. We also raise some theological issues raised by the use of digital systems in ministry.
Social Comparison on Social Media Platforms: A media and communication Perspective

Many existing studies of social comparison focus on the psychological component, but the reality of users’ lived experiences is that most users incorporate multiple platforms into their communication practices in order to access the people and networks they desire to influence. This paper delves into the phenomenon of social comparison on social media platforms, examined through the lens of media and communication studies. Particularly emphasized is the role of algorithmic curation and the emergence of social media influencers as modern benchmarks of success and aspiration. This paper endeavors to offer a comprehensive understanding of the intertwined dynamics of technological affordances, socio-cultural catalysts, and psychological impacts in the realm of digital social comparison. Finally, the paper reflects on potential strategies to navigate this complex terrain, aiming to strike a balance between digital engagement and mental well-being. The overarching aim is to foster a digital environment that, while enabling connection and expression, also ensures the psychological well-being of its users.
Recent Developments in Service Function Chaining

—A network’s infrastructure consists of multiple network functions some of which may include distinct intermediate steps that need to be applied in a particular order. In order to ensure the right order of application while still striving for goals such as improving the network’s ﬂexi-bility, improving its independence from physical structure and reducing infrastructure complexity, Service Function Chaining (SFC) is applied. The resulting service function chains are comprised of an ordered set of network functions that are applied to data packets handled in the network. This technique is beneﬁcial for use in ﬁxed broadband networks, where it is deployed behind the broadband network gateway, as well as in mobile networks for optimization of services such as TCP, and in data centers. This paper gives an in-depth overview over the basic functionality of network function chains and compares the advantages and drawbacks of various implementations for different use cases.