Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of inter-aural temporal envelope differences on inter-aural time difference thresholds for amplitude modulated noise

ABSTRACT Purpose The inter-aural time difference (ITD) and inter-aural level difference (ILD) are important acoustic cues for horizontal localization and spatial release from masking. These cues are encoded based on inter-aural comparisons of tonotopically matched binaural inputs. Therefore, binaural coherence or the interaural spectro-temporal similarity is a pre-requisite for encoding ITD and ILD. The modulation depth of envelope is an important envelope characteristic that helps in encoding the envelope-ITD. However, inter-aural difference in modulation depth can result in reduced binaural coherence and poor representation of binaural cues as in the case with reverberation, noise and compression in cochlear implants and hearing aids. This study investigated the effect of inter-aural modulation depth difference on the ITD thresholds for an amplitude-modulated noise in normal hearing young adults. Methods An amplitude modulated high pass filtered noise with varying modulation depth differences was presented sequentially through headphones. In one ear, the modulation depth was retained at 90% and in the other ear it varied from 90% to 50%. The ITD thresholds for modulation frequencies of 8 Hz and 16 Hz were estimated as a function of the inter-aural modulation depth difference. Results The Friedman test findings revealed a statistically significant increase in the ITD threshold with an increase in the inter-aural modulation depth difference for 8 Hz and 16 Hz. Conclusion The results indicate that the inter-aural differences in the modulation depth negatively impact ITD perception for an amplitude-modulated high pass filtered noise.
Case report: Identification of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy 1 in two siblings with normal phenotypic parents using optical genome mapping

Objective Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 (FSHD1) is one of the most common forms of autosomal-dominant muscular dystrophies characterized by variable disease penetrance due to shortened D4Z4 repeat units on 4q35. The molecular diagnosis of FSHD1 is usually made by Southern blotting, which is complex, time-consuming, and lacks clinical practicality. Therefore, in this study, optical genome mapping (OGM) is employed for the genetic diagnosis of FSHD1. Furthermore, epigenetic heterogeneity is determined from methylation analysis. Methods Genomic DNA samples from four members of the same family were subjected to whole-exome sequencing. OGM was used to identify structural variations in D4Z4, while sodium bisulfite sequencing helped identify the methylation levels of CpG sites in a region located distally to the D4Z4 array. A multidisciplinary team collected the clinical data, and comprehensive family analyses aided in the assessment of phenotypes and genotypes. Results Whole-exome sequencing did not reveal variants related to clinical phenotypes in the patients. OGM showed that the proband was a compound heterozygote for the 4qA allele with four and eight D4Z4 repeat units, whereas the affected younger brother had only one 4qA allele with four D4Z4 repeat units. Both the proband and her younger brother were found to display asymmetric weakness predominantly involving the facial, shoulder girdle, and upper arm muscles, whereas the younger brother had more severe clinical symptoms. The proband's father, who was found to be normal after a neurological examination, also carried the 4qA allele with eight D4Z4 repeat units. The unaffected mother exhibited 49 D4Z4 repeat units of the 4qA allele and a minor mosaic pattern with four D4Z4 repeat units of the 4qA allele. Consequently, the presence of the 4qA allele in the four D4Z4 repeat units strongly pointed to the occurrence of maternal germline mosaicism. The CpG6 methylation levels were lower in symptomatic patients compared to those in the asymptomatic parents. The older sister had lower clinical scores and ACSS and higher CpG6 methylation levels than that of her younger brother. Conclusions In this study, two siblings with FSHD1 with phenotypically normal parents were identified by OGM. Our findings suggest that the 4qA allele of four D4Z4 repeats was inherited through maternal germline mosaicism. The clinical phenotype heterogeneity is influenced by the CpG6 methylation levels. The results of this study greatly aid in the molecular diagnosis of FSHD1 and in also understanding the clinical phenotypic variability underlying the disease.
Recent Developments of Subsurface Small-Leak Detection Techniques in Water Distribution Networks: A Review

The urban population grappling with water scarcity is projected to reach two billion people by 2050. Therefore, mitigating leaks in the water distribution networks (WDNs) becomes crucial for better future water security. This review article summarizes the present detection capabilities concerning small leaks (less than 1 L/s). The scope of the review encompasses experiments and simulations carried out using in-pipe robots as well as sensor networks that are capable of continuous monitoring. This aids future research efforts in gaining a clearer understanding of existing detection techniques’ strengths and limitations with small-leak detections.
The systematic review on physical activity in urban neighborhoods

Physical activity considers as factor to make the urban neighborhoods more vibrant and alive. Besides of the physical activity's advantages for urban neighborhoods in urbanization fields, the health advantages highlighted by many scholars as one other important advantage of existing physical activity in urban neighborhoods. Based on the significance of physical activity in urban neighborhoods, this review article aims on establishing the factors associating with physical activity improvement or failures in urban neighborhoods. To do so, 25 research articles associating with physical activity in urban neighborhoods were evoked and reviewed. Despite of the existing result's inconsistencies, the significant factors affecting physical activity in urban neighborhoods are revealed. Most of undertaken articles that were focused on statistical strategies were validated and reliable physical activity is standardized. Moreover, the possible moderation of effects are surely investigated and warranted.
The Microbiota Architecture of the Chinchilla Gastrointestinal Tract

Simple Summary Chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera) are cecal fermenters; the health of their gastrointestinal system contributes significantly to their overall wellbeing, yet minimal data are available regarding the composition of the microbiota present in different segments of their gastrointestinal tract. This study addresses the knowledge gap regarding the gastrointestinal microbiota in healthy chinchillas. Notably, the cecum and colon displayed significantly higher microbiota abundance compared with the proximal gastrointestinal segments, with cellulose-degrading bacteria as the core microbiota. In contrast, the stomach and small intestine exhibited lower microbiota abundance, with characteristic microbiota possessing acid-resistant properties. Moreover, the Atopobiaceae family was discovered in the proximal gastrointestinal tract of the chinchilla, which is the first report of its presence in the gastrointestinal tract of cecal fermenters. Abstract The gastrointestinal microbiota develop alongside the host and play a vital role in the health of cecal fermenters such as chinchillas. However, little is known about the microbiota architecture in healthy chinchillas. Illumine-based 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to investigate the microbiota present in six different gastrointestinal tract regions of three healthy adult chinchillas. The findings revealed significantly more abundant microbiota in the large intestine compared with the proximal segments. In addition, the cecum exhibited better evenness compared to the colon. The core microbiota are Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Proteobacteria at the phylum level. The signature microbiota of each segment were identified. The cecum had 10 signature microbiota, which had the widest coverage and overlapped with that of the cecum. The stomach had five signature microbiota, exhibiting the second widest coverage and overlapping with the duodenum. No signature microbiota were detected in the jejunum and ileum. While similarities exist with the microbiota of other cecal fermenters, chinchillas exhibit distinct microbiota closely related to their unique digestive mechanisms. This study is a preliminary study of the gastrointestinal microbiota architecture and distribution in healthy chinchillas. Further study is needed in order to better understand the effect of gastrointestinal microbiota on the health of the chinchilla.
Comparative Analysis for Different Primitive Rendering Efficiency in Three-Dimensional Terrain Visualization

Large- scale terrain scene is generally composed of several million or more vertices,primitive organization and efficiency of drawing triangles directly determine the speed and quality of the terrain rendering. With the terrain tiles samples of eleven different sizes,a comparison experiment is carried out to confirm rendering efficiency of Triangles、Triangle Strip、Triangle Fan and Optimizing Triangle Strip. An evaluation about primitive efficiency is also made with initialization time,index cache size and rendering time. The results showed that: Triangles and optimized Triangle Strip have high rendering efficiency when the terrain tile is less than 256,meanwhile Triangles will occupy a larger size index cache. Optimized Triangle Strip primitive mode has the highest efficiency of drawing and minimal size index cache when the terrain tiles over 256.
Finite-Element Simulation of the Barnes Ice Cap

Abstract The finite-element method is being used to simulate glacier flow problems, with particular emphasis on the surge behaviour of the Barnes Ice Cap, Baffin Island. Following an advanced feasibility study to determine the influence of major factors such as bed topography and flow relationships, a refined simulation model is being developed to incorporate realistically: the thermal regime of the ice mass; large deformations during flow and sliding; basal sliding zones; a temperature and stress dependent ice flow relationship; mass balance; and three-dimensional influences. The findings of the advanced feasibility study on isothermal, steady-state flow of the Barnes Ice Cap are presented in the paper before turning to a detailed discussion of the refined simulation model and its application to surging. It is clear that the finite-element method allows necessary refinements not available to analytical approaches.
An overview of the Earth system science of solar geoengineering

Solar geoengineering has been proposed as a means to cool the Earth by increasing the reflection of sunlight back to space, for example, by injecting reflective aerosol particles (or their precursors) into the lower stratosphere. Such proposed techniques would not be able to substitute for mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a response to the risks of climate change, as they would only mask some of the effects of global warming. They might, however, eventually be applied as a complementary approach to reduce climate risks. Thus, the Earth system consequences of solar geoengineering are central to understanding its potentials and risks. Here we review the state‐of‐the‐art knowledge about stratospheric sulfate aerosol injection and an idealized proxy for this, ‘sunshade geoengineering,’ in which the intensity of incoming sunlight is directly reduced in models. Studies are consistent in suggesting that sunshade geoengineering and stratospheric aerosol injection would generally offset the climate effects of elevated GHG concentrations. However, it is clear that a solar geoengineered climate would be novel in some respects, one example being a notably reduced hydrological cycle intensity. Moreover, we provide an overview of nonclimatic aspects of the response to stratospheric aerosol injection, for example, its effect on ozone, and the uncertainties around its consequences. We also consider the issues raised by the partial control over the climate that solar geoengineering would allow. Finally, this overview highlights some key research gaps in need of being resolved to provide sound basis for guidance of future decisions around solar geoengineering. WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:815–833. doi: 10.1002/wcc.423
Factores de riesgo en el uso problemático de Internet y del teléfono móvil en adolescentes espa

Risk factors in the problematic use of Internet and phone in Spanish adolescents Abstract The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between maladaptive use of Internet and mobile phone and various imbalances in social skills, stress management, self- esteem and life satisfaction, and to explore differences in such uses/abuses according to socio demographic variables, such as gender and age. To do this, using a two-stage sampling of
Ricci Planner: Zero-Shot Transfer for Goal-Conditioned Reinforcement Learning via Geometric Flow

The long-horizon problem has been a persistent challenge in the field of reinforcement learning, leading to the exploration of various solutions. Planning methods have emerged as a prominent approach, generating intermediate plans from the current state to the goal state. However, these methods often rely on the assumption of additional interaction with the environment or the availability of offline data. However, in real-world scenarios, instead of such information, only time-independent random observations of the environment can be provided. To overcome this limitation, we propose the Ricci planner, a novel algorithm capable of generating a plan from the current location to a desired goal using only a limited number of time-independent random samples from the observation space. We drew inspiration from the observation that the most efficient path is one with the minimum length and, based on this, we transformed the problem of finding an efficient path into a shortest path-finding problem. Subsequently, we formulated this as an optimization problem on a path space. However, the length functional in the path space is highly non-convex and multi-modal, which results in numerous suboptima, and makes the problem exceedingly challenging to solve. To address this issue, we employ the Ricci flow to continuously transform the target manifold into a simpler manifold. Initially, we identify the shortest path on the simpler manifold and subsequently convert it to the shortest path on the desired manifold by applying the inverse process of the Ricci flow. We conduct a experimental comparison with graph-based shortest path finding methods. We assessed both the quality of the generated plan itself and its effectiveness when applied to an agent and observed improved results from both perspectives compared to the baseline.
Leading Risk Factors for Congenital Deafness in the Context of Universal Neonatal Screening: Our Observations in a Four-Year Retrospective Study

It has been demonstrated that universal hearing neonatal screening (UHNS) is efficient at providing early diagnosis and rehabilitation for deafness. The risk factors of deafness in children have been identified, but less specifically in those diagnosed after UHNS. In this study, we aim to study these factors in infants who were referred after screening and to compare our experience to recent data. We studied infants referred to our department for diagnosis after screening between January 2018 and December 2021. Their medical history and neonatal hearing risk factors were assessed. Associations between factors were also analyzed. Sixty-six infants were included. A family history of deafness (47%), syndromic deafness (41%), intrauterine growth retardation or prematurity (19.7%), and prolonged NICU admission (18%) were the most observed factors. When analyzing according to these associations, family history of deafness and syndromic cases remained the most prevalent factors (74%), while only five cases (7.8%) presented with other neonatal risk factors only. The majority of congenital hearing loss cases are observed in infants with suspected genetic deafness. Parental counseling, the diagnostic pathway, as well as the healthcare system should be adapted according to these risk factors.
Spatial and temporal relationships between ophiolites and their metamorphic soles: A test of models of forearc ophiolite genesis

Thin sheets of high-grade metamorphic rocks, called metamorphic soles, are found structurally beneath many ophiolites, apparently formed at the initiation of intraoceanic subduction, and may be useful in determining the tectonic setting of ophiolite genesis. Many ophiolites are interpreted to have formed in a supra-subduction zone setting largely on the basis of their petrology and geochemistry. Of these supra-subduction zone ophiolites, most have been interpreted to have formed in a forearc setting. Generation of ophiolites in a forearc setting indicates that such ophiolites must postdate the initiation of subduction beneath them and must therefore be younger than their metamorphic soles. However, the examples of pairs of ophiolites and their metamorphic soles reviewed herein show that the ophiolites are not younger than their soles. The spatial and temporal relationships reviewed herein may be incompatible with the generation of ophiolites in forearcs, although volumetrically subordinate igneous rocks that postdate the formation of the soles have been found in some of the examples. The apparent forearc setting of the ophiolites may be an artifact of their emplacement tectonics, not their igneous environment of formation. Although we know of no geochronologic confirmation of an older subduction zone structurally beneath purported forearc ophiolites, detailed geochronology has yet to be conducted on most ophiolite and metamorphic sole pairs. For the scenario in which an ophiolite is formed above one subduction zone but emplaced over a different one, either backarc formation or intra-arc formation of the ophiolite can be compatible with its regional geochronologic and structural relationships.
Cultural identity and willingness to protect and preserve art

The aim of this paper is to analyse the willingness to pay of art-goers for the protection and preservation of cultural artefacts. To this purpose, a discrete choice experiment approach is employed. The experiment took place in 2011 during a major exhibition dedicated to the artist Costantino Nivola (1911-1988). His works, especially those based on the novel sand-casting technique, are known worldwide and many of them were produced after he moved from Sardinia (Italy) to the United States (where he lived from 1939 to his death in 1988). Over this period he never cut his ties with his native land. As a result, both the American and the Sardinian culture affect and show up in his works. In this context, the discrete choice experiments allowed us to estimate not only the price that people are prepared to pay for the security of Nivola's artefacts but also the contribution of non-market components, such as identity, to preserve those objects. Accounting for heterogeneity, the empirical findings show that among visitors there is a substantial willingness to partially cover the cost of preserving the cultural heritage, with significant differences related to the characteristics of the collections considered.
MINIMALLY INVASIVE ENDODONTICS

Aim To introduce a new way of thinking about the inﬂamed pulp. We want to highlight that there is reversibly inﬂamed tissue in pulps that are currently diagnosed as irreversibly inﬂamed. This implies that the currently employed terminology may not reﬂect the actual inﬂammatory status of pulps evaluated clinically. We therefore propose and introduce a new diagnostic system with new terminology to highlight the healing potential of the pulp. This also implies that current treatment strategies are evaluated and revised to maintain pulp vitality with associated beneﬁts.
Optimization of Temporal Coding of Tactile Information in Rat Thalamus by Locus Coeruleus Activation

Simple Summary The locus coeruleus–norepinephrine (LC-NE) system plays a critical role in regulating various brain functions through its diffuse projections in the brain. However, how the LC-NE system modulates temporal coding of sensory information along the sensory pathway remains poorly understood. To address this question, we recorded single-unit activity from a rat’s somatosensory thalamus in response to whisker stimulation while stimulating the LC. By comparing the temporal structure of the thalamic responses to the same tactile stimulus with and without LC activation, we found that LC activation optimized the temporal coding of tactile signals in the thalamus by moving spikes to time points where they more accurately represent the tactile stimulus. The results shed light on the future development of neuromodulation technologies to enhance and/or restore brain functions. Abstract The brainstem noradrenergic nucleus, the locus coeruleus (LC), exerts heavy influences on sensory processing, perception, and cognition through its diffuse projections throughout the brain. Previous studies have demonstrated that LC activation modulates the response and feature selectivity of thalamic relay neurons. However, the extent to which LC modulates the temporal coding of sensory information in the thalamus remains mostly unknown. Here, we found that LC stimulation significantly altered the temporal structure of the responses of the thalamic relay neurons to repeated whisker stimulation. A substantial portion of events (i.e., time points where the stimulus reliably evoked spikes as evidenced by dramatic elevations in the firing rate of the spike density function) were removed during LC stimulation, but many new events emerged. Interestingly, spikes within the emerged events have a higher feature selectivity, and therefore transmit more information about a tactile stimulus, than spikes within the removed events. This suggests that LC stimulation optimized the temporal coding of tactile information to improve information transmission. We further reconstructed the original whisker stimulus from a population of thalamic relay neurons’ responses and corresponding feature selectivity. As expected, we found that reconstruction from thalamic responses was more accurate using spike trains of thalamic neurons recorded during LC stimulation than without LC stimulation, functionally confirming LC optimization of the thalamic temporal code. Together, our results demonstrated that activation of the LC-NE system optimizes temporal coding of sensory stimulus in the thalamus, presumably allowing for more accurate decoding of the stimulus in the downstream brain structures.
Localizing gradient‐enhanced Rousselier model for ductile fracture

Nonlocal enhancement is widely adopted to resolve the mesh sensitivity issue in standard continuum damage models. Although it regularizes structural response well, the damage profile is reported to exhibit a spurious damage growth. To remedy this problem, a localizing gradient enhancement is adopted in the Rousselier model to simulate a localized rupture. The localizing gradient enhancement, recently developed in the small deformation framework, is extended in this paper to a large deformation framework, motivated by the strain localization phenomenon during a ductile fracture. The regularization property of the current model is verified with a flat grooved plate test, and the superior performance in damage localization is demonstrated with a uniaxial tensile plate test and a compact tension test on aluminum alloy. Results obtained with the localizing gradient enhancement are consistent with experimental observation, without the nonphysical damage growth in conventional gradient enhancement.