Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unleashing the potential of fNIRS with machine learning: classification of fine anatomical movements to empower future brain-computer interface

In this study, we explore the potential of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals in conjunction with modern machine-learning techniques to classify specific anatomical movements to increase the number of control commands for a possible fNIRS-based brain-computer interface (BCI) applications. The study focuses on novel individual finger-tapping, a well-known task in fNIRS and fMRI studies, but limited to left/right or few fingers. Twenty-four right-handed participants performed the individual finger-tapping task. Data were recorded by using sixteen sources and detectors placed over the motor cortex according to the 10-10 international system. The event's average oxygenated Δ HbO and deoxygenated Δ HbR hemoglobin data were utilized as features to assess the performance of diverse machine learning (ML) models in a challenging multi-class classification setting. These methods include LDA, QDA, MNLR, XGBoost, and RF. A new DL-based model named “Hemo-Net” has been proposed which consists of multiple parallel convolution layers with different filters to extract the features. This paper aims to explore the efficacy of using fNRIS along with ML/DL methods in a multi-class classification task. Complex models like RF, XGBoost, and Hemo-Net produce relatively higher test set accuracy when compared to LDA, MNLR, and QDA. Hemo-Net has depicted a superior performance achieving the highest test set accuracy of 76%, however, in this work, we do not aim at improving the accuracies of models rather we are interested in exploring if fNIRS has the neural signatures to help modern ML/DL methods in multi-class classification which can lead to applications like brain-computer interfaces. Multi-class classification of fine anatomical movements, such as individual finger movements, is difficult to classify with fNIRS data. Traditional ML models like MNLR and LDA show inferior performance compared to the ensemble-based methods of RF and XGBoost. DL-based method Hemo-Net outperforms all methods evaluated in this study and demonstrates a promising future for fNIRS-based BCI applications.
The Vector Competence of Asian Longhorned Ticks in Langat Virus Transmission

Haemaphysalis longicornis (the longhorned tick), the predominant tick species in China, serves as a vector for a variety of pathogens, and is capable of transmitting the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis. However, it is unclear how these ticks transmit TBEV. Langat virus (LGTV), which has a reduced pathogenicity in humans, has been used as a surrogate for TBEV. In this study, we aimed to investigate the vector competence of H. longicornis to transmit LGTV and demonstrate the efficient acquisition and transmission of LGTV between this tick species and mice. LGTV localization was detected in several tick tissues, such as the midgut, salivary glands, and synganglion, using quantitative PCR and immunohistochemical staining with a polyclonal antibody targeting the LGTV envelope protein. We demonstrated the horizontal transmission of LGTV to different developmental stages within the same generation but did not see evidence of vertical transmission. It was interesting to note that we observed mice acting as a bridge, facilitating the transmission of LGTV to neighboring naïve ticks during blood feeding. In conclusion, the virus–vector–host model employed in this study provides valuable insights into the replication and transmission of LGTV throughout its life cycle.
An animal model of trait anxiety: Carioca high freezing rats as a model of generalized anxiety disorder

Despite being one of the main components of anxiety and playing a pivotal role in how an individual perceives and copes with anxiogenic situations or responds to a given treatment, trait anxiety is paradoxically omitted in most animal models of anxiety. This is problematic and particularly more concerning in models that are used to screen drugs and other treatments for specific anxiety disorders and to investigate their neurobiological mechanisms. Our group has been engaged in the search for specific anxiety-related traits in animal models of anxiety. We developed two new lines of rats with strong phenotypic divergence for high (Carioca High-conditioned Freezing [CHF]) and low (Carioca Low-conditioned Freezing [CLF]) trait anxiety as expressed in the contextual fear conditioning paradigm. Here, we summarize key behavioral, pharmacological, physiological, and neurobiological differences in one these lines, the CHF rat line, relative to randomized-cross controls and discuss how far they represent a valid and reliable animal model of generalized anxiety disorder and so high trait anxiety.
Modelling of Variable Speed Wind Turbine Connected DFIG:250KW

This manuscript initiates the design and analysis of a doubly-fed-induction-generator (DFIG) linked to the grid, aiming to assess a wind vitality conversion configuration employing an emulated wind turbine drive system. The generator’s configuration involves integrating the d-q axes reference framework with the stator flux. Independent management of real, and imaginary power, along with the dc-bus potential at the grid, is achieved through the field-aligned regulating method. Controlling real, and Quadrature power, as well as DC-bus potential, is executed using tandem converters at distinct velocities, encompassing sub, syn, and hyper-synchronous speeds. The effectiveness of these control strategies is validated through the emulation of a variable-speed wind turbine-connected DFIG, showcasing precise control over DC voltage, reactive power, and active power.
On borders : perspectives on international migration in Southern Africa / ed by David A McDonald

xiv, 303p diagr, maps, tables : 25cm. – Includes index. – Includes appendixes: A. Research methodology for the surveys in Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia. – B. Aggregate summary of results from surveys in Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia. – C. Aggregate summary of results from surveys of African migrants living in South Africa. – Please look in the full-text area of this record for a list of contributions
Optically stimulated luminescence ages for human occupation during the penultimate glaciation in the western Loess Plateau of China

The chronology of few Palaeolithic sites in the Loess Plateau of China has been well investigated for the Middle Pleistocene. In this study, the Yangshang Palaeolithic site with significant archaeological remains, located in Gansu Province of the western Chinese Loess Plateau, was dated using blue‐stimulated optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) techniques on eight medium‐grained (45–63 µm) quartz and polymineral samples through the Palaeolithic sequence. Except for one sample from the upper cultural layer (55 ± 3 ka), age estimates obtained by quartz OSL dating exceed its upper datable limit, and so an elevated temperature post‐IR IRSL SAR protocol was used on 45–63 μm polymineral grains to derive a numerical chronology for the site. The luminescence ages of seven samples from six cultural layers lie between 104 ± 5 and 220 ± 11 ka; for the three main cultural layers the results varied from 149 ± 9 to 186 ± 10 ka, consistent with the presently observed stratigraphy. The dating results shown that early hominins may have occupied this region in the western Loess Plateau of China during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7, early glacial MIS 6 and early interglacial MIS 5, reflecting their ability to adapt to variable environments.
GEOMORPHIC EFFECTS OF GROUND SQUIRRELS IN THE MOUNT RAE AREA, CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS

The geomorphic effects of ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus c.) are described for two study plots in the Front Ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains over the period 1977 to 1980. At the two plots, the average rates of sediment transport to the ground surface were 1.36 and 1.12 t ha-1 yr-1. These values are considerably less than has been noted in previous studies of burrowing mammals. The geomorphic work conducted by ground squirrels at the study site amounts to 6.587 x 104 J yr-1 km-2 which is several orders of magnitude less than the work done by rockfalls, snow avalanches, solution, streams, and solifluction and soil creep. The indirect geomorphic effects of burrowing (e.g., subsequent transport of sediment raised to the surface) are not examined.
Advancement in NLP with Decision Tree: The Impact of social media on Enhancing Women's Safety in Indian Cities

Women and girls have been experiencing a lot of violence and harassment in public places in various cities starting from stalking and leading to sexual harassment or sexual assault. There have been several studies that have been conducted in cities across India and women report similar type of sexual harassment and passing off comments by other unknown people. The study that was conducted across most popular Metropolitan cities of India including Delhi, Mumbai
Meaning and Replicability of Social Psychological Experiments: A Personal Account

In this paper I describe the gradual evolution of experimental social psychology from a so called “science of discovery”, with invariant findings over time and space, to an art of theatrical reflection with self-made reproductions of social life to so engage in more thoughtful action. I do this by means of a narrative account of my sixty year long personal experience with the various changes in the discipline, from the many cases of non-replicability early in my career, to the splendid discovery by vigilant students at my department of the probably most impressive case of fraud in the history of the social sciences, to the persistent denial of a need for a new logic by orthodox positivists in the discipline, even after more than half of the carefully designed replications of important experiments in the discipline failed. I look at this evolution through the lens of gradual objectification in science as a whole, from the most distant objects, such as stars, to the closer and closer reality of our own existence, namely the production and processing of meaning, and the inevitable recursivity (historicity) and incompleteness (one cannot include one’s own discourse in the discourse one has at that moment) of that endeavour. I also describe moments of institutional evolution, its political besides scientific interest, and encounters with the most influential protagonists in the development of the new logic. I also reflect a moment on the theoretical and methodological implications of that new logic, and end with showing how the theme of social engagement and the move toward cultivated action, rather than by freezing history in the so called truth of invariance, was actually the core idea in the work of Kurt Lewin, and has been used inadvertently in the subsequent use of experiments in the discipline, even by those who pretended to be the astronomers of the mind. But with the clear note that reflection on social life in the form of self-made reproductions of that life, is probably the most human thing we can do, and enables us to create culture, rather than blind evolution in merely physical or biological terms. So, making experimental social psychology a valuable tool of humanization as well, but only when properly used.
A Strategic Approach for 2D Texture Analysis using DTCWT, SWT and GLCM

: Nowadays, 2D imaging techniques have gone through several stages of development in 2D sensor technologies. This probes greater interest in the 2D image feature extraction and classification techniques. One of the main features of 2D image are texture content which is very enthusiastic to study. The proposed strategy is to extract and analyse of texture content of 2D image. In this strategy Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (DTCWT) and Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT) with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is implemented to extract the features of the 2D images especially texture content for further analysis. The texture content is analysed with Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) based method which increase the precision of the data obtained which causes better result
Modelling and Observation of Mineral Dust Optical Properties over Central Europe

This paper is focused on Saharan dust transport to Central Europe/Poland; we compare properties of atmospheric Saharan dust using data from NAAPS, MACC, AERONET as well as observations obtained during HyMountEcos campaign in June 2012. Ten years of dust climatology shows that long-range transport of Saharan dust to Central Europe is mostly during spring and summer. HYSPLIT back-trajectories indicate airmass transport mainly in November, but it does not agree with modeled maxima of dust optical depth. NAAPS model shows maximum of dust optical depth (~0.04–0.05, 550 nm) in April–May, but the MACC modeled peak is broader (~0.04). During occurrence of mineral dust over Central-Europe for 14% (NAAPS) / 12% (MACC) of days dust optical depths are above 0.05 and during 4% (NAAPS) / 2.5% (MACC) of days dust optical depths exceed 0.1. The HyMountEcos campaign took place in June–July 2012 in the mountainous region of Karkonosze. The analysis includes remote sensing data from lidars, sunphotometers, and numerical simulations from NAAPS, MACC, DREAM8b models. Comparison of simulations with observations demonstrates the ability of models to reasonably reproduce aerosol vertical distributions and their temporal variability. However, significant differences between simulated and measured AODs were found. The best agreement was achieved for MACC model.
Location and agglomeration of headquarters of public listed firms within China's urban system

Headquarters of large firms are the commanding centers of the economy.It is of particular interests to investigate the headquarters' distribution in China,a fast growing transition economy.However,little attention has been paid to the understanding of spatial pattern of headquarters of public companies,which dominates China's economy today.Using a comprehensive dataset of Chinese public listed firms,this paper seeks to find out the spatial pattern of public companies' headquarters and its evolution over time.First,headquarters of public listed firms are mostly located in the eastern China,especially in the Yangtze River Delta,Pearl River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin region.Second,headquarters of the public companies are inclined to be proximate to political centers at different geographical scales.Beijing,as the capital of China,houses most of the headquarters of public firms,and the provincial capital city usually accommodates the largest number of headquarters within its province.Third,Beijing,Shanghai and Shenzhen are the top three cities in terms of the number of public companies' headquarters as well as the scale of the firms.The three cities dominate the first three positions in almost all sectors in terms of the number of headquarters.As the capital of China,Beijing dominates and outperforms other cities.Fourth,headquarters of large firms in China are less agglomerated compared to those much developed countries and are becoming more agglomerated in the cities in coastal China.The number of headquarters in Beijing,Shanghai and Shenzhen is increasing faster compared with other smaller cities.Finally,the number of headquarters is highly correlated with the development of financial industry,airport volume,economic output,globalization,total population,and political level of the city
Patients’ awareness of recovery mediates the link between clinical and level of functional remission in schizophrenia to a larger extent in those treated with long-acting antipsychotics

Background: Clinical remission is a step towards functional remission for subjects with schizophrenia. While recovery is both a subjective personal journey and a clinical outcome to be targeted, data on patient self-rated outcomes are scarce. Objectives: (i) To determine the extent to which the association between clinical and functional remission is mediated by the subjective experience of recovery as reported by patients versus their relatives or their psychiatrist and (ii) to assess differences according to treatment, specifically with oral antipsychotics only versus long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs). Design: Clinical observational study. Methods: Community-dwelling participants with schizophrenia enrolled in the EGOFORS cohort (N = 198) were included. Clinical symptoms and remission were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Functional remission was assessed with the Functional Remission of General Schizophrenia Scale. Awareness of recovery was assessed with one question ‘What percentage of recovery do you think you have now (from 0% – no recovery – to 100% – full recovery)? ’, asked of the patient, also of the patient’s close relative, and the psychiatrist. We used mediation analyses, taking into account the type of pharmacological treatment. Results: Remission criteria and perceived remission measures were significantly correlated, both within and between groups (r > 0.330). The patient’s awareness of recovery mediated the relationship between clinical remission and level of functional remission, while the level of recovery according to psychiatrists or close relatives did not. The direct effect of clinical remission on the level of functional remission became non-significant when taking into account the mediator (patients’ awareness of recovery) in the group of patients with LAI (t = 1.5, p = 0.150) but not in the group of patients with other treatments (t = 3.1, p = 0.003). Conclusion: Patients with LAIs may be more efficient in reporting their level of functional remission. Higher patient awareness could be an interesting candidate to explain this. However, as the study was cross-sectional, such a proposal should be tested with a more specifically designed protocol, such as a long-term cohort.
Ending Race-Conscious College Admissions and Its Potential Impact on the Infectious Disease Workforce

Abstract On 29 June 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that race-conscious consideration for college admission is unconstitutional. We discuss the consequences of this ruling on the delivery of equitable care and health system readiness to combat current and emerging pandemics. We propose strategies to mitigate the negative impact of this ruling on diversifying the infectious disease (ID) workforce.
The Response of Zooplankton Community to Ecological Restoration in Huizhou West Lake

Huizhou West Lake is a eutrophic shallow urban lake. In order to control the eutrophication and restore the water quality,an ecological restoration project was carried out including planktivorous and benthivorous fish removal and macrophyte restoration in December,2004.We investigated the zooplankton of demonstration area and un-restored Pinghu from January to December,2005.The results showed that,in demonstration area,the water quality was improved greatly,the number of zooplankton species increased and the abundance of large-sized species included cladocerans and copepods increased.But the abundance of rotifers decreased significantly.Accordingly the index of diversity enhanced,at the same time the preponderant species in demonstration area tended to change to clear water species.
The Effect of CuO on the Thermal Behavior of the High-Energy Combustion Agent of the Al/MnO2 System

In this work, the effect of CuO addition into the high-energy combustion agent of Al/MnO2 system was studied. First, the combustion experiments of five samples with different contents had been carried out, in which CuO was found capable of influencing the flame ejection to a great extent. Then, in order to find out the underlying reasons, CuO effects on the thermal behavior of Al/MnO2 system were analyzed via theoretical calculations of Gibbs free energy and enthalpy changes. In addition, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) that could characterize the mixture morphology and thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) that could indentify the exothermic and endothermic reactions and measure mass change were carried out. Finally, on the basis of all experimental findings, it was suggested that addition of CuO into Al/MnO2 system could result in dramatic increase of gas content throughout the reaction and the consequent high pressure. Also, speed of flame injection and heat released in the high-temperature area would thus be conducive to the continuous exothermic behavior of the reaction.
A Dynamic Proactive Secret Sharing Scheme for Quadratic Functions

Dynamic proactive secret sharing (DPSS) allows a client to share a secret <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$s$ </tex-math></inline-formula> among a committee of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> participants and allows the committee to reshare the secret among a new committee of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> participants such that the secret <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$s$ </tex-math></inline-formula> can be reconstructed by any authorized subset of the new committee but an adversary that corrupts both members from the old committee and members from the new committee learns no information about <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$s$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The existing DPSS schemes only allow the old committee to reshare the same secret <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$s$ </tex-math></inline-formula> to the new committee. In this paper, we consider dynamic proactive functional secret sharing (DPFSS), a new model for DPSS that allows the old committee to reshare functions of the original secret <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$s$ </tex-math></inline-formula> among the new committee, and construct a DPFSS scheme for resharing the evaluation results of quadratic functions on the original secret. We discuss the applications of our DPFSS scheme in distributed systems such as those for health data sharing and smart meter billing. Our scheme is efficient and achieves a communication complexity of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathcal{ O}}(n^{2})$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and a time complexity of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathcal{ O}}(n)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Our experimental results show that for a committee of size <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n=100$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, the communication cost is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\approx 1.166$ </tex-math></inline-formula> MB and the time cost is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\approx 10.72$ </tex-math></inline-formula> s.