Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Basi motorie dell'empatia cognitiva?

1. Introduzione La nozione di empatia e nata come ‘concetto nomade’ (Jorland, 2004), utilizzato trasversalmente in campo estetico, etico, psicologico e filosofico. Indubbiamente cio rende l’analisi del sentire empatico piu profonda e stimolante; tuttavia, gli slittamenti semantici che i differenti approcci alla questione inevitabilmente presuppongono hanno generato una stratificazione della nozione di ‘empatia’ che merita un’accurata analisi. Ci proponiamo dunque di approfondire alcune caratteristiche di tale fenomeno particolarmente discusse in letteratura. Una delle caratteristiche fondamentali dell’empatia, sin dalle prime formulazioni filosofiche, e l’alterita. ‘Alterita’ e un termine filosofico che denota una differenziazione (alter) tra due sostanze o organismi, dunque puo essere definito come il contrario dell’identita, come consapevolezza della distinzione se/altro. Un altro aspetto che recentemente ha attirato l’attenzione degli studiosi, soprattutto a partire dalla scoperta dei neuroni specchio (Gentilucci et al., 1988; Rizzolatti et al., 1988) e dallo sviluppo del modello percezioneazione (Prinz, 1987, 1992, 1997), e quello relativo al concetto di ‘risonanza’. Con ‘risonanza’ si denota in generale il fenomeno di attivazione nel soggetto percipiente di stati simili a quelli percepiti. Nella prospettiva di una teoria embodied della cognizione e della capacita di comprendere le azioni e le sensazioni dell’altro tramite il riverberarsi della stessa attivazione in due organismi distinti, l’empatia viene infatti indagata in quanto prodotto di una risonanza, un rispecchiamento delle stesse attivita neurali capace di creare “uno spazio d’azione condiviso all’interno del quale ogni atto e ogni catena d’atti, nostri o altrui, appaiono immediatamente iscritti e compresi,
STUDENT SATISFACTION RELATIONSHIP: APPLIED CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RESEARCH IN THE CLASSROOM

This study investigates the impact of multiple teaching quality factors on course satisfaction and instructor satisfaction as perceived by students. It applies established theory from customer satisfaction and educational psychology research to a sample of MBA and Undergraduate students from multiple sections of an introductory marketing course. In doing so, it demonstrates a method of obtaining diagnostic information to prioritize weaknesses and discover strengths of teaching performance that complements existing feedback processes. Substantive results indicate that learning was strongly related to course satisfaction and instructor enthusiasm was strongly related to instructor satisfaction. A discussion addresses how to use the results while managerial implications summarize benefits and requirements to implement the method.
Pore Strategy Design of a Novel NiTi-Nb Biomedical Porous Scaffold Based on a Triply Periodic Minimal Surface

The pore strategy is one of the important factors affecting the biomedical porous scaffold at the same porosity. In this work, porous scaffolds were designed based on the triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structure under the same porosity and different pore strategies (pore size and size continuous gradient distribution) and were successfully prepared using a novel Ni46.5Ti44. 5Nb9 alloy and selective laser melting (SLM) technology. After that, the effects of the pore strategies on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and permeability of porous scaffolds were systematically investigated. The results showed that the Ni46.5Ti44. 5Nb9 scaffolds have a low elastic modulus (0.80–1.05 GPa) and a high ductility (15.3–19.1%) compared with previous works. The pore size has little effect on their mechanical properties, but increasing the pore size significantly improves the permeability due to the decrease in specific surfaces. The continuous gradient distribution of the pore size changes the material distribution of the scaffold, and the smaller porosity structure has a better load-bearing capacity and contributes primarily to the high compression strength. The local high porosity structure bears more fluid flow, which can improve the permeability of the overall scaffold. This work can provide theoretical guidance for the design of porous scaffolds.
Mechanisms Affecting Physical Aging and Swelling by Blending an Amphiphilic Component

Polymer blending is a promising method to overcome stability obstacles induced by physical aging and swelling of implant scaffolds prepared from amorphous polymers in biomedical application, since it will not bring potential toxicity compared with chemical modification. However, the mechanism of polymer blending still remains unclearly explained in existing studies that fail to provide theoretical references in material R&D processes for stability improvement of the scaffold during ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization, long-term storage, and clinical application. In this study, amphiphilic poly(ethylene glycol)-co-poly(lactic acid) (PELA) was blended with amorphous poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) because of its good miscibility so as to adjust the glass transition temperature (Tg) and hydrophilicity of electrospun PLGA membranes. By characterizing the morphological stability and mechanical performance, the chain movement and the glass transition behavior of the polymer during the physical aging and swelling process were studied. This study revealed the modification mechanism of polymer blending at the molecular chain level, which will contribute to stability improvement and performance adjustment of implant scaffolds in biomedical application.
Data-Driven Kinematic Model of PneuNets Bending Actuators for Soft Grasping Tasks

The paper proposes a novel data-driven approximation kinematic (DAK) model to estimate the shape and opening level of a PneuNets soft gripper in relation to the applied pressure signal. The model offers suitable capabilities for implementing in real-time applications involving soft grasping planning and size recognition of fragile objects with different sizes and shapes. The proposed DAK model estimates the free bending behavior of a PneuNets actuator (soft gripper finger) based on a set of approximation functions derived from experimental data and an equivalent serial mechanism that mimics the shape of the actuator. The model was tested for a commercial PneuNets actuator with decreasing chamber height, produced by SoftGripping Co. (Hamburg, Germany). The model validation is accomplished through a set of experiments, where the shape and elementary displacements were measured using a digital image processing technique. The experimental data and the estimated data from the DAK model were compared and analyzed, respectively. The proposed approach has applicability in sensorless/self-sensing bending control algorithms of PneuNets actuators and in soft grasping applications where the robotic system must estimate the opening level of the gripper in order to be able to accomplish its task.
Charming, influencing and seducing: a portrayal of everyday coaching

ABSTRACT Since a critical turn was embarked on two decades ago, research into sports coaching has increased in quality and quantity [see Jones, R. L. (2019). Studies in sports coaching. Cambridge Scholars Publishing]. Despite such welcome advances, the essence or heart of the activity remains contested terrain [Abraham, A. , & Collins, D. (2011). Taking the next step: Ways forward for coaching science. Quest (grand Rapids, Mich), 63(4), 366–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2011. 10483687; Jones, R. L. , Edwards, C. , & Tuim Viotto Filho, I. A. (2016). Activity theory, complexity and sports coaching: An epistemology for a discipline. Sport, Education and Society, 21(2), 200–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2014. 895713]. Subsequently, the aim of this work was to inductively analyse the practice of a top-level sports coach to better understand the core of what he actually did whilst working. This was particularly in terms how he managed the working contexts and the others within it towards desired ends. In seeking a ‘bottom up’ construction of practice, the study adopted tenets from both grounded theory and phenomenological inquiry. More specifically, the fieldwork was conducted over a 6-month period at a top-level women’s basketball club, with the data collection methods being ethnographic in nature, inclusive of participant observation and informal interviews. The main findings indicated that the coach in question, together with his coaching team, were engaged in a series of social, power-related, seductive strategies designed to charm athletes and others to ‘buy into’ the given agenda.
CONSTRUCTION OF PREDICTION INTERVALS FOR NEURAL NETWORKS VIA MULTIVARIATE REGRESSION AND THEIR APPLICATION TO HETEROCEDASTIC SERIES

This work presents the theory to construct prediction (PI) and confidence intervals (CI) for feedforward artificial neural networks (ANN) based on multivariate regression. This technique was applied to a set of ARIMAGARCH time series built by simulation and to a soybean price series. The ANN topologies performance is compared using the Theil inequality coefficient (TIC), root mean square error (RMSE) and the quantities of values outside the PI and CI. Neural networks have been intensively applied to time series analysis and the use of prediction and confidence intervals can be considered an additional tool to evaluate ANN performance.
The medial scaffold for 3D shape modeling and recognition

In this thesis, we develop the medial scaffold(MS) technology, a graph-based medial axis (MA) representation, which is applied to model 3D shapes in a ran ge of applications and lead toward the ultimate goal of recognition. The MA is with great promise as a universal model for shape, since it outlines many features explicitly in a hierarchy an d llows to organize them completely (enabling an exact reconstruction). A key issue in using the 3D MA is that, how the complexMA structure can be regularized so that similar, within-categ ory 3D shapes yield similar 3DMA that are distinct from the non-category shapes. My work extends a line of research which(i) organizes the 3DMA into a hierarchical hypergraph by studying its singularity typology, and(ii) classifies the instabilities of theMA structure, ortransitions(sudden topological changes due to a small perturbation). A set ofMS transformsis defined in a case-by-case analysis to model the MS across all generic transitions, thus allows manipulating the unde rlying shape and regularizing it toward a near-by degenerate transition point. The simplified MS preserves with-in-category similarity, thus enables various applications including shape analysis, ro bust feature detection, and manipulation. It is also useful in establishing a similarity measure in match ing shapes, by adopting a graph matching scheme for theMS hypergraph. Results of the proposed framework demonstrate i s state-of-art in MA-based modeling and promises its potential in shape-based m atching.
The effect of foreign direct investment on the economic growth of Sub-Saharan African countries: An empirical approach

Abstract The impact of foreign direct investment on the host country’s economic growth has been a source of debate in past theoretical and empirical investigations. The PMG/ARDL model, which has a practical advantage in examining the effect of foreign direct investment in the short and long run, has received little attention in prior empirical investigations. This study investigates the effect of foreign direct investment on the economic growth of Sub-Saharan African countries. The study examined panel data from 22 nations in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1988 to 2019. The PMG/ARDL model was used to look at the short- and long-term effects of foreign direct investment on economic growth. The panel unit root test and panel co-integration test were employed to improve the model’s estimation. According to the findings, in the long run, foreign direct investment has a favorable and significant effect, but it is statistically insignificant in the short run. The study concludes that foreign direct investment boosts long-term economic growth. As a result, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa should focus on attracting foreign direct investment.
ACTUAL STATE OF FROST PENETRATION DEPTH IN RAILWAY TUNNEL AND ITS ANALYSIS AGAINST PERIODIC CHANGE OF ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE

In many tunnels, icicles and side-wall ices usually grow, and frost heaves at back of lining occur. This paper deals with some actual states of frost penetration depth in railway tunnels and its simulation analysis. First, daily fluctuations and maximum values of frost penetration depth are described about a few actual tunnels. Next, they are simulated by a tunnel ground model which is a one-dimensional nonsteady state heat convection/conduction difference equation considering the latent heat. The analytical results agree with the measured ones. Then using the tunnel ground model, behaviors of daily fluctuations, etc. of frost penetration depth are analysed against a yearly periodic change of atmospheric temperature in tunnel.
Hexokinase-2-Linked Glycolytic Overload and Unscheduled Glycolysis—Driver of Insulin Resistance and Development of Vascular Complications of Diabetes

The recent discovery of the glucose-induced stabilization of hexokinase-2 (HK2) to proteolysis in cell dysfunction in model hyperglycemia has revealed a likely key initiating factor contributing to the development of insulin resistance and vascular complications in diabetes. Consequently, the increased flux of glucose metabolism without a change in the expression and activity of glycolytic enzymes produces a wave of increased glycolytic intermediates driving mitochondrial dysfunction and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, the activation of hexosamine and protein kinase C pathways, the increased formation of methylglyoxal-producing dicarbonyl stress, and the activation of the unfolded protein response. This is called HK2-linked glycolytic overload and unscheduled glycolysis. The conditions required to sustain this are GLUT1 and/or GLUT3 glucose uptake and the expression of HK2. A metabolic biomarker of its occurrence is the abnormally increased deposition of glycogen, which is produced by metabolic channeling when HK2 becomes detached from mitochondria. These conditions and metabolic consequences are found in the vasculature, kidneys, retina, peripheral nerves, and early-stage embryo development in diabetes and likely sustain the development of diabetic vascular complications and embryopathy. In insulin resistance, HK2-linked unscheduled glycolysis may also be established in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. This may explain the increased glucose disposal by skeletal uptake in the fasting phase in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, compared to healthy controls, and the presence of insulin resistance in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Importantly, glyoxalase 1 inducer—trans-resveratrol and hesperetin in combination (tRES-HESP)—corrected HK2-linked glycolytic overload and unscheduled glycolysis and reversed insulin resistance and improved vascular inflammation in overweight and obese subjects in clinical trial. Further studies are now required to evaluate tRES-HESP for the prevention and reversal of early-stage type 2 diabetes and for the treatment of the vascular complications of diabetes.
Robust Estimation and Forecasting of Climate Change Using Score-Driven Ice-Age Models

We use data on the following climate variables for the period of the last 798 thousand years: global ice volume (Icet), atmospheric carbon dioxide level (CO2,t), and Antarctic land surface temperature (Tempt). Those variables are cyclical and are driven by the following strongly exogenous orbital variables: eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit, obliquity, and precession of the equinox. We introduce score-driven ice-age models which use robust filters of the conditional mean and variance, generalizing the updating mechanism and solving the misspecification of a recent climate–econometric model (benchmark ice-age model). The score-driven models control for omitted exogenous variables and extreme events, using more general dynamic structures and heteroskedasticity. We find that the score-driven models improve the performance of the benchmark ice-age model. We provide out-of-sample forecasts of the climate variables for the last 100 thousand years. We show that during the last 10–15 thousand years of the forecasting period, for which humanity influenced the Earth’s climate, (i) the forecasts of Icet are above the observed Icet, (ii) the forecasts of CO2,t level are below the observed CO2,t, and (iii) the forecasts of Tempt are below the observed Tempt. The forecasts for the benchmark ice-age model are reinforced by the score-driven models.
Quaternion-based state-dependent differential Riccati equation for quadrotor drones: Regulation control problem in aerobatic flight

The quaternion is a powerful and common tool to avoid singularity in rotational dynamics in three-dimensional (3D) space. Here it has been particularly used as an alternative to Euler angles and rotation matrix. The application of the quaternion is exercised in quadrotor modeling and control. It changes the dynamics and represents a singularity-free attitude model. Here for the first time (for the best knowledge of authors), the state-dependent differential Riccati equation (SDDRE) control has been implemented on the quaternion-based model of a quadcopter. The proposed control structure is capable of aerobatic flight, and the Pugachev’s Cobra maneuver is chosen to assess the capability of the quaternion-based SDDRE approach. The introduced control simulator is validated by comparison with conventional dynamics based on Euler angles, controlled using a proportional-derivative (PD) controller on a normal regulation flight. The simulator successfully performed the Cobra maneuver and also validated the proposed structure. The more precision in regulation along with lower energy consumption demonstrated the superiority of the introduced approach.
Influence of Sunlight on Vitamin D and Health Status in Green (Chelonia mydas) Sea Turtles with Fibropapillomatosis

Simple Summary Green sea turtles are an endangered species prone to a disease called fibropapillomatosis (FP). FP causes the growth of large debilitating tumors on the skin, eyes, and shell of sea turtles. Sea turtle rehabilitation facilities often treat turtles with this disease by removing the tumors, but many of these individuals do not survive or the tumors regrow. A way to improve the treatment of these turtles could help the population as a whole. The aim of this study was to compare plasma vitamin D levels in green sea turtles with and without evident FP tumors, as vitamin D influences immune function and overall health. We determined that exposure to more sunlight influences plasma vitamin D levels in sea turtles brought into a rehabilitation facility. We found that tumored individuals arriving at the facility had lower vitamin D and ionized calcium levels and higher parathyroid hormone levels compared to both wild-caught and rehabilitation turtles without evident tumors. Individuals housed in tanks exposed to greater ultraviolet (UV) (sun)light showed greater increases in plasma vitamin D levels and a more successful recovery. The results suggest that increasing sun exposure in rehabilitation facilities may enhance health and recovery in green turtles with FP. Abstract Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) are an endangered species, which as juveniles are prone to the debilitating disease green turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP). Previous work has shown an association between reduced immune function and FP. As vitamin D has been linked to immune function in numerous animals, the aim of this study was to compare vitamin D levels in green sea turtles with and without evident FP and determine if exposure to sunlight would influence vitamin D levels and other health parameters. Various health markers, including vitamin D, in turtles with and without evident tumors being treated at a rehabilitation facility in southeast Florida were compared to apparently healthy wild-caught juvenile green turtles. Turtles receiving treatment were housed in tanks exposed to higher or lower levels of sunlight for up to 6 months. Upon intake, tumored individuals had lower plasma vitamin D and ionized calcium levels and higher parathyroid hormone levels when compared to both wild-caught and rehabilitation turtles without evident tumors. Individuals exposed to greater sunlight showed greater increases in plasma vitamin D and a more successful recovery. The results suggest that increasing sun exposure in rehabilitation facilities may enhance health and recovery in green turtles with FP.
Empfindlichkeit und Rauschen beim Differential- Hitzdraht-Anemometer / Sensitivity and noise in the differential-hot-wire-anemometer

Mikroströmwigsfiihler auf der Basis thermisch gekoppelter Hitzdrähte dienen zur Messung kleinster Durchflüsse oder Strömungsgeschwindigkeiten. Das Übertragungsverhalten solcher Aufnehmer für kleine, harmonische Strömungssignale wird analysiert. Für das Rauschen des Anemometers werden physikalische Vorstellungen entwickelt. Als Gütekriterium wird ein Ausdruck für das Signal-Rauschverhältnis in Abhängigkeit von konstruktiven Parametern angegeben.
FR 21. SINCRONIZACIÓN DEL CELO Y FERTILIDAD EN VACAS Y NOVILLAS MESTIZAS TRATADAS CON UNA DOSIS DE PGF2a O SUS ANÁLOGOS

Estrus sinchronization and fertility in crossbred cows and heifers treated with one dose of PGF2a aa a or its analogous. Research was conducted to evaluate the effect of parity upon the oestrus induction and fertility in crossbred bovine female treated with one single dose of PGF2a. Inyection of 25 mg of Lutalyse, 500 mg of Estrumate or 15 mg of Prosolvin, was given to 731 cows (>60 days postpartum) and 231 heifers (body weight>340 kg) after a corpus luteum by rectal palpation. Three different seasons were studied: dry (D) 120 mm, of monthly rainfall. Percentage of sinchronized estrus in heifers (PSEH) was 80 % (185/231) higher than that observed for cows (PSEC) which was 61 % (448/731) (P < .001). First service fertility for heifers (FSFH) was also higher (P < .001) than for cows (FSFC), 70 % (129/185) and 53 % (238/448), respectively. For the seasons studied, D, I and R, the PSEH was 90 % (72/80), 77 % (48/62) and 73 % (65/89), and the PSEC 67 % (200/296), 53 % (119/225) and 61 % (129/210) respectively (P < .05). The FSFH was 74 % (53/72), 69 % (33/48) and 66 % (43/65), and the FSFC was 57 % (115/200), 51 % (61/119) and 48 % (62/129) for the D, I and R rspectively (P < .01). Cyclic heifers had a better synchronization response and higher fertility than cows. Palabras claves: Novillas, vacas, PGF2a, analogos, sincronizacion del celo.
Information Processing with Length Intervals of Stationary Random Point Processes

Abstract For some typical noiseless binary channels operating with signals at low power level, the limits of the information transmission are computed. This is performed for random point processes on a subset of size and on the semi line . The calculations are compared using two length intervals processors, depending on whether the processor starts with a point of the process (type I processor) or with an arbitrary point (type II processor).