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The interpretation of novel noun-noun compounds (NNCs, e.g. "devil salary") requires the combination of nouns in the absence of syntactic cues, an interesting facet of complex meaning creation. Here we examine unconstrained interpretations of a large set of novel NNCs, to investigate how NNC constituents are combined into novel complex meanings. The data show that words' lexical-semantic features (e.g. material, agentivity, imageability, semantic similarity) differentially contribute to the grammatical relations and the semantics of NNC interpretations. Further, we demonstrate that passive interpretations incur higher processing cost (longer interpretation times and more eye-movements) than active interpretations. Finally, we show that large language models (GPT-2, BERT, RoBERTa) can predict whether a NNC is interpretable by human participants and estimate differences in processing cost, but do not exhibit sensitivity to more subtle grammatical differences. The experiments illuminate how humans can use lexical-semantic features to interpret NNCs in the absence of explicit syntactic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We created a dataset of 205 English novel noun-noun compounds (NNCs, e.g., "doctor charity") by combining nouns with higher and lower agentivity (i.e., the probability of being an agent in a sentence). We collected active and passive interpretations of NNCs from a group of 58 English native speakers. We then measured interpretation time differences between NNCs with active and passive interpretations (i.e., 108 NNCs), using data obtained from a group of 68 English native speakers. Data were collected online using crowdsourcing platforms (SONA and Prolific). The datasets are available at osf.io/gvc2w/and can be used to address questions about semantic and syntactic composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulk of social neuroscience takes a 'stimulus-brain' approach, typically comparing brain responses to different types of social stimuli, but most of the time in the absence of direct social interaction. Over the last two decades, a growing number of researchers have adopted a 'brain-to-brain' approach, exploring similarities between brain patterns across participants as a novel way to gain insight into the social brain. This methodological shift has facilitated the introduction of naturalistic social stimuli into the study design (e.g. movies) and, crucially, has spurred the development of new tools to directly study social interaction, both in controlled experimental settings and in more ecologically valid environments. Specifically, 'hyperscanning' setups, which allow the simultaneous recording of brain activity from two or more individuals during social tasks, has gained popularity in recent years. However, currently, there is no agreed-upon approach to carry out such 'inter-brain connectivity analysis', resulting in a scattered landscape of analysis techniques. To accommodate a growing demand to standardize analysis approaches in this fast-growing research field, we have developed Hyperscanning Python Pipeline, a comprehensive and easy open-source software package that allows (social) neuroscientists to carry-out and to interpret inter-brain connectivity analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schooling is a collective behaviour that enhances the ability of a fish to sense and respond to its environment. Although schooling is essential to the biology of a diversity of fishes, it is generally unclear how this behaviour is coordinated by different sensory modalities. We used experimental manipulation and kinematic measurements to test the role of vision and flow sensing in the rummy-nose tetra (Hemigrammus rhodostomus), which swims with intermittent phases of bursts and coasts. Groups of five fish required a minimum level of illuminance (greater than 1.5 lx) to achieve the necessary close nearest-neighbour distance and high polarization for schooling. Compromising the lateral line system with an antibiotic treatment caused tetras to swim with greater nearest-neighbour distance and lower polarization. Therefore, vision is both necessary and sufficient for schooling in H. rhodostomus, and both sensory modalities aid in attraction. These results can serve as a basis for understanding the individual roles of sensory modalities in schooling for some fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing interest in the potential role of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in changing body composition to lower body fat with increased lean mass. In this study, we examined the sex-dependent effect of EGCG on body composition, locomotion, feeding behaviour, sugar levels, and transcription levels of key regulators in lipid, carbohydrate, and energy metabolisms in Drosophila melanogaster. EGCG had no effects on body weights in both females and males, but decreased fat accumulation in females compared to the control, accompanied by a reduction in food intake. EGCG treatments increased lean mass and locomotor activity, and downregulated transcription levels of brummer (bmm), adipokinetic hormone (akh), and Drosophila insulin-like peptide 2 (dilp2), and upregulated spargel (srl) in males. In addition, EGCG decreased sugar levels in both females and males. In conclusion, EGCG promotes lean phenotype in D. melanogaster via sex-specific metabolic regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been reported to be a bioactive food component. However, there is limited knowledge on the sex‐dependent effects of CLA on energy metabolism. In the present study, Drosophila melanogaster was used to investigate the sex‐dependent effects of CLA with respect to body fat, muscle, locomotion, and a key metabolic regulator, AMP‐activated protein kinase α (AMPKα). Adult flies were fed a cornmeal‐based fly food with 0.5% of CLA oil (50:50 of cis‐9,trans‐11 and trans‐10,cis‐12 CLA isomers in triacylglycerol (TAG) form), 0.5% safflower oil (high in linoleic acid [LNA] as control), or 0.5% water (as blank) for 5 days. Accumulation of CLA in tissue was verified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. CLA‐fed flies had reduced TAG and increased locomotor activity when compared to LNA‐fed control flies. In addition, CLA increased the muscle content when compared to the blank. Moreover, following CLA supplementation, increased AMPKα activity was observed in females, but not in males. These sex‐dependent metabolic effects of CLA may be due to physiological differences in lipid metabolism and nutrient requirements. In conclusion, CLA promoted the body composition and locomotion behavior in D. melanogaster and regulated the sex‐specific metabolism in part via AMPKα. As key physiological processes are conserved between fly and human, information obtained from this research could provide valuable insights into sex‐dependent responses to CLA in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mitochondria intricately modulate their energy production through the control of mitochondrial adaptation (mitochondrial biogenesis, fusion, and/or fission) to meet energy demands. Nutrient overload may result in dysregulated mitochondrial biogenesis, morphology toward mitochondrial fragmentation, and oxidative stress in the skeletal muscle. In addition, physical activity and diet components influence mitochondrial function. Exercise may stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis and promote mitochondrial fusion/fission in the skeletal muscle. Moreover, some dietary fatty acids, such as n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid, have been identified to positively regulate mitochondrial adaptation in the skeletal muscle. This review discusses the association of mitochondrial impairments and obesity, and presents an overview of various mechanisms of which exercise training and mitochondrial nutrients promote mitochondrial function in the skeletal muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the logic capacity of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) increases, they are being increasingly used to implement large arithmetic-intensive applications. Large arithmetic intensive applications often contain a large proportion of datapath circuits. Since datapath circuits are designed to process multiple-bit-wide data, FPGAs implementing these circuits often have to transport a large amount of multiple-bit-wide signals from one computing element (such as a logic block, a DSP block, or a multi-bit addressable memory cell) to another. In this work, we investigate the area efficiency of FPGA routing resources for transporting multiple-bit-wide signals. It is shown that, for datapath circuits, the switch patterns used by the conventional routing architecture, which uniformly distribute routing switches across the routing tracks, are inefficient for connecting the computing elements to their tracks. The more efficient multi-bit aware patterns, which contain a densely populated single-bit region and a sparsely populated multi-bit region, can be effectively used to reduce the routing area of FPGAs for implementing arithmetic intensive applications by 6%–10%. It is also shown that the further sharing of configuration memory among the switches within the multi-bit aware patterns does not significantly increase their area efficiency since datapath circuits typically contain a mixture of multi-bit and single-bit signals—while configuration memory sharing can substantially increase the area efficiency of routing resources for transporting multi-bit signals, it also significantly reduces their ability for transporting single-bit signals. More importantly, configuration memory sharing can significantly reduce the effectiveness of the enhanced multi-bit aware patterns—patterns that incorporate both multi-bit aware and single-bit oriented switches within a single region in order to increase its ability for transporting both single-bit and multi-bit signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless local area networks based on the IEEE 802.11 standard are rapidly replacing wires within homes and offices. The latest datarate amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard, known as the 802.11n, provides enhanced user experience by exploiting MIMO techniques that use multiple antennas for both transmitter and receiver. In conjunction with MAC layer improvements such as aggregating data, the 802.11n standard supports PHY data rates as high as 600 Mb/s with four spatial streams. This article discusses various MAC and PHY level modifications introduced in 802.11n, as well as the architecture, design trade-offs, and implementation details of a two spatial stream CMOS 802.11n-draft-compliant SoC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 802.11n-draft-compliant 2 × 2, 2-stream MIMO radio SoC, incorporating two dual-band RF transceivers, analog baseband filters, data converters, digital PHY and MAC, and a PCI Express interface, has been integrated in a standard 0.13- μm digital CMOS technology with a die area of 36 mm2 . The receiver achieves noise figures of 4 dB and 6 dB, respectively, at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The transmitter EVM for a 2-stream, 40-MHz-bandwidth 64-QAM OFDM signal is - 31 dBc at 2.4 GHz and - 8 dBm output power and - 31.5 dBc at 5 GHz and - 4 dBm output power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Genetic factors may play a role in susceptibility to spontaneous deep intracerebral hemorrhage (SDICH). Previous studies have shown that TNF-alpha gene variation was associated with risks of subarachnoid hemorrhage in multiple ethnicities. The present case-control study tested the hypothesis that genetic variations of the TNF-alpha gene may affect the risk of Taiwanese SDICH. We examined the association of SDICH risks with four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the TNF-alpha gene promoter, namely T-1031C, C-863A, C-857T, and G-308A.Methods: Genotyping was determined by PCR-based restriction and electrophoresis assay for 260 SDICH patients and 368 controls. Associations were tested by logistic regression or general linear models with adjusting for multiple covariables in each gender group, and then in combined. Multiplicative terms of gender and each of the four SNPs were applied to detect the interaction effects on SDICH risks. To account for the multiple testing, permutation testing of 1,000 replicates was performed for empirical estimates.Results: In an additive model, SDICH risks were positively associated with the minor alleles -1031C and -308A in men (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.4, p = 0.03 and OR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.3 to 5.3, p = 0.005, respectively) but inversely associated with -863A in females (OR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.9, p = 0.03). There were significant interaction effects between gender and SNP on SDICH risks regarding SNPs T-1031C, C-863A, and G-308A (p = 0.005, 0.005, and 0.007, respectively). Hemorrhage size was inversely associated with -857T in males (p = 0.04).Conclusions: In the Taiwan population, the associations of genetic variations in the TNF-alpha gene promoter with SDICH risks are gender-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]