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This paper introduces A Library for Innovative Category Exemplars (ALICE) database, a resource that enhances research efficiency in cognitive and developmental studies by providing printable 3D objects representing 30 novel categories. Our research consists of three experiments to validate the novelty and complexity of the objects in ALICE. Experiment 1 assessed the novelty of objects through adult participants' subjective familiarity ratings and agreement on object naming and descriptions. The results confirm the general novelty of the objects. Experiment 2 employed multidimensional scaling (MDS) to analyze perceived similarities between objects, revealing a three-dimensional structure based solely on shape, indicative of their complexity. Experiment 3 used two clustering techniques to categorize objects: k-means clustering for creating nonoverlapping global categories, and hierarchical clustering for allowing global categories that overlap and have a hierarchical structure. Through stability tests, we verified the robustness of each clustering method and observed a moderate to good consensus between them, affirming the strength of our dual approach in effectively and accurately delineating meaningful object categories. By offering easy access to customizable novel stimuli, ALICE provides a practical solution to the challenges of creating novel physical objects for experimental purposes.

Are reviews with photos more helpful? If so, do consumers find reviews more helpful when photos and text convey similar or different information? This article examines the effect of content similarity between photos and text on review helpfulness and its underlying mechanism. Using a data set of 7.4 million reviews associated with 3.5 million photos from Yelp, and applying machine learning algorithms, the authors quantify the similarity of the content between text and photos. They find that, overall, photos increase the helpfulness of a review. More importantly, though, greater similarity between photos and text heightens review helpfulness more. The authors then validate algorithm-based similarity assessments with similarity perceptions of human judges. Using real-world reviews from Yelp and carefully designed stimuli, they replicate the core findings in five laboratory experiments. Further, testing the underlying mechanism, they find that greater similarity facilitates the ease with which consumers can process the review, which, in turn, increases that review's helpfulness to consumers. Finally, they show that factors that impede the ease of processing (e.g., language difficulty or poor image quality) can reduce the effect of similarity on helpfulness. These findings provide novel insights into the value of user-generated content that includes text and photos and its underlying mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether genetic factors affect the location of dilated perivascular spaces (dPVS) by comparing healthy young twins and non-twin (NT) siblings. Materials and Methods: A total of 700 healthy young adult twins and NT siblings [138 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs, 79 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs, and 133 NT sibling pairs] were collected from the Human Connectome Project dataset. dPVS was automatically segmented and normalized to standard space. Then, spatial similarity indices [mean squared error (MSE), structural similarity (SSIM), and dice similarity (DS)] were calculated for dPVS in the basal ganglia (BGdPVS) and white matter (WMdPVS) between paired subjects before and after propensity score matching of dPVS volumes between groups. Within-pair correlations for the regional volumes of dVPS were also assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: The spatial similarity of dPVS was significantly higher in MZ twins [higher DS (median, 0.382 and 0.310) and SSIM (0.963 and 0.887) and lower MSE (0.005 and 0.005) for BGdPVS and WMdPVS, respectively] than in DZ twins [DS (0.121 and 0.119), SSIM (0.941 and 0.868), and MSE (0.010 and 0.011)] and NT siblings [DS (0.106 and 0.097), SSIM (0.924 and 0.848), and MSE (0.016 and 0.017)]. No significant difference was found between DZ twins and NT siblings. Similar results were found even after the subjects were matched according to dPVS volume. Regional dPVS volumes were also more correlated within pairs in MZ twins than in DZ twins and NT siblings. Conclusion: Our results suggest that genetic factors affect the location of dPVS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his monograph on Infinite Abelian Groups, I. Kaplansky raised three "test problems" concerning their structure and multiplicity. As noted by Azoff, these problems make sense for any category admitting a direct sum operation. Here, we are interested in the operator theoretic version of Kaplansky's second problem which asks: if A and B are operators on an infinite-dimensional, separable Hilbert space and A ⊕ A is equivalent to B ⊕ B in some (precise) sense, is A equivalent to B? We examine this problem under a strengthening of the hypothesis, where a "primitive" square root J 2 (A) of A ⊕ A is assumed to be equivalent to the corresponding square root J 2 (B) of B ⊕ B . When "equivalence" refers to similarity of operators and A is a compact operator, we deduce from this stronger hypothesis that A and B are similar. We exhibit a counterexample (due to J. Bell) of this phenomenon in the setting of unital rings. Also, we exhibit an uncountable family { U α } α ∈ Ω of unitary operators, no two of which are unitarily equivalent, such that each U α is unitarily equivalent to J n (U α) , a "primitive" n th root of U α ⊕ U α ⊕ ⋯ ⊕ U α . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractLet ⅅ be the unit disk in the complex plane ℂ. For α > −1, the weighted Sobolev disk algebra SA(ⅅ, dAα) consists of all analytic functions in the weighted Sobolev space W2,2(ⅅ, dAα). In this paper, we prove that the multiplication operator is similar to on SA(ⅅ, dAα) if and only if n = m, where n, m are positive integers. Then we characterize when a bounded operator P on SA(ⅅ, dAα) belongs to the commutant of by using the matrix representation of P. In addition, we compute the exact norm of Mz on SA(ⅅ, dAα). Finally, we prove that on the unweighted Sobolev disk algebra SA(ⅅ) the restrictions of to different invariant subspaces zkSA(ⅅ) (k ≥ 1) are not unitarily equivalent, and the restrictions of (n ≥ 2) to different invariant subspaces Sj (0 ≤ j < n) are also not unitarily equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The identification of similar patient pathways is a crucial task in healthcare analytics. A flexible tool to address this issue are parametric competing risks models, where transition intensities may be specified by a variety of parametric distributions, thus in particular being possibly time‐dependent. We assess the similarity between two such models by examining the transitions between different health states. This research introduces a method to measure the maximum differences in transition intensities over time, leading to the development of a test procedure for assessing similarity. We propose a parametric bootstrap approach for this purpose and provide a proof to confirm the validity of this procedure. The performance of our proposed method is evaluated through a simulation study, considering a range of sample sizes, differing amounts of censoring, and various thresholds for similarity. Finally, we demonstrate the practical application of our approach with a case study from urological clinical routine practice, which inspired this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Categorical search involves looking for objects based on category information from long-term memory. Previous research has shown that search efficiency in categorical search is influenced by target/distractor similarity and category variability (i.e., heterogeneity). However, the interaction between these factors and their impact on different subprocesses of search remains unclear. This study examined the effects of target/distractor similarity and category variability on processes of categorical search. Using multidimensional scaling, we manipulated target/distractor similarity and measured category variability for target categories that participants searched for. Eye-tracking data were collected to examine attentional guidance and target verification. The results demonstrated that the effect of category variability on response times (RTs) was dependent on the level of target/distractor similarity. Specifically, when distractors were highly similar to target categories, there was a negative relation between RTs and variability, with low variability categories producing longer RTs than higher variability categories. Surprisingly, this trend was only present in the eye-tracking measures of target verification but not attentional guidance. Our results suggest that searchers more effectively guide attention to low-variability categories compared to high-variability categories, regardless of the degree of similarity between targets and distractors. However, low category variability interferes with target match decisions when distractors are highly similar to the category, thus the advantage that low category variability provides to searchers is not equal across processes of search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality space hypothesis about conscious experience proposes that conscious sensory states are experienced in relation to other possible sensory states. Recent empirical findings suggest that subjective quality space can be explained in terms of similarities in neural activation patterns; however, computational theories of consciousness have had little to say about this qualitative aspect of experience. Localist, global workspace, and higher-order theories of consciousness can all accommodate a quality space in which subjects experience relations between actually instantiated experiences. Different theories make distinct predictions for inactivation and stimulation experiments on both local (sensory) and nonlocal (e.g., prefrontal) neural activity patterns. If experiments find that the whole structure of activation space affects the qualitative character of experience, this can be accommodated by localist and lean workspace/higher-order theories, but is more challenging for full-content global workspace and higher-order theories that require the whole structure to be re-represented. The quality space hypothesis about conscious experience proposes that conscious sensory states are experienced in relation to other possible sensory states. For instance, the colour red is experienced as being more like orange, and less like green or blue. Recent empirical findings suggest that subjective similarity space can be explained in terms of similarities in neural activation patterns. Here, we consider how localist, workspace, and higher-order theories of consciousness can accommodate claims about the qualitative character of experience and functionally support a quality space. We review existing empirical evidence for each of these positions, and highlight novel experimental tools, such as altering local activation spaces via brain stimulation or behavioural training, that can distinguish these accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we outline a comprehensive approach to composed analogies based on the theory of conceptual spaces. Our algorithmic model understands analogy as a search procedure and builds upon the idea that analogical similarity depends on a conceptual phenomena called 'dimensional salience.' We distinguish between category-based, property-based, event-based, and part-whole analogies, and propose computationally-oriented methods for explicating them in terms of conceptual spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on female same-sex relationships has predominantly considered a single partner's perspective on couple satisfaction, and has compared same-sex couples with heterosexual couples. Drawing upon Personal Construct Theory, this study explores how identification, acceptance, commonality and sociality (mutual understanding) between two female same-sex partners are associated with the couple's satisfaction. Forty Italian women involved in same-sex relationships completed the Partnership Questionnaire and 160 repertory grids involving the exchange grid method. A mixed-method analysis was conducted. Higher couple's satisfaction was associated with higher identification with the partner but not with higher commonality and sociality, partner acceptance was associated with higher scores in tenderness. Perceived similarity was higher than commonality and sociality, and partner's acceptance was higher than identification with her. Qualitative analysis heightened the centrality of the participants' experience when compared with the dominant prejudice with regard to homosexuality and the tension between autonomy and fusion. This study revealed the importance of identification and acceptance in terms of couple's satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the results from 112 Extended One-Generation Reproductive Toxicity studies. The objective was to determine if test animals show consistent endocrine and reproductive effects within the same and across different generations and life stages. The analysis, grounded in a comprehensive Binary Matrix, included 530 observed effects and 193 unique, statistically significant associations. Associations' strength was quantified using Jaccard (J) coefficients to measure effect co-occurrence in the same study. Associated effects co-occur infrequently across the whole dataset (median J = 0.231). However, specific patterns emerged: associations of same effects across generations exhibited a higher strength (median J = 0.400) compared to associations of different effects (median J = 0.222). Notably, associations with effects observed in both the parental animals of the adult first filial generation (P1) and developing second filial generations (dF2) demonstrated J coefficients (with medians ranging from 0.300 to 0.430) that were approximately twofold higher than those of other associations. Consistently, equivalent life stage associations across generations revealed statistically significant higher association strengths for the P1 and dF2 generations (medians of 0.375 and 0.333, respectively) compared to other generations (medians of 0.200 and 0.174), possibly due to longer exposure duration and altered cross-talk between pregnant P1 dam and its conceptus. Overall, it is concluded that co-occurrence of associated effects in the same study is rather infrequent and that associations with effects in P1 and dF2 are stronger than all other associations. In general, the findings underscore the importance of independently analyzing each effect per generation due to the generally low co-occurrence rates of associated effects, challenging traditional expectations of generational continuity in toxic effects. Highlights: Identifying endocrine and reproductive toxicants is crucial for safeguarding the ability for humans to reproduce, as well as for protecting human embryos, fetuses, and children. This objective requires that the intrinsic toxic properties related to endocrine and reproductive health are thoroughly investigated. 112 recently conducted Extended One-Generation Reproductive Toxicity studies were evaluated and analyzed for endocrine and reproductive toxicity. The results show that it is much more common to observe endocrine/reproductive effects in only one generation, but not in another, within the same study (degrees of co-occurrence as low as approximately 9%). Associations with effects in the parental animals of the adult first filial generation and/or developing second filial generation are significantly stronger than all other associations (degrees of co-occurrence as high as approximately 49%). The necessity of independently analyzing each endocrine and reproductive effect within each generation is highlighted. Observed endocrine and reproductive effects should not be disregarded simply because they occur in one generation but not in another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let \mathrm {L}^2_a(\mathbb {D}) be the classical Bergman space and let M_h denote the operator of multiplication by a bounded holomorphic function h. Let B be a finite Blaschke product of order n. An open question proposed by R. G. Douglas is whether the operators M_B on \mathrm {L}^2_a(\mathbb {D}) similar to \oplus _1^n M_z on \oplus _1^n \mathrm {L}^2_a(\mathbb {D})? The question was answered in the affirmative, not only for Bergman space but also for many other Hilbert spaces with reproducing kernel. Since the operator M_z^* is in Cowen-Douglas class B_1(\mathbb {D}) in many cases, Douglas question can be reformulated for operators in B_1(\mathbb {D}), and the answer is affirmative for many operators in B_1(\mathbb {D}). A natural question occurs for operators in Cowen-Douglas class B_n(\mathbb {D}) (n>1). In this paper, we investigate a family of operators, which are in a norm dense subclass of Cowen-Douglas class B_2(\mathbb {D}), and give a negative answer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Frontiers of Computer Science & Technology is the property of Beijing Journal of Computer Engineering & Applications Journal Co Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Network meta‐analysis (NMA) incorporates all available evidence into a general statistical framework for comparing multiple treatments. Standard NMAs make three major assumptions, namely homogeneity, similarity, and consistency, and violating these assumptions threatens an NMA's validity. In this article, we suggest a graphical approach to assessing these assumptions and distinguishing between qualitative and quantitative versions of these assumptions. In our plot, the absolute effect of each treatment arm is plotted against the level of effect modifiers, and the three assumptions of NMA can then be visually evaluated. We use four hypothetical scenarios to show how violating these assumptions can lead to different consequences and difficulties in interpreting an NMA. We present an example of an NMA evaluating steroid use to treat septic shock patients to demonstrate how to use our graphical approach to assess an NMA's assumptions and how this approach can help with interpreting the results. We also show that all three assumptions of NMA can be summarized as an exchangeability assumption. Finally, we discuss how reporting of NMAs can be improved to increase transparency of the analysis and interpretability of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioassays are regulated, analytical methods used to ensure proper activity (potency) of biological products at release and during long-term storage. Potency is commonly reported on a relative basis by comparing and calibrating a concentration–response curve from the test material to that of a reference standard material. The relative potency approach depends on an assumption that the two concentration–response curves exhibit similar (equivalent) shapes, except for a potency shift. In certain circumstances, however, biological factors preclude the similarity assumption, and the traditional approach becomes unworkable. The antibody-mediated cytotoxicity assay is one example where the similarity assumption does not always hold. Other examples also arise in the fields of toxicology and pharmacology. In this work, we present a non-constant mean relative potency approach which averages the relative potency across a common range of the concentration-response curves. The proposed method captures the changing nature of the relative potency into a summary statistic that can be reported for batch calibration and quality control purposes. We provide inferential methods for this statistic and summarize the results of a simulation comparing these methods across a number of non-constant relative potency scenarios and assay conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate similarity and consimilarity of hyper‐dual generalized quaternions and their matrices. For this purpose, we give different conjugates according to the generalized quaternionic units i,j,k$$ i,j,k $$. We present i$$ i $$‐consimilarity of hyper‐dual generalized quaternions and their matrices except hyper‐dual 14$$ \frac{1}{4} $$‐quaternions. For the generalization consisting of hyper‐dual coefficients quaternion and split quaternion, we search j$$ j $$‐consimilarity and k$$ k $$‐consimilarity with the help of j$$ j $$‐conjugate and k$$ k $$‐conjugate. We also give i,j,k$$ i,j,k $$‐coneigenvalues and i,j,k$$ i,j,k $$‐coneigenvectors of the matrices of these generalizations. In addition, we examine right coneigenvalue problem in generalized quaternion matrices for real and split quaternions. The complex matrix representation obtained through the complex adjoint matrix representation of this generalization is introduced, and its properties are presented. Besides, we give algebraic methods for the concept of right coneigenvalues and coneigenvectors for matrices, which are the generalization of real quaternion and split quaternion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal History of Latin American Education / Revista Historia de la Educación Latinoamericana is the property of Universidad Pedagogica y Tecnologica de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A photo lineup, which is a cross between an old/new and a forced-choice recognition memory test, consists of one suspect, whose face was either seen before or not, and several physically similar fillers. First, the participant/witness must decide whether the person who was previously seen is present (old/new) and then, if present, choose the previously seen target (forced choice). Competing signal-detection models of eyewitness identification performance make different predictions about how certain variables will affect a witness's ability to discriminate previously seen (guilty) suspects from new (innocent) suspects. One key variable is the similarity of the fillers to the suspect in the lineup, and another key variable is the size of the lineup (i.e., the number of fillers). Previous research investigating the role of filler similarity has supported one model, known as the Ensemble model, whereas previous research investigating the role of lineup size has supported a competing model, known as the Independent Observations model. We simultaneously manipulated these two variables (filler similarity and lineup size) and found a pattern that is not predicted by either model. When the fillers were highly similar to the suspect, increasing lineup size reduced discriminability, but when the fillers were dissimilar to the suspect, increasing lineup size enhanced discriminability. The results suggest that each additional filler adds noise to the decision-making process and that this noise factor is minimized by maximizing filler dissimilarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The claim that the free energy principle is somehow related to Hamilton's principle in statistical mechanics is ubiquitous throughout the subject literature. However, the exact nature of this relationship remains unclear. According to some sources, the free energy principle is merely similar to Hamilton's principle of stationary action; others claim that it is either analogous or equivalent to it, while yet another part of the literature espouses the claim that it is a version of Hamilton's principle. In this article, we aim to clarify the nature of the relationship between the two principles by investigating the two most likely interpretations of the claims that can be found in the subject literature. According to the strong interpretation, the two principles are equivalent and apply to the same subset of physical phenomena; according to the weak interpretation, the two principles are merely analogous to each other by virtue of their similar formal structures. As we show, adopting the stronger reading would lead to a dilemma that is untenable for the proponents of the free energy principle, thus supporting the adoption of the weaker reading for the relationship between the two constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversation circles in kindergartens can foster discursive abilities such as argumentation. This paper analyzes argumentation in conversation circles in a kindergarten with respect to the function of narrative argumentation. We focus on second stories as a specific narrative form that is characterized by relating in content and form to a before told narrative thereby displaying similarity and alignment. In this paper, we will analyze videographed conversation circles in a kindergarten. Our methodological approach is interactional and qualitative, informed by conversation analysis and narrative analysis. We will argue that preschool children use second stories for argumentative purposes in cooperative argumentative exchanges and through them produce interactional alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An optimized container consolidation is a key factor in Mobile Edge Computing. It is a challenging problem as its complexity is NP-hard. In addition to structural properties of a network which reveal nodes features and their connectivity, we believe that the spectral properties of correlation between rows of similarity matrix of the network could be more beneficial in placement algorithm. Most existing literature focus on reducing energy consumption in cloud or edge environments based on structural properties of the given network. However, they undermine the concept of locality which could affect excessive network traffic. Our proposed method utilizes structural and spectral properties of the network to solve the problem. We expected to improve locality factor and link reduction as well as reducing the problem space by utilizing a centroid-based approach and a queue. Our proposed algorithm preserves topology architecture without consuming more energy in comparison to the existing popular algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an additional argument is provided in favor of the probabilistic approach to knowledge extraction using the similarity operation (the VKF method) through the nonpolynomiality of the number of all candidates. More specifically, two results about such nonpolynomiality are proved for random training sets generated by Bernoulli trials. In the case of dense lattice, it is proved that the probability of appearance of a large sublattice that is isomorphic to Boolean algebra in the lattice of candidates tends to unity as the size of the set increases. For a lattice of medium density, a slightly modified Sakurai's argument about the nonpolynomiality of the mean number of candidates is reproduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Science & Technology of Cereals, Oils & Foods is the property of Science & Technology of Cereals, Oils & Foods Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a popular method for analyzing large text corpora, but it suffers from instability due to its reliance on random initialization. This results in different outcomes for replicated runs, hindering reproducibility. To address this, we introduce LDAPrototype, a new approach for selecting the most representative LDA run from multiple replications on the same dataset. LDAPrototype enhances the reliability of LDA conclusions by ensuring greater similarity between replications compared to traditional LDA runs or models chosen based on perplexity or NPMI. A key feature of LDAPrototype is its use of a novel model similarity measure called S-CLOP (Similarity of multiple sets by Clustering with LOcal Pruning). It is based on topic similarities, for which we compare the usage of measures like the thresholded Jaccard coefficient, cosine similarity, Jensen-Shannon divergence, and rank-biased overlap. The effectiveness of LDAPrototype is demonstrated through its application to six real datasets, including newspaper articles and tweets. The results show improved reproducibility and reliability in topic modeling outcomes. LDAPrototype's approach is noteworthy for its practical applicability, comprehensibility, ease of implementation, and computational efficiency. Furthermore, the algorithm's concept can be generalized to other topic modeling procedures that characterize topics through word distributions, making it a versatile tool in text data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of studies on the "Neural Synapses" in the nervous system, its experts manually (or pseudo-automatically) detect the bio-molecule clusters (e.g., of proteins) in many TIRF (Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence) images of a fluorescent cell and analyze their static/dynamic behaviors. This paper proposes a novel method for the automatic detection of the bio-molecule clusters in a TIRF image of a fluorescent cell and conducts several experiments on its performance, e.g., mAP @ IoU (mean Average Precision @ Intersection over Union) and F1-score @ IoU, as an objective/quantitative means of evaluation. As a result, the best of the proposed methods achieved 0.695 as its mAP @ IoU = 0.5 and 0.250 as its F1-score @ IoU = 0.5 and would have to be improved, especially with respect to its recall @ IoU. But, the proposed method could automatically detect bio-molecule clusters that are not only circular and not always uniform in size, and it can output various histograms and heatmaps for novel deeper analyses of the automatically detected bio-molecule clusters, while the particles detected by the Mosaic Particle Tracker 2D/3D, which is one of the most conventional methods for experts, can be only circular and uniform in size. In addition, this paper defines and validates a novel similarity of automatically detected bio-molecule clusters between fluorescent cells, i.e., SimMolCC, and also shows some examples of SimMolCC-based applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A complete characterization of the similarity between two operator-valued multishifts with invertible operator weights is obtained purely in terms of operator weights. This generalizes several existing results of the unitary equivalence of two (multi)shifts. Further, we utilize the aforementioned similarity criteria to determine the similarity between two tuples of operators of multiplication by the coordinate functions on certain reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces determined by diagonal kernels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online news article recommendations are typically of the 'more like this' type, generated by similarity functions. Across three studies, we examined the representativeness of different similarity functions for news item retrieval, by comparing them to human judgments of similarity. In Study 1 ( N = 401 ), participants assessed the overall similarity of ten randomly paired news articles on politics and compared their judgments to different feature-specific similarity functions (e.g., based on body text or images). In Study 2, we checked for domain differences in a mixed-methods survey ( N = 45 ), surfacing evidence that the effectiveness of similarity functions differs across different news categories ('Recent Events', 'Sport'). In Study 3 ( N = 173 ), we improved the design of Study 1, by controlling for how news articles were matched, differentiating between dissimilar news articles and articles that were matched on a shared topic, named entities, and/or date of publication, across 'Recent Events' and 'Sport' categories. Across all studies, we found that users mostly used text-based features (e.g., body text, title) for their similarity judgments, while BodyText:TF-IDF was found to be the most representative for their judgments. Moreover, the strength of similarity judgments by humans and similarity scores by feature-specific functions was strongly affected by how news article pairs were matched. We show that humans and similarity functions are better aligned when two news articles are more alike, such as in a news recommendation scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When two people coincidentally have something in common (such as a name or birthday), they tend to like each other more and are thus more likely to offer help and comply with requests. This dynamic can have important legal and ethical consequences whenever these incidental similarities give rise to unfair favoritism. Using a large-scale, longitudinal natural experiment, covering nearly 200,000 annual earnings forecasts over more than 25 y, we show that when a CEO and a securities analyst share a first name, the analysts financial forecast is more accurate. We offer evidence that name matching improves forecast accuracy due to CEOs privately sharing pertinent information with name-matched analysts. Additionally, we show that this effect is especially pronounced among CEO-analyst pairs who share an uncommon first name. Our research thus demonstrates how incidental similarities can give way to special treatment. Whereas most investigations of the effects of similarity consider only one-shot interactions, we use a longitudinal dataset to show that the effect of name matching diminishes over time with more interactions between CEOs and analysts. We also point to the findings of an experiment suggesting that favoritism born of sharing a name may evade straightforward regulation in part due to peoples perception that name similarity would exert little influence on them. Taken together, our work offers insight into when private disclosures are likely to be made. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of regulatory policies can be significantly impacted by psychological factors shaping the context in which they are implemented.

Information propagation prediction aims to analyze the patterns of information spreading in social networks and social media, thus understand and predict the information diffusion process. Recent researches have shown that information propagation is influenced by both group and individual relations. Existing works have mainly concentrated on group relations, including social relation and dynamic structural relation. They ignore a core group relation, i.e., the co-occurrence user relation, and an important individual relation, i.e., the user-preference relation, leading to incomplete modeling of the information propagation process. To address this issue, this paper comprehensively considers both group and individual relations, and proposes an information propagation prediction model that integrates user relation representations and information diffusion topology features. For the group relation, this paper constructs a user co-occurrence graph to learn user similarity relation representations, which are then fused with information diffusion topology features to capture group relations. For the individual relation, this paper fuses user representation and influencing factors to capture internal factors on stimulating users to share information. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed model on two public datasets is improved, and the MAP@k and hits@k evaluation indicators on the Memetracker dataset are improved by an average of 6.54% and 2.75%, respectively.

In order to establish a fatty acid fingerprint of the seed oil from Akebia trifoliata and explore the differential characteristic indicators of fatty acid composition in the seed oil from different regions, a total of 18 batches of Akebia trifoliata seed oil from different regions were extracted using Soxhlet extraction method. The fatty acid composition and content were analyzed, and the Akebia trifoliata seed oil fatty acid fingerprint was established using the "Chinese medicine chromatographic fingerprint similarity evaluation system". Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were performed to analyze the differential characteristic indicators of Akebia trifoliata seed oil. The results indicated that, the main fatty acids in Akebia trifoliata seed oil were oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid, with their relative contents exceeding 19%. The fatty acid fingerprint of Akebia trifoliata seed oil was established, the similarity between the samples and the standard fingerprint was above 0.994, indicating the high accuracy and reliability. Oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid can be used as differential markers for preliminary discrimination of geographical origin. However, further analysis and determination should be done by considering more diverse characteristic results.

Let M and N be nests on separable Hilbert space. If the two nest algebras are distance less than 1 ( d (T (M) , T (N)) < 1 ), then the nests are distance less than 1 ( d (M , N) < 1 ). If the nests are distance less than 1 apart, then the nest algebras are similar, i.e. there is an invertible S such that S M = N , so that S T (M) S - 1 = T (N) . However there are examples of nests closer than 1 for which the nest algebras are distance 1 apart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial replacement of traditional types of fuel, which in the world and in Ukraine, is possible with the use of biomass of plant origin. A perennial cereal plant called switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is promising for the production of biofuel, the seeds of which are characterized by a high biological dormancy, which leads to a significant decrease in its germination. Therefore, it is urgent to conduct a study to reduce this state of dormancy, which will ensure an increase in seed germination and contribute to the widespread introduction of the culture into production. Laboratory and mathematical and statistical methods were used in the research. Dormancy can be broken in various ways, but most of them are based on the creation of stressful conditions during the period of seed germination or before its germination. One of the ways to reduce dormancy is the term and conditions in which the seed is located. In order to find out the effect of conditions and storage time on seed quality, a three-factor experiment was conducted in which two varieties of switchgrass of different maturity groups were stored for 364 days under different conditions that are possible when sowing seeds in the field - variable temperatures and humidity, the time of seed storage in such conditions. It has been found that the conditions of seed storage – temperature, humidity and terms, especially their complex interaction, probably affect the improvement of its quality. At a seed moisture content of 9 % and 24-26 % at an air temperature of 18-20 0С, during storage for 180 days, a probable increase in the energy of germination of the Cave-in-Rock variety sample by 11-20 %, germination – by 13-21 %, of the Dakota variety sample, respectively – by 22-19 % and 24-31 %. Researching the causes of dormancy and developing ways to reduce it and increase seed germination will contribute to the introduction of switchgrass from the cultivation of bio-raw materials for the production of biofuel, which has scientific and practical significance.

The research investigated changes in surface water quality (SWQ) in the canals and rivers of Can Tho province in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. Surface water was sampled at 34 points through months of the end of the rainy and flood season (October 2023), the beginning of the dried season (December 2023), and the middle of the dried season (February 2024). The SWQ parameters were compared with limited values of the national technical standard on SWQ and the Vietnamese water quality index. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to find sources causing surface water pollution and cluster analysis (CA) to identify the similarities in SWQ parameters among sampling points. The research showed that Can Tho's average SWQ value ranged at a good level. The SWQ in the dry season is worse than in the rainy season. Pollution from suspended solids, organic matter, nutrients, and coliform was found in Can Tho's surface water. The PCA resulted in the three key sources of PCs 1, 2, and 3 being elucidated by 65.3% of SWQ changes. Twelve current monitoring parameters, including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, total organic carbon, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, and coliform, are influencing SWQ. It is suggested from the CA results that the 34 monitoring points could decrease to 30 points in the case of financial issues. The results are beneficial in reviewing the sampling points and monitoring parameters for SWQ in Can Tho.

UMKM merupakan salah satu sektor pendukung perekonomian di Indonesia. UMKM Batik Madura memberikan kontribusi yang cukup tinggi terhadap penyerapan tanaga kerja dan peningkatan ekonomi masyarakat daerah. Hal ini terbukti pada penyerapan tenaga kerja UMKM di Kabupaten Bangkalan Madura sebesar 210.003 dan Sampang sebesar 264.569. Permasalahan penelitian ini berkaitan dengan banyaknya UMKM Madura, sehingga menyulitkan Dinas Koperasi dalam menjalankan kebijakan pemerintah dalam memberikan pelatihan, bantuan pengembangan UMKM dan pendampingan. Tujuan penelitian adalah mengelompokan UMKM Batik Madura menjadi beberapa kluster menggunakan metode K-Means dan Sillhoutte Coefficient. Metode K-Means dapat melakukan pengelompokan berdasarkan data yang sama atau mempunyai similarity yang tinggi. Data UMKM akan dilakukan preprosesing terlebih dahulu untuk mengatasi data yang kosong dan normalisasi. Metode Sillhoutte Coefficient (SC) digunakan untuk menentukan jumlah kluster yang paling optimal. Pengelompokan UMKM Batik ini berdasarkan perpektif balance scorecard yaitu bisnis internal, keuangan, learning and growth dan pelanggan. Hasil cluster yang paling optimal adalah K=3. Nilai SC adalah sebesar 0,275, dengan 9 fitur dan SC = 0,403 dengan 5 fitur, artinya dengan metode seleksi fitur information gain terjadi peningkatan snilai SC sebesar 0,128. Prosentase hasil pengelompokan adalah cluster 1 sebesar 15 %, cluster 2: 25 % dan cluster 3 : 60 %. Kategori pemetaan cluster 1 adalah sangat baik, cluster 2 baik dan cluster 3 sedang.

Mediterranean countries are a cauldron of cultural exchange, with a strong emphasis on wild plants in cuisine traditions. Many of these plants belong to the family Apiaceae. The common climate determines the common range of distribution. While many plants have wide distribution, the range of distribution of others is restricted to Western Mediterranean or North Africa. This review investigates wild plants from the family Apiaceae traditionally used as food in 13 study sites—11 countries in the Mediterranean and adjacent territories—the mainland and 3 islands. The aim is to trace patterns of native distribution versus consumption. As a result, 81 wild umbellifers are listed, traditionally used as food. Their consumption and distribution patterns are described and discussed. Interestingly in 8 of the 13 study sites (61.5%) are recorded 50 plant taxa (66.7% of all wild umbellifers, traditionally used as food) which are consumed in only one particular country. These are as follows: 8 taxa in Morocco, 9 taxa in Spain, 2 taxa in Sicily, 3 taxa in Bulgaria 3 taxa in Crete, 8 taxa in Armenia, 14 taxa in Turkey, and 3 taxa in Jordan. However, these 50 restrictedly consumed plants are distributed in more than one country (except 15 taxa, which are endemics). Many of the plants that are used in certain countries are not consumed by the neighboring people. The results of the two statistical tests, namely Jaccard index and heatmap clustering (double dendrogram), are discussed. The presence of an outlier, such as Bulgaria, which shares borders, history, and culture with Greece and Turkey, emphasizes the importance of local climate for plant distribution and consumption over cultural interactions. The same was observed for some pairs of countries, such as Spain and Morrocco and Turkey and Armenia, although they had the highest number of common plants that are both distributed and consumed as food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our ability to identify an object is often impaired by the presence of preceding and/or succeeding task-irrelevant items. Understanding this temporal interference is critical for any theoretical account of interference across time and for minimizing its detrimental effects. Therefore, we used the same sequences of 3 orientation items, orientation estimation task, and computational models, to examine temporal interference over both short (<150  ms; visual masking) and long (175–475  ms; temporal crowding) intervals. We further examined how inter-item similarity modifies these different instances of temporal interference. Qualitatively different results emerged for interference of different scales. Interference over long intervals mainly degraded the precision of the target encoding while interference over short intervals mainly affected the signalto-noise ratio. Although both interference instances modulated substitution errors (reporting a wrong item) and were alleviated with dissimilar items, their characteristics were markedly disparate. These findings suggest that different mechanisms mediate temporal interference of different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardamom is one of the prominent plants with significant economic value in the Banyumas Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. Although Javanese cardamom is traditionally categorized under Amomum compactum, the morphological variations observed create ambiguity about its exact species status. DNA barcoding using the maturase K (matK) and ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) genes is proven as a reliable technique to elucidate the taxonomic status of morphological variable plant cultivars. This study aimed to characterize cardamom from Banyumas Regency using morphological and molecular approaches for taxonomic status identification and genetic diversity evaluation. The matK and rbcL genes were selected as genetic markers and sequenced using a bidirectional sequencing technique. Morphological examination showed significant color variations at the cardamom stem base. All samples had high genetic identities to reference species in databases and were supported by high query cover and zero e-values. Therefore, molecular characterization, alongside geographic distribution assessment, established that this plant belongs to a single species, Amomum compactum. Additionally, the analysis conducted showed a low level of genetic diversity, as evidenced by haplotype and nucleotide diversity. Low-level genetic diversity provides additional data to convince that cardamon in Banyumas Regency belongs to a single species. These results are essential data in seed selection for further cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geosesarma shows intraspecific carapace color variation, which might lead to species misidentification. The problem can be solved using DNA barcoding. There is one research about Geoserarma from the southern slopes of Mount Slamet, but samples were only collected from the Banjaran River for morphological identification. Here, we collected samples from wider areas covering south slope and applied molecular identification. This research aims to assess Geosesarma diversity in south-slope Mount Slamet Central Java, Indonesia based on the cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene barcoding. Surveys were carried out at six sites. Taxonomic identification was done using the barcoding technique. Four morphotypes were obtained during the research. Three morphotypes with the square carapace were identified as Geosesarma, while the remaining one morphotype was included in Parathelphusa. The three Geosesarma morphotypes were barcoded as Geosersarma dennerle because their genetic identity was more than 97% of the G. dennerle sequence in Boldsystems. In contrast, the Parathelphusa morphotype was barcoded as P. convexa with a genetic identity of 97.50%. It can be concluded that the Geosesarma crab on the south-slope Mount Slamet only consists of one species but has carapace and claw color variations. The data are essential for Geosesarma market development and conservation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major constraining factor for attentional selection is the similarity between targets and distractors. When similarity is low, target items can be identified quickly and efficiently, whereas high similarity can incur large costs on processing speed. Models of visual search contrast a fast, efficient parallel stage with a slow serial processing stage where search times are strongly modulated by the number of distractors in the display. In particular, recent work has argued that the magnitude of search slopes should be inversely proportional to target–distractor similarity. Here, we assessed the relationship between target–distractor similarity and search slopes. In our visual search tasks, participants detected an oddball color target among distractors (Experiments 1 & 2) or discriminated the direction of a triangle in the oddball color (Experiment 3). We systematically varied the similarity between target and distractor colors (along a circular CIELAB color wheel) and the number of distractors in the search array, finding logarithmic search slopes that were inversely proportional to the number of items in the array. Surprisingly, we also found that searches were highly efficient (i.e., near-zero slopes) for targets and distractors that were extremely similar (≤20° in color space). These findings indicate that visual search is systematically influenced by target–distractor similarity across different processing stages. Importantly, we found that search can be highly efficient and entirely unaffected by the number of distractors despite high perceptual similarity, in contrast to the general assumption that high similarity must lead to slow and serial search behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ratio of two magnitudes can take one of two values depending on the order they are operated on: a 'big' ratio of the larger to smaller magnitude, or a 'small' ratio of the smaller to larger. Although big and small ratio scales have different metric properties and carry divergent predictions for perceptual comparison tasks, no psychophysical studies have directly compared them. Two experiments are reported in which subjects implicitly learned to compare pairs of brightnesses and line lengths by non-symbolic feedback based on the scaled big ratio, small ratio or difference of the magnitudes presented. Results of Experiment 1 showed all three operations were learned quickly and estimated with a high degree of accuracy that did not significantly differ across groups or between intensive and extensive modalities, though regressions on individual data suggested an overall predisposition towards differences. Experiment 2 tested whether subjects learned to estimate the operation trained or to associate stimulus pairs with correct responses. For each operation, Gaussian noise was added to the feedback that was constant for repetitions of each pair. For all subjects, coefficients for the added noise component were negative when entered in a regression model alongside the trained differences or ratios, and were statistically significant in 80% of individual cases. Thus, subjects learned to estimate the comparative operations and effectively ignored or suppressed the added noise. These results suggest the perceptual system is highly flexible in its capacity for non-symbolic computation, which may reflect a deeper connection between perceptual structure and mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-verbal mimicry (i.e., being posturally similar by copying another person's body language) has been shown to increase evaluations of the mimicker. Concurrently, extensive research in social psychology has demonstrated a negative effect on interpersonal evaluations when one perceives others as cognitively dissimilar, often resulting in interpersonal conflicts. Across two experiments (Experiment 1: N = 159, Experiment 2: N = 144), we tested our hypotheses that mimicry, compared with no mimicry, will make mimickers come across as more likable and competent regardless of whether they were perceived as cognitively dissimilar or not (Experiment 1) and regardless of the extent to which they were perceived as cognitively dissimilar (Experiment 2). Broadly, we found support for our hypotheses, and via mediation sensitivity analyses, we found that the effect of mimicry, at least for likability, was mediated by participants' perceived personal similarity to the mimicker. Non-verbal mimicry may thus be one way of alleviating interpersonal conflicts via increasing perceptions of personal similarity regardless of initial cognitive dissimilarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential use of organic electronic materials in various optoelectronic devices has drawn considerable attention in recent years. For organic electronic devices to operate more effectively, the exciton binding energy must be reduced. Using high-throughput screening methods and machine learning analyses, a thorough framework for creating organic electronic materials with lower exciton binding energies has been described in the current research. Our approach combines computer simulations, databases of materials, and data-driven algorithms to find viable compounds for materials with low exciton binding energies. Python software has been used to analyze various ML models. Breaking retrosynthetically interesting chemical substructures methodology has been used to form new compounds. The characteristics of compounds has been represented through molecular descriptors. Random forest regressor model, gradient boosting regressor model, K Neighbors regressor model and extra tree regressor model have been used to analyze the performance parameters. Twenty organic semi-conductors have been selected with low Eb values. The synthetic accessibility score indicated easy synthesis of selected semi-conductors. Similarity analysis has indicated structural similarity between selected semi-conductors. Machine learning is helping the potential use of organic electronic materials in various optoelectronic devices, such as organic photovoltaics, organic light-emitting diodes, and organic field-effect transistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the recent interest in how memory operates in social contexts, it is more important than ever to meaningfully measure the similarity between recall sequences of different individuals. Similarity of recall sequences of different individuals has been quantified using primarily order-agnostic and some order-sensitive measures specific to memory research without agreement on any one preferred measure. However, edit distance measures have not been used to quantify the similarity of recall sequences in collaborative memory studies. In the current study, we review a broad range of similarity measures, highlighting commonalities and differences. Using simulations and behavioral data, we show that edit distances do measure a memory-relevant factor of similarity and capture information distinct from that captured by order-agnostic measures. We answer illustrative research questions which demonstrate potential applications of edit distances in collaborative and individual memory settings and reveal the unique impact collaboration has on similarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial replacement of traditional types of fuel, which in the world and in Ukraine is possible with the use of biomass of plant origin. A perennial cereal plant called switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is promising for the production of biofuel, the seeds of which are characterized by a high biological dormancy, which leads to a significant decrease in its germination. Therefore, it is urgent to conduct a study to reduce this state of dormancy, which will ensure an increase in seed germination and contribute to the widespread introduction of the culture into production. In order to find out the effect of conditions and storage time on seed quality, a three-factor experiment was conducted in which two varieties of switchgrass of different maturity groups were stored for 364 days under different conditions that are possible when sowing seeds in the field - variable temperatures and humidity, the time of seed storage in such conditions. It has been found that the conditions of seed storage - temperature, humidity and terms, especially their complex interaction, probably affect the improvement of its quality. At a seed moisture content of 9% and 24-26% at an air temperature of 18-20 °C, during storage for 180 days, a probable increase in the energy of germination of the Cave-in-Rock variety sample by 11-20%, germination - by 13-21%, of the Dakota variety sample, respectively - by 22-19% and 24-31%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural design is a prerequisite for the creation of mechanical equipment. This study focuses on the structural synthesis of epicyclic chains (ECs), and proposes a new topological model and synthesis method of ECs to address the existing research problems (i.e. synthesis dependence on multiple graphic transformations and the generation of pseudo-isomorphism). First, the structural characteristics of ECs are analyzed to explore the relation between their axles, gears, and planet carriers, and the corresponding topological model and the adjacency matrix expression of ECs are provided. Then, the topological elements corresponding to the axles, gears, and gear pairs are added sequentially to the topological graph corresponding to the planet carriers, and the constraints are established based on similarity to inhibit the generation of isomorphism. Finally, all the databases of feasible ECs are obtained through gear loop discrimination. All processes are carried out with computer assistance. The synthesis results of the ECs with 1–3 degrees of freedom and up to 10 components are presented. The logic of this paper is to simplify (or optimize) the synthesis process to improve efficiency of structural synthesis, which will break through the threshold of computing power and provide more possibilities for the design of mechanical equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]