Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Orthographic mapping instruction to facilitate reading and spelling in Brazilian emergent readers

ABSTRACT An experiment and a follow-up study were conducted with Brazilian Portuguese-speaking kindergartners (N =90), mean age 53 months, to examine whether emergent readers benefit more from instruction in orthographic mapping (OM) of phonemes than OM of syllables at the outset of learning to read and write, and whether the addition of articulatory gestures in the OM training of phonemes enhances the benefit. In the experiment, children received instruction in small groups in one of four conditions: OM of phonemes with letters and articulation (OMP+A); OM of phonemes with letters but no articulation (OMP); OM of syllables and their spellings (OMS); and no OM control. Results showed that the OMP+A group outperformed the others in phonemic segmentation, reading, and spelling. On literacy assessments 1.5 years later, only the OMP+A group remembered how to segment words into phonemes. We conclude that despite the greater salience and accessibility of syllables than phonemes in spoken Portuguese, teaching phonemic OM better prepares emergent readers to move into reading and spelling than teaching syllabic OM. Moreover, instruction that includes articulation as well as letters to segment words is especially effective. Results support a graphophonemic connectionist theory of emergent reading and spelling.
Interpreting hemoglobin and water concentration, oxygen saturation, and scattering measured in vivo by near-infrared breast tomography

Near-infrared spectroscopic tomography was used to measure the properties of 24 mammographically normal breasts to quantify whole-breast absorption and scattering spectra and to evaluate which tissue composition characteristics can be determined from these spectra. The absorption spectrum of breast tissue allows quantification of (i) total hemoglobin concentration, (ii) hemoglobin oxygen saturation, and (iii) water concentration, whereas the scattering spectrum provides information about the size and number density of cellular components and structural matrix elements. These property data were tested for correlation to demographic information, including subject age, body mass index, breast size, and radiographic density. Total hemoglobin concentration correlated inversely to body mass index, likely because lower body mass indicates proportionately less fat and more glandular tissue, and glandular tissue contains greater vascularity, hence, more total hemoglobin. Optical scattering was correlated to breast diameter, subject age, and radiographic density. In the radiographic density, fatty breasts had low scattering power and extremely dense breasts had higher values. This observation is consistent with low attenuation of conventional x-rays with fat and higher attenuation in glandular tissues. Optically, fatty tissues have large scatterers leading to a low scattering power, whereas glandular or fibrous tissues have more cellular and collagen-based structures that lead to high scattering power. The study presents correlative data supporting the hypothesis that optical measurements of absorption and scattering can provide physiologically relevant information about breast tissue composition. These breast constituents vary significantly between individuals and can be altered because of changes in breast physiology or pathological state.
Polynomial-phase estimation, phase unwrapping and the nearest lattice point problem

Polynomial-phase signals have attracted significant interest due to their applicability to radar, sonar, geophysics, and radio communication. In this paper we introduce a new technique for estimating the parameters of polynomial phase signals. The parameters are estimated by performing phase unwrapping in a least squares manner. The least squares problem is formulated as a nearest lattice point problem that can be solved using existing techniques. The statistical performance of the new estimator is excellent when compared with popular existing estimators such as those based on the discrete polynomial phase transform.
A Systematic Framework for Composite Hypothesis Testing of Independent Bernoulli Trials

This letter is focused on the classic problem of testing samples drawn from independent Bernoulli probability mass functions, when the success probability under the alternative hypothesis is not known. The goal is to provide a systematic taxonomy of the viable detectors (designed according to theoretically-founded criteria) which can be used for the specific instance of the problem. Both One-Sided (OS) and Two-Sided (TS) tests are considered, with reference to: (i) identical success probability (a homogeneous scenario) or (ii) different success probabilities (a non-homogeneous scenario) for the observed samples. As a result of the study, a complete summary (in tabular form) of the relevant statistics for the problem is provided, along with a discussion on the existence of the Uniformly Most Powerful (UMP) test. Finally, when the Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT) is not UMP, existence of the UMP detector after reduction by invariance is investigated.
The Complementarity of Team Meetings and Cross-Functional Communication

This article investigates the respective influence of two different forms of communication on performance in new services development teams, namely, formal team meetings and informal cross-functional communication. Based on the work by Gebert and colleagues, the authors suggest a complementary relationship between these two forms of communication. They posit that team meetings enhance knowledge integration but may challenge knowledge generation. Inversely, they posit that cross-functional communication fosters knowledge generation but hinders knowledge integration. The authors therefore expect that cross-functional communication and team meetings will interact to predict team performance. A study on 55 new services development teams in consulting and financial services confirmed the authors’ hypothesis.
Acoustic Correlates of Prosodic Prominence for Naïve Listeners of American English

0. Introduction This study examines the acoustic correlates of prosodic prominence as perceived by a large number of native listeners of American English who are naïve to the phonetics and phonology of prosody. In English, as in other stress languages, speech utterances are chunked into smaller prosodic phrases, and within a prosodic phrase some words are assigned phrasal stress, which typically marks a word or a phrase as having a focus or as introducing new information into the discourse. We refer to phrasal stress here as prosodic prominence. Speakers convey the information structure of an utterance through prosodic prominence, and listeners must decode the prosodic structure to recover the speaker’s intended meaning in the course of comprehension. Prosodic structures are phonetically implemented in patterns of pitch (a perceptual attribute of fundamental frequency, F0), duration, loudness (a perceptual attribute of the intensity of sound pressure), and spectral modulations including formants. Pitch as a perceptual correlate of F0 is traditionally described as a primary cue for prominence in many languages, including American English (Beckman 1986, Pierrehumbert 1980). Many studies have investigated F0 as a primary cue for prominence in many languages. Terken (1991, 1994) tested the relative importance of the magnitude of F0 changes or F0 maxima in the perception of prominence in Dutch and these properties of F0 worked together in a complex way to cue prominence. Gussenhoven and Rietveld (1988) and Gussenhoven et al. (1997) also examined the relation between F0 maxima and minima and prominence perception in Dutch and showed that the relative distance between pitch peaks as well as the degree of declination of the baseline is important in the perception of prominence. The role of F0 as a primary cue for prominence is, however, still controversial. Other acoustic measures have also been investigated as correlates of prominence, although the definition of prominence varies across studies. For instance, Cooper et al. (1985) showed that prominent words (contrastively accented) have elongat-
Childhood Adversity Moderates the Effects of HTR2A Epigenetic Regulatory Polymorphisms on Rumination

The serotonin system has been suggested to moderate the association between childhood maltreatment and rumination, with the latter in its turn reported to be a mediator in the depressogenic effect of childhood maltreatment. Therefore, we investigated whether the associations of two epigenetic regulatory polymorphisms in the HTR2A serotonin receptor gene with Ruminative Responses Scale rumination and its two subtypes, brooding and reflection, are moderated by childhood adversity (derived from the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) among 1,501 European white adults. We tested post hoc whether the significant associations are due to depression. We also tested the replicability of the significant results within the two subsamples of Budapest and Manchester. We revealed two significant models: both the association of methylation site rs6311 with rumination and that of miRNA binding site rs3125 (supposed to bind miR-1270, miR-1304, miR-202, miR-539 and miR-620) with brooding were a function of childhood adversity, and both interaction findings were significantly present both in the never-depressed and in the ever-depressed group. Moreover, the association of rs3125 with brooding could be replicated across the separate subsamples, and remained significant even when controlling for lifetime depression and the Brief Symptom Inventory depression score. These findings indicate the crucial importance of involving stress factors when considering endophenotypes and suggest that brooding is a more promising endophenotype than a broader measure of rumination. Transdiagnostic relevance of the brooding endophenotype and the potential of targeting epigenetic regulatory polymorphisms of HTR2A in primary and secondary prevention of depression and possibly of other disorders are also discussed.
Infragravity rip current pulsations

[1] The origins of rip current pulsations within the infragravity frequency band (0.004–0.04 Hz) are determined from measurements made with arrays of colocated pressure and velocity sensors deployed on a beach with persistent rip current channels. The observations indicate significant energy in cross-shore infragravity velocities that varies spatially in the alongshore due to the presence of rip channels. Infragravity velocities are smaller within the rip channel than on the shore-connected shoal owing to differences in water depth. Rip current pulsations at infragravity frequencies are linked to standing infragravity motions but not to the ponding and subsequent release of water by wave group pumping.
Indicators of characteristics of Learners Autonomy in English Language of Primary 6 students in the Northeast of Thailand

This study aims to develop indicators of characteristics of Learners Autonomy in English Language of Primary 6 students in the Northeast of Thailand. The researcher used a mixed research methodology. The samples were divided into 2 categories which are qualitative and quantitative samples. On qualitative sample, 7 experts in humanities and social were interviewed to assess the development of indicators of characteristics of Learners Autonomy in English Language of Primary 6 students. The interview showed that there were 7 components and 32 indicators for teachers with experience and expertise in teaching English in Primary 6. After that 11 expert teachers have a group discussion to discuss the indicators of characteristics of Learners Autonomy in English Language of Primary 6 students. The group discussion showed that there were 4 components and 13 indicators. On quantitative research, 600 students were selected for second order confirmatory factor analysis of Learners Autonomy in English Language of Primary 6 students in the Northeast of Thailand. The instruments used were interviews and questionnaires. Data analysis was done using mean, standard deviation and confirmations. For analysis of findings of qualitative research methodology on Learners Autonomy in English Language of Primary 6 Students, there were 4 components and 13 indicators in multi-case studies as follows: Component 1, How to study, 4 indicators; Component 2, Problem solving skills, 3 indicators; Component 3, Self-efficacy, 3 indicators; Component 4, Love to learn, 3 indicators. The second order confirmatory factor analysis found that the model was statistically significant, based on the statistically validated statistics of the model: c2 was 651.829, df was 601, p-value of 0.0741, CFI was 0.995, TLI was 0.994, RMSEA was 0.012, SRMR was 0.026, and c2/df was 1.085. Key words: Indicators, the characteristics, Learners Autonomy in English Language.
Pathway-Driven Approaches of Interaction between Oxidative Balance and Genetic Polymorphism on Metabolic Syndrome

Despite evidences of association between basic redox biology and metabolic syndrome (MetS), few studies have evaluated indices that account for multiple oxidative effectors for MetS. Oxidative balance score (OBS) has indicated the role of oxidative stress in chronic disease pathophysiology. In this study, we evaluated OBS as an oxidative balance indicator for estimating risk of MetS with 6414 study participants. OBS is a multiple exogenous factor score for development of disease; therefore, we investigated interplay between oxidative balance and genetic variation for development of MetS focusing on biological pathways by using gene-set-enrichment analysis. As a result, participants in the highest quartile of OBS were less likely to be at risk for MetS than those in the lowest quartile. In addition, persons in the highest quartile of OBS had the lowest level of inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein and WBC. With GWAS-based pathway analysis, we found that VEGF signaling pathway, glutathione metabolism, and Rac-1 pathway were significantly enriched biological pathways involved with OBS on MetS. These findings suggested that mechanism of angiogenesis, oxidative stress, and inflammation can be involved in interaction between OBS and genetic variation on risk of MetS.
Towards Semantic Recommendation of Biodiversity Datasets based on Linked Open Data

Conventional content-based ltering methods recommend documents based on extracted keywords. They calculate the similarity between keywords and user interests and return a list of matching documents. In the long run, this approach often leads to overspecialization and fewer new entries with respect to a user’s preferences. Here, we propose a semantic recommender system using Linked Open Data for the user prole and adding semantic annotations to the index. Linked Open Data allows recommendations beyond the content domain and supports the detection of new information. One research area with a strong need for the discovery of new information is biodiversity. Due to their heterogeneity, the exploration of biodiversity data requires interdisciplinary collaboration. Personalization, in particular in recommender systems, can help to link the individual disciplines in biodiversity research and to discover relevant documents and datasets from various sources. We developed a rst prototype for our semantic recommender system in this eld, where a multitude of existing vocabularies facilitate our approach.
Comparison of Quantitative Descriptive Analysis to the Napping methodology with and without product training

Napping has recently been gaining popularity as a rapid descriptive profiling method, primarily for the reduction in cost and time when compared with traditional descriptive analysis. Questions remain regarding the accuracy of data from untrained consumers and how this differs from a trained panel. The aim of this research is to compare results obtained from a Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) strawberry-trained panel with untrained consumers applying Napping combined with ultra-flash profile (UFP). Six strawberry samples (three duplicate cultivars) were assessed. Untrained consumers (n = 131) used Napping to separate strawberries based on their similarities and differences. Trained panelists (n = 12, minimum 60 hr training), applied QDA and Napping on two separate occasions. Results revealed Napping with UFP to produce product configurations comparable to QDA (RV coefficients of 0.936 and 0.898 between QDA and Napping via a trained panel, and a consumer panel, respectively), with similar descriptive terms to describe products. With a reduction in the number of consumers applying Napping with UFP, however, the similarity between methodologies declined. Furthermore, a lack of common understanding of attribute definitions limited its application. Therefore, Napping with UFP applied by a larger pool of assessors has been deemed an appropriate alternative to QDA when time is limited. Practical application: The comparison of the Napping with ultra-flash profile (UFP) methodology to traditional descriptive analysis will provide insight into consumer perception, and how this differs from an expertly trained panel. Upon evaluating this technique, Napping with UFP using untrained consumers may prove to be a valid instrument in objectively profiling the flavor of non-homogenous agricultural products, potentially proving a viable alternative to the traditional QDA methods in future research of these products.
Multifactor-dimensionality reduction reveals high-order interactions among estrogen-metabolism genes in sporadic breast cancer.

One of the greatest challenges facing human geneticists is the identification and characterization of susceptibility genes for common complex multifactorial human diseases. This challenge is partly due to the limitations of parametric-statistical methods for detection of gene effects that are dependent solely or partially on interactions with other genes and with environmental exposures. We introduce multifactor-dimensionality reduction (MDR) as a method for reducing the dimensionality of multilocus information, to improve the identification of polymorphism combinations associated with disease risk. The MDR method is nonparametric (i.e., no hypothesis about the value of a statistical parameter is made), is model-free (i.e., it assumes no particular inheritance model), and is directly applicable to case-control and discordant-sib-pair studies. Using simulated case-control data, we demonstrate that MDR has reasonable power to identify interactions among two or more loci in relatively small samples. When it was applied to a sporadic breast cancer case-control data set, in the absence of any statistically significant independent main effects, MDR identified a statistically significant high-order interaction among four polymorphisms from three different estrogen-metabolism genes. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a four-locus interaction associated with a common complex multifactorial disease.
Learning the inverse kinematics of tendon-driven soft manipulators with K-nearest Neighbors Regression and Gaussian Mixture Regression

Due to the urgent need for Minimally Invasive Surgeries (MIS), all kinds of surgical robots have been developed and investigated intensively in last decades, which can both release the fatigues of surgeons and speed up the process of wound healing. Tendon-Driven Serpentine Manipulator (TSM) maybe among the most widely adopted and promising ones to turn robot assisted MIS into reality. But due to the high nonlinearities and model uncertainties in the TSM system, it is extremely difficult to precisely control the robot. In this paper, we develop and investigate two approaches from machine learning domain, Gaussian Mixture Regression (GMR) and K-Nearest-Neighbors Regression (KNNR), to learn the Inverse Kinematic (IK) model of our TSM robot. Then we compare the performance of GMR and KNNR with that of an IK model derived in previous literatures. Experimental results conducted on a real world TSM robot performing trajectory tracking tasks validate the superior performance of the proposed methods over traditional analytical IK models.
Metaphysical Causation

There is a systematic and suggestive analogy between grounding and causation. In my view, this is no coincidence: grounding and causation resemble one another because grounding is a type of causation. I defend the identification of grounding with metaphysical causation from some initial objections, and I draw on the causation literature to explore connections between grounding and counterfactuals. I outline a sophisticated non-reductive counterfactual account of grounding along interventionist lines, and use it to diagnose the prevalence of scepticism about grounding as deriving, at least in part, from scepticism about non-trivial counterpossible counterfactuals.
Enhancing ubiquitous computing with user interpretation: field testing the home health horoscope

Domestic ubiquitous computing systems often rely on inferences about activities in the home, but the open-ended, dynamic and heterogeneous nature of the home poses serious problems for such systems. In this paper, we propose that by shifting the responsibility for interpretation from the system to the user, we can build systems that interact with people at humanly meaningful levels, preserve privacy, and encourage engagement with suggested topics. We describe a system that embodies this hypothesis, using sensors and inferencing software to assess 'domestic wellbeing' and presenting the results to inhabitants through an output chosen for its ambiguity. In a three-month field study of the system, customised for a particular volunteer household, users engaged extensively with the system, discussing and challenging its outputs and responding to the particular topics it raised.
EMOTIONAL CONTEXT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF TV ADVERTISING

This study examined the impact of emotional context on effectiveness of TV commercials (TVCs). In two experiments, participants were exposed to either emotionally positive or emotionally negative stimuli before watching a TVC. The effectiveness of the TVC was measured by 4 indicators: Ad recall, attitude toward the ad (Aad), attitude toward the brand (Ab), and purchase intent (PI). Results of Experiment 1 revealed that participants who were pre-exposed to a positive emotional context had a more positive Aad, Ab and a higher PI, when compared to those who were pre-exposed to a negative emotional context. Experiment 2 demonstrated that pre-exposure to the positive emotional context was associated with more positive Ab and a higher PI, while preexposure to the negative emotional context led to more negative Aad. In both experiments there was no indication of the influence of the emotional context on Ad recall. However, data from Experiment 2 suggested that both positive and negative emotional contexts positively affected ad recognition, when compared to an emotionally neutral situation. In conclusion, our findings advocate the importance of emotional context in which TVCs are broadcasted to the general public, a fact that has been vastly neglected so far by media planners.