Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fine granular scalable to lossless audio coder

This paper presents Advanced Audio Zip (AAZ), a fine grained scalable to lossless (SLS) audio coder that has recently been adopted as the reference model for MPEG-4 audio SLS work. AAZ integrates the functionalities of high-compression perceptual audio coding, fine granular scalable audio coding, and lossless audio coding in a single framework, and simultaneously provides backward compatibility to MPEG-4 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). AAZ provides the fine granular bit-rate scalability from lossy to lossless coding, and such a scalability is achieved in a perceptually meaningful way, i.e., better perceptual quality at higher bit-rates. Despite its abundant functionalities, AAZ only introduces negligible overhead in terms of lossless compression performance compared with a nonscalable, lossless only audio coder. As a result, AAZ provides a universal yet efficient solution for digital audio applications such as audio archiving, network audio streaming, portable audio playing, and music downloading which were previously catered for by several different audio coding technologies, and eliminates the need for any transcoding system to facilitate sharing of digital audio contents across these application domains
Diagnostic comorbidity in persons with suicidal ideation and behavior.

OBJECTIVE An initial finding of heightened risk of suicidal ideation or behavior among individuals in a random community sample who met diagnostic criteria for panic disorder or panic attacks was not replicated in later studies of both general and specific groups of psychiatric outpatients. The present study represented another effort to validate the finding. METHOD The participants included 209 outpatients who had attempted suicide or were at high risk for continued suicidal behavior or eventual suicide. All subjects were evaluated with a structured clinical interview for assigning DSM-III-R diagnoses, the Modified Scale for Suicidal Ideation, the suicidal ideation subscale of the Suicide Probability Scale, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. RESULTS The findings indicated the relative complexity and importance of diagnostic comorbidity among these suicidal subjects. Mood disorders were the most frequent primary diagnoses, followed by phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Panic disorder was not present as an isolated, independent diagnosis; on the contrary, all of the patients with panic disorder also received at least one additional comorbid diagnosis. Mean scores for suicidal ideation and hopelessness were greatest for patients with current comorbid primary mood disorder and panic disorder. However, a critical and equally important role was played by comorbid PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and phobias. CONCLUSIONS The findings represent another failure to validate, with a specific clinical group, panic disorder as an independent risk factor for suicidal ideation or behavior. However, they highlight the possibility that panic disorder and other anxiety disorders are risk factors when they co-occur with a primary mood disorder.
Assessing the fate and effects of nano aluminum oxide in the terrestrial earthworm, Eisenia fetida

Nano‐sized aluminum is currently being used by the military and commercial industries in many applications including coatings, thermites, and propellants. Due to the potential for wide dispersal in soil systems, we chose to investigate the fate and effects of nano‐sized aluminum oxide (Al2O3), the oxidized form of nano aluminum, in a terrestrial organism. The toxicity and bioaccumulation potential of micron‐sized (50–200 µm, nominal) and nano‐sized (11 nm, nominal) Al2O3 was comparatively assessed through acute and subchronic bioassays using the terrestrial earthworm, Eisenia fetida. Subchronic (28‐d) studies were performed exposing E. fetida to nano‐ and micron‐sized Al2O3‐spiked soils to assess the effects of long‐term exposure. No mortality occurred in subchronic exposures, although reproduction decreased at ≥3,000 mg/kg nano‐sized Al2O3 treatments, with higher aluminum body burdens observed at 100 and 300 mg/kg; no reproductive effects were observed in the micron‐sized Al2O3 treatments. In addition to toxicity and bioaccumulation bioassays, an acute (48‐h) behavioral bioassay was conducted utilizing a soil avoidance wheel in which E. fetida were given a choice of habitat between control, nano‐, or micron‐sized Al2O3 amended soils. In the soil avoidance bioassays, E. fetida exhibited avoidance behavior toward the highest concentrations of micron‐ and nano‐sized Al2O3 (>5,000 mg/kg) relative to control soils. Results of the present study indicate that nano‐sized Al2O3 may impact reproduction and behavior of E. fetida, although at high levels unlikely to be found in the environment. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:1575–1580. © 2010 SETAC
Whole-Genome Shotgun Assembly and Analysis of the Genome of Fugu rubripes

The compact genome of Fugu rubripes has been sequenced to over 95% coverage, and more than 80% of the assembly is in multigene-sized scaffolds. In this 365-megabase vertebrate genome, repetitive DNA accounts for less than one-sixth of the sequence, and gene loci occupy about one-third of the genome. As with the human genome, gene loci are not evenly distributed, but are clustered into sparse and dense regions. Some “giant” genes were observed that had average coding sequence sizes but were spread over genomic lengths significantly larger than those of their human orthologs. Although three-quarters of predicted human proteins have a strong match toFugu, approximately a quarter of the human proteins had highly diverged from or had no pufferfish homologs, highlighting the extent of protein evolution in the 450 million years since teleosts and mammals diverged. Conserved linkages between Fugu and human genes indicate the preservation of chromosomal segments from the common vertebrate ancestor, but with considerable scrambling of gene order.
Association between glutathione S‐transferase π polymorphisms and survival in patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma

Glutathione S‐transferase (GST) π (GSTP1) is a detoxification enzyme with substrate specificity for both exogenous carcinogens and chemotherapy agents. Genetic polymorphisms of GSTP1 exon 5 (Ile105Val) and exon 6 (Ala114Val) appear to reduce this enzyme's activity. Previously, the authors reported that the exon 6 variant was associated with an increased risk of lung carcinoma, particularly among men, younger patients, and ever smokers. In this study, the authors hypothesized that variant GSTP1 genotype would result in reduced inactivation of chemotherapy agents and improved survival in patients with advanced‐stage nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), a population that is likely to receive platinum‐based chemotherapy.
Using internet technologies (such as Skype) as a research medium: a research note

This article presents a brief account of research which embraced the notion of research participant choice by adopting a flexible approach to the medium through which the semi-structured interviews were conducted. The following short paper provides an insight into the ways in which using Skype as a research medium can allow the researcher to reap the well-documented benefits of traditional face-to-face interviews in qualitative research, while also benefiting from the aspects Holt suggests telephone interviews bring to such research.
The article systems of Cape Verde and São Tomé creole portuguese: general principles and specific factors

In the study of article systems in creole languages, two opposing models of analysis stand out. On the one hand, Bickerton, in line with his bio-program hypothesis, proposes an article system in which there is a clearly marked distinction between the notions of specific and nonspecific reference. On the other hand, Janson explains the creole article system in terms of its transmission from the lexifier language, and its further development under the influence of the lexifier language.The capacity of these models to account for the article systems of Cape Verde and Sao Tome Creole Portuguese is examined in a number of oral texts in these two languages. One feature of the analysis stands out in particular: once a discourse item has been introduced via the indefinite article, which marks it as both specific and new, no further marking of successive occurrences of that discourse item by means of a so-called definite article is necessary or even useful. This feature partially contradicts Jan-son's account and accounts for the failure of these two creoles to conform to Bickerton's universal system. Additionally, the paper considers a number of general principals governing the formation of pidgin and creole languages and the action of specific factors in their genesis.
The role of clinical trials in the development of novel surgical techniques

The new paradigm and standard for medicine and surgery is the evidence‐based practice for which the randomized controlled trial is fundamental. Despite the early involvement of surgeons in clinical trials, randomized trials testing novel surgical therapies are not common. Indeed, only 24% of surgical patients are managed based on level 1 evidence. This chapter details how randomized controlled trial methodologies facilitate the development of level 1 evidence in support of minimally invasive colon cancer surgery. J. Surg. Oncol. 2007;96:704–709. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Caffeine's implications for women's health and survey of obstetrician-gynecologists' caffeine knowledge and assessment practices.

OBJECTIVE Caffeine has relevance for women's health and pregnancy, including significant associations with spontaneous abortion and low birth weight. According to scientific data, pregnant women and women of reproductive age should be advised to limit their caffeine consumption. This article reviews the implications of caffeine for women's psychological and physical health, and presents data on obstetrician-gynecologists' (ob-gyns) knowledge and practices pertaining to caffeine. METHODS Ob-gyns (N = 386) who are members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network responded to a 21-item survey about caffeine. RESULTS Although most knew that caffeine is passed through breast milk, only 24.8% were aware that caffeine metabolism significantly slows as pregnancy progresses. Many respondents were not aware of the caffeine content of commonly used products, such as espresso and Diet Coke, with 14.3% and 57.8% indicating amounts within an accurate range, respectively. Furthermore, ob-gyns did not take into account large differences in caffeine content across different caffeinated beverages with most recommending one to two servings of coffee or tea or soft drinks per day. There was substantial inconsistency in what was considered to be "high levels" of maternal caffeine consumption, with only 31.6% providing a response. When asked to indicate the risk that high levels of caffeine have on various pregnancy outcomes, responses were not consistent with scientific data. For example, respondents overestimated the relative risk of stillbirths and underestimated the relative risk of spontaneous abortion. There was great variability in assessment and advice practices pertaining to caffeine. More than half advise their pregnant patients to consume caffeine under certain circumstances, most commonly to alleviate headache and caffeine withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS The data suggest that ob-gyns could benefit from information about caffeine and its relevance to their clinical practice. The development of clinical practice guidelines for caffeine may prove to be useful.
Latino Representation and Education: Pathways to Latino Student Performance

The rapid growth of the Latino population in the U.S. over the past 15 years has led to a significant increase in levels of primary and secondary school enrollment rates of Latino children. Research on Latino education has demonstrated the institutional and contextual challenges faced by this increasingly significant group, but studies that link Latino representation and Latino educational performance have neglected to sort out the direct and indirect effects of representation on student achievement. The central assumption in these studies outlines a causal chain running from Latino political representation (school boards), to Latino bureaucratic representation (administrators and teachers), to Latino student performance. This study tests these theoretical assumptions by employing a path analytic model using data from 1,040 Texas school districts for the years 1997–2001 to tease out the direct and indirect effects of Latino representation on Latino student achievement. We find robust evidence of the impact of Latino political representation on Latino educational attainment in Texas, operating via a direct effect on the number of Latino administrators and teachers and an indirect effect on Latino student performance. Additionally, our results demonstrate that descriptive representation becomes substantive representation in the area of education policy for Latinos and that this relationship remains strong over time. These findings underscore the importance of school board elections and school district hiring practices on Latino student performance.
PATH CHOICE AND VISUAL STIMULI: SIGNS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY AND ARCHITECTURE

This paper is concerned with the exploratory behaviour of first-time visitors to an environment and specifically with the importance of visual stimuli in path choice. Forty-five participants were asked to select among photos representing the path choices at 13 street intersections in the historic centre of Montpellier, providing reasons as they proceeded. Preference among choices at intersections varied significantly in 10 of 13 cases. Eight intersections with the greatest differences in preference between choices were modified such that persons, signs, planters and awnings were removed from the most preferred scenes and inserted into the least preferred. The virtual tour was run again with a new group of participants. In comparison with the first group, the second expressed greater preference for path choices with added elements and diminished preference for photos with removed elements. Choices were also related to verbalizations and rated architectural properties.
Cross-linguistic evidence for the nature of age effects in second language acquisition

ABSTRACT Few researchers would doubt that ultimate attainment in second language grammar is negatively correlated with age of acquisition, but considerable controversy remains about the nature of this relationship: the exact shape of the age-attainment function and its interpretation. This article presents two parallel studies with native speakers of Russian: one on the acquisition of English as a second language in North America (n = 76), and one on the acquisition of Hebrew as a second language in Israel (n = 64). Despite the very different nature of the languages being learned, the two studies show very similar results. When age at testing is partialed out, the data reveal a steep decline in the learning of grammar before age 18 in both groups, followed by an essentially horizontal slope until age 40. This is interpreted as evidence in favor of the critical period. Both groups show a significant correlation between ultimate attainment and verbal aptitude for the adult learners, but not for the early learners. This is interpreted as further evidence that the learning processes in childhood and adulthood not only yield different levels of proficiency but are also different in nature.
Utilizing Predictors for Efficient Thermal Management in Multiprocessor SoCs

Conventional thermal management techniques are reactive, as they take action after temperature reaches a threshold. Such approaches do not always minimize and balance the temperature, and they control temperature at a noticeable performance cost. This paper investigates how to use predictors for forecasting temperature and workload dynamics, and proposes proactive thermal management techniques for multiprocessor system-on-chips. The predictors we study include autoregressive moving average modeling and lookup tables. We evaluate several reactive and predictive techniques on an UltraSPARC T1 processor and an architecture-level simulator. Proactive methods achieve significantly better thermal profiles and performance in comparison to reactive policies.
Hurricane Katrina Families

Hurricane Katrina has profoundly altered the lives of New Orleans residents as they continue for years following the storm to attempt to rebuild their community and their lives. Natural disaster literature has historically focused on the impacts on individuals and correlating variables. Significant literature gaps exist regarding family systems and disaster and analysis of the relationship of social class to recovery. Further, social class has traditionally been examined solely as it relates to socioeconomic status. This qualitative investigation situated in an emancipatory paradigm investigated the relationship between social class and family changes for seven families recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Participants self-identified as members of marginalized social classes. Cross-case themes emerging as significant in the process of familial recovery included Relationship to Community, Interpersonal Relationships, Constructions of Class, and Growing and Changing. Study conclusions revealed significant shifts in family identities evolving around participant geographic connectivity to kinship networks, perceptions of social class status, and levels of cohesion between individual and relational domains within a family. Implications for professionals in the fields of disaster preparedness and recovery are outlined, with emphasis on the connection between practice and study findings.
MAGIA, a web-based tool for miRNA and Genes Integrated Analysis

MAGIA (miRNA and genes integrated analysis) is a novel web tool for the integrative analysis of target predictions, miRNA and gene expression data. MAGIA is divided into two parts: the query section allows the user to retrieve and browse updated miRNA target predictions computed with a number of different algorithms (PITA, miRanda and Target Scan) and Boolean combinations thereof. The analysis section comprises a multistep procedure for (i) direct integration through different functional measures (parametric and non-parametric correlation indexes, a variational Bayesian model, mutual information and a meta-analysis approach based on P-value combination) of mRNA and miRNA expression data, (ii) construction of bipartite regulatory network of the best miRNA and mRNA putative interactions and (iii) retrieval of information available in several public databases of genes, miRNAs and diseases and via scientific literature text-mining. MAGIA is freely available for Academic users at http://gencomp.bio. unipd.it/magia.
The omnivore thesis revisited: Voracious cultural consumers

We augment measures of cultural omnivorousness, based theoretically on the breadth of cultural tastes, with a new but related dimension of voraciousness. This reflects a ‘quantitative’ dimension of leisure consumption based upon both the range and the frequency of leisure participation. Voraciousness is theoretically interpreted in relation to notions of cultural repertoires, to the changing pace of work and leisure in late modernity, and to the ‘insatiable’ quality of contemporary consumption. From British time use data, voraciousness proved to share many relationships found in the analysis of omnivorousness, for example, with educational qualifications and job’s social status. Moreover, these relationships persisted over time irrespective of individuals’ time and money resources. Since voraciousness is associated with high status individuals, and since it is not primarily about the availability of time or money, we argue that it is a symbolic status marker associated with notions such as being harried, keeping busy, multitasking, and embracing a diverse cultural consumption pattern.
The heterogeneity of mental representation: Ending the imagery debate

The possible ways that information can be represented mentally have been discussed often over the past thousand years. However, this issue could not be addressed rigorously until late in the 20th century. Initial empirical findings spurred a debate about the heterogeneity of mental representation: Is all information stored in propositional, language-like, symbolic internal representations, or can humans use at least two different types of representations (and possibly many more)? Here, in historical context, we describe recent evidence that humans do not always rely on propositional internal representations but, instead, can also rely on at least one other format: depictive representation. We propose that the debate should now move on to characterizing all of the different forms of human mental representation.
Early Childhood Teachers’ Beliefs About Promoting Peer Competence

The primary purpose of this study was to describe early childhood teachers’ beliefs about the importance of young children's social competence with peers, and their beliefs about their own influence on children's developing peer competence. Teachers’ beliefs specific to the promotion of peer competence were also examined in relation to their beliefs about developmentally appropriate practice and the observed quality of their classroom environment. Data were collected from 22 teachers of children from age three through six, using interview, various questionnaires, and observations with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. Results suggest that teachers valued peer competence in early childhood, but academic goals were more frequently valued than social goals. Teachers viewed peer competencies as more strongly influenced by the child's inherent nature than by teachers’ efforts, but reported a moderate degree of self‐efficacy for the promotion of peer competence. Lower program quality was associated .
THERE IS AN ECOLOGICAL BASIS FOR HOST/SYMBIONT SPECIFICITY IN CHLORELLA/HYDRA SYMBIOSES

Summary: The Hydra/Chlorella symbiosis is an important model system for examining host/symbiont specificity in alga/inverteb rate systems. The capability of free-living Chlorella to establish symbioses correlates with tolerance of growth to low pH. This agrees with preliminary evidence that pH levels in perialgal vacuoles in aposymbiotic hydra drop to values of 3.5 - 4.0 within several hours after infection. In contrast, excretion of maltose or other sugars and the binding capacity of several lectins is unrelated to infectivity. Formation of successful endosymbioses also appears to be species-specific. Small subunit rRNA sequence comparisons showed that native symbionts of H. viridissima descend from at least two symbiotic events. Symbionts of the 'European'-, 'Swiss'- and 'Jerusalem' strain are closely related to the C. vulgaris/soro kiniana group, and Strain HvT from Israel is very similar to C. protothecoides. We conclude from the above data that ecological factors given by the envi­ ronment inside the phagosomes of the hydra determine host/symbiont specificity rather than 'recognition' processes.