Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Appeal for More Research on Individual Language Guidance

Although it constitutes a quite popular and effective system of foreign language teach- ing/learning, language tutoring seems to be disregarded in academic work as well as in teaching materials. Yet, a specific structure of tutoring offers an attractive field for the research that cannot be conducted in the context of group learning. Results of the research could not only enhance the current state of glottodidactic knowledge, but also extend the methodological base, in which it is now futile to search for instruction on the individual work with the learner. The present article is thus an attempt to begin an academic discussion concerning language tutoring. In the face of the scanty amount of scientific material dedicated to the sub- ject of language tutoring, this article aims to prove that there exist many justi- fications of the need to expand research on the quality of language training in the system of individual lessons. After providing the reader with the defini- tion of language tutoring and contrasting the unbalanced popularity of this model among its users and investigators, the paper is going to discuss four chosen areas of exploration of individual language guidance in order to show the research potential present in this model of language teaching/learning.
Biogas Production from Sugarcane Waste: Assessment on Kinetic Challenges for Process Designing

Biogas production from sugarcane waste has large potential for energy generation, however, to enable the optimization of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process each substrate characteristic should be carefully evaluated. In this study, the kinetic challenges for biogas production from different types of sugarcane waste were assessed. Samples of vinasse, filter cake, bagasse, and straw were analyzed in terms of total and volatile solids, chemical oxygen demand, macronutrients, trace elements, and nutritional value. Biochemical methane potential assays were performed to evaluate the energy potential of the substrates according to different types of sugarcane plants. Methane yields varied considerably (5–181 Nm3·tonFM−1), mainly due to the different substrate characteristics and sugar and/or ethanol production processes. Therefore, for the optimization of AD on a large-scale, continuous stirred-tank reactor with long hydraulic retention times (>35 days) should be used for biogas production from bagasse and straw, coupled with pre-treatment process to enhance the degradation of the fibrous carbohydrates. Biomass immobilization systems are recommended in case vinasse is used as substrate, due to its low solid content, while filter cake could complement the biogas production from vinasse during the sugarcane offseason, providing a higher utilization of the biogas system during the entire year.
Imitation of in-group versus out-group members’ facial expressions of anger: A test with a time perception task

Abstract This research investigated the automatic imitation of facial expressions of anger by in-group and out-group members, using a temporal estimation task. Individuals typically overestimate duration represented by angry faces, probably due to increases in arousal (Droit-Volet, Brunot, & Niedenthal, 2004). Overestimation is not observed when imitation of the facial expressions is inhibited, suggesting that embodied simulation mediates the changes in arousal (Effron, Niedenthal, Gil, & Droit-Volet, 2006). This method thus provides an implicit measure of imitation and was used to test the hypothesis that individuals imitate in-group, but not out-group members’ facial expressions of emotion. In separate studies Chinese and French Caucasian participants were presented with short (400 ms) and long (1600 ms) standard durations in a temporal bisection task. They then categorized standard and intermediate durations, represented by angry and neutral faces, in terms of similarity to the short and long standard durations. Half of the face stimuli were Chinese, and half Caucasian. Results revealed a bias in the temporal perception of emotion for the Caucasian participants when they were presented with Caucasian facial expressions and not Chinese ones. In contrast, this bias in time perception was observed when Chinese individuals imitated faces of both in- and out-group members. The results of the Chinese participants are interpreted in terms of familiarity with and motivations to understand the emotional expressions of members of a host culture.
Role of (cid:1) -Catenin and TCF/LEF Family Members in Transcriptional Activity of HIV in Astrocytes

The Wnt/ (cid:1) -catenin pathway is involved in diverse cell functions governing development and disease. (cid:1) -Catenin, a central mediator of this pathway, binds to members of the TCF/LEF family of transcription factors to modulate hundreds of genes. Active Wnt/ (cid:1) -catenin/TCF-4 signaling plays a signiﬁcant role in repression of HIV-1 replication in multiple cell targets, including astrocytes. To determine the mechanism by which active (cid:1) -catenin/TCF-4 leads to inhibition of HIV replication, we knocked down (cid:1) -catenin or TCF/LEF members in primary astrocytes and astrocytomas transiently transfected with an HIV long terminal repeat (LTR)-luciferase reporter that contained an integrated copy of the HIV LTR-luciferase construct. Knockdown of either (cid:1) -catenin or TCF-4 induced LTR activity by 2- to 3-fold under both the episomal and integrated conditions. This knockdown also increased presence of serine 2-phosphorylated RNA polymerase II (Pol II) on the HIV LTR as well as enhanced its processivity. Knockdown of (cid:1) -catenin/TCF-4 also impacted tethering of other transcription factors on the HIV promoter. Speciﬁcally, knockdown of TCF-4 enhanced binding of C/EBP (cid:1) , C/EBP (cid:2) , and NF- (cid:3) B to the HIV LTR, while (cid:1) -catenin knockdown increased binding of C/EBP (cid:1) and C/EBP (cid:2) but had no effect on NF- (cid:3) B. Approximately 150 genes in astrocytes were impacted by (cid:1) -catenin knockdown, including genes involved in inﬂammation/immunity, uptake/transport, vesicular transport/exocytosis, apoptosis/ cellular stress, and cytoskeleton/trafﬁcking. These ﬁndings indicate that modulation of the (cid:1) -catenin/TCF-4 axis impacts the basal level of HIV transcription in astrocytes, which may drive low level/persistent HIV in astrocytes that can contribute to on-going neuroinﬂammation, and this axis also has profound effects on astrocyte biology.
“From Patient to Survivor”: Women’s Experience With Breast Cancer After 5 Years

Background: Women who have survived breast cancer for 5 years without recurrence are not subject to active follow-up because of limited resources. Their life experiences more than 5 years subsequent to diagnosis and treatment are unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to understand the life experiences and care needs of women who have survived breast cancer for more than 5 years in Taiwan. Methods: A purposive sampling was used. Women diagnosed with breast cancer more than 5 years previously and without recurrence were recruited in this study. The interviews were conducted in a comfortable and convenient place decided by the participants. The interviews were converted into transcripts and analyzed using content analysis. Results: Thirteen women participated in this study whose ages were between 48 and 72 years. Five main themes were identified: (1) fear of recurrence, with women attempting to use ways to reduce recurrence, including dependence on drugs, desire for information, and promoting health; (2) hoping for alleviation of adverse effects; (3) seeking a body image; (4) expectations for the patient-physician relationship; (5) concerns of a mother; and (6) positive thinking. Conclusions: Taiwanese women with post 5-year breast cancer survival continue to have physiological and emotional needs. They long for attention and care from their healthcare team. Implications for Practice: It is pivotal to formulate a care plan suitable for 5-year-plus survivors of breast cancer and to assist them in gaining an understanding of the latest treatments and self-care information. It is crucial that nurses play a greater role in caring for long-term survivors.
fMRI study of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy using amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation analysis

Various functional imaging tools have been used to detect epileptic activity in the neural network underlying mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). In the present fMRI study, a data‐driven approach was employed to map interictal epileptic activity in mTLE patients by measuring the amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of the blood oxygen level‐dependent (BOLD) signal. Twenty‐four left mTLE patients and 26 right mTLE patients were investigated by comparing with 25 healthy subjects. In the patients, the regions showing increased ALFF were consistently distributed in the mesial temporal lobe, thalamus, and a few of other cortical and subcortical structures composing a mesial temporal epilepsy network proposed previously, while the regions showing decreased ALFF were mostly located in the areas of so‐called default‐mode network. Data of simultaneous EEG‐fMRI from a portion of the patients suggested that the increases in ALFF might be associated with the interictal epileptic activity. Individual analyses based on statistic parametric mapping revealed a moderate sensitivity and a fairly high specificity for the lateralization of unilateral mTLE. We conclude that the ALFF analysis may provide a useful tool in fMRI study of epilepsy. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Changes in the lipophilicity of the surfaces of Meloidogyne incognita and Haemonchus contortus during exposure to host signals

The surfaces of plant and animal parasitic nematodes share certain lipids, which seem to be important in the infection process. The surfaces of 2 parasitic nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita and Haemonchus contortus, were activated by different pH buffers to allow the insertion of different fluorescent probes. The lipid analogue PKH26 and the surface charge indicator, cationized ferritin, were used as probes with these nematodes but labelled only the retaining 2nd-stage moulted cuticle of H. contortus 3rd-stage larvae (L3). Shedding of the second moult of H. contortus L3 was also visualized with PKH26 and cationized ferritin. The fluorescent anionic lipid probe 5-N-(octadecanoyl)-aminofluorescein (AF18) was inserted into the epicuticle layer of M. incognita 2nd-stage juveniles (J2) and H. contortus L3, and also of the second moult of H. contortus L3. Incubation with tomato root diffusate caused modifications of the M. incognita surface allowing the insertion of AF18. Fluorescence with AF18 was significantly decreased after treating M. incognita J2 with amiloride, a potent blocker of hydrogen and sodium (H+/Na+) antiporter. No surface fluidity was observed in M. incognita J2 and H. contortus L3 pre-treated with alkaline buffer when the lipid analogue AF18 was used in fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments. The significance of these findings to host infection processes is discussed.
Generating random graphs with large girth

We present a simple and efficient algorithm for randomly generating simple graphs without small cycles. These graphs can be used to design high performance Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes. For any constant k, α ≤ 1/2k(k + 3) and m = O(n1+α), our algorithm generates an asymptotically uniform random graph with n vertices, m edges, and girth larger than k in polynomial time. To the best of our knowledge this is the first polynomial algorithm for the problem. Our algorithm generates a graph by sequentially adding m edges to an empty graph with n vertices. Recently, this type of sequential process has been very successful for efficiently counting and generating random graphs [35, 18, 11, 7, 5, 6].
Building an Encrypted, Distributed, and Searchable Key-value Store

Modern distributed key-value stores are offering superior performance, incremental scalability, and fine availability for data-intensive computing and cloud-based applications. Among those distributed data stores, the designs that ensure the confidentiality of sensitive data, however, have not been fully explored yet. In this paper, we focus on designing and implementing an encrypted, distributed, and searchable key-value store. It achieves strong protection on data privacy while preserving all the above prominent features of plaintext systems. We first design a secure data partition algorithm that distributes encrypted data evenly across a cluster of nodes. Based on this algorithm, we propose a secure transformation layer that supports multiple data models in a privacy-preserving way, and implement two basic APIs for the proposed encrypted key-value store. To enable secure search queries for secondary attributes of data, we leverage searchable symmetric encryption to design the encrypted secondary indexes which consider security, efficiency, and data locality simultaneously, and further enable secure query processing in parallel. For completeness, we present formal security analysis to demonstrate the strong security strength of the proposed designs. We implement the system prototype and deploy it to a cluster at Microsoft Azure. Comprehensive performance evaluation is conducted in terms of Put/Get throughput, Put/Get latency under different workloads, system scaling cost, and secure query performance. The comparison with Redis shows that our prototype can function in a practical manner.
A voxel‐based morphometry study of frontal gray matter correlates of impulsivity

Impulsivity is a personality trait exhibited by healthy individuals, but excessive impulsivity is associated with some mental disorders. Lesion and functional neuroimaging studies indicate that the ventromedial prefrontal region (VMPFC), including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and medial prefrontal cortex, and the amygdala may modulate impulsivity and aggression. However, no morphometric study has examined the association between VMPFC and impulsivity. We hypothesized that healthy subjects with high impulsivity would have smaller volumes in these brain regions compared with those with low impulsivity. Sixty‐two healthy subjects were studied (age 35.4 ± 12.1 years) using a 1.5‐T MRI system. The Barratt impulsiveness scale (BIS) was used to assess impulsivity. Images were processed using an optimized voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) protocol. We calculated the correlations between BIS scale scores and the gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes of VMPFC and amygdala. GM volumes of the left and right OFC were inversely correlated with the BIS total score (P = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively). Left ACC GM volumes had a tendency to be inversely correlated with the BIS total score (P = 0.05). Right OFC GM volumes were inversely correlated with BIS nonplanning impulsivity, and left OFC GM volumes were inversely correlated with motor impulsivity. There were no significant WM volume correlations with impulsivity. The results of this morphometry study indicate that small OFC volume relate to high impulsivity and extend the prior finding that the VMPFC is involved in the circuit modulating impulsivity. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Loci for Body Composition and Structural Soundness Traits in Pigs

Background The recent completion of the swine genome sequencing project and development of a high density porcine SNP array has made genome-wide association (GWA) studies feasible in pigs. Methodology/Principal Findings Using Illumina's PorcineSNP60 BeadChip, we performed a pilot GWA study in 820 commercial female pigs phenotyped for backfat, loin muscle area, body conformation in addition to feet and leg (FL) structural soundness traits. A total of 51,385 SNPs were jointly fitted using Bayesian techniques as random effects in a mixture model that assumed a known large proportion (99.5%) of SNPs had zero effect. SNP annotations were implemented through the Sus scrofa Build 9 available from pig Ensembl. We discovered a number of candidate chromosomal regions, and some of them corresponded to QTL regions previously reported. We not only have identified some well-known candidate genes for the traits of interest, such as MC4R (for backfat) and IGF2 (for loin muscle area), but also obtained novel promising genes, including CHCHD3 (for backfat), BMP2 (for loin muscle area, body size and several FL structure traits), and some HOXA family genes (for overall leg action). The candidate regions responsible for body conformation and FL structure soundness did not overlap greatly which implied that these traits were controlled by different genes. Functional clustering analyses classified the genes into categories related to bone and cartilage development, muscle growth and development or the insulin pathway suggesting the traits are regulated by common pathways or gene networks that exert roles at different spatial and temporal stages. Conclusions/Significance This study is one of the earliest GWA reports on important quantitative traits in pigs, and the findings will contribute to the further biological function analysis of the identified candidate genes and potential utilization of them in marker assisted selection.
A modeling-based evaluation of isothermal rebreathing for breath gas analyses of highly soluble volatile organic compounds

Isothermal rebreathing has been proposed as an experimental technique for estimating the alveolar levels of hydrophilic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath. Using the prototypic test compounds acetone and methanol, we demonstrate that the end-tidal breath profiles of such substances during isothermal rebreathing show a characteristic increase that contradicts the conventional pulmonary inert gas elimination theory due to Farhi. On the other hand, these profiles can reliably be captured by virtue of a previously developed mathematical model for the general exhalation kinetics of highly soluble, blood-borne VOCs, which explicitly takes into account airway gas exchange as a major determinant of the observable breath output. This model allows for a mechanistic analysis of various rebreathing protocols suggested in the literature. In particular, it predicts that the end-exhaled levels of acetone and methanol measured during free tidal breathing will underestimate the underlying alveolar concentration by a factor of up to 1.5. Moreover, it clarifies the discrepancies between in vitro and in vivo blood–breath ratios of hydrophilic VOCs and yields further quantitative insights into the physiological components of isothermal rebreathing and highly soluble gas exchange in general.
On the topological structure of complex tangencies to embeddings of S 3 into C 3

In the mid-1980's, M. Gromov used his machinery of the h- principle to prove that there exists totally real embeddings of S 3 into C 3 . Subsequently, Patrick Ahern and Walter Rudin explicitly demonstrated such a totally real embedding. In this paper, we consider the generic situation for such embeddings, namely where complex tangents arise as codimension-2 subspaces. We rst consider the Heisenberg group H and generate some interesting results therein. Then, by using the biholomorphism of H with the 3-sphere minus a point, we demonstrate that every homeomorphism-type of knot in S 3 may arise precisely as the set of complex tangents to an embedding S 3 ,! C 3 . We also make note of the (nongeneric) situation where complex tangents arise along surfaces.
An image transform approach for HMM based automatic lipreading

This paper concentrates on the visual front end for hidden Markov model based automatic lipreading. Two approaches for extracting features relevant to lipreading, given image sequences of the speaker's mouth region, are considered: a lip contour based feature approach which first obtains estimates of the speaker's lip contours and subsequently extracts features from them; and an image transform based approach, which obtains a compressed representation of the image pixel values that contain the speaker's mouth. Various possible features are considered in each approach, and experimental results on a number of visual-only recognition tasks are reported. It is shown that the image transform based approach results in superior lipreading performance. In addition, feature mean subtraction is demonstrated to improve the performance in multi-speaker and speaker-independent recognition tasks. Finally, the effects of video degradations to image transform based automatic lipreading are studied. It is shown that lipreading performance dramatically deteriorates below a 10 Hz field rate, and that image transform features are robust to noise and compression artifacts.
Performance Analysis of Convex LRMR based Passive SAR Imaging

Passive synthetic aperture radar (SAR) uses existing signals of opportunity such as communication and broadcasting signals. In our prior work, we have developed a low-rank matrix recovery (LRMR) method that can reconstruct scenes with extended and densely distributed point targets, overcoming shortcomings of conventional methods. The approach is based on correlating two sets of bistatic measurements, which results in a linear mapping of the tensor product of the scene reflectivity with itself. Recognizing this tensor product as a rank-one positive semi-definite (PSD) operator, we pose passive SAR image reconstruction as a LRMR problem with convex relaxation. In this paper, we present a performance analysis of the convex LRMR-based passive SAR image reconstruction method. We use the restricted isometry property (RIP) and show that exact reconstruction is guaranteed under the condition that the pixel spacing or resolution satisfies a certain lower bound. We show that for sufficiently large center frequencies, our method provides superior resolution than that of Fourier based methods, making it a super-resolution technique. Additionally, we show that phaseless imaging is a special case of our passive SAR imaging method. We present extensive numerical simulation to validate our analysis.
Economic evaluation of cardiac rehabilitation: a systematic review

Background Economic evaluation is an important tool in the evaluation of competing healthcare interventions. Little is known about the economic benefits of different cardiac rehabilitation program delivery models. Design The goal of this study was to review and evaluate the methodological quality of published economic evaluations of cardiac rehabilitation services. Methods Electronic databases were searched for English language evaluations (trials, modeling studies) of the economic impact of cardiac rehabilitation. A review of study characteristics and methodological quality was completed using standardized tools. All costs are adjusted to 2004 US dollars. Results Fifteen economic evaluations were identified which met eligibility criteria but which displayed wide variation in the use of comparators, evaluation type, perspective and design. Evidence to support the cost-effectiveness of supervised cardiac rehabilitation in myocardial infarction and heart failure patients was identified. The range of cost per life year gained was estimated as from $2193 to $28193 and from -$668 to $16118 per quality adjusted life year gained. The level of evidence supporting the economic value of home-based cardiac rehabilitation interventions is limited to partial economic analyses. Conclusions Evidence to support the cost-effectiveness of supervised cardiac rehabilitation compared with usual care in myocardial infarction and heart failure was identified. Further trials are required to support the cost-effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation in cardiac patients who have under gone revascularization. The literature evaluating home-based and alternative delivery models of cardiac rehabilitation was insufficient to draw conclusions about their relative cost-effectiveness. The overall quality of published economic evaluations of cardiac rehabilitation is poor and further well-designed trials are required.