Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lexical Access for Speech Understanding using Minimum Message Length Encoding

The Lexical Access Problem consists of determining the intended sequence of words corresponding to an input sequence of phonemes (basic speech sounds) that come from a low-level phoneme recognizer. In this paper we present an information-theoretic approach based on the Minimum Message Length Criterion for solving the Lexical Access Problem. We model sentences using phoneme realizations seen in training, and word and part-of-speech information obtained from text corpora. We show results on multiple-speaker, continuous, read speech and discuss a heuristic using equivalence classes of similar sounding words which speeds up the recognition process without significant deterioration in recognition accuracy.
Linear complexity object-oriented similarity for clone detection and software evolution analyses

With the widespread adoption of object-oriented technologies, the lack of computationally efficient and scalable approaches is limiting the ability to model and analyze the history of large object-oriented software systems. This paper proposes an approximate representation of object-oriented code characteristics, inspired by pattern recognition centroids for clustering. An interesting application of such a representation is a linear-time complexity algorithm to detect duplicate or nearly duplicated code in object-oriented systems. The algorithm accuracy and time complexity were assessed on 11 releases of a large software system, the Eclipse framework.
Anti-Fatigue Effects of Fermented Rhodiola rosea Extract in Mice

Rhodiola rosea is a perennial plant which grows in the alpine regions of Europe and Asia. Although the protective effects of R. rosea extract from fatigue due to exercise stress have been reported, studies on fermented R. rosea extract remain insufficient to date. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the protective effects of fermented R. rosea extract against fatigue and exercise stress. As a result, fermented R. rosea extract was found to significantly increase swimming time, hepatic superoxide dismutase content, and serum lactate dehydrogenase in mice, while decreasing serum blood urea nitrogen content compared to R. rosea extract. Given the above results, it is considered that fermented R. rosea extract effectively protects against fatigue caused by strenuous exercise.
A Nearly Tight Sum-of-Squares Lower Bound for the Planted Clique Problem

We prove that with high probability over the choice of a random graph G from the Erdös-Rényi distribution G(n,1/2), the nO(d)-time degree d Sum-of-Squares semidefinite programming relaxation for the clique problem will give a value of at least n1/2-c(d/log n)1/2 for some constant c > 0. This yields a nearly tight n1/2-o(1) bound on the value of this program for any degree d = o(log n). Moreover we introduce a new framework that we call pseudo-calibration to construct Sum-of-Squares lower bounds. This framework is inspired by taking a computational analogue of Bayesian probability theory. It yields a general recipe for constructing good pseudo-distributions (i.e., dual certificates for the Sum-of-Squares semidefinite program), and sheds further light on the ways in which this hierarchy differs from others.
Emergency Department Crowding: Time for Interventions and Policy Evaluations

This paper summarises the consequences of emergency department crowding. It provides a comparison of the scales used to measure emergency department crowding. We discuss the multiple causes of crowding and present an up-to-date literature review of the interventions that reduce the adverse consequences of crowding. We consider interventions at the level of an individual hospital and a policy level.
Pursuing aesthetic inquiry in participatory design

We introduce aesthetic inquiry as an important perspective to pursue in Participatory Design. Within the scope of tradition and transcendence, we pursue aesthetic inquiry by tipping the scale towards transcendence, and by staging offline loops for detached reflection through the use of imaginative artefacts. Although aesthetic inquiry resides to some extent in most Participatory Design practice, we see the need to elaborate this perspective, and to further build Participatory Design practice, tools, and techniques that address this issue. The Fictional Inquiry technique is presented as an illustrative example of a design technique for pursuing aesthetic inquiry, by using fictional narratives to temporarily bypass the existing structures of meaning and expectations within a given practice. We illustrate how Fictional Inquiry was utilized in a participatory design project, in which two design concepts for the Kattegat Marine Centre were developed.
Evaluating Centering-Based Metrics of Coherence

We use a reliably annotated corpus to compare metrics of coherence based on Centering Theory with respect to their potential usefulness for text structuring in natural language generation. Previous corpus-based evaluations of the coherence of text according to Centering did not compare the coherence of the chosen text structure with that of the possible alternatives. A corpus-based methodology is presented which distinguishes between Centering-based metrics taking these alternatives into account, and represents therefore a more appropriate way to evaluate Centering from a text structuring perspective.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of major depressive disorder with comorbid generalized anxiety disorder.

BACKGROUND Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has shown promising results in treating individuals with behavioral disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD), posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder. A number of applications of rTMS to different regions of the left and right prefrontal cortex have been used to treat these disorders, but no study of treatment for MDD with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has been conducted with application of rTMS to both the left and right prefrontal cortex. We hypothesized that applying low-frequency rTMS to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) before applying it to the left DLPFC for the treatment of depression would be anxiolytic in patients with MDD with GAD. METHODS Thirteen adult patients with comorbid MDD and GAD received treatment with rTMS in an outpatient setting. The number of treatments ranged from 24 to 36 over 5 to 6 weeks. Response was defined as a ≥ 50% reduction in symptoms from baseline, and remission was defined as a score of < 5 for anxiety symptoms on the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale and < 8 for depressive symptoms on the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-21). RESULTS At the end of the treatment period, for the GAD-7 scale, 11 out of 13 (84.6%) patients' anxiety symptoms were in remission, achieving a score of < 5 on the GAD-7, and 10 out of 13 patients (76.9%) achieved a HAM-D-21 score of < 8 for depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS In this small pilot study of 13 patients with comorbid MDD and GAD, significant improvement in anxiety symptoms along with depressive symptoms was achieved in a majority of patients after bilateral rTMS application.
EFFECTS OF CHRONIC NITROGEN ADDITIONS ON UNDERSTORY SPECIES IN A RED PINE PLANTATION

Two plots in a red pine stand at the Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, have been fertilized for 7 yr with 5 g·m−2·yr−1 or 15 g·m−2·yr−1 of N and compared to an unfertilized control to study the effects of chronic N additions on nutrient cycling, plants, and soil. Movement of added N into soils and plant biomass was tracked using additions of an 15N label to the 5 g·m−2·yr−1 and control plots for two of these years. We present data on changes in the understory plant community of these plots. We measured aboveground biomass, density, N and other elemental concentrations, and 15N tracer recoveries to catalogue the effects of the N additions on this community. Nitrogen contents increased while biomass and nutrient cation concentrations decreased in some species. Percent recoveries of 15N tracers were small but detectable. The natural abundances of 15N also increased in a fertilized treatment without tracer additions. Though this forest has not yet reached N saturation by some definitions, it is possible that the.
Learning and Earning: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in India

This paper estimates the short-and-medium-run effects of participating in a subsidized vocational training program aimed at improving labor market outcomes of women residing in low-income households in a developing country. We combine pre-intervention data with two rounds of post-intervention data from a field experiment to quantify the short-and-medium-run effects of the program. In the short-run, we find that program participants are significantly more likely to be employed, work additional hours, and earn more. These short-run impact estimates are all sustained in the medium-run. We also identify credit constraints, local access, and lack of proper child care support as important barriers to program participation and completion. We are able to rule out two alternative mechanisms -- signalling and change in behavior that can drive these findings. Finally, a simple cost-benefit analysis suggests that the program is highly cost effective.
A Biophysically‐Based Spectral Model of Light Interaction with Human Skin

Despite the notable progress in physically‐based rendering, there is still a long way to go before we can automatically generate predictable images of biological materials. In this paper, we address an open problem in this area, namely the spectral simulation of light interaction with human skin. We propose a novel biophysically based model that accounts for all components of light propagation in skin tissues, namely surface reflectance, subsurface reflectance and transmittance, and the biological mechanisms of light absorption by pigments in these tissues. The model is controlled by biologically meaningful parameters, and its formulation, based on standard Monte Carlo techniques, enables its straightforward incorporation into realistic image synthesis frameworks. Besides its biophysically‐based nature, the key difference between the proposed model and the existing skin models is its comprehensiveness, i.e., it computes both spectral (reflectance and transmittance) and scattering (bidirectional surface‐scattering distribution function) quantities for skin specimens. In order to assess the predictability of our simulations, we evaluate their accuracy by comparing results from the model with actual skin measured data. We also present computer generated images to illustrate the flexibility of the proposed model with respect to variations in the biological input data, and its applicability not only in the predictive image synthesis of different skin tones, but also in the spectral simulation of medical conditions.
All-cause and cardiovascular mortality among Mexican-American and non-Hispanic White older participants in the San Antonio Heart Study- evidence against the "Hispanic paradox".

The observation that Hispanics have lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates despite increased rates of diabetes and obesity and lower socioeconomic status has been termed the "Hispanic paradox. " The authors therefore examined the relation between ethnicity and mortality in 1,438 Mexican-American and 921 non-Hispanic White San Antonio Heart Study participants, aged 45-64 years when they enrolled between 1979 and 1988. Over an average of 14.5 years, 466 deaths occurred: 238 attributed to cardiovascular disease (death certificate International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes 401-414 or codes 420-447 with the exception of code 427.5) and 117 attributed to coronary heart disease (codes 410-414). Age- and gender-adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause, cardiovascular, and coronary heart disease mortality comparing Mexican Americans with non-Hispanic Whites were 1.50 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.23, 1.81), 1.70 (95% CI: 1.30, 2.24), and 1.60 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.36), respectively. After adjusting for possible confounders, among diabetic individuals not using insulin, the authors found excess risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and coronary heart disease mortality associated with being Mexican American; however, in nondiabetic individuals and insulin-using diabetic individuals, Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites appeared to be at similar risk of mortality. Contrary to the prediction of the "Hispanic paradox," in the San Antonio Heart Study, Mexican Americans were at greater risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and coronary heart disease mortality than were non-Hispanic Whites.
A New Approach for Diagnosability Analysis of Petri Nets Using Verifier Nets

In this paper, we analyze the diagnosability properties of labeled Petri nets. We consider the standard notion of diagnosability of languages, requiring that every occurrence of an unobservable fault event be eventually detected, as well as the stronger notion of diagnosability in K steps, where the detection must occur within a fixed bound of K event occurrences after the fault. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for these two notions of diagnosability for both bounded and unbounded Petri nets and then present an algorithmic technique for testing the conditions based on linear programming. Our approach is novel and based on the analysis of the reachability/coverability graph of a special Petri net, called Verifier Net, that is built from the Petri net model of the given system. In the case of systems that are diagnosable in K steps, we give a procedure to compute the bound K. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that necessary and sufficient conditions for diagnosability and diagnosability in K steps of labeled unbounded Petri nets are presented.
Slot silicon-gallium nitride waveguide realizing 1×4 optical power splitter

In this paper, to our knowledge, we introduce the 1×4 optical power splitter operating at 1550nm wavelength for the first time, based on multimode interference (MMI) coupler in slot silicon (Si)-Gallium Nitride (GaN) waveguide structure. Si and GaN were found as suitable materials for slot waveguide structure. Numerical optimizations were carried out on the device parameters using a Full vectorial-beam propagation method (FV-BPM). Simulation results show that the proposed device can be useful to divide optical signal energy uniformly in the C-band range (1530-1565nm) into four output ports with low insertion losses (0.07dB).
Pharmacotherapy for personality disorders

Although there are many methodological uncertainties in the treatment of personality disorders, which make it difficult to be confident about efficacy, there is growing evidence that at least in some personality disorders, drug treatment may be of value. Borderline personality disorder is a condition in which treatment evidence is the most promising, but it is also one of the most difficult disorders to disentangle the mental state from personality components. In summary, there is reasonable evidence that antidepressants, particularly serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, have beneficial effects independent of their antidepressive ones and albeit, less favourable, evidence that antipsychotic drugs and mood stabilisers may also be of value. None of this evidence is yet sufficient to point to any specific drug treatment indications.
Fear of suffocation alters respiration during obstructed breathing.

We aimed to investigate whether fear of suffocation predicts healthy persons' respiratory and affective responses to obstructed breathing as evoked by inspiratory resistive loads. Participants (N = 27 women, ages between 18 and 21 years) completed the Fear of Suffocation scale and underwent 16 trials in which an inspiratory resistive load of 15 cmH(2)O/l/s (small) or 40 cmH(2)O/l/s (large) was added to the breathing circuit for 40 s. Fear of suffocation was associated with higher arousal ratings for both loads. Loaded breathing was associated with a decrease in minute ventilation, but progressively less so for participants scoring higher on fear of suffocation when breathing against the large load. The present findings document a potentially panicogenic mechanism that may maintain and worsen respiratory discomfort in persons with fear of suffocation.
Paradoxical Low-Flow, Low-Gradient Aortic Stenosis: New Evidence, More Questions

In the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology and European Society of Cardiology/European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery guidelines,1,2 severe aortic stenosis (AS) is defined as a peak aortic jet velocity >4.0 m/s, a mean gradient >40 mm Hg, or an aortic valve area (AVA) 50%) are separated into 4 groups according to flow (stroke volume index <35 or ≥35 mL/m2) and gradient (<40 or ≥40 mm Hg) as follows: (1) normal-flow, high-gradient; (2) normal-flow, low-gradient (NF/LG); (3) …
Comparison of size 2 i‐gel supraglottic airway with LMA‐ProSeal™ and LMA‐Classic™ in spontaneously breathing children undergoing elective surgery

Background: We compared size 2 i‐gel® (Intersurgical Inc.), a relatively new supraglottic airway device for use in spontaneously breathing anesthesized children with two different types of laryngeal mask airway‐ProSeal™ laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) and Classic™ laryngeal mask airway (cLMA) for the ease of insertion, oropharyngeal sealing pressures (OSPs), and air leak. The hemodynamic effects on insertion of device and postoperative adverse effects were also noted.
Degrees of freedom in adaptive modulation: a unified view

We examine adaptive modulation schemes for flat-fading channels where the data rate, transmit power and instantaneous BER are varied to maximize spectral efficiency subject to an average power and BER constraint. Both continuous-rate and discrete-rate adaptation are considered, as well as average and instantaneous BER constraints. We find the general form of power BER, and data rate adaptation that maximizes spectral efficiency for a large class of modulation techniques and fading distributions. The optimal adaptation of these parameters is to increase the power and data rate and decrease the BER as the channel quality improves. Surprisingly, little spectral efficiency is lost when the power or rate is constrained to be constant. Hence, the spectral efficiency of adaptive modulation is relatively insensitive to which degrees of freedom are adapted.
Brain ACE 2 overexpression reduces DOCA-salt hypertension independently of endoplasmic reticulum stress

Xia H, Queiroz TM, Sriramula S, Feng Y, Johnson T, Mungrue IN, Lazartigues E. Brain ACE2 overexpression reduces DOCA-salt hypertension independently of endoplasmic reticulum stress. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 308: R370–R378, 2015. First published December 17, 2014; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00366. 2014. —Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was previously reported to contribute to neurogenic hypertension while neuronal angiotensin-converting enzyme type 2 (ACE2) overexpression blunts the disease. To assess which brain regions are important for ACE2 beneficial effects and the contribution of ER stress to neurogenic hypertension, we first used transgenic mice harboring a floxed neuronal hACE2 transgene (SL) and tested the impact of hACE2 knockdown in the subfornical organ (SFO) and paraventricular nucleus (PVN) on deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertension. SL and nontransgenic (NT) mice underwent DOCA-salt or sham treatment while infected with an adenoassociated virus (AAV) encoding Cre recombinase (AAV-Cre) or a control virus (AAV-green fluorescent protein) to the SFO or PVN. DOCA-salt-induced hypertension was reduced in SL mice, with hACE2 overexpression in the brain. This reduction was only partially blunted by knockdown of hACE2 in the SFO or PVN, suggesting that both regions are involved but not essential for ACE2 regulation of blood pressure (BP). DOCA-salt treatment did not increase the protein levels of ER stress and autophagy markers in NT mice, despite a significant increase in BP. In addition, these markers were not affected by hACE2 overexpression in the brain, despite a significant reduction of hypertension in SL mice. To further assess the role of ER stress in neurogenic hypertension, NT mice were infused intracerebroventricularlly with tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), an ER stress inhibitor, during DOCA-salt treatment. However, TUDCA infusion failed to blunt the development of hypertension in NT mice. Our data suggest that brain ER stress does not contribute to DOCA-salt hypertension and that ACE2 blunts neurogenic hypertension independently of ER stress.
Characterization of CRM Binders with Wax Additives Using an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and an Optical Microscopy

This paper investigates the change in micromorphology of two binders and their respective warm mix asphalt binders before and after aging using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical microscopy. The control (PG 64-22) and crumb rubber modified (CRM) binders were blended with two different types of wax additives (L, a wax-based composition including crystal controller, and S, a long chain aliphatic hydrocarbon) and then artificially short-term and long-term aged using the rolling thin film oven and pressure aging vessel procedures. L is a wax based composition including crystal controller and S is a long chain aliphatic hydrocarbon. The AFM tapping-mode imaging technique was used to analyze the microstructure and the Superpave asphalt binder test was used to measure the rheology properties. In general, the results of this study indicated that (1) a correlation was observed between the changes in micromorphology (the distribution of dispersed domains and matrix) and rheology properties regardless of the aging, binder, and wax types; (2) the addition of crumb rubber into the base binder decreased the dimension of the catana phase (“bee-like”) structure, which increased the quantity of these structures; (3) the opposite trend was found between the aged control binder and the aged CRM binder regarding the size of the bee-like structure; (4) the long-term aging seemed to have a significant effect on the microstructures of the warm control and CRM binders; and (5) the inclusion of S and L was observed to have a similar trend for both binder types in terms of increased size of the bee-like structure and no bee-like structure, respectively.