Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perception of emotionally loaded vocal expressions and its connection to responses to music. A cross-cultural investigation: Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Russia, and the USA

The present study focused on voice quality and the perception of the basic emotions from speech samples in cross-cultural conditions. It was examined whether voice quality, cultural, or language background, age, or gender were related to the identification of the emotions. Professional actors (n2) and actresses (n2) produced non-sense sentences (n32) and protracted vowels (n8) expressing the six basic emotions, interest, and a neutral emotional state. The impact of musical interests on the ability to distinguish between emotions or valence (on an axis positivity – neutrality – negativity) from voice samples was studied. Listening tests were conducted on location in five countries: Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA with 50 randomly chosen participants (25 males and 25 females) in each country. The participants (total N = 250) completed a questionnaire eliciting their background information and musical interests. The responses in the listening test and the questionnaires were statistically analyzed. Voice quality parameters and the share of the emotions and valence identified correlated significantly with each other for both genders. The percentage of emotions and valence identified was clearly above the chance level in each of the five countries studied, however, the countries differed significantly from each other for the identified emotions and the gender of the speaker. The samples produced by females were identified significantly better than those produced by males. Listener's age was a significant variable. Only minor gender differences were found for the identification. Perceptual confusion in the listening test between emotions seemed to be dependent on their similar voice production types. Musical interests tended to have a positive effect on the identification of the emotions. The results also suggest that identifying emotions from speech samples may be easier for those listeners who share a similar language or cultural background with the speaker.
Augmenting LZ‐77 with authentication and integrity assurance capabilities

The formidable dissemination capability allowed by the current network technology makes it increasingly important to devise new methods to ensure authenticity and integrity. Nowadays it is common practice to distribute documents in compressed form. In this paper, we propose a simple variation on the classic LZ‐77 algorithm that allows one to hide, within the compressed document, enough information to warrant its authenticity and integrity. The design is based on the unpredictability of a certain class of pseudo‐random number generators, in such a way that the hidden data cannot be retrieved in a reasonable amount of time by an attacker (unless the secret bit‐string key is known). Since it can still be decompressed by the original LZ‐77 algorithm, the embedding is completely ‘transparent’ and backward‐compatible, making it possible to deploy it without disrupting service. Experiments show that the degradation in compression due to the embedding is almost negligible. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Replication in Experimental Economics

Replication in Experimental Economics' highlights the importance of replicating previous economic experiments for understanding the robustness and generalizability of behavior. Replication enables experimental findings to be subjected to rigorous scrutiny. Despite this obvious advantage, direct replication remains relatively scant in economics. One possible explanation for this situation is that publication outlets favor novel work over tests of robustness. This volume of Research in Experimental Economics raises awareness of the need for replication by being the first collection of papers specifically dedicated to the replication of previously published work. The chapters, by leading researchers in the field, explore the robustness of topics from the effects of subsidizing charitable giving to people's ability to backwards induct and from the impact of social history on trust to the role of isolation on valuation. Readers will gain a better understanding of the role that replication plays in scientific discovery as well as valuable insights into the robustness of previously reported findings.
Effects of oral contraceptive, synthetic progestogen or natural estrogen pre-treatments on the hormonal profile and the antral follicle cohort before GnRH antagonist protocol.

BACKGROUND Steroid pre-treatments may be useful to program GnRH antagonist IVF/ICSI cycles. This prospective study assessed hormonal and ultrasound data collected during the free period after the discontinuation of three different pre-treatments to provide information on the optimal time interval required before starting stimulation. METHODS Women were randomized to receive oral contraceptive pill (OCP) [ethinyl estradiol (E(2)) 30 microg + desogestrel 150 microg] (n = 21) or norethisterone 10 mg/day (n = 23) or 17-betaE(2) 4 mg/day (n = 25) or no pre-treatment (n = 24) for one cycle before IVF. Assessments were performed on post-treatment day (PD) 1, 3 and 5, or on spontaneous cycle day (CD) 1 and 3. RESULTS After OCP and progestogen administration, FSH and LH concentrations shifted from strongly suppressed PD1 levels to PD5 values similar to those observed on CD1. Meanwhile, follicle sizes remained small up to PD5. In contrast, estrogen pre-treatment poorly reduced FSH levels on PD1 compared with OCP or progestogen. Consequently, follicle size was more heterogeneous. FSH rebound was maximal on PD3, whereas LH levels were slightly increased up to PD5. CONCLUSIONS A 5-day free interval after OCP or progestogen offers the advantages of gonadotrophin recovery and homogeneous follicular cohort, whereas early FSH rebound occurring after estrogen pre-treatment argues for a short free period.
Dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies

ABSTRACT Objective: Measurement of dietary total antioxidant capacity (DTAC) is considered a new holistic dietary approach and assesses total antioxidants present in the overall diet. Our aim was to perform a comprehensive review of the literature on the association between DTAC and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were used to conduct a comprehensive search for articles published on this topic through September 2017. There was no limit on earliest year of publication. The search was based on the following keywords: dietary total antioxidant capacity, nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity, total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter, ferric reducing ability of plasma, oxygen radical absorbance capacity, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), waist circumference (WC), insulin resistance, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), insulin, obesity, glucose, C-reactive protein (CRP), blood pressure (BP), and body mass index. In total, 16 papers were identified for inclusion in the present systematic review. Results: Most well-designed studies that evaluated associations between DTAC and CVD risk factors showed inverse associations for fasting blood glucose, CRP, BP, and WC and positive associations for HDL-C. However, there was no association between DTAC and LDL-C or TC in any of the studies. Results regarding the association of DTAC with insulin, HOMA-IR, high-sensitivity CRP, and TG in the published literature were inconsistent. Conclusions: Findings indicated a substantial association between high DTAC and most CVD-related risk factors.
The Epistatic Relationship between BRCA2 and the Other RAD51 Mediators in Homologous Recombination

RAD51 recombinase polymerizes at the site of double-strand breaks (DSBs) where it performs DSB repair. The loss of RAD51 causes extensive chromosomal breaks, leading to apoptosis. The polymerization of RAD51 is regulated by a number of RAD51 mediators, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD52, SFR1, SWS1, and the five RAD51 paralogs, including XRCC3. We here show that brca2-null mutant cells were able to proliferate, indicating that RAD51 can perform DSB repair in the absence of BRCA2. We disrupted the BRCA1, RAD52, SFR1, SWS1, and XRCC3 genes in the brca2-null cells. All the resulting double-mutant cells displayed a phenotype that was very similar to that of the brca2-null cells. We suggest that BRCA2 might thus serve as a platform to recruit various RAD51 mediators at the appropriate position at the DNA–damage site.
Robust partitioning for reliable real-time systems

Summary form only given. Mechatronic systems request for high reliability, especially in the context of time where mostly hard real-time capabilities are mandatory. May be even stronger requirements regard the robustness against software failures and interdependences from erroneous tasks to others. We propose the concept of robust partitioning for reliable real-time embedded systems. The concept consists of two parts, memory space protection and time protection. Memory protection is realized by already existing hardware and software mechanisms. For realizing temporal protection, a two-step timer interrupt system realizing an imprecise computation concept is proposed: if the execution of a module exceeds a certain time limit before the deadline, the first timer interrupt is triggered and a backup routine is started to produce an imprecise result in the remaining time until the second timer expires. This time protection concept shows significant advantages as compared to classical approaches for single, parallel and distributed systems. We give an extended introduction into the concept and discussed first attempts for its realization.
Parameter estimation efficiency using nonlinear models in fMRI

There is an increasing interest in using physiologically plausible models in fMRI analysis. These models do raise new mathematical problems in terms of parameters estimation and interpretation of the measured data. We present some theoretical contributions in this area, using different variations of the Balloon Model (Buxton98,Friston00,Buxton04) as example models. We propose 1) a method to analyze the models dynamics and their stability around equilibrium, 2) a new way to derive least square energy gradient for parameter estimation, 3) a quantitative measurement of parameter estimation efficiency, and 4) a statistical test for detecting voxel activations. We use these methods in a visual perception checker-board experiment. It appears that the different hemodynamic models considered better capture some features of the response than linear models. In particular, they account for small nonlinearities observed for stimulation durations between 1 and 8 seconds. Nonlinearities for stimulation shorter than one second can also be explained by a neural habituation model (Buxton04), but further investigations should assess whether they are rather not due to nonlinear effects of the flow response. Moreover, the tools we have developed prove that statistical methods that work well for the GLM can be nicely adapted to nonlinear models. The activation maps obtained in both frameworks are comparable.
Dissecting the Idiosyncratic Volatility Anomaly

The idiosyncratic volatility anomaly, as first documented in Ang, Hodrick, Xing, and Zhang (2006), has received considerable attention in the literature. In this paper, we examine the pervasiveness of the anomaly in various stock samples and provide evidence towards distinguishing potential explanations. Our results show that the idiosyncratic volatility anomaly is a common stock phenomenon. It is rather robust once we exclude microcaps, as defined in Fama and French (2008), or penny stocks (with prices below $5), or the month of January, corroborating the findings in Doran, Jiang, and Peterson (2010). In addition, we show that the idiosyncratic volatility anomaly is not due to the market microstructure effect and cannot be explained by short-term stock return reversal.
Event-related (de-)synchronisation in arm isometric exertions: A wavelet analysis

Neural activity associated with human voluntary motor control has been investigated using various large scale recording and imaging techniques such as Magnetoencephalog-raphy (MEG), electroencephalographic (EEG), and Electrocor-ticography (ECoG). While the EEG activity patterns associated with movement and especially movement execution are relatively known, there are only few studies that address the characteristics of motor rhythms in isometric exertions, and especially in the planning stage. In this paper we report on the results of an experiment where we have recorded EEG from 8 subjects during preparation, planning, and execution of directional arm isometric exertions in horizontal plane, according to instruction-delay visual cues. Continuous Morlet Wavelet Scalograms of the EEG signals in Cz C3 C4 electrodes associated with the task, show (de-)synchronisation patterns in planning and execution of the exertions. Phasic synchronisation in 2–7 Hz frequency band and both phasic and tonic desynchronisation in α (μ), β, and γ frequency bands are observed. Minor differences between contralateral, central and ipsilateral rhythmic motor activities during force generation are indicated and discussed. The results can be used to study the involvement of different brain regions during voluntary isometric tasks. The results pave the way for further clinical studies and also for Brain-Computer Interfacing (BCI) and BCI-rehabilitation research.
Keyword clouds: having very little effect on sensemaking in web search engines

Tag clouds are typically presented so that users can actively utilize community-generated metadata to query a collection. This research investigates whether such metadata representations also provide passive support for sensemaking without any direct interaction. Previous work reported potentially significant results from a pilot study of three variations of keyword cloud support (interactive, non-interactive, and absent), built from related query terms. Our full study, however, found no significant differences in learning across the three conditions. We concluded that the sensemaking and learning mainly occurred outside of the search engine, where the keyword cloud no longer provided support. Our future work will study the passive support that may be provided by keyword clouds in more integrated systems like digital libraries.
Effects of lengthscales and attractions on the collapse of hydrophobic polymers in water

We present results from extensive molecular dynamics simulations of collapse transitions of hydrophobic polymers in explicit water focused on understanding effects of lengthscale of the hydrophobic surface and of attractive interactions on folding. Hydrophobic polymers display parabolic, protein-like, temperature-dependent free energy of unfolding. Folded states of small attractive polymers are marginally stable at 300 K and can be unfolded by heating or cooling. Increasing the lengthscale or decreasing the polymer–water attractions stabilizes folded states significantly, the former dominated by the hydration contribution. That hydration contribution can be described by the surface tension model, ΔG = γ(T)ΔA, where the surface tension, γ, is lengthscale-dependent and decreases monotonically with temperature. The resulting variation of the hydration entropy with polymer lengthscale is consistent with theoretical predictions of Huang and Chandler [Huang DM, Chandler D (2000) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97:8324–8327] that explain the blurring of entropy convergence observed in protein folding thermodynamics. Analysis of water structure shows that the polymer–water hydrophobic interface is soft and weakly dewetted, and is characterized by enhanced interfacial density fluctuations. Formation of this interface, which induces polymer folding, is strongly opposed by enthalpy and favored by entropy, similar to the vapor–liquid interface.
Fast Circle Detection Using Gradient Pair Vectors

The Circle Hough Transform (CHT) has become a common method for circle detection in numerous image processing applications. Because of its drawbacks, various modifications to the basic CHT method have been suggested. This paper presents an algorithm to find circles which are totally brighter or darker than their backgrounds. The method is size-invariant, and such circular shapes can be found very fast and accurately. Though Fast Circle Detection (FCD) method loses the generality of the CHT, we show that there are many applications that can use this method after a simple preprocessing and gain a considerable improvement in performance against the CHT or its modified versions. This method has been evaluated in some famous industrial and medical fields, and the results show a significant improvement of finding circular shape objects.
Inhibition of Intestinal Polyposis with Reduced Angiogenesis in ApcMin/+ Mice Due to Decreases in c-Myc Expression

The c-myc oncogene plays an important role in tumorigenesis and is frequently deregulated in many human cancers, including gastrointestinal cancers. In humans, mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) tumor suppressor gene occur in most colorectal cancers. Mutation of Apc leads to stabilization of β-catenin and increases in β-catenin target gene expression (c-myc and cyclin D1), whose precise functional significance has not been examined using genetic approaches. ApcMin/+ mice are a model of familial adenomatous polyposis and are heterozygous for an Apc truncation mutation. We have developed a model for examining the role of c-Myc in Apc-mediated tumorigenesis. We crossed c-myc+/− mice to ApcMin/+ to generate ApcMin/+ c-myc+/− animals. The compound ApcMin/+ c-myc+/− mice were used to evaluate the effect of c-myc haploinsufficiency on the ApcMin/+ phenotype. We observed a significant reduction in tumor numbers in the small intestine of ApcMin/+ c-myc+/− mice compared with control ApcMin/+ c-myc+/+ mice. In addition, we observed one to three polyps per colon in ApcMin/+ c-myc+/+ mice, whereas only two lesions were observed in the colons of ApcMin/+ mice that were haploinsufficient for c-myc. Moreover, reduction in c-myc levels resulted in a significant increase in the survival of these animals. Finally, we observed marked decreases in vascular endothelial growth factor, EphA2, and ephrin-B2 expression as well as marked decreases in angiogenesis in intestinal polyps in ApcMin/+ c-myc+/− mice. This study shows that c-Myc is critical for Apc-dependent intestinal tumorigenesis in mice and provides a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of colorectal cancer. (Mol Cancer Res 2007;5(12):1296–303)
Subtle Morphological Changes in the Mandible of Tabby Mice Revealed by Micro-CT Imaging and Elliptical Fourier Quantification

X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (XLHED) is a genetic disorder due to a mutation of the EDA gene and is mainly characterized by an impaired formation of hair, teeth and sweat glands, and craniofacial dysmorphologies. Although tooth abnormalities in Tabby (Ta) mutant mice – the murine model of XLHED – have been extensively studied, characterization of the craniofacial complex, and more specifically the mandibular morphology has received less attention. From 3D micro-CT reconstructions of the left mandible, the mandibular outline observed in lateral view, was quantified using 2D elliptical Fourier analysis. Comparisons between Ta specimens and their wild-type controls were carried out showing significant shape differences between mouse strains enabling a clear distinction between hemizygous Ta specimens and the other mouse groups (WT and heterozygous EdaTa/+ specimens). Morphological differences associated with HED correspond not only to global mandibular features (restrained development of that bone along dorsoventral axis), but also to subtle aspects such as the marked backward projection of the coronoid process or the narrowing of the mandibular condylar neck. These modifications provide for the first time, evidence of a predominant effect of the Ta mutation on the mandibular morphology. These findings parallel the well described abnormalities of jugal tooth row and skeletal defects in Ta mice, and underline the role played by EDA-A in the reciprocal epithelial–mesenchymal interactions that are of critical importance in normal dental and craniofacial development.
Emotional attention for erotic stimuli: Cognitive and brain mechanisms

It has long been posited that among emotional stimuli, only negative threatening information modulates early shifts of attention. However, in the last few decades there has been an increase in research showing that attention is also involuntarily oriented toward positive rewarding stimuli such as babies, food, and erotic information. Because reproduction‐related stimuli have some of the largest effects among positive stimuli on emotional attention, the present work reviews recent literature and proposes that the cognitive and cerebral mechanisms underlying the involuntarily attentional orientation toward threat‐related information are also sensitive to erotic information. More specifically, the recent research suggests that both types of information involuntarily orient attention due to their concern relevance and that the amygdala plays an important role in detecting concern‐relevant stimuli, thereby enhancing perceptual processing and influencing emotional attentional processes. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:1668–1675, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An empirical study on slow and limited adoption of Internet Banking by Sri Lankan customers

Usage of internet is rapidly increasing in Sri Lanka. However, usage of internet banking is very slow compared to increase of internet users. This study will focus on four main possible areas which may effect to slow adaptation of Internet Banking as Awareness & Knowledge of Internet Banking, Perceived Characteristics of Internet Banking, Consumer Resistance to Change, Legal Support and IS Security. Based on the data gathered, these 4 conditions are tested using statically analysis method.
Design of RFID Middleware Based on Complex Event Processing

This RFID technology has brought a revolution in data collection, thus putting forward real time constraints in middleware architectural design. This paper introduces complex event processing, an emerging technology for building and managing information systems, to discover, understand and report the meaningful events within processing streams. It discusses core principles for middleware to apply for the real time actions and the implementation of these principles through technologies such as event processing language (EPL), caching strategy and active database. Moreover, the CEP-oriented middleware architecture is based on the latest application level event (ALE) specification from EPCglobal
INVESTOR ACTIVISM, MANAGERIAL RESPONSIVENESS, AND CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE

We study relationships between shareholder proposal activism, managerial response, and corporate social performance (CSP). We find that shareholder proposal activism reduces CSP. We infer that rather than pressuring firms to improve CSP, activism may engender diversion of resources away from CSP into political activities used by managers to resist external pressures and retain discretion. We also find that managers are more likely to settle proposals filed by ‘salient’ shareholders (i.e., those with power, legitimacy, and urgency). Settlement with salient shareholders, however, also reduces CSP, suggesting that managers' responses are symbolic; i.e., they settle with salient shareholders to demonstrate conformance but continue to resist making the substantive changes to core policies that may compromise their discretion. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.