Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serial order learning of subliminal visual stimuli: evidence of multistage learning

It is widely known that statistical learning of visual symbol sequences occurs implicitly (Kim et al., 2009). In this study, we examined whether people can learn the serial order of visual symbols when they cannot detect them. During the familiarization phase, triplets or quadruplets of novel symbols were presented to one eye under continuous flash suppression (CFS). Perception of the symbols was completely suppressed by the flash patterns presented to the other eye [binocular rivalry (BR)]. During the test phase, the detection latency was faster for symbols located later in the triplets or quadruplets. These results indicate that serial order learning occurs even when the participants cannot detect the stimuli. We also found that detection became slower for the last item of the triplets or quadruplets. This phenomenon occurred only when the participants were familiarized with the symbols under CFS, suggesting that the subsequent symbols interfered with the processing of the target symbol when conscious perception was suppressed. We further examined the nature of the interference and found that it occurred only when the subsequent symbol was not fixed. This result suggests that serial order learning under BR is restricted to fixed order sequences. Statistical learning of the symbols’ transition probability might not occur when the participants cannot detect the symbols. We confirmed this hypothesis by conducting another experiment wherein the transition probability of the symbol sequence was manipulated.
Information Foraging for Perceptual Decisions

We tested an information foraging framework to characterize the mechanisms that drive active (visual) sampling behavior in decision problems that involve multiple sources of information. Experiments 1 through 3 involved participants making an absolute judgment about the direction of motion of a single random dot motion pattern. In Experiment 4, participants made a relative comparison between 2 motion patterns that could only be sampled sequentially. Our results show that: (a) Information (about noisy motion information) grows to an asymptotic level that depends on the quality of the information source; (b) The limited growth is attributable to unequal weighting of the incoming sensory evidence, with early samples being weighted more heavily; (c) Little information is lost once a new source of information is being sampled; and (d) The point at which the observer switches from 1 source to another is governed by online monitoring of his or her degree of (un)certainty about the sampled source. These findings demonstrate that the sampling strategy in perceptual decision-making is under some direct control by ongoing cognitive processing. More specifically, participants are able to track a measure of (un)certainty and use this information to guide their sampling behavior.
Personal development of disadvantaged youth through community sports: a theory-driven analysis of relational strategies

Abstract Participant–practitioner relationships in community ‘sport-for-development’ practices are seen as central in working towards broader developmental outcomes. Using Noddings’ Ethics of Care as an analytical framework, we investigated relational strategies of practitioners in three community sport practices (Belgium) to understand the personal developmental potential of these relationships. Based on the data (participatory observations, interviews, focus groups), we identified the following themes that are viewed as fundamental in building relationships that hold the potential to instigate personal development for young people in disadvantaged situations: (a) time demanding interactions, (b) authenticity of practitioners, (c) equalizing expertise, (d) non-judgmental approach, (e) practitioners’ cultural capital, (f) co-organizing activities, (g) a ‘thousand chances’ philosophy, and (h) providing individual support. The identified themes can be used to develop youth-centred and qualitative evaluation methodologies that are more congruent with the daily work of community sport workers and, by doing so, go beyond a narrow quantitative ‘outcome-fixated’ evaluation dogma.
A multi-population firefly algorithm for dynamic optimization problems

In traditional optimization problems, problem domain, constraints and problem related data are assumed to remain stationary throughout the optimization process. However, numerous real life optimization problems are indeed dynamic in their nature due to unpredictable events such as due date changes, arrival of new jobs or cancellations. In the literature, a problem with one of these features is referred as dynamic optimization problem (DOP). In contrast to static optimization problems, in DOPs, the aim is not only to find the optimum of the current configuration of a problem environment, but to track and find the changing optima. The field of dynamic optimization is a hot research area and it has attracted a remarkable attention of researchers. A considerable number of recent studies on DOPs usually employs bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithms, which are efficient on a wide range of static optimization problems. In the present work, a multi-population firefly algorithm with chaotic maps is proposed to solve DOPs. The tests are conducted on the well known moving peaks benchmark problem. In regard to the results, the proposed algorithm is found as a promising approach for the present problem.
Finding an infection source under the SIS model

We consider the problem of identifying an infection source based only on an observed set of infected nodes in a network, assuming that the infection process follows a Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) model. We derive an estimator based on estimating the most likely infection source associated with the most likely infection path. Simulation results on regular trees suggest that our estimator performs consistently better than the minimum distance centrality based heuristic.
From group results to individual patterns in pronoun comprehension

A well-studied phenomenon in language acquisition is the acquisition of pronouns and reflexives (e. The adult use of reflexives and pronouns can be described by Principles A and B of Binding Theory (Chomsky, 1981). (1) a. Principle A: a reflexive must be bound in the local domain. b. Principle B: a pronoun must be free in the local domain. Here, the local domain is defined as the minimal clause that contains both the lexical anaphor and a subject. An anaphor is bound when it is co-indexed with and c-commanded by an antecedent. To illustrate the application of the binding principles, consider sentences (2a) and (2b). (2) a. The penguin i is hitting himself i/*j with a pan. b. The penguin i is hitting him *i/j with a pan. According to Principle A, the reflexive himself in (2a) has to co-refer with the subject of the local domain, the penguin. Principle B states that a pronoun must be locally free, which means that a pronoun cannot co-refer with the subject in the local domain. As a result, the pronoun him in (2b) cannot co-refer with the penguin, but must refer to another antecedent present in the context. Given the similarity between Principles A and B, it is expected that the acquisition of reflexives and pronouns proceeds at a comparable speed. However, although children show adult-like performance on reflexive comprehension from the age of 3;0 on, they have been shown to experience difficulties in the interpretation of pronouns up to the age of 6;6 by incorrectly allowing the pronoun to corefer with the local subject (e.g., Chien & Wexler, 1990). This delay in the acquisition of pronoun comprehension is called the Delay of Principle B-Effect (DPBE). On the other hand, it has recently been shown that children can produce reflexives and pronouns correctly from the age of 4;6 on (e. So there seems to be a second asymmetry in the acquisition of pronouns, namely between comprehension and production. As yet there is no general consensus on what causes these
Computational content analysis of European Central Bank statements

In this paper we present a framework for the computational content analysis of European Central Bank (ECB) statements. Based on this framework, we provide two approaches that can be used in a practical context. Both approaches use the content of ECB statements to predict upward and downward movement in the MSCI EURO index. General Inquirer (GI) is used for the quantification of the content of the statements. In the first approach, we rely on the frequency of adjectives in the text of the ECB statements in relation to the content categories they represent. The second approach uses fuzzy grammar fragments composed of economic terms and content categories. Our results indicate that the two proposed approaches perform better than a random classifier for predicting upward or downward movement of the MSCI EURO index.
High Prevalence of Malaria Parasitemia and Anemia among Hospitalized Children in Rakai, Uganda

Background There is a paucity of data on malaria among hospitalized children in malaria endemic areas. We determined the prevalence, presentation and treatment outcomes of malaria and anemia among children in two hospitals in Rakai, Uganda. Methods Children under five years hospitalized in Kalisizo hospital or Bikira health center in Rakai district, Uganda between May 2011 and May 2012 were enrolled and followed-up until discharge, death or referral. Data were collected on social-demographic characteristics, current and past illnesses and clinical signs and symptoms. Blood smears, hemoglobin (Hgb) levels and HIV testing were performed from finger/heel prick blood. The associations between malaria infection and other factors were estimated using log-binomial regression to estimate adjusted prevalence risk ratios (aPRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), controlling for clustering at health facilities. Results 2471 children were enrolled. The most common medical presentations were fever (96.2%), cough (61.7%), vomiting (44.2%), diarrhea (20.8%), and seizures (16.0%). The prevalence of malaria parasitemia was 54.6%. Children with malaria were more likely to present with a history of fever (aPRR 2.23; CI 1.18–4.24) and seizures (aPRR 1.12; CI 1.09–1.16). Confirmed malaria was significantly lower among girls than boys (aPRR 0.92; CI 0.91–0.93), HIV infected children (aPRR 0.60 CI 0.52–0.71), and children with diarrhea (aPRR 0.76; CI 0.65–0.90). The overall prevalence of anemia (Hgb<10 g/dl) was 56.3% and severe anemia (Hgb<6 g/dL) was 17.8%. Among children with severe anemia 76.8% had malaria parasitemia, of whom 93.1% received blood transfusion. Malaria associated mortality was 0.6%. Conclusion There was a high prevalence of malaria parasitemia and anemia among inpatient children under five years. Malaria prevention is a priority in this population.
Accounting for Changes in the Homeownership Rate

After three decades of being relatively constant, the homeownership rate increased over the period 1994 to 2005 to attain record highs. The objective of this paper is to account for the observed boom in ownership by examining the role played changes in demographic factors and innovations in the mortgage market which lessened downpayment requirements. To measure the aggregate and distributional impact of these factors, we construct a quantitative general equilibrium overlapping generation model with housing. We find that the long-run importance of the introduction of new mortgage products for the aggregate homeownership rate ranges from 56 and 70 percent. Demographic factors account for between 16 and 31 percent of the change. Transitional analysis suggests that demographic factors play a more important, but not dominant, role the further away from the long-run equilibrium. From a distributional perspective, mortgage market innovations have a larger impact explaining participation rate changes of younger households, while demographic factors seem to be the key to understanding the participation rate changes of older households. Our analysis suggests that the key to understand the increase in the homeownership rate is the expansion of the set of mortgage contracts. We test the robustness of this result by considering changes in mortgage financing after World War II. We find that the introduction of the conventional fixed rate mortgage, which replaced balloon contacts, accounts for at least fifty percent of the observed increase in homeownership during that period.
Towards Financial Resilience in Manufacturing Companies : A Toolbox for the Mitigation of Consumption Factors' Market Price Risks

In recent years, market price risks of industrial consumption factors have become a major issue of manufacturing companies. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on existing market price risk mitigation strategies to support manufacturing practitioners in making their company more resilient to this risk type and to provide a theoretical basis for future research. Based on a literature review, an explorative industry study, and 8 semi-structured interviews, we identified 34 market price risk mitigation strategies. Following Tang (2006), we clustered these strategies and built up a toolbox for the mitigation of consumption factors' market price risks.
Successful Smoking Cessation in COPD: Association with Comorbidities and Mortality

Smoking cessation is the cornerstone of COPD management, but difficult to achieve in clinical practice. The effect of comorbidities on smoking cessation and risk factors for mortality were studied in a cohort of 739 COPD patients recruited in two Finnish University Hospitals. The diagnosis of COPD was done for the first time on average 5.5 years prior to the enrollment. Data from the medical records and followup questionnaires (years 0, 1, 2, and 4) have been analyzed. The patients' lung function varied greatly; mean FEV1 58% of predicted. A total of 60.2% of men and 55.6% of women had been able to quit smoking. Alcohol abuse (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4–3.3) and psychiatric conditions (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2–2.7) were strongly related to low success rates of quitting. Among current smokers high nicotine dependency was again explained by alcohol abuse and psychiatric conditions. Non-quitters were younger than quitters, but their mortality rates remained significantly higher even when the model was adjusted for impairment of lung functions and comorbidities. In conclusion, co-existing addiction and psychiatric diseases significantly decreased the success rates in smoking cessation and increased mortality among the patients.
Incremental smoothing vs. filtering for sensor fusion on an indoor UAV

Our paper explores the performance of a recently proposed incremental smoother in the context of nonlinear sensor fusion for a real-world UAV. This efficient factor graph based smoothing approach has a number of advantages compared to conventional filtering techniques like the EKF or its variants. It can more easily incorporate asynchronous and delayed measurements from sensors operating at different rates and is supposed to be less error-prone in highly nonlinear settings. We compare the novel incremental smoothing approach based on iSAM2 against our conventional EKF based sensor fusion framework. Unlike previously presented work, the experiments are not only performed in simulation, but also on a real-world quadrotor UAV system using IMU, optical flow and altitude measurements.
Analisis Kemampuan Pemecahan Masalah Matematis Siswa SMK Pada Materi Program Linear

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kemampuan pemecahan masalah matematis siswa SMK dalam menyelesaikan soal program linear dan mengetahui pendapat siswa terhadap matematika. Penelitian dilakukan pada siswa kelas XI di salah satu SMK di Kota Cimahi. Pendekatan penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif. Instrumen terdiri dari soal pemecahan masalah, pedoman wawancara, dan angket yang sudah dilakukan validasi. Tes yang dikerjakan siswa diberi skor dan dilakukan analisis terhadap kesalahan jawaban. Angket digunakan untuk memperoleh informasi tentang pendapat siswa dalam menyelesaikan masalah. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa sebanyak 26.92% melakukan kesalahan pemahaman, sebanyak 42.31% yang melakukan kesalahan transformasi, sebanyak 53.85% yang melakukan kesalahan keterampilan, dan sebanyak 80.77% yang melakukan kesalahan penyimpulan. Sehingga dapat dinyatakan bahwa kemampuan pemecahan masalah siswa pada salah satu SMK di Kota Cimahi masih rendah sehingga perlu dilakukan upaya peningkatan. Namun, menurut hasil wawancara dan angket yang diberikan,siswa memiliki pendapat yang positif terhadap matematika.
A Perspective on the Principles of Integrity in Infectious Disease Research

Abstract The medical literature is prone to overstating results, a condition not thoroughly recognized among policymakers. This article sets forth examples of potential problems with research integrity in the infectious disease literature. We describe articles that may be spun, categories lumped together in hopes of creating a significant effect (and sometimes an insignificant one), changes in metrics, and how trials may fail because of suboptimal interventions. When examined together, the examples show that the problems are widespread and illustrate the difficulty associated with interpreting medical research. The state of the current medical literature makes it of utmost importance that all sections of the manuscript are read, including associated letters to the editors and information on ClinicalTrials.gov before authors' recommendations are accepted.
Prognostic Value of Tumor Markers, NSE, CA125 and SCC, in Operable NSCLC Patients

The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of tumor markers in operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. A total of 481 NSCLC patients were enrolled in the present study. High levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) were detected in 306 (63.6%), 89 (18.5%) and 125 (26.0%) patients, respectively. Seventy-eight of 481 patients died of disease progression, and the median disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were 16.0 and 21.0 months, respectively. The three-year DFS rate was 56.7%, and the OS rate was 75.3%. For serum NSE, the three-year cumulative DFS rate for the normal and elevated group was 67.7% and 51.8% (p = 0.007). The OS in patients with high and normal levels of NSE was 34.0 months and 48.0 months, respectively. The median DFS was 46.0 months versus 32.0 months (p = 0.001), and the OS was 48.0 months versus 44.0 months (p = 0.001) in patients with normal and high levels of CA125. For patients with squamous cell carcinoma, the overall survival was significantly shorter in patients with elevated levels of SCC (p = 0.041). In the multivariate analysis high levels of NSE, CA125 and clinical stage were significantly correlated with worse prognosis (p < 0.05). Patients with all three tumor markers elevated presented the worst prognosis (p < 0.05). In our analysis, high levels of preoperative serum NSE and CA125 are correlated with worse survival in operable NSCLC patients.
A Glimpse Far into the Future: Understanding Long-term Crowd Worker Accuracy

Microtask crowdsourcing is increasingly critical to the creation of extremely large datasets. As a result, crowd workers spend weeks or months repeating the exact same tasks — making it necessary to understand their behavior over these long periods of time. We utilize three large, longitudinal datasets of nine million annotations collected from Amazon Mechanical Turk to examine claims that workers fatigue or satisfice over these long periods, producing lower quality work. We find that, contrary to these claims, workers are extremely stable in their accuracy over the entire period. To understand whether workers set their accuracy based on the task’s requirements for acceptance, we then perform an experiment where we vary the required accuracy for a large crowdsourcing task. Workers did not adjust their accuracy based on the acceptance threshold: workers who were above the threshold continued working at their usual quality level, and workers below the threshold self-selected themselves out of the task. Capitalizing on this consistency, we demonstrate that it is possible to predict workers’ long-term accuracy using just a glimpse of their performance on the first five tasks.
Low-Cost Ultra-Wide Genotyping Using Roche/454 Pyrosequencing for Surveillance of HIV Drug Resistance

Background Great efforts have been made to increase accessibility of HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low and middle-income countries. The threat of wide-scale emergence of drug resistance could severely hamper ART scale-up efforts. Population-based surveillance of transmitted HIV drug resistance ensures the use of appropriate first-line regimens to maximize efficacy of ART programs where drug options are limited. However, traditional HIV genotyping is extremely expensive, providing a cost barrier to wide-scale and frequent HIV drug resistance surveillance. Methods/Results We have developed a low-cost laboratory-scale next-generation sequencing-based genotyping method to monitor drug resistance. We designed primers specifically to amplify protease and reverse transcriptase from Brazilian HIV subtypes and developed a multiplexing scheme using multiplex identifier tags to minimize cost while providing more robust data than traditional genotyping techniques. Using this approach, we characterized drug resistance from plasma in 81 HIV infected individuals collected in São Paulo, Brazil. We describe the complexities of analyzing next-generation sequencing data and present a simplified open-source workflow to analyze drug resistance data. From this data, we identified drug resistance mutations in 20% of treatment naïve individuals in our cohort, which is similar to frequencies identified using traditional genotyping in Brazilian patient samples. Conclusion The developed ultra-wide sequencing approach described here allows multiplexing of at least 48 patient samples per sequencing run, 4 times more than the current genotyping method. This method is also 4-fold more sensitive (5% minimal detection frequency vs. 20%) at a cost 3–5× less than the traditional Sanger-based genotyping method. Lastly, by using a benchtop next-generation sequencer (Roche/454 GS Junior), this approach can be more easily implemented in low-resource settings. This data provides proof-of-concept that next-generation HIV drug resistance genotyping is a feasible and low-cost alternative to current genotyping methods and may be particularly beneficial for in-country surveillance of transmitted drug resistance.
How tubular venom‐conducting fangs are formed

Elapids, viperids, and some other groups of colubroid snakes have tubular fangs for the conduction of venom into their prey. The literature describing the development of venom‐conducting fangs provides two contradictory accounts of fang development. Some studies claim that the venom canal forms by the infolding of a deep groove along the surface of the tooth to produce an enclosed canal. In other works the tubular fang is said to form by the deposition of material from tip to base, so that the canal develops without any folding. This study was undertaken to examine fang development and to account for the disagreement in the literature by determining whether fang formation varies among groups of venomous snakes and whether it differs between embryos and adults. Adult and embryonic representatives of elapids and viperids were examined. All fangs examined, elapid and viperid, embryos and adults, were found to develop into their tubular shape by the addition of material to the basal end of the tooth rather than by the folding inward of an ungrooved tooth to form a tubular fang. In some cases, the first fang that develops in embryonic snakes differs morphologically from all those formed subsequently. J. Morphol. 252:291–297, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.