Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interlanguage Development in Speech Act Strategy Choices: Apologies by Norwegian Pre- and In-service Teachers of English

Previous research on interlanguage pragmatics suggests that performance of apologies in a second language can pose challenges for adult language learners. The goal of this paper is to contribute to the growing body of research on L2 pragmatic development. The cross-sectional study presented here focuses on the variation in the use of apology strategies in response to discourse completion tasks produced by 110 Norwegian pre- and in- service English teachers at three different proficiency levels. The apologies were classified using coding procedures adopted from Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984), Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) and Rose (2000). The findings are reported using descriptive statistics and selected examples from the data. One-way ANOVAs and Chi-square tests were run to determine if the differences between the groups were statistically significant. Developmental patterns were revealed in the use of apology modifications (adjunct strategies), particularly in the amount of and variation of modifications, with participants with higher proficiency level employing significantly more varied and extensive modifications. However, no significant differences in the production of the main apology and the employment of lexical intensifiers were found.
Opportunistic relaying and outage performance analysis of cooperative cognitive networks under primary user's quality of service constraint

In this paper, we describe an opportunistic relaying scheme in cooperative cognitive radio networks. We propose an optimal relay selection policy that can maximize the data rate of the secondary users (SUs). with the proposed policy, we analyse the outage probability of the SUs. We derive the upper and lower bounds of the outage probabilities. Simulation results show that the SUs can achieve high data rate with the proposed relay selection policy, and outage probability of theoretic analysis matches the simulation very well.
Does the vitamin D receptor genotype predict bone mineral loss in haemodialysed patients?

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene BsmI-polymorphism is a genetic determinant of bone metabolism. DESIGN To test this hypothesis, the relationship between VDR genotypes, bone mineral density (baseline and after 18 months) and parameters of calcium metabolism and bone turnover were investigated prospectively in 88 haemodialysed patients not receiving active vitamin D metabolites. METHODS Whole body, lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) were assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). In addition calcium, phosphorus, 25(OH)D3, 1,25(OH)2D3, osteocalcin serum concentrations, alkaline phosphatase activity and intact 1,84 PTH levels were measured. RESULTS VDR genotype BB, Bb and bb were found in 27, 49 and 24% of patients. Initial BMD (g/cm2) of whole body, lumbar spine and femoral neck did not differ between genotypes (whole body: BB 1.055 +/- 0.120, Bb 1.082 +/- 0.102, bb 1.128 +/- 0.120; lumbar spine: BB 1.075 +/- 0.199, Bb 1.079 +/- 0.185, bb 1.099 +/- 0.170; femoral neck: BB 0.808 +/- 0.160, Bb 0.862 +/- 0.127, bb 0.842 +/- 0.125; mean +/- SD), but the decrease of whole body and femoral neck BMD during 18 months was significantly (P < 0.02) different between the genotype groups (whole body: BB -0.048 +/- 0.028, Bb -0.031 +/- 0.029, bb -0.024 +/- 0.023; femoral neck BB -0.044 +/- 0.069, Bb -0.032 +/- 0.081, bb -0.012 +/- 0.029 g/cm2). CONCLUSION This preliminary study suggests faster mineral loss in BB genotype of VDR in haemodialysed patients.
Host-Parasite Interactions and Purifying Selection in a Microsporidian Parasite of Honey Bees

To clarify the mechanisms of Nosema ceranae parasitism, we deep-sequenced both honey bee host and parasite mRNAs throughout a complete 6-day infection cycle. By time-series analysis, 1122 parasite genes were significantly differently expressed during the reproduction cycle, clustering into 4 expression patterns. We found reactive mitochondrial oxygen species modulator 1 of the host to be significantly down regulated during the entire infection period. Our data support the hypothesis that apoptosis of honey bee cells was suppressed during infection. We further analyzed genome-wide genetic diversity of this parasite by comparing samples collected from the same site in 2007 and 2013. The number of SNP positions per gene and the proportion of non-synonymous substitutions per gene were significantly reduced over this time period, suggesting purifying selection on the parasite genome and supporting the hypothesis that a subset of N. ceranae strains might be dominating infection.
Evens norm, transfers and characteristic classes for extraspecial p-groups

Let P be the extraspecial p-group of order p^{2n+1}, of p-rank n+1, and of exponent p if p>2. Let Z be the center of P and let kappa_{n,r} be the characteristic classes of degree 2^n - 2^r (resp. 2(p^n-p^r)) for p=2 (resp. p>2), 0 H^*(P,F_p)/sqrt{0}), with iota= 1 if p=2, iota= p if p>2. We obtain formulae in H^*(P,F_p)/sqrt{0} relating the kappa_{n,r}^iota terms to the ones of fewer variables. For p>2 and for a given sequence r_0,. ,r_{n-1} of non-negative integers, we also prove that, modulo-nilradical, the element prod_{r_i}kappa^{r_i}_{n,i} belongs to T if and only if either r_0 >= 2, or all the r_i are multiple of p. This gives the determination of the subring of invariants of the symplectic group Sp_{2n}(F_p) in T.
Human Neuroscience

theory of addiction proposed by Berridge and Robinson combines neural sensitization and incentive salience concepts. It has been found that following alcohol or drug intake dopamine is released in the ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens Moreover, much like the mechanisms involved in reward prediction in animals, NAcc dopamine release attributes " incentive salience " to drug-associated cues (Robinson and Berridge, 2008). This cue-induced dopamine release, then, is thought to mediate " wanting " of alcohol or other drugs of abuse. Furthermore, through the alcohol-induced stimulation of dopamine release, a down-regulation of stri-atal dopamine D2 receptors occurs which may underlie the neural sensitization (Volkow et al., 1996). Indeed, alcohol-addicted patients with downregulated dopaminergic neurotransmission in the ventral striatum are at a higher risk for relapse (Dettling et al. Even though the view of the NAcc as the " Universal Addiction Site " (Dackis and O'Brien, 2001) may be an oversimplifi cation, the NAcc is thus placed at a central place in orchestrating the events related to the " wanting " of alcohol on the one hand and drug-induced neural
Continuance Intention of e-Learning Platform: Toward an Integrated Model

Researchers have expended considerable effort in constructing theoretical models, such as the technology acceptance model (TAM), expectation confirmation model (ECM), and cognitive model (COGM), that explain and predict user behavior in information system acceptance and continuance. This study combines these three models and two central constructs - satisfaction and attitude - into an integrated model. Additionally, this study integrates the motivation perspective, and the self-determination model (SDM). Although information system continuance theory has garnered significant attention in previous research, this study is the first study to examine the motivational factors affecting the synthesized model, which is a combination of the TAM, ECM, COGM, and SDM. Analytical results demonstrate that the four models explain and predict e-learning continuance intention.
Dimensions of Compulsive Exercise across Eating Disorder Diagnostic Subtypes and the Validation of the Spanish Version of the Compulsive Exercise Test

Objectives: Compulsive exercise in eating disorders has been traditionally considered as a behavior that serves the purpose of weight/shape control. More recently, it has been postulated that there may be other factors that drive the compulsive need to exercise. This has led to the development of the Compulsive Exercise Test (CET); a self-reported questionnaire that aims to explore the cognitive-behavioral underpinnings of compulsive exercise from a multi-faceted perspective. The objectives of this study were threefold: (1) to validate the Spanish version of the CET; (2) to compare eating disorder diagnostic subtypes and a healthy control group in terms of the factors that drive compulsive exercise as defined by the CET; (3) to explore how the dimensions evaluated in the CET are associated with eating disorder symptoms and general psychopathology. Methods: The CET was administered to a total of 157 patients with an eating disorder [40 anorexia nervosa, 56 bulimia nervosa (BN), and 61 eating disorder not-otherwise-specified (EDNOS)] and 128 healthy weight/eating controls. Patients were assessed via a semi-structured interview to reach a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis. Additionally, all participants completed the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90R) and the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated adequate goodness-of-fit to the original five-factor model of the CET. BN and EDNOS patients scored higher in the avoidance and rule-driven behavior, weight control, and total CET scales in comparison to the healthy controls, and higher across all scales apart from the exercise rigidity scale compared to the anorexia nervosa patients. Mean scores of the anorexia nervosa patients did not differ to those of the control participants, except for the mood improvement scale where the anorexia nervosa patients obtained a lower mean score. Mean scores between the BN and EDNOS patients were equivalent. The CET scales avoidance and rule-driven behavior, weight of control and total CET scores were positively correlated with the clinical assessment measures of the SCL-90R and EDI-2. Conclusion: Compulsive exercise is a multidimensional construct and the factors driving compulsive exercise differ according to the eating disorder diagnostic subtype. This should be taken into account when addressing compulsive exercise during the treatment of eating disorders.
Room acoustics simulation for multichannel microphone arrays

A new and efficient room acoustics simulation software package for MATLAB is presented which can simulate recordings of arbitrary microphone arrays within an echoic room. This simulator supports research related to developing and experimenting with multichannel microphone arrays and higher order ambisonic playback. Based upon the work by Schimmel et al. [1], this new simulation software package models both specular and diffuse reflections in a shoebox type environment. It is an improvement over previous work as it can simulate microphone arrays with arbitrary directional impulse responses and large numbers of sensors. The spherical harmonic expansion up to a specified order at any point within an echoic room can also be simulated by specifying a microphone array with custom directional gains that match the spherical harmonic functions. Furthermore, this simulator provides realistic phase information for the sound recorded by the microphone array, including accurate inter-sensor time delays for the sources and early specular reflections. The room acoustics simulator is implemented as a C program that interfaces with MATLAB and is freely available from the authors.
Interharmonic-flicker curves

Flickers and interharmonics have an inherent relationship. The magnitude of a voltage can fluctuate if it contains interharmonics. This paper proposes a limit for interharmonics by utilizing the published limits on voltage flicker. The limit is presented as an interharmonic-magnitude versus interharmonic-frequency curve and is called interharmonic-flicker curve. The interharmonic-flicker curves based on the rms and peak magnitude fluctuations and on the IEC flickermeter are derived. A systematic method to derive limits for interharmonics from the flicker limits is presented. The paper also reveals that the IEC flickermeter needs improvement when dealing with interharmonic-caused flickers. Potential applications of the proposed interharmonic-flicker curves include the designing and evaluation of mitigation measures to reduce the flicker impact of interharmonic producing sources.
Estimating Uncertainty in Population Growth Rates: Jackknife vs. Bootstrap Techniques

Although per capita rates of increase (r) have been calculated by population biologists for decades, the inability to estimate uncertainty (variance) associated with r values has until recently precluded statistical comparisons of population growth rates. In this study, we used two computer- intensive techniques, Jackknifing and Bootstrapping, to estimate bias, standard errors, and sampling distributions of r for real and hypothetical populations of cladocerans. Results generated using the two techniques, using data on laboratory cohorts of Daphnia pulex, were almost identical, as were results for a hypothetical D. pulex population whose sampling distribution was approximately normal. However, for another hypothetical population whose sampling distribution was negatively skewed due to high juvenile mortality, Bootstrap and full-sample estimates of r were negatively biased by 3.3 and 1.8%, respectively. A bias adjustment reduced the bias in the Bootstrap estimate and produced estimates of r and SE(r) almost identical to those ofthe Jackknife technique. In general, our simulations show that the Jackknife will provide more cost-effective point and interval estimates of r for cladoceran populations, except when juvenile mortality is high (at least >25%). Coefficients of variation in the mean of r within laboratory cohorts of D. pulex were one-half to one-third the magnitude of the corresponding coefficients of variation in the mean of total reproduction and in the mean day to death (range of values of cv(r) = 1.6 to 3.8%). This suggests that extremes in reproductive output and survival of individuals tend to be dampened at the population level, and that within-cohort variability in r is not explosive. Moreover, between-cohort variability in r can be much greater than within-cohort variability, as indicated by a statistically significant difference of 30% (P <c; .01) between the high and low r values that were computed for four cohorts of D. pulex born during a 1 -mo period from the same laboratory stock population. Based on variability in per capita rates of increase that have been estimated for several cladoceran species, we suggest that the precision for reporting r values should in most cases be limited to two significant figures.
Scrapie prion proteins accumulate in the cytoplasm of persistently infected cultured cells

The cellular prion protein (PrPC) is a sialoglycoprotein anchored to the external surface of cells by a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol moiety. During scrapie, an abnormal PrP isoform designated PrPSc accumulates, and much evidence argues that it is a major and necessary component of the infectious prion. Based on the resistance of native PrPSc to proteolysis and to digestion with phosphatidylinositol- specific phospholipase C as well as the enhancement of PrPSc immunoreactivity after denaturation, we devised in situ immunoassays for the detection of PrPSc in cultured cells. Using these immunoassays, we identified the sites of PrPSc accumulation in scrapie-infected cultured cells. We also used these immunoassays to isolate PrPSc- producing clones from a new hamster brain cell line (HaB) and found an excellent correlation between their PrPSc content and prion infectivity titers. In scrapie-infected HaB cells as well as in scrapie-infected mouse neuroblastoma cells, most PrPSc was found to be intracellular and most localized with ligands of the Golgi marker wheat germ agglutinin. In one scrapie-infected HaB clone, PrPSc also localized extensively with MG-160, a protein resident of the medial-Golgi stack whereas this colocalization was not observed in another subclone of these cells. Whether the sites of intracellular accumulation of PrPSc are limited to a few subcellular organelles or they are highly variable remains to be determined. If the intracellular accumulation of PrPSc is found in the cells of the central nervous system, then it might be responsible for the neuronal dysfunction and degeneration which are cardinal features of prion diseases.
THE VIRTUAL TOURIST: COGNITIVE STRATEGIES AND DIFFERENCES IN NAVIGATION AND MAP USE WHILE EXPLORING AN MAGINARY CITY

Abstract. This paper, submitted for the Workshop/Theme session on Virtual & Augmented Reality: Technology, Design & Human Factors, organized by ISPRS Working Group IV/9, explores the research field opened by experiments in virtual environments from multidisciplinary approach. At the recently established Cognitive Cartography Lab, Eötvös University, Budapest we designed an experiment to study and better understand the role of visuospatial displays in spatial cognition, in particular the cognitive conditions of navigation in an imaginary city with a map. Below we present some preliminary results based on our experiments recording the spatial behaviour of 62 subjects, including their verbal reactions and eye tracking data collected during the sessions. We measured the wayfinding behaviour of participants after an active or passive learning phase. The analysis of the accumulated data suggested no significant differences in the efficiency of spatial problem solving between the groups of subjects. For further investigation we found that – although salient visual cues grasped the attention of the participants – they could not benefit from this knowledge of landmarks in the actual navigational tasks. Despite the lack of group differences, the low number of getting lost in such complex, large-scale virtual environment suggests that participants could solve the navigational tasks rather efficiently, most probably due to using different cognitive strategies. The project was part of an educational development plan and was supported by the Student Talent Grant of Eötvös University. It was designed by a multidisciplinary research group including university students and offered them the opportunity to collaborate, cross disciplinary borders and develop their profile when contributing to front-line scientific research.
Error Performance Analysis of Maximum Rank Distance Codes

In this paper, we first introduce the concept of elementary linear subspace , which has similar properties to those of a set of coordinates. We then use eleme ntary linear subspaces to derive properties of maximum rank distance (MRD) codes that parallel those of max i um distance separable (MDS) codes. Using these properties, we show that, for MRD codes with erro r correction capabilityt, the decoder error probability of bounded distance decoders decreases exponentially with t based on the assumption that all errors with the same rank are equally likely. Finall y, our simulation results show that our bounds seem applicable to other error models as well and that MRD cod es are more resilient against crisscross errors than MDS codes.
Research of the spatial-temporal gait parameters and pressure characteristic in spastic diplegia children.

PURPOSE Spastic diplegia is the most common form of cerebral palsy. It presents with symmetric involvement of the lower limbs and upper limbs. Children with spastic diplegia frequently experience problems with motor control, spasticity, and balance which lead to gait abnormalities. The aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, to determine the differences in spatial-temporal gait parameters and magnitude of plantar pressure distribution between children with spastic diplegia (CP) and typical children. Secondly, to compare and evaluate main changes of plantar pressure and spatial-temporal gait parameters instead of data between spastic diplegia children with prescribed ankle - solid foot orthosis (AFOs) and without using AFOs. METHODS The evaluation was carried out on 20 spastic diplegia children and 10 agematched children as a control group aged 6-15 years. Twenty children with spastic diplegia CP were divided into two groups: ten subjects with prescribed AFOs and ten subjects without use of assistive device. Patients used the AFOs orthosis for one year. Measurements included in-shoe plantar pressure distribution and spatial-temporal gait parameters. RESULTS Spatial-temporal gait parameters showed meaningful difference between study groups in velocity, stride length, step length and cadence ( p < 0.05). However no significant differences between patients with and without AFOs were found ( p > 0.05). Significant differences between typical and spastic diplegia children with AFOs were observed in the magnitude of plantar pressure under the toes, the metatarsal heads, the medial arch, and the heel ( p < 0.05). For typical subjects, the highest pressure amplitudes were found under the heel and the metatarsal heads, while the lowest pressure distribution was under the medial arch. In CP patients the lateral arch was strongly unloaded. The peak pressure under heel was shifted inside. CONCLUSIONS Collected data and calculated scores present a state of the gait in test groups, showed the difference and could be valuable for physicians in decision making by choosing qualitative therapy. Furthermore, it allows predicting probability of further possible changes in gait of spastic diplegia patients with AFOs and without it. In conclusion, our current results showed that the use of AFOs, prescribed on a clinical basis by doctors improves gait patterns and gait stability in children with spastic cerebral palsy.
Neural fault isolator for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are emerging as an innovative technology that can help to improve business processes. In such environments malfunctions and break-down states must be efficiently diagnosed to reduce to a minimum the economic losses. In this paper we present a fault isolation approach based on neural networks, which utilizes only a minimum set of information such as the sensor value, node ID and timestamp as inputs. We believe that this information set could be provided by any WSN regardless of its specific implementation. This abstraction makes the fault isolator generically applicable in enterprise business systems. The neural fault isolator was evaluated in a trial with 36 nodes and has proved to be highly efficient in the isolation of failed components.
Two behavioral models of the electronically controlled generalized current conveyor of the second generation

This contribution presents two behavioral models of voltage-controlled generalized current conveyors of the second generation based on the commercially available devices. The prepared models are suitable for the practical experiments, before expensive fabrication of transistor-level implementation of whole active device is performed. Both models offer three standard terminals (X - current input terminal, Y - voltage input terminal, Z - current output terminal) and have a possibility of electronic control of its generally defined parameters (current transfer/gain B in direction X→Z, voltage gain A in direction Y→X, generally non-zero resistance RX of current input terminal X). Functionality of the presented behavioral models was verified just by PSpice simulations in this preliminary stage.