Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Guidelines for Feature Matching Assessment of Brain-Computer Interfaces for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Purpose Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can provide access to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices using neurological activity alone without voluntary movements. As with traditional AAC access methods, BCI performance may be influenced by the cognitive-sensory-motor and motor imagery profiles of those who use these devices. Therefore, we propose a person-centered, feature matching framework consistent with clinical AAC best practices to ensure selection of the most appropriate BCI technology to meet individuals' communication needs. Method The proposed feature matching procedure is based on the current state of the art in BCI technology and published reports on cognitive, sensory, motor, and motor imagery factors important for successful operation of BCI devices. Results Considerations for successful selection of BCI for accessing AAC are summarized based on interpretation from a multidisciplinary team with experience in AAC, BCI, neuromotor disorders, and cognitive assessment. The set of features that support each BCI option are discussed in a hypothetical case format to model possible transition of BCI research from the laboratory into clinical AAC applications. Conclusions This procedure is an initial step toward consideration of feature matching assessment for the full range of BCI devices. Future investigations are needed to fully examine how person-centered factors influence BCI performance across devices.
Obtaining diverse behaviors in a climate model without the use of flux adjustments

A number of studies have set out to obtain a range of atmosphere and ocean model behavior by perturbing parameters in a single climate model (perturbed physics ensemble: PPE). Early studies used shallow layer slab ocean or flux‐adjusted coupled ocean‐atmosphere models to obtain a broad range of behavior as characterized by climate sensitivity. A recent study reports a relatively narrow range of sensitivities (2.2–3.2°C) in a PPE of 35 coupled models without flux adjustment, raising the question whether previous broad ranges were an artifact of the use of models that were not in top‐of‐atmosphere (TOA) energy balance. Moreover, no PPE experiment has reported a large spread of behavior of the ocean compared to that exhibited in a multi‐model ensemble (MME) such as Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3). In this work, we randomly perturb model parameters of a coupled ocean‐atmosphere general circulation model using a space‐filling design containing 10,000 combinations. The ensemble is run over the distributed computing platform of climateprediction.net under fixed pre‐industrial forcing without flux adjustment. We resample a second, 20,000‐member, ensemble with perturbations conditioned on the TOA fluxes from the first ensemble to not drift significantly from a realistic base state while targeting a range of behavior. Models within the targeted ensemble show realistic regional control climates when compared to the CMIP3 ensemble, although there is a bias in global mean surface temperature. The range of predicted equilibrium climate sensitivities of the targeted ensemble is substantially smaller than that obtained with flux adjustment, but larger than the range in the CMIP3 ensemble or in the 35‐model un‐flux‐adjusted PPE in a recent study mentioned above. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in the targeted ensemble exhibits a spread in strength as wide as that found in the CMIP3 ensemble. We conclude that flux adjustment is not a pre‐requisite for obtaining a broad spread of behavior in a perturbed physics ensemble.
An Adaptive Android Security Extension against Privilege Escalation Attacks

Android is the world's most popular mobile platform. Nevertheless, in spite of continuous efforts on its permission system, it is still incapable of resisting privilege escalation attacks, specially, the confused deputy attacks on numerous poor-designed applications. Worse yet, most existing security solutions become costly or rigid in recent Android dynamic permission environment. In this paper, we proposed a flexible and efficient security extension to Android middleware for protecting the vulnerable privileged applications from being abused by malwares in the dynamic permission scenario. Our framework maintains fresh permission states of applications at runtime and enforces access control on inter-component communications conservatively by checking the capability differences between applications, so as to provide more precise and temperate protection for applications. Moreover, we also introduced an efficient cache mechanism together with an optimized proactive updating method for decisions, which contributes significantly to improving the inspection efficiency. Finally, experimental results reveal that our framework is effective and adaptable in defending against confused deputy attacks on applications with negligible overhead and limited impact on application usability.
Comparing Stress Levels of Graduate and Undergraduate Pre-Service Teachers Following Their Teaching Practicums

In comparison to undergraduate pre-service teachers (PSTs), graduate PSTs have previously completed a three-year bachelor degree and are enrolled in initial teacher education (ITE) programs to become a teacher. Following a review of literature on teachers’ sense of stress, reflection and identity development, this study compared the stress levels and concerns of graduate PSTs with those of undergraduate PSTs. One hundred and fifty-one graduate and one hundred and fiftynine undergraduate PSTs participated in this study. The graduate PSTs had significantly higher stress levels than undergraduate PSTs (p < .01). Contributing stressors from both groups’ own demographic background and teaching practicum perspectives were investigated and compared. These findings provide an empirical basis from which to develop appropriate strategies to support both groups of PSTs to manage their stress, develop their identity and personal beliefs and increase their retention in teacher education programs.
Monitoring Anti-Pythium insidiosum IgG Antibodies and (1→3)-β-d-Glucan in Vascular Pythiosis

Despite aggressive treatment, vascular pythiosis has a mortality rate of 40%. This is due to delays in diagnosis and a lack of effective monitoring tools. ABSTRACT Despite aggressive treatment, vascular pythiosis has a mortality rate of 40%. This is due to delays in diagnosis and a lack of effective monitoring tools. To overcome this drawback, serum beta-d-glucan (BG) and P. insidiosum-specific antibody (Pi-Ab) were examined as potential monitoring markers in vascular pythiosis. A prospective cohort study of vascular pythiosis patients was carried out from January 2010 to July 2016. Clinical information and blood samples were collected and evaluated by the BG and Pi-Ab assays. Linear mixed-effect models were used to compare BG and Pi-Ab levels. The in vitro susceptibility test was performed with all P. insidiosum isolates from culture-positive cases. A total of 50 patients were enrolled: 45 survived and 5 died during follow-up. The survivors had a significantly shorter time to medical care (P < 0.0001) and a significantly shorter waiting time to the first surgery (P < 0.0001). There were no differences in BG levels among the groups at diagnosis (P = 0.33); however, BG levels among survivors were significantly lower than those of the deceased group at 0.5 months (P < 0.0001) and became undetectable after 3 months. Survivors were able to maintain an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) value (EV) of Pi-Ab above 8, whereas the EV among deceased patients was less than 4. In vitro susceptibility results revealed no synergistic effects between itraconazole and terbinafine. This study showed that BG and Pi-Ab are potentially valuable markers to monitor the disease after treatment initiation. An unchanged BG level at 2 weeks after surgery should prompt an evaluation for residual disease.
Understanding Generalization and Optimization Performance of Deep CNNs

This work aims to provide understandings on the remarkable success of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) by theoretically analyzing their generalization performance and establishing optimization guarantees for gradient descent based training algorithms. Specifically, for a CNN model consisting of $l$ convolutional layers and one fully connected layer, we prove that its generalization error is bounded by $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{\dt\widetilde{\varrho}/n})$ where $\theta$ denotes freedom degree of the network parameters and $\widetilde{\varrho}=\mathcal{O}(\log(\prod_{i=1}^{l}\rwi{i} (\ki{i}-\si{i}+1)/p)+\log(\rf))$ encapsulates architecture parameters including the kernel size $\ki{i}$, stride $\si{i}$, pooling size $p$ and parameter magnitude $\rwi{i}$. To our best knowledge, this is the first generalization bound that only depends on $\mathcal{O}(\log(\prod_{i=1}^{l+1}\rwi{i}))$, tighter than existing ones that all involve an exponential term like $\mathcal{O}(\prod_{i=1}^{l+1}\rwi{i})$. Besides, we prove that for an arbitrary gradient descent algorithm, the computed approximate stationary point by minimizing empirical risk is also an approximate stationary point to the population risk. This well explains why gradient descent training algorithms usually perform sufficiently well in practice. Furthermore, we prove the one-to-one correspondence and convergence guarantees for the non-degenerate stationary points between the empirical and population risks. It implies that the computed local minimum for the empirical risk is also close to a local minimum for the population risk, thus ensuring the good generalization performance of CNNs.
UNUSUAL PATTERNS IN REPORTED EARNINGS

Carslaw [1988] provides evidence that New Zealand firms may round up earnings when they are just below reference points denoted by Nx 10k. He observes more zeros and fewer nines than expected by chance in the second-from-left-most digit for a sample of reported earnings numbers. This study examines COMPUSTAT firms to determine whether reported earnings for U.S. firms follow similar patterns. It also reexamines the expectation model used by Carslaw. While U.S. earnings numbers deviate less from expectations, relative to Carslaw's sample, a number of other interesting patterns are observed. Firms reporting losses exhibit the opposite patterns (fewer zeros and more nines). Analysis of quarterly earnings data reveal similar, though considerably smaller, deviations from expected frequencies. Examination of per share earnings (EPS) suggests that rounding behavior is more prevalent in EPS numbers than it is in earnings numbers. Using an alternative model of expected frequencies, unusually high proportions of EPS numbers divisible by ten cents and five cents are observed for firms reporting profits, but no such deviations are observed for firms reporting losses. Again, quarterly EPS data exhibit the same patterns observed for annual EPS numbers. C ARSLAW [1988] documents unusual patterns in reported earnings of New Zealand firms. Specifically, there are more zeros and fewer nines than would be expected by chance, in the second-from-left-most digit. He interprets this evidence as being consistent with investors having cognitive reference points of Nx 10k. Similar to the wellknown "$1.99" pricing phenomenon, earnings of $1,900,000 may be perceived as being much lower than $2,000,000, relative to other $100,000 differences (say, between $2,100,000 and $2,000,000). Therefore, firms round-up earnings just below Nx 10k (with a nine in the secondfrom-left-most digit) and report earnings numbers that just exceed such reference points (with a zero in the second-fromleft-most digit). This pattern is observed for both owner and manager-controlled domestic firms. The only group not exhibiting this pattern are firms controlled by foreign owners, for whom foreign currency denominated earnings could potentially be important. Managers have incentives to round earnings for two general reasons; one relates to firm valuation and the other is based on the use of accounting numbers in various contracts. If reported earnings affect firm value as perceived by various I thank Sidney Browne, Bill Kinney, Safwan Masri, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, and Won Choi for his research assistance. Jacob K. Thomas, Columbia University. Manuscript received May 1988. Revisions received December 1988 and May 1989. Accepted June 1989.
Evaluation of Tumor-associated Tissue Eosinophilia in Different Stages of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma using Special Stains: An in vitro Histopathological Study.

AIM To evaluate the tissue eosinophilia in different stages and grades of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and correlate its possible role as a prognosticator in primary OSCC using special stains like Congo red and carbol chromotrope. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-five intraoral histopathologi-cally proven cases of OSCC were selected (15 cases each of well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (WDSCC), moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (MDSCC), and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (PDSCC)). Three sections of 4 pm were taken for each case. All slides were stained using routine stain, i.e., hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and special stains, i.e., carbol chromotrope and Congo red respectively, for studying tissue eosinophils in all these groups. Histopathological evaluation was performed on paraffin sections for calculating the quantitative eosinophil distribution by two separate observers who were blinded to clinical and histopathological data. Tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) was calculated using the density method. RESULTS An increase in the degree of TATE from stage I to stage IV suggested that elevated tissue eosinophilia was seen with an increasing size of primary tumor. Also an increase in TATE was observed with an increasing grade of OSCC. Chromotrope stain was found to be a much better and more specific stain for eosinophils, and gave more accurate eosinophil count compared with H&E and Congo red. CONCLUSION The findings of the present study highlight the significance of eosinophil counting and that it can be used as an additional morphological parameter in the grading of OSCC which can also be included in the biopsy report.
Efficient control of conidium germination, mycelial growth and early blight in tomato in vitro with essential oils under farm conditions

The aim of this work was to find a natural product and efficient dose to control early blight in tomato crop in agro-ecological or conventional agriculture system. The treatments were essential oils from Cymbopogon citratus, Eucalyptus citriodora, Piper hispidinervum, Cymbopogon martini, Rosmarinus officinalis, Syzygium aromaticum, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Mentha piperita, Citrus sinensis var. dulcis, and Melaleuca alternifolia used against Alternaria solani in Solanum lycopersicum under greenhouse conditions. In vitro, mycelial growth and conidia germination were completely inhibited by C. zeylanicum, C. martini, C. citratus, and S. aromaticum oils of 750 μL L-1, E. citriodora and M. alternifolia at 2000 μL L-1, and Mentha piperita in 5000 μL L-1. In tomato, plants under greenhouse conditions, early blight in leaf was inhibited by C. zeylanicum, C. martini, C. citratus, and S. aromaticum at 750 μL L-1, and E. citriodora oil of 5000 μL L-1. The best results for MIC 50 and 90 with minor dose to control was essential oil from C. citratus at 341.32 and 1.822. 10 µL L-1 rich in geranial (46.91%), neral (34.34%), and geranyl acetate (6.30%). Therefore, it is possible to use this essential oils or manufacture a new and efficient product to control Alternaria solani in tomato plants. Key words: Agroecology, Alternaria solani, Cimbopogon sp. , Eucalyptus sp. , Neral, Solanum lychopersicon.
Mitochondrial unfolded protein response gene Clpp is required to maintain ovarian follicular reserve during aging, for oocyte competence, and development of pre‐implantation embryos

Caseinolytic peptidase P mediates degradation of unfolded mitochondrial proteins and activates mitochondrial unfolded protein response (mtUPR) to maintain protein homeostasis. Clpp−/− female mice generate a lower number of mature oocytes and two‐cell embryos, and no blastocysts. Clpp−/− oocytes have smaller mitochondria, with lower aspect ratio (length/width), and decreased expression of genes that promote fusion. A 4‐fold increase in atretic follicles at 3 months, and reduced number of primordial follicles at 6–12 months are observed in Clpp−/− ovaries. This is associated with upregulation of p‐S6, p‐S6K, p‐4EBP1 and p‐AKT473, p‐mTOR2481 consistent with mTORC1 and mTORC2 activation, respectively, and Clpp−/− oocyte competence is partially rescued by mTOR inhibitor rapamycin. Our findings demonstrate that CLPP is required for oocyte and embryo development and oocyte mitochondrial function and dynamics. Absence of CLPP results in mTOR pathway activation, and accelerated depletion of ovarian follicular reserve.
Working Memory for Linguistic and Non-linguistic Manual Gestures: Evidence, Theory, and Application

Linguistic manual gestures are the basis of sign languages used by deaf individuals. Working memory and language processing are intimately connected and thus when language is gesture-based, it is important to understand related working memory mechanisms. This article reviews work on working memory for linguistic and non-linguistic manual gestures and discusses theoretical and applied implications. Empirical evidence shows that there are effects of load and stimulus degradation on working memory for manual gestures. These effects are similar to those found for working memory for speech-based language. Further, there are effects of pre-existing linguistic representation that are partially similar across language modalities. But above all, deaf signers score higher than hearing non-signers on an n-back task with sign-based stimuli, irrespective of their semantic and phonological content, but not with non-linguistic manual actions. This pattern may be partially explained by recent findings relating to cross-modal plasticity in deaf individuals. It suggests that in linguistic gesture-based working memory, semantic aspects may outweigh phonological aspects when processing takes place under challenging conditions. The close association between working memory and language development should be taken into account in understanding and alleviating the challenges faced by deaf children growing up with cochlear implants as well as other clinical populations.
Efficient and Innovative Techniques for Collective Acquisition of Weak GNSS Signals

Navigation and positioning in harsh environments is still a great challenge for many applications. Collective Detection (CD) is a powerful approach for acquiring highly attenuated satellite signals in challenging environments, because of its capacity to process all visible satellites collectively taking advantage of the spatial correlation between GNSS signals as a vector acquisition scheme. CD combines the correlator outputs of satellite channels and projects them onto the position/clock bias domain in order to enhance the overall GNSS signal detection probability. In CD, the code phase search for all satellites in view is mapped into a receiver position/clock bias grid and the satellite signals are not acquired individually but collectively. In this concept, a priori knowledge of satellite ephemeris and reference location are provided to the user. Furthermore, CD addresses some of the inherent drawbacks of the conventional acquisition at the expenses of an increased computational cost. CD techniques are computationally intensive because of the significant number of candidate points in the position-time domain. The aim of this paper is to describe the operation of the CD approach incorporating new methods and architectures to address both the complexity and sensitivity problems. The first method consists of hybridizing the collective detection approach with some correlation techniques and coupling it with a better technique for Doppler frequency estimate. For that, a new scheme with less calculation load is proposed in order to accelerate the detection and location process. Then, high sensitivity acquisition techniques using long coherent integration and non-coherent integration are used in order to improve the performance of the CD algorithm.
Prevalence of cytogenetic abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the southern part of Turkey.

BACKGROUND Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukemia among adults in Western populations. CLL has a wide range of clinical presentations and varied outcomes. For CLL, cytogenetic assessment is essential for estimating prognoses and determining the treatment of choice. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique is widely used for genetic assessment due to its high sensitivity. AIM This study aimed to evaluate the frequencies of deletions of 13q14.3, 17p13.1, 11q22.3, and 13q34 and of trisomy 12 and to observe their effects on survival in 226 Turkish CLL patients using FISH analysis. RESULT AND CONCLUSION The frequencies of abnormalities were 65.4% for del 13q14.3, 39.8% for del 17p13.1, 19% for del 11q22.3 (del ATM), and 15.9% for trisomy 12. No patients had a 13q34.3 aberration. Our results are partially consistent with literature findings. However, certain conflicts with prior results were observed, particularly with respect to the high prevalence of 17p13.1 deletions and the enhanced survival of patients with such deletions. These inconsistencies may represent population-based differences in the genetic epidemiology of CLL.
On a new genus and new species of pilumnid crab from Taiwan, and the generic placements of Heteropanope changensis (Rathbun, 1909) and Pilumnopeus pereiodontus Davie and Ghani, 1993 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura)

Specimens of a small pilumnid crab found inside intertidal sediment rocks in Taiwan are here described as a new genus and new species, Cryptopilumnus taiwanensis. While superficially similar to species of Aniptumnus Ng, 2002, Heteropanope Stimpson, 1858 and Pilumnopeus A. Milne‐Edwards, 1867, it nevertheless differs markedly in several key characters (the low or indistinct anterolateral teeth, the absence of a transverse suture between male thoracic sternites 1 and 2, and the presence of teeth on the ischium and merus of the third and fourth ambulatory legs). In addition, the taxonomy of two problematic species, Heteropanope changensis (Rathbun, 1909) and Pilumnopeus pereiodontus Davie and Ghani, 1993, are discussed and both are transferred to the new genus.
Ligand Access Channels in Cytochrome P450 Enzymes: A Review

Quantitative structure-activity relationships may bring invaluable information on structural elements of both enzymes and substrates that, together, govern substrate specificity. Buried active sites in cytochrome P450 enzymes are connected to the solvent by a network of channels exiting at the distal surface of the protein. This review presents different in silico tools that were developed to uncover such channels in P450 crystal structures. It also lists some of the experimental evidence that actually suggest that these predicted channels might indeed play a critical role in modulating P450 functions. Amino acid residues at the entrance of the channels may participate to a first global ligand recognition of ligands by P450 enzymes before they reach the buried active site. Moreover, different P450 enzymes show different networks of predicted channels. The plasticity of P450 structures is also important to take into account when looking at how channels might play their role.