Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of drama to teach social skills in a special school setting for students with autism

For children with autism, social challenges may be both part of the disability and a barrier to accessing education. This article reports on a project that used drama to address such challenges by drawing on the social skills of non-autistic peers in a special school setting. The article demonstrates how drama's flexibility may be harnessed in order to help students support each other's development of creative and communicative skills. Focusing on two children in particular, specific examples are given to illustrate how they participated in group work, made imaginative contributions to verbal and physical representations and engaged with abstract ideas. The project's outcomes suggest that, given a concrete structure and an invitation to collaborate, drama can be a powerful learning medium for children with autistic spectrum disorder. The conclusion reflects on the diverse meaning of inclusive practice that can be achieved within specialist settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Incorporating Simulated Animal Attacks in Human Technology Interaction Interfaces: The Predictive Power of Biosemiotics and Evolutionary Psychology

Enhanced cognition within the temporal vicinity of animal attacks arguably allowed our hominid ancestors to better build and associate memories related to the animals and their typical habitat markers, which in turn increased their survival chances. This may be at the source of an unusual phenomenon with limited but interesting practical uses in the design of humantechnology interaction interfaces for learning tasks; the phenomenon involves modern humansâ€™ short-term memories being instantaneously turned into long-term memories through surprise in the form of simulated animal attacks. This study explores this phenomenon in the context of a computer-supported learning task, by testing the prediction that a simulated snake attack will lead to cognition enhancement within its temporal vicinity. In an experiment, those participants who were surprised by a Web-based snake screen did significantly better in the test questions for Web-based learning modules that were temporally adjacent to the snake screen.
Influence of the variation of geometrical and topological traits on light interception efficiency of apple trees: sensitivity analysis and metamodelling for ideotype definition

Background and Aims The impact of a fruit tree's architecture on its performance is still under debate, especially with regard to the definition of varietal ideotypes and the selection of architectural traits in breeding programmes. This study aimed at providing proof that a modelling approach can contribute to this debate, by using in silico exploration of different combinations of traits and their consequences on light interception, here considered as one of the key parameters to optimize fruit tree production. Methods The variability of organ geometrical traits, previously described in a bi-parental population, was used to simulate 1- to 5-year-old apple trees (Malus × domestica). Branching sequences along trunks observed during the first year of growth of the same hybrid trees were used to initiate the simulations, and hidden semi-Markov chains previously parameterized were used in subsequent years. Tree total leaf area (TLA) and silhouette to total area ratio (STAR) values were estimated, and a sensitivity analysis was performed, based on a metamodelling approach and a generalized additive model (GAM), to analyse the relative impact of organ geometry and lateral shoot types on STAR. Key Results A larger increase over years in TLA mean and variance was generated by varying branching along trunks than by varying organ geometry, whereas the inverse was observed for STAR, where mean values stabilized from year 3 to year 5. The internode length and leaf area had the highest impact on STAR, whereas long sylleptic shoots had a more significant effect than proleptic shoots. Although the GAM did not account for interactions, the additive effects of the geometrical factors explained >90% of STAR variation, but much less in the case of branching factors. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the proposed modelling approach could contribute to screening architectural traits and their relative impact on tree performance, here viewed through light interception. Even though trait combinations and antagonism will need further investigation, the approach opens up new perspectives for breeding and genetic selection to be assisted by varietal ideotype definition.
Improved B-spline image registration between exhale and inhale lung CT images based on intensity and gradient orientation information

Registration of lung CT images acquired at different respiratory phases is clinically relevant in many applications, such as follow-up analysis, lung function analysis based on mechanical elasticity, or pulmonary airflow analysis, etc. In order to find accurate and reliable transformation for registration, a proper choice of dissimilarity measure is important. Even though various intensity-based measures have been introduced for precise registration, the registration performance may be limited since they mainly take intensity values into account without effectively considering useful spatial information. In this paper, we attempt to improve the non-rigid registration accuracy between exhale and inhale CT images of the lung, by proposing a new dissimilarity measure based on gradient orientation representing the spatial information in addition to vessel-weighted intensity and normalized intensity information. Since it is necessary to develop non-rigid registration that can account for large lung deformations, the B-spline free-form deformation (FFD) is adopted as the transformation model. The experimental tests for six clinical datasets show that the proposed method provides more accurate registration results than competitive registration methods.
A meta-analysis of the relationship between sales orientation-customer orientation (SOCO) and salesperson job performance

Purpose – In the years since Saxe and Weitz developed a scale to measure the selling orientation and customer orientation (SOCO) of a salesperson, research findings on the effect of SOCO on salesperson job performance have shown mixed results. This article aims to synthesize the findings from the empirical studies to identify the direction and the strength of this relationship. In addition, it aims to investigate the moderating effect of customer type (business or end user consumer) and type of job performance measure used (subjective or objective). Design/methodology/approach – Research questions were addressed by a meta‐analysis of 16 studies containing 17 effect sizes from 3,477 respondents.Findings – Meta‐analysis results reveal an attenuated weighted mean effect size (r) of this relationship of 0.14, with a 90 percent confidence interval of 0.04 to 0.23. The disattenuated mean effect size (rc) is 0.16. Findings also reveal that neither customer type nor type of job performance measures moderated the S.
Sub-Wavelength Resonances in Metamaterial-Based Multi-Cylinder Configurations

Sub-wavelength resonances known to exist in isolated metamaterial-based structures of circular cylindrical shape are investigated with the purpose of determining whether the individual resonances are retained when several of such resonant structures are grouped to form a new structure. To this end, structures consisting of 1, 2 and 4 sets of metamaterial-based concentric cylinders excited by an electric line current are analyzed numerically. It is demonstrated that these structures recover the resonances of the individual structures even when the cylinders are closely spaced and the new structure is thus electrically small. The investigation is conducted through a detailed analysis of the electric near-field distribution as well as the radiation resistance in those cases where the individual structures are made of simple dielectric materials in conjunction with simple, but lossy and dispersive, metamaterials.
Evolutionary Changes of Hepatitis B Virus Pre-S Mutations Prior to Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background and Aims Deletions/mutations in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) pre-S region have been associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to study the evolutionary changes of pre-S mutations prior to HCC development. Methods We studied the HBV pre-S sequences at 1 to 10 years preceding diagnosis of HCC in 74 patients with HBV-related HCC (HCC group). 148 chronic hepatitis B patients matched for sex and age in 2:1 ratio, who had been followed up for at least 3 years without HCC (HCC-free group) were recruited as controls. 56 and 47 patients of HCC and HCC-free groups respectively had serially stored sera for longitudinally examination at 1–3 years, 4–6 years, 7–9 years and ≥10 years prior to the recruitment of the study. Results Compared to the HCC-free group, higher frequencies of pre-S deletions and point mutations (at 11 codons) were observed in the HCC group (p<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that pre-S deletions, point mutations at codon 51 and 167 were independent factors associated with HCC. Longitudinal observation showed that pre-S deletions and most of the 11 HCC-associated pre-S point mutations existed at least 10 years before HCC development, and were more prevalent preceding HCC development in patients from HCC groups than HCC-free group. The number of HCC-associated pre-S point mutations increased over time preceding HCC development, and correlated positively with the time to HCC diagnosis (r = 0.220, p = 0.005). Conclusions High prevalence and cumulative evolution of pre-S mutations preceding HCC development suggested a possible carcinogenic role of pre-S mutations and their potential application in HCC risk prediction.
STAT1 signaling is associated with acquired crossresistance to doxorubicin and radiation in myeloma cell lines

The myeloma cell line RPMI 8226/S and its doxorubicin resistant subline 8226/Dox40 were used as models to explore the potential importance of the STAT1 signaling pathway in drug and radiation resistance. The 40‐fold doxorubicin resistant subline 8226/Dox40 was found to be crossresistant to single doses of 4 and 8 Gy of radiation. A genome‐wide mRNA expression study comparing the 8226/Dox40 cell line to its parental line was performed to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms. Seventeen of the top 50 overexpressed genes have previously been implicated in the STAT1 signaling pathway. STAT1 was over expressed both at the mRNA and protein level. Moreover, analyses of nuclear extracts showed higher abundance of phosphorylated STAT1 (Tyr 701) in the resistant subline. Preexposure of the crossresistant cells to the STAT1 inhibiting drug fludarabine reduced expression of overexpressed genes and enhanced the effects of both doxorubicin and radiation. These results show that resistance to doxorubicin and radiation is associated with increased STAT1 signaling and can be modulated by fludarabine. The data support further development of therapies combining fludarabine and radiation. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Optimizing for Sentence-Level BLEU+1 Yields Short Translations

We study a problem with pairwise ranking optimization (PRO): that it tends to yield too short translations. We find that this is partially due to the inadequate smoothing in PRO’s BLEU+1, which boosts the precision component of BLEU but leaves the brevity penalty unchanged, thus destroying the balance between the two, compared to BLEU. It is also partially due to PRO optimizing for a sentence-level score without a global view on the overall length, which introducing a bias towards short translations; we show that letting PRO optimize a corpus-level BLEU yields a perfect length. Finally, we find some residual bias due to the interaction of PRO with BLEU+1: such a bias does not exist for a version of MIRA with sentence-level BLEU+1. We propose several ways to fix the length problem of PRO, including smoothing the brevity penalty, scaling the effective reference length, grounding the precision component, and unclipping the brevity penalty, which yield sizable improvements in test BLEU on two Arabic-English datasets: IWSLT (+0.65) and NIST (+0.37).
Taking shortcuts: embedded physical interfaces for spatial navigation

Designing for embodied physical interaction is just as important at a coarse level of spatial navigation as in the minutiae of object exploration. We created interactive embedded interfaces called 'Navitiles' that can be suspended in a floor to support navigation of a building. Our design uses capacitance and RFID sensors to determine users' location and LEDs to indicate possible directions. We determine whether Navitile cues could help users understand spatial relationships between points of interest. We based our study on a previous experiment that used a simulated VR maze to test whether users were able to exhibit 'shortcut' behaviour that would indicate the formation of spatial maps. Our hypothesis was that the physicality of embodied spatial navigation directed by the Navitiles in a real maze would enable users to achieve similar spatial shortcut behaviours to those found in the virtual task. We found significant evidence that sufficient spatial knowledge was acquired to enable successful shortcut performance between unexplored routes. However, further work is required to measure the effect of physical body movement on spatial skills development.
A comparative study of maintainability of web applications on J2EE, .NET and Ruby on Rails

With Web services predicted to become distributed computing architecture in near future, maintainability of the Web applications (WAs) will rank high on selection criteria while choosing a platform for development of a WA. The goal of this paper is to evaluate maintainability of small-scale WAs built on J2EE, . NET and Ruby On Rails (RoR). The maintainability criteria considered comprised of modifiability, testability, understandability and portability. We found that the RoR implementation fared better on modifiability, testability, and understandability, while J2EE implementation was the most portable. The results led us to comment on the maintainability of small WAs with respect to underlying architecture and development environments the three platforms provide. We believe that results are expected to vary for medium and large-size WAs. The work included here is part of an effort to build a decision framework for platform selection for WAs.
Effective Professional Development to Support Inclusive Large-Scale Assessment Practices for All Children

Despite policy mandates to include students with disabilities in educational assessment and accountability programs, current practices suggest a substantial lack of capacity for effective inclusion. Continuing professional development (CPD) is an essential component of disseminating and implementing effective inclusion practices. Recent reviews of CPD for teachers suggest traditional CPD methods are largely inef fective in changing practices. In this article, we identify features of CPD likely to lead to changes in teachers' practices and discuss how these features interact with the unique content and challenges related to inclusion to identify promising CPD practices. Evidence evaluating one CPD effort, Assessing One & All, is presented to document the effectiveness of such CPD practices and to illustrate the benefits and barriers to effective CPD for inclusion in large-scale assessments. These findings provide a foundation for discussing how research can guide CPD efforts to enhance inclusion of students with disabilities in educational assessment and accountability programs.
Efforts by Commercial Health Plans to Increase Chlamydia trachomatis Screening Among Their Members

Background The screening rate for Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is below 38% nationally, despite the high prevalence of Ct nationally and the low cost of both the screening test and the treatment. The purposes of this study are (a) to ascertain what activities commercial health plans have attempted (if any) to increase their Ct screening rates and (b) to identify barriers to improving Ct screening rates in commercial health plans. Methods Qualitative research methods were used, including structured interviews. In-depth telephone interviews with commercial health plans were conducted to identify health plan activities that led to high Ct screening rates by providers. Plans were selected, which were either in the top or in the bottom quarter of all plans or had either an increase or decrease in Ct screening rates of at least 3 percentage points over the previous 2 to 3 years. Interviews were restricted to plans reporting Ct screening rates to the National Committee for Quality Assurance for at least 3 years, plans with enrollment of at least 500 commercially insured women aged 15 to 26 years, and plans that were not staff model–managed care plans. A total of 35 structured interviews were completed with a response rate of 64%. Results Overall Ct screening rates in commercial health plans are quite low, with a median rate of 35%. All interviewed plans—both successful and not successful—reimbursed for Ct screening and used clinical guidelines. All but 3 plans had some type of intervention in place designed to improve Ct screening rats. The interventions varied—some aimed at providers, others at patients, and others at data collection—but the health plans were actively trying to improve screening rates. Health plans identified several barriers to improving screening rates in the commercially insured population. These include difficulties in identifying sexually active members for screening, limited health plan resources to target the problem, concerns about contacting minors, and cultural barriers to discussing sexually transmitted diseases. Conclusions Both high- and low-performing plans are actively trying to increase the Ct screening rates. However, efforts to date have not been successful, suggesting the need for alternative approaches to address existing barriers.
Medical Image Registration Based on SVD and Modified PSNR

Medical image registration plays a crucial role in clinical diagnosis, treatment, quality assurance, evaluation of curative efficacy and so on. In this paper, by computing the medical image moments, the centroid is obtained, and according to the rotational invariance of the singular values of the matrix of the medical image coordinates, the rotation angles of the reference and floating images are computed respectively, on the foundation of which the initial values for registering the images are generated. When searching the optimal geometric transformation parameters, the modified peak signal-to-noise ratio (MPSNR) is selected as the similarity measure, and the simplex method as multi-parameter optimization. The experimental results show that, this proposed method has a fairly simple implementation, a low computational load, a fast registration and good registration accuracy. It also can effectively avoid trapping in the local optimum. Also, the improved iterative closest point algorithm is introduced. The results reveal that the measure deriving the initial values for registration from SVD is potent strategy.
Control architectures for autonomous underwater vehicles

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) share common control problems with other air, land, and water unmanned vehicles. In addition to requiring high-dimensional and computationally intensive sensory data for real-time mission execution, power and communication limitations in an underwater environment make it more difficult to develop a control architecture for an AUV. In this article, the four types of control architectures being used for AUVs (hierarchical, heterarchical, subsumption, and hybrid architecture) are reviewed. A summary of 25 existing AUVs and a review of 11 AUV control architecture systems present a flavor of the state of the art in AUV technology. A new sensor-based embedded AUV control system architecture is also described and its implementation is discussed.
The Roles of Employment Barriers in Welfare Exits and Reentries after Welfare Reform: Event History Analyses

This study examines the factors associated with welfare exits and reentries after welfare reform. Results from the analyses of data from the Women’s Employment Study suggest that lack of a high school degree, low work experience, substance dependence, physical health problems, children’s health and emotional conditions, domestic violence, and transportation barriers have significant associations with either the ratio of leaving welfare or the likelihood of returning to welfare. Those who exit welfare without employment have more employment barriers than those who continuously stay on welfare.
VideoHandles: replicating gestures to search through action-camera video

We present VideoHandles, a novel interaction technique to support rapid review of wearable video camera data by re-performing gestures as a search query. The availability of wearable video capture devices has led to a significant increase in activity logging across a range of domains. However, searching through and reviewing footage for data curation can be a laborious and painstaking process. In this paper we showcase the use of gestures as search queries to support review and navigation of video data. By exploring example self-captured footage across a range of activities, we propose two video data navigation styles using gestures: prospective gesture tagging and retrospective gesture searching. We describe VideoHandles' interaction design, motivation and results of a pilot study.
A Comparison of Evaluation Metrics for a Broad-Coverage Stochastic Parser

This paper reports on the use of two distinct evaluation metrics for assessing a stochastic parsing model consisting of a broad-coverage Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG), an efficient constraint-based parser and a stochastic disambiguation model. The first evaluation metric measures matches of predicate-argument relations in LFG f-structures (henceforth the LFG annotation scheme) to a gold standard of manually annotated f-structures for a subset of the UPenn Wall Street Journal treebank. The other metric maps predicate-argument relations in LFG f-structures to dependency relations (henceforth DR annotations) as proposed by Carroll et al. (Carroll et al., 1999). For evaluation, these relations are matched against Carroll et al.’s gold standard which was manually annnotated on a subset of the Brown corpus. The parser plus stochastic disambiguator gives an F-measure of 79% (LFG) or 73% (DR) on the WSJ test set. This shows that the two evaluation schemes are similar in spirit, although accuracy is impaired systematically by mapping one annotation scheme to the other. A systematic loss of accuracy is incurred also by corpus variation: Training the stochastic disambiguation model on WSJ data and testing on Carroll et al.’s Brown corpus data yields an F-score of 74% (DR) for dependency-relation match. A variant of this measure comparable to the measure reported by Carroll et al. yields an F-measure of 76%. We examine divergences between annotation schemes aiming at a future improvement of methods for assessing parser quality.