Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Code-switching in bilingual children with specific language impairment

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) exhibit limited grammatical skills compared to their peers with typical language. These difficulties may be revealed when alternating their two languages (i.e., code-switching) within sentences. Fifty-eight Spanish—English speaking children with and without SLI produced narratives using wordless picture books and conversational samples. The results indicated no significant differences in the proportion of utterances with code-switching (CS) across age groups or contexts of elicitation. There were significant effects for language dominance, language of testing, and a significant dominance by language of testing interaction. The English-dominant children demonstrated more CS when tested in their non-dominant language (Spanish) compared to the Spanish-dominant children tested in their weaker English. The children with SLI did not display more CS or more instances of atypical CS patterns compared to their typical peers. The findings indicate that children with SLI are capable of using grammatical CS, in spite of their language difficulties. In addition, the analyses suggest that CS is sensitive to sociolinguistic variables such as when the home language is not socially supported in the larger sociocultural context. In these cases, children may refrain from switching to the home language, even if that is their dominant language.
On-line Imitative Interaction with a Humanoid Robot Using a Dynamic Neural Network Model of a Mirror System

This study presents experiments on the imitative interactions between a small humanoid robot and a user. A dynamic neural network model of a mirror system was implemented in a humanoid robot, based on the recurrent neural network model with parametric bias (RNNPB). The experiments showed that after the robot learns multiple cyclic movement patterns as embedded in the RNNPB, it can regenerate each pattern synchronously with the movements of a human who is demonstrating the corresponding movement pattern in front of the robot. Further, the robot exhibits diverse interactive responses when the user demonstrates novel cyclic movement patterns. Those responses were analyzed and categorized. We propose that the dynamics of coherence and incoherence between the robot’s and the user’s movements could enhance close interactions between them, and that they could also explain the essential psychological mechanism of joint attention.
Initial value search method for multi-viewpoint stereo measurement using genetic algorithms

Presents a new method utilizing a genetic algorithms to search for initial values for a nonlinear optimization process in multi-viewpoint stereo measurement. First, the authors take a one dimensional matrix called "individual" which consists of parameters to be determined. Next, the authors form a population which consists of several individuals. The authors perform three kinds of genetic operation on the population, that is, crossover, mutation and selection, which evolve the population to fit the environment. The authors reiterate this evolution process and use the evolved result as the initial values for the iteration calculation. The efficiency, of this method is confirmed by simulation and an outdoor experiment. <<ETX>>
Full Syntactic Parsing for Enrichment of RDF dataset

RDF data extracted automatically often contain long textual literals. This paper shows how to use natural language processing techniques to automatically generate specific RDF triples from the information in the literals. We look specifically at drug indications found in the DailyMed dataset. We develop knowledge schemas to capture its information as well as precise syntactic-based methods of knowledge extraction to automatically generate instances of these schemas from textual data.
The Rise of Statistical Parsing

The effectiveness of statistical parsing has almost completely overshadowed the previous dependence on rule-based parsing. Statistically learning how to parse sentences from sample data appeals strongly as the “right” approach for both practical (performance) and theoretical (human-likeness) reasons. Benefitting from, and contributing to, the advancement in machine learning, state-of-theart statistical parsers are widely used in many natural language processing studies and applications today. While the relative efficacy of statistical parsing is undeniable, we are still far from truly solving the problem of natural language parsing, and the inaccuracy of parse trees remains a main bottleneck in reaching the grand goal of language understanding machines. In order to know where to go next, we may benefit from studying how the statistical approach to parsing has been engineered to its current state. In this survey, we trace its development chronologically in hope of gaining a deeper understanding of the methods and techniques involved in it.
Polynomial time approximation algorithms for machine scheduling: ten open problems

We discuss what we consider to be the 10 most vexing open questions in the area of polynomial time approximation algorithms for NP-hard deterministic machine scheduling problems. We summarize what is known on these problems, we discuss related results, and we provide pointers to the literature. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Epidermal growth factor in liposomes may enhance osteoclast recruitment during tooth movement in rats.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of local administration of epidermal growth factor (EGF) located within liposomes on recruitment of osteoclasts during mechanical force in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS An orthodontic elastic band was inserted between the left upper first and second molars, to move mesially the first molar. Rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 8): EGF (2 ng/microL) located within liposomes (group 1), liposomes only (group 2), soluble EGF (2 ng/microL; group 3), or vehicle alone (group 4). The solutions were injected into the region of the root furcation of the left first molar after elastic band insertion. Tooth movement was measured using a plaster model of the maxilla, and the number of osteoclasts recruited at the pressure side of the first molar was histologically evaluated. RESULTS Intergroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference between group 2 and group 4 (P > .05) and between group 1 and group 3 (P > .05). However, group 1 and group 3 exhibited greater differences in tooth movement than group 2 and group 4 (P < .05). On the other hand, group 1 showed greater tooth movement than groups 2 and 4 with statistical significance (P < .01). The increase in the number of osteoclasts in group 1 was significantly higher than in the other groups (P < .05). CONCLUSION Exogenous EGF-liposome administration has an additive effect when compared with soluble EGF on the rate of osteoclast recruitment, producing faster bone resorption and tooth movement.
Pregnane X Receptor-Dependent Induction of the CYP3A4 Gene by o,p′-1,1,1,-Trichloro-2,2-Bis (p-Chlorophenyl)ethane

CYP3A4, the predominant cytochrome P450 (P450) expressed in human liver and intestine, contributes to the metabolism of approximately half the drugs in clinical use today. CYP3A4 catalyzes the 6β-hydroxylation of a number of steroid hormones and is involved in the bioactivation of environmental procarcinogens. The expression of CYP3A4 is affected by several stimuli, including environmental factors such as insecticides and pesticides. The o,p′-1,1,1,-trichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) isomer of DDT comprises approximately 20% of technical grade DDT, which is an organochloride pesticide. We have recently shown that o,p′-DDT exposure increases CYP3A4 mRNA levels in HepG2 cells. To determine the mechanism by which o,p′-DDT induces CYP3A4 expression, transactivation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays were carried out, revealing that o,p′-DDT activates the CYP3A4 gene promoter through the pregnane X receptor (PXR). CYP3A4 gene promoter activation resulted in both an increase in CYP3A4 mRNA levels and an increase in the total CYP3A4 activity in HepG2 cells. We also observed induction of CYP3A4 and mouse Cyp3a11 mRNA in the intestine of CYP3A4-transgenic mice after exposure to 1 mg/kg o,p′-DDT. At higher doses, a decrease of CYP3A4 inducibility was observed together with an increase in levels of interleukin 6 mRNA, a proinflammatory cytokine that strongly represses CYP3A4 transcription. The present study indicates that regulation of other genes under PXR control may be altered by o,p′-DDT exposure.
Finding robust solutions against environmental changes

Many real world problems can be formalized as optimisation problems. Yet, the environment in the real world is mostly changing over time, which makes the optimisation problems change over time. This thesis is dedicated to the problem of finding robust solutions in changing environments. By robustness, we mean that a solution not only is good for the current environment but also maintains its performance after future environmental changes. The problem of finding such robust solutions repeatedly over time is termed as Robust Optimisation Over Time (ROOT). The first contribution of this thesis is a formal definition of ROOT problems and two robustness definitions of solutions to ROOT. The second contribution of this thesis is two benchmarks developed for ROOT. The third contribution of this thesis is an algorithm framework for finding solutions repeatedly over time to ROOT problems. Finally, the fourth contribution of this thesis is a dynamic handling strategy, which is used to initialise a population of solutions right after an environmental change when evolutionary algorithms are used for ROOT problems.
A solicitation-based IEEE 802.11p MAC protocol for roadside to vehicular networks

Recently, vehicular networks have begun to attract much attention in industry as well as academia. In particular, IEEE 802.11-based solutions for vehicular networks are also investigated by IEEE 802.11p. As the original IEEE 802.11 standard is designed only for little mobility, the IEEE 802.11p working group should address important issues such as frequent disconnection and handoff. We first introduce new challenges with which IEEE 802.11p is faced, and then propose a new solicitation-based operation mode for IEEE 802.11p, in which the transmissions of data frames are initiated only by users. Throughput analysis reveals that our proposal achieve the high and stable throughput, irrespectively of the number of contending and moving-away stations.
An Approach to Improve the Quality of Infrared Images of Vein-Patterns

This study develops an approach to improve the quality of infrared (IR) images of vein-patterns, which usually have noise, low contrast, low brightness and small objects of interest, thus requiring preprocessing to improve their quality. The main characteristics of the proposed approach are that no prior knowledge about the IR image is necessary and no parameters must be preset. Two main goals are sought: impulse noise reduction and adaptive contrast enhancement technologies. In our study, a fast median-based filter (FMBF) is developed as a noise reduction method. It is based on an IR imaging mechanism to detect the noisy pixels and on a modified median-based filter to remove the noisy pixels in IR images. FMBF has the advantage of a low computation load. In addition, FMBF can retain reasonably good edges and texture information when the size of the filter window increases. The most important advantage is that the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) caused by FMBF is higher than the PSNR caused by the median filter. A hybrid cumulative histogram equalization (HCHE) is proposed for adaptive contrast enhancement. HCHE can automatically generate a hybrid cumulative histogram (HCH) based on two different pieces of information about the image histogram. HCHE can improve the enhancement effect on hot objects rather than background. The experimental results are addressed and demonstrate that the proposed approach is feasible for use as an effective and adaptive process for enhancing the quality of IR vein-pattern images.
A perfectly matched layer based technique for the scattering from 1-D periodic microstrip structures

An efficient technique is presented to compute the scattering from one-dimensional (1-D) periodic microstrip structures, illuminated by a plane wave under perpendicular incidence. The technique relies on a Mixed Potential Integral Equation (MPIE), discretized by the Method of Moments (MoM), solving for the unknown current density flowing within a unit cell of the periodic structure. The pertinent 1-D periodic Green's functions are obtained by invoking the Perfectly Matched Layer (PML)-paradigm. The proposed formalism is illustrated and validated by evaluating the scattering from a 1-D periodic microstrip patch array.
Objective Quality Assessment of Screen Content Images by Uncertainty Weighting

In this paper, we propose a novel full-reference objective quality assessment metric for screen content images (SCIs) by structure features and uncertainty weighting (SFUW). The input SCI is first divided into textual and pictorial regions. The visual quality of textual regions is estimated based on perceptual structural similarity, where the gradient information is adopted as the structural feature. To predict the visual quality of pictorial regions in SCIs, we extract the structural features and luminance features for similarity computation between the reference and distorted pictorial patches. To obtain the final visual quality of SCI, we design an uncertainty weighting method by perceptual theories to fuse the visual quality of textual and pictorial regions effectively. Experimental results show that the proposed SFUW can obtain better performance of visual quality prediction for SCIs than other existing ones.
Language and The Language of Thought- A linguistic perspective on the philosophy of Fodor

The status of folk psychology and its concepts has come under scrutiny in contemporary philosophy of mind and psychology (cf. Ryle 1949; Nisbett and Wilson 1977; Churchland 1986; Dennett 1987, 1991). In an attempt to unify a naturalized view of the mind with folk psychology, Fodor (1975) presented The Language of Thought Hypothesis (LoT) ? a hypothesis stating that thought and thinking are carried out in a physically realized innate mental language: mentalese, which is said to serve as the basis of rational agency as well as natural language acquisition and comprehension. The assumed mental language consists of a compositional symbolic or representational system with semantic content (cf. Ibid: 200, Fodor 1987; Fodor 1990),1 governed in their composition by syntactic specifications, thus providing our cognition with a linguistic structure. According to Fodor, all research within relevant fields point towards the assumption of an innate mental language (Fodor 1975). The findings concerned suggest that rational agency has much in common with a language, these are amongst others the systematicity and productivity found both in thinking and in language. In conjunction with Fodor's aim to vindicate folk psychology, LoT is said to be the best explanation; "the only game in town" (Fodor 1975: 55). Thus, the theory states that by having representations bearing (narrow) semantic content, capable of facilitating intentionality, folk psychology is saved. The syntax of mentalese on the other hand forms the laws of psychology, which constitute the explanatory role of cognition in behaviour as well as the base upon which rational thinking and agency is founded (Fodor 1987).
Probabilistic Multiobjective Transmission Expansion Planning Incorporating Demand Response Resources and Large-Scale Distant Wind Farms

Transmission expansion planning (TEP) is a critical issue, particularly coping with the new challenges of smart grids. Under the smart grid environment, demand response resources (DRRs) are contemplated as virtual power plants in energy policy decisions. DRRs affect the controllability of power systems, ranging from short-term to long-term scheduling. In this paper, a nonlinear economic model of responsive loads is presented based on price elasticity of demand and customers benefit function. In order to investigate the impacts of DRRs on TEP, a probabilistic multiobjective TEP incorporating demand response programs (DRPs) is introduced (PMO-TEP <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\mathrm{DRPs}$</tex-math></inline-formula>). IC, congestion costs, risk costs, and total incentive costs for participating in DRPs are considered different objectives of PMO-TEP <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\mathrm{DRPs}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Here, a probabilistic analysis technique, the so-called two-point estimation method, is applied to handle the uncertainty of wind-farm generation in the TEP problem. Furthermore, the maximum achievable potential and realistic achievable potential for participating customers in DRPs are derived. Due to the problem's nonconvex formulation, a nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II is utilized to evaluate PMO-TEP <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\mathrm{DRPs}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Several analyses are carried out on the IEEE Reliability Test System and Iran 400-kV transmission grid to confirm the capability of the proposed framework.
Targeting Biased Emotional Attention to Threat as a Dynamic Process in Time

Recent findings suggest biases of emotional attention (BEA) may be expressed dynamically, fluctuating from moment to moment between overengagement and avoidance of emotional stimuli. We attempted to modify these temporal dynamics of BEA to threat among trait-anxious adults (N = 61) using Attention Feedback Awareness and Control Training (A-FACT). A-FACT is a novel intervention methodology that delivers real-time feedback to a person concurrent with her/his dynamic BEA expression. We found that relative to a placebo control condition, A-FACT led to significantly reduced BEA dynamics toward and away from threat, temporal variability in BEA, and emotional reactivity to an anxiogenic stressor. Findings illustrate that BEA may be optimally conceptualized and quantified as a dynamic process in time and that intervention methods sensitive to and capable of targeting BEA process dynamics in real time—as in A-FACT—represent a promising new direction for cognitive bias modification research.
Suspicion of quinolone active metabolite following discrepancy between predicted and experimental urine bactericidal activities

The prediction of urine antibacterial activity from pharmacological and microbiological parameters was assessed by using experimental urine levels and urine bactericidal titers determined up to 72 h after a 400-mg single dose of two quinolones in a phase I study. The area under the bactericidal curve (AUBC) was accurately predicted for norfloxacin but significantly (P < 0.001) underestimated for rufloxacin (actual value was four times higher than the predicted value against Escherichia coli and two times higher against Staphylococcus aureus). In vitro susceptibility differences between the two strains predicted the ex vivo AUBC differences for norfloxacin but not for rufloxacin, where ex vivo differences were greater than expected. Urine bactericidal titers for up to 72 h were accurately predicted for norfloxacin against E. coli and S. aureus and for rufloxacin against S. aureus, but experimental activity for up to 48 h was four times higher (P < 0.001) than the predicted activity for rufloxacin against E. coli. In the case of norfloxacin, the duration of adequate urine antibacterial activity against S. aureus was overestimated. Inaccurate estimations of ex vivo antibacterial activity of a suspected active metabolite (as with rufloxacin) when an adequate cutoff is not established may have dosing implications.
/spl Rscr//spl epsi//spl Lscr/: a fault tolerance linguistic structure for distributed applications

The embedding of fault tolerance provisions into the application layer of a programming language is a non-trivial task that has not found a satisfactory solution yet. Such a solution is very important, and the lack of a simple, coherent and effective structuring technique for fault tolerance has been termed by researchers in this field as the "software bottleneck of system development". The aim of this paper is to report on the current status of a novel fault tolerance linguistic structure for distributed applications characterized by soft real-time requirements. A compliant prototype architecture is also described. The key aspect of this structure is that it allows one to decompose the target fault-tolerant application into three distinct components respectively responsible for: (1) the functional service, (2) the management of the fault tolerance provisions, and (3) the adaptation to the current environmental conditions. The paper also briefly mentions a few case studies and preliminary results obtained exercising the prototype.
HLTCOE Submission at TREC 2013 : Temporal Summarization

Our team submitted runs for the first running of the TREC Temporal Summarization track. We focused on the Sequential Update Summarization task. This task involves simulating processing a temporally ordered stream of over 1 billion documents to identify sentences that are relevant to a specific breaking news stories which contain new content. In this paper, we describe our approach and evaluation results.
Foodborne disease surveillance in NSW: moving towards performance standards.

NSW Health has sole responsibility for the surveillance of foodborne disease in humans, through the receipt of notifications for a range of conditions that are predominantly or potentially foodborne in transmission. These conditions include: salmonellosis, listeriosis, shigellosis, typhoid, Verotoxin producing E. coli infection, cholera, hepatitis A, giardiasis, and cryptosporidiosis. In addition, outbreaks of foodborne disease affecting two or more people are notifiable. Surveillance methods used in NSW are described in detail in this issue of the NSW Public Health Bulletin by Neville and McAnulty. This article describes the evolution of, and recent investments in, foodborne disease surveillance and control in NSW, and discusses the opportunities to produce measurable enhancements to food safety from these investments.