Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extending Sense Collocations in Interpreting Noun Compounds

This paper investigates the task of noun compound interpretation, building on the sense collocation approach proposed by Moldovan et al. (2004). Our primary task is to evaluate the impact of similar words on the sense collocation method, and decrease the sensitivity of the classifiers by expanding the range of sense collocations via different semantic relations. Our method combines hypernyms, hyponyms and sister words of the component nouns, based on WORDNET. The data used in our experiments was taken from the nominal pair interpretation task of SEMEVAL-2007 (4th International Workshop on Semantic Evaluation 2007). In our evaluation, we test 7-way and 2-way class data, and show that the inclusion of hypernyms improves the performance of the sense collocation method, while the inclusion of hyponym and sister word information leads to a deterioration in performance.
Reputation, Gossip, and Human Cooperation

Why do people cooperate? We address this classic question by analyzing and discussing the role of reputation: people cooperate to maintain a positive reputation in their social environment. Reputation is a key element fueling a system of indirect reciprocity, where cooperators establish a good reputation and are thus more likely to receive future benefits from third parties. The tendencies to monitor, spread, and manage each other's reputation help explain the abundance of human cooperation with unrelated strangers. We review research on the phenomenon of reputation-based cooperation in the domains of how people manage their reputation in response to varying cues of reputation, when reputation can promote cooperation, and individual differences in reputation management. We also propose three directions for future research: group stability and reputation-based cooperation, solutions to cope with noise and biased reputation, and the relative efficiency of positive versus negative reputation systems.
cDNA cloning and analysis of alanine-rich cuticle protein gene of common fouling barnacle, Balanus amphitrite -

Article history: Received on: 16/03/2015 Revised on: 31/03/2015 Accepted on: 22/04/2015 Available online: 20/05/2015 Hard cuticle of insects is a complex structure composed mainly of several proteins and chitin fibers. Cuticular proteins are important as presence of different cuticular proteins confer different mechanical properties to the exoskeletons of insects. Hence, there is growing interest in studying cuticular proteins as bioengineering of these proteins may help in synthesis of biomaterials for various applications. Till date many cuticle proteins have been identified from insects. These proteins show presence of characteristic motifs in them such as R&R motif, extended R&R motif, AAP (V/L) motif etc. We have identified one of such putative cuticle protein encoding gene from common fouling barnacle, Balanus amphitrite by cDNA cloning and sequencing. The gene was found to encode an open reading frame (ORF) of 102 amino acids. The deduced protein sequence was found rich in alanine forming almost 22% of the total amino acids. Other two predominant amino acids, valine and proline together contributed ~23% of total amino acids. The hydropathy plot of the amino acid sequence showed presence of two hydrophobic regions surrounding central hydrophilic region. The protein sequence showed presence of three characteristic YHAAP (V/L) motifs at the C-terminus.
Solipsis: A Decentralized Architecture for Virtual Environments

Lack of scalability is a key issue for virtual-environment technology, and more generally for any large-scale online experience because it prevents the emergence of a truly massive virtual-world infrastructure (Metaverse). The Solipsis project tackles this issue through the use of peer-to-peer technology, and makes it possible to build and manage a world-scale Metaverse in a truly distributed manner. Following a peer-to-peer scheme, entities collaborate to build up a common set of virtual worlds. In this paper, we present a first draft of the \sol architecture as well as the communication protocol used to share data between peers. The protocol is based on Raynet, an n-dimensional Voronoi-based overlay network. Its data-dissemination policy takes advantage of the view-depedent representation of 3D contents. Moreover, the protocol effectively distributes the execution of computationally intensive tasks that are usually executed on the server-side, such as collision detection and physics computation. Finally, we also present our web component, a 3D navigator that can easily run on terminals with scarce resources, and that provides solutions for smooth transitions between 3D Web and Web 2.0.
Vascularized pedicle dorsal distal radius graft in management of scaphoid nonunion

Orthopaedic Department, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt. Correspondence to Osama Mohammed Essawy, MD, Lecturer orthopaedic surgery. Orthopedic department, Benha University El-Shaheed Farid Nada street, Banha, Qalyubia, Egypt, Tel: 01005167067 E-mail: esawyosama@gmail.com Abstract: Background:Many studies have demonstrated superiority of vascularized graft over non-vascularized in management of scaphoid nonunion, especially with sclerotic fracture edges with poor vascularity, and in proximal pole fractures or in presence of avascular necrosis. The aim of the current study was to assess the outcome of vascularized pedicled 1,2ICSRA graft in management of scaphoid nonunion. Patients and Methods: Between May 2011 and May 2014, 20 patients with scaphoid nonunion were prospectively enrolled in the current study. Exclusion criteria included radioscaphoid arthritis. All patients were males with the non-dominant hand affected in 15 and the dominant in 5 patients. The average age was 32.5 (range, 21 to 40). Eight patients were manual workers, 5 were students, and 7 had an office based work. The mechanism of injury was fall on outstretched hand in 13 patients, and sport related injuries in the other 7. There were 15 waist fractures and 5 proximal pole fractures. All patients treated by vascularized pedicled 1,2ICSRA graft fixed by Herbert screw. Results: The average follow-up period was 18 months (range, 12 to 30). Union was obtained in all cases in an average of 11.3 weeks (range, 5-30). The mean time to union in proximal pole fractures was 12.3 weeks (rang, 6-30). While that of waist fractures was 10.4 weeks (range, 5-20). At the final follow up, the average pain VAS improved from 4.3 (range 2 to 6) preoperatively to 0.45 (range, 0 to 3) postoperatively. This improvement was statistically significant (p,0.0001). Seventeen of our patients (85%) became totally pain free while the remaining 3 patients had mild pain on strenuous activities. The average flexion and extension range improved from 65% and 61% to 74% and 75% respectively (p<0.01). The average Grip strength improved from 74% to 89% postoperatively (p<0.01). The average modified Mayo wrist score improved from 61.2 preoperatively to 80.75 at the final follow up (P<0.001). Conclusion: Vascularized pedicle distal radius bone graft based on 1,2-ICSRA is effective in management of scaphoid nonunion with very high healing rate and with few complications.
Vision based Localization of Mobile Robots using Kernel approaches

The aim of this article is to present the potential of Kernel Principal Component Analysis (Kernel PCA) in the field of vision based robot localization. Using Kernel PCA we can extract features from the visual scene of a mobile robot. The analysis is applied only to local features so as to guarantee better computational performance as well as translation invariance. Compared with the classical Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Kernel PCA results show superiority in localization and robustness in presence of noisy scenes. The key success of the kernel PCA is the use of fractional power polynomial kernels.
Virtual Screening of Novel Noncovalent Inhibitors for SARS-CoV 3C-like Proteinase

The SARS coronavirus 3C-like proteinase is considered as a potential drug design target for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Owing to the lack of available drugs for the treatment of SARS, the discovery of inhibitors for SARS coronavirus 3C-like proteinase that can potentially be optimized as drugs appears to be highly desirable. We have built a "flexible" three-dimensional model for SARS 3C-like proteinase by homology modeling and multicanonical molecular dynamics method and used the model for virtual screening of chemical databases. After Dock procedures, strategies including pharmocophore model, consensus scoring, and "drug-like" filters were applied in order to accelerate the process and improve the success rate of virtual docking screening hit lists. Forty compounds were purchased and tested by HPLC and colorimetric assay against SARS 3C-like proteinase. Three of them including calmidazolium, a well-known antagonist of calmodulin, were found to inhibit the enzyme with an apparent K(i) from 61 to 178 microM. These active compounds and their binding modes provide useful information for understanding the binding sites and for further selective drug design against SARS and other coronavirus.
High resolution model mesh and 3D printing of the Gaudí’s Porta del Drac

This article intends to explore the limits of scanning with the technology of 3D Laser Scanner and the 3D printing, as an approximation to its application for the survey and the study of singular elements of the architectural heritage. The case study we developed is the Porta del Drac, in the Pavelló Güell, designed by Antoni Gaudí. We divided the process in two parts, one about how to scan and optimize the survey with the Laser Scanner Technology, made with a Faro Forus3D x330 scanner. The second one, about the optimization of the survey as a high-resolution mesh to have a scaled 3D model to be printed in 3D, for the musealization of the Verdaguer House of Literature in Vil.la Joana (Barcelona), a project developed by the Museum of History of Barcelona, in tribute to Jacint Verdaguer. In the first place, we propose a methodology for the survey of this atypical model, which is of special interest for several factors: the geometric complexity in relation to the occlusions, the thickness of the metallic surfaces, the hidden internal structure partially seen from the outside, the produced noise in its interior, and the instrumental errors. These factors make the survey process complex from the data collection, having to perform several scans from different positions to cover the entire sculpture, which has a geometry composed of a variety of folds that cause occlusions. Also, the union of the positions and the average of the surfaces is of great relevance, since the elements of the sculpture are constructed by a metal plate of 2mm, therefore, the error in the union of all these many positions must be smaller than this. Moreover, optimization of the cloud has a great difficulty because of the noise created by the instrumental error as it is a metal sculpture and because of noise point clouds that are generated inside the internal folds of the wings, which are made with a welded wire mesh with little spaces between them. Finally, the added difficulty that there is an internal structure between elements of the parts of the Drac that are partially hidden and therefore cannot be recorded. Secondly, we expose the procedures performed to move from a point cloud to an optimal high-resolution mesh to be printed in 3D, adapting it to all the limitations that this printing technique entails. On the one hand, for the meshing process, a previous classification of the point cloud by pieces (wings, chains, mosaics, head …) is made and an internal structure is re-assembled to avoid floating parts. On the other hand, the selection of the 3D printing technique, in this case FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling), limits the size of the model so it needs to be cut by determined maximum dimension, and also it limits the minimum thickness of the model’s surface, that is to say, the model cannot be directly scaled to the desired size because the 2mm surfaces would be too thin to be printed. This research intends to advance the knowledge of data acquisition, optimization, modelling and 3D printing, with a case study of great complexity. A process that can be systematized and applied to other models.
ON THE EIGENVALUES OF A 2 2 BLOCK OPERATOR MATRIX

A \(2\times2\) block operator matrix \({\mathbf H}\) acting in the direct sum of one- and two-particle subspaces of a Fock space is considered. The existence of infinitely many negative eigenvalues of \(H_{22}\) (the second diagonal entry of \({\bf H}\)) is proved for the case where both of the associated Friedrichs models have a zero energy resonance. For the number \(N(z)\) of eigenvalues of \(H_{22}\) lying below \(z\lt0\), the following asymptotics is found \[\lim\limits_{z\to -0} N(z) |\log|z||^{-1}=\,{\mathcal U}_0 \quad (0\lt {\mathcal U}_0\lt \infty). \] Under some natural conditions the infiniteness of the number of eigenvalues located respectively inside, in the gap, and below the bottom of the essential spectrum of \({\mathbf H}\) is proved.
Intervention for bilingual speech sound disorders: A case study of an isiXhosa–English-speaking child

Background Bilingualism is common in South Africa, with many children acquiring isiXhosa as a home language and learning English from a young age in nursery or crèche. IsiXhosa is a local language, part of the Bantu language family, widely spoken in the country. Aims To describe changes in a bilingual child’s speech following intervention based on a theoretically motivated and tailored intervention plan. Methods and procedures This study describes a female isiXhosa–English bilingual child, named Gcobisa (pseudonym) (chronological age 4 years and 2 months) with a speech sound disorder. Gcobisa’s speech was assessed and her difficulties categorised according to Dodd’s (2005) diagnostic framework. From this, intervention was planned and the language of intervention was selected. Following intervention, Gcobisa’s speech was reassessed. Outcomes and results Gcobisa’s speech was categorised as a consistent phonological delay as she presented with gliding of/l/in both English and isiXhosa, cluster reduction in English and several other age appropriate phonological processes. She was provided with 16 sessions of intervention using a minimal pairs approach, targeting the phonological process of gliding of/l/, which was not considered age appropriate for Gcobisa in isiXhosa when compared to the small set of normative data regarding monolingual isiXhosa development. As a result, the targets and stimuli were in isiXhosa while the main language of instruction was English. This reflects the language mismatch often faced by speech language therapists in South Africa. Gcobisa showed evidence of generalising the target phoneme to English words. Conclusions and implications The data have theoretical implications regarding bilingual development of isiXhosa–English, as it highlights the ways bilingual development may differ from the monolingual development of this language pair. It adds to the small set of intervention studies investigating the changes in the speech of bilingual children following intervention. In addition, it contributes to the small amount of data gathered regarding typical bilingual acquisition of this language pair.
Preamble-based joint frame and frequency synchronization for OFDM - WMAN systems

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a well known multi-carrier digital modulation scheme in which a transmitted data is split into multiple streams that are modulated at different frequencies. The OFDM system is very sensitive to frame and frequency synchronization errors. In this paper, we propose a preamble for frame and frequency synchronization in OFDM systems. The preamble is generated by loading the BPSK data on alternate subcarriers in a symmetric manner. By using the proposed preamble, a frame synchronization method for OFDM systems is described. And, it is shown that the proposed frame synchronization method yields sharp peak at the frame boundary and is independent of carrier frequency offset. Also, we proposed preamble based fractional as well as integer frequency offset estimation techniques. These techniques do not require the prior knowledge of PN sequence or CP length used at the transmitter. Simulations are conducted for AWGN and frequency selective channels to demonstrate the performance of the proposed methods. Simulations show that the proposed frame and frequency synchroniation techniques yeild good results for SNR > 2dB. Keywords-OFDM; time synchronization; preamble and frame synchronization; Frequency synchronization; FFO; IFO.
Early childhood teachers’ beliefs about readiness for teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

The purpose of this study was to examine beliefs of early childhood teachers about their readiness for teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, with a focus on testing for heterogeneity of such beliefs and differential effects of teacher-related factors. The results from latent class analysis of survey data revealed two latent classes of teachers, not known a priori, with significant differences in levels of teachers’ beliefs about readiness to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The teachers’ teaching experience and their awareness of the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and potential challenges in teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics played a differential role in the classification of teachers into latent classes. In addition, the analysis of two open-ended survey questions revealed several themes in the early childhood teachers’ opinions about early childhood science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Study findings support the necessity for professional development practices that will enhance teachers’ understanding of the importance of early childhood science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, as well as their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and potential challenges of teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Multiparadigm Computing for Space-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar

Projected computational requirements for future space missions are outpacing technologies and trends in conventional embedded microprocessors. In order to meet the necessary levels of performance, new computing technologies are of increasing interest for space systems, such as reconfigurable devices and vector processing extensions. These new technologies can also be used in tandem with conventional generalpurpose processors in the form of multiparadigm computing. By using FPGA resources and AltiVec extensions, as well as MPI extensions for multiprocessor support, we explore possible hardware/software designs for a synthetic aperture radar application. Design of key components of the SAR application including range compression and azimuth compression will be discussed, and hardware/software performance tradeoffs analyzed. The performance of these key components will be measured individually, as well as in the context of the entire application. Fault-tolerant versions of range and azimuth compression algorithms are proposed and their performance overhead is evaluated. Our analysis compares several possible multiparadigm systems, achieving up to 18× speedup while also adding fault tolerance to a pre-existing SAR application.
Multi-class cancer classification via partial least squares with gene expression profiles

MOTIVATION Discrimination between two classes such as normal and cancer samples and between two types of cancers based on gene expression profiles is an important problem which has practical implications as well as the potential to further our understanding of gene expression of various cancer cells. Classification or discrimination of more than two groups or classes (multi-class) is also needed. The need for multi-class discrimination methodologies is apparent in many microarray experiments where various cancer types are considered simultaneously. RESULTS Thus, in this paper we present the extension to the classification methodology proposed earlier Nguyen and Rocke (2002b; Bioinformatics, 18, 39-50) to classify cancer samples from multiple classes. The methodologies proposed in this paper are applied to four gene expression data sets with multiple classes: (a) a hereditary breast cancer data set with (1) BRCA1-mutation, (2) BRCA2-mutation and (3) sporadic breast cancer samples, (b) an acute leukemia data set with (1) acute myeloid leukemia (AML), (2) T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and (3) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) samples, (c) a lymphoma data set with (1) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), (2) B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (BCLL) and (3) follicular lymphoma (FL) samples, and (d) the NCI60 data set with cell lines derived from cancers of various sites of origin. In addition, we evaluated the classification algorithms and examined the variability of the error rates using simulations based on randomization of the real data sets. We note that there are other methods for addressing multi-class prediction recently and our approach is along the line of Nguyen and Rocke (2002b; Bioinformatics, 18, 39-50). CONTACT dnguyen@stat.tamu. edu; dmrocke@ucdavis.edu
Localization and tracking of aortic valve prosthesis in 2D fluoroscopic image sequences

This paper presents a new method for localization and tracking of the aortic valve prosthesis (AVP) in 2D fluoroscopic image sequences to assist the surgeon to reach the safe zone of implantation during transapical aortic valve implantation. The proposed method includes four main steps: First, the fluoroscopic images are preprocessed using a morphological reconstruction and an adaptive Wiener filter to enhance the AVP edges. Second, a target window, defined by a user on the first image of the sequences which includes the AVP, is tracked in all images using a template matching algorithm. In a third step the corners of the AVP are extracted based on the AVP dimensions and orientation in the target window. Finally, the AVP model is generated in the fluoroscopic image sequences. Although the proposed method is not yet validated intraoperatively, it has been applied to different fluoroscopic image sequences with promising results.