Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contrastive analyses of evaluation in text: Key issues in the design of an annotation system for attitude applicable to consumer reviews in English and Spanish

This paper reports on part of the research on evaluative language currently carried out within the CONTRANOT project,[lxxviii] which aims at the creation and validation of contrastive functional descriptions through corpus analysis and annotation in English and Spanish. More concretely, we will present the coding scheme designed for Attitude, a subcategory of Appraisal as studied within Systemic-Functional Linguistics (Martin and White, 2005; White, 2003). The criteria for selection and annotation of spans of Attitude in the coding scheme are specified and illustrated with examples from the Simon Fraser University Review Corpus (Taboada, 2008), a corpus of consumer-generated reviews on hotels, books and movies, and a small-scale English-Spanish contrastive analysis of these reviews has been carried out. The scheme is to be used for the future annotation of evaluation in an English-Spanish corpus, CONTRASTES (Lavid, 2008; Lavid et al., 2007, 2010). Once annotated, the reviews will be part of this corpus.
An Iterative Receiver for WCDMA Systems with MIMO Transmissions and Hierarchical Constellations

In this paper we consider the use of M-QAM hierachical constellations (quadrature amplitude modulation) and MIMO (multiple input multiple output) for the transmission of multicast and broadcast services in the downlink connection of a WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) system. The objective is to increase the efficiency of the transmission by splitting the information in classes with different importance and mapping the bit streams of these classes to more or less protected positions of the modulation symbols. With this strategy, the most important information streams can be received by all users while the less relevant information will only be extracted by users with good propagation conditions. Due to the more demanding channel estimation requirements and the higher sensitivity to interference resulting from the usage of several antennas and hierarchical constellations, an enhanced receiver based on the turbo concept is developed and evaluated. It is shown that high transmission bit rates can be achieved even in high delay spread environments
GridUnit : Using the Computational Grid to Speed up Software Testing

Software testing practices can improve software reliability. This is a fact that the long history of disasters caused by poorly tested software should not allow us to forget. However, as software grows, its test suite becomes larger and its execution time may become a problem to software developers. This is especially stronger for agile methodologies, which preach a short develop/test cycle. Moreover, due to the increasing complexity of systems, it is not enough to test software only in the development environment. We need to test the software in a variety of environments. In this paper we investigate how the Grid can help with both problems and present a framework to use the intrinsic characteristics of the Grid to speed up the software testing process.
Image compressed sensing based on DT-CWT

Compressed sensing (CS) aims to reconstruct signals and images from significantly fewer measurements than the traditional necessary. The step of reconstructing image is equivalent to find the sparse coefficients of image in a proper basis by solving a l1 problem. This article implements the compressed sensing system using the sparse prior of image based on the 2D dual tree complex wavelet transform (2D DT-CWT) which has improved directional selectivity and approximate shift invariance. In this paper, we choose PDCT to get the measurements, and reconstruct the image from the measurements by iterative shrinkage. The experimental results demonstrate that one can get reconstructed image with higher quality based on DT-CWT combined with hard thresholding and total variation.
Demyelination Increases Axonal Stationary Mitochondrial Size and the Speed of Axonal Mitochondrial Transport

Axonal degeneration contributes to permanent neurological disability in inherited and acquired diseases of myelin. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been proposed as a major contributor to this axonal degeneration. It remains to be determined, however, if myelination, demyelination, or remyelination alter the size and distribution of axonal mitochondrial stationary sites or the rates of axonal mitochondrial transport. Using live myelinated rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cultures, we investigated whether myelination and lysolecithin-induced demyelination affect axonal mitochondria. Myelination increased the size of axonal stationary mitochondrial sites by 2.3-fold. After demyelination, the size of axonal stationary mitochondrial sites was increased by an additional 2.2-fold and the transport velocity of motile mitochondria was increased by 47%. These measures returned to the levels of myelinated axons after remyelination. Demyelination induced activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) in DRG neurons. Knockdown of neuronal ATF3 by short hairpin RNA abolished the demyelination-induced increase in axonal mitochondrial transport and increased nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity in axonal mitochondria, suggesting that neuronal ATF3 expression and increased mitochondrial transport protect demyelinated axons from oxidative damage. In response to insufficient ATP production, demyelinated axons increase the size of stationary mitochondrial sites and thereby balance ATP production with the increased energy needs of nerve conduction.
Design and Evaluation of a Magnetorheological Damper Based Prosthetic Knee

In this work, a magnetorheological (MR) damper based above-knee prosthesis is design and evaluated based on its performance in swing phase and in stance phase. Initially, a dynamic system model for swing phase of a prosthetic leg incorporating a single-axis knee with ideal MR damper was built. The dynamic properties of the damper are represented with Bingham parametric model. From Bingham model, governing damper parameters that determine the damping force and piston displacement of the damper are identified and optimized so as to enable the single-axis knee to nearly mimick the natural swing phase trajectory of a healthy person for level-ground walking as obtained from experimental data. Then, with the optimal damper parameters, an MR damper valve constrained in a desired cylindrical volume is developed. Finally, the prosthetic knee with the MR damper is evaluated for its performance during stance phase, based on ISO standard loading condition for the intended application. The results show that, compare to Rheo knee®, the MR damper based prosthetic knee has achieved up to 68% reduction by volume and 40% reduction by weight.
Impact of Fixation Time on Subjective Video Quality Metric: a New Proposal for Lossy Compression Impairment Assessment

— In this paper, a new approach for quality assessment tasks in lossy compressed digital video is proposed. The research activity is based on the visual fixation data recorded by an eye tracker. The method involved both a new paradigm for subjective quality evaluation and the subsequent statistical analysis to match subjective scores provided by the observer to the data obtained from the eye tracker experiments. The study brings improvements to the state of the art, as it solves some problems highlighted in literature. The experiments prove that data obtained from an eye tracker can be used to classify videos according to the level of impairment due to compression. The paper presents the methodology, the experimental results and their interpretation. Conclusions suggest that the eye tracker can be useful in quality assessment, if data are collected and analyzed in a proper way.
An Investigation of Predictors of Self-efficacy to Cope with Stress and Implications for Health Education Practice

ABSTRACT Background: We investigated predictors of self-efficacy to cope with stress in diverse populations with stressful life experiences. We also examined the association between predictors of coping self-efficacy and the different copying strategies adapted by study participants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between sociodemographic variables and individuals’ self-efficacy to cope with stress resulting from exposure to adverse life experiences. Methods: A total of 233 adult U.S. residents aged 18 years or above were recruited in a self-administered questionnaire survey study. Results: Regression results showed that male gender, older age, being non-white, not being U.S. born, higher income, and adult stress exposure were significant predictors of higher self-efficacy to cope with stress. Adults who have had fewer adverse childhood experiences had higher coping self-efficacy through seeking social support from friends and family. Discussion: Sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, race, income, and stress exposure appear to be significant predictors of self-efficacy to cope with stress. Translation to Health Education Practice: Understanding predictors of self-efficacy to cope with stress may help Health Educators to integrate the emotional dimension of health in Health Education interventions, identify high-risk groups, tailor messaging, and prioritize resources to address the needs of individuals living with stress.
Flexible polymer/multi-walled carbon nanotube composite sensor array equipped with microheater for gas sensing

A polymer/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite sensor array based on a flexible polyimide substrate equipped with a thermostatic microheater to provide different working temperatures was developed for gas sensing. The thermostatic microheater provided nine working temperatures ranging from 20°C to 60°C. Each microheater element included a 3 × 3 polymer/MWCNT composite sensor array, which is composed of MWCNTs and polymer composite, as a sensing material. The device was developed to investigate the effect of device temperature on the response of polymer/MWCNT composite gas sensor arrays. The response to ethanol at different temperatures showed resistance variation but similar performance for the proposed gas sensor array.
The Impact of Leader Trustworthiness on Employee Voice and Performance in China

Using a sample of 488 employees from a large information technology firm in mainland China, this article examines the relationships between leader trustworthiness, employee voice, and supervisor-rated employee performance, as well as individual employee perceptions of organizational attitudes toward uncertainty. Drawing from social cognitive theory, as well as from the literatures on leader trustworthiness and employee voice, this article explores the mediating mechanism of employee voice within the leader trustworthiness–employee performance relationship. Within this Chinese context, employee voice was found to partially mediate the positive relationship between leader trustworthiness and employee performance ratings. Employee perceptions of organizational attitudes toward uncertainty were also found to strengthen the mediated relationship. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Problems in Scheduling Self-Suspending Tasks

Self-suspension intervals are becoming increasingly common in various systems such as: (i) multi-core processors, where tasks running on one core have to synchronize with tasks running on other cores, (ii) heterogeneous ISA multi-core processors, where certain instructions can only be executed on specific processor cores, and (iii) systems with accelerated co-processors such as Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) or Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). In the light of these developments, a few key questions arise: (a) What should be the standard task model for specifying suspension intervals in such systems? (b) Given that classical scheduling algorithms such as Earliest-Deadline First (EDF) suffer from scheduling anomalies in self-suspending task systems, does there exist a competitive anomaly-free scheduling algorithm for such systems? (c) Given that the feasibility problem of scheduling periodic tasks with at most one self-suspension per task and implicit deadlines is NPHard, what can we say about the feasibility condition for scheduling sporadic self-suspending task systems? In this position paper, we provide some preliminary ideas and intuitions towards answering these questions, and seek to engage the broader real-time research community in solving these open problems.
Clusters and recurrence in the two-dimensional zero-temperature stochastic ising model

We analyze clustering and (local) recurrence of a standard Markov process model of spatial domain coarsening. The continuous time process, whose state space consists of assignments of $+1$ or $-1$ to each site in $\mathbf{Z}^2$, is the zero-temperature limit of the stochastic homogeneous Ising ferromagnet (with Glauber dynamics): the initial state is chosen uniformly at random and then each site, at rate 1, polls its four neighbors and makes sure it agrees with the majority, or tosses a fair coin in case of a tie. Among the main results (almost sure, with respect to both the process and initial state) are: clusters (maximal domains of constant sign) are finite for times $t< \infty$, but the cluster of a fixed site diverges (in diameter) as $t \to \infty$; each of the two constant states is (positive) recurrent. We also present other results and conjectures concerning positive and null recurrence and the role of absorbing states.
Molecular Interaction of Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor Residues Phe339(6.51) and Phe340(6.52) with Superpotent N-Benzyl Phenethylamine Agonists

Experiments were conducted to examine the molecular basis for the high affinity and potency of a new class of 5-HT2A receptor agonists, N-benzyl phenethylamines. Competition binding assays at several serotonin receptors confirmed that an N-arylmethyl substitution was necessary for affinity increases up to 300-fold over simple N-alkyl homologs, as well as enhanced selectivity for 5-HT2A versus 5-HT2C and 5-HT1A receptors. PI hydrolysis functional assays confirmed that these N-benzyl phenethylamines are potent and highly efficacious agonists at the rat 5-HT2A receptor. Virtual docking of these compounds into a human 5-HT2A receptor homology model indicated that the N-benzyl moiety might be interacting with Phe339(6.51), whereas the phenethylamine portion was likely to be interacting with Phe340(6.52). Experiments in h5-HT2A receptors with Phe339(6.51)L and Phe340(6.52)L mutations seem to support this hypothesis. Dramatic detrimental effects on affinity, potency, and intrinsic activity were observed with the Phe339(6.51)L mutation for all N-benzyl analogs, whereas most N-unsubstituted phenethylamines and traditional agonists were only weakly affected, if at all. Consistent with other published studies, the Phe340(6.52)L mutation detrimentally affected affinity, potency, and intrinsic activity of nearly all compounds tested, although a strong change in intrinsic activity was not seen with most N-aryl analogs. These data further validate the topology of our h5-HT2A receptor homology model. It is noteworthy that this study is the first to identify a hitherto unrecognized role for residue 6.51 in agonist activation of a serotonin G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), whereas most previous reports have suggested a varied and sometimes contradictory role in homologous GPCRs.
On the performance of TCP spoofing in satellite networks

In this paper, we analyze the performance of TCP in a network that consists of both satellite and terrestrial components. One method, proposed by outside research, to improve the performance of data transfers over satellites is to use a performance enhancing proxy often dubbed "spoofing". Spoofing involves the transparent splitting of a TCP connection between the source and destination by some entity within the network path. In order to analyze the impact of spoofing, we constructed a simulation suite based around the network simulator ns-2. The simulation reflects a host with a satellite connection to the Internet and allows the option to spoof connections just prior to the satellite. The methodology used in our simulation allows us to analyze spoofing over a large range of file sizes and under various congested conditions, while prior work on this topic has primarily focused on bulk transfers with no congestion. As a result of these simulations, we find that the performance of spoofing is dependent upon a number of conditions.
Enhancement of the Quality of Images Based on Multiple Threshold Segmentation and Adaptive Gamma Correction

The quality of images often is affected adversely by illumination and contrast,leading to the need for illumination compensation in image enhancement. The main objective of this paper is to describe how to correct the local contrast in different area of the image so that the invisible features in the dark and bright areas are brought out and made visible to the human eye. Considering the fact that illumination and gamma variation are usually uneven and nonlinear. In this paper, we propose an image segmentation algorithm with multiple thresholds based on the Otsu algorithm for partitioning the image into multiple related areas. Also, a selfadaptive Gamma correction algorithm is introduced based on the best average gray gradient (AGG) criterion in order to obtain the best image quality. The experimental results show that the proposed method has better performance than the conventional algorithms.
Estimating the influence of life satisfaction and positive affect on later income using sibling fixed effects

The question of whether there is a connection between income and psychological well-being is a long-studied issue across the social, psychological, and behavioral sciences. Much research has found that richer people tend to be happier. However, relatively little attention has been paid to whether happier individuals perform better financially in the first place. This possibility of reverse causality is arguably understudied. Using data from a large US representative panel, we show that adolescents and young adults who report higher life satisfaction or positive affect grow up to earn significantly higher levels of income later in life. We focus on earnings approximately one decade after the person’s well-being is measured; we exploit the availability of sibling clusters to introduce family fixed effects; we account for the human capacity to imagine later socioeconomic outcomes and to anticipate the resulting feelings in current well-being. The study’s results are robust to the inclusion of controls such as education, intelligence quotient, physical health, height, self-esteem, and later happiness. We consider how psychological well-being may influence income. Sobel–Goodman mediation tests reveal direct and indirect effects that carry the influence from happiness to income. Significant mediating pathways include a higher probability of obtaining a college degree, getting hired and promoted, having higher degrees of optimism and extraversion, and less neuroticism.
Alternatives to Aerobic Exercise Prescription in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Background Exercise is essential for patients with heart failure as it leads to a reduction in morbidity and mortality as well as improved functional capacity and oxygen uptake (⩒O2). However, the need for an experienced physiologist and the cost of the exam may render the cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) unfeasible. Thus, the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and step test (ST) may be alternatives for exercise prescription. Objective The aim was to correlate heart rate (HR) during the 6MWT and ST with HR at the anaerobic threshold (HRAT) and peak HR (HRP) obtained on the CPET. Methods Eighty-three patients (58 ± 11 years) with heart failure (NYHA class II) were included and all subjects had optimized medication for at least 3 months. Evaluations involved CPET (⩒O2, HRAT, HRP), 6MWT (HR6MWT) and ST (HRST). Results The participants exhibited severe ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction: 31 ± 7%) and low peak ⩒O2 (15.2 ± 3.1 mL.kg-1.min-1). HRP (113 ± 19 bpm) was higher than HRAT (92 ± 14 bpm; p < 0.05) and HR6MWT (94 ± 13 bpm; p < 0.05). No significant difference was found between HRP and HRST. Moreover, a strong correlation was found between HRAT and HR6MWT (r = 0.81; p < 0.0001), and between HRP and HRST (r = 0.89; p < 0.0001). Conclusion These findings suggest that, in the absence of CPET, exercise prescription can be performed by use of 6MWT and ST, based on HR6MWT and HRST
A Novel Antifungal Is Active against Candida albicans Biofilms and Inhibits Mutagenic Acetaldehyde Production In Vitro

The ability of C. albicans to form biofilms is a major virulence factor and a challenge for management. This is evident in biofilm-associated chronic oral-oesophageal candidosis, which has been shown to be potentially carcinogenic in vivo. We have previously shown that most Candida spp. can produce significant levels of mutagenic acetaldehyde (ACH). ACH is also an important mediator of candidal biofilm formation. We have also reported that D,L-2-hydroxyisocaproic acid (HICA) significantly inhibits planktonic growth of C. albicans. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of HICA on C. albicans biofilm formation and ACH production in vitro. Inhibition of biofilm formation by HICA, analogous control compounds or caspofungin was measured using XTT to measure biofilm metabolic activity and PicoGreen as a marker of biomass. Biofilms were visualised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). ACH levels were measured by gas chromatography. Transcriptional changes in the genes involved in ACH metabolism were measured using RT-qPCR. The mean metabolic activity and biomass of all pre-grown (4, 24, 48 h) biofilms were significantly reduced after exposure to HICA (p<0.05) with the largest reductions seen at acidic pH. Caspofungin was mainly active against biofilms pre-grown for 4 h at neutral pH. Mutagenic levels (>40 µM) of ACH were detected in 24 and 48 h biofilms at both pHs. Interestingly, no ACH production was detected from D-glucose in the presence of HICA at acidic pH (p<0.05). Expression of genes responsible for ACH catabolism was up-regulated by HICA but down-regulated by caspofungin. SEM showed aberrant hyphae and collapsed hyphal structures during incubation with HICA at acidic pH. We conclude that HICA has potential as an antifungal agent with ability to inhibit C. albicans cell growth and biofilm formation. HICA also significantly reduces the mutagenic potential of C. albicans biofilms, which may be important when treating bacterial-fungal biofilm infections.
Efﬁcient heuristic algorithms for light-path routing and wavelength assignment in WDM networks under dynamically varying loads

This paper presents heuristic algorithms that may be used for light-path routing and wavelength assignment in optical WDM networks under dynamically varying trafﬁc conditions. We consider both the situations where the wavelength continuity constraint is enforced or not enforced along a light-path. The performance of these algorithms has been studied through simulations. We also compare their performance with that of a simpler system that uses ﬁxed shortest-path routing. Our proposed algorithms provide lower blocking probabilities and are simple enough to be applied for real time network control and management. The heuristic algorithms are computationally simple and efﬁcient to implement and provide good wavelength utilisation leading to efﬁcient usage of the network’s resources. q 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.