Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of brief restraint plus reinforcement to treat self‐injurious behavior

This study evaluated the use of brief arm restraint plus differential reinforcement of alternative behavior to treat the self-injurious behavior of two residents with multiple handicaps and profound mental retardation. The study took place in a nursing home and sessions were conducted for 15 minutes, Monday through Friday. The design contained both multiple baseline and reversal components. Mean levels of self-injurious behavior and stripping for one client were reduced from 92 to 16% and 81 to 2%, respectively, by the treatment. Her appropriate behavior increased from a mean of 18% in baseline to 100% in treatment. The second client's self-injurious behavior averaged 39% in baseline, but was reduced to a mean of 9% in treatment. His throwing decreased from a mean of 54% prior to treatment to a mean of 2%, while appropriate object manipulation increased from 26 to 99%. These data support the use of brief restraint plus reinforcement for decelerating severe self-injurious behaviors and accelerating appropriate behaviors in adults with profound mental retardation. The advantages of this treatment are that it appears to be less intrusive and to offer more educational benefits than other commonly used techniques.
Learning Method as a Relevant Subject Variable in Learning Disorders

The present investigation is part of an overall attempt to delineate relevant subject (student) variables in learning disorders. By relevant is meant that the variable meets one or more of the following criteria: ( a ) distinguishes the learning disorder group from a normal population, ( b ) relates to the etiology of the disorder, and ( c ) relates to the ability of the underachieving scudenc to profit from remedial instruction. The delineation and objectification of relevant subject variables should make i t possible to construct a valid diagnostic profile for each student showing his relative position with respect to these variables. Such a profile would in turn permit the application of techniques of multivariate analysis for assessing the interaction of relevant variables in given cases and for formulating more highly individualized and effective treatment programs. In the present investigation the variable in question is that of learning method and involves the abilicy of srudenrs experiencing serious learning difficulties (underachievers) to learn new words via different methods of instruction: visual, phonic, kinesthetic, and a combination of che three. The following specific hypotheses were made: ( a ) underachievers as a group will learn as efficiently by one method as another, ( b ) severe underachievers will learn more efficiently by the kinesthetic than by the other three merhods, ( c ) intelligence level will noc be related to preferred method, ( d ) age will noc be related to preferred method, and ( e ) different students will learn more efficiently by different methods. Until the development of the Lemning Methods Test by R. E. Mills ( 6 ) , no standardized method for comparing the abiliry of students to learn new words via different teaching procedures was available. Although this rest apparently has been tried out in a number of clinics and schools, the present investigator was unable to find a single published study dealing with its application to children experiencing serious learning difficulties. Consequently the preceding hypotheses were formulated on the basis of Mills' findings with normal children ( 6 ) , a prior study by Roberts and Coleman ( 7 ) who investigated one phase of this learning problem among underachievers, and practical experience as the director of a clinic specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of learning disorders.
A Method for Finding Prerequisites Within a Curriculum

Creating an educational curriculum is a difficult task involving many variables and constraints [Wang 2005]. In any curriculum, the order of the instructional units is partly based on which units teach prerequisite knowledge for later units. Historically, psychologists and cognitive scientists have studied the dependency structure of information in various domains [Bergan and Jeska 1980; Griffiths and Grant 1985; Chi and Koeske 1983]; however, many of these studies have been hampered by statistical issues such as the difficulty of removing instructional effects when using small samples [Horne 1983]. We hypothesize that large-scale assessment data can be analyzed to determine the dependency relationships between units in a curriculum. This structure could then be used in generating and evaluating alternate unit sequences to test whether omitting or re-ordering units would undermine necessary foundational knowledge building. Our method incorporates all possible pair-wise dependency relationships in a curriculum and, for each such candidate dependency, compares performance of students who used the potential prerequisite unit to performance of students who did not. We implemented the method on a random sample of schools from across the U.S. that use Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor software and its associated curricula; a sample that far exceeds those used in previous studies both in size and in scope. The resulting structure is compared to a pre-existing list of prerequisites created by Carnegie Learning based on student skill models. We discuss extensions of this method, issues in interpreting the results, and possible applications. We hope that this work serves as a step toward developing a data-driven model of curriculum design.
Robust and efficient object tracking algorithm under illumination changes based on joint gradient-intensity histogram

Visual tracking under illumination changes is a challenging task for various computer vision systems. In this paper, we propose a robust and efficient tracking algorithm based on a novel feature descriptor called joint gradient-intensity histogram, which exploits both the pixel intensity and gradient orientation features. Unlike the traditional histogram based algorithms, the joint gradient-intensity histogram is extracted efficiently by employing the integral histogram, which is calculated recursively in the specially designed local image region, making the exhaustively searching process in real time. Experiments with the state-of-art tracking methods demonstrate superior performance of the proposed tracking algorithm under illumination changes.
Cryopreservation of human sperm: efficacy and use of a new nitrogen‐free controlled rate freezer versus liquid nitrogen vapour freezing

Preservation of spermatozoa is an important aspect of assisted reproductive medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and use of a recently developed liquid nitrogen and cryogen‐free controlled rate freezer and this compared with the classical liquid nitrogen vapour freezing method for the cryopreservation of human spermatozoa. Ten patients entering the IVF programme donated semen samples for the study. Samples were analysed according to the World Health Organization guidelines. No significant difference in total sperm motility after freeze–thawing between the new technique and classical technique was demonstrated. The advantage of the new freezing technique is that it uses no liquid nitrogen during the freezing process, hence being safer to use and clean room compatible. Investment costs are higher for the apparatus but running costs are only 1% in comparison with classical liquid nitrogen freezing. In conclusion, post‐thaw motility of samples frozen with the classical liquid nitrogen vapour technique was comparable with samples frozen with the new nitrogen‐free freezing technique. This latter technique can thus be a very useful asset to the sperm cryopreservation laboratory.
Bacteriology of Chronic Maxillary Sinusitis and Normal Maxillary Sinuses: Using Culture and Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction

Background Although many investigations have been performed on bacteriology of chronic sinusitis and normal sinuses, there still is much discussion. Also a new bacterial agent, Alloiococcus otitidis determined in the nasopharynx and middle ear specimens can be thought as a causative agent of sinusitis. Methods The bacteriology of chronic maxillary sinusitis and maxillary sinuses with normal radiogram and endoscopic findings were studied by culture methods for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate four bacteria in study and control groups. There were 27 specimens in the study group and 28 specimens in the control group. Results In the study group, the bacteria commonly isolated were Staphylococcus aureus (11.1%), α-hemolytic streptococci (11.1%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (11.1%), Haemophilus influenzae (7.4%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (7.4%), and anaerobes (33.3%). Coagulase-negative staphylococci (14.3%), α-hemolytic streptococci (10.7%), and anaerobes (35.7%) were isolated also in the control group. PCR was used to investigate S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and A. otitidis in the study and control groups. None of these bacteria was determined in the control group whereas detection rates of these bacteria in the study group were 11.1, 11.1, 3.7, and 7.4%, respectively. It should be considered that PCR yielded faint amplification band for A. otitidis. Conclusion Using multiplex PCR can help to increase detection rates of bacterial etiology. Healthy sinuses are not sterile. A. otitidis may be one of the pathogens causing sinusitis.
Empirical evaluation of usability and fun in computer games for children

This paper aims at identifying difficulties encountered by evaluators when they conduct a formative evaluation of both usability and fun in computer games for children. Towards this end, two experimental studies were conducted. The first study suggests negative effects of the use of tasks for fun assessment in computer games. The second study shows difficulties in determining with which set of heuristics (usability vs. fun heuristics) identified problems should be explained. Based on the findings of the second study a procedure is suggested to support evaluators in determining the right set of heuristics for each problem.
Prediction on fracture risk of femur with Osteogenesis Imperfecta using finite element models: Preliminary study

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disease which affecting the bone geometry. In a severe case, this disease can cause death to patients. The main issue of this disease is the prediction on bone fracture by the orthopaedic surgeons. The resistance of the bone to withstand the force before the bones fracture often become the main concern. Therefore, the objective of the present preliminary study was to investigate the fracture risk associated with OI bone, particularly in femur, when subjected to the self-weight. Finite element (FEA) was employed to reconstruct the OI bone model and analyse the mechanical stress response of femur before it fractures. Ten deformed models with different severity of OI bones were developed and the force that represents patient self-weight was applied to the reconstructed models in static analysis. Stress and fracture risk were observed and analysed throughout the simulation. None of the deformed model were observed experienced fracture. The fracture risk increased with increased severity of the deformed bone. The results showed that all deformed femur models were able to bear the force without experienced fracture when subjected to only the self-weight.
Unwelcomed Immigrants: Experiences With Immigration Officials and Attachment to the United States

In this article, we argue that efforts at increased immigration control have consequences for immigrants’ affective attachments to the United States. Based on data from the Immigrant Transnationalism and Modes of Incorporation (ITMI) Survey that was administered to a random sample of South Florida immigrants (N = 1,268), we examine qualitatively and quantitatively how immigrants’ negative experiences in the United States with immigration officials, at the point of entry and during their residency in the country, impact their affective attachments to the United States. Examining the effects of negative experiences with immigration officials, both isolated incidents and patterns of treatment, reveals that immigrants with negative experiences are less attached to the United States. We suggest that how immigrants are treated in their countries of destination is likely to affect their approaches to other government officials and more broadly, their patterns of incorporation into U.S. society.
A Wireless First Responder Handheld Device for Rapid Triage, Patient Assessment and Documentation during Mass Casualty Incidents

Medical care at mass casualty incidents and disasters requires rapid patient triage and assessment, acute care and disposition often in the setting of overwhelming numbers of victims, limited time, and little resources. Current systems rely on a paper triage tag on which rescuers and medical providers mark the patient's triage status and record limited information on injuries and treatments administered in the field. In this manuscript, we describe the design, development and deployment of a wireless handheld device with an electronic medical record (EMR) for use by rescuers responding to mass casualty incidents (MCIs) and disasters. The components of this device, the WIISARD First Responder (WFR), includes a personal digital assistant (PDA) with 802.11 wireless transmission capabilities, microprocessor and non-volatile memory, and a unique EMR software that replicates the rapidity and ease of use of the standard paper triage tag. WFR also expands its functionality by recording real-time medical data electronically for simultaneous access by rescuers, mid-level providers and incident commanders on and off the disaster site. WFR is a part of the Wireless Information System for Medical Response in Disasters (WIISARD) architecture.
The Wahwactor: A Voice Controlled Wah-Wah Pedal

Using a wah-wah pedal guitar is something guitar players have to learn. Recently, more intuitive ways to control such effect have been proposed. In this direction, the Wahwactor system controls a wah-wah transformation in real-time using the guitar player's voice, more precisely, using the performer [wa-wa] utterances. To come up with this system, different vocal features derived from spectral analysis have been studied as candidates for being used as control parameters. This paper details the results of the study and presents the implementation of the whole system.
Validation of a Measure of Acculturation for Mexican Americans

An acculturation scale for Mexican American populations introduced by Cuellar, Harris and Jasso (1980) was cross-validated on a sample of 450 Mexican Americans and Anglo college students in south Texas. The results closely corresponded to the original normative data provided by Cuellar, et al., although the population of the present study was markedly different. Internal consistency of the scale was high, and a factor analysis yielded the same four factors identified by Cuellar, et al. The four factors included (a) language preference, (b) ethnic identity and generation removed from Mexico, (c) ethnicity of friends and associates, and (d) extent of direct contact with Mexico and with abilitv to read and write in Spanish. The findings also neatly supported work by others done in the area of empirically defining the concept of acculturation. For example, the findings were consistent with those that have reported that measures of behavioral acculturation are reliable and those that have suggested that individuals who are not Anglo-oriented may occupy a relatively imiarginal position in United States society.
Evaluation of growth performance in cyclically mated populations of Malaysian giant prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, in Malaysia

Malaysian giant prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man, 1879), is an important crustacean aquaculture candidate globally cultured chiefly in hot climates and seasonally in temperate zones. Although the first hatchery for artificial production of the species was established in Malaysia in 1984, however, its genetic improvement program has just started recently. This study was executed as a part of this improvement project to evaluate morphometric growth related traits of four populations collected from the Western Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and their progenies. The results of the study disclosed significant differences among these populations for all traits that were considered; with Kedah population showing significant (p<.05) superiority over the rest. Within the eight successfully cohort progeny families produced, Kedah progeny group was the heaviest at the same level of significance as that of parental groups. Fixed effects of family, sex and their interactions showed high significance (p<.0001). Estimated heritability values for the traits mentioned above were moderate to high; i.e. 0.5788±0.2989, 0.5156±0.2753, 0.4277±0.2407 and 0.5120±0.2739 for weight, total length, tail length and carapace length, respectively. All mentioned results encourage us to un-hesitantly recommend selection for these traits in future genetic improvement of this species.
Calmodulin-like proteins localized to the conoid regulate motility and cell invasion by Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii contains an expanded number of calmodulin (CaM)-like proteins whose functions are poorly understood. Using a combination of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing and a plant-like auxin-induced degron (AID) system, we examined the roles of three apically localized CaMs. CaM1 and CaM2 were individually dispensable, but loss of both resulted in a synthetic lethal phenotype. CaM3 was refractory to deletion, suggesting it is essential. Consistent with this prediction auxin-induced degradation of CaM3 blocked growth. Phenotypic analysis revealed that all three CaMs contribute to parasite motility, invasion, and egress from host cells, and that they act downstream of microneme and rhoptry secretion. Super-resolution microscopy localized all three CaMs to the conoid where they overlap with myosin H (MyoH), a motor protein that is required for invasion. Biotinylation using BirA fusions with the CaMs labeled a number of apical proteins including MyoH and its light chain MLC7, suggesting they may interact. Consistent with this hypothesis, disruption of MyoH led to degradation of CaM3, or redistribution of CaM1 and CaM2. Collectively, our findings suggest these CaMs may interact with MyoH to control motility and cell invasion.
The development of the Cambridge University RT-04 diarisation system

This paper describes the development of the Cambridge University RT-04 diarisation system, including details of the new segmentation and clustering components. The final system gives a diarisation error rate of 23.9% on the RT-04 evaluation data, a 34% relative improvement over the RT-03s evaluation system. A further reduction down to 18.1% is shown to be possible when using the segmentation algorithm alone.
Enforcing RFID data visibility restrictions using XACML security policies

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology allows automatic data capture from tagged objects moving in a supply chain. This data can be very useful if it is used to answer traceability queries, however it is distributed across many different repositories, owned by different companies. Discovery Services (DS) are designed to assist in retrieving the RFID data relevant for traceability queries while enforcing sharing policies that are defined and required by participating companies to prevent sensitive data from being exposed. In this paper we define an interface for Supply Chain Authorization (SC-Az) and describe the implementation of two visibility restriction mechanisms based on Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Capabilities. Both approaches were converted to the standard eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) and their correctness and performance was evaluated for supply chains with increasing size.
Diagnosis of Eccentric Rotor in Synchronous Machines by Analysis of Split-Phase Currents—Part II: Experimental Analysis

The windings of power synchronous machines are often parallel connected to obtain the desired machine voltage and current ratings. Ideally, the split-phase currents are equal in symmetrical windings, so as to avoid parasitic circulation of current in the parallel branches. However, the symmetry is broken in case of rotor eccentricity, and the split-phase currents become unbalanced. Part I of this paper analyzed the theoretical behavior of the unbalanced currents by using symmetrical components. A new fault diagnosis method was shown, based on a combined space-vector/fast Fourier transformation (FFT) analysis of signatures in the split-phase currents. This Part II applies the split-phase current signature analysis to a laboratory 17-kVA synchronous generator with artificial faults. Method performances have been evaluated with mixed static/dynamic type fault, in no-load and loaded conditions. The experiments are matched with time-stepping finite-element simulations, which help explain the effect of saturation and load on the diagnosis accuracy. The feasibility of installation of current probes in practical machines is also discussed.
A convex hull algorithm for points with approximately known positions

We consider the problem of deriving good approximations of the convex hull of a set of points in the plane in the realistic case that only arbitrary finite approximations of the real valued coordinates can be known. In particular, the algorithm we introduce derives sequences of improved certified approximations converging to the exact solution, at the same time allowing the insertion of new points to the problem instance. The complexity analysis of the algorithm is performed by referring to a suitable computation model, based on a RAM with logarithmic costs, and the derived space and time bounds are shown to be competitive with respect to current off-line algorithms.
Development and Characterization of Pharmacokinetic Parameters of Fast-Dissolving Films Containing Levocetirizine

A fast-dissolving film containing levocetirizine, a non-sedative antihistamine drug, was developed using pullulan, xanthan gum, propylene glycol, and tween 80 as the base materials. The drug content of the prepared films was within an acceptable limit as prescribed by the USP. The film exhibited excellent stability for four months when stored at 40 °C and 75% humidity. In vitro dissolution studies suggested a rapid disintegration, in which most of levocetirizine (93.54 ± 3.9%) dissolved within 90 seconds after insertion into the medium. Subsequently, Sprague–Dawley rats were used to compare the pharmacokinetic properties of the film preparation administered to the oral cavity, to those with oral administration of the pure drug solution. The pharmacokinetic parameters were similar between the two groups in which AUC0–t (ng h/ml), AUC0–∞ (ng h/ml) Cmax (ng/ml), Tmax (min), Kel (h−1), and t1/2 (h) of the reference were 452.033 ± 43.68, 465.78 ± 48.16, 237.16 ± 19.87, 30, 0.453 ± 0.051, and 1.536 ± 0.118, respectively, for the film formulation 447.233 ± 46.24, 458.22 ± 46.74, 233.32 ± 17.19, 30, 0.464 ± 0.060, and 1.496 ± 0.293, respectively. These results suggest that the present levocetirizine containing fast-dissolving film is likely to become one of the choices to treat different allergic conditions.