Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the subject-performed task effect in healthy older adults: relationship with neuropsychological tests

Background An enhancement in recall of simple instructions is found when actions are performed in comparison to when they are verbally presented – the subject-performed task (SPT) effect. This enhancement has also been found with older adults. However, the reason why older adults, known to present a deficit in episodic memory, have a better performance for this type of information remains unclear. In this article, we explored this effect by comparing the performance on the SPT task with the performance on other tasks, in order to understand the underlying mechanisms that may explain this effect. Objective We hypothesized that both young and older adult groups should show higher recall in SPT compared with the verbal learning condition, and that the differences between age groups should be lower in the SPT condition. We aimed to explore the correlations between these tasks and known neuropsychological tests, and we also measured source memory for the encoding condition. Design A mixed design was used with 30 healthy older adults, comparing their performance with 30 healthy younger adults. Each participant was asked to perform 16 simple instructions (SPT condition) and to only read the other 16 instructions (Verbal condition – VT). The test phase included a free recall task. Participants were also tested with a set of neuropsychological measures (speed of processing, working memory and verbal episodic memory). Results The SPT effect was found for both age groups; but even for SPT materials, group differences in recall persisted. Source memory was found to be preserved for the two groups. Simple correlations suggested differences in correlates of SPT performance between the two groups. However, when controlling for age, the SPT and VT tasks correlate with each other, and a measure of episodic memory correlated moderately with both SPT and VT performance. Conclusions A strong effect of SPT was observed for all but one, which still displayed the expected aging deficit. The correlations and source memory data suggest that the SPT and VT are possibly related in respect to their underlying processes, and SPT, instead of being an isolated process, is in connection with both the episodic memory and executive function processes. Under these circumstances, the SPT seems to contribute to an enhancement of the episodic memory trace, presumably from the multimodality it provides, without involving a separated set of cognitive mechanisms. Future research using more pure measures of other cognitive processes that could be related to SPT is necessary.
Towards a Smart Tourism Business Ecosystem based on Industrial Heritage: research perspectives from the mining region of Rio Tinto, Spain

ABSTRACT The implications of the study provide suggestions for future improvements relating to the development of industrial tourism destinations. The possibility of ‘re-using’ the old industrial and mining heritage could favour the development of an economic opportunity to the recession that affected most industrial regions after the 1960s. This paper is focused on the field of industrial heritage tourism management (IHTM) to deepen the knowledge about its business ecosystem. The IHTM is chosen because a number of evidences highlight the interconnections that exist between this field and the business ecosystem concept. To explore these interconnections, the purpose of this article is to define a frame of analysis based also on the emergent initiative of smart tourism and to set up a theoretical framework not only used to the case study of the region of Rio Tinto mine in Spain, but also used as a policy instrument to suggest propositions for recommending new paths for future studies.
An efficient dynamic power management policy on sensor network

We design a "two-layered" dynamic power management strategy in our sensor node to reduce the power consumption. There are many factors such as the probability of event generation, the battery status, the coverage problem, and the communication situations in our consideration. In network communication, we propose an asynchronous awakening scheme so that each node is free to power on or off its components based on the observed event statistics, and make a trade-off between communication and power consumption. The deepest sleep state period is determined by taking account of the residual power. Combining with these methods, the lifetime of the sensor node can be extended as longer as possible without influencing the system performance.
Licos Centre for Transition Economics Licos Discussion Paper Active Labor Market Policies in Poland: Human Capital Enhancement, Stigmatization or Benefit Churning? Active Labor Market Policies in Poland: Human Capital Enhancement, Stigmatization or Benefit Churning? the Authors Are Grateful to Agnie

This paper provides micro-econometric evidence on the effectiveness of Active Labor Market Policies (ALMP) in Poland. We sketch the theoretical framework of matching estimators as a substitute for randomization in labor market programs. Using retrospective data from the 18th wave of the Polish Labor Force Survey we implement a conditional difference-indifferences matching estimator of treatment effects. Treatment and control groups are matched over individual observable characteristics and pre-treatment labor market histories to minimize bias from unobserved heterogeneity. We also require that observations on controls are from the same regional labor market and from an identical phase of the transition cycle. Considering as the outcome a multinomial variable of labor market status, our first important finding suggests that training of men and women has a positive effect on the employment probability. For men public works and intervention works have negative treatment effects, while participation in intervention works does not affect women's employment probabilities. We attribute the negative treatment effects for men to benefit churning rather than to stigmatization of intervention and public works participants. Since the beginning of the transition to a market economy the Polish government has applied a wide menu of Active Labor Market Policies (ALMP) to combat unemployment and long-term unemployment. In terms of expenditures three programs have been of particular importance: training, "intervention works" and public works. Training programs are meant to solve skill mismatch in the Polish labor market. Workers with redundant or no skills are trained in those occupations where there exists a strong demand by entrepreneurs in the expanding sectors of the economy. "Intervention works" is a program that in essence gives wage or jobs subsidies in the amount of the level of unemployment benefit. These wage subsidies are given to firms in the private or public sector if they hire an unemployed person and are larger the longer this person is kept on in the firm. Public work jobs are jobs directly created by the government, in particular by the municipalities, targeted mainly but not exclusively at the long-term unemployed. Many of these jobs are in construction and cleaning of public buildings, parks etc., i.e. they have a low skills content. In principle, though, both intervention works and public works have been conceived to enhance or maintain the human capital of participants. This study tries to evaluate these three ALMP measures for the period 1992-1996 at the level of the individual. To fully …
Data fusion of radar and stereo vision for detection and tracking of moving objects

Detection and tracking of moving objects (DATMO) is essential for autonomous navigation systems operating in general environments. Dynamic objects must be identified, localized, and their future positions predicted to assist in decision making regarding path planning and collision avoidance. To this end, we combine information from a short range frequency modulated continuous wave (FWCW) radar and stereo vision cameras, gathered from a moving vehicle. We extract measurements from both the radar and vision subsystems, using two-dimensional Fourier analysis and sparse feature detection respectively. A segmentation of moving objects is obtained by a hierarchical clustering process, on data composed of image feature tracks and Gaussian mixtures originating from radar-based state estimation. Segmented objects are ultimately tracked using a Gaussian inverse Wishart probability hypothesis density filter (GIW-PHD). Test results on real world data suggest the novel combination of radar and vision data within the PHD filtering framework to be a viable candidate for a DATMO system.
TZ-KPM:Kernel Protection Mechanism on Embedded Devices on Hardware-Assisted Isolated Environment

With the rapid development of network technology and the increasingly complexity of system function, the embedded system is facing more and more serious threats. Previous researches on kernel monitoring and protection widely relies on higher privileged system components, such as hardware virtualization extensions, to isolate security tools from potential kernel attacks. These approaches increase both the maintenance effort and the code base size of privileged system components, which consequently increases the risk of having security vulnerabilities. In this paper, we have proposed a kernel protection mechanism called TZ_KPM on TrustZone enabled platform. Our prototype can secure system execution environment and provide kernel code integrity protection and malicious process detection based on hardware-assisted isolated environment. At the same time, we secure the communication by shared memory and provide user identification to ensure that the system switches to the secure world safely. Additionally, we can ensure we call the services in the secure world safely by showing the tag on the interface of the called service based on the trusted GUI (TGUI). Thus, we can distinguish the fake interface made by the malicious attackers in the normal world. We have evaluated our prototype on a simulation environment by using ARM FastModel and presented our implementation on a real development by using ARM CoreTile Express A9x4. Our experiment result and security analysis show that TZ_KPM can be retrofitted to existing monolithic kernels, and provide important security benefits.
Higher dietary anthocyanin and flavonol intakes are associated with anti-inflammatory effects in a population of US adults1

Background: Although growing evidence from trials and population-based studies has supported a protective role for flavonoids in relation to risk of certain chronic diseases, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Several previous studies focused on individual inflammatory biomarkers, but because of the limited specificity of any individual marker, an assessment of a combination of biomarkers may be more informative. Objective: We used an inflammation score (IS) that integrated 12 individual inflammatory biomarkers for the examination of associations with intakes of different flavonoid classes. Design: The study was a cross-sectional analysis of 2375 Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort participants. Intakes of total flavonoids and their classes (anthocyanins, flavonols, flavanones, flavan-3-ols, polymers, and flavones) were calculated from validated food-frequency questionnaires. Individual inflammatory biomarkers were ranked, standardized, and summed to derive an overall IS and subgroup scores of functionally related biomarkers. Results: In multivariate analyses, an inverse association between higher anthocyanin and flavonol intakes and IS was observed with a mean ± SE difference between quintile categories 5 and 1 of −1.48 ± 0.32 (P-trend ≤ 0.001) and −0.72 ± 0.33 (P-trend = 0.01), respectively. Results remained significant after additional adjustment for physical activity and vitamin C and fruit and vegetable intakes. Higher anthocyanin intake was inversely associated with all biomarker subgroups, whereas higher flavonol intake was associated only with lower cytokine and oxidative stress biomarker concentrations. In food-based analyses, higher intakes of apples and pears, red wine, and strawberries were associated with a lower IS with differences between quintiles 5 and 1 of −1.02 ± 0.43 (P = 0.006), −1.73 ± 0.39 (P < 0.001), and −0.44 ± 0.88 (P = 0.02), respectively. Although intakes of other classes were not associated with a reduction in overall IS, higher intakes of flavan-3-ols and their polymers were associated with a significant reduction in oxidative stress biomarkers. Conclusion: These findings provide evidence to suggest that an anti-inflammatory effect may be a key component underlying the reduction in risk of certain chronic diseases associated with higher intakes of anthocyanins and flavonols. The Framingham Offspring Study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00005121 (Framingham Heart Study).
The formation of chemical synapses between cell-cultured neuronal somata

The study of the development and plasticity of chemical synaptic connections is frequently restricted by the lack of access to the synaptic terminals. This can, in part, be overcome by plating neurons into cell culture where all regions of a neuron are made experimentally accessible. However, the small size of synaptic terminals still makes direct experimental manipulation difficult. In this study we have found in the absence of neurite extension, directly contacting cell somata (diameter 50–100 mumol) will form chemical synapses. Identified neurons B5 and B19 of Helisoma were plated into culture under conditions that promote adhesion between cell pairs. Under these conditions, neurite outgrowth was absent, but action potentials in B5 evoked inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in B19 that were reversed in sign by the injection of chloride ions and were blocked by tubocurare (10(-5) M), reduced extracellular Ca2+, and Cd2+ ions. Such synapses exhibited classical properties of chemical synapses, including the spontaneous release of neurotransmitter. Since somatic synapses represent an appropriate model of synaptic transmission, this system was utilized to study the role of mutual neuronal contact in the development of transmitter release capabilities. Future pre- and postsynaptic somata were cultured separately for 3 d, the period required for the development of synaptic transmission under conditions of maintained contact. Then, neurons were made to contact and intracellular recordings taken within 0 to 4 hours. Postsynaptic potentials were detected as early as 10 sec following contact. Thus, qualitatively the development of transmitter release capabilities does not require maintained contact.
Managing Schema Evolution in Hybrid XML-Relational Database Systems

Many applications and data enterprises need to change their data content and structure from time to time. The schema evolution in database systems has been studied well by the database community and several projects have been proposed for supporting schema modifications in XML and relational models individually. However, these studies do not investigate well the evolutionary process in hybrid XML-relational systems. In this paper we will investigate the schema evolution for current hybrid XML-relational systems. We will propose a taxonomy for schema evolution in a way that preserves a schema after data evolves. Finally, we proposed a general model which will be evaluated through a case study.
Sex-specific predictor analyses for the incidence of recurrent headaches in German schoolchildren

Objective: The aim of the present study was to identify psychosocial risk factors for the incidence of recurrent headache (HA) in children/adolescents (8–15 years). Method: In 2003 (Wave 1) a representative, population-based sample of 8800 parents was mailed a questionnaire. Those who took part were asked to participate again one year later (Wave 2). Of the parents originally contacted, 47.3% participated in both surveys. Potential risk factors concerning the areas ‘school’ and ‘emotional and behavioural problems’ were collected in Wave 1. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to assess their predictive value for HA in Wave 2. Results: Univariable regression analyses showed that for boys and girls most of the predictor variables influenced the incidence of recurrent HA, but only to a very low extent. When all variables were assessed jointly in a multivariable model, these factors lost their predictive power for boys. For girls, ‘academic problems’ and ‘dysfunctional stress coping’ were shown to increase the chance for the incidence of recurrent HA. Discussion: In contrast to previous findings, school-related factors and emotional and behavioural problems failed to predict HA in boys, and only two factors appeared relevant with regard to girls. This might be due to the strict unidirectional design, which focussed exclusively on the incidence of HA.
RT-S: SURFACE RICH TRANSCRIPTION SCORING, METHODOLOGY, AND INITIAL RESULTS

In this paper we present a methodoly for the scoring of punctuation annotated texts, as well as a preliminary system to perform the task. We modify SCLITE’s scoring methodology to support scoring of punctuation. Using this methodology, we show that the error rate of an initial automatic sys-tem is comparable to annotator inconsistency. However, the use of multiple references allows us to differentiate between human inconsistencies and system errors
Analysis for Semantic Enrichment of Web Search Results

Search Engines have become the main entry point to Web content, and a large part of the “visible” Web consists in what is presented by them as top retrieved results. Therefore, it would be desirable if the first few results were a representative sample of the entire result set. This paper provides a preliminary study about opinions contained in search engine results for controversial queries such as “cloning” or “immigration”. To this end, we extract sentiment metadata from web pages, and compare search engine results for several queries. Furthermore, we compare opinions expressed in the top results to those in other retrieved results to examine whether the top-ranked pages are a good sample of all results from an opinion perspective. In a preliminary empirical analysis, we compare up to 50 results from 3 commercial search engines on 14 controversial queries to study the relation between sentiments, topics, and rankings.
Personalized Privacy-Preserving Data Aggregation for Histogram Estimation

Histogram estimation is one of the fundamental tasks in crowdsourcing data aggregation. Since contributing data reveal more or less information about individuals' identifications and activities, participants need to preserve privacy of data according to their own levels of privacy concern. However, most of the existing work only aggregates data with an identical privacy level. In this paper, we propose an aggregation scheme for histogram estimation, wherein participants can publish their data at personalized differential-privacy levels. The aggregator also benefits from potential wider engagement or more honest data. Specially, since privacy levels under personalized privacy policy are sensitive information for participants, our scheme permits participants to keep their privacy levels secret even from the aggregator. We also show how to further optimize the estimation accuracy under given privacy levels by choosing specific randomization strategies.
Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) Among the Aged People in Iran

Background: The population of old people in Iran is increasing, as well as the prevalence of dementia. For early detection and intervention, proper dementia screening tools are needed. The clock drawing test (CDT) is a quick, inexpensive and well accepted test for the screening of cognitive problems. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric properties of CDT among aged people in Iran. Methods: The clock drawing test, using Shulman’s modiﬁed scoring method, was performed on 74 aged members of Iran’s Alzheimer Association services in Tehran from May to September 2012 convenient sampling method was used. The participants with the following characteristics were selected: age 60 years or more, able to communicate and with 4 years of formal education. Usingthediagnosticcriteriafordementiaof thediagnosticandstatisticalmanualof mentaldisorder,4thedition,(DSM-IV)asagold standard, the diﬀerence between CDT mean scores of dementia and non-dementia patients were evaluated. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used to determine the optimal cut oﬀ points for CDT using the 20th version of SPSS. Results: Themeanageof participantswas72 ± 7.95years. Therewasasigniﬁcantdiﬀerencebetweenthescoresof participantswith and without dementia (P < 0.001). The best cut oﬀ point was 3/4 with 90% sensitivity and 73% speciﬁcity. The area under the ROC curve was 0.896 (P < 0.001), which indicates proper accuracy of the test. Conclusions: Theclockdrawingtesthasacceptablepsychometricpropertiesamongtheagedpeopleof Iran. ThePersianversionof CDT can be applied for the screening and monitoring cognitive problems in this population. Further studies are required to assess the impact of literacy level and diﬀerent scoring systems on the accuracy of the results obtained by the CDT.
Handprinted digit recognition using spatiotemporal connectionist models

A connectionist model for recognizing unconstrained handprinted digits is described. Instead of treating the input as a static signal, the image is canned over time and converted into a time-varying signal. The temporalized image is processed by a spatiotemporal connectionist network. The resulting system offers shift-invariance along the temporalized axis, a reduction in the number of free parameters, and the ability to process images of arbitrary length. For a set of real-world ZIP code digit images, the system achieved a 99.1% recognition rate on the training set and a 96.0% recognition rate on the test with no rejections. A 99.0% recognition rate on the test set was achieved when 14.6% of the images were rejected. <<ETX>>
Biological inspiration for the conception of a virtual quadruped

This study is based on the observation and imitation of nature. It is expected, by studying live walking animals, to find interesting parameters that could be used in various fields of robotics, especially the four-legged locomotion. Another goal is to find parameters that don't vary from one type of animal to another. This could be used to build a virtual walking model of a disappeared animal just from its known geometry for example. The steps described here are the different experiments on live animals, the conception of a computer model, and some results obtained with dynamic simulations. Different animals have been studied in the past like the hedgehog, the tenrec and the shrew, and a first model has been achieved. A new model, which is based on the tortoise of Hermann, consists in a 15 links, 22 degrees of freedom system, animated with proportional-derivative control, which references are actual recordings of live animals