Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The British General Election of 2010

In a sense, all the parties lost the British General Election of 2010. However, a number of factors including the skilled leadership of David Cameron resulted in the creation of a governing coalition composed of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats that would have seemed highly implausible before and during the election campaign. The coalition, the first to be formed outside a national emergency since Britain became a democracy raises interesting questions about how its Westminster Model system will adapt.
The role of mental rotation and age in spatial perspective-taking tasks: when age does not impair perspective-taking performance

The relationship between self-evaluation of sense of direction, mental rotation, and performance in map learning and pointing tasks has been investigated in a life-span perspective. Study 1 compared younger and older people in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) and on the Sense of Direction and Spatial Representation (SDSR) Scale. Older people achieved higher scores on the SDSR Scale, but a lower performance in MRT compared with younger participants. In Study 2, groups of younger and older adults, one of each, were matched in the MRT, and pointing tasks in aligned and counter-aligned perspectives were administered. Our results showed that, when so matched, older participants performed better than the younger counterparts in perspective-taking tasks, but their performance was worse in map learning. Aligned pointing was performed better than the counter-aligned task in both age groups, showing an alignment effect. Furthermore the performance in the counter-aligned pointing was significantly correlated with MRT scores. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en
The dream in the process of valuation: a method of interpretation

This article contains theory and a description of a method for dream interpretation. In this theory, the person is seen as a historic process, oriented from a certain point in time and space to the past, present, and future. As this orientation varies, different valuations emerge; a valuation is a meaning unit seen by the person as particularly relevant. In line with the apparent continuity of the dream and the waking state, a distinction is made between dream valuations, which usually have a pictorial character (e.g., "I climbed a high ladder"), and wake valuations, which typically have a conceptual character (e.g., "I passed a difficult test"). These types of experience are combined and organized in a valuation system. In order to investigate the personal meaning of dreams, I described in detail a method of self-confrontation as a tool for studying the interrelation of dream valuations and wake valuations, their affective properties, and their long-term development. In their manifold variety, dream valuations and wake valuations are expressed at the manifest level of personality organization. At the latent level, a limited number of basic motives operate. The relation between the two levels is made explicit in this article by applying the method in three idiographic studies. Three people described their dreams, calling on symbols that were found to be used at some other point in time for the metaphorical expression of significant aspects of their life situations.
Evidence of Maternal Offloading of Organic Contaminants in White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias)

Organic contaminants were measured in young of the year (YOY) white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) incidentally caught in southern California between 2005 and 2012 (n = 20) and were found to be unexpectedly high considering the young age and dietary preferences of young white sharks, suggesting these levels may be due to exposure in utero. To assess the potential contributions of dietary exposure to the observed levels, a five-parameter bioaccumulation model was used to estimate the total loads a newborn shark would potentially accumulate in one year from consuming contaminated prey from southern California. Maximum simulated dietary accumulation of DDTs and PCBs were 25.1 and 4.73 µg/g wet weight (ww) liver, respectively. Observed ΣDDT and ΣPCB concentrations (95±91 µg/g and 16±10 µg/g ww, respectively) in a majority of YOY sharks were substantially higher than the model predictions suggesting an additional source of contaminant exposure beyond foraging. Maternal offloading of organic contaminants during reproduction has been noted in other apex predators, but this is the first evidence of transfer in a matrotrophic shark. While there are signs of white shark population recovery in the eastern Pacific, the long-term physiological and population level consequences of biomagnification and maternal offloading of environmental contaminants in white sharks is unclear.
Influence de la présentation bicolore des mots sur l'effet Stroop

Manwell, Roberts, and Besner (2004) recently reported the absence of a semantically based Stroop effect (i.e., slower color naming latencies for color-associated words than for color-neutral words) when a single letter was spatially precued and appeared in a different color from the rest of the word displayed as compared to condition where all letters in the display were precued and appeared in a homogeneous color. In contrast to the latter results, two experiments in the present work showed a semantically based Stroop effect in both singleletter coloring when participants were instructed to focus their attention on the first letter of the display only and to name its color. This single letter was colored differently from the rest of the word displayed in Experiment 1a, and was the only letter colored while the rest of the word displayed in grey in Experiment 1b. These different results are interpreted in a new general framework suggesting that semantic information is always automatically activated but not systematically used in visual word recognition.
Blood Contamination in Saliva: Impact on the Measurement of Salivary Oxidative Stress Markers

Salivary oxidative stress markers represent a promising tool for monitoring of oral diseases. Saliva can often be contaminated by blood, especially in patients with periodontitis. The aim of our study was to examine the impact of blood contamination on the measurement of salivary oxidative stress markers. Saliva samples were collected from 10 healthy volunteers and were artificially contaminated with blood (final concentration 0.001–10%). Next, saliva was collected from 12 gingivitis and 10 control patients before and after dental hygiene treatment. Markers of oxidative stress were measured in all collected saliva samples. Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and antioxidant status were changed in 1% blood-contaminated saliva. Salivary AOPP were increased in control and patients after dental treatment (by 45.7% and 34.1%, p < 0.01). Salivary AGEs were decreased in patients after microinjury (by 69.3%, p < 0.001). Salivary antioxidant status markers were decreased in both control and patients after dental treatment (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01). One % blood contamination biased concentrations of salivary oxidative stress markers. Saliva samples with 1% blood contamination are visibly discolored and can be excluded from analyses without any specific biochemic detection of blood constituents. Salivary markers of oxidative stress were significantly altered in blood-contaminated saliva in control and patients with gingivitis after dental hygiene treatment.
Temporal Expression of the Chondrogenic and Angiogenic Growth Factor CYR61 During Fracture Repair

The repair of a fractured bone is a complex biological event that essentially recapitulates embryonic development and requires the activity of a number of different cell types undergoing proliferation, migration, adhesion, and differentiation, while at the same time expressing a host of different genes. To identify such genes, we employed differential display and compared messenger RNA (mRNA) populations isolated from postfracture (PF) day 5 calluses to those of intact rat femurs. One such gene in which expression was up‐regulated at PF day 5 is identified as CYR61, a member of the CCN family of secreted regulatory proteins. CYR61 is a growth factor that stimulates chondrogenesis and angiogenesis. We show that its mRNA expression during fracture repair is regulated temporally, with elevated levels seen as early as PF day 3 and day 5, rising dramatically at PF day 7 and day 10, and finally declining at PF day 14 and day 21. At the highest peak of expression (PF day 7 and day 10, which correlates with chondrogenesis), CYR61 mRNA levels are approximately 10‐fold higher than those detected in intact femurs. Similarly, high protein levels are detected throughout the reparative phase of the callus, particularly in fibrous tissue and periosteum, and in proliferating chondrocytes, osteoblasts, and immature osteocytes. The secreted form of CYR61 also was detected within the newly made osteoid. No labeling was detected in hypertrophic chondrocytes or in mature cortical osteocytes. These results suggest that CYR61 plays a significant role in cartilage and bone formation and may serve as an important regulator of fracture healing.
To Trade, or Not to Trade: a Model of Regret and Investment to Trade, or Not to Trade: a Model of Regret and Investment

This paper examines the effect of regret on investment in a market where investors can choose to trade, or not to trade, an asset with uncertain value. Investors face the tradeoff between the expect utility of investment return and the expected disutility of regret. When the movement of price is moderate, investors take positions according to their private information. When price becomes more volatile, some investors will ignore their private information and exit the market. In case the price is extremely high or extremely low, regret has such a strong effect that a market-wide cascade will come into occurrence. Jie Qin " I want to live my life so that my nights are full of regrets. " F. Scott Fitzgerald " I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets. "
Analysis of the hip fracture records of a central training and research hospital by selected characteristics.

BACKGROUND/AIM Despite the importance of hip fractures, very few studies have assessed their epidemiological characteristics in Turkey. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency and demography of hip fractures from the recent data of a central training and research hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this descriptive study, we identified hip fracture cases between 2009 and 2013. The age, sex, region, injury pattern, and calendar year for all patients were evaluated. RESULTS Among the 687 patients (488 women, 199 men) described in our clinic's records, 122, 131, 144, 138, and 154 patients applied with hip fractures from the years 2009 to 2013, respectively. The mean ages of the women and men were 74.8 and 68.5 years, respectively. There were 220 patients who had femoral neck fracture (32%), 419 who had intertrochanteric fracture (61%), and 48 who had subtrochanteric fracture (7%). CONCLUSION The female geriatric population may have an increasing and distinct hip fracture risk, mainly in the trochanteric region. Furthermore, recent studies that show variations in the frequency and demography of hip fractures highlight the importance of meticulous recording of patients' information. A nationwide survey of different categories of hospitals and various geographic regions of Turkey is also needed to inform effective prevention strategies.
Asymptotically optimal estimation of smooth functionals for interval censoring, case $2$

For a version of the interval censoring model, case 2, in which the observation intervals are allowed to be arbitrarily small, we consider estimation of functionals that are differentiable along Hellinger differentiable paths. The asymptotic information lower bound for such functionals can be represented as the squared L2-norm of the canonical gradient in the observation space. This canonical gradient has an implicit expression as a solution of an integral equation that does not belong to one of the standard types. We study an extended version of the integral equation that can also be used for discrete distribution functions like the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator NPMLE. , and derive the asymptotic normality and efficiency of the NPMLE from properties of the solutions of the integral equations.
Validation of high-resolution water-excitation magnetic resonance imaging for quantitative assessment of thin cartilage layers.

OBJECTIVE To employ a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technique for quantitative assessment of thin cartilage layers, and to validate the cartilage volume and thickness measurements. METHODS We investigated 10 normal elbow joints (age 20 to 69 years) with a 3D gradient echo sequence with selective water excitation (TR 18 ms; TE 9 ms; FA 25 degrees, resolution 1x0.25x0.25 mm2, imaging time 19 min). After interpolating the image data to a 0.125x0. 125 mm2 in-plane resolution, the cartilage plates were segmented, reconstructed in 3D, and the cartilage volume and thickness determined with a 3D Euclidean distance transformation algorithm, independent of the original section plane. The cartilage volume and thickness values were compared with CT arthrography and A-mode ultrasound. RESULTS The mean systematic difference between the elbow cartilage volume obtained from MR imaging and CT arthrography was -0.11% (-6.0 mm3) and the mean random difference 5.7% (314 mm3). Except for the fovea capitis radii, the deviations were not statistically significant (range -7.6 to +11.7%). In the humerus, the mean cartilage thickness (average = 1.35 mm) was overestimated relative to CT arthrography (+20.7%/+0.23 mm), and slightly underestimated relative to A-mode ultrasound (-6.0%/-0.05 mm). With few exceptions, there were no significant differences between MRI, CT arthrography and ultrasound in the other joint surfaces of the elbow (random deviations between 0.08 and 0.39 mm). CONCLUSIONS The technique presented can be applied for determining the cartilage volume and 3D thickness in joints with thin cartilage layers with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
User Pairing for Downlink Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access Networks Using Matching Algorithm

In this paper, we study the user pairing in a downlink non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) network, where the base station allocates the power to the pairwise users within the cluster. In the considered NOMA network, a user with poor channel condition is paired with a user with good channel condition, when both their rate requirements are satisfied. Specifically, the quality of service for weak users can be guaranteed, since the transmit power allocated to strong users is constrained following the concept of cognitive radio. A distributed matching algorithm is proposed in the downlink NOMA network, aiming to optimize the user pairing and power allocation between weak users and strong users, subject to the users’ targeted rate requirements. Our results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional orthogonal multiple access scheme and approaches the performance of the centralized algorithm, despite its low complexity. In order to improve the system’s throughput, we design a practical adaptive turbo trellis coded modulation scheme for the considered network, which adaptively adjusts the code rate and the modulation mode based on the instantaneous channel conditions. The joint design work leads to significant mutual benefits for all the users as well as the improved system throughput.
HYPOCRETIN DEFICIENCY IN NARCOLEPSY WITH CATAPLEXY IS ASSOCIATED WITH A NORMAL BODY CORE TEMPERATURE MODULATION

Narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) is a sleep disorder caused by the loss of the hypothalamic neurons producing hypocretin. The clinical hallmarks of the disease are excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, other rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phenomena, and a fragmented wake-sleep cycle. Experimental data suggest that the hypocretin system is involved primarily in the circadian timing of sleep and wakefulness but also in the control of other biological functions such as thermoregulation. The object of this study was to determine the effects of the hypocretin deficit and of the wake-sleep cycle fragmentation on body core temperature (BcT) modulation in a sample of drug-free NC patients under controlled conditions. Ten adult NC patients with low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) hypocretin levels (9 men; age: 38 ± 12 yrs) were compared with 10 healthy control subjects (7 men; age: 44.9 ± 12 yrs). BcT and sleep-wake cycle were continuously monitored for 44 h from 12:00 h. During the study, subjects were allowed to sleep ad libitum, living in a temperature- and humidity-controlled room, lying in bed except when eating, in a light-dark schedule (dark [D] period: 23:00–07:00 h). Sleep structure was analyzed over the 24-h period, the light (L) and the D periods. The wake-sleep cycle fragmentation was determined by calculating the frame-shift index (number of 30-s sleep stage shifts occurring every 15 min) throughout the 44-h study. The analysis of BcT circadian rhythmicity was performed according to the single cosinor method. The time-course changes in BcT and in frame-shift index were compared between narcoleptics and controls by testing the time × group (controls versus NC subjects) interaction effect. The state-dependent analysis of BcT during D was performed by fitting a mixed model where the factors were wake-sleep phases (wake, NREM stages 1 and 2, slow-wave sleep, and REM sleep) and group. The results showed that NC patients slept significantly more than controls during the 24 h due to a higher representation of any sleep stage (p < .001) during L, whereas the total amount of night sleep and its architecture were comparable in the two groups. Wake-sleep fragmentation was higher (p < .001) in NC subjects especially during L. Despite these differences, mesor (24-h mean), amplitude, and acrophase (peak time) of BcT circadian rhythm were comparable in narcoleptics and controls, and no between-group differences were detected in the time-course changes and in the state-dependent modulation at night of BcT. These data indicate that the hypocretin deficit in drug-free NC patients and their altered wake-sleep cycle couple with an intact modulation of BcT. (Author correspondence: daniela.grimaldi@unibo.it)
Agent-based Collaborative Affective e-Learning Framework

Based on facial expression (FE), this paper explores the possible use of the affective communication in virtual environments (VEs). The attention of affective communication is examined and some research ideas for developing affective communication in virtual environments are proposed. We place an emphasis on communication between virtual entities, which make use of other data apart from the information being communicated. In particular, we explore the capacity of VEs to communicate affective states, i.e. those aspects of communication concerned with emotional response, and discover how agents within VEs can model and use affective states to enhance the realism of the VEs. Moreover, we discuss the social intelligence that renders affective behaviours of software agents and its application to a collaborative learning system. We argue that socially appropriate affective behaviours would provide a new dimension for collaborative e-learning systems.
Point and Interval Estimation of Risk and Rate Advancement Periods in Epidemiologic Studies Using the SAS ® Software

In epidemiologic studies, the impact of a risk factor on the occurrence of a particular disease has traditionally been quantified by variants of the attributable risk. For many chronic diseases, however, risk factors merely advance the disease onset, and traditional attributable risk measures do not convey information on the time dimension of disease onset. Therefore, a new concept termed "risk and rate advancement periods" (RAP) has recently been introduced for chronic diseases which describes the time period by which the risk or rate of disease is advanced among exposed subjects. In the paper, the statistical derivation of point and interval estimates for RAP is briefly outlined. For the computational realization, a flexible SAS@ macro called RAPESTIM has been developed. The macro works on any SAS data set created by some statistical procedure of the SASjSTAT@ software with the OUTEST-option. The SAS program code of RAPESTIM as well as its implementation and usage are explained.
Learning Translation Templates with Type Constraints

This paper presents a generalization technique that induces translation templates from given translation examples by replacing differing parts in these examples with typed variables. Since the type of each variable is also inferred during the learning process, each induced template is associated with a set of type constraints. The type constraints that are associated with a translation template restrict the usage of that translation template in certain contexts in order to avoid some of wrong translations. The types of variables are induced using the type lattices designed for both source language and target language. The proposed generalization technique has been implemented as a part of an EBMT system.
An Improved Support Vector Regression Based on Classification

The improved regression is proposed in this paper by training SVMs and only using support vectors. The method comes from the combination of support vector machines and regression. Firstly, all the training data are divided into the positive class and the negative one according to the signs of the errors. So the regression problem is transformed into the classification of two-class problem. The support vector set is obtained by training learning machines on the training set that consists of these two-class observation data. Secondly, the proposed regression is constructed based on the obtained support vectors formerly. The results of experiments indicate that the proposed regression has smaller errors compared with the traditional regression and support vector regression.
Context-based Speech Recognition Error Detection and Correction

In this paper we present preliminary results of a novel unsupervised approach for high-precision detection and correction of errors in the output of automatic speech recognition systems. We model the likely contexts of all words in an ASR system vocabulary by performing a lexical co-occurrence analysis using a large corpus of output from the speech system. We then identify regions in the data that contain likely contexts for a given query word. Finally, we detect words or sequences of words in the contextual regions that are unlikely to appear in the context and that are phonetically similar to the query word. Initial experiments indicate that this technique can produce high-precision targeted detection and correction of misrecognized query words.