Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Foreign Language Teaching Methods: An Automatic Readability Approach

Much research in education has been done on the study of different language teaching methods. However, there has been little investigation using computational analysis to compare such methods in terms of readability or complexity progression. In this paper, we make use of existing readability scoring techniques and our own classifiers to analyze the textbooks used in two very different teaching methods for English as a Second Language – the grammar-based and the communicative methods. Our analysis indicates that the grammar-based curriculum shows a more coherent readability progression compared to the communicative curriculum. This finding corroborates with the expectations about the differences between these two methods and validates our approach’s value in comparing different teaching methods quantitatively.
One of the CD3ε Subunits within a T Cell Receptor Complex Lies in Close Proximity to the Cβ FG Loop

A recent crystal structure of the N15 α/β-T cell receptor (TCR) in complex with an Fab derived from the H57 Cβ-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) shows the mAb fragment interacting with the elongated FG loop of the Cβ domain. This loop creates one side wall of a cavity within the TCR Ti-α/β constant region module (CαCβ) while the CD and EF loops of the Cα domain form another wall. The cavity size is sufficient to accommodate a single nonglycosylated Ig domain such as the CD3ε ectodomain. By using specific mAbs to mouse TCR-β (H57) and CD3ε (2C11) subunits, we herein provide evidence that only one of the two CD3ε chains within the TCR complex is located in close proximity to the TCR Cβ FG loop, in support of the above notion. Moreover, analysis of T cells isolated from transgenic mice expressing both human and mouse CD3ε genes shows that the heterologous human CD3ε component can replace the mouse CD3ε at this site. The location of one CD3ε subunit within the rigid constant domain module has implications for the mechanism of signal transduction throughout T cell development.
Confirmatory factor analysis of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale

Abstract Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS) test results for a heterogeneous sample of 185 patients, aged 47–95, were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. We assessed the goodness-of-fit of one-to five-factor models, using conceptual groupings of items based upon prevailing neuropsychological practice. A two-factor model (verbal/nonverbal) fit the data as well as or better than other multi-factorial models, including the five-subtest scheme. In each model, the factors were highly intercorrelated, suggesting that they were largely overlapping but separable. The MDRS Conceptualization and Memory subtests correlated at +1.00, indicating that they are not separable. In addition, two items (name writing, imitating movements) did not load on any factors, due to restricted variance. These findings indicate that a more parsimonious interpretation of test results, using the verbal/nonverbal dimensions, may be warranted, particularly for screening purposes in heterogeneous populations. Suggestions are provid.
A measurement-based algorithm to maximize the utility of wireless networks

The goal of jointly providing fairness and efficiency in wireless networks can be seen as the problem of maximizing a given utility function. The main difficulty when solving this problem is that the capacity region of wireless networks is typically unknown and time-varying, which prevents the usage of traditional optimization tools. As a result, scheduling and congestion control algorithms are either too conservative because they under-estimate the capacity region, or suffer from congestion collapse because they over-estimate it. We propose a new adaptive congestion control algorithm, called Enhance & Explore (E&E). It maximizes the utility of the network without requiring any explicit characterization of the capacity region. E&E works above the MAC layer and is decoupled from the underlying scheduling mechanism. It provably converges to a state of optimal utility. We evaluate the performance of the algorithm in a WLAN setting, using both simulations and measurements on a real testbed composed of IEEE 802.11 wireless routers.
Tuned data mining: a benchmark study on different tuners

The complex, often redundant and noisy data in real-world data mining (DM) applications frequently lead to inferior results when out-of-the-box DM models are applied. A tuning of parameters is essential to achieve high-quality results. In this work we aim at tuning parameters of the preprocessing and the modeling phase conjointly. The framework TDM (Tuned Data Mining) was developed to facilitate the search for good parameters and the comparison of different tuners. It is shown that tuning is of great importance for high-quality results. Surrogate-model based tuning utilizing the Sequential Parameter Optimization Toolbox (SPOT) is compared with other tuners (CMA-ES, BFGS, LHD) and evidence is found that SPOT is well suited for this task. In benchmark tasks like the Data Mining Cup (DMC) tuned models achieve remarkably better ranks than their untuned counterparts.
Becoming a Mother: Occupational Change in First Time Motherhood

Abstract Having a first baby is considered a major life event, due to significant role change impacting on the ordinary and familiar occupations the new mother performs every day. The aim of this small‐scale exploratory study was to explore changes in the occupational lives of first time mothers. A concurrent nested strategy of enquiry was used. Quantitative data collected via the Modified Interest Checklist and the Role Checklist were nested within qualitative data collected through semi‐structured interviews. Six first time mothers, who were two and a half years post motherhood and aged between 28 and 42 years, participated in this study. The findings indicate that ‘new mothers’ engaging in a pre‐motherhood lifestyle that comprised a balance of self‐care, leisure, productivity and rest occupations experience a period of occupational disruption before adapting into motherhood. These mothers’ lives are productivity dominant, with most of their time being spent in paid employment and/or performing homecare/family care tasks. Their lives are also obligatory dominant, for example, they are performing occupations they need to do to enable them to fulfil their role as mother, as opposed to those they choose to do.
The Chinese concept of face and violence against women

English The study examines the Chinese face embedded in marital violence. Results from the analysis of male batterers showed that the stronger the faceorientation, the greater the masculine gender role stress and thus the greater the likelihood of using violence against a female partner. French L'étude examine la corrélation entre le concept chinois de 'sauver la facé et la violence conjugale. L'analyse révè le que plus ce concept est fortement ancréchez un agresseur, plus il met l'emphase sur le rôle masculin et, par conséquent, plus il est enclin à utiliser la violence contre une partenaire féminine. Spanish Se examina la faz china en relació n a la violencia marital. El anúlisis de datos sobre hombres que maltratan indica que a mayor orientació n facial ('in faceorientation'), mayor el estrés del rol masculino, y por tanto, mayor la probabilidad de violencia en contra de la mujer.
The complete mitochondrial genome of Rhacophorus dennysi (Anura: Rhacophoridae) and phylogenetic analysis

Abstract Rhacophorus dennysi is one species of the family Rhacophoridae. In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of R. dennysi. The complete mitochondrial genome of R. dennysi was 17 572 bp in length (GenBank accession number KT191129). Similar to the typical mtDNA of amphibians, the complete mtDNA sequence of R. dennysi contained two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and one D-loop region. The complete mitogenome sequence data in R. dennysi would provide a basis and important molecular data for studying the phylogenetic relationship, molecular identification and evolutionary analysis in anura species. The results will be useful for the detailed study of mitogenome evolution and the phylogenetic relationships among the orders in the class Rhacophoridae.
Colour Normalisation in Digital Histopathology Images

Colour consistency in light microscopy based histology is an increasingly important problem with the advent of Gigapixel digital slide scanners and automatic image analysis. This paper presents an evaluation of two novel colour normalisation approaches against the previously utilised method of linear normalisation in lαβ colourspace. These approaches map the colour distribution of an over/under stained image to that of a well stained target image. The first novel approach presented is a multi-modal extension to linear normalisation in lαβ colourspace using an automatic image segmentation method and defining separate transforms for each class. The second approach normalises in a representation space obtained using stain specific colour deconvolution. Additionally, we present a method for estimation of the required colour deconvolution vectors directly from the image data. Our evaluation demonstrates the inherent variability in the original data, the known theoretical problems with linear normalisation in lαβ colourspace, and that a multi-modal colour deconvolution based approach overcomes these problems. The segmentation based approach, while producing good results on the majority of images, is less successful than the colour deconvolution method for a significant minority of images as robust segmentation is required to avoid introducing artifacts.
A new method to generate and maintain a WiFi fingerprinting database automatically by using RFID

Location fingerprinting in WiFi positioning has been widely used in indoor environments. The key issue of the fingerprinting technology is the fingerprint database. The disadvantages of this technology are the database generation and maintenance requirements. The conventional method to create the database is that people carry out the survey manually (that is what the commercial products are doing). When the environment changes significantly (such as after a building renovation, or moving of furniture), the database has to be rebuilt. This paper proposes a new method to build and maintain the database in an efficient manner. This method only requires persons to carry a specific device which consists of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader and WiFi scanner to log the coordinates and the WiFi signal strengths. The coordinates are provided by some pre-deployed medium range (1-2 meters) RFID tags in the building with a location technique based on `cell ID'. As the persons conducting the survey are moving around the area of interest for purposes other than the fingerprint survey (such as a security guard who regularly patrols the whole building anyway), so the fingerprint database can be generated “automatically”. Also, the database can be refined as the data are being accumulated. When the environment changes, it can be detected by the self-refining database. A preliminary test was carried out for the proposed method. The results show that it works well.
Internalization, phagolysosomal biogenesis and killing of mycobacteria in enucleated epithelial cells

Bacterial and parasitic intracellular pathogens or their secreted products have been shown to induce host cell transcriptional responses, which may benefit the host, favour the microorganism or be unrelated to the infection. In most instances, however, it is not known if the host cell nucleus is proximately required for the development of an intracellular infection. This information can be obtained by the infection of artificially enucleated host cells (cytoplasts). This model, although rather extensively used in studies of viral infection, has only been applied to few bacterial pathogens, which do not include Mycobacterium spp. Here, we investigate the internalization, phagosome biogenesis and survival of M. smegmatis in enucleated type II alveolar epithelial cells. Cytoplasts were infected with M. smegmatis, but the percentage of infection was significantly lower than that of nucleated cells. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that in both cells and cytoplasts, bacteria were internalized by a phagocytosis‐like mechanism. Interestingly, phagosome fusion with lysosomes and mycobacterial killing were both more efficient in enucleated than in nucleated cells, a finding that may be correlated with the increased number of autophagic vesicles developed in cytoplasts. We provide evidence that although quantitative changes were observed, the full development of the infection, as well as mycobacterial killing did not require the presence of the host cell nucleus.
Outlining a typology of sports coaching careers: paradigmatic trajectories and ideal career types among high-performance sports coaches

This paper aims to extend our understanding of sports coaching careers and challenge related stage-based models by outlining and describing a typology of careers in high-performance sports coaching. A constructivist research approach is applied that intends to gain insight into the realities of coaches' careers. Data were drawn from in-depth interviews with 10 Danish high-performance sports coaches. Results identified four classifying features that pave the way for the establishment of a typology consisting of three ideal types: (1) the elite-athlete coach; (2) the academic coach; and (3) the early-starter coach. The findings are theorized through Wenger's concept of paradigmatic pathways and Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital. The study illuminates paradigmatic trajectories and conversions of cultural capital in high-performance sports coaching careers that may act as models for young athletes transitioning into the coaching profession.
Multi-Dimensional Detector for UWB Ranging Systems in Dense Multipath Environments

The use of ultra wideband (UWB) technology for high-resolution ranging is widely addressed in the literature, and most these studies assume the use of a correlation detector to determine the arrival time of the first path component. The correlation detector well performs in environments without signal distortion. However, dense multi-path propagation and frequency selective fading, as encountered in a typical UWB environment, force the received UWB signal to behave like a random waveform. Such a waveform is multi-dimensional in the sense that any single preset template can only capture partial signal energy for ranging. In coping with this situation, we show in this paper how to use multi-dimensional detectors for enhancing the ranging performance. The superiority of the new detectors to the conventional one is theoretically analyzed and confirmed through simulations based on real UWB data.
Leadership and Culture in Chinese Education

Abstract This article discusses the evolution of Chinese culture in the People's Republic of China through recognizing a number of different stages and their respective influence on education and school leadership. Among the recognized stages are traditional culture, socialist culture, enterprise culture and patriarchal culture. To some extent these stages have developed sequentially, although all are claimed to be of relevance today. Traditional culture is reflected in continued respect for authority, collectivism and harmony in schools. Socialist culture has, in many ways, reinforced aspects of traditional culture while, at the same time, further politicizing the principal's role, and enterprise culture has served to integrate market values into the education system. The influence of patriarchal culture continues to determine the role of men and women in schools, and particularly in school leadership. The article concludes by briefly discussing both the cumulative and enduring influence of the hybrid Chinese culture on education.
Cidofovir and the Black Box Warning

This report bears scrutiny, since cidofovir has become the Next Big Thing for the treatment of RRP. My PubMed search revealed 10 case series in the past 2 years, and most of these report favorable experience with this medication. One recent publication in the Archives ofOtolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, on a very small series of case reports, makes the following statement in the conclusion of the abstract: "Four children with RRP were safely and successfully treated with intralesional cidofovir injection. Consideration should be given to using cidofovir more widely for treatment of pediatric RRP" I [emphasis mine]. Although clinicians are understandably excited about these preliminary results for cidofovir against this potentially devastating and lethal disease, it is still unclear whether the favorable outcomes described in these articles are the result of a combination of publication bias and reversion of the disease to the mean, or of the true efficacy of cidofovir against RRP.
A Fuzzy Petri-Nets Model for Computing With Words

Motivated by Zadeh's paradigm of computing with words (CWs) rather than numbers, several formal models of CWs have recently been proposed. These models are based on automata and, thus, are not well suited for concurrent computing. In this paper, we incorporate the well-known model of concurrent computing, which is called the Petri net, together with fuzzy-set theory and, thereby, establish a concurrency model of CWs-fuzzy Petri nets for CWs (FPNCWs). The new feature of such fuzzy Petri nets is that the labels of transitions are some special words modeled by fuzzy sets. By employing the methodology of fuzzy reasoning, we give a faithful extension of an FPNCW that makes computing with more words possible. The language expressiveness of the two formal models of CWs, i.e., fuzzy automata for CWs as well as FPNCWs, is compared. A few small examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical development.
Impact of inhibitory load on remembering delayed intentions in autism

Abstract Objective: Research on prospective memory (PM) in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is scarce and inconsistent. Differences in results have been attributed to differences in executive control demands of the respective PM tasks. However, so far no study has systematically and experimentally manipulated executive control load. The present study set out to explore the impact of varying inhibitory control demands on PM performance in ASD. Method: Twenty-two adults with ASD and 22 age-, gender- and cognitive ability-matched controls were asked to work on a computerised word categorization task into which an event-based PM task was embedded. In addition, they were required to work on a task that put either low or high load on inhibitory resources. Results: With regards to the event-based PM task, no significant effects emerged. Controls outperformed individuals with ASD on the ongoing task performance and ongoing task performance varied with inhibition load. Similarly, inhibition load affected performance on the inhibition task; here, no group effects were found. Conclusion: Findings suggest spared event-based PM performance in ASD regardless of inhibition load. However, results might be limited by ceiling effects and future studies are needed to investigate to explore inhibition effects using more difficult tasks.
Pyrroloquinoline Quinone (PQQ) Inhibits Lipopolysaccharide Induced Inflammation in Part via Downregulated NF-κB and p38/JNK Activation in Microglial and Attenuates Microglia Activation in Lipopolysaccharide Treatment Mice

Therapeutic strategies designed to inhibit the activation of microglia may lead to significant advancement in the treatment of most neurodegenerative diseases. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a naturally occurring redox cofactor that acts as an essential nutrient, antioxidant, and has been reported to exert potent immunosuppressive effects. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory effects of PQQ was investigated in LPS treated primary microglia cells. Our observations showed that pretreatment with PQQ significantly inhibited the production of NO and PGE2 and suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators such as iNOS, COX-2, TNF-a, IL-1b, IL-6, MCP-1 and MIP-1a in LPS treated primary microglia cells. The nuclear translocation of NF-κB and the phosphorylation level of p65, p38 and JNK MAP kinase pathways were also inhibited by PQQ in LPS stimulated primary microglia cells. Further a systemic LPS treatment acute inflammation murine brain model was used to study the suppressive effects of PQQ against neuroinflammation in vivo. Mice treated with PQQ demonstrated marked attenuation of neuroinflammation based on Western blotting and immunohistochemistry analysis of Iba1-against antibody in the brain tissue. Indicated that PQQ protected primary cortical neurons against microglia-mediated neurotoxicity. These results collectively suggested that PQQ might be a promising therapeutic agent for alleviating the progress of neurodegenerative diseases associated with microglia activation.
Five empirically-derived subtypes of children with sexual behaviour problems: Characteristics potentially related to juvenile delinquency and adult criminality

This paper reports the results of a cluster analysis on demographic, maltreatment, and psychometric data gathered from 127 children with sexual behaviour problems upon intake into a longitudinal treatment outcome study. Five distinct subtypes of children with sexual behaviour problems were identified: Nondisordered; Abuse Reactive; Highly Traumatized; Rule Breakers; and Sexually Aggressive children. Characteristics of the child subtypes may permit identification of children at high-risk of juvenile delinquency or adult criminality.
A comparative study on various confidence measures in large vocabulary speech recognition

In this paper, we have conducted a comparative study on several confidence measures (CM) for large vocabulary speech recognition. Firstly, we propose a novel high-level CM that is based on the inter-word mutual information (MI). Secondly, we experimentally investigate several popular low-level CM, such as word posterior probabilities, N-best counting, likelihood ratio testing (LRT), etc. Finally, we have studied a simple linear interpolation strategy to combine the best low-level CM with the best high-level CM. All of these CM are examined in two large vocabulary ASR tasks, namely the Switchboard task and a Mandarin dictation task, to verify the recognition errors in baseline recognition systems. Experimental results show: (1) the proposed MI-based CM greatly surpass another existing high-level CM which are based on the LSA technique; (2) among all low-level CM, word posteriori probabilities give the best verification performance; (3) when combining the word posteriori probabilities with the MI-based CM, the equal error rate is reduced from 24.4% to 23.9% in the Switchboard task and from 17.5% to 16.2% in the Mandarin dictation task.