Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of two tree-structured approaches for grapheme-to-phoneme conversion

Recently, we described a two step self learning approach for grapheme to phoneme (G2P) conversion (O. Anderson and P. Dalsgaard, 1995). In the first step, grapheme and phoneme strings in the training data are aligned via an iterative Viterbi procedure that may insert graphemic and phonemic nulls where required. In the second step, a Trie structure, encoding pronunciation rules is generated. We describe the alignment module, and give alignment accuracies on the NETtalk database. We also compare transcription accuracies for two approaches to the second step on three databases: the NETtalk database, the CMU dictionary and the French part of the ONOMASTICA lexicon. The two transcription approaches applied in this research are a Trie approach and an approach based on binary decision trees grown by means of the Gelfand-Ravishankar-Delp algorithm (F. Breiman et al., 1984; S. Gelfand et al., 1991; R. Kuhn et al., 1995). We discuss the choice of questions for these decision trees-it may be possible to formulate questions about groups of characters (e.g., "is the next letter a vowel? ") that yield better trees than those that only use questions about individual characters (e.g., "is the next letter an 'A' ? "). Finally, we discuss the implications of our work for G2P conversion.
Early History of Laboratory Breeding of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Focusing on the Origins and use of Selected Strains

ABSTRACT The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae), is well recognized for its extensive adaptation to diverse ecological conditions and for genetic variation. Recognizing the importance of strain variation of this mosquito, researchers have established a large number of laboratory strains. Some of the popular strains have been used for research for years in many laboratories around the world. However, the exact origins of many of these strains are unknown. In this review, publications and archival records were examined to report the early laboratory mosquito rearing practices around the world and to identify the origins of selected strains. The records showed that inter-laboratory sharing of strains was already underway in the early part of the 20th century because of the ease of breeding Ae. aegypti and of sending eggs by mail. It also was found that the four strains established in major U.S. institutions by the mid-1930s, including the “ROCK” (short for Rockefeller) strain, had been derived from Cuba, Nigeria, Philippines, or Puerto Rico, all known for a long history of transmission of yellow fever virus or dengue virus rather than from North America. The strains used for research in Europe were primarily derived from West Africa, but strains of Asian, Caribbean, and South American origins also were used for comparative experiments among geographic strains. Neglected issues related to strain designation and original source identification in scientific publications were found and their relevance to current research is discussed.
The Competency and Life-cycle Approach to Analyzing Maori Entrepreneurship

45 Introduction Private sector entrepreneurial activity has been recognized as a critical contributor to economic growth and development. (Schumpeter 1934, Sexton 1989). There has been a large body of research into the nature and characteristics of entrepreneurs and into the social, economic and political environments that promote or hinder entrepreneurial activity. This paper contributes to this literature by analyzing Maori enterprise. The authors address three questions: firstly, what are the characteristics of Maori entrepreneurs; secondly, what are the problems faced by Maori entrepreneurs as their business ventures develop and grow; and thirdly, what competencies are important for these entrepreneurs to remain successful as their businesses grow? The analysis of the development and growth of Maori entrepreneurs in this paper is based on two aspects of entrepreneurial research – stages of development models and theories of firm competence – which are outlined below. This paper also highlights the lessons and some of the requirements for the firms to become successful. It also provides insights into the way government agencies can tailor their assistance to more effectively promote Maori entrepreneurship.
A Novel Online Traffic Classification Method Based on Few Packets

Accurate online network traffic classification plays an important role in many areas such as traffic engineering, QoS and intrusion detection. In this paper, four traffic classification methods are compared, which are classification based on entire packets of a flow (CEP), classification based on the first few packets of a flow (CFFP), classification based on arbitrary conjoint few packets of a flow (CACFP) and classification based on arbitrary disjunctive few packets of a flow (CADFP). Experiment results demonstrate that, without contribution of port feature, CACFP and CADFP achieved almost the same high classification accuracies in comparing with CEP and CFFP. The most important contribution of our method is that it significantly enhanced the robustness of online traffic classification. It can efficiently adapt to halfbaked flows, which take over a certain proportion in real network condition. The method makes it possible for deploying practical online traffic classification system.
PictureViewer - A mobile application using network coding

This paper looks into the implementation details of network coding for a mobile application running on commercial mobile phones. The mobile application coined PictureViewer can convey pictures from one source device to many neighboring devices using WiFi. The advantage of network coding in this context is that the source devices only needs a minimal amount of knowledge about the targets received packets and therefore only a minimal amount of feedback is needed to ensure reliable data delivery. The implemented network coding algorithms are tailored to be fast and energy efficient on commercial mobile phones. The goal of the paper is therefore to investigate those algorithms and to demonstrate that network coding can be deployed on state of the art mobile phones.
Optical trap assisted nanoscale laser direct-write patterning

Laser direct-write patterning methods are traditionally limited by the diffraction limit to size scales several hundreds of nanometers at the minimum. In this work, we demonstrate a new method of laser based patterning that overcomes these limitations by taking advantage of near-field enhancement at the surface of dielectric microspheres. Polystyrene microspheres are trapped in CW Bessel beam laser traps above a polyimide surface. A second, pulsed ultraviolet laser gets focused through the bead, and produces nanometer scale features on the substrate. The full width, half maximum of the features generated by this technique is measured and analyzed along with Finite Difference Time Domain simulations to predict the effects of bead size and pulsed laser energy. It is demonstrated that using a 0.76 µm sphere to focus the processing laser results in spots with an average size of 130 nm and a standard deviation of 38 nm, showing that spots with sizes below the diffraction limit can be generated.Laser direct-write patterning methods are traditionally limited by the diffraction limit to size scales several hundreds of nanometers at the minimum. In this work, we demonstrate a new method of laser based patterning that overcomes these limitations by taking advantage of near-field enhancement at the surface of dielectric microspheres. Polystyrene microspheres are trapped in CW Bessel beam laser traps above a polyimide surface. A second, pulsed ultraviolet laser gets focused through the bead, and produces nanometer scale features on the substrate. The full width, half maximum of the features generated by this technique is measured and analyzed along with Finite Difference Time Domain simulations to predict the effects of bead size and pulsed laser energy. It is demonstrated that using a 0.76 µm sphere to focus the processing laser results in spots with an average size of 130 nm and a standard deviation of 38 nm, showing that spots with sizes below the diffraction limit can be generated.
Expect the Unexpected: Event-related Brain Response to Morphosyntactic Violations

Arguments about the existence of language-specific neural systems and particularly arguments about the independence of syntactic and semantic processing have recently focused on differences between the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by violations of syntactic structure (e.g. the P600) and those elicited by violations of semantic expectancy (e.g. the N400). However, the scalp distribution of the P600 component elicited by syntactic violations appears to resemble that elicited by rare categorical events (ldquo;odd-balls”) in non-linguistic contexts, frequently termed the P3b. The relationship between the P600 and the P3b was explored by manipulating the grammaticality of sentences read for comprehension, as well as two factors known to influence P3b amplitude: odd-ball probability and event saliency. Oddball probability was manipulated by varying the frequency of morphosyntactic violations within blocks of sentences, and event saliency was manipulated by using two types of morphosyntactic violatio.
Risk Management of Policyholder Behavior in Equity Linked Life Insurance

The financial guarantees embedded in variable annuity contracts expose insurers to a wide range of risks, lapse risk being one of them. When policyholders’ lapse behavior differs from the assumptions used to hedge variable annuity contracts, the effectiveness of dynamic hedging strategies can be significantly impaired. By studying how the fee structure and surrender charges affect surrender incentives, we obtain new theoretical results on the optimal surrender region and use them to design a marketable contract that is never optimal to lapse.
Cognitive load theory, modality of presentation and the transient information effect.

The modality effect occurs when audio/visual instructions are superior to visual only instructions. The effect was explored in two experiments conducted within a cognitive load theory framework. In Experiment 1, two groups of primary school students (N = 24) were presented with either audio/visual or visual only instructions on how to read a temperature graph. The group presented with visual text and a diagram rather than audio text and a diagram was superior, reversing most previous data on the modality effect. It was hypothesized that the reason for the reversal was that the transitory auditory text component was too long to be processed easily in working memory compared to more permanent written information. Experiment 2 (N = 64) replicated the experiment with the variation of a reduced length of both auditory and visual text instructions. Results indicated a reinstatement of the modality effect with audio/visual instructions proving superior to visual only instructions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reflections on 'A Qualitative Analysis of Mainstreamed Behaviorally Disordered Aggressive Adolescents' Perceptions of Helpful and Unhelpful Teacher Attitudes and Behaviors'

In this study, I explored mainstreamed behaviorally disordered aggressive adolescents' perceptions of helpful and unhelpful teacher attitudes and behaviors. I generated the data from in-depth formal individual interviews of six behaviorally disordered aggressive adolescents and ethnographic observations of them in main- stream classrooms. The data revealed that these students perceived teachers were helpful when they engaged in specific aspects of teacher-student communication as well as flexible academic and behavioral program implementation. They perceived teachers' rigidity and use of discipline as unhelpful. Student anger was a pervading theme throughout the data set. Understanding students' perceptions of helpful and unhelpful teacher attitudes and behaviors may have implications for more successful integration of behaviorally disordered students into mainstream classrooms.
On the recovery of nonnegative sparse vectors from sparse measurements inspired by expanders

This paper studies compressed sensing for the recovery of non-negative sparse vectors from a smaller number of measurements than the ambient dimension of the unknown vector. We focus on measurement matrices that are sparse, i.e., have only a constant number of nonzero (and non-negative) entries in each column. For such measurement matrices we give a simple necessary and sufficient condition for l1 optimization to successfully recover the unknown vector. Using a simple “perturbation” to the adjacency matrix of an unbalanced expander, we obtain simple closed form expressions for the threshold relating the ambient dimension n, number of measurements m and sparsity level k, for which l1 optimization is successful with overwhelming probability. Simulation results suggest that the theoretical thresholds are fairly tight and demonstrate that the “perturbations” significantly improve the performance over a direct use of the adjacency matrix of an expander graph.
Variable inductor modeling revisited: The analytical approach

This paper presents the modeling of variable inductors (VI) following an analytical procedure. Usually, in a VI a dc magnetic flux is injected into the structure in order to provide a bias level that allows for magnetic permeability modulation. The ac magnetic flux is superposed to this dc level, thus making it possible that a variable inductance can be seen from the ac windings. Under the assumption that the ac magnetic flux amplitude is much smaller than the bias level, it is possible to analyze the VI by applying the superposition principle to the equivalent reluctance circuit of the structure. This procedure is illustrated in this paper for a double-E based VI. The proposed methodology is supported by both simulation and experimental results for a particular VI.
Implementation and Evaluation of String B-Tree

String B-tree is a combination of B-tree and Patricia tries for internal-node indices. Instead of storing prefix compressed keys at each index node, each key is stored in full in a consecutive sequence of data blocks, and each downward-traversal decision is made by a combination of Patricia trie search and the consultation of a single key. String B-tree has the same worst case performance as B-tree but it manages unbounded-length strings and performs much more powerful search operations such as the ones supported by suffix tree. In this project, we implemented a static string B-tree for string search in external memory. The operations supported include Prefix Search, Range Query, and Substring Search. Our experiment compared the query performance of String B-tree with B+-Tree and linear search. The result shows String B-tree outperforms B+-tree by reducing disk access admirably.
‘I owe it to my group members…who critically commented on my conducting’ – Cooperative learning in choral conducting education

This article explores cooperative learning in choral conducting education. The five characteristics of cooperative learning identified by Adams and Hamm ((1996). Cooperative learning: Critical thinking and collaboration across the curriculum (2nd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas Publishers): positive interdependence; face-to-face interaction; individual accountability and personal responsibility for reaching groups goals; frequent practice with small-group interpersonal skills; and regular group processing and reflection have been used to structure the discussion on the learners’ perception of their development and their module’s effectiveness. The context in focus was an elective module on choral conducting education at master’s level. Cooperative learning in choral conducting education was shown to support the learners’ motivation for active participation in the teaching and learning process; to increase respect for diversity; to support the learners’ development of interpersonal, communication, leadership and teaching skills at both an individual and at a collective level; and to improve teacher effectiveness.
A shift in the Bax/Bcl-2 balance may activate caspase-3 and modulate apoptosis in experimental glomerulonephritis.

BACKGROUND Although apoptosis has been linked to the renal cell deletion and ensuing renal fibrosis, its regulating mechanisms remain obscure. Of the known regulators of apoptosis, the best characterized is the Bax to Bcl-2 ratio. However, its importance in controlling apoptosis in glomerulonephritis is unclear. Here, using the nephrotoxic nephritis (NTN) model, we evaluated Bax/Bcl-2 in relation to changes in the apoptosis co-ordination enzyme, caspase-3. METHODS Kidneys were harvested at days 7, 15, 30 and 45 post-injection of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody into Wistar Kyoto rats. These were analyzed for apoptosis (in situ end labeling of fragmented DNA, light and electron microscopy), Bax/Bcl-2 protein (Western blotting), mRNA (Northern blotting) and distribution (immunohistochemistry), as well as caspase-3 activity (substrate cleavage assay), inflammation (ED1 staining), proliferation (proliferating cell nuclear antigen staining) and fibrosis (Masson's Trichrome staining). RESULTS Bax mRNA was significantly increased while that of Bcl-2 was decreased throughout the time course (+265% and -62% by day 45). Increased Bax and decreased Bcl-2 protein were noted, significantly so on day 7 (+177% and -21%) and day 45 (+363% and -17%). Bax protein was observed in dilated and atrophic tubules, sclerotic glomeruli and inflamed interstitium, while Bcl-2 was only visible in atrophic tubules. The ratios of Bax to Bcl-2 mRNA and protein were significantly increased at all time points. These correlated (P < 0.05) with up-regulated caspase-3 activity (r = 0.742 and 0.531), apoptosis (r = 0.712 and 0.540), proliferation (r = 0.611, mRNA only), inflammation (ED1+, r = 0.474 and 0.419) and fibrosis (r = 0.474 and 0.729). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that the changes in the ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 may contribute to the caspase-3 activation and the modulation of renal apoptosis associated with renal inflammation, tubular atrophy and renal fibrosis in experimental glomerulonephritis.
Characterization of the Minimal Replicator of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Latent Origin

ABSTRACT The latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) binds to two sites within the 801-bp-long terminal repeat (TR) and is the only viral protein required for episomal maintenance. While two or more copies of TR are required for long-term maintenance, a single TR confers LANA-dependent origin activity on plasmid DNA. Deletion mapping revealed a 71-bp-long minimal replicator containing two distinctive sequence elements: LANA binding sites (LBS1/2) and an adjacent 29- to 32-bp-long GC-rich sequence which we termed the replication element. Furthermore, the transcription factor Sp1 can bind to TR outside the minimal replicator and contributes to TR's previously reported enhancer activity.
Canadian Courts, Constitution, Charter and Catholic Schools: Intersecting Powers

This review examines outcomes, tensions, and variables contained in eight Canadian legal cases, which are important because of their profound implications for current and future stakeholders of Catholic education. These cases prompt educators to re-examine the understanding of student rights, teacher rights, and the rights of the Catholic school boards. It is not the intention as researchers and authors to defiantly question Catholic school boards’ authority to promote the Catholic religion; rather it is to contrast this authority with the rights of all citizens outlined within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Tea Category Identification Using a Novel Fractional Fourier Entropy and Jaya Algorithm

This work proposes a tea-category identification (TCI) system, which can automatically determine tea category from images captured by a 3 charge-coupled device (CCD) digital camera. Three-hundred tea images were acquired as the dataset. Apart from the 64 traditional color histogram features that were extracted, we also introduced a relatively new feature as fractional Fourier entropy (FRFE) and extracted 25 FRFE features from each tea image. Furthermore, the kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) was harnessed to reduce 64 + 25 = 89 features. The four reduced features were fed into a feedforward neural network (FNN). Its optimal weights were obtained by Jaya algorithm. The 10 × 10-fold stratified cross-validation (SCV) showed that our TCI system obtains an overall average sensitivity rate of 97.9%, which was higher than seven existing approaches. In addition, we used only four features less than or equal to state-of-the-art approaches. Our proposed system is efficient in terms of tea-category identification.
Subject Based Registration for Individualized Analysis of Diffusion Tensor MRI

Registration of subject and control brains to a common anatomical space or template is the basis for quantitatively delineating regions of abnormality in an individual brain. Normally, a brain atlas is chosen as the template. Limitations in the registration process result in persistent differences between individual subject brains and template, which can be a source of error in an analysis. We propose a new approach to the registration process where the subject of interest is the registration template. Through this change, we eliminate errors due to differences between a brain template and a subject’s brain. We applied this method to the analysis of FA values derived from DTI data of 20 individual mTBI patients as compared to 48 healthy controls. Subject-centered analysis resulted in identification of significantly fewer regions of abnormally low FA compared to two separate atlas-centered analyses, with subject-centered abnormalities essentially representing the common subset of abnormal low FA regions detected by the two atlas-centered methods. Whereas each atlas-centered approach demonstrated abnormalities in nearly every subject (19/20 and 20/20), the subject-centered approach demonstrated abnormalities in fewer than half the subjects (9/20). This reduction of diffusion abnormalities observed using the subject-centered approach is due to elimination of misregistration errors that occur when registering the subject of interest to a template. Evaluation of atlas-centered analyses demonstrated that 9.8% to 13.3% of subject GM and CSF was misregistered onto the WM of the brain atlas, resulting in the observation of additional low FA clusters compared to the subject-centered approach. Without careful evaluation, these misregistrations could be misinterpreted as pathology. An additional benefit of the subject-centered approach is that diffusion abnormalities can now be visualized directly in the subject’s anatomical space, rather than interpolating results from the brain atlas space, and can thereby enhance correlation with other components of an imaging protocol.