Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved n-gram phonotactic models for language recognition

This paper investigates various techniques to improve the estimation of n-gram phonotactic models for language recognition using single-best phone transcriptions and phone lattices. More precisely, we first report on the impact of the so-called acoustic scale factor on the system accuracy when using latticebased training, and then we report on the use of n-gram cutoff and entropy pruning techniques. Several system configurations are explored, such as the use of context-independent and context-dependent phone models, the use of single-best phone hypotheses versus phone lattices, and the use of various n-gram orders. Experiments are conducted using the LRE 2007 evaluation data and the results are reported using the a posteriori EER. The results show that the impact of these techniques on the system accuracy is highly dependent on the training conditions and that careful optimization can lead to performance improvements.
Prevalence of Neisseria meningitidis carriers in the school population of Catalonia, Spain

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of healthy Neisseria meningitidis pharyngeal carriers in a representative sample of the Catalonian school population, as well as its associated factors. The sample was divided into age groups: [les ]5, 6–7 and 13–14 years old. Parents were given a questionnaire to collect information on sociodemographic and epidemiological variables. Oropharyngeal swabs were collected with a cotton-tipped swab in an Amies transport medium and cultured on Thayer Martin plates at 35 °C in 5% CO2. The isolates were serogrouped and sero/subtyped. Of the 1406 children studied, 75 (5·34%) meningococcal carriers were detected: 63 B (4·5%), 9 non groupable (0·7%), 2 29E (0·1%) and 1X (0·07%). No serogroup C meningococci were found in this study, probably due to the high A+C vaccination coverage of up to 68·9% in children 6–7 years old. Bivariate analysis identified six statistically significant risk factors for meningococcal carriage: increasing age, recent upper respiratory tract infection, previous antibiotic treatment, number of students in the class, size of the classroom and social class. Multivariate analysis found that only age and previous antibiotic treatment remained statistically significant when the other factors were controlled.
Social and Cultural Meanings of Tolerance: Immigration, Incorporation and Identity in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Immigration is arguably a contentious issue in New Zealand. A major shift in immigration policy and patterns of immigration has witnessed an anti-immigration backlash and debate over a ‘crisis of national identity’. Drawing data from the 1995 and 2003 National Identity modules of the International Social Survey Programme, this paper examines New Zealanders’ attitudes toward immigration. The results of hierarchical cluster and multiple correspondence analyses show how attitudes toward immigration highlight important social group (i.e. class and ethnicity) differences in beliefs about social incorporation and conceptions of national identity. Positive or negative attitudes toward immigration, therefore, have different meanings depending on broader social and cultural divisions in society. I conclude by relating the findings to processes of social incorporation among immigrants and their descendants.
Task-space setpoint control of robots with dual task-space information

In conventional task-space control problem of robots, a single task-space information is used for the entire task. When the task-space control problem is formulated in image space, this implies that visual feedback is used throughout the movement. While visual feedback is important to improve the endpoint accuracy in presence of uncertainty, the initial movement is primarily ballistic and hence visual feedback is not necessary. The relatively large delay in visual information would also make the visual feedback ineffective for fast initial movements. Due to limited field of view of the camera, it is also difficult to easure that visual feedback can be used for the entire task. Therefore, the task may fail if any of the features is out of view. In this paper, we present a new task-space control strategy that allows the use of dual task-space information in a single controller. We shall show that the proposed task-space controller can transit smoothly from Cartesian-space feedback at the initial stage to vision-space feedback at the end stage when the target is near.
Where Does Mediator Bind In Vivo?

Background The Mediator complex associates with RNA polymerase (Pol) II, and it is recruited to enhancer regions by activator proteins under appropriate environmental conditions. However, the issue of Mediator association in yeast cells is controversial. Under optimal growth conditions (YPD medium), we were unable to detect Mediator at essentially any S. cerevisiae promoter region, including those supporting very high levels of transcription. In contrast, whole genome microarray experiments in synthetic complete (SC) medium reported that Mediator associates with many genes at both promoter and coding regions. Principal Findings As assayed by chromatin immunoprecipitation, we show that there are a small number of Mediator targets in SC medium that are not observed in YPD medium. However, most Mediator targets identified in the genome-wide analysis are false positives that arose for several interrelated reasons: the use of overly lenient cut-offs; artifactual differences in apparent IP efficiencies among different genomic regions in the untagged strain; low fold-enrichments making it difficult to distinguish true Mediator targets from false positives that occur in the absence of the tagged Mediator protein. Lastly, apparent Mediator association in highly active coding regions is due to a non-specific effect on accessibility due to the lack of nucleosomes, not to a specific association of Mediator. Conclusions These results indicate that Mediator does not bind to numerous sites in the yeast genome, but rather selectively associates with a limited number of upstream promoter regions in an activator- and stress-specific manner.
‘I’m not a quants person’; key strategies in building competence and confidence in staff who teach quantitative research methods’

Initiatives, like the UK ESRC’s RDI/CI programmes and the Q-Step Centres, have a long-term aim of addressing the well-documented decline in the pool of academics able and willing to teach quantitative methods (QM). However, these initiatives will take time to make an impact; therefore, the upskilling of current staff is a vital strategy if we want to maintain QM in curricula. This paper draws on findings from the ESRC RDI project, ‘No More Pointy Clicky, numbers stuff; building staff quantitative skills’. This project focussed on upskilling staff in a large Sociology department. The project was committed to delivering training to develop staff competence in QM; however, it became clear that this alone would not be sufficient to build staff confidence. Therefore, the project rolled-out a more complex strategy that addressed a range of central issues, including, pedagogy, infrastructure, Departmental resourcing and strategy, and staff worldviews, which this article explores.
An exploration of the possibility of a sociology of mental health: An historical epistemological examination of the subfield in France

Background: This paper addresses the question of whether a sociology of mental health is possible. This question raises the issue of the theoretical conditions necessary to establish a sub-field, and requires a debate about the boundaries and epistemological status of such an enterprise. Aim: To analyse the various historical building blocks and contexts relevant to understanding the contemporary expression and state of a sociological perspective on mental health in France. Method: Literature review and a current empirical research about the politics of distress and psychoanalysis as case study, used to discuss the genesis and development of French sociological influences from a historical epistemological framework. Results: The context and limitations of previous social approaches to the study of mental health and suggestions as to the future direction of a sociology of mental health in a French context are discussed, centring around relevant influences and interests. Implications: The use of an interactionist orientation combined with a critical analysis of psychoanalysis in the context of contemporary social conditions lays the foundation upon which to recapture a sociology applied to mental health. Declaration of interest: None.
A novel “Green” inkjet-printed Z-shaped monopole antenna for RFID applications

In this paper, a novel “green” inkjet-printed antenna for UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags is presented. A slotted Z-shaped monopole configuration is selected and fabricated using inkjet-printing technology on a flexible, low-cost paper substrate utilizing a simple, fast, and environmentally friendly process. The design characteristics of the antenna are verified and the simulated results are compared with measurements showing good agreement.
Spatial Variation of Deuterium Enrichment in Bulk Water of Snowgum Leaves1[OA]

Deuterium enrichment of bulk water was measured and modeled in snowgum (Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieber ex Sprengel) leaves grown under contrasting air and soil humidity in arid and wet conditions in a glasshouse. A map of the enrichment was constructed with a resolution of 4 mm by using a newly designed cryodistillation method. There was progressively increasing enrichment in both longitudinal (along the leaf midrib) and transversal (perpendicular to the midrib) directions, most pronounced in the arid-grown leaf. The whole-leaf average of the enrichment was well below the value estimated by the Craig-Gordon model. The discrepancy between model and measurements persisted when the estimates were carried out separately for the leaf base and tip, which differed in temperature and stomatal conductance. The discrepancy was proportional to the transpiration rate, indicating the significance of diffusion-advection interplay (Péclet effect) of deuterium-containing water molecules in small veins close to the evaporating sites in the leaf. Combined Craig-Gordon and desert-river models, with or without the Péclet number, P, were used for predicting the leaf longitudinal enrichment. The predictions without P overestimated the measured values of δdeuterium. Fixed P value partially improved the coincidence. We suggest that P should vary along the leaf length l to reconcile the modeled data with observations of longitudinal enrichment. Local values of P, P(l), integrating the upstream fraction of water used or the leaf area, substantially improved the model predictions.
Validity of the days supply field in pharmacy administrative claims data for the identification of blister packaging of medications

Pharmacy claims data is often used in pharmacoepidemiology studies, but no studies to date have examined whether it was possible to identify the use of blister packs in these databases. We aimed to determine whether medications dispensed in days divisible by 7 are more likely to be blister packed than medications dispensed in other quantities.
A sociological examination of international placement learning by British social work students in children’s services in Malaysia

This paper discusses research findings into a study of UK student learning on international social work placements in Malaysia in col laboration with two Malaysian universities: Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. The discussion focuses on those placements taking place in children’s services: residential care and community - based support programmes. The aim of the study was to explore how social work students adapt to unfamiliar learning situations in new cultural contexts with the goal of increasing cultural competence. Data were drawn from formal but anonymised student learning exercises as a non-assessed requirement of this particular placement. Findings indicated a wide range of responses towards social work practice with vulnerable children in the Malaysian context in terms of student constructions of care and abuse. Subject to an analytical schema, the collision or adaptation of otherwise normative professional and personal values are examined in detail
2 Overview of Pioneer Work in Network Engineering Games

Network Engineering Games (NEGs) is a new emmerging branch of game theory that has been developing in Electrical Engineering Departments. It concerns games that arise in all levels of telecommunication networks. There has been a growing interest among researchers in this community in bio-inspired methodologies in recent years. This is due to two reasons. First, many problems in networking have a lot in common with problems encountered in biology. Some examples are (i) propagation of information in networks, that has often a similar dynamics as the propagation of epidemics within the population. (ii) energy management issues in wireless networks and competition over resources are often similar to issues that have been studied by biologists. Secondly, both equilibria concepts as well as replicator dynamics that arise in evolutionary games are quite relevant to NEGs. In this paper we first present an overview of applications and of tools used in network engineering games, we then describe in more depth bio-inspired tools used in or relevant to network engineering games. We present finally an example of a stochastic epidemic game arising in wireless networks that involves competition over the relaying of information.
THE MEANING AND FUNCTION OF SILENCE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO A THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY TREATMENT PROGRAMME

Psychoanalysis has understood silence either as a defence, a symptom or as a necessary punctuation, but it is more intensely a part of language than these explanations would suggest. This paper aims to show that philosophy may supply a more adequate understanding of silence in clinical practice than has hitherto been possible. Without philosophy, psychoanalysis can given no very coherent account of silence. Contemporary attempts in psychotherapy to reinstate a value to silence have misunderstood it and imbued it with quasi mystical qualities. *. This is a slightly revised version of a paper presented at the ISPS Conference held in Manchester in September 2004 By putting silence back within the orbit of language this paper avoids the categorical mistakes in our understanding of this phenomenon, which are common in the literature. Far from being an impediment to psychotherapy, silence has a significance and value which make it an essential ally of speech in the therapeutic process. This has particular implications in a therapeutic community, where there is the possibility to develop quiet areas in the unit which can form part of the treatment environment and serve to provoke a reparative introspection.
Organizational Identity and Legitimacy Under Major Environmental Changes: Tales of Two UK Building Societies

We studied how organizational identity (OI) and organizational legitimacy (OL) interplayed within two British building societies during drastic environmental changes over two decades. Four salient phases of environmental changes were identified in the British building society sector over the last two decades (introduction of new regulatory framework, recession, demutualization threats and post-demutualization era). Comparative analysis of the two firms' responses to the environmental changes found that, employing distinct specific strategies, both firms accorded tremendous attention and efforts to OI narration and re-narration in order to regain OL. Four properties were identified regarding the interplay between OI narrative and OL: level, locus, mechanism and approach. Our study contributes to the literature by (a) empirically demonstrating the role of the OI/OL interplay in understanding the relationship between organizations and external changes; (b) empirically demonstrating the valence of a narrative approach to OI as a useful perspective to study organizational change and OL; and (c) identifying the role of narrative in leading and directing such changes.
Men who become Primary School Teachers: an early portrait

This paper reports the findings of a study which sought to provide improved understanding of what motivates young men to choose primary teaching as a career and their experiences of their university course. It is hoped that the understanding so derived can be used to encourage males to enter the teaching profession at primary level. Sixteen new male graduates were interviewed, just over half had begun the education degree immediately after leaving high school. Working with children was a positive motivation, but teaching was also seen as a desirable career with good working conditions. Parents, both mothers and fathers, were supportive of teaching as a career for their sons. The university course became more interesting for these male students once they were involved directly in schools. They described themselves as less conscientious than female students, but as having interests other than study which gave them an edge in the classroom.
Locus of control as a mediator of the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction: Age, race, and gender differences

Research indicates that religiosity is associated with better psychological health. However, some studies have shown negative effects of religiosity on psychological health. It was hypothesized that these contradictory findings may be due to the fact that different loci of control beliefs affect psychological health differently. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to verify a model in which locus of control mediates the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction, and (2) to examine whether this model varies by age, gender, and race. Using Structural Equation Modelling to analyze Wave 1 of the Americans’ Changing Lives dataset, this study confirms the mediation model and suggests that the relationship between religiosity and locus of control varies by gender and age.
The Social World as Will and Idea: Schopenhauer's Influence upon Durkheim's Thought

The starting-point for this analysis is a remark made by André Lalande, that Durkheim was so enamoured with Schopenhauer's philosophy that his students nicknamed him ‘Schopen’. The intellectual context shared by Schopenhauer and Durkheim is explored, especially with regard to the opposition between the id-like ‘will’ and the mind. Schopenhauer's influence upon Durkheim's contemporaries is examined briefly. Then, this new context for apprehending Durkheim's thought is applied to selected problems in Durkheimian scholarship, problems that have to do with the dualism of human nature, perception, the unconscious and the unity of knowledge relative to the object-subject debate. The implications for sociological theory are also discussed.
Tremor suppression for handheld micromanipulator using robust hybrid control

This paper proposes a suppression of tremor effects, fluctuations caused by a user's hand, on a handheld micromanipulator by means of a robust hybrid control scheme. The proposed control scheme is a combination between an explicit model predictive control and a PID controller. The advantage of the PID controller is a robustness. It is suitable for handling the holding angle changes. The explicit model predictive control provides the excellent tracking performance. In addition, the robust hybrid control can handle tremor effects successfully. The control objective is to achieve robust tracking performance, to dampen the vibration of the mechanism and to suppress a disturbance, a tremor. The experimental results are used to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Are Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Less Physically Active Than the General Population?

Background:Although promoting physical activity (PA) and exercise among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is highly advocated nowadays, little is known about actual PA levels of these patients. In particular, the literature investigating how these PA levels are in proportion to the levels among the general population is scarce. Objective:To compare the self-reported PA levels of patients with RA with those of the general Dutch population. Methods:A sample of 400 RA patients were sent the Short QUestionnaire to ASsess Health-Enhancing PA comprising 10 questions about PA. From these data the proportions meeting the Dutch public health recommendation for PA (i.e., moderate PA for 30 minutes on ≥5 days/wk) and the total number of minutes of PA per week were calculated. These data were compared with similar data from a representative sample of the general Dutch population. Results:Two hundred fifty-two patients returned the questionnaire (response 63%). The proportions of RA patients meeting the PA recommendation were similar to those of the general population (57% in categories 45–64 years; 59% in categories ≥65 years, and 58% in the total groups). The average number of minutes of PA per week was significantly lower in the RA population compared with the general population in the category 45 to 64 years (1836 vs. 2199, respectively, P = 0.001), whereas the difference in the category ≥65 years was not significant (1115 vs. 1218 minutes, respectively, P = 0.33). Conclusions:The proportion of RA patients meeting the Dutch PA recommendation was similar to the general Dutch population. However, with respect to the average number of minutes of PA per week, the RA patients were less physically active. Because patients with RA have an increased risk of chronic conditions such as osteoporosis or cardiovascular diseases along with their arthritis, it remains a matter of utmost importance for health care professionals such as rheumatologists, physical therapists, and clinical nurse specialists to promote PA in daily clinical practice and guide patients in achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Ethyl ({5-[5′-(2-ethoxy-2-oxoethoxy)-4,4′′-difluoro-1,1′:3′,1′′-terphenyl-4′-yl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl}sulfanyl)acetate

In the title compound, C28H24F2N2O6S, the whole molecule is disordered over two sites with refined occupancies of 0.778 (3) and 0.222 (3). The central benzene ring makes dihedral angles of 56.0 (4), 34.5 (4) and 70.9 (4)°, respectively, with the two terminal benzene rings and the 1,3,4-oxadiazole ring in the major component of the disordered molecule. The corresponding angles in the minor component are 59.7 (16), 25.6 (13) and 75.5 (14)°. In the crystal, molecules are linked via C—H⋯F, C—H⋯N, C—H⋯O and C—H⋯S hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network. In addition, C—H⋯π interactions are observed.