Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
"Would You Buy a Car from Me?" - On the Likability of Telephone Voices

We researched how “likable” or “pleasant” a speaker appears based on a subset of the “Agender” database which was recently introduced at the 2010 Interspeech Paralinguistic Challenge. 32 participants rated the stimuli according to their likability on a seven point scale. An Anova showed that the samples rated are significantly different although the inter-rater agreement is not very high. Experiments with automatic regression and classification by REPTree ensemble learning resulted in a crosscorrelation of up to . 378 with the evaluator weighted estimator, and 67.6 % accuracy in binary classification (likable / not likable). Analysis of individual acoustic feature groups reveals that for this data, auditory spectral features seem to contribute the most to reliable automatic likability analysis.
Backstepping designed sliding mode control for a two-axis tracking system

This paper develops backstepping-sliding mode control method for multi-input and multi-out nonlinear system. In order to solve the chattering problem, three continuous functions are introduced and the error function is employed as the sliding surface function finally after detailed comparison. Certain kind of two-axis tracking system is taken as an example. And dynamic model of the system is established based on Lagrange-Maxwell electromechanical equations, and controller designing based on the above developed control method is presented in detail. The simulation using Matlab are presented, which obtained controllers on the basis of backstepping method and backstepping-sliding mode control method, respectively. Comparison between them indicates that it is proper and effective for the two-axis tracking system to employ the controller designed based to backstepping-sliding mode control method. Simulation results based on improved sliding surface function are also presented which prove it is applicable to use error function in backstepping-sliding mode control method. Based on simulation results presented, the position tracking accuracy of the two-axis system can meet the project's need.
Reproducibility of fMRI: Effect of the Use of Contextual Information

We studied the effect of use of contextual information on the reproducibility of the results in analysis of fMRI data. We used data from a repeated simple motor fMRI experiment. In the first approach, statistical parametric maps were computed from a spatially unsmoothed data and thresholded using a Bonferroni corrected threshold. In the second approach, the maps were computed from a spatially unsmoothed data but were segmented into nonactive and active regions using a spatial contextual clustering method. In the third approach, the statistical parametric maps were computed from spatially smoothed data and thresholded, using, optionally, a spatial extent threshold. The variation in the classification was largest in the Bonferroni thresholded statistical parametric maps. There were no significant differences in variation between statistical parametric maps generated with all the other methods. In addition to reproducibility, the detection rates of weak simulated activations in the presence of measured scanner and physiological noise were investigated. Contextual clustering method was the most sensitive method, while the least sensitive method was the Bonferroni corrected thresholding. Using simulated data, we demonstrated that the contextual clustering method preserves the shapes of activation regions better than the method using spatial smoothing of the data.
Human behavior recognition based on sitting postures

In this paper, on the basis of detecting human skin area, 8 typical sitting postures were recognized using PCA. Firstly, moving object was detected by background contrast attenuation method. Then, considering the clustered skin area in a fixed region of YCbCr space which has an ellipse-like projection in CbCr plane, the skin area of moving object was extracted. Finally, the behavior recognition was implemented using PCA on the grayscale image of skin, and the face motion was analyzed according to the time-variation of pixel number in facial skin area. Experimental results show that the average recognition rate is 84.92%, and the face motion is analyzed effectively. Meanwhile the proposed algorithm is reasonably robust in shadow and varying luminance environment.
Target Tracking System Based on Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper discusses the development of a wireless sensor network based target tracking platform. The platform involves ultrasound sensors for target detection and extended Kalman filter (EKF) for tracking a single target. The embedded application is implemented by TinyOS/nesC[1], and Lab view is used to develop the GUI. In order to optimize the energy consumption and to prolong the lifetime of the network, a scheme of tasking node selection is proposed, which provides tradeoff between target tracking precision and energy consumption. The experiment results validate the effectiveness of the tasking node selection scheme.
Homeostatic Dysregulation in Membrane Properties of Masticatory Motoneurons Compared with Oculomotor Neurons in a Mouse Model for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative motoneuron disease with presently no cure. Motoneuron (MN) hyperexcitability is commonly observed in ALS and is suggested to be a precursor for excitotoxic cell death. However, it is unknown whether hyperexcitability also occurs in MNs that are resistant to degeneration. Second, it is unclear whether all the MNs within homogeneous motor pools would present similar susceptibility to excitability changes since high-threshold MNs innervating fast fatigable muscle fibers selectively degenerate compared with low-threshold MNs innervating fatigue resistant slow muscle fibers. Therefore, we concurrently examined the excitability of ALS-vulnerable trigeminal motoneurons (TMNs) controlling jaw musculature and ALS-resistant oculomotor neurons (OMNs) controlling eye musculature in a well studied SOD1G93A ALS mouse model using in vitro patch-clamp electrophysiology at presymptomatic ages P8–P12. Our results show that hyperexcitability is not a global change among all the MNs, although mutant SOD1 is ubiquitously expressed. Instead, complex changes occur in ALS-vulnerable TMNs based on motor unit type and discharge characteristics. Firing threshold decreases among high-threshold TMNs and increases in a subpopulation of low-threshold TMNs. The latter group was identified based on their linear frequency–current responses to triangular ramp current injections. Such complex changes in MN recruitment were absent in ALS-resistant OMNs. We simulated the observed complex changes in TMN excitability using a computer-based jaw closer motor pool model. Model results suggest that hypoexcitability may indeed represent emerging disease symptomology that causes resistance in muscle force initiation. Identifying the cellular and molecular properties of these hypoexcitable cells may guide effective therapeutic strategies in ALS.
Virtual-machine metadata optimization for I/O traffic reduction in mobile virtualization

Mobile virtualization introduces extra layers in software stacks, which leads to performance degradation. Especially, each I/O operation has to pass through several software layers to reach the NAND-flash-based storage systems. Among all the I/O operations, a large percentage is updating metadata. Frequent updating metadata not only degrades overall I/O performance but also severely reduces flash memory lifetime. In this paper, we propose a novel I/O optimization technique to identify the metadata of a guest file system which are stored in a VM image file and frequently updated. Then these metadata are stored in a small additional non-volatile memory which is faster and more endurable to greatly improve flash memory's performance and lifetime. The proposed scheme is evaluated on a real hardware embedded platform. The experimental results show that the proposed techniques can effectively improve the I/O performance in mobile devices with virtualization.
The autonomy-authority duality of shared decision-making in youth environmental action

While environmental action is recognized as an effective approach for developing young people’s capabilities as citizens and contributing to environmental improvements, little research has addressed how adults facilitate youth action projects. Environmental action involves a partnership among youth and adults characterized by shared decision-making. We sought insights into the adult experience of shared decision-making through phenomenological interviews with 33 educators facilitating youth environmental action in various non-formal and formal settings in the USA. Educators described experiencing tensions in sharing decision-making power, which we conceive of as a duality – two inseparable elements both contradictory and complementary that drive the dynamics of a system. The duality consists of youth autonomy and adult authority, which stems not only from formally vested decision-making power but also adults’ experience and wisdom. Educators navigated this duality through diverse approaches to structuring youth participation, supporting youth, valuing mutual learning, and communicating transparently to develop equitable relationships.
Honoring the subjective: an exploration of the self-reflexive portfolio in social work education

The social work profession has a history of duality between what is taught in the academy and what is practiced in the field. This qualitative study explores the use of the self-reflexive portfolio as a pedagological tool to bridge the schism between social work education and practice. The self-reflexive portfolio encourages students to integrate the personal into the professional by valuing lived experience and embracing different ways of knowing. With the teacher serving as a guide, students direct their own learning in a process of exploration and processing in sharing circles. This research draws on Liane Davis' (1985) heuristic of the male voice represented in the academy and the female voice represented in practice; postulating that pedagological tools from within a feminist liberatory perspective can begin to bridge the divide between social work education and practice. The research asks nine Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal social work practitioners, all former undergraduate social work students in a Northern Alberta degree program to articulate their experiences with the portfolio courses and how they believe it informs their practice. Employing qualitative interviews and a sharing circle, data is analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. In presenting the data, a medicine wheel is used to represent the individual voices of the study participants. The resultant thematic model and visual of a pinwheel metaphor emerges to explore the themes shared in common by study participants. The need for congruence between pedagogy and classroom practices is emphasized, as is the need to bring the student voice forward into the practice-education discourse in social work. Implications for social work education and ideas for future research are presented.
Cytological Evaluation of Bone Marrow in Normal Laying Hens and those With Lymphoid Leukosis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate cytologically the bone marrow (and peripheral blood) of adult laying hens affected with lymphoid leukosis. Diagnosis of the neoplasm was made on the basis of clinical history, signs and symptoms and pathology. Only histologically confirmed cases were included in the study. Examination of blood smears revealed +2 heterophil toxicity and the presence of large numbers of reactive (blast – transformed) lymphocytes. Smears that were prepared from the bone marrow showed increased numbers of hemopoietic cells. The total erythrocyte count (TEC), hemoglobin percentage (Hb%) , hemoglobin concentration (Hb conc.), packed cell volume (PCV) and the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values were significantly higher (P<0.01) in hens with lymphoid leukosis than in apparently normal hens. The mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and the mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) were significantly lower (P< 0.01) in hens with lymphoid leukosis than in apparently normal hens. Results of the leukogram indicated that the total leukocyte count (TLC) and the percentage (%) of lymphocytes were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in hens with lymphoid leukosis than in apparently normal hens. From results of this study it was concluded that cytological evaluation of bone marrow may prove to be a simple , rapid , and useful tool in the diagnosis of lymphoid leukosis in laying hens.
High-Impact Social Work Scholars

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the bibliometric contributions of high-impact social work faculty. Methods: Toward this end, we used a sample comprising fellows (N = 143) affiliated with the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) and the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW). To quantify impact, we relied primarily upon the h-index (a measure of lifetime scholarly impact) and the m-index (which adjusts for career length). Results: Analyses revealed the mean h-index value for SSWR fellows (M = 26.44, SD = 14.72) was substantially lower than the mean for AASWSW fellows (M = 32.52, SD = 15.96), but minimal differences existed in m-index values. H- and m-index values for the 40 highest impact scholars ranged, respectively, from 33 to 93 and 1.13 to 3.33. Conclusions: The results indicate the social work profession includes many researchers who are making an exceptional scientific impact.
A cognitive perspective on pair programming

Pair programming has gained widespread popularity with the advent of agile methodologies like Extreme Programming. Studies examining productivity improvement resulting from pair programming have produced mixed results. One of the important factors contributing to successful pair programming is pair composition. Developers’ styles need to be complimentary to each other, in order for each developer to derive benefits from other’s strengths. In this research, we focus on empirically investigating the impact of pairing experts and novices in different ways on their productivity.
A Dual-Input Digitally Driven Doherty Amplifier Architecture for Performance Enhancement of Doherty Transmitters

In this paper, the novel architecture of a dual-input and digitally driven Doherty amplifier is proposed with the aim of improving the performance of gallium-nitride (GaN) Doherty transmitters. In this work, the power efficiency is enhanced by using digital adaptive phase alignment to compensate for performance degradation due to bias and power-dependant phase misalignment between the carrier and peaking branches. For experimental validation, the proposed dual-input digital Doherty power amplifier (PA) was implemented using a 10-W GaN transistor. Measurement results demonstrate that the dual-input Doherty prototype exhibited a power-added efficiency (PAE) higher than 50% over an 8-dB output power back-off (OPBO) range. In comparison with the conventional fully analog Doherty PA, this represents a 10% improvement in PAE over the same OPBO range. Using a one-carrier Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access signal with a 7-dB peak-to-average power ratio, the dual-input Doherty PA, with digital adaptive phase alignment applied at the input of its peaking path, achieved a PAE of 57% at an average output power of 37.8 dBm, along with a - 22-dBc adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR). This corresponds to an improvement of 7% in PAE and 1 dB in average output power for the same ACPR level in comparison with a conventional fully analog Doherty PA.
The influence of sampling duration on recovery of culturable fungi using the Andersen N6 and RCS bioaerosol samplers.

UNLABELLED The influence of sampling duration on recovery of culturable fungi was compared using the Andersen N6 and the Reuter Centrifugal Sampler (RCS). Samplers were operated side-by-side, collecting 15 samples each of incrementally increasing duration (1-15 min). From 270 samples collected, 26 fungal genera were recovered. Species of Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Epicoccum, Penicillium and Ulocladium were most frequent. Data adjusted to CFU/m3 were fitted to a Poisson regression model with a logarithmic link function and evaluated for the impact of sampling time on qualitative and quantitative recovery of fungi, both as individual taxa and in aggregate according to xerotolerance. Significant differences between the two samplers were observed for xerotolerant and normotolerant moulds, as well as Aspergillus spp. and Cladosporium spp. With the exception of Cladosporium spp. , overall recoveries were higher with the RCS. When the Andersen N6 was used, the recovered levels of Cladosporium spp. and unidentified yeasts were reduced significantly at sampling times over 6 min. Similarly, when the RCS was used, recovery of Aspergillus spp. , Penicillium spp. , Ulocladium spp. , unidentified yeasts, and low water activity fungi declined significantly at sampling times over 6 min. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Currently, the industry-wide trend for viable air sampling in indoor environmental investigations is to use sampling times between 2 and 4 min in duration. Our results support the routine use of a 6-min sampling time where low spore loads are expected, resulting in improved limits of detection.
Partially Supervised Sense Disambiguation by Learning Sense Number from Tagged and Untagged Corpora

Supervised and semi-supervised sense disambiguation methods will mis-tag the instances of a target word if the senses of these instances are not defined in sense inventories or there are no tagged instances for these senses in training data. Here we used a model order identification method to avoid the misclassification of the instances with undefined senses by discovering new senses from mixed data (tagged and untagged corpora). This algorithm tries to obtain a natural partition of the mixed data by maximizing a stability criterion defined on the classification result from an extended label propagation algorithm over all the possible values of the number of senses (or sense number, model order). Experimental results on SENSEVAL-3 data indicate that it outperforms SVM, a one-class partially supervised classification algorithm, and a clustering based model order identification algorithm when the tagged data is incomplete.
Implementation of Othman method on memorization the Quran: A Study in Sulaymaniyyah Institute Malaysia

Until today, memorization is still one of the methods used in the process of preservation of the Qur’an. This article aims to review and analyze the methods and approaches used by a Centre of Tahfiz Quran Sulaymaniyyah in the process to produce the students that can remember the whole Qur’an. This study used the methods of documentation, observation and interviews in order to obtain the data. Through the analysis, this study found that there are seven basic methods of memorizing the Quran; Khatam 10, Chi method, Zor Pismis, Kolay Pismis, Tekrar, Tekrar Hepsi Seypa and Has. By using these seven methods, the students could recite the whole Qur’an by memorization, without seeing the mushaf. As a researcher, I would like to suggest these methods of memorization, to be applied in all the centers, in order to produce the huffaz who can fully memorizing the Quran.
Improving the OCL Semantics Definition by Applying Dynamic Meta Modeling and Design Patterns

OCL is a standard specification language, which will probably be supported by most software modeling tools in the near future. Hence, it is important for OCL to have a solid formal foundation, for its syntax and its semantic definition. Currently, OCL is being formalized by metamodels expressed in MOF, complemented by well formedness rules written in the own OCL. This recursive definition not only brings about formal problems, but also puts obstacles in language understanding. On the other hand, the OCL semantics metamodel presents quality weaknesses due to the fact that certain object-oriented design rules (patterns) were not obeyed in their construction. The aim of the proposal presented in this article is to improve the definition for the OCL semantics metamodel by applying GoF patterns and the dynamic metamodeling technique. Such proposal avoids circularity in OCL definition and increases its extensibility, legibility and accuracy.
Similar Ratios of Introns to Intergenic Sequence across Animal Genomes

One central goal of genome biology is to understand how the usage of the genome differs between organisms. Our knowledge of genome composition, needed for downstream inferences, is critically dependent on gene annotations, yet problems associated with gene annotation and assembly errors are usually ignored in comparative genomics. Here we analyze the genomes of 68 species across all animal groups and some single-cell eukaryotes for general trends in genome usage and composition, taking into account problems of gene annotation. We show that, regardless of genome size, the ratio of introns to intergenic sequence is comparable across essentially all animals, with nearly all deviations dominated by increased intergenic sequence. Genomes of model organisms have ratios much closer to 1:1, suggesting that the majority of published genomes of non-model organisms are underannotated and consequently omit substantial numbers of genes, with likely negative impact on evolutionary interpretations. Finally, our results also indicate that most animals transcribe half or more of their genomes arguing against differences in genome usage between animal groups, and also suggesting that the transcribed portion is more dependent on genome size than previously thought. Author’s Summary Within our anthropocentric genomic framework, many analyses try to define humans, mammals, or vertebrates relative to the so-called “lower” animals. This implicitly posits that vertebrates are complex organisms with large genomes and invertebrates are simple organisms with small genomes. This has the problem that genome size is therefore presumed to correlate with complexity and ignores any unknown complexity of vast numbers of invertebrate groups, many with large genomes. Animals vary widely in genome size, by almost three orders of magnitude, but when sequencing new animal genomes preference is given to those with smaller genomes for reasons of cost. In trying to understand how genomes are used in general, there is an added layer of complication from quality of the assembly and annotation. We have examined genome usage across a wide range of animals and have described ways to account for errors of low-quality annotations. We also show that the genomes of invertebrates and vertebrates are not so different, and that when large-genome invertebrates are considered, the fraction of the genome that is genes appears to be strongly predictable by genome size.
Inertia, interaction and clustering in demand

We present a discrete choice model of consumption that incorporates two empirically validated aspects of consumer behaviour: inertia in consumption and interaction among consumers. We specify the interaction structure as a regular lattice with consumers interacting only with immediate neighbours. We investigate the equilibrium behaviour of the resulting system and show analytically that for a large range of initial conditions clustering in economic behaviour emerges and persists indefinitely. Short-run behaviour of the model is investigated numerically. This exercise indicates that equilibrium properties of the system can predict a short-run behaviour of the model quite accurately.