Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TBI Symptoms Improve After PTSD Remediation With Emotional Freedom Techniques

A group of 59 veterans with clinical levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms received emotional freedom techniques (EFT) coaching in a randomized controlled trial. A significant percentage dropped below the clinical threshold after 6 sessions of EFT (86%, p .0001) and remained subclinical at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and somatoform symptoms isolated from the data set for detailed analysis are presented in the current paper. Compared with pretest, significant reductions in TBI symptoms were found after 3 sessions, with a further reduction after 6 months (41%, p .0021). Participant gains were maintained on 3-month and 6-month follow-ups (p .0006). These results point to the poorly defined distinction between TBI and PTSD symptoms, the potential for partial TBI rehabilitation as a sequel to successful PTSD treatment, and the possibility of long-term maintenance of clinical gains.
Tracking Molecular Recognition at the Atomic Level with a New Protein Scaffold Based on the OB-Fold

The OB-fold is a small, versatile single-domain protein binding module that occurs in all forms of life, where it binds protein, carbohydrate, nucleic acid and small-molecule ligands. We have exploited this natural plasticity to engineer a new class of non-immunoglobulin alternatives to antibodies with unique structural and biophysical characteristics. We present here the engineering of the OB-fold anticodon recognition domain from aspartyl tRNA synthetase taken from the thermophile Pyrobaculum aerophilum. For this single-domain scaffold we have coined the term OBody. Starting from a naïve combinatorial library, we engineered an OBody with 3 nM affinity for hen egg-white lysozyme, by optimising the affinity of a naïve OBody 11,700-fold over several affinity maturation steps, using phage display. At each maturation step a crystal structure of the engineered OBody in complex with hen egg-white lysozyme was determined, showing binding elements in atomic detail. These structures have given us an unprecedented insight into the directed evolution of affinity for a single antigen on the molecular scale. The engineered OBodies retain the high thermal stability of the parental OB-fold despite mutation of up to 22% of their residues. They can be expressed in soluble form and also purified from bacteria at high yields. They also lack disulfide bonds. These data demonstrate the potential of OBodies as a new scaffold for the engineering of specific binding reagents and provide a platform for further development of future OBody-based applications.
Foodborne outbreak caused by a Norwalk‐like virus in India

An outbreak of acute gastroenteritis occurred in the nurses' hostel of a civil hospital in Delhi, after a farewell party involving 130 nurses and some of the housekeeping staff. All affected persons had eaten salad sandwiches at the party. Stool samples were collected from six of these patients on the second day of infection. All six samples, when tested for the presence of common bacteria, parasites, and rotavirus, were found to be negative. The clinical features of this outbreak matched the criteria set for outbreaks caused by Norwalk‐like viruses (NLVs). Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) was carried out on these six samples, using primers from the RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene of NLVs. Immunoelectron microscopy was carried out on two of the samples, using convalescent phase serum. All six samples were positive for genogroup (GG) II NLVs by RT‐nested PCR. Aggregates of 32‐nm viral particles were visualized by immunoelectron microscopy in one of the two samples. Sequencing of the RdRp gene was done on amplicons from three samples; phylogenetic analysis placed the isolates NDV/1999 in a Toronto virus cluster of GG II NLVs. This is the first report of a food‐borne outbreak attributable to NLVs from India. J. Med. Virol. 67:603–607, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
TrustICE: Hardware-Assisted Isolated Computing Environments on Mobile Devices

Mobile devices have been widely used to process sensitive data and perform important transactions. It is a challenge to protect secure code from a malicious mobile OS. ARM TrustZone technology can protect secure code in a secure domain from an untrusted normal domain. However, since the attack surface of the secure domain will increase along with the size of secure code, it becomes arduous to negotiate with OEMs to get new secure code installed. We propose a novel TrustZone-based isolation framework named TrustICE to create isolated computing environments (ICEs) in the normal domain. TrustICE securely isolates the secure code in an ICE from an untrusted Rich OS in the normal domain. The trusted computing base (TCB) of TrustICE remains small and unchanged regardless of the amount of secure code being protected. Our prototype shows that the switching time between an ICE and the Rich OS is less than 12 ms.
SpeechPA: an ontology-based speech interface for personal assistants

SpeechPA is an ontology-based speech interface for personal assistants in specialized domains. In SpeechPA, we use a set of task and domain ontologies for handling knowledge efficiently, separating domain and task models for reasoning. In addition, the ontologies are also used for improving the interaction between the user and her personal assistant constituting the user's interface. In this paper, we present such an interface and apply it to a multi-agent system supporting users accessing government services. From the user's point of view, the system is a service centre and the personal assistant is its service provider. As a clear result of this conversational speech interface, we expect an increase in the quality of assistance and a reduction of the time needed to answer a user's request.
Peer Popularity of Learning Disabled Children

The purpose of this study was to determine the peer popularity of learning disabled children who had participated in a sociometric study one year earlier. A sociometric technique was administered to 20 fourth and fifth grade classrooms in which there were 25 learning disabled children from the original study. An analysis of variance was computed for votes received on scales of Social Attraction and Social Rejection by learning disabled children and comparison children matched on variables of sex, race, and classroom. The results indicate that learning disabled children receive a greater number of votes than comparison children on Social Rejection and fewer votes on Social Attraction. The results indicate that there is reliability in children's friendship and rejection ratings across time and across classrooms.
A PROSODIC TYPOLOGY OF LANGUAGE

This article introduces, Supports andexplains a linguistic typology relating basic word Orders, syllable structures, phonemic inventories, and tonality across languages. Specifically, languages with SOV basic word order are characterized, with greater than chance frequency, by simple syllable structures, Mgh consonantvowel ratios in their phonemic inventories, and the absence of phonemic tones; conversely, languages with SVO basic word order typically exhibit an opposite array of properties — namely, complex syllables tructures, low consonant-vowel ratios in their phonemic inventories, and the presence of phonemic tones. Typologies relating sentence structures with sound patterns across languages have, in the past, generated a limited amount of interest in the linguistic Community. From a diachronic perspective, several linguists — e.g. MEILLET (1903), SAPEB (1921 : 183— 184), LAKOFF (1972), VENNEMANN (1973 : 25, 1976 : 292—296)— have drawn attention to the process, typical of some branches within Indo-European, whereby phonological sound changes wear down morphological inflections, thereby triggering a tightening up of syntactic structures. Synchronically, however, proposed typo-
Young learners’ interactional development in task-based paired-assessment in their first and foreign languages: a case of English learners in China

In response to the growing interest in evaluating young learners’ foreign language (FL) performance, this study aims to deepen our understanding of young learners’ developmental differences in interaction during task-based paired-language assessments. To examine age effects separately from the effect of general language proficiency, we analysed learners’ interaction in both their first language (L1) and FL. We observed the students as they engaged in an assessment consisting of a set of decision-making tasks with their peers. After each task, the students self-assessed their performance. We found differences in interactions across grade levels in both L1 and FL with respect to holistic interactional patterns, topic development, and turn-taking patterns. The students’ understanding of communicative interactive tasks also appeared to differ between grade levels, perhaps reflecting their experiential differences with communicative tasks in class. The paper concludes with implications for implementing task-based paired-language assessments for young learners.
Ethyl Carbamate in Alcoholic Beverages from Mexico (Tequila, Mezcal, Bacanora, Sotol) and Guatemala (Cuxa): Market Survey and Risk Assessment

Ethyl carbamate (EC) is a recognized genotoxic carcinogen, with widespread occurrence in fermented foods and beverages. No data on its occurrence in alcoholic beverages from Mexico or Central America is available. Samples of agave spirits including tequila, mezcal, bacanora and sotol (n=110), and of the sugarcane spirit cuxa (n=16) were purchased in Mexico and Guatemala, respectively, and analyzed for EC. The incidence of EC contamination was higher in Mexico than in Guatemala, however, concentrations were below international guideline levels (<0.15 mg/L). Risk assessment found the Margin of Exposure (MOE) in line with that of European spirits. It is therefore unlikely that EC plays a role in high rates of liver cirrhosis reported in Mexico.
Repeatability of contrast sensitivity testing in patients with age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataract.

Purpose: To analyze the intrasession and intersession repeatability of contrast sensitivity (CS) measurements in patients with glaucoma, cataract, or age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and healthy controls. Methods: CS measurements were performed using the OPTEC-Functional Vision Analyzer (FVA), which uses a standardized and closed (view-in) system. Measurements for patients with glaucoma, cataract, or AMD and healthy controls were repeated within 30 minutes (intrasession) and during two sessions (intersession), separated by one week to one month. Test-retest reliability and correlation were measured using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of repeatability (COR). Results: Ninety subjects (90 eyes) with visual acuity of 0.17 logMAR or higher in the cataract group or 0.00 logMAR in the other groups were included. During the first session, the ICC values were 0.87, 0.90, 0.76, and 0.69, and COR values were 0.24, 0.20, 0.38, and 0.25 for the control, glaucoma, cataract, and AMD groups, respectively. The reliability scores significantly improved during the second session, except in the glaucoma group. There was an acceptable floor effect and no ceiling effect at higher frequencies in the glaucoma and AMD groups. Conclusion: In subjects with good visual acuity, the FVA system is useful for evaluating CS and demonstrates good repeatability, as shown by ICC and COR. Because there is no ceiling effect, this system is beneficial for evaluation of early changes in CS, particularly in patients with glaucoma or AMD.
Evaluation of Spatial Gamut Mapping Algorithms

We propose an independent evaluation of Spatial Gamut Mapping Algorithms (SGMAs) by a psychophysical experiment comparing ﬁve gamut mapping algorithms, two point-wise and three spatially adaptive applied to ﬁfteen images. Results show that reproduction from SGMAs were rated best, and indicate that among SGMAs, observers attached more importance to the preservation of saturation and of global contrast than to the rendering of details. The results of this psychophysical experiments are then compared to selected Image Quality Metrics (IQMs) to investigate their possible utilization in the implementation and evaluation of new GMAs. The comparison demonstrates that while IQMs do not present a conclusive correlation, they are still able to extract useful information about the local distortion caused by the gamut mapping algorithms.
Psychosocial problems in children with allergic diseases: a population study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND A few studies had pointed out the relationship between a single allergic disease and children's psychosocial problems; however, all of these researchers considered the allergic diseases separately. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between collective allergic diseases and psychosocial problems among 4- to 12-year-old children in Taiwan. METHODS The data were generated from the 2005 Taiwan National Health Interview Survey. A total of 2955 parents or guardians completed the answers for their 4- to 12-year-old children. We used logistic regressions to investigate the association of allergic diseases and the psychosocial problems. RESULTS About 40.62% children had at least one allergic disease in the past year, and 17.75% children had a score of psychosocial problems higher than or equal to the 75th percentile. After controlling for demographic factors, the risk of having high-level psychosocial problem for children with any allergic disease was 1.84 times of those without allergy. For those who had one, two or more than two allergic diseases, the risks of having psychosocial problems were 1.56, 2.20 and 3.39 times of those had no allergy disease respectively. Children with asthma, dermatitis and rhinitis simultaneously had the highest psychosocial impact (odds ratio = 5.10). CONCLUSIONS Collective allergic diseases were associated with psychosocial problems in children, and the effect was gradient. Parents and paediatricians should pay attention to psychosocial problems in children with allergic diseases and vice versa.
Learning from observation using primitives

This paper describes the rise of task primitives in robot learning from observation. A framework is developed that uses observed data to initially learn a task and the agent then goes on to increase its performance through repeated task performance (learning from practice). Data that is collected while the human performs a task is parsed into small parts of the task called primitives. Modules are created for each primitive that encode the movements required during the performance of the primitive, and when and where the primitives are performed. The feasibility of this method is currently being tested with agents that learn to play a virtual and an actual air hockey game.
TRUSTING SOCIAL LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES

Social networks provide rich opportunities to interact with friends and other members. While research on motivations and interaction design help explain what makes online communities successful, the influence of trust on social location technologies and interactions that integrate online and off-line activities remains unclear. Drawing from research on information systems, social psychology, and social networks, we identify the drivers of users’ trust in social location artifacts and other subscribers. We will test our hypotheses on Facebook’s Places application by connecting surveys to actual usage data. We expect trust in the artifact to depend on usability, situation normality, perceived critical mass, and referrals from trusted sources. We also hypothesize that trust beliefs toward other users—split into friends and everyone else—will depend on instinctive feelings of trust, rationalizations that others won’t do harm, and structural assurances. Implications for theory and practice as well as limitations and future work are discussed.
Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling in Multimedia Servers

In this paper, we experimentally investigate the scope and usefulness of Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) in multimedia servers. For our experiment, we considered four scaling policies, two heterogeneous servers, and two different application scenarios. In the first scenario, we used an IO-Intensive multimedia downloading application while in the second scenario we used a predominately CPU-Intensive application, namely, a video transcoder. We will show that while the advantage of DVFS for IO-Intensive applications is apparent, it is not so for CPU-Intensive applications. The advantage in IO-Intensive applications depends on the selection of frequencies in the machine and the way the CPU speed scales. We observed that the choice of a particular DFVS technique became more consequential when the machine had a wide selection of operation frequencies while a gradual change in the operation frequency was more energy efficient. For CPU-Intensive applications, the use of DVFS was counter productive and the overhead of scaling was not negligible.
Zur deutschsprachigen Version des Temperament- und Charakterinventars

Zusammenfassung. Es erfolgt eine kurze zusammenfassende Darstellung des theoretischen Hintergrundes und der Dimensionen des Temperament- und Charakterinventars (TCI). - Die Kennwerte fur die interne Konsistenz anhand einer deutschen Normstichprobe von 509 gesunden Freiwilligen und fur die Stabilitat anhand einer Stichprobe von 75 stationaren Patienten fur den Behandlungsverlauf werden sowohl fur die Dimensionen als auch fur die Subskalen dargestellt. Erste Hinweise auf die Validitat des Verfahrens in deutschen Stichproben werden in Form von Korrelationen mit den Faktoren des EMBU-Fragebogens, einem Verfahren zur Erfassung des erlebten elterlichen Erziehungsverhaltens, berichtet. Die interne Konsistenz fur die Dimensionen “Beharrungsvermogen” und “Belohnungsabhangigkeit” entsprechen noch nicht den Erwartungen. Das Verfahren befindet sich aber international noch in der Entwicklung.
Impact of Government Funding on Donations to Arts Organizations

Many nonprofits rely on private donations and government grants, but it is still unclear how these sources of funding may interact or even influence each other. To examine the behavioral aspect of the crowding-out hypothesis, we conducted an online survey experiment (n = 562) to test if government funding of a hypothetical nonprofit would influence donations. Our results show that a nonprofit with government funding, compared to an identical hypothetical organization without government funding, received 25% less in average donations (US$35 vs. US$47) and was about half as likely (21% vs. 38%) to receive all the money in a forced-choice scenario. However, the crowding-out effect of government funding appears much weaker for those who are arts patrons or who have previously contributed to the arts. Interestingly, this crowding-out effect seems insensitive to the amount of government funding and to labeling the government funding as coming from a prestigious source (e.g., National Endowment for the Arts [NEA]).
Using Google Maps to collect spatial responses in a survey environment

This paper examines the use of Google Maps-based tools to collect spatial responses from participants during academic research surveys conducted via the Internet. Using two recent examples from the University of East Anglia it discusses the online survey context and how Google Maps was used, issues surrounding the technical implementation of these tools, processing and use of the collected data, and concludes with considerations for future research that might employ similar methods.
An affordance network for engagement: increasing parent and family agency in an early childhood education setting

Research from the United Kingdom suggests that early childhood centres that operate from a multi or integrated service model, offering opportunities for parents to attend to a range of their needs and aspirations, increase the ability and the inclination of families to engage with their child's learning at the early childhood centre. Integrated service models of early childhood education are a relatively new concept in Aotearoa New Zealand and it is only within the last three years that the government has introduced initiatives based on integrated services in early childhood education. This article reports on one initiative at one early childhood centre involved in the implementation of integrated services: the establishment of a playgroup for parents and caregivers with babies and toddlers. The authors analysed the impact of one of these initiatives, applying the notion of an affordance network for engagement as opportunities that are available, inviting, and personalising: a framework that described affordances that progressively increased the possibilities of agency for the families.
Destination Image and Intent to Visit China and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Although there is growing awareness of the relationship between hosting mega-sporting-events and destination image, there is little empirical evidence documenting what images people hold before an event. The purpose of this study was to investigate the images young Americans hold of China both as a tourist destination and as the host of the 2008 Olympic Games. Specifically, the relationships among destination image, travel intentions, and tourist characteristics were explored. A total of 350 college students were surveyed before the close of the Athens Olympic Games. Overall, the respondents perceived China and the Beijing Olympic Games positively. Destination image was significantly (p < .05) predictive of the intention to travel to China and the Olympic Games. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that destination image partially mediated the relationship between past international travel experience and intention to travel. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed w.
For Better or for Worse?—Nonprofit Experience and the Performance of Nascent Entrepreneurs

In the present study, we provide important insights into the knowledge and experience individuals gain when engaging in nonprofit and voluntary work. The article explores how applicable the acquired human capital is when put to work in environments that share some common elements. Using data from the second panel study of entrepreneurial dynamics (PSED 2), we find robust evidence that previous nonprofit experience significantly increases the chances to successfully found a new venture. Given the similarities in work environments that are plagued by uncertainty and ambiguity, the task-relatedness of human capital acquired through nonprofit work might provide a comparative advantage when creating a new venture. Practical implications and future research are discussed.
Understanding donors to university performing arts programs: who are they and why do they contribute?

This study examines donor motivation and its influence on donation behavior related to university performing arts programs as a sector of leisure management. Specifically, donor benefits, gift amounts, gender, and age are examined in relation to donor motives. The sample consisted of 1,771 performing arts donors who completed an on-line survey. Results suggest that donors are motivated by the long-term viability and quality of life of their community. Female donors placed significantly higher importance on two motives, Civic and Education Concerns and Community and University Support, but there was no gender difference in Individual Rewards motivation. Age was significantly related to donor motivations. Two motivation factors, such as Civic and Education Concerns and Community and University Support, were found to be important motives for the donors aged >65, but not for the younger age groups. Given these results, implications for future research and arts and leisure management are discussed.