Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The roles of suprasegmental features in predicting English oral proficiency with an automated system

ABSTRACT Suprasegmental features have received growing attention in the field of oral assessment. In this article we describe a set of computer algorithms that automatically scores the oral proficiency of non-native speakers using unconstrained English speech. The algorithms employ machine learning and 11 suprasegmental measures divided into four groups (prominence, filled pause, speech rate, and intonation) to calculate the proficiency scores. In test responses from 120 non-native speakers of English monologues from the Cambridge English Language Assessment (CELA), the Pearson’s correlation between the computer’s calculated proficiency levels and the official CELA proficiency levels was 0.718. The current findings provide empirical evidence that prominence and intonation are salient features in the computer model’s prediction of proficiency.
Activity Auto-Completion: Predicting Human Activities from Partial Videos

In this paper, we propose an activity auto-completion (AAC) model for human activity prediction by formulating activity prediction as a query auto-completion (QAC) problem in information retrieval. First, we extract discriminative patches in frames of videos. A video is represented based on these patches and divided into a collection of segments, each of which is regarded as a character typed in the search box. Then a partially observed video is considered as an activity prefix, consisting of one or more characters. Finally, the missing observation of an activity is predicted as the activity candidates provided by the auto-completion model. The candidates are matched against the activity prefix on-the-fly and ranked by a learning-to-rank algorithm. We validate our method on UT-Interaction Set #1 and Set #2 [19]. The experimental results show that the proposed activity auto-completion model achieves promising performance.
Observational Initialization of Type-Supervised Taggers

Recent work has sparked new interest in type-supervised part-of-speech tagging, a data setting in which no labeled sentences are available, but the set of allowed tags is known for each word type. This paper describes observational initialization, a novel technique for initializing EM when training a type-supervised HMM tagger. Our initializer allocates probability mass to unambiguous transitions in an unlabeled corpus, generating token-level observations from type-level supervision. Experimentally, observational initialization gives state-of-the-art type-supervised tagging accuracy, providing an error reduction of 56% over uniform initialization on the Penn English Treebank.
Sensors-assisted rescue service architecture in mobile cloud computing

In this paper, we propose a sensors-assisted rescue service architecture to integrate rescue schemes for different purposes, including disaster prediction, evacuation planning, and emergency broadcast. In the proposed architecture, multiple-sensed mobile devices are designed to provide a personalized situational awareness, thereby further enhancing the flexibility and efficiency of rescue services. Reliability and scalability of rescue services are improved by leveraging the dynamical resource provision of cloud computing. The proposed rescue service architecture is implemented to show the advantages of power efficiency and scalability of the proposed rescue service architecture.
Shared Workload Optimization

As a result of increases in both the query load and the data managed, as well as changes in hardware architecture (multicore), the last years have seen a shift from query-at-a-time approaches towards shared work (SW) systems where queries are executed in groups. Such groups share operators like scans and joins, leading to systems that process hundreds to thousands of queries in one go. SW systems range from storage engines that use in-memory co-operative scans to more complex query processing engines that share joins over analytical and star schema queries. In all cases, they rely on either single query optimizers, predicate sharing, or on manually generated plans. In this paper we explore the problem of shared workload optimization (SWO) for SW systems. The challenge in doing so is that the optimization has to be done for the entire workload and that results in a class of stochastic knapsack with uncertain weights optimization, which can only be addressed with heuristics to achieve a reasonable runtime. In this paper we focus on hash joins and shared scans and present a first algorithm capable of optimizing the execution of entire workloads by deriving a global executing plan for all the queries in the system. We evaluate the optimizer over the TPC-W and the TPC-H benchmarks. The results prove the feasibility of this approach and demonstrate the performance gains that can be obtained from SW systems.
Foliar Water Uptake of Tamarix ramosissima from an Atmosphere of High Humidity

Many species have been found to be capable of foliar water uptake, but little research has focused on this in desert plants. Tamarix ramosissima was investigated to determine whether its leaves can directly absorb water from high humidity atmosphere and, if they can, to understand the magnitude and importance of foliar water uptake. Various techniques were adopted to demonstrate foliar water uptake under submergence or high atmospheric humidity. The mean increase in leaf water content after submergence was 29.38% and 20.93% for mature and tender leaves, respectively. In the chamber experiment, obvious reverse sap flow occurred when relative humidity (RH) was persistently above 90%. Reverse flow was recorded first in twigs, then in branches and stems. For the stem, the percentage of negative sap flow rate accounting for the maximum value of sap flow reached 10.71%, and its amount accounted for 7.54% of diurnal sap flow. Small rainfall can not only compensate water loss of plant by foliar uptake, but also suppress transpiration. Foliar uptake can appear in the daytime under certain rainfall events. High atmospheric humidity is beneficial for enhancing the water status of plants. Foliar uptake should be an important strategy of water acquisition for desert plants.
Evaluation of 3D face analysis and synthesis techniques

The reconstruction of 3D face models is mostly achieved by using 2D images. We compare the strengths and weaknesses of different image processing techniques for 3D face generation. It is anticipated that the optimal solution will be applied in the future for 3D face analysis and synthesis. As approaches to 3D face modelling, the paper presents: binocular stereo, using a stereo correspondence algorithm or manual triangulation; orthogonal views; photometric stereo. Photometric stereo and orthogonal views seem to provide the best rendering while keeping a reasonable time efficiency, implementation difficulty and cumbersomeness. However, 3D face acquisition techniques have not closed the gap between accuracy and cumbersomeness
Color TV: total variation methods for restoration of vector-valued images

We propose a new definition of the total variation (TV) norm for vector-valued functions that can be applied to restore color and other vector-valued images. The new TV norm has the desirable properties of 1) not penalizing discontinuities (edges) in the image, 2) being rotationally invariant in the image space, and 3) reducing to the usual TV norm in the scalar case. Some numerical experiments on denoising simple color images in red-green-blue (RGB) color space are presented.
Cosmological constraints from the clustering of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 luminous red galaxies (vol 404, pg 60, 2010)

We present the power spectrum of the reconstructed halo density field derived from a sample of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Seventh Data Release (DR7). The halo power spectrum has a direct connection to the underlying dark matter power for k≤ 0.2 h Mpc−1, well into the quasi-linear regime. This enables us to use a factor of ∼8 more modes in the cosmological analysis than an analysis with kmax= 0.1 h Mpc−1, as was adopted in the SDSS team analysis of the DR4 LRG sample. The observed halo power spectrum for 0.02 < k < 0.2 h Mpc−1 is well fitted by our model: χ2= 39.6 for 40 degrees of freedom for the best-fitting Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model. We find Ωmh2(ns/0.96)1.2= 0.141+0.101-0.012 for a power-law primordial power spectrum with spectral index ns and Ωbh2= 0.022 65 fixed, consistent with cosmic microwave background measurements. The halo power spectrum also constrains the ratio of the comoving sound horizon at the baryon-drag epoch to an effective distance to z= 0.35: rs/DV(0.35) = 0.1097+0.0039−0.0042. Combining the halo power spectrum measurement with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 5 year results, for the flat ΛCDM model we find Ωm= 0.289 ± 0.019 and H0= 69.4 ± 1.6 km s−1 Mpc−1. Allowing for massive neutrinos in ΛCDM, we find Σmv <0.62 eV at the 95 per cent confidence level. If we instead consider the effective number of relativistic species Neff as a free parameter, we find Neff= 4.8+1.8−1.7. Combining also with the Kowalski et al. supernova sample, we find Ωtot= 1.011 ± 0.009 and w=−0.99 ± 0.11 for an open cosmology with constant dark energy equation of state w. The power spectrum and a module to calculate the likelihoods are publicly available at http://lambda.gsfc. nasa.gov/toolbox/lrgdr/.
Functional MRI in the presence of repetitive, sub-concussive impacts

Shenk, Trey E. PhD, Purdue University, December 2016. Functional MRI in the Presence of Repetitive, Sub-Concussive Impacts . Major Professor: Thomas M. Talavage. Recent research has raised understanding and awareness of the long-term risks associated with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). While much research has focused on the role of concussion (a single event exhibiting clear clinical symptoms), the role of repetitive sub-concussive impacts is not well understood. This study uses functional MRI measurements of high school football players to identify functional changes, even in the absence of clinical symptoms.
Analysis and convergence of the MAC scheme. II. Navier-Stokes equations

The MAC discretization scheme for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations is interpreted as a covolume approximation to the equations. Using some results from earlier papers dealing with covolume error estimates for div-curl equation systems, and under certain conditions on the data and the solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations, we obtain first-order error estimates for both the vorticity and the pressure.
How Informative are the Subjective Density Forecasts of Macroeconimists?

In this paper, we propose a framework to evaluate the information content of subjective expert density forecasts using micro data from the ECB’s Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF). A key aspect of our analysis is the use of scoring functions which evaluate the entire predictive densities, including an evaluation of the impact of density features such as their location, spread, skew and tail risk on density forecast performance. Overall, we find considerable heterogeneity in the performance of the surveyed densities at the individual level. Relative to a set of crude benchmark alternatives, this performance is somewhat better for GDP growth than for inflation, although in the former case it diminishes substantially with the forecast horizon. In addition, relative to the proposed benchmarks, we report evidence of some improvement in the performance of expert densities during the recent period of macroeconomic volatility. However, our analysis also reveals clear evidence of overconfidence or neglected risks in the expert probability assessments, as reflected also in frequent occurrences of events which are assigned a zero probability. Moreover, higher moment features of the expert densities, such as their skew or the degree of probability mass in their tails, are shown not to contribute significantly to improvements in individual density forecast performance.
Efficient and Reliable Communication in Wireless Relay Networks Using Joint Network Channel Fountain

In the past few years, joint network-channel coding (JNCC) has drawn significant attention for reliable data communication in wireless network. However, it appears that fixed-rate channel coding is ineffective to make the outage probability to zero without having precise channel state information at the transmitter. To enhance the link robustness and the system throughput, this paper presents a joint network- fountain coding (JNFC) scheme which can effectively combat the detrimental effect of wireless fading channel by seamlessly coupling fountain and network paradigms. In particular, we consider a cooperative system with two sources, two relays and one destination where the sources encode the message using fountain code and broadcast to the destination and relays. While the relays first decode the information and then transmit to the destination after network and fountain coding. For information combining at relays we employ Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) and Modified LT coding (MLT). Simulation results justify that JNFC has significant performance advantage over other schemes and JNFC with Modified LT coding (JNFC- MLT) always outperforms JNFC with Random Linear Network Coding (JNFC-RLNC) in a variety of metrics regardless of network scenarios.
Shape-Preserving Meshes

Smooth surfaces are approximated by discrete triangle meshes for applications in computer graphics. Various discrete operators have been proposed for estimating differential quantities of triangle meshes, such as curvatures, for geometric processing tasks. Since a smooth surface can be approximated by many different triangle meshes, we propose to investigate which triangle mesh yields an estimation of differential quantities with optimal accuracy and how to compute such an optimal triangle mesh approximating the given smooth surface. Specifically, we study a special type of triangle meshes, called shapepreserving meshes, that preserve the local shapes of the smooth surface they represent, and characterize optimal shape-preserving meshes. We present an efficient method for computing the so called optimal shape-preserving meshes, and prove the convergence of several discrete differential operators on optimal shape-preserving meshes, an important property that does not hold for general triangle meshes. We also show that shape-preserving meshes lead to more accurate estimation of surface differential quantities as compared with other general triangle meshes obtained by commonly used surface meshing methods for the same smooth surface.
Dating Violence among Adolescents

Relative to violence among adult intimate partners, violence among adolescent dating partners remains an understudied phenomenon. In this review, we assess the state of the research literature on teen dating violence. Our review reveals that the broad range of estimates produced by major national data sources and single studies make conclusions about the prevalence of teen dating violence premature. Similarly, our review of what is known about risk factors reveals inconsistency among studies. We assess published evaluations of adolescent dating violence prevention programs and discuss their findings and limitations. Finally, we discuss challenges to researchers in this area and suggest that additional investment in high-quality basic research is needed to inform the development of sound theory and effective prevention and intervention programs.
An Analysis of the Cross-Reactivity of Autoantibodies to GAD65 and GAD67 in Diabetes

Background Autoantibodies to GAD65 (anti-GAD65) are present in the sera of 70–80% of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), but antibodies to the structurally similar 67 kDa isoform GAD67 are rare. Antibodies to GAD67 may represent a cross-reactive population of anti-GAD65, but this has not been formally tested. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study we examined the frequency, levels and affinity of anti-GAD67 in diabetes sera that contained anti-GAD65, and compared the specificity of GAD65 and GAD67 reactivity. Anti-GAD65 and anti-GAD67 were measured by radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP) using 125I labeled recombinant GAD65 and GAD67. For each antibody population, the specificity of the binding was measured by incubation with 100-fold excess of unlabeled GAD in homologous and heterologous inhibition assays, and the affinity of binding with GAD65 and GAD67 was measured in selected sera. Sera were also tested for reactivity to GAD65 and GAD67 by immunoblotting. Of the 85 sera that contained antibodies to GAD65, 28 contained anti–GAD67 measured by RIP. Inhibition with unlabeled GAD65 substantially or completely reduced antibody reactivity with both 125I GAD65 and with 125I GAD67. In contrast, unlabeled GAD67 reduced autoantibody reactivity with 125I GAD67 but not with 125I GAD65. Both populations of antibodies were of high affinity (>1010 l/mol). Conclusions Our findings show that autoantibodies to GAD67 represent a minor population of anti-GAD65 that are reactive with a cross-reactive epitope found also on GAD67. Experimental results confirm that GAD65 is the major autoantigen in T1D, and that GAD67 per se has very low immunogenicity. We discuss our findings in light of the known similarities between the structures of the GAD isoforms, in particular the location of a minor cross-reactive epitope that could be induced by epitope spreading.
A full-wave numerical approach for modal analysis of 1-D periodic microstrip structures

In this paper, a full-wave numerical approach for the analysis and design of one-dimensional (1-D) printed periodic structures is presented. Electromagnetic-bandgap structures and leaky-wave antennas are important special cases of structures that can be analyzed. The proposed technique is based on a mixed-potential integral equation in a unit-cell environment solved by the method of moments in the spatial domain through a triangular Delaunay mesh. The 1-D periodic vector and scalar Green's functions are derived in the spectral domain and an efficient sum of spectral integrals is carried out to obtain the spatial-domain quantities. An appropriate choice of the spectral integration path is used in order to consider leakage effects. The method developed here can thus analyze both bound and leaky modes on printed structures that have an arbitrary metallization within the unit cell.
Cost-Aware WWW Proxy Caching Algorithms

Web caches can not only reduce network traffic and downloading latency, but can also affect the distribution of web traffic over the network through cost-aware caching. This paper introduces GreedyDual-Size, which incorporates locality with cost and size concerns in a simple and non-parameterized fashion for high performance. Trace-driven simulations show that with the appropriate cost definition, GreedyDual-Size outperforms existing web cache replacement algorithms in many aspects, including hit ratios, latency reduction and network cost reduction. In addition, GreedyDual-Size can potentially improve the performance of main-memory caching of Web documents.
Choosing factors in a multifactor asset pricing model : a Bayesian approach

We use Bayesian techniques to select factors in a general multifactor asset pricing model. From a given set of 15 factors we evaluate all possible pricing models by the extent to which they describe the data as given by the posterior model probabilities. Interest rates, premiums, returns on broadbased portfolios and macroeconomic variables are included in the set of considered factors. Using different portfolios as the investment universe we find strong evidence that a general multifactor pricing model should include market excess return, size premium, value premium and the momentum factor. There is some evidence that yearly growth rate in industrial production and term spread also are important factors.
Drosophila Melanogaster as a Model System for Studies of Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Aggregation

Background Recent research supports that aggregation of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) leads to cell death and this makes islet amyloid a plausible cause for the reduction of beta cell mass, demonstrated in patients with type 2 diabetes. IAPP is produced by the beta cells as a prohormone, and proIAPP is processed into IAPP by the prohormone convertases PC1/3 and PC2 in the secretory granules. Little is known about the pathogenesis for islet amyloid and which intracellular mechanisms are involved in amyloidogenesis and induction of cell death. Methodology/Principal Findings We have established expression of human proIAPP (hproIAPP), human IAPP (hIAPP) and the non-amyloidogenic mouse IAPP (mIAPP) in Drosophila melanogaster, and compared survival of flies with the expression driven to different cell populations. Only flies expressing hproIAPP in neurons driven by the Gal4 driver elavC155,Gal4 showed a reduction in lifespan whereas neither expression of hIAPP or mIAPP influenced survival. Both hIAPP and hproIAPP expression caused formation of aggregates in CNS and fat body region, and these aggregates were both stained by the dyes Congo red and pFTAA, both known to detect amyloid. Also, the morphology of the highly organized protein granules that developed in the fat body of the head in hIAPP and hproIAPP expressing flies was characterized, and determined to consist of 15.8 nm thick pentagonal rod-like structures. Conclusions/Significance These findings point to a potential for Drosophila melanogaster to serve as a model system for studies of hproIAPP and hIAPP expression with subsequent aggregation and developed pathology.
Involvement of Residues 296-299 in the Enzymatic Activity of Tissue-type Plasminogen Activator

The tetra-alanine substitution variant KHRR 296-299 AAAA of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) was previously shown to have enhanced fibrin specificity and enhanced activity in the presence of fibrin compared with the wild-type form of the molecule. The structural requirements for these alterations in enzymatic activity were investigated by constructing several amino acid substitution variants at each of the positions from 2% to 299 and evaluating their activities under a variety of conditions. Effects on plasminogen activator activity were common among the point mutants at positions 296-299; nearly all had a phenotype similar to the KHRR 296-299 AAAA variant. The greatest effects on enzymatic function were found with multiple substitution variants, but some single charge reversals and proline substitutions had substantial effects. The enhanced fibrin specificity of KHRR 296-299 AAAA t-PA results in less fibrinogenolysis than seen with wild-type t-PA. Approximately four times greater concentration of KHRR 296-299 AAAA compared with wild-type t-PA was required to consume 50% of the fibrinogen in human plasma. Introduction Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is a serine protease that functions in the fibrinolytic system by activating the proenzyme plasminogen in the active enzyme plasmin. Plasmin then degrades fibrin to soluble fibrin degradation products. t-PA is composed of five domains which have been identified by virtue of their amino acid sequence homologies to other proteins (Pennica et al., 1983; Patthy, 1985). Starting from the N terminus, t-PA contains a finger and growth factor domain similar to those found in fibronectin and epidermal growth factor respectively, two kringle structures and a serine protease. The five t-PA domains have been variously implicated in several functions including (but not limited to) fibrin binding, lysine binding, reaction with inhibitors, rapid plasma clearance and fibrin stimulation and specificity (for a review see Higgins and Bennett, 1990). We recently reported the results of a study where a technique we called a 'clustered charged-to-alanine scan' was used to associate structural determinants on t-PA with several of its inherent properties, thus producing a map of the functional determinants of the molecule (Bennett et al., 1991). In this