Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Systematic review documents emerging empirical support for certain applications of iPods® and iPads® in intervention programs for individuals with developmental disabilities, but these are not a “one-size-fits-all” solution

This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Kagohara, D. M. , van der Meer, L. , Ramdoss, S. , O’Reilly, M. F. , Lancioni, G. E. , Davis, T. N. , . Sigafoos, J. (2013). Using iPods® and iPads® in teaching programs for individuals with developmental disabilities: A systematic review. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 147–156. Source of funding and disclosure of interest: This study was supported by the New Zealand Government, Marsden Fund Council administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand; Victoria University of Wellington; The University of Canterbury; The New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain & Behaviour; the original authors of this research do not report any conflicts of interest.
Evaluating user behavior and strategy during visual exploration

Visualization practitioners have traditionally focused on evaluating the outcome of the visual analytic process, as opposed to studying how that process unfolds. Since user strategy would likely influence the outcome of visual analysis and the nature of insights acquired, it is important to understand how the analytic behavior of users is shaped by variations in the design of the visualization interface. This paper presents a technique for evaluating user behavior in exploratory visual analysis scenarios. We characterize visual exploration as a fluid activity involving transitions between mental and interaction states. We show how micro-patterns in these transitions can be captured and analyzed quantitatively to reveal differences in the exploratory behavior of users, given variations in the visualization interface.
Hepatic steatosis in patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus/hepatitis C virus: A meta‐analysis of the risk factors

Hepatic steatosis (HS) is frequent in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, occurring in 40%‐80%, associating with metabolic and virus‐related factors, namely, genotype 3 and viral load. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and antiretroviral treatment seem to be risk factors for HS. Several studies addressed this issue in coinfected patients, with discrepant results. A meta‐analysis was performed on the HS risk factors in coinfected patients. Eligible studies were identified through structured keywords including coinfection, HCV, HIV, and steatosis in relevant databases including PubMed. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and confidence limits (CIs) were obtained with the random‐effects model and the DerSimonian‐Laird method. Twelve studies, including 1,989 coinfected patients, were selected. Twenty percent were infected with HCV genotype 3. The overall prevalence of HS was 50.8% (23%‐72%). Four studies also included 1,540 HCV monoinfected patients, not showing an increased risk for HS in coinfected patients (OR 1.61, 95% CI 0.84‐3.10, P = 0.151). In coinfected patients, HS was associated with higher body mass index (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07‐1.19, P < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.32‐4.07, P = 0.003), elevated alanine aminotransferase levels (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.02‐1.61, P = 0.035), necroinflammatory activity (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.11‐2.67, P = 0.016), and fibrosis (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.20‐2.34, P = 0.003). No associations were found between HS and gender, other metabolic factors (dyslipidemia, glucose, metabolic syndrome), HCV‐related factors (genotype, viral load), or HIV‐related factors (viral load, CD4 count, antiretroviral therapy, and class of medication). Conclusion: In coinfected patients, HS does not seem to be more frequent than in HCV monoinfected patients and is mostly associated with metabolic factors, such as increased weight, diabetes mellitus, and more severe liver disease. The fact that no associations with HCV factors were found may be due to the small percentage of genotype 3‐infected patients. HEPATOLOGY 2010
A perfectly matched layer formulation for the nonlinear shallow water equations models: The split equation approach

A limited-area model of nonlinear shallow water equations (SWE) with the Coriolis term in a rectangular domain is considered. The rectangular domain is extended to include the so-called perfectly matched layer (PML). Following the proponent of the original method, the PML equations are obtained by splitting the shallow water equations in the coordinate directions and introducing the damping terms. The efficacy of the PML boundary treatment is demonstrated in the case where a Gaussian pulse is initially introduced at the center of the rectangular physical domain. A systematic study is carried out for different mean convection speeds, and various values of the PML width and the damping coefficients. For the purpose of comparison, a reference solution is obtained on a fine grid on the extended domain with the characteristic boundary conditions. The L2 difference in the height field between the solution with the PML boundary treatment and the reference solution along a line at a downstream position in the interior domain is computed. The PML boundary treatment is found to yield better accuracy compared with both the characterisitic boundary conditions and the Engquist-Majda absorbing boundary conditions on an identical grid. 1Preprint FSU-CSIT-01-41. Submitted to Monthly Weather Review.
Chaos in low-dimensional Lotka–Volterra models of competition

The occurrence of chaos in basic Lotka–Volterra models of four competing species is studied. A brute-force numerical search conditioned on the largest Lyapunov exponent (LE) indicates that chaos occurs in a narrow region of parameter space but is robust to perturbations. The dynamics of the attractor for a maximally chaotic case are studied using symbolic dynamics, and the question of self-organized critical behaviour (scale-invariance) of the solution is considered.
Post-decision confidence, decision time, and self-reported decision processes as postdictors of identification accuracy

Abstract Post-decision confidence, decision time, and decision processes were evaluated concerning their usefulness for postdicting identification accuracy. One hundred and ninety-two participants witnessed a filmed theft and were tested with target-absent or target-present simultaneous lineups 1 week later. Post-decision confidence was positively associated with, and decision time negatively associated with choosers’ identification accuracy. For several measures of self-reported decision processes, the expected associations were non-significant. Using a decision rule including highly confident and fast participants led to more correct classifications than either variable alone. Significant associations between postdictors highlight the need to consider the different processes jointly as, in combination, they may be more useful in assessing identification decisions.
Fracture of the pancreas in two patients after a go-kart accident.

BACKGROUND After blunt abdominal trauma, an isolated injury to the pancreatic duct is uncommon. Physical signs and laboratory parameters are often inaccurate, and missing this diagnosis can cause serious clinical problems. CASE OUTLINES Two young women (aged 18 and 20 years) are reported who sustained isolated trauma to the pancreatic duct in go-kart accidents. Each patient sustained a fracture of the pancreas.This injury was diagnosed only after a period of clinical observation with repeated laboratory parameters, ultrasound and CT scan. Pancreatic tissue was conserved by performing a pancreaticojejunostomy. DISCUSSION After any episode of blunt abdominal trauma, isolated injury to the pancreatic duct should be considered. Serum analysis, ultrasonography and CT scanning can be helpful in early diagnosis. Preservation of pancreatic tissue can be achieved with a good clinical outcome.
The influence of diet on faecal DNA amplification and sex identification in brown bears (Ursus arctos)

To evaluate the influence of diet on faecal DNA amplification, 11 captive brown bears (Ursus arctos) were placed on six restricted diets: grass (Trifolium spp., Haplopappus hirtus and Poa pratensis), alfalfa (Lupinus spp.), carrots (Daucus spp.), white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) and salmon (Salmo spp.). DNA was extracted from 50 faecal samples of each restricted diet, and amplification of brown bear DNA was attempted for a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) locus and nuclear DNA (nDNA) locus. For mtDNA, no significant differences were observed in amplification success rates across diets. For nDNA, amplification success rates for salmon diet extracts were significantly lower than all other diet extracts (P < 0.001). To evaluate the accuracy of faecal DNA sex identification when female carnivores consume male mammalian prey, female bears were fed male white‐tailed deer. Four of 10 extracts amplified, and all extracts were incorrectly scored as male due to amplification of X and Y‐chromosome fragments. The potential biases highlighted in this study have broad implications for researchers using faecal DNA for individual and sex identification, and should be evaluated in other species.
StringNet as a Computational Resource for Discovering and Investigating Linguistic Constructions

We describe and motivate the design of a lexico-grammatical knowledgebase called StringNet and illustrate its significance for research into constructional phenomena in English. StringNet consists of a massive archive of what we call hybrid n-grams. Unlike traditional n-grams, hybrid n-grams can consist of any co-occurring combination of POS tags, lexemes, and specific word forms. Further, we detect and represent superordinate and subordinate relations among hybrid n-grams by cross-indexing, allowing the navigation of StringNet through these hierarchies, from specific fixed expressions ("It's the thought that counts") up to their hosting proto-constructions (e.g. the It Cleft construction: "it's the [noun] that [verb]"). StringNet supports discovery of grammatical dependencies (e.g., subject-verb agreement) in non-canonical configurations as well as lexical dependencies (e.g., adjective/noun collocations specific to families of constructions).
Will We March to Utopia, or Be Dragged There? Past Failures and Future Hopes for Publishing Our Science

Comments on an article by Brian A. Nosek and Yoav Bar-Anan (see record 2012-24018-001). Nosek and Bar-Anan present a compelling indictment of current publication practices in many scientific fields, with particularly dire consequences for progress in our own field of psychology. The success of each of the reforms Nosek and Bar-Anan propose will be determined by two things, how clearly we as scientists can see a benefit for ourselves, individually, in the reform and how strongly the politicians and agencies who fund us see problems in the current state of publishing that must be solved by regulation from outside. Nosek and Bar-Anan's points, in the long debate on anonymous review are well taken. However, if reviews are published, anonymously or not, readers are bound to find flaws in their logic or methodological critique. Publishing peer reviews leads inexorably to the next stage, open and continuous peer review. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Serum Proteomics and Biomarkers in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Chronic Liver Disease

Purpose: Proteomic profiling using surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) enables the identification of biomarkers for cancer. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of SELDI-TOF MS for detection of established hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and compared it against α-fetoprotein (AFP), Lens culinaris agglutinin–reactive AFP (AFP-L3), and prothrombin induced by vitamin K absence-II (PIVKA-II). Experimental Design: Forty-one patients with HCC and 51 patients with hepatitis C cirrhosis were enrolled. Serum was analyzed by SELDI-TOF MS using three Ciphergen protein array types. Results: An 11-peak algorithm for HCC detection was identified. Using the AFP cutoff of 20 ng/mL, the sensitivity was 73% and the specificity was 71%. Using the AFP-L3 cutoff of 10% yielded a sensitivity of 63% and a specificity of 94%. Using the PIVKA-II cutoff of 125 milliabsorbance units (mAU), the sensitivity was 84% and the specificity was 69%. Overall, the sensitivity and specificity of SELDI-TOF MS for HCC were 79% and 86%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, the 11-peak SELDI profile was predictive of HCC independent of AFP, PIVKA, and AFP-L3. Among eight patients with the largest tumor size of <2 cm, SELDI-TOF MS correctly identified seven whereas AFP, AFP-L3, and PIVKA-II identified only three, one, and one, respectively. One of the 11 peaks in the SELDI-TOF MS 11-peak predictor from SELDI-TOF MS was identified as cystatin C. Conclusions: SELDI-TOF MS accurately distinguished patients with HCC from those with hepatitis C virus cirrhosis, was more accurate than traditional biomarkers in identifying small tumors, and should be further evaluated.
Hidden Semi-Markov Model Based Speech Synthesis System

SUMMARY Recently, a statistical speech synthesis system based on the hidden Markov model (HMM) has been proposed. In this system, spectrum, excitation, and duration of human speech are modeled simultaneously by context-dependent HMMs and speech parameter vector sequences are generated from the HMMs themselves. This system deﬁnes a speech synthesis problem in a generative model framework and solves it using the maximum likelihood (ML) criterion. However, there is an inconsistency: although state duration models are explicitly used in the synthesis part of the system, they have not been incorporated in its training part. This inconsistency may degrade the naturalness of synthesized speech. In the present paper, a statistical speech synthesis system based on a hidden semi-Markov model (HSMM), which can be viewed as an HMM with explicit state duration models, is developed and evaluated. The use of HSMMs allows us to incorporate the state duration models explicitly not only in the synthesis part but also in the training part of the system and resolves the inconsistency in the HMM-based speech synthesis system. Subjective listening test results show that the use of HSMMs improves the reported naturalness of synthesized speech.
Low-Power Test Data Application in EDT Environment Through Decompressor Freeze

This paper presents a new low-power test scheme integrated with the embedded deterministic test environment. The key contribution of this paper is a flexible test cube encoding scheme, which, in conjunction with a continuous flow decompressor, allows one to significantly reduce toggling rates when test patterns are fed into scan chains. The proposed solution requires neither additional design for testability logic nor modifications to the circuit under test. Experimental results obtained for industrial designs indicate that using this nonintrusive technique reduces switching activity to such extent that the resultant scan-in power consumption is similar to that of the functional mode, thus alleviating problems that are related to average and peak power dissipation, overheating, and risk of reliability degradation. Our approach seamlessly integrates with test logic synthesis flow, and it does not compromise compression ratios. Moreover, it fits well into various design paradigms, including modular design flow where modules come with individual decompressors and compactors.
What makes conversations interesting?: themes, participants and consequences of conversations in online social media

Rich media social networks promote not only creation and consumption of media, but also communication about the posted media item. What causes a conversation to be interesting, that prompts a user to participate in the discussion on a posted video? We conjecture that people participate in conversations when they find the conversation theme interesting, see comments by people whom they are familiar with, or observe an engaging dialogue between two or more people (absorbing back and forth exchange of comments). Importantly, a conversation that is interesting must be consequential - i.e. it must impact the social network itself. Our framework has three parts: characterizing themes, characterizing participants for determining interestingness and measures of consequences of a conversation deemed to be interesting. First, we detect conversational themes using a mixture model approach. Second, we determine interestingness of participants and interestingness of conversations based on a random walk model. Third, we measure the consequence of a conversation by measuring how interestingness affects the following three variables - participation in related themes, participant cohesiveness and theme diffusion. We have conducted extensive experiments using dataset from the popular video sharing site, YouTube. Our results show that our method of interestingness maximizes the mutual information, and is significantly better (twice as large) than three other baseline methods (number of comments, number of new participants and PageRank based assessment).
An Examination of the Neutrality of US Money Supply on the Nigerian Economy

Literature on the classical dichotomy has focused on single economies with empirical evidence either substantiating or refuting the neutrality of money hypothesis. However this paper focuses on the neutrality of foreign money supply – in this case the US broad money supply – and its neutrality in both the long and short run on the real and nominal variables of the Nigerian economy. Based on data culled from the World Development Indicators (WDI) and time series methods such as the Augmented Dickey Fuller test, Johansen trace and maximum eigen value tests and the Vector Error Correction estimation; the US money supply was found to be non-neutral in both the long and short runs. US monetary policy was found to have profound impact on Nigerian interest rates followed by the consumer price index and the gross domestic product. This paper concludes that the US monetary policy must be a veritable factor considered in the design of monetary policy rules.
A note on Johnson, Minkoff and Phillips' algorithm for the Prize-Collecting Steiner Tree Problem

The primal-dual scheme has been used to provide approximation algorithms for many problems. Goemans and Williamson gave a (2− 1 n 1 )-approximation for the Prize-Collecting Steiner Tree Problem that runs in O(n 3 logn) time. Johnson, Minkoff and Phillips proposed a faster implementation of Goemans and Williamson’s algorithm. We give a proof that the approximation ratio of this implementation is exactly 2 (in the worst case).
Trait- Versus Process-Focused Social Judgment

In this article, we show how people's implicit theories about the nature of human attributes predict trait- vs. process-focused social judgments. We present research demonstrating that those who conceive of human attributes as fixed entities (entity theorists) tend to infer global traits more readily and strongly from behavior and to see these traits as explanations for behavior. In contrast, those who conceive of attributes as malleable or increasable qualities (incremental theorists) are more likely to focus on more specific mediating processes (goals, needs, emotion states). Entity and incremental theorists' differential focus on traits versus processes in understanding their social world also fosters different reactions to the same social information. Findings are presented across intellectual, moral, and social domains and in terms of self-perception, perception of individual others, and perception of groups. Broader implications for research on social perception are discussed.
Precise Dereverberation Using Multichannel Linear Prediction

In this paper, we discuss the numerical problems posed by the previously reported LInear-predictive Multi-input Equalization (LIME) algorithm when dealing with dereverberation of long room transfer functions (RTF). The LIME algorithm consists of two steps. First, a speech residual is calculated using multichannel linear prediction. The residual is free from the room reverberation effect but it is also excessively whitened because the average speech characteristics have been removed. In the second step, LIME estimates such average speech characteristics to compensate for the excessive whitening. When multiple microphones are used, the speech characteristics are common to all microphones whereas the room reverberation differs for each microphone. LIME estimates the average speech characteristics as the characteristics that are common to all the microphones. Therefore, LIME relies on the hypothesis that there are no zeros common to all channels. However, it is known that RTFs have a large number of zeros close to the unit circle on the z-plane. Consequently, the zeros of the RTFs are distributed in the same regions of the z-plane and, if an insufficient number of microphones are used, the channels would present numerically overlapping zeros. In such a case, the dereverberation algorithm would perform poorly. We discuss the influence of overlapping zeros on the dereverberation performance of LIME. Spatial information can be used to deal with the problem of overlapping zeros. By increasing the number of microphones, the number of overlapping zeros decreases and the dereverberation performance is improved. We also examine the use of cepstral mean normalization for post-processing to reduce the remaining distortions caused by the overlapping zeros
IASL System for NTCIR-6 Korean-Chinese Cross-Language Information Retrieval

This paper describes our Korean-Chinese cross-language information retrieval system for NTCIR-6. Our system uses a bilingual dictionary to perform query translation. We expand our bilingual dictionary by extracting words and their translations from the Wikipedia site, an online encyclopedia. To resolve the problem of translating Western people's names into Chinese, we propose a transliteration mapping method. We translate queries form Korean query to Chinese by using a co-occurrence method. When evaluating on the NTCIR-6 test set, the performance of our system achieves a mean average precision (MAP) of 0.1392 (relax score) for title query type and 0.1274 (relax score) for description query type.
Carbapenem-hydrolysing beta-lactamase KPC-2 in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to characterize the KPC-type carbapenem-hydrolysing beta-lactamase, extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) and class 1 integrons among nosocomial Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. METHODS MICs were determined and isolates were screened for ESBLs, metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) and class A carbapenemase-producing phenotypes. The main beta-lactamases resistance genes (bla(TEM), bla(SHV), bla(CTX-M), bla(KPC), bla(IMP) and bla(VIM)) and class 1 integrons were detected by PCR followed by DNA sequencing. The genetic relatedness of isolates was determined by PFGE. RESULTS All K. pneumoniae isolates were positive for ESBL and class A carbapenemase production and negative for MBL production. All isolates were resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics, ciprofloxacin and gentamicin, being susceptible only to tigecycline and polymyxin B. The bla(KPC-2), bla(CTX-M-1), bla(CTX-M-2), bla(CTX-M-8) and bla(SHV-11) genes were detected. PFGE analysis revealed two clonal types among KPC-producing isolates, both identified in the same hospital. CONCLUSIONS Our findings should alert medical authorities to implement stringent methods for the detection and spread control of emerging KPC-2 carbapenemases in the hospital setting in Brazil.