Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cerebral Changes during Performance of Overlearned Arbitrary Visuomotor Associations

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is known to be involved in the control of automatic movements that are spatially guided, such as grasping an apple. We considered whether the PPC might also contribute to the performance of visuomotor associations in which stimuli and responses are linked arbitrarily, such as producing a certain sound for a typographical character when reading aloud or pressing pedals according to the color of a traffic light when driving a motor vehicle. The PPC does not appear to be necessary for learning new arbitrary visuomotor associations, but with extensive training, the PPC can encode nonspatial sensory features of task-relevant cues. Accordingly, we have tested whether the contributions of the PPC might become apparent once arbitrary sensorimotor mappings are overlearned. We have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure cerebral activity while subjects were learning novel arbitrary visuomotor associations, overlearning known mappings, or attempting to learn frequently changing novel mappings. To capture the dynamic features of cerebral activity related to the learning process, we have compared time-varying modulations of activity between conditions rather than average (steady-state) responses. Frontal, striatal, and intraparietal regions showed decreasing or stable activity when subjects learned or attempted to learn novel associations, respectively. Importantly, the same frontal, striatal, and intraparietal regions showed time-dependent increases in activity over time as the mappings become overlearned, i.e., despite time-invariant behavioral responses. The automaticity of these mappings predicted the degree of intraparietal changes, indicating that the contribution of the PPC might be related to a particular stage of the overlearning process. We suggest that, as the visuomotor mappings become robust to interference, the PPC may convey relevant sensory information toward the motor cortex. More generally, our findings illustrate how rich cerebral dynamics can underlie stable behavior.
Scoring Algorithms for Wordspotting Systems

When evaluating wordspotting systems, one normally compares receiver operating characteristic curves and different measures of accuracy. However, there are many other factors that are relevant to the system's usability for searching speech. In this paper, we discuss both measures of quality for confidence scores and propose algorithms for producing scores that are optimal with respect to these criteria.
Survey of Methods for Modeling Sound Propagation in Interactive Virtual Environment Systems

This paper surveys concepts, algorithms, and systems for modeling sound propagation ininteractive virtual environment applications. First, we review physically-based geometric algorithmsfor modeling the propagation of early arriving sound waves. Second, we describeperceptually-based statistical techniques that provide late reverberation effects. Finally, wecompare auditory display systems that produce spatialized sounds using headphones or speakers.
Use of ECC to address key escrow and attribute revocation problem

Mobile nodes in military environments such as battlefield or a hostile region mostly suffer from intermittent network connectivity and frequent partitions. A solution can be provided by Disruption Tolerant Network(DTN). They allow communication with the help of wireless devices. But the problems that arise are the enforcement of authorization policies and the policies update for secure data retrieval. Many solutions were already proposed for the issue. Ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) being one of them. But there are certain problems that arise which include security challenges with regard to the attribute revocation, key escrow. Hence, in this paper, we propose a solution which uses Elliptical Curve Cryptography to eliminate the existing limitations in the system. Use of ECC in the previously used approach will reduce the security issues such as key escrow and attribute revocation.
Morphological Analysis of the Qur'an

We present a computational system for morphological analysis and annotation of the Qur'an, for research and teaching purposes. The system facilitates a variety of queries on the Qur'anic text that make reference not only to the words, but also to their linguistic attributes. The core of the system is a set of finite-state based rules which describe the morpho-phonological and morpho-syntactic phenomena of the Qur'anic language. Using a finite-state toolbox we apply the rules to the Qur'anic text and obtain full morphological analysis of its words. The results of the analysis are stored in an efficient database and are accessed through a graphical user interface which facilitates the presentation of complex queries. The system is currently being used for teaching and research purposes; we exemplify its usefulness for investigating several morphological, syntactic, semantic, and stylistic aspects of the Qur'anic text.
How to improve TTS systems for emotional expressivity

Several experiments have been carried out that revealed weaknesses of the current Text-To-Speech (TTS) systems in their emotional expressivity. Although some TTS systems allow XML-based representations of prosodic and/or phonetic variables, few publications considered, as a pre-processing stage, the use of intelligent text processing to detect affective information that can be used to tailor the parameters needed for emotional expressivity. This paper describes a technique for an automatic prosodic parameterization based on affective clues. This technique recognizes the affective information conveyed in a text and, accordingly to its emotional connotation, assigns appropriate pitch accents and other prosodic parameters by XML-tagging. This pre-processing assists the TTS system to generate synthesized speech that contains emotional clues. The experimental results are encouraging and suggest the possibility of suitable emotional expressivity in speech synthesis.
Cross-Correlation Lensing: Determining Galaxy and Cluster Mass Profiles from Statistical Weak-Lensing Measurements

We present a new nonparametric method for determining mean 3D density and mass profiles from weak-lensing measurements around stacked samples of galaxies or clusters, that is, from measurement of the galaxy-shear or cluster-shear correlation functions. Since the correlation function is statistically isotropic, this method evades problems, such as projection of large-scale structure along the line of sight or halo asphericity, that complicate attempts to infer masses from weak-lensing measurements of individual objects. We demonstrate the utility of this method in measuring halo profiles, galaxy-mass and cluster-mass cross-correlation functions, and cluster virial masses. We test this method on an N-body simulation and show that it correctly and accurately recovers the 3D density and mass profiles of halos. We find no evidence of problems due to a mass sheet degeneracy in the simulation. Cross-correlation lensing provides a powerful method for calibrating the mass-observable relation for use in measurement of the cluster mass function in large surveys. It can also be used on large scales to measure and remove the halo bias and thereby provide a direct measurement of Ωmσ8.
Impacts of Tropical Cyclones and Accompanying Precipitation on Infectious Diarrhea in Cyclone Landing Areas of Zhejiang Province, China

Background: Zhejiang Province, located in southeastern China, is frequently hit by tropical cyclones. This study quantified the associations between infectious diarrhea and the seven tropical cyclones that landed in Zhejiang from 2005–2011 to assess the impacts of the accompanying precipitation on the studied diseases. Method: A unidirectional case-crossover study design was used to evaluate the impacts of tropical storms and typhoons on infectious diarrhea. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to eliminate multicollinearity. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: For all typhoons studied, the greatest impacts on bacillary dysentery and other infectious diarrhea were identified on lag 6 days (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.81–2.93) and lag 5 days (OR = 3.56, 95% CI: 2.98–4.25), respectively. For all tropical storms, impacts on these diseases were highest on lag 2 days (OR = 2.47, 95% CI: 1.41–4.33) and lag 6 days (OR = 2.46, 95% CI: 1.69–3.56), respectively. The tropical cyclone precipitation was a risk factor for both bacillary dysentery and other infectious diarrhea when daily precipitation reached 25 mm and 50 mm with the largest OR = 3.25 (95% CI: 1.45–7.27) and OR = 3.05 (95% CI: 2.20–4.23), respectively. Conclusions: Both typhoons and tropical storms could contribute to an increase in risk of bacillary dysentery and other infectious diarrhea in Zhejiang. Tropical cyclone precipitation may also be a risk factor for these diseases when it reaches or is above 25 mm and 50 mm, respectively. Public health preventive and intervention measures should consider the adverse health impacts from tropical cyclones.
Dantrolene rescues aberrant N-terminus intersubunit interactions in mutant pro-arrhythmic cardiac ryanodine receptors.

AIMS The ryanodine receptor (RyR2) is an intracellular Ca(2+) release channel essential for cardiac excitation-contraction coupling. Abnormal RyR2 channel function results in the generation of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. The present study was undertaken to investigate the mechanistic basis of RyR2 dysfunction in inherited arrhythmogenic cardiac disease. METHODS AND RESULTS We present several lines of complementary evidence, indicating that the arrhythmia-associated L433P mutation disrupts RyR2 N-terminus self-association. A combination of yeast two-hybrid, co-immunoprecipitation, and chemical cross-linking assays collectively demonstrate that a RyR2 N-terminal fragment carrying the L433P mutation displays substantially reduced self-interaction compared with wild type. Moreover, sucrose density gradient centrifugation reveals that the L433P mutation impairs tetramerization of the full-length channel. [(3)H]Ryanodine-binding assays demonstrate that disrupted N-terminal intersubunit interactions within RyR2(L433P) confer an altered sensitivity to Ca(2+) activation. Calcium imaging of RyR2(L433P)-expressing cells reveals substantially prolonged Ca(2+) transients and reduced Ca(2+) store content indicating defective channel closure. Importantly, dantrolene treatment reverses the L433P mutation-induced impairment and restores channel function. CONCLUSION The N-terminus domain constitutes an important structural determinant for the functional oligomerization of RyR2. Our findings are consistent with defective N-terminus self-association as a molecular mechanism underlying RyR2 channel deregulation in inherited arrhythmogenic cardiac disease. Significantly, the therapeutic action of dantrolene may occur via the restoration of normal RyR2 N-terminal intersubunit interactions.
New abundance measurements in UKS 1927-177, a very metal-poor galaxy in the Local Group

We present new results from optical spectroscopy of the brightest Hii region in the dwarf irregular galaxy UKS 1927-177 in Sagittarius (SagDIG). From high signal-to-noise spectra, reddening-corrected line flux ratios have been measured with typical uncertainties of a few percent, from which the oxygen abundance is rediscussed, and new abundance estimates are derived for N and Ne. The O abundance in SagDIG, estimated with the empirical abundance indicator R23 and other methods, is in the range 12+ log (O=H)= 7:26 to 7:50. The fact that SagDIG is10 times closer than I Zw 18 makes it an ideal target to test the hypothesis of the existence of young galaxies in the present-day universe. Indeed, stellar photometry suggests that this galaxy may harbor a stellar population older than a few Gyr, and possibly an old stellar component as well. The case of SagDIG therefore supports the view that very low chemical abundances can be maintained throughout the life of a dwarf stellar system, even in the presence of multiple star formation episodes.
Comprehensive Analysis of Gene Expression Profiles of the Beet Armyworm Spodoptera exigua Larvae Challenged with Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3Aa Toxin

Host-pathogen interactions result in complex relationship, many aspects of which are not completely understood. Vip proteins, which are Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) insecticidal toxins produced during the vegetative stage, are selectively effective against specific insect pests. This new group of Bt proteins represents an interesting alternative to the classical Bt Cry toxins because current data suggests that they do not share the same mode of action. We have designed and developed a genome-wide microarray for the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua, a serious lepidopteran pest of many agricultural crops, and used it to better understand how lepidopteran larvae respond to the treatment with the insecticidal protein Vip3Aa. With this approach, the goal of our study was to evaluate the changes in gene expression levels caused by treatment with sublethal doses of Vip3Aa (causing 99% growth inhibition) at 8 and 24 h after feeding. Results indicated that the toxin provoked a wide transcriptional response, with 19% of the microarray unigenes responding significantly to treatment. The number of up- and down-regulated unigenes was very similar. The number of genes whose expression was regulated at 8 h was similar to the number of genes whose expression was regulated after 24 h of treatment. The up-regulated sequences were enriched for genes involved in innate immune response and in pathogen response such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and repat genes. The down-regulated sequences were mainly unigenes with homology to genes involved in metabolism. Genes related to the mode of action of Bt Cry proteins were found, in general, to be slightly overexpressed. The present study is the first genome-wide analysis of the response of lepidopteran insects to Vip3Aa intoxication. An insight into the molecular mechanisms and components related to Vip intoxication will allow designing of more effective management strategies for pest control.
Softening Up Hard Science: Reply to Newell and Card

A source of intellectual overhead periodically encountered by scientists is the call to be "hard," to ensure good science by imposing severe methodological strictures. Newell and Card (1985) undertook to impose such strictures on the psychology of human-computer interaction. Although their discussion contributes to theoretical debate in human-computer interaction by setting a reference point, their specific argument fails. Their program is unmotivated, is severely limited, and suffers from these limitations in principle. A top priority for the psychology of human-computer interaction should be the articulation of an alternative explanatory program, one that takes as its starting point the need to understand the real problems involved in providing better computer tools for people to use.
Associations between Ultrasound Measures of Abdominal Fat Distribution and Indices of Glucose Metabolism in a Population at High Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: The ADDITION-PRO Study

Aims Visceral adipose tissue measured by CT or MRI is strongly associated with an adverse metabolic risk profile. We assessed whether similar associations can be found with ultrasonography, by quantifying the strength of the relationship between different measures of obesity and indices of glucose metabolism in a population at high risk of type 2 diabetes. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of 1342 participants of the ADDITION-PRO study. We measured visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous adipose tissue with ultrasonography, anthropometrics and body fat percentage by bioelectrical impedance. Indices of glucose metabolism were derived from a three point oral glucose tolerance test. Linear regression of obesity measures on indices of glucose metabolism was performed. Results Mean age was 66.2 years, BMI 26.9kg/m2, subcutaneous adipose tissue 2.5cm and visceral adipose tissue 8.0cm. All measures of obesity were positively associated with indicators of glycaemia and inversely associated with indicators of insulin sensitivity. Associations were of equivalent magnitude except for subcutaneous adipose tissue and the visceral/subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio, which showed weaker associations. One standard deviation difference in BMI, visceral adipose tissue, waist circumference, waist/height ratio and body fat percentage corresponded approximately to 0.2mmol/l higher fasting glucose, 0.7mmol/l higher 2-hr glucose, 0.06-0.1% higher HbA1c, 30 % lower HOMA index of insulin sensitivity, 20% lower Gutt’s index of insulin sensitivity, and 100 unit higher Stumvoll’s index of beta-cell function. After adjustment for waist circumference visceral adipose tissue was still significantly associated with glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, whereas there was a trend towards inverse or no associations with subcutaneous adipose tissue. After adjustment, a 1cm increase in visceral adipose tissue was associated with ~5% lower insulin sensitivity (p≤0.0004) and ~0.18mmol/l higher 2-hr glucose (p≤0.001). Conclusion Visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue assessed by ultrasonography are significantly associated with glucose metabolism, even after adjustment for other measures of obesity.
Automatic Detection and Correction of Errors in Dependency Treebanks

Annotated corpora are essential for almost all NLP applications. Whereas they are expected to be of a very high quality because of their importance for the followup developments, they still contain a considerable number of errors. With this work we want to draw attention to this fact. Additionally, we try to estimate the amount of errors and propose a method for their automatic correction. Whereas our approach is able to find only a portion of the errors that we suppose are contained in almost any annotated corpus due to the nature of the process of its creation, it has a very high precision, and thus is in any case beneficial for the quality of the corpus it is applied to. At last, we compare it to a different method for error detection in treebanks and find out that the errors that we are able to detect are mostly different and that our approaches are complementary.
Tara Kernel Fuzzy Clustering (TKFCM) for a Robust Adaptive Threshold Algorithm based on Level Set Method

To segment an image in thresholding method, a fixed threshold is not suitable if the background is rough here, we propose a new robust adaptive thresholding method using TKFCM. The method requires only one parameter to be selected and the adaptive threshold surface can be found automatically from the original image. A Robust adaptive thresholding scheme using adaptive tracking and morphological filtering. TKFCM algorithm computes the fuzzy membership values for each pixel. On the source of TKFCM the edge indicator function was redefined. Using the edge indicator function of an image was performed to extract the boundaries of objects on the origin of the pre-segmentation. Therefore, the proposed method is computationally efficient. The efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm is demonstrated. The above process of segmentation showed a considerable improvement in the evolution of the level set function. Our method is good for detecting large and small images concurrently. It is also efficient to denoise and enhance the responses of images with low local contrast can be detected.
Research on Key Issues in System Decoupling for Service Mass Customization

The paper explored some key points on decoupling of service systems in achieving mass customization by conducting a case analysis in Chinese restaurant. It justified the effectiveness of system decoupling in achieving purpose of mass customization and reveals how to make the decoupling decisions by balancing multiple operational objectives. Technologies especially the IT, as it further indicates, play a vital role for system decoupling in delivering mass customized services and however should be carefully adopted.
Relationship between BDNF genotype, hippocampus volume, and anxiety

Background • Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mood disturbances in the U.S. and can be present in subclinical forms. (NIMH, 2012) • Anxiety may be associated with alterations in hippocampus volume (Rusch et al., 2001) • Smaller hippocampus volume is typically more associated with higher anxiety • Anxiety may be associated with genetic variations of the Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor gene (BDNF) (Hashimoto, 2007) • The BDNF gene has a Met and Val allele. • The Met allele is more typically associated with higher anxiety • The Met allele is also typically associated with smaller hippocampus volume (Hajek et al., 2012) • The goal of this project is to investigate the underlying neurobiological components of anxiety.
Zero to Spoken Dialogue System in One Quarter: Teaching Computational Linguistics to Linguists Using Regulus

This paper describes a Computational Linguistics course designed for Linguistics students. The course is structured around the architecture of a Spoken Dialogue System and makes extensive use of the dialogue system tools and examples available in the Regulus Open Source Project. Although only a quarter long course, students learn Computational Linguistics and programming sufficient to build their own Spoken Dialogue System as a course project.
Diet of Juvenile Alabama Shad (Alosa alabamae) in Two Northern Gulf of Mexico Drainages

Abstract Understanding food-web ecology is valuable to conservation by linking interactions of multiple species together and illustrating the functionality of trophic exchange. Alosa alabamae (Alabama Shad), an anadromous species, reproduces in northern Gulf of Mexico drainages from February through May, and for this study, the Pascagoula and Apalachicola rivers were chosen to sample juvenile Alabama Shad. The age-0 fish mature within these rivers and have the potential to impact the food web of the systems in which maturation occurs. The focus was to determine if diet changes as Alabama Shad mature, and to identify diet differences between drainages. Diets of Alabama Shad <50 mm standard length (SL) consisted primarily of a dark, almost black material labeled as unidentifiable organics, while larger Alabama Shad, >50 mm SL, fed almost exclusively on insects. Many groups of aquatic and terrestrial insects were found in the stomachs of this species. Alabama Shad diets also differed among drainages, with the Apalachicola River being dominated by terrestrial insects, and the Pascagoula River having both terrestrial and aquatic insects. Diet and trophic placement of Alabama Shad may allow managers to understand the importance of this fish within its natal rivers.
Controlling for non-inhibitory processes in response inhibition research

Central to human adaptive behaviour is the ability to update one’s motor actions in the face of environmental changes, for which a key component is the ability to inhibit ongoing actions that are no longer appropriate. A substantial body of previous research has implicated the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) and the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) as plausible sources of inhibitory control, but it remains unclear whether these regions host a specialised inhibitory control mechanism or instead support a more general system of action updating. This uncertainty stems from the limited number of studies that have controlled for non-inhibitory processes in response inhibition research. The overarching aim of this thesis was to resolve this ambiguity by studying behaviour, neurophysiology and neurochemistry during action updating in the presence and absence of inhibition. For the key experiments, detailed methods and hypotheses were pre-registered prior to data collection to minimise research bias and ensure transparent discrimination of confirmatory and exploratory inferences.