Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PROSODY AND SYNTAX IN SIGN LANGUAGES By WENDY SANDLER

Prosodic structure in sign languages is encoded by articulations of the hands, face, and body. Despite the different physical system, there are many similarities to prosody of spoken language, such as the existence of a prosodic hierarchy, alignment of intonational elements (conveyed by the face) with temporally marked prosodic constituents (conveyed by the hands), and a close relation between prosody and syntax. The latter relation is indirect, however, and does not imply isomorphism. As such, the distribution of intonational elements cannot reliably be used as a diagnostic for syntactic structure, nor can their occurrence be predicted by syntax alone. While the existence of prosody in sign languages underscores the ‘naturalness’ of prosody in human language, the prosodic system emerges gradually, both in children acquiring established sign languages and in new sign languages, underscoring both its complexity and its grammatical character.
BUTE: bursty users tagging method estimated by time series data

Many Twitter users post tweets that are related to their particular interests. Users can also collect information by following other users. One approach clarifies user interests by tagging labels based on the users. A user tagging method is important to discover candidate users with similar interests. Typical approaches estimate user interests with terms in tweets and by applying graph theory such as following networks. In contrast, we propose a new user tagging method using the posting time series data of the number of tweets and developed the following hypothesis: Since users have interests, they will post more tweets at the time occurring the events compared with general times. Based on this hypothesis, we extract interests as burst levels from the user and hashtag time series data with Kleinberg's burst enumerating algorithm. We manage the burst levels of users as the term frequency in documents and calculate the hashtag scores for each user by three typical score calculation methods: cosine similarity, Naive Bayes, and TF-IDF. Thus, the proposed method needs no linguistic analysis which requires heavy computational resources. With our sophisticated experimental evaluations with actually active users, we demonstrate the high efficiency of our tagging methods, evaluate them using such information retrieval system evaluation metrics as expected reciprocal rank (ERR) and Q-measure, and clarify the strengths and limitations of each one. Naive Bayes and cosine similarity are especially suitable for user tagging and tag score calculation tasks.
Rebinned Filtered Back-Projection Reconstruction From Truncated Data for Half-Covered Helical Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

For applications of imaging large objects by small planar detectors in helical cone-beam computed tomography (CT), the field-of-view (FOV) half-covered scanning technique is a preferred choice as it can almost double the FOV with only about half the cross-section of an object irradiated with x-rays at all projection views. However, the projections are transversely truncated, resulting in truncation errors in reconstructed images if no compensatory measures are taken. In this paper, the half-covered single slice rebinning method is developed, in which images are reconstructed by performing two steps of rebinning followed by a three-dimensional (3D) filtered-backprojection (FBP) -based algorithm. The algorithm rebins the half-covered cone-beam projections into parallel-beam data which covers the whole cross-section of the object, thus resulting in nearly no truncation errors in the reconstructed images. Numerical simulations and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the algorithm and to compare it with existing algorithms. Preliminary results indicate the proposed half-covered single slice rebinning algorithm improves reconstruction quality.
Receiving the diagnosis of lung cancer: patient recall of information and satisfaction with physician communication.

PURPOSE Little is known about the information newly diagnosed patients with lung cancer recall and how satisfied they are with physicians' communication. PATIENTS AND METHODS Seventy-one consecutive patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer were surveyed 1 to 3 days after the disclosure of diagnosis. Patients' recall of the given information was assessed, as well as their satisfaction with physicians' communication of diagnosis, treatment procedure, and goal of treatment as curative or palliative. Physicians who provided diagnosis were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning what information they had given to the patient. Congruence between physician information and patient recall of that information was then evaluated. RESULTS Ninety percent (62 of 69 patients) correctly recalled their physician's information about the diagnosis, 83% (55 of 66 patients) knew what treatment procedure their physicians proposed, and 49% (32 of 65 patients) accurately recalled information about the goal of treatment. Seventy-six and 73% of patients were highly satisfied with their physician's communication of diagnosis and treatment procedure, respectively. Only 39% were highly satisfied with communication of the treatment goal. Patients who correctly recalled information regarding the treatment procedure were significantly more satisfied with its communication. CONCLUSION Recall of information about the intent of treatment is poor, and satisfaction with communication of the intent of treatment is lacking among newly diagnosed patients with lung cancer. Future studies should address whether specific interventions can improve these deficiencies.
An Actor-Based Software Framework for Developing and Simulating Complex Systems

ASiDE is an actor-based software framework that has the goals of simplifying the development of large and distributed complex systems and of guarantying an efficient execution of applications. This software framework provides a flexible actor implementation that simplifies the writing of the actors by delegating the management of events (i.e., the reception of messages) to the execution environment, and allowing the choice between an active thread solution (i.e., each actor has its own thread) and a passive thread solution (i.e., several actors share the same thread). In particular, the second thread solution is suitable to implement systems whose behavior should be modeled through the use of a large number of actors. ASiDE is currently used for proving its advantages for the development of agent based modeling and simulation tools.
SS5 design of a P2P information sharing system and its application to communication support in natural disaster

There are many obstacles to overcome when we use network services during a large-scale disaster, such as poor communication with unstable networks. Under such network environment, computers need to save network resources and to balance loads among nodes without user's operation. We propose the P2P Safety Confirmation System in which each node sufficiently achieves autonomous dynamic load balancing. This system is based on our proposed structured P2P network called Well-distribution Algorithm for an Overly Network (Waon), which does not require any network restriction and not incur additional maintenance costs during its load balancing. We implemented the system and evaluated node's behavior while nodes autonomously balance loads. Moreover we applied this framework to build a communication support system in natural disaster.
A Novel Wireless Brain-Computer Interface System using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials

Existing brain-computer interfaces are generally expensive, limited and heavy. In order to solve the problems, we developed a novel wireless brain-computer interface based on Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials(SSVEP), and developed algorithms for EEG feature extraction. The EEG acquisition device is powered by lithium batteries and the signals are transferred wirelessly to host for data processing. The signals was pre-treated using Butterworth filter based on MATLAB , In addition , this paper combined with the canonical correlation analysis and wavelet transform time-frequency dual characteristics, puts forward the feature extraction algorithm WT – CCA , the processed filtered data using our proposed canonical correlation analysis method based on wavelet transform. The experimental results from 5 different test attendees showed that the proposed interface was able to extract useful features and the feature signals which was processed by a host computer could be correctly (>90%) recognized by outer computers. The proposed interface is economical and portable, and important to the development of the brain control technology. It also helps disabled to better utilize the technology.
LadderNet: Knowledge Transfer Based Viewpoint Prediction in 360◦ Video

In the past few years, virtual reality (VR) has become an enabling technique, not only for enriching our visual experience but also for providing new channels for businesses. Untethered mobile devices are the main players for watching 360-degree content, thereby the precision of predicting the future viewpoints is one key challenge to improve the quality of the playbacks. In this paper, we investigate the image features of the 360-degree videos and the contextual information of the viewpoint trajectories. Specifically, we design ladder convolution to adapt for the distorted image, and propose LadderNet to transfer the knowledge from the pre-trained model and retrieve the features from the distorted image. We then combine the image features and the contextual viewpoints as the inputs for long short-term memory (LSTM) to predict the future viewpoints. Our approach is compared with several state-of-the-art viewpoint prediction algorithms over two 360-degree video datasets. Results show that our approach can improve the Intersection over Union (IoU) by at least 5% and meeting the requirements of the playback of 360-degree video on mobile devices.
Preference Handling - An Introductory Tutorial

We present a tutorial introduction to the area of preference handling - one of the core issues in the design of any system that automates or supports decision making. The main goal of this tutorial is to provide a framework, or perspective, within which current work on preference handling -representation, reasoning, and elicitation - can be understood. Our intention is not to provide a technical description of the diverse methods used, but rather, to provide a general perspective on the problem and its varied solutions and to highlight central ideas and techniques.
Influences of Dietary Added Sugar Consumption on Striatal Food-Cue Reactivity and Postprandial GLP-1 Response

Sugar consumption in the United States exceeds recommendations from the American Heart Association. Overconsumption of sugar is linked to risk for obesity and metabolic disease. Animal studies suggest that high-sugar diets alter functions in brain regions associated with reward processing, including the dorsal and ventral striatum. Human neuroimaging studies have shown that these regions are responsive to food cues, and that the gut-derived satiety hormones, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and peptide YY (PYY), suppress striatal food-cue responsivity. We aimed to determine the associations between dietary added sugar intake, striatal responsivity to food cues, and postprandial GLP-1 and PYY levels. Twenty-two lean volunteers underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan during which they viewed pictures of food and non-food items after a 12-h fast. Before scanning, participants consumed a glucose drink. A subset of 19 participants underwent an additional fMRI session in which they consumed water as a control condition. Blood was sampled for GLP-1, and PYY levels and hunger ratings were assessed before and ~75 min after drink consumption. In-person 24-h dietary recalls were collected from each participant on three to six separate occasions over a 2-month period. Average percent calories from added sugar were calculated using information from 24-h dietary recalls. A region-of-interest analysis was performed to compare the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response to food vs. non-food cues in the bilateral dorsal striatum (caudate/putamen) and ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens). The relationships between added sugar, striatal responses, and hormone changes after drink consumption were assessed using Spearman’s correlations. We observed a positive correlation between added sugar intake and BOLD response to food cues in the dorsal striatum and a similar trend in the nucleus accumbens after glucose, but not water, consumption. Added sugar intake was negatively associated with GLP-1 response to glucose. Post hoc analysis revealed a negative correlation between GLP-1 response to glucose and BOLD response to food cues in the dorsal striatum. Our findings suggest that habitual added sugar intake is related to increased striatal response to food cues and decreased GLP-1 release following glucose intake, which could contribute to susceptibility to overeating.
ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MYELIN‐RELATED MEMBRANES

Abstract— Myelin related membrane fractions from rat brain and spinal cord were isolated from material normally discarded during standard myelin isolation procedures. A fraction which floated on 0.32 M‐sucrose (F) and the material released after subjecting the myelin fraction to osmotic shock at two stages in the purification (W1 and W2) were characterized. These fractions were subjected to subfractionation on three step discontinuous sucrose gradients. Morphologically, the heavier subfrac‐tions of W1 and W2 were shown to consist mainly of single membranes and vesicles. Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that, relative to myelin, proteolipid and basic protein were reduced in all subfractions, while the high molecular weight proteins were increased. The specific activity of 2′,3′‐cyclic nucleotide 3′‐phosphohydrolase (CNP) was up to 2‐fold higher than that of myelin in the heavier subfractions of W1 and W2. The major myelin‐associated glycoprotein was also increased in these subfractions as determined by periodic acid‐Schiff staining. Differential centrifugation of the initial tissue homogenate to remove microsomes prior to myelin isolation gave rise to W1 and W2 subfractions with a CNP specific activity 3–4 times that of myelin. The high molecular weight proteins and glycoproteins were enriched in these microsome‐depleted subfractions, but were qualitatively similar to those of myelin. Some of the membranes in these fractions may be derived from the continuum between the plasma membrane of the oligodendrocyte and compact myelin. Fraction F consisted of small membrane fragments and many vesicles, and was particularly deficient in proteolipid. The specific activity of CNP in fraction F was about the same as myelin, while the major myelin associated glycoprotein could not be detected. Fraction F from normal CNS tissue appears to be similar to the floating fractions previously isolated in larger amounts from pathological brain undergoing edematous demyelination.
A retrospective evaluation of coral snake envenomation in dogs and cats: 20 cases (1996-2011).

OBJECTIVE To describe the clinical signs, treatment, and outcomes of dogs and cats following envenomation by the eastern coral snake and to report our clinical experience with the use of Coralmyn. DESIGN Retrospective study (1996-2011). SETTING University teaching hospital. ANIMALS Sixteen dogs and 4 cats with eastern coral snake envenomation. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Medical records meeting the study inclusion criteria were reviewed and evaluated for signalment, date and time of the snake encounter, elapsed time between encounter and hospital examination, initial physical examination findings, antivenom type, length of hospitalization, and outcome. Initial physical examination findings included: quiet mentation, tetraparesis, ptyalism, tachypnea, abdominal breathing, shallow breathing, decreased to absent gag reflex, ataxia, muscle fasciculations, and decreased spinal reflexes. Laboratory findings in dogs included proteinuria, bilirubinuria, hemeproteinuria, increased aspartate aminotransferase activity, increased alanine aminotransferase activity, and hemolysis. Four dogs and 2 cats received Coralmyn and 4 dogs received North American Coral Snake Antivenom. Adverse reaction to antivenom was suspected in 1 dog that received North American Coral Snake Antivenom. Eight of 11 envenomated dogs survived with a median length of hospitalization of 4.5 days. Two of 3 envenomated cats survived with a median length of hospitalization of 4 days. Two dogs were euthanized, 1 dog suffered acute respiratory arrest, and 1 cat developed tachycardia that progressed to pulseless electrical activity. Five dogs and 1 cat in the encounter group survived to discharge. CONCLUSIONS Diagnosis of eastern coral snake envenomation is likely in the dog that has concomitant lower motor neuron neuropathy, bulbar palsy, and hemolysis. Early diagnosis is crucial as antivenom administration can reduce morbidity. Prognosis is considered good with 71% of the envenomated patients in this study surviving to discharge. Supportive care that may include ventilator assistance and antivenom administration are the mainstays of therapy.
Two-Color Spatial Cumulant Analysis Detects Heteromeric Interactions between Membrane Proteins

Fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (FFS) can be used to measure the aggregation of fluorescently labeled molecules and is typically performed using time series data. Spatial intensity distribution analysis (SpIDA) and fluorescence moment image analysis (FMIA) are established tools for measuring molecular brightnesses from single-color images collected with laser scanning microscopes. We have extended these tools for analysis of two-color images to resolve heteromeric interactions between molecules labeled with spectrally distinct chromophores. We call these new methods two-color SpIDA (2c-SpIDA) and two-color spatial cumulant analysis (2c-SpCA). To implement these techniques on a hyperspectral imaging system, we developed a spectral shift filtering (SSF) technique to remove artifacts due to intrinsic crosstalk between detector bins. We determined that 2c-SpCA provides better resolution from samples containing multiple fluorescent species, hence this technique was carried forward to study images of living cells. We used fluorescent heterodimers labeled with EGFP and mApple to quantify the effects of resonance energy transfer and incomplete maturation of mApple on brightness measurements. We show that 2c-SpCA can detect the interaction between two components of trimeric G-protein complexes. Thus 2c-SpCA presents a robust and computationally expedient means of measuring heteromeric interactions in cellular environments. Statement of Significance Fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (FFS) techniques determine biophysical parameters from samples containing fluorescently labeled biomolecules by considering the statistical nature of fluorescent signals measured with photodetectors. The present study introduces two-color spatial cumulant analysis (2c-SpCA) to the canon of FFS techniques. 2c-SpCA analyzes pixel-value data of two-color images collected with laser scanning fluorescence microscopes. We show that 2c-SpCA can determine several biophysical parameters in living cells including Forster resonance energy transfer efficiency, the dark state fraction of fluorescent proteins, and heteromerization between distinctly labeled proteins. In comparison to existing techniques, 2c-SpCA requires very few image frames for analysis, minimal computations, and can be applied to images of fixed tissue samples.
Bilingual Text4Walking Food Service Employee Intervention Pilot Study

Background Half of all adults in the United States do not meet the level of recommended aerobic physical activity. Physical activity interventions are now being conducted in the workplace. Accessible technology, in the form of widespread usage of cell phones and text messaging, is available for promoting physical activity. Objective The purposes of this study, which was conducted in the workplace, were to determine (1) the feasibility of implementing a bilingual 12-week Text4Walking intervention and (2) the effect of the Text4Walking intervention on change in physical activity and health status in a food service employee population. Methods Before conducting the study reported here, the Text4Walking research team developed a database of motivational physical activity text messages in English. Because Hispanic or Latino adults compose one-quarter of all adults employed in the food service industry, the Text4Walking team translated the physical activity text messages into Spanish. This pilot study was guided by the Physical Activity Health Promotion Framework and used a 1-group 12-week pre- and posttest design with food service employees who self-reported as being sedentary. The aim of the study was to increase the number of daily steps over the baseline by 3000 steps. Three physical activity text messages were delivered weekly. In addition, participants received 3 motivational calls during the study. Results SPSS version 19.0 and R 3.0 were used to perform the data analysis. There were 33 employees who participated in the study (57.6% female), with a mean age of 43.7 years (SD 8.4). The study included 11 Hispanic or Latino participants, 8 of whom requested that the study be delivered in Spanish. There was a 100% retention rate in the study. At baseline, the participants walked 102 (SD 138) minutes/day (per self-report). This rate increased significantly (P=.008) to 182 (SD 219) minutes/day over the course of the study. The participants had a baseline mean of 10,416 (SD 5097) steps, which also increased significantly (P=.017) to 12,540 (SD 5149). They significantly improved their performance on their aerobic fitness test (P<.001). The participants had a baseline mean systolic blood pressure of 120 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure of 76 mm Hg, a mean body mass index of 29.29 kg/m2, and a mean waist circumference of 36.95 inches, without significant changes seen at 12 weeks. Conclusions We were able to conduct a motivational physical activity text messaging intervention within the workplace setting. Both physical activity and aerobic fitness improved. However, at baseline, participants were more active than they perceived themselves to be. Although there is insufficient evidence to draw strong conclusions about the study findings, it would be useful to test this physical activity text messaging intervention in a sedentary sample within a larger workplace intervention study trial conducted over a longer time frame.