Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bilingual and Monolingual Brains Compared: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Investigation of Syntactic Processing and a Possible Neural Signature of Bilingualism

Does the brain of a bilingual process language differently from that of a monolingual? We compared how bilinguals and monolinguals recruit classic language brain areas in response to a language task and asked whether there is a neural signature of bilingualism. Highly proficient and early-exposed adult Spanish-English bilinguals and English monolinguals participated. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants completed a syntactic sentence judgment task [Caplan, D. , Alpert, N. , & Waters, G. Effects of syntactic structure and propositional number on patterns of regional cerebral blood flow. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 10, 541552, 1998]. The sentences exploited differences between Spanish and English linguistic properties, allowing us to explore similarities and differences in behavioral and neural responses between bilinguals and monolinguals, and between a bilingual's two languages. If bilinguals' neural processing differs across their two languages, then differential behavioral and neural patterns should be observed in Spanish and English. Results show that behaviorally, in English, bilinguals and monolinguals had the same speed and accuracy, yet, as predicted from the Spanish-English structural differences, bilinguals had a different pattern of performance in Spanish. fMRI analyses revealed that both monolinguals (in one language) and bilinguals (in each language) showed predicted increases in activation in classic language areas (e.g., left inferior frontal cortex, LIFC), with any neural differences between the bilingual's two languages being principled and predictable based on the morphosyntactic differences between Spanish and English. However, an important difference was that bilinguals had a significantly greater increase in the blood oxygenation level-dependent signal in the LIFC (BA 45) when processing English than the English monolinguals. The results provide insight into the decades-old question about the degree of separation of bilinguals' dual-language representation. The differential activation for bilinguals and monolinguals opens the question as to whether there may possibly be a neural signature of bilingualism. Differential activation may further provide a fascinating window into the language processing potential not recruited in monolingual brains and reveal the biological extent of the neural architecture underlying all human language.
The roles of protein C and thrombomodulin in the regulation of blood coagulation.

The protein C anticoagulant pathway represents a newly described system for investigating the regulation of blood coagulation. A role for protein C in clinial thrombosis has been suggested by recent findings that patients with 50% normal levels of protein C are at rick of thrombosis and that protein C levels decrease markedly during intravascular coagulation. The data presented here suggest that deficiencics in protein S, thrombomodulin, or the platelet receptor for activated protein C might also result in a thrombotic tendency. The interplay among the cellular, vascular and humoral components in this system suggest that the protein C anticoagulant pathway may be perturbed by a variety of disease processes. Certainly, the system provides a new approach to investigate the molecular basis of thrombotic disease.
Study on Soil Seed Bank in Saline-Alkali Wetlands of Tianjin Binhai New Area

Field survey and laboratory experiment were conducted to study the characteristics of soil seed banks (SSBs) in typical Saline-alkali wetlands in Tianjin Binhai New Area. The composition, diversity and temporal and spatial distribution of SSBs in three sampling plots were analyzed. The results show that there are 26 species in the SSBs, with species density 6809~30644 grains/m2 and ecological dominance at 0.51~0.81. The diversity index show a relatively low value - the highest Shannon-Wener value is 1.78. The similarity coefficients between SSB and aboveground vegetation are low as well, the lowest value is 0.21. Vertical distribution demonstrates significantly obvious condition with 0-5cm layer having the most species.
Bleeding with anticoagulation therapy – Who is at risk, and how best to identify such patients

Summary Anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) has been shown to be effective in the prevention and treatment of thrombotic complications in various clinical settings, including atrial fibrillation (AF), venous thromboembolism (VTE), acute coronary syndromes and after invasive cardiac procedures. Bleeding is the most important complication of VKAs and a major concern for both physicians and patients. The occurrence of bleeding during treatment is not only important for the treated subjects, but also for a correct and complete use of this therapy in all the subjects who have a clear clinical indication for anticoagulation. This review analyses the treatment- and person- associated risk factors for bleeding during VKAs and their combination in clinical prediction rules that have been proposed in the attempt to identify those patients at higher risk for bleeding. The clinical prediction rules may help physicians stratify patients into categories of risk and thus to evaluate their individual risk/benefit ratio of starting or prolonging an anticoagulant treatment.
Accepted for Publication in Ieee Transaction on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 1 Subpixel Photometric Stereo Draft Accepted for Publication in Ieee Transaction on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 2

Conventional photometric stereo recovers one normal direction per pixel of the input image. This fundamentally limits the scale of recovered geometry to the resolution of the input image, and does not adequately model surfaces with subpixel geometric structures. In this paper, we propose a method to recover subpixel surface geometry by studying the relationship between the subpixel geometry and the reflectance properties of a surface. We first describe a generalized physically-based reflectance model that relates the distribution of surface normals inside each pixel area to its reflectance function. The distribution of surface normals can be computed from the reflectance functions recorded in photometric stereo images. A convexity measure of subpixel geometry structure is also recovered at each pixel, through an analysis of brightness attenuation due to shadowing. Then, we use the recovered distribution of surface normals and the surface convexity to infer subpixel geometric structures on a surface of homogeneous material by spatially arranging the normals among pixels at a higher resolution than that of the input image. We optimize the arrangement of normals using a combination of belief propagation and MCMC based on a minimum description length criterion on 3D textons over the surface. Experiments demonstrate the validity of our approach and show superior geometric resolution for the recovered surfaces.
On Cooperative Settlement Between Content, Transit, and Eyeball Internet Service Providers

Internet service providers (ISPs) depend on one another to provide global network services. However, the profit-seeking nature of the ISPs leads to selfish behaviors that result in inefficiencies and disputes in the network. This concern is at the heart of the “network neutrality” debate, which also asks for an appropriate compensation structure that satisfies all types of ISPs. Our previous work showed in a general network model that the Shapley value has several desirable properties, and that if applied as the profit model, selfish ISPs would yield globally optimal routing and interconnecting decisions. In this paper, we use a more detailed and realistic network model with three classes of ISPs: content, transit, and eyeball. This additional detail enables us to delve much deeper into the implications of a Shapley settlement mechanism. We derive closed-form Shapley values for more structured ISP topologies and develop a dynamic programming procedure to compute the Shapley values under more diverse Internet topologies. We also identify the implications on the bilateral compensation between ISPs and the pricing structures for differentiated services. In practice, these results provide guidelines for solving disputes between ISPs and for establishing regulatory protocols for differentiated services and the industry.
An information company in Mexico: extending the resource-based view of the firm

This paper extends the resource-based view of the firm to a less developed country situation by challenging three boundary conditions associated with the theory: first, the theory assumes attractive local markets; second, the theory applies to firms in relatively stable environments; third, the theory assumes that the manager’s influence on creating sustained advantage is limited. The El Norte case illustrates the ability of local managers to shape their external environment to pioneer an information industry where no industry existed and to do so under highly turbulent conditions. The findings bring forward the power of political connections, strategic foresight, and flexibility as key organizational competencies in an emerging market.
Sliding-Mode Control of Wave Power Generation Plants

The worldwide demand for energy requires alternatives to fossil fuels and nuclear fission, so renewable resources, particularly ocean energy, are called to play a relevant role in a near future. In particular, the oscillating water column (OWC) is one of the most promising devices to harness energy from the sea, as it is the case of the Nereida project plant, located in the Basque coast of Mutriku. This kind of devices consists of a particular type of turbine and a doubly fed induction generator. The turbogenerator module is usually controlled using a traditional proportional-integral (PI)-based vector control scheme, which requires an accurate knowledge of the system parameters and lacks of robustness, limiting, in some cases, the power extraction. To avoid these drawbacks, a novel sliding-mode-control-based vector control scheme for the OWC plant is presented in this paper. This variable-structure control is intrinsically robust under parameter uncertainties, which always appear in real systems, and presents a convenient disturbance rejection. The stability of the proposed controller is analyzed using the Lyapunov theory. The performance of the control scheme presented is proved by comparing it to the traditional PI-based vector control scheme in a series of representative maximum power generation case studies. Both numerical simulations and experimental results show that the proposed solution provides high-performance dynamic characteristics, improving the power extraction in spite of parameter uncertainties and system disturbances.
Fuzzy Logic Resource Management and Genetic Algorithm Based Coevolutionary Data Mining

A fuzzy logic based expert system has been developed that automatically allocates electronic attack (EA) resources in real-time over many dissimilar platforms. The platforms and their foes can be very general, e.g., ships, planes, robots, land based facilities, etc. Genetic algorithm based data mining techniques are described that relate to the development of the resource manager (RM). The use of a database of scenarios prevents the algorithm from having too narrow a range of behaviors, i.e., it creates a more robust solution. The approach to optimization is a type of co-evolution, i.e., both friend and foe agents simultaneously adapt within a complicated environment perceived through various sensors. Two types of co-evolutionary data mining are considered as well as the computer game environment that permits the RM to learn from a human expert. The five components of the RM are discussed. Finally, an example of the RM’s response is provided.
Toughening of Poly(L-Lactic Acid) by Annealing: The Effect of Crystal Morphologies and Modifications

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA) samples prepared by hot pressing were treated by two different processes: process a—quenching of the molten specimens in water, then annealing at high temperatures; process b—direct crystallization at high temperatures from the molten specimens. The crystal modification and morphology of PLA were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, polarized light microscopy, and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. In the case of process a, the α′ (disordered α) crystal modification was formed at relatively low annealing temperature (T a < 100°C), while the ordered α phase was formed in the case of process a at high T a (> 100°C) and process b. Furthermore, in process a, the nucleation density of spherulites was higher and the radius of the spherulites was much smaller compared with that of the spherulites formed by process b. The effects of crystal modification and morphology on the impact behaviors of PLA were investigated by notched Izod impact testing. The macroscopic fracture toughness was discussed in terms of the microscopic structures. Finally, we suggest an alternative approach for the preparation of high-performance PLA.
Origins of partial slip in fretting—a review of known and potential solutions

Abstract In this paper the known solutions for contact problems in which partial slip arises are reviewed and how these may, in some cases, be readily extended is indicated. The objective is to provide a comprehensive collection of the types of solution which will be of primary interest to those designing against both fretting itself (and consequences such as wear) and fretting fatigue.
MR Platform: a basic body on which mixed reality applications are built

This paper describes a platform package, called "MR Platform," which we have been implementing for research and development of augmented reality technology and applications. This package includes a parallax-less stereo video see-through HMD and a software development kit (SDK) for a Linux PC environment. The SDK is composed of a C++ class library for making runtime MR applications and related utilities such as a camera calibration tool. By using the SDK, the following functions are available: capturing video, handling a six degree-of-freedom (DOF) sensor, image processing such as color detection, estimating head position and orientation, displaying the real world image, and calibrating sensor placement and camera parameters of two cameras mounted on the HMD.
Adaptive group mutation for tackling deception in genetic search

In order to study the efficacy of genetic algorithms (GAs), a number of fitness landscapes have been designed and used as test functions. Among these functions a family of deceptive functions have been developed as difficult test functions for comparing different implementations of GAs. In this paper an adaptive group mutation (AGM), which can be combined with traditional bit mutation in GAs, is proposed to tackle the deception problem in genetic searching. Within the AGM, those genes that have converged to certain threshold degree are adaptively grouped together and subject to mutation together with a given probability. To test the performance of the AGM, experiments were carried out to compare GAs that combine the AGM and GAs that use only traditional bit mutation with a number of suggested “standard” fixed mutation rates over a set of deceptive functions as well as non-deceptive functions. The results demonstrate that GAs with the AGM perform better than GAs with only traditional bit mutation over deceptive functions and as well as GAs with only traditional bit mutation over non-deceptive functions. The results show that the AGM is a good choice for GAs since most problems may involve some degree of deception and deceptive functions are difficult for GAs. Key-Words: Genetic algorithm, adaptive group mutation, bit mutation, deceptive functions, building blocks.
J un 2 00 9 Gaussian bounds for noise correlation of functions

In this paper we derive tight bounds on the expected value of products of low influence functions defined on correlated probability spaces. The proofs are based on extending Fourier theory to an arbitrary number of correlated probability spaces, on a generalization of an invariance principle recently obtained with O’Donnell and Oleszkiewicz for multilinear polynomials with low influences and bounded degree and on properties of multi-dimensional Gaussian distributions. We present two applications of the new bounds to the theory of social choice. We show that Majority is asymptotically the most predictable function among all low influence functions given a random sample of the voters. Moreover, we derive an almost tight bound in the context of Condorcet aggregation and low influence voting schemes on a large number of candidates. In particular, we show that for every low influence aggregation function, the probability that Condorcet voting on k candidates will result in a unique candidate that is preferable to all others is k. This matches the asymptotic behavior of the majority function for which the probability is k. A number of applications in hardness of approximation in theoretical computer science were obtained using the results derived here in subsequent work by Raghavendra and by Austrin and Mossel. A different type of applications involves hyper-graphs and arithmetic relations in product spaces. For example, we show that if A ⊂ Znm is of low influences, then the number of k tuples (x1, . . . , xk) ∈ A satisfying ∑k i=1 xi ∈ B mod m where B ⊂ [m] satisfies |B| ≥ 2 is (1 ± o(1))P[A]k(mk−1|B|)n which is the same as if A were a random set of probability P[A]. Our results also show that for a general set A without any restriction on the influences there exists a set of coordinates S ⊂ [n] with |S| = O(1) such that if C = {x : ∃y ∈ A, y[n]\S = x[n]\S} then the number of k-tuples (x1, . . . , xk) ∈ C satisfying ∑k i=1 xi ∈ B mod m is (1 ± o(1))P[C]k(mk−1|B|)n. Supported by a Sloan fellowship in Mathematics, by BSF grant 2004105, NSF Career Award (DMS 054829) and by ONR award N00014-07-1-0506. Part of this work was carried out while the author was visiting IPAM, UCLA
Extracting Mobility Statistics from Indexed Spatio-Temporal Datasets

With the recent progress of spatial information technologies and mobile computing technologies, spatio-temporal databases which store information on moving objects including vehicles and mobile users have gained a lot of research in- terests. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to extract mobility statistics from indexed spatio-temporal datasets for the interactive analysis of huge collections of moving object trajectories. We focus on a mobility statistics value called the Markov transition probability, which is based on a cell-based organization of a target space and the Markov chain model. The pro- posed algorithm efficiently computes the specified Markov transition probabilities with the help of a spatial index R-tree. We reduce the statistics computation task to a kind of constraint satisfaction problem that uses a spatial index, and utilize internal
An Information‐based Solution for the Puzzle of Testimony and Trust

In this paper, I offer a contribution to the debate on testimony that rests on three elements: the definition of semantic information, the analysis of trust as a second‐order property of first‐order relations, and Floridi’s Network Theory of Account (NTA). I argue that testimony transmits semantic information and it is neither grounded on trust nor justified by it. Instead, I show that testimony is an occurrence of a first‐order relation of communication affected by the second‐order property of trust. I then defend the view that an epistemic agent can acquire some knowledge, on the basis of the information communicated through testimony, if and only if the agent is able to connect the transmitted information to the conceptual network of interrelation to which it belongs. I refer to Floridi’s NTA to show how such a network allows the epistemic agent to achieve knowledge on the basis of semantic information.
How far are socioeconomic differences in coronary heart disease hospitalization, all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality among adult Swedish males attributable to negative childhood circumstances and behaviour in adolescence?

OBJECTIVES Coronary heart disease (CHD) and mortality are unevenly distributed between social classes, the lower being disadvantaged compared with the higher. Adverse social circumstances in childhood have been related to an increased risk of CHD and mortality in adulthood. The present purpose was to investigate the effect of differences in social disadvantage in early life on later differences in risk of CHD, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular mortality between socioeconomic groups among Swedish men aged 40-50. METHODS Data on circumstances in childhood and adolescence, e.g. crowded housing and low social position of the father, measured at age 9-11, was collected among 49,323 men, born in 1949-51, and conscripted for compulsory military training in 1969/70. Data on adult socioeconomic position was obtained from the 1990 census, data on CHD from the Swedish In-patient Care register 1991-2000, and data on mortality from the Causes of Death register 1991-2000. RESULTS A social gradient was found for all health outcomes. The relative risk of CHD, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular mortality among unskilled workers compared with that among high-level non-manual employees was 1.82 (95% CI: 1.36, 2.44), 2.24 (95% CI: 1.72, 2.93), and 2.38 (95% CI: 1.47, 3.86) respectively. The early life risk indicators, such as crowded housing and low childhood social position (measured at age 9-11), short stature (measured at age 18-20), and low education (reported at age 18-20), were more common among those who in 1990 (i.e. at age 39-41) were manual workers than among those who were in non-manual occupations. In multivariate analyses, considering the indicators of childhood social disadvantage and adjusting for lifestyle factors established at age 18-20, (smoking, alcohol consumption, overweight) the increased relative risk of CHD hospitalization and cardiovascular mortality in the four categories of employed workers was reduced by 72-100%. CONCLUSION Predictors of CHD measured in childhood and adolescence may explain a substantial part of the social gradient in CHD, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality among the 40-50 year old males studied.
CHK1 phosphorylates CDC25B during the cell cycle in the absence of DNA damage

CDC25B is one of the three human phosphatases that activate the CDK-cyclin complexes, thereby triggering cell-cycle progression and division. Commitment to early mitotic events depends on the activation of a centrosomal pool of CDK1–cyclin-B1, and CDC25B is thought to be involved in initiating this centrosomal CDK1–cyclin-B1 activity. Centrosome-associated checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) has been proposed to contribute to the proper timing of a normal cell division cycle by inhibiting the activation of the centrosomal pool of CDK1. Here, we show that CDC25B is phosphorylated by CHK1 in vitro on multiple residues, including S230 and S563. We demonstrate these phosphorylations occur in vivo and that they are dependent on CHK1 activity. S230 CHK1-mediated phosphorylation is detected in cell extracts during S phase and G2 phase in the absence of DNA damage. We show that the S230-phosphorylated form of CDC25B is located at the centrosome from early S phase until mitosis. Furthermore, mutation of S230 to alanine increases the mitotic-inducing activity of CDC25B. Our results support a model in which, under normal cell cycle conditions and in the absence of DNA damage, CHK1 constitutively phosphorylates CDC25B during interphase and thus prevents the premature initiation of mitosis by negatively regulating the activity of CDC25B at the centrosome.