Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Normalization of Text Messages Using Character- and Phone-based Machine Translation Approaches

There are many abbreviation and non-standard words in SMS and Twitter messages. They are problematic for text-to-speech (TTS) or language processing techniques for these data. A character-based machine translation (MT) approach was previously used for normalization of non-standard words. In this paper, we propose a two-stage translation method to leverage phonetic information, where non-standard words are first translated to possible pronunciations, which are then translated to standard words. We further combine it with the single-step character-based translation module. Our experiments show that our proposed method significantly outperforms previous results in both n-best coverage and 1-best accuracy.
Acute isolated dorsal midtarsal (Chopart's) dislocation: a case report.

UNLABELLED Isolated midtarsal (Chopart's) joint dislocations are rare, although cases involving medial, lateral, plantar, and dorsal displacement have been reported. These dislocations are often associated with osteochondral fractures. To the best of our knowledge, isolated dorsal midtarsal dislocation owing to plantarflexion of the forefoot on the hindfoot with the ankle in a neutral or dorsiflexed position is rare. In this article, we describe a case of isolated Chopart's dorsal dislocation and discuss the mechanism of injury, management, and outcome. The patient was treated with open reduction and repair of ligamentous structures, and Kirschner wire transfixation. At approximately 96 weeks following treatment, the patient was walking without aid, despite the development of posttraumatic degenerative changes at the calcaneocuboid joint. In retrospect, primary arthrodesis of the calcaneocuboid joint may have been more beneficial for the patient. We also describe the unusual mechanism whereby a plantarflexory force applied to the forefoot, without ankle plantarflexion, results in dorsal dislocation of the midtarsal joint. LEVEL OF CLINICAL EVIDENCE 4.
Cortical activity during preparation and inhibition of responses to balance perturbations

Falling is one of the major causes of unintentional death or injury worldwide. People older than 65 years and people suffering from neurological disease have a higher chance of falling, which indicates the involvement of higher brain structures such as the cortex. For this reason, cortical activity underlying balance control has been subject of research using mobile neuroimaging methods during balance tasks. Often, the focus is on the moment balance is lost and a compensatory action is made. In this study, differences between two different strategies are investigated. Healthy, young participants receive balance perturbations by backward translation of a platform on which they stand, while recording high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to study task-related brain activity. EEG is the recording of changes of electric potential related to brain activity. Participants receive two instructions; in the first condition, they are instructed to respond naturally, which means they take a step. In the second condition, participants should try to inhibit their step. It is hypothesised that the second condition will reflect neural responses with a higher magnitude, because it is more difficult to respond by step inhibition. The dynamic nature of the task introduces a muscular and motion artefacts to which the EEG is sensitive. A blind-source separation algorithm (independent component analysis) in combination with an automatic outlier rejection algorithm is used to separate artefacts from neural sources. The obtained neural sources are divided into clusters based on their location on the scalp, dipole representation, power spectrum and timecourse. The resulting clusters represent the motor cortex (legs, left and right hand area), the prefrontal cortex, and the temporal-occipital areas for the left and right hemisphere. Analysis in time-domain shows a negative peak in the timecourse directly after the perturbation. In previous research, this peak has been related to error detection, which in this experiment is the loss of balance. In time-frequency domain, at the motor cortex, phase synchronisation is found at 5-25 Hz, followed by phase desynchronisation in the 8-15 Hz and 20-30 Hz frequency range. This is also in accordance with previous literature. However, there was no significant difference between the two conditions. The hypothesis is therefore rejected, at this point. One explanation to this result may be the small dataset used for this experiment. During preprocessing, up to 65% of data was rejected for some participants. An increase in the number of trials and the duration of delays in between trials, may improve the quality of the dataset such that the hypothesis can be reconsidered. Nonetheless, the correspondence in results with previous research already indicate that the motion platform is suitable for EEG experiments.
Coverage of the pre-Iraq War debate as a case study of frame indexing

This study examined critical coverage, substantive news frames, and news sources in The New York Times and Washington Post coverage of the pre-Iraq War debate. This content analysis evaluated media coverage before and after Congress passed the resolution that authorized the use of military force in Iraq. Results demonstrated that Congressional consensus was related to diminished frequencies of critical and substantively framed paragraphs in coverage yet the ongoing international debate sustained relatively more intense levels of critical coverage after the resolution passed than before. Substantively framed coverage, however, declined across all source types and levels of measurement after the Congressional resolution. In sum, the observed increase in the level of consensus within the US government seemed to influence coverage of the pre-Iraq War debate as it continued within and among other groups, such that substantive news frames were indexed to this shift in the tone, intensity, and focus of the policy debate. These findings therefore suggest a level of integration between indexing and framing in which an increased level of official consensus may be predictive of not only certain tones of coverage but also certain news frames being adopted over others.
A Platform for Travel Planning by Using Google Maps

People who have self-planning of itineraries are increasing. However, current travel websites only provide simple travel information and regular set itineraries and they cannot assist with users’ self-planning of itineraries and increase participation intention. This study develops a travel planning platform by Google Maps and through TraNews, data sources constructed by users and users’ positive system experience, it enhances users’ travel experience and intention and helps users arrange itineraries. Keywords—Independent Travel, Travel Planning, Travel Schedule, Blog, Google Maps
Constructing stream surfaces in steady 3D vector fields

Maintenance of a front of particles, an efficient method of generating a set of sample points over a two-dimensional stream surface, is described. The particles are repeatedly advanced a short distance through the flow field. New polygons are appended to the downstream edge of the surface. The spacing of the particles is adjusted to maintain an adequate sampling across the width of the growing surface. Curve and ribbon methods of vector field visualization are reviewed. <<ETX>>
The green beards of language

Language transfers information on at least three levels; (1) what is said, (2) how it is said (what language is used), and, (3) that it is said (that speaker and listener both possess the ability to use language). The use of language is a form of honest cooperation on two of these levels; not necessarily on what is said, which can be deceitful, but always on how it is said and that it is said. This means that the language encoding and decoding systems had to evolve simultaneously, through mutual fitness benefits. Theoretical problems surrounding the evolution of cooperation disappear if a recognition system is present enabling cooperating individuals to identify each other – if they are equipped with “green beards”. Here, I outline how both the biological and cultural aspects of language are bestowed with such recognition systems. The biological capacities required for language signal their presence through speech and understanding. This signaling cannot be invaded by “false green beards” because the traits and the signal of their presence are one and the same. However, the real usefulness of language comes from its potential to convey an infinite number of meanings through the dynamic handling of symbols – through language itself. But any specific language also signals its presence to others through usage and understanding. Thus, languages themselves cannot be invaded by “false green beards” because, again, the trait and the signal of its presence are one and the same. These twin green beards, in both the biological and cultural realms, are unique to language.
Energy consumption anatomy of 802.11 devices and its implication on modeling and design

A thorough understanding of the power consumption behavior of real world wireless devices is of paramount importance to ground energy-efficient protocols and optimizations on realistic and accurate energy models. This paper provides an in-depth experimental investigation of the per-frame energy consumption components in 802.11 Wireless LAN devices. To the best of our knowledge, our measurements are the first to unveil that a substantial fraction of energy consumption, hereafter descriptively named cross-factor, may be ascribed to each individual frame while it crosses the protocol/implementation stack (OS, driver, NIC). Our findings, summarized in a convenient new energy consumption model, contrast traditional models which either neglect or amortize such energy cost component in a fixed baseline cost, and raise the alert that, in some cases, conclusions drawn using traditional energy models may be fallacious.
Posing in Prison: Family Photographs, Emotional Labor, and Carceral Intimacy

“Posing in Prison” examines vernacular photography and studio portraiture taken inside US prisons through an investigation of the production practices and the circulation of these images in and out of prisons. The photographs include images that document family visits to incarcerated relatives and portraits taken by incarcerated photographers in makeshift studios designed in prison. The article considers how such photographs function as practices of intimacy and belonging for those imprisoned and their loved ones
Recurrent network for multisensory integration-identification of common sources of audiovisual stimuli

We perceive our surrounding environment by using different sense organs. However, it is not clear how the brain estimates information from our surroundings from the multisensory stimuli it receives. While Bayesian inference provides a normative account of the computational principle at work in the brain, it does not provide information on how the nervous system actually implements the computation. To provide an insight into how the neural dynamics are related to multisensory integration, we constructed a recurrent network model that can implement computations related to multisensory integration. Our model not only extracts information from noisy neural activity patterns, it also estimates a causal structure; i.e., it can infer whether the different stimuli came from the same source or different sources. We show that our model can reproduce the results of psychophysical experiments on spatial unity and localization bias which indicate that a shift occurs in the perceived position of a stimulus through the effect of another simultaneous stimulus. The experimental data have been reproduced in previous studies using Bayesian models. By comparing the Bayesian model and our neural network model, we investigated how the Bayesian prior is represented in neural circuits.
FlexiBend: Enabling Interactivity of Multi-Part, Deformable Fabrications Using Single Shape-Sensing Strip

This paper presents FlexiBend, an easily installable shape-sensing strip that enables interactivity of multi-part, deformable fabrications. The flexible sensor strip is composed of a dense linear array of strain gauges, therefore it has shape sensing capability. After installation, FlexiBend can simultaneously sense user inputs in different parts of a fabrication or even capture the geometry of a deformable fabrication.
Review: Modelling the dialysate

Dialysate prescription is evolving as new technology allows greater opportunity to alter dialysate constituents throughout dialysis, providing scope for tailored prescription for an individual patient. The intention of modelling or profiling is to improve the tolerability of dialysis and long‐term patient outcomes. This approach can be applied to both electrolytes and water. Despite these advances in technology, benefits of modelling have not been demonstrated consistently. This review examines the use of individual prescription and modelling of dialysate sodium, ultrafiltrate, potassium, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate and phosphate.
Consistent Occurrence of Hydrocarbonoclastic Marinobacter Strains in Various Cultures of Picocyanobacteria from the Arabian Gulf: Promising Associations for Biodegradation of Marine Oil Pollution

Fifteen nonaxenic cultures of picocyanobacteria were isolated from the Arabian Gulf, from which 122 heterotrophic bacterial strains were obtained. Based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences, those strains were affiliated with 22 different species, 82.8% of which belonged to the genus Marinobacter, known to comprise hydrocarbonoclastic strains. The remaining species belonged to the genera Alcanivorax, Bacillus, Halomonas, Mesorhizobium, and Paenibacillus, and a Bacteriodetes bacterium also known to comprise hydrocarbonoclastic strains. All the picocyanobacterial cultures harbored one or more strains of Marinobacter. Marinobacter in addition to Alcanivorax and other genera isolated from those picocyanobacteria grew on Tween 80, crude oil, and pure hydrocarbons as sole sources of carbon and energy, i.e. they are related to the obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria group. They consumed crude oil, n-octadecane, and phenanthrene in batch cultures. The results indicated that Marinobacter isolates seemed to grow better and consume more oil in the presence of their host picocyanobacteria than in their absence. Such natural microbial associations assumingly play a role in bioremediation of spilled hydrocarbons in the Arabian Gulf. Similar associations probably occur in other marine environments as well and are active in oil spill removal.
Reproductive competition in the bumble-bee Bombus terrestris: do workers advertise sterility?

Reproductive competition in social insects is generally mediated through specific fertility pheromones. By analysing Dufour's gland secretion in queens and workers of Bombus terrestris under varying social conditions, we demonstrate here that the volatile constituents of the secretion exhibit a context-dependent composition. The secretion of egg-laying queens is composed of a series of aliphatic hydrocarbons (alkanes and alkenes), while that of sterile workers contains in addition octyl esters, dominated by octyl hexadecanoate and octyl oleate. These esters disappear in workers with developed ovaries, whether queenright (QR) or queenless (QL), rendering their secretion queen-like. This constitutes an unusual case in which the sterile caste, rather than the fertile one, possesses extra components. Individually isolated (socially deprived) workers developed ovaries successfully, but failed to oviposit, and still possessed the octyl esters. Thus, whereas social interactions are not needed in order to develop ovaries, they appear essential for oviposition and compositional changes in Dufour's gland secretion (ester disappearance). The apparent link between high ester levels and an inability to lay eggs lends credence to the hypothesis that these esters signal functional sterility. We hypothesize that by producing a sterility-specific secretion, workers signal that ‘I am out of the competition’, and therefore are not attacked, either by the queen or by the reproductive workers. This enables proper colony function and brood care, in particular sexual brood, even under the chaotic conditions of the competition phase.
Online memory compression for embedded systems

Memory is a scarce resource during embedded system design. Increasing memory often increases packaging costs, cooling costs, size, and power consumption. This article presents CRAMES, a novel and efficient software-based RAM compression technique for embedded systems. The goal of CRAMES is to dramatically increase effective memory capacity without hardware or application design changes, while maintaining high performance and low energy consumption. To achieve this goal, CRAMES takes advantage of an operating system's virtual memory infrastructure by storing swapped-out pages in compressed format. It dynamically adjusts the size of the compressed RAM area, protecting applications capable of running without it from performance or energy consumption penalties. In addition to compressing working data sets, CRAMES also enables efficient in-RAM filesystem compression, thereby further increasing RAM capacity. CRAMES was implemented as a loadable module for the Linux kernel and evaluated on a battery-powered embedded system. Experimental results indicate that CRAMES is capable of doubling the amount of RAM available to applications running on the original system hardware. Execution time and energy consumption for a broad range of examples are rarely affected. When physical RAM is reduced to 62.5% of its original quantity, CRAMES enables the target embedded system to support the same applications with reasonable performance and energy consumption penalties (on average 9.5% and 10.5%), while without CRAMES those applications either may not execute or suffer from extreme performance degradation or instability. In addition to presenting a novel framework for dynamic data memory compression and in-RAM filesystem compression in embedded systems, this work identifies the software-based compression algorithms that are most appropriate for use in low-power embedded systems.
School-Based Behaviour Modification for Students with Attention Deficit Disorders: Placebo or Panacea?

The efficacy of School-based Behavior Modification (BM) treatments for students with Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD) is being debated. This article explored several empirical studies carried out (in the last decade) on effectiveness of the various BM interventions with a view to determining whether such approaches are mere placebo or panacea. Also issues regarding the various developmental difficulties encountered by students with ADD over time and across content areas are discussed. Furthermore, results from studies designed to determine the efficacy of some behavioral techniques such as; Contingency Management Techniques, Good Behavior Game, Self-mediation, Self-evaluation etc. are equally reviewed. Based on this review and evidence advanced in this text, the paper posits that School-based Behavioral Modification (BM) treatments for ADD are effective in the short run and indeed a panacea for reducing disruptive behaviors and improving on-task behavior and academic performance of students with the disorder. Keywords: Attention Deficit Disorders; Behavioral Modification; Placebo or Panacea
Initiation of growth hormone therapy in idiopathic short stature: do gender differences exist?

Abstract Background/Aims: Growth hormone (GH) registries indicate that boys receive preferential GH treatment for idiopathic short stature (ISS). The aim was to determine whether age, auxological parameters, pubertal status, and target height differ between genders at GH initiation. Methods: Review of the computerized files of the endocrine department of a tertiary pediatric medical center identified 184 patients who started GH therapy for ISS between 2003–2011. Data on auxologic parameters, predicted height, parental height, and pubertal status were collected and compared between boys and girls. Results: Boys accounted for a significantly higher percentage of the study group (65.8%, p<0.001). At onset of GH therapy, there were no significant differences between boys and girls in age (10.2±3.1 vs. 9.9±2.4 years), height-standard deviation score (SDS) (–2.64±0.5 vs. –2.79±0.5), body mass index-SDS[(–0.65±1.01) vs. (–0.80±1.13)], or pubertal status (66% vs. 63.5% prepubertal). Predicted height-SDS was significantly higher in boys (–1.95±1.05 vs. –2.56±0.73, p<0.001). Midparental height-SDS was similar in the two groups, as were paternal and maternal height. Conclusions: The similar age, height deficit, and pubertal status at onset of GH treatment in boys and girls suggests that gender differences do not exist. Male predominance may stem from family preferences to treat boys. Future studies are warranted to assess the psychosocial aspects in the decision to initiate therapy.
PBLA: Moving Toward Sustainability

The introduction of Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) into federally funded Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) programs is a major national initiative. This comprehensive approach to classroom-based assessment, aligned to the Canadian Language Benchmarks standards, incorpo- rates current perspectives on assessment and draws heavily on Assessment for Learning (AfL) research and principles. This article describes the PBLA initiative in relation to the research that informs it and outlines the approach that is being used to introduce PBLA into adult ESL programs. The article introduces a model of sustainability proposed by researchers who have led AfL initiatives internationally. Key learning from these initiatives points to implications for PBLA; the author suggests directions for PBLA moving forward. L’integration de l’evaluation linguistique basee sur le portefeuille ( Portfolio- Based Language Assessment - PBLA ) dans les programmes subventionnes par le gouvernement federal des Cours de langue pour les immigrants au Canada (CLIC) represente une l’initiative nationale majeure. Ce e approche globale a l’evaluation en classe, conforme aux niveaux de competence linguistique canadien, integre les perspectives actuelles sur l’evaluation et s’appuie fortement sur la recherche et les principes de l’evaluation au service de l’apprentissage (AfL). Cet article decrit l’intiative de la PBLA par rapport a la recherche qui l’eclaire, et dresse les grandes lignes de l’approche employee pour l’integrer aux programmes d’ALS pour adultes. De plus, on y presente un modele de durabilite propose par les chercheurs qui ont mene des initiatives d’AfL sur le plan international. Les principales lecons de ces initiatives comprennent des incidences pour la PBLA et l’auteure proposent des pistes pour la faire progresser.