Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring possible effects of language-specific knowledge on infants ’ segmentation of an artificial language

Introduction English-learning infants begin segmenting words from fluent speech by 7.5 months (Jusczyk & Aslin, 1995). At this age, it appears that infants rely on two sources of information to segment speech: transitional probabilities between syllables (Saffran, Aslin, & Newport, 1996) and the predominance of word-initial stress in English (Jusczyk, Houston, & Newsome, 1999). However, Saffran et al. (1996a) demonstrated that infants can accurately parse a simple artificial language even when it contains no cues to word boundaries other than the statistical relationship between syllables. In the following study, we investigate the possibility that the infants in Saffran et al.’s study (1996a) were not parsing the entire trisyllabic words from the speech stream. In addition, we will explore the possibility that language-specific information affects the way infants segment an artificial language. Saffran et al.’s (1996a) artificial language consisted of 4 tri-syllabic CVCVCV nonsense words (“pabiku”, “tiboudo”, “golatu”, and “daropi”) which were concatenated together into a two-minute stream of speech containing no cues to word boundaries other than the transitional probabilities between syllables. The transitional probabilities between syllables within words were 1.0, whereas transitional probabilities between syllables spanning word boundaries were 0.33. After familiarizing English-learning 8month-olds to the two-minute speech stream, Saffran et al. used the headturn preference procedure to determine whether infant had parsed the speech stream in accordance with the statistical cues. Infants were tested on trisyllabic sequences of syllables corresponding to statistical words versus statistical partwords. All part-word test items contained the last syllable of one word plus the first two of another (i.e. part-word test item “tudaro” contained the last syllable of “golatu” plus the first two syllables of “daropi”). Infants listened reliably to the part-word test items, indicating their ability to segment the speech stream. These results were replicated by Johnson and Jusczyk (2001) using a natural speech stream which was closely matched to Saffran et al.’s on all relevant acoustic parameters such as rate and lack of prosody. As mentioned above, all of the part-word test items used in the infant study by Saffran et al. (1996a) were creating by combining the last syllable of one word with the first two syllables of another word. In contrast, Saffran et al. (1996b) tested adults on two types of part-word test items. One type were created in the exact same manner as the test items used by Saffran et al. (1996a). The other half were formed by combining the last two syllables of a statistical word with the first syllable of another statistical word. Interestingly, adults performed at chance when it came to distinguishing this latter type of part-word (last two syllables of one word combined with first of another) from statistical words. Saffran et al. (1996b) suggested that this effect could be rooted in the way
A Case of Osteoma within the Soft Palate

OSTEOMATA arising from the bones of the skull are, according to Thomson and Negus (1955), uncommon but not rare, more frequently found in males, usually of the hard ivory variety and often originate by a short pedicle from the ethmoid region, the septum or floor of the nose. It is our purpose to report an unusual case of osteoma, both because of its apparently unique situation and because knowledge of the method used to remove it may be of value in the future.
Design of Fuzzy-PID controller based on prediction model and its realization in PLC

To the question of the uncertainty of temperature model and time-delay in industrial process control, a kind of fuzzy-PID controller based on prediction model is put forward, which integrates prediction control and PID parameters self-regulating. The realization process in S7-300 PLC is given. The experiment results and application in industry approve the effectivity of this method. , by which the delay and uncertainty of object is settled and realize PID parameters self-regulating. It improve control precision.
Enhancement of Ninhydrin‐ or DFO‐Treated Latent Fingerprints on Thermal Paper

ABSTRACT: A new method for enhancement of ninhydrin or 1,8‐diazafluoren‐9‐one (DFO)‐treated latent fingerprints on thermal paper will be described. Most thermosensitive surfaces of thermal paper become dark when treated with DFO or ninhydrin petroleum ether (NPB) solution. This effect minimizes contrast between the developed fingerprints and the background. The new method described reduces this dark staining without removing the thermosensitive layer and parts of the developed fingerprints, as occurs with acetone washing. Through the new method, the developed fingerprints appear in sharp lines and high contrast. Extensive tests were performed, leading to an optimized working solution, which charges the paper with a minimum of chemicals, is cheap, and enables a large quantity of papers to be treated in a short time. The working solution contains commercially available, nonvolatile, nitrogenous organic compounds and can be used like the application of NPB solution by dipping.
Insurance Take-Up in Rural China: Learning from Hypothetical Experience

This paper uses a novel experimental design to test for the role of experience and information in insurance take-up in rural China, where weather insurance was a new and highly subsidized product. We randomly select a group of poor households to play insurance games and find that it improves the actual insurance take-up by 48%. In order to determine the mechanism behind this effect, we test whether it is due to: (1) changes in risk attitudes, (2) changes in the perceived probability of future disasters, (3) learning the objective benefits of insurance, or (4) hypothetical experience of disaster. We show that the effect cannot be explained by mechanisms (1) to (3), and that the experience acquired in playing the insurance game matters. We develop a simple model in which agents give less weight to disasters and benefits which they experienced infrequently. Our estimation also suggests that compared with experience with real disasters in the previous year, experience gained in the insurance game played recently has a stronger effect on the actual insurance take-up, implying that learning from experience displays a strong recency effect.
Export competitiveness of the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Sri Lanka: a case study based on the gem and jewellery sector

The factors affecting the export competitiveness of Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) are very complex. From the firm’s point of view, the trading environment SMEs conducts their business play an important role. Thus, a trade-enabling environment, based on adequate trade policies, an efficient trade and customs administration and good infrastructure are critical for enterprises to compete effectively in the competitive global market. Today international competition became more innovative and knowledge based, understanding trade performance goes beyond the parameters of the traditional comparative advantage paradigm and stressed the role of technology and continuous innovation for international competitiveness. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the assessment of export competitiveness by investigating the influence of firm and industry specific characteristics in the gem and jewellery products sub sector in Sri Lanka. Structured questionnaire survey followed by descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of data was performed to identify the key factors for the export competitiveness. This study revealed that the firms export orientation, human capital and technological capabilities have significant relations to the export competitiveness of the firms. Furthermore, the government policy, freight facilities and distribution, product variability, research and development, export market promotion attitudes at the industry and firm levels have significant impact for the export competitiveness.
GIGANTEA: a circadian clock‐controlled gene that regulates photoperiodic flowering in Arabidopsis and encodes a protein with several possible membrane‐spanning domains

Flowering of Arabidopsis is promoted by long days and delayed by short days. Mutations in the GIGANTEA (GI) gene delay flowering under long days but have little or no effect under short days. We have now isolated the GI gene and show that it encodes a novel, putative membrane protein. By comparing the sequence of the Arabidopsis gene with that of a likely rice orthologue and by sequencing mutant alleles, we identify regions of the GI protein that are likely to be important for its function. We show that GI expression is regulated by the circadian clock with a peak in transcript levels 8–10 h after dawn. The timing, height and duration of this peak are influenced by daylength. We analysed the interactions between GI and the LHY, CCA1 and ELF3 genes, previously shown to affect daylength responses; we show that the rhythmic pattern of GI expression is altered in the elf3, CCA1‐OX and lhy genotypes, and that CCA1 and LHY expression are reduced by gi mutations. Our results are consistent with the idea that GI plays an important role in regulating the expression of flowering time genes during the promotion of flowering by photoperiod.
Temperature dependence of Kedem-Katchalsky membrane transport coefficients for mature mouse oocytes in the presence of ethylene glycol.

Ethylene glycol (EG) is the emerging cryoprotectant of choice for preservation of mammalian embryos but has not been widely used for oocyte preservation. Techniques for oocyte cryopreservation need to be improved before they can be incorporated into routine clinical practice. Hence the permeability characteristics of oocytes in the presence of EG have been determined in order to facilitate the design of cryopreservation protocols using this cryoprotectant. Individual mouse oocytes were held using negative pressure applied to the zona pellucida by means of a micropipet. Each oocyte was perfused with 1 ml 1.5 mol L(-1) EG at 30, 19, or 10 degrees C, a total of 10 oocytes being perfused at each temperature. The osmotic response of each oocyte before, during and after perfusion was recorded on videotape. Measurements of mean cell diameter across three axes were used to calculate oocyte volume, assuming them to be spherical, and, using mathematical modeling, values for hydraulic conductivity (L(p)) were found to be 0.91 +/- 0.05, 0.51 +/- 0.02, and 0.18 +/- 0.01 microm min(-1) atm(-1); cryoprotectant permeability (P(EG)) was 0.24 +/- 0.01, 0.09 +/- 0.005, and 0.03 +/- 0.004 microm s(-1); and reflection coefficient (sigma) was 0.98 +/- 0.005, 0.96 +/- 0.01, and 0.97 +/- 0.01 at 30, 19, and 10 degrees C, respectively. The activation energy (E(a)) of L(p) was 14. 0 kCal mol(-1) and of P(EG) was 16.4 kCal mol(-1).
Reactive forms of oxygen and chemiluminescence in phagocytizing rabbit alveolar macrophages.

Chemiluminescence (CL), superoxide anion (O2-) production, and particle uptake were measured to determine the role of antibacterial substances in the chemiluminescent response associated with phagocytosis in rabbit alveolar macrophages (AM). Exposure of AM to zymosan particles induced both CL and the production of extracellular O2-. CL is inhibited by superoxide dismutase, an enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of O2- to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), by catalase, an enzyme which destroys H2O2, and by the hydroxyl radical (.OH) scavengers, benzoate and ethanol. Superoxide dismutase and catalase probably exert their effects in the extracellular fluid. CL can also be produced by the addition of NaO2 or H2O2 to zymosan in a noncellular system. The chemiluminescent response occurs before particle uptake is complete, which also indicates that CL occurs in the extracellular fluid. These results suggest that CL induced by zymosan in AM is due to the extracellular reaction between various reactive forms of oxygen and zymosan.
Automated assessment of imaging biomarkers for the PanCan lung cancer risk prediction model with validation on NLST data

The imaging biomarkers EmphysemaPresence and NoduleSpiculation are crucial inputs for most models aiming to predict the risk of indeterminate pulmonary nodules detected at CT screening. To increase reproducibility and to accelerate screening workflow it is desirable to assess these biomarkers automatically. Validation on NLST images indicates that standard histogram measures are not sufficient to assess EmphysemaPresence in screenees. However, automatic scoring of bulla-resembling low attenuation areas can achieve agreement with experts with close to 80% sensitivity and specificity. NoduleSpiculation can be automatically assessed with similar accuracy. We find a dedicated spiculi tracing score to slightly outperform generic combinations of texture features with classifiers.
COPS Usage for Policy Provisioning (COPS-PR)

This document describes the use of the Common Open Policy Service (COPS) protocol for support of policy provisioning (COPS-PR). This specification is independent of the type of policy being provisioned (QoS, Security, etc.) but focuses on the mechanisms and conventions used to communicate provisioned information between PDPs and PEPs. The protocol extensions described in this document do not make any assumptions about the policy data model being communicated, but describe the message formats and objects that carry the modeled policy data.
Childhood and adolescent cancer statistics, 2014

In this article, the American Cancer Society provides estimates of the number of new cancer cases and deaths for children and adolescents in the United States and summarizes the most recent and comprehensive data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival from the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (which are reported in detail for the first time here and include high‐quality data from 45 states and the District of Columbia, covering 90% of the US population). In 2014, an estimated 15,780 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 1960 deaths from cancer will occur among children and adolescents aged birth to 19 years. The annual incidence rate of cancer in children and adolescents is 186.6 per 1 million children aged birth to 19 years. Approximately 1 in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20 years, and approximately 1 in 530 young adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years is a childhood cancer survivor. It is therefore likely that most pediatric and primary care practices will be involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow‐up of young patients and survivors. In addition to cancer statistics, this article will provide an overview of risk factors, symptoms, treatment, and long‐term and late effects for common pediatric cancers. CA Cancer J Clin 2014;64:83–103. © 2014 American Cancer Society.
United Snakes [image analysis software]

Since their debut in 1987, snakes (active contour models) have become a standard image analysis technique with several variants now in common use. We present a portable, reusable software package called "United Snakes". The package unites the most popular snake variants, including finite difference, B-spline, and Hermite polynomial snakes within the mathematical framework of a general finite element formulation with a choice of shape functions. The package furthermore incorporates a recently proposed snake-like technique known as "livewire". We integrate snakes and livewire by introducing an effective method for imposing hard constraints on snakes. Our experiments demonstrate that snakes and livewire have complementary strengths and that their union offers a more powerful tool for interactive image analysis, especially for medical imaging applications. United Snakes is implemented in Java as a JavaBean so that it can easily be integrated in end user application systems.
A genetic algorithm for scheduling tasks in a real-time distributed system

Real time systems must often handle several independent periodic macro tasks, each one represented by a general task graph, including communications and precedence constraints. The implementation of such applications on a distributed system communicating via a bus, requires task assignment and scheduling as well as the taking into account of the communication delays. As periodicity implies macro task deadlines, the problem of finding a feasible schedule is critical. The paper addresses this NP hard problem resolution, by using a genetic algorithm under offline and non preemptive scheduling assumptions. The algorithm performance is evaluated on a large simulation set, and compared to classical list based algorithms, a simulated annealing algorithm and a specific clustering algorithm.
The incidence and significance of clostridia isolated from ready-to-eat meats and rendered products.

Approximately 26% of rendered and 10% of ready-to-eat products contained species of the genus Clostridium. Eleven species of clostridia were isolated from a total of 524 products tested. Some products harboured more than one species.C. sporogenes, one of the most heat resistant organisms, was the most common type isolated.C. sordellii produced a transient illness in guinea pigs while all other species were innocuous.
Smallholder dairy farmers’ technical efficiency in milk production: case of EPINAV dairy project in Njombe district, Tanzania

Smallholder dairy farming has been practiced in many parts of the world including Tanzania aiming at generating income from the sale of milk and providing alternative source of protein to people of all ages in the households. The objective of this study was to analyse technical efficiency of smallholder dairy farmers in EPINAV dairy project in Njombe District, Tanzania. Data were collected by using semi structured questionnaires administered to 120 smallholder dairy farmers randomly selected from 5 sampled villages. Gross margin and Stochastic Frontier were employed as tools of analysis to determine the mean gross profit per cow per year and technical efficiency per farm respectively. The results reveal that major cost structures comprise of initial investment, labour, and feeds costs. The mean gross profit per farmer per cow per year is low. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis revealed that smallholder dairy farmers technical efficiency range between 22% to 99% with mean of 68%. Experience of the dairy farmer negatively influenced inefficiency at 5% level of significance. It is concluded that majority of smallholder dairy farmers’ are fairly efficient. The study recommends that smallholder dairy farmers need to organize themselves in groups for bulk purchases of inputs during high season. This will reduce unnecessary cost of transporting and price increase of inputs during low season. Policy that enhances farmers’ learning through practical experiences is recommended for reduction of inefficiencies.
Designs for Generalized Linear Models With Several Variables and Model Uncertainty

Standard factorial designs sometimes may be inadequate for experiments that aim to estimate a generalized linear model, for example, for describing a binary response in terms of several variables. A method is proposed for finding exact designs for such experiments that uses a criterion allowing for uncertainty in the link function, the linear predictor, or the model parameters, together with a design search. Designs are assessed and compared by simulation of the distribution of efficiencies relative to locally optimal designs over a space of possible models. Exact designs are investigated for two applications, and their advantages over factorial and central composite designs are demonstrated.
The Visual Prognosis in Still's Disease with Eye Involvement

IN the last ten years in the Research Unit for Juvenile Rheumatism at the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital, Taplow, I have examined the eyes of 220 children under the age of 16 with Still's disease. Of this number 12 or 5 50% were found to show evidence of anterior uveitis (5 males, 7 females). They have been followed up for periods varying from two and a half to ten years. This incidence of eye complications is much less than that found in Denmark; Godtfredson (1949) quotes 20% and Vesterdal and Sury (1950) 21 %. The prognosis for vision in my series is not good. Of 12, 8 children had both eyes involved and 4 one eye involved-20 eyes in all. Table I shows their visual acuity at the present time: 50% of the eyes have vision of 6/18 or worse, and
European Trade Credit Use and SME Survival

We examine if trade credit helped financially constrained SMEs survive the recent financial crisis. Using data for 202,696 SMEs across 13 European countries over the period 2003–2012, we show that trade credit had a large positive impact on firm survival, such that a one standard deviation increase in trade credit results in a 21% decrease in the likelihood of distress. We also report evidence of a significant redistribution effect, with cash rich or unconstrained SMEs extending significantly more net trade credit than their less financially resourced counterparts. The results are robust to several econometric concerns.
Succession in Multi-Generational Family Firms. An Exploratory Study into the Period of Anticipatory Socialization

Family business scholars have argued that succession entails all actions and events that occur between generations to transfer ownership and/or management. Building on this definition, I focus explicitly on the period prior to the successor’s entering the business. I borrow the concept of “anticipatory socialization” from organizational sociologists and argue that this period has unique characteristics in multi-generational family firms mainly because of the close link between the successor’s choice of occupation and his or her choice of organization. In an explorative historical case study I investigate the unique features of anticipatory socialization in family firms. My findings include a detailed description of the information channels and social capital transfers during that period as well as an assessment of the role of narrations, symbolic objects, and formal and informal education. In the last part of the paper, I link these findings to Pierre Bourdieu’s capital theory, which allows for a more systematic approach to anticipatory socialization in family business.
A pseudo-dynamic sub-optimal filter for elastography under static loading and measurements

We propose a pseudo-dynamic form of a sub-optimal Kalman filter for elastography of plane-strain models of soft tissues under strictly static deformations and partial measurements. Since the tissue material is nearly incompressible and is thus prone to volumetric locking via standard displacement-based finite element formulations, we use a Cosserat point approach for deriving the static equilibrium equations. A pseudo-dynamical form of the equilibrium equations, with added noise and appropriate augmentation by the discretized shear modulus as additional states, is then adopted as the process equation such that its steady-state solution approaches the static response of the plane-strain model. A fictitious noise of small intensity is also added to the measurement equation and, following linearization of the process equation, a Kalman filter is applied to reconstruct the shear modulus profile. We present several numerical experiments, some of which also bring forth the relative advantages of the proposed approach over a deterministic reconstruction based on a quasi-Newton search.