Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Language model adaptation using mixtures and an exponentially decaying cache

Presents two techniques for language model adaptation. The first is based on the use of mixtures of language models: the training text is partitioned according to topic, a language model is constructed for each component and, at recognition time, appropriate weightings are assigned to each component to model the observed style of language. The second technique is based on augmenting the standard trigram model with a cache component in which the words' recurrence probabilities decay exponentially over time. Both techniques yield a significant reduction in perplexity over the baseline trigram language model when faced with a multi-domain test text, the mixture-based model giving a 24% reduction and the cache-based model giving a 14% reduction. The two techniques attack the problem of adaptation at different scales, and as a result can be used in parallel to give a total perplexity reduction of 30%.
lsh , Nearest neighbor search in high dimensions

Calculating distance pairs is O(n2) in memory and time and finding the nearest neighbor is O(n) in time. Tree indexing techniques like kd-tree [2] were developed to cope with large n, however their performance quickly breaks down for p > 3 [3]. Locality sensitive hashing (LSH) [3] is a technique for generating hash numbers from high dimensional data, such that nearby points have identical hashes. This enables efficient nearest neighbor search for (very) high dimensional data sets. It has been successfully applied to several problems including text similarity search [5].
The Effects of Self-Evaluation Traits on EFL Students' Learning Satisfaction

Core self-evaluations have been widely discussed in order to help understand people's general characteristics and behaviors. Relatively little research has addressed its relationship with learning satisfaction, especially satisfaction in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In this study, 211 EFL learners were recruited from Yantai University in order to address the issue. Results found that three out of four of core self-evaluations including self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy and internal locus of control, are significantly correlated with students' EFL learning satisfaction. The results also found that core self-evaluations significantly predicted 24.3% of the variance in students' general EFL learning satisfaction.
Spatial projection as a preprocessing step for EEG source reconstruction using spatiotemporal Kalman filtering

The reconstruction of brain sources from non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencephalography (MEG) via source imaging can be distorted by information redundancy in case of high-resolution recordings. Dimensionality reduction approaches such as spatial projection may be used to alleviate this problem. In this proof-of-principle paper we apply spatial projection to solve the problem of information redundancy in case of source reconstruction via spatiotemporal Kalman filtering (STKF), which is based on state-space modeling. We compare two approaches for incorporating spatial projection into the STKF algorithm and select the best approach based on its performance in source localization with respect to accurate estimation of source location, lack of spurious sources, computational speed and small number of required optimization steps in state-space model parameter estimation. We use state-of-the-art simulated EEG data based on neuronal population models, for which the number and location of sources is known, to validate the source reconstruction results of the STKF. The incorporation of spatial projection into the STKF algorithm solved the problem of information redundancy, resulting in correct source localization with no spurious sources, and decreased the overall computational time in STKF analysis. The results help make STKF analyses of high-density EEG, MEG or simultaneous MEG-EEG data more feasible.
The effect of polymeric formula on enterocyte differentiation

Exclusive enteral nutrition is established as an initial therapy to induce remission in active Crohn’s disease (CD), especially in children, but the mechanisms of action of this therapy are yet to be fully defined. Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), a recognised marker of enterocyte differentiation, is implicated in the innate gut immune response to enteric pathogens. Using the Caco-2 human adenocarcinoma cell line, this study showed that the incubation of human cells with a polymeric formula (PF) resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the expression of IAP on the cell surface. While further investigation is required to determine the pathway(s) involved, this finding suggests that cell surface-associated IAP may be an aspect of the gut’s innate immune response to pathogenic bacteria that is strengthened by PF in the setting of CD.
Studies on Certain Physiological Characters of Phytomonas tumefaciens, Phytomonas rhizogenes and Bacillus radiobacter

Our study of the physiology of the several bacteria considered in Part I; viz., (1) Phytomonas tumefaciens, (2) Phytomonas rhizogenes and (3) Bacillus radiobacter has been continued. Since any important variations in the physiology of these organisms might have an important bearing upon the reactions they induce in plant tissue, an attempt was made to discover any basic differences in their activity. The present investigation has been concerned primarily with three lines of study. An attempt has been made (1) to extend available information on the physiological and pathogenic properties of the organisms and to observe any correlation between physiological behavior and pathogenicity; (2) to study variations in the several organisms as they might be induced by continuous cultivation in certain media under favorable and unfavorable conditions and (3) to determine the effect of successive passages through plants upon the physiological characteristics and virulence of the crown-gall organism.
Advanced biomaterial strategies to transplant preformed micro-tissue engineered neural networks into the brain

Objective. Connectome disruption is a hallmark of many neurological diseases and trauma with no current strategies to restore lost long-distance axonal pathways in the brain. We are creating transplantable micro-tissue engineered neural networks (micro-TENNs), which are preformed constructs consisting of embedded neurons and long axonal tracts to integrate with the nervous system to physically reconstitute lost axonal pathways. Approach. We advanced micro-tissue engineering techniques to generate micro-TENNs consisting of discrete populations of mature primary cerebral cortical neurons spanned by long axonal fascicles encased in miniature hydrogel micro-columns. Further, we improved the biomaterial encasement scheme by adding a thin layer of low viscosity carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) to enable needle-less insertion and rapid softening for mechanical similarity with brain tissue. Main results. The engineered architecture of cortical micro-TENNs facilitated robust neuronal viability and axonal cytoarchitecture to at least 22 days in vitro. Micro-TENNs displayed discrete neuronal populations spanned by long axonal fasciculation throughout the core, thus mimicking the general systems-level anatomy of gray matter—white matter in the brain. Additionally, micro-columns with thin CMC-coating upon mild dehydration were able to withstand a force of 893 ± 457 mN before buckling, whereas a solid agarose cylinder of similar dimensions was predicted to withstand less than 150 μN of force. This thin CMC coating increased the stiffness by three orders of magnitude, enabling needle-less insertion into brain while significantly reducing the footprint of previous needle-based delivery methods to minimize insertion trauma. Significance. Our novel micro-TENNs are the first strategy designed for minimally invasive implantation to facilitate nervous system repair by simultaneously providing neuronal replacement and physical reconstruction of long-distance axon pathways in the brain. The micro-TENN approach may offer the ability to treat several disorders that disrupt the connectome, including Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and brain tumor excision.
The Optimal Allocation of Power in Organizations

Starting from the separation between formal and real authority, the paper considers a hierarchical relation where delegation of control can be used as an incentive mechanism. It shows that delegation is optimal when parties’ interests are neither too divergent nor too close. In that case superiors do not need to monitor too closely, curbing the subordinates’ initiative and subordinates have no incentives to free ride on the superiors’ information. The analysis is then extended to a multi-period setting. If subordinates acquire expertise on the job (learning by doing), effort has the nature of a specific investment whose intrinsic value is higher the longer the subordinate’s working life. Therefore, a policy of gradual delegation is possible, where agents accept weaker incentives at the beginning of their career, requiring stronger incentives over time as the value of their knowledge diminishes.
Implementing an Assessment Clinic in a Residential PTSD Program

Creating useful treatment plans can help improve services to consumers of mental health services. As more evidence-based practices are implemented, deciding what treatment, at what time, for whom becomes an important factor in facilitating positive outcomes. Readiness for trauma-focused treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) such as Cognitive Processing Therapy or Prolonged Exposure Therapy may influence whether an individual can successfully complete either protocol. In addition, components of adjunctive therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Dialectical Behavior Therapy may be useful in moving a particular patient toward readiness and successful completion of treatment. Psychological assessment adds valuable data to inform these types of treatment decisions. This paper describes the implementation of a psychological assessment clinic in a residential PTSD treatment setting. Barriers to implementation, use of the data, and Veterans’ reactions to the feedback provided to them are included.
Cortical Hubs Form a Module for Multisensory Integration on Top of the Hierarchy of Cortical Networks

Sensory stimuli entering the nervous system follow particular paths of processing, typically separated (segregated) from the paths of other modal information. However, sensory perception, awareness and cognition emerge from the combination of information (integration). The corticocortical networks of cats and macaque monkeys display three prominent characteristics: (i) modular organisation (facilitating the segregation), (ii) abundant alternative processing paths and (iii) the presence of highly connected hubs. Here, we study in detail the organisation and potential function of the cortical hubs by graph analysis and information theoretical methods. We find that the cortical hubs form a spatially delocalised, but topologically central module with the capacity to integrate multisensory information in a collaborative manner. With this, we resolve the underlying anatomical substrate that supports the simultaneous capacity of the cortex to segregate and to integrate multisensory information.
Detection of Fast-Flux Networks using various DNS feature sets

In this work, we study the detection of Fast-Flux Service Networks (FFSNs) using DNS (Domain Name System) response packets. We have observed that current approaches do not employ a large combination of DNS features to feed into the proposed detection systems. The lack of features may lead to high false positive or false negative rates triggered by benign activities including Content Distribution Networks (CDNs). In this paper, we study recently proposed detection frameworks to construct a high-dimensional feature vector containing timing, network, spatial, domain name, and DNS response information. In the detection system, we strive to use features that are delay-free, and lightweight in terms of storage and computational cost. Feature sub-spaces are evaluated using a C4.5 decision tree classifier by excluding redundant features using the information gain of each feature with respect to each class. Our experiments reveal the performance of each feature subset type in terms of the classification accuracy. Moreover, we present the best feature subset for the discrimination of FFSNs recorded with the datasets we used.
Boundary σ model and corrections to D-brane actions

We consider a $\sigma$-model formulation of open string theory in the presence of D-branes. We perform two-loop computations and discuss gravitational corrections to Born-Infeld action when branes are non-trivially embedded in a curved ambient space. In particular for the case of a stack of $N$ coincident D-branes we analyze couplings of the form $R_{ijkl}[\Phi^i,\Phi^j][\Phi^k,\Phi^l]$.
Dynamic Frequency Analyses of Lower Extremity Muscles during Sit-To-Stand Motion for the Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective Muscle activities during the sit-to-stand motion (STS) are characterized by coordinated movements between hip extensors and knee extensors. However, previous reports regarding the STS and lower extremity muscle activities have focused on some quantitative assessment, but little qualitative research. This study aimed to examine the muscle activities of the lower extremity both quantitatively and qualitatively. Methods Study participants included 13 patients with knee osteoarthritis (knee OA) and 11 age-matched asymptomatic controls. The task was STS from a chair with a height-adjustable seat. EMG activities were acquired using surface electromyogram. The root mean square signals normalized as a percentage of maximum voluntary isometric contraction values (RMS%MVC) and the mean power frequency (MPF) were calculated. Results During STS, knee OA patients had increased RMS%MVC of the vastus medialis and raised MPF of the rectus femoris before buttocks-off. Conclusion These findings suggest that STS of knee OA patients not only increased relative muscle activity of the vastus medialis, but also enlisted the rectus femoris in knee extension to improve muscle contraction force by activating more type II fibers to accomplish buttocks-off.
A Lightweight Concept Drift Detection Ensemble

Uncovering information from large data streams containing changes in the data distribution (concept drift) make online learning a challenge that is progressively becoming more relevant. This paper proposes Drift Detection Ensemble (DDE), a small ensemble classifier that aggregates the warnings and drift detections of three concept drift detectors aiming to improve the results of the individual methods using different strategies and configurations. DDE was programmed to use different default combinations of detectors depending on the chosen sensitivity of the ensemble. Experiments were performed against six drift detectors using their default configurations, comparing their results on multiple artificial datasets containing different frequencies and durations of concept drifts, as well as real-world datasets. Our results indicate that the best two methods were DDE versions and they were statistically superior to several detectors.
Intraperitoneal Administration of a Tumor-Associated Antigen SART3, CD40L, and GM-CSF Gene-Loaded Polyplex Micelle Elicits a Vaccine Effect in Mouse Tumor Models

Polyplex micelles have demonstrated biocompatibility and achieve efficient gene transfection in vivo. Here, we investigated a polyplex micelle encapsulating genes encoding the tumor-associated antigen squamous cell carcinoma antigen recognized by T cells-3 (SART3), adjuvant CD40L, and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) as a DNA vaccine platform in mouse tumor models with different types of major histocompatibility antigen complex (MHC). Intraperitoneally administrated polyplex micelles were predominantly found in the lymph nodes, spleen, and liver. Compared with mock controls, the triple gene vaccine significantly prolonged the survival of mice harboring peritoneal dissemination of CT26 colorectal cancer cells, of which long-term surviving mice showed complete rejection when re-challenged with CT26 tumors. Moreover, the DNA vaccine inhibited the growth and metastasis of subcutaneous CT26 and Lewis lung tumors in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, respectively, which represent different MHC haplotypes. The DNA vaccine highly stimulated both cytotoxic T lymphocyte and natural killer cell activities, and increased the infiltration of CD11c+ DCs and CD4+/CD8a+ T cells into tumors. Depletion of CD4+ or CD8a+ T cells by neutralizing antibodies deteriorated the anti-tumor efficacy of the DNA vaccine. In conclusion, a SART3/CD40L+GM-CSF gene-loaded polyplex micelle can be applied as a novel vaccine platform to elicit tumor rejection immunity regardless of the recipient MHC haplotype.
Architecture considerations for tracing incoherent rays

This paper proposes a massively parallel hardware architecture for efficient tracing of incoherent rays, e.g. for global illumination. The general approach is centered around hierarchical treelet subdivision of the acceleration structure and repeated queueing/postponing of rays to reduce cache pressure. We describe a heuristic algorithm for determining the treelet subdivision, and show that our architecture can reduce the total memory bandwidth requirements by up to 90% in difficult scenes. Furthermore the architecture allows submitting rays in an arbitrary order with practically no performance penalty. We also conclude that scheduling algorithms can have an important effect on results, and that using fixed-size queues is not an appealing design choice. Increased auxiliary traffic, including traversal stacks, is identified as the foremost remaining challenge of this architecture.
Property testing and its connection to learning and approximation

The authors study the question of determining whether an unknown function has a particular property or is /spl epsiv/-far from any function with that property. A property testing algorithm is given a sample of the value of the function on instances drawn according to some distribution, and possibly may query the function on instances of its choice. First, they establish some connections between property testing and problems in learning theory. Next, they focus on testing graph properties, and devise algorithms to test whether a graph has properties such as being k-colorable or having a /spl rho/-clique (clique of density /spl rho/ w.r.t. the vertex set). The graph property testing algorithms are probabilistic and make assertions which are correct with high probability utilizing only poly(1//spl epsiv/) edge-queries into the graph, where /spl epsiv/ is the distance parameter. Moreover, the property testing algorithms can be used to efficiently (i.e., in time linear in the number of vertices) construct partitions of the graph which correspond to the property being tested, if it holds for the input graph.
Mystery shopping in health service evaluation.

BACKGROUND Over the last 5 years, primary care telephone triage systems have been introduced in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and most recently in New Zealand. Evaluation of the clinical safety of such systems poses a challenge for health planners and researchers. AIM To evaluate the use of simulated patients in the assessment of aspects of clinical safety in a pilot New Zealand primary care telephone triage service. DESIGN OF STUDY 'Mystery shopping', an evaluation strategy commonly used in market research, was adapted by using simulated patients for telephone triage service evaluation. SETTING New Zealand. METHODS Four scripted clinical scenarios were developed by academic general practitioners, validated in student teaching situations, and then used by simulated patients to make 101 telephone calls. The scenarios were designed to necessitate a referral to a medical practitioner for further investigation. The documentation kept by the callers was compared with the call records from the telephone triage company, and both were analysed for capture and handling of the clinical safety features of each scenario. In cases where the endpoint was not a medical assessment, possible reasons for this were explored. RESULTS Records were retrieved for 85 telephone calls. Considerable triage variability was discovered. There were discrepancies between expected and actual triage outcomes with 51% of analysed calls resulting in a self-care recommendation. A number of reasons were identified both for the triage variability and the unpredicted outcomes. Audiotaping of consultations would have enhanced the credibility of the evaluation but it would have carried ethical constraints. CONCLUSION Simulated patients can be used to evaluate the limitations of health services and to identify areas that could be addressed to improve patient safety. Evaluation of patient satisfaction with services is not sufficient alone to evaluate safety.
N-Gram Approach for Gender Prediction

The Internet was growing with huge amount of information, through Blogs, Twitter tweets, Reviews, social media network and with other information content. Most of the text in the internet was unstructured and anonymous. Author Profiling is a text classification technique that is used to predict the profiling characteristics of the authors like gender, age, country, native language and educational background by analyzing their texts. Researchers proposed different types of features such as lexical, content based, structural and syntactic features to identify the writing styles of the authors. Most of the existing approaches in Author Profiling used the combination of features to represent a document vector for classification. In this paper, a new model was proposed in which document weights were calculated with combination of POS N-grams and most frequent terms. These document weights were used to represent the document vectors for classification. This experiment was carried out on the reviews domain to predict the gender of the authors and the achieved results were promising when compared with the existing approaches in Author Profiling.
Adaptive linearization of hysteresis for enhanced positional accuracy of robotic arm

Precision control of multi-axis piezo actuated micro / nanopositioning stages suffers not only from the inherent nonlinearities but also from parametric variations and uncertainties. In order to effectively implement any real-time control theory to mitigate the effects of nonlinearity, an adaptive mechanism to update the control system is a prerequisite. This paper investigates the effects of hysteretic nonlinearity in a second order Dahl model based piezoelectric manipulator. The plant performance is known to improve with injection of a suitable dose of noise called “dither”. The concept of dither based control is interwoven with the conventional PID controller to introduce a novel adaptive dither control strategy. A double axis piezo stage is considered for controller design and validation. The controller performance is ascertained using three specific tests - a) Tracking Error Test, b) Multi-frequency, multi-amplitude tracking test and c) Two-axis Circular Contour Tracking Test. Results show an enhanced positioning accuracy of the manipulator in the presence of proposed control scheme than without it. The proposed control transpires as an effective control to improve tracking accuracy and resist external disturbances.