Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychometrically Equivalent Cantonese Bisyllabic Word Recognition Materials Spoken by Male and Female Talkers

PSYCHOMETRICALLY EQUIVALENT CANTONESE BISYLLABIC WORD RECOGNITION MATERIALS SPOKEN BY MALE AND FEMALE TALKERS Brooke Kristin Conklin Department of Communication Disorders Master of Science The purpose of this study was to create psychometrically equivalent word lists in the language of Cantonese for word recognition testing. Frequently used bisyllabic Cantonese words were recorded by a native female and male talker. The word lists were evaluated by administering the word recognition lists to 20 native speakers of Cantonese with normal hearing. Each list was presented at 10 different intensity levels ranging from -5 to 40 dB HL in 5 dB increments. Logistic regression was used to determine the words with the steepest logistic regression slopes. The 200 words with the steepest slopes were then formulated into four lists of 50 words and eight half-lists of 25 words. The mean psychometric slope value at the 50% location for the male talker was 7.5%/dB while the mean slope for the female talker was slightly steeper at 7.6%/dB. The word lists were digitally recorded on compact discs for worldwide use.
Effect of an Essential-Oil and a Delmopinol Mouthrinse on Dental Plaque and Gingival Bleeding

Objective: This study aims to compare the effects of an Essential-Oil mouthrinse (EO) and a Delmopinol mouthrinse (DM) on gingival bleeding and dental-plaque in healthy adults. Methods: Ninety subjects entered were selected to participate in the clinical trial (49% males and 51% females; mean age of 32.3 years), with a minimum of 6 teeth per quadrant and periodontal pockets depth less than 5 mm. Every patient received a dental hygiene appointment. After the appointment, subjects were allocated to one of three study groups: Group 1 - Cool Mint Listerine (EG); Group 2 – Decapinol (DG); Group 3 – Control (no mouth rinse). Mouth rinse groups were asked to use the solution for two weeks, following manufacturer’s instructions. Gingival bleeding was accessed using the Gingival Index (GI), and Dental Plaque was accessed by the Quigley-Hein-Turesky Index. Results: There were no baseline differences between groups regarding dental plaque and bleeding indexes. For GI, only the DG group had statistically significant lower scores than the Control group (p<0.05), with 33.8% difference. DG and EG results were not statistically different. For Plaque Index, only the EG group had a statistically significant lower index score than the Control group (p<0.05). EG and DG did not statistically differ. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant reduction in GI scores for DG group vs. Control group and a statistically significant reduction of Dental Plaque index score in the EG vs. Control. EG and DG groups did not differ between them for both indexes scores. Although statistical significance was attained, clinical significance may not be of consequence.
Identification of a Plasmid-Borne Resistance Gene Cluster Comprising the Resistance Genes erm(T), dfrK, and tet(L) in a Porcine Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST398 Strain

ABSTRACT A novel plasmid-borne resistance gene cluster comprising the genes erm(T) for macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance, dfrK for trimethoprim resistance, and tet(L) for tetracycline resistance was identified in a porcine methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sequence type 398 (ST398) strain. This erm(T)-dfrK-tet(L) region was flanked by copies of the novel IS element ISSau10. The erm(T) region resembled that of Streptococcus pyogenes plasmid pRW35. The erm(T) gene of pKKS25 was expressed constitutively due to a 57-bp deletion in the erm(T) translational attenuator.
Experimental Study on the Impact of Soil Conductivity on Underground Magneto-Inductive Channel

This letter presents our experimental endeavor to characterize underground magneto-inductive channels. Specifically, a range of experiments are conducted in realistic underground environments, and the measurement data are compared with channel models established in prior publications. The channel model incorporates the impact of soil conductivity, is found in better agreement with the measurement data than models without soil conductivity included. It is therefore concluded that soil conductivity plays a significant role in underground magneto-inductive channels and must be modeled accurately.
Event-Triggering Sampling Based Leader-Following Consensus in Second-Order Multi-Agent Systems

In this note, the problem of second-order leader-following consensus by a novel distributed event-triggered sampling scheme in which agents exchange information via a limited communication medium is studied. Event-based distributed sampling rules are designed, where each agent decides when to measure its own state value and requests its neighbor agents broadcast their state values across the network when a locally-computed measurement error exceeds a state-dependent threshold. For the case of fixed topology, a necessary and sufficient condition is established. For the case of switching topology, a sufficient condition is obtained under the assumption that the time-varying directed graph is uniformly jointly connected. It is shown that the inter-event intervals are lower bounded by a strictly positive constant, which excludes the Zeno-behavior before the consensus is achieved. Numerical simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the correctness of theoretical results.
Linear Non-competitive Inhibition of Solubilized Human γ-Secretase by Pepstatin A Methylester, L685458, Sulfonamides, and Benzodiazepines*

Cerebral deposition of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Because Aβ is produced from the processing of amyloid β-protein precursor (APP) by β- and γ-secretases, these enzymes are considered important therapeutic targets for identification of drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease. Unlike β-secretase, which is a monomeric aspartyl protease, γ-secretase activity resides as part of a membrane-bound, high molecular weight, macromolecular complex. Pepstatin and L685458 are among several structural classes of γ-secretase inhibitors identified so far. These compounds possess a hydroxyethylene dipeptide isostere of aspartyl protease transition state analogs, suggesting γ-secretase may be an aspartyl protease. However, the mechanism of inhibition of γ-secretase by pepstatin and L685458 has not been elucidated. In this study, we report that pepstatin A methylester and L685458 unexpectedly displayed linear non-competitive inhibition of γ-secretase. Sulfonamides and benzodiazepines, which do not resemble transition state analogs of aspartyl proteases, also displayed potent, non-competitive inhibition of γ-secretase. Models to rationalize how transition state analogs inhibit their targets by non-competitive inhibition are discussed.
Reduction of Hole Injection Barrier Height at TCO/P Interface Using a-SiO:H Interlayer

In a thin film, p-i-n solar cell the front contact interface loss due to high band bending between TCO front contact and p-type window layer can be minimized by inserting a wind band gap hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide interlayer at the TCO/p interface. In this paper, a simulation and experimental investigation on the performance of p-i-n solar cell by inserting the intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (i-a-SiO:H) at the TCO/p interface has been carried out. A device quality wide bandgap i-a-SiO:H interlayer was prepared at 230 °C substrate temperature by using radio frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (13.56 MHz RF-PECVD) technique. The experimental results in this study showed that the integration of interlayer at the TCO/p interface reduces the barrier height from 0.513 to 0.472 eV resulting the power conversion efficiency (η) of 9.38% and fill factor (FF) of 74.8% for a single-junction p-i-n solar cell with an active area of 1.0 cm2. In addition, the electrically and optically calibrated simulations also confirm that the application of interlayer at the TCO/p interface reduces the barrier height. As a result, the electric filed over the frontal region has decreased, which aided to minimize the recombination of photogenerated holes with back diffusing electrons at the front contact. The spectral response of the solar cell with interlayer has also improved significantly in the lower wavelength region (350–600 nm) in comparison to the cell without an interlayer at the TCO/p interface.
Cementum and Dentin in Hypophosphatasia

Hypophosphatasia (HPP) often leads to premature loss of deciduous teeth, due to disturbed cementum formation. We addressed the question to what extent cementum and dentin are similarly affected. To this end, we compared teeth from children with HPP with those from matched controls and analyzed them microscopically and chemically. It was observed that both acellular and cellular cementum formation was affected. For dentin, however, no differences in mineral content were recorded. To explain the dissimilar effects on cementum and dentin in HPP, we assessed pyrophosphate (an inhibitor of mineralization) and the expression/activity of enzymes related to pyrophosphate metabolism in both the periodontal ligament and the pulp of normal teeth. Expression of nucleotide pyrophosphatase phosphodiesterase 1 (NPP1) in pulp proved to be significantly lower than in the periodontal ligament. Also, the activity of NPP1 was less in pulp, as was the concentration of pyrophosphate. Our findings suggest that mineralization of dentin is less likely to be under the influence of the inhibitory action of pyrophosphate than mineralization of cementum.
Improvement on dynamic tiled terrain rendering algorithm in libMini

As an open source library for large-scale terrain rendering in a continuous LOD high field, libMini takes a top-down method for static terrain rendering and achieves good performance. However, it uses the same top-down method to render elevation and texture for dynamic terrain. The method consumes a few seconds to update dynamic terrain and thus does not meet realtime requirements for rendering and leads to possible holes and gaps between adjacent terrain tiles. A millisecond-level real-time bottom-up libMini-based algorithm is proposed to render dynamic terrain while a method is presented to blend holes and gaps produced during the process of rendering dynamic tiled terrain.
Segmenting Color Image of Plants with a Spatio-colorimetric Approach

An unsupervised vectorial segmentation method using both spatial and color information is presented. To overcome the problem of memory space, this method is based on a multidimensional compact histogram and an original compact spatial neighborhood probability matrix (SNPM). The multidimensional compact histogram allows a drastic reduction of memory space without any data loss. Leaning upon the compact histogram, a SNPM has been computed. It contains all non-negative probabilities of spatial connectivity between pixel colors. In an unsupervised histogram analysis classification process, two phases are classically distinguished: (i) a learning process during which histogram modes are identified and (ii) a second step called the decision step in which a full partition of the colorimetric space is carried out according the previously defined classes. During the second step of a standard colorimetric approach, a colorimetric distance like Euclidean or Mahalanobis is used. We insert here a spatio-colorimetric distance defined as a weighed mixture between a colorimetric distance and the spatial distance calculated from the SNPM. The vectorial classification method is based on previously presented principles, achieving a hierarchical analysis of the color histogram by means of a 3D-connected components labeling. Results are applied to color images of plants to separate plantlets and loam.
Temporal Coupling Is More Robust Than Spatial Coupling: An Investigation of Interlimb Coordination After Stroke

ABSTRACT Interlimb coordination obtained through temporal and spatial coupling is a significant feature of human motor control. To understand the robustness of this capability the authors introduced a method to quantify interlimb coordination strength and compare individuals with asymmetric effector ability poststroke to nondisabled controls. Quantitative analyses determined the relative strength of interlimb coupling with an asymmetric obstacle avoidance task. Participants performed bimanual discrete, multijoint aiming movements in the frontal plane with a vertical barrier positioned midway to the target for one limb. To quantify coupling strength between limbs and groups, we regressed individual participant nonbarrier limb movement time or maximum vertical displacement separately, on barrier limb performance. Temporal and spatial interlimb coupling strength varied across participants in both groups. Barrier limb performance predicted nonbarrier limb behavior; however, interlimb coupling was significantly stronger for the nondisabled compared to the stroke group. In the stroke group, deficits in interlimb coordination affected spatial coupling more than temporal coupling. The decreased coupling strength detected, even in the presence of mild hemiparesis, demonstrates the measure's sensitivity. The authors propose this metric as a powerful assessment of the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions and to monitor the recovery of bimanual coordination poststroke.
Fusion strategy for single image dehazing

The objective of image enhancement is to process a given image so that the result is more suitable than the original image for a specific application. Images of scenes acquired in bad weather have poor contrasts and colors. It is known that the degradation of image quality due to bad weather is exponential in the depths of the scene points. Therefore, restoring scene colors and contrasts from a single image of the scene is inherently under-constrained. From this original degraded image, fusion strategy aims to dehaze the image and improve its visual quality. It is a single image approach that enhances the visibility of such degraded scenes by performing a haze detection first. For further preprocessing two inputs are derived, they are the white balanced and contrast enhanced versions of the original hazy image. Then certain weight maps are defined and these weight maps aim to increase the visibility of the scene. To minimize artifacts introduced by the weight maps, a multi-scale representation is designed. Finally fusion of these inputs and weight maps yields final dehazed output.
The Importance of Context: Risk-based De-identification of Biomedical Data

Summary Background: Data sharing is a central aspect of modern biomedical research. It is accompanied by significant privacy concerns and often data needs to be protected from re-identification. With methods of de-identification datasets can be transformed in such a way that it becomes extremely difficult to link their records to identified individuals. The most important challenge in this process is to find an adequate balance between an increase in privacy and a decrease in data quality. Objectives: Accurately measuring the risk of re-identification in a specific data sharing scenario is an important aspect of data de-identification. Overestimation of risks will significantly deteriorate data quality, while underestimation will leave data prone to attacks on privacy. Several models have been proposed for measuring risks, but there is a lack of generic methods for risk-based data de-identification. The aim of the work described in this article was to bridge this gap and to show how the quality of de-identified datasets can be improved by using risk models to tailor the process of de-identification to a concrete context. Methods: We implemented a generic de-identification process and several models for measuring re-identification risks into the ARX de-identification tool for biomedical data. By integrating the methods into an existing framework, we were able to automatically transform datasets in such a way that information loss is minimized while it is ensured that re-identification risks meet a user-defined threshold. We performed an extensive experimental evaluation to analyze the impact of using different risk models and assumptions about the goals and the background knowledge of an attacker on the quality of de-identified data. Results: The results of our experiments show that data quality can be improved significantly by using risk models for data de-identification. On a scale where 100 % represents the original input dataset and 0 % represents a dataset from which all information has been removed, the loss of information content could be reduced by up to 10 % when protecting datasets against strong adversaries and by up to 24 % when protecting datasets against weaker adversaries. Conclusions: The methods studied in this article are well suited for protecting sensitive biomedical data and our implementation is available as open-source software. Our results can be used by data custodians to increase the information content of de-identified data by tailoring the process to a specific data sharing scenario. Improving data quality is important for fostering the adoption of de-identification methods in biomedical research.
Realistic human head voxel model for brain microwave imaging

Numerical human phantoms are the models of human body used in numerical studies. This phantoms have extensive applications in radiation dosimetry as well as electromagnetic analysis. A detailed human body phantom could be considered as a great means for simulation and analysis of the electromagnetic phenomena and electrical devices adjacent to human body. In this work, a human head voxel model is developed for use in CST Studio Suit commercial software pack using an improved voxels set which is extracted from MRI images of a human head. The proposed voxel model contains 256×256×128 voxels elements with dimensions of 1.1×1.1×1.4 mm. Moreover, the dispersive dielectric properties of head tissues as well as their density and thermal conductivity were embedded.
Density-wave instability in α-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4 studied by x-ray diffuse scattering and by first-principles calculations

-BEDT-TTF2KHgSCN4 develops a density wave ground state belo w8Kw hose origin is still debated. Here we report a combined x-ray diffuse scattering and first-principles density functional theory study supporting the charge density wave CDW scenario. In particular, we observe a triply incommensurate anharmonic lattice modulation with intralayer wave vector components which coincide within experimental errors to the maximum of the calculated Lindhard response function. A detailed study of the structural aspects of the modulation shows that the CDW instability in -BEDT-TTF2KHgSCN4 is considerably more involved than those following a standard Peierls mechanism. We thus propose a microscopic mechanism where the CDW instability of the BEDT-TTF layer is triggered by the anion sublattice. Our mechanism also emphasizes the key role of the coupling of the BEDT-TTF and anion layers via the hydrogen bond network to set the global modulation.
How Long Does a Bug Survive? An Empirical Study

Corrective maintenance activities (bug fixing) can be performed a long time after a bug introduction, or shortly after it. Such a time interval, i.e., the bug survival time, may depend on many factors, e.g., the bug severity/harmfulness, but also on how likely does the bug manifest itself and how difficult was to fix it. This paper proposes the use of survival analysis aimed at determining the relationship between the risk of not fixing a bug within a given time frame and specific source code constructs-e.g., expression operators or programming language constructs-changed when fixing the bug. We estimate the survival time by extracting, from versioning repositories, changes introducing and fixing bugs, and then correlate such a time-by means of survival models-with the constructs changed during bug-fixing. Results of a study performed on data extracted from the versioning repository of four open source projects-Eclipse, Mozilla, Open LDAP, and Vuze-indicate that long-lived bugs can be characterized by changes to specific code constructs.
n-Dimensional Moment Invariants and Conceptual Mathematical Theory of Recognition n-Dimensional Solids

The proof of the generalized fundamental theorem of moment invariants (GFTMI) is presented for n-dimensional pattern recognition. On the basis of GFTMI, the moment invariants of affine transformation and subgroups of affine transformation are constructed. Using these invariants, the conceptual mathematical theory of recognition of geometric figures, solids, and their n-dimensional generalizations is worked out. By means of this theory, it is possible for the first time to analyze scenes consisting not only of polygons and polyhedra, but also scenes consisting of geometric figures and solids with curved contours and surfaces, respectively. In general, it is the author's opinion that this theory is a useful step toward the essential development of robot vision and toward creating machine intelligence-to make machines able to think by means of geometric concepts of different generalities and dimensions, and by associations of these concepts.
News Values and the Ethical Dilemmas of Covering Violent Extremism

This article examines the relationship between news media and violent extremism to explore the ethical issues emanating from it. It draws on news value theory and journalism ethics literature and analyzes data from individual and group interviews with 41 journalists and newsroom observations to highlight the ethical challenges of covering the Boko Haram insurgency. Findings suggest that journalists face dilemmas in content selection, source relationship, framing stories, and dealing with victims; and that terror reporting impacts on their personal safety and professional sustainability. The elements of newsworthiness push the media toward excessive reporting of extremism but journalism ethics plays restraining roles.
The impact of product proliferation in reverse supply chain

In a highly competitive market, product variety is one of the most important competitive advantages. However, excessive product proliferation will hurt firm's profit. Hence, how to manage product variety to maximize profit becomes an important issue. In a closed-loop supply chain, product proliferation not only impacts the forward supply chain, but also the reverse one. Although increasing number of product types will satisfy customer's divers needs better, complexity of product recycling, remanufacturing, and resale process may erode firm's profit. In this research, we develop a mathematical model to analyze a capacitated reverse supply chain, consisting of single remanufacturer and multiple retailers. The closed-form solutions for optimal batch size and maximal profit are found. The managerial insights regarding how number of products and other factors impact batch size and profit are discussed. In addition, the relationship between product proliferation and the choice of logistic strategies is also investigated.