Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic assessment of children's reading with the FLaVoR decoding using a phone confusion model

Reading skills of children can be improved with the help of automatic reading tutors (ART), i.e. interactive software with an appealing interface which supports and challenges the child in the reading task, provides instantaneous feedback and automatically assesses its reading skills. For this purpose, ARTs beneﬁt from automatic speech recognition technology for tracking the child’s responses and detecting reading miscues (errors). In previous work, a novel speech recognition architecture has been proposed which adopts a two-layered structure: ﬁrst a phone recognizer uses task-independent acoustic and language models to generate a phone lattice which is then decoded using a lexicon of expected words and task-dependent ﬁnite state grammars. This approach has shown signiﬁcant improvements in reading miscue detection. In this paper, we extend this technique by employing a more ﬂexible decoding scheme that allows substitution, deletion and insertion of phones. Speciﬁcally, the phone lattice generated in the ﬁrst layer is extended based on a phone confusion matrix that models the typical phone confusions in a language. The proposed system has provided improved miscue detection on the CHOREC database compared to a baseline system without a phone confusion model.
CO in the Bipolar Radio Continuum Galaxy NGC 3367

CO(1–0) emission has been imaged at 2″ resolution in the central 10 kpc of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3367. This galaxy has bipolar synchrotron lobes out to a radius of 6 kpc, straddling the compact nucleus. The peak molecular emission is in a source of radius 2″ (425 pc) centered on the galaxy nucleus. The molecular gas mass is ∼3 × 108 M⊙ in this peak and ∼5.9 × 108 M⊙ within a radius of 4. ″5 (950 pc). The very large gas masses in the central source imply extinctions sufficiently high to completely obscure optical emission lines (e.g., broad-line region) associated with the nuclear radio source. The observed Balmer lines probably originate in the narrow-line region a few hundred parsecs from the nucleus. The CO emission in the central region is elongated northeast-southwest, very similar to the position angle of the large-scale synchrotron lobes. This elongation is likely due to the nonaxisymmetric gravitational potential of the stellar bar. We infer that the northeast radio continuum lobe is on the far side of the galaxy and the southwest lobe is on the near side. The central mass of molecular gas is of sufficient mass to power the active galactic nucleus accretion luminosity for over 108 yr at 3 M⊙ yr-1.
Incremental k-Nearest-Neighbor Search on Road Networks

Most query search on road networks is either to find objects within a certain range (range search) or to find K nearest neighbors (KNN) on the actual road network map. In this paper, we propose a novel query, that is, incremental k nearest neighbor (iKNN). iKNN can be defined as given a set of candidate interest objects, a query point and the number of objects k, find a path which starts at the query point, goes through k interest objects and the distance of this path is the shortest among all possible paths. This is a new type of query, which can be used when we want to visit k interest objects one by one from the query point. This approach is based on expanding the network from the query point, keeping the results in a query set and updating the query set when reaching network intersection or interest objects. The basic theory of this approach is Dijkstra's algorithm and the Incremental Network Expansion (INE) algorithm. Our experiment verified the applicability of the proposed approach to solve the queries, which involve finding incremental k nearest neighbor.
Quantifying the building stock from optical high-resolution satellite imagery for assessing disaster risk

This study uses high-resolution (HR) satellite imagery to quantify the stock of buildings, referred herein as building stock. The risk assessment requires information on the natural hazards and on the element at risk, that is the building stock in this article. This study combines (1) texture-based image processing to map built-up areas, (2) statistical sampling that allows locating the building samples and (3) photo-interpretation to encoding building footprints. Statistical inference is then used to quantify the building stock per class of building size. Legaspi in the Philippines is used as a case study. The results show that texture-based computer algorithms provide accurate area estimations of the built-up, that the detail of HR imagery allows the mapping of single buildings using photo-interpretation, and that a systematic sampling approach that uses building encoding and built-up maps can be used to quantify the building stock.
Glossary for econometrics and epidemiology

Epidemiologists and econometricians are often interested in similar topics—socioeconomic position and health outcomes—but the different languages that epidemiologists and economists use to interpret and discuss their results can create a barrier to mutual communication. This glossary defines key terms used in econometrics and epidemiology to assist in bridging this gap.
FAU: Fast and error-optimized approximate adder units on LUT-Based FPGAs

During the design of embedded systems, many design decisions have to be made to trade off between conflicting objectives such as cost, performance, and power. Approximate computing allows to optimize each objective, yet for the sake of accuracy. This means that a functional flaw is allowed to produce an error as long as this is small enough to maintain a feasible operation of the system or guarantee a certain accuracy of the results. In this paper, we propose a new technique for approximate addition optimized for LUT-Based FPGAs with segmented carry chains. Our optimized adder structure is able to a) best exploit artifacts of LUT-Based FPGAs such as unused inputs and b) provide a smaller average error than previously proposed approximate adder structures, as well as c) a reduced critical path delay than dedicated accurate logic in modern FPGAs. We present a novel stochastic error calculus that is able to take into account also non-uniform input distributions and present a detailed comparison of approximate adder structures proposed in literature with our novel LUT-Based approximate arithmetic structure.
Purified Bacillus anthracis Lethal Toxin Complex Formed in Vitro and during Infection Exhibits Functional and Biological Activity*

Anthrax protective antigen (PA, 83 kDa), a pore-forming protein, upon protease activation to 63 kDa (PA63), translocates lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF) from endosomes into the cytosol of the cell. The relatively small size of the heptameric PA63 pore (∼12 Å) raises questions as to how large molecules such as LF and EF can move through the pore. In addition, the reported high binding affinity between PA and EF/LF suggests that EF/LF may not dissociate but remain complexed with activated PA63. In this study, we found that purified (PA63)7-LF complex exhibited biological and functional activities similar to the free LF. Purified LF complexed with PA63 heptamer was able to cleave both a synthetic peptide substrate and endogenous mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase substrates and kill susceptible macrophage cells. Electrophysiological studies of the complex showed strong rectification of the ionic current at positive voltages, an effect similar to that observed if LF is added to the channels formed by heptameric PA63 pore. Complexes of (PA63)7-LF found in the plasma of infected animals showed functional activity. Identifying active complex in the blood of infected animals has important implications for therapeutic design, especially those directed against PA and LF. Our studies suggest that the individual toxin components and the complex must be considered as critical targets for anthrax therapeutics.
Ageing of high voltage cable insulation

There is great interest in understanding the ageing and degradation of electrical insulation in an effort to improve its lifetime and efficiency. This paper investigates the affect artificial ageing by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has on the charge movement in 100 μm low density polyethylene (LDPE) films. Ageing takes place under a 254nm, 36W, fluorescent tube, in 3 and 7 day intervals up to a total of 17 days. Chemical changes are analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to investigate oxidation products. Samples are boiled in xylene to investigate changes in cross linking due to the UV ageing. The electrical properties are analyzed in terms of electrical strength, relative permittivity, dielectric loss and charge movement. Charge movement is investigated through space charge profiles using the pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) technique. The emission of a faint light, known as electroluminescence (EL) is also investigated to interpret charge movement near the electrode-polymer interface. Results suggest that increases in oxidation products result in the easier conduction and recombination of charge carriers due to the carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, supported by a reduced EL emission. Space charge measurements suggest increased quantity of deep trapping sites due to slow charge decay.
Collusion Price Sustainability under Demand Uncertainty and Smooth Transition Market Share

We analyze the sustainability over time of collusion equilibrium in a two ̄rms market with uncertain demand and risk neutrality, modeling uncertainty under several di®erent distributional assumptions. Expected demand is assumed to be subject to inertia in that a di®erence between the two ̄rms' prices results in a smooth variation of the market share instead of a discrete 0-1 outcome; demand is modeled as continuous in the price di®erence and secret price cuts result in the increase of the own market share and pro ̄t. We show that when secret price cuts cannot be observed directly and cheating may be inferred only on the ground of the own pro ̄t's level, the higher demand uncertainty, the more deviating from collusion equilibrium pays. Under the assumption of trigger strategies and ̄rms employing a tail test based upon a threshold pro ̄t level to detect price cuttings, we ̄nd that strict detection rules result to be less e®ective than milder ones in order to avoid deviation.
Transcriptional Activation of the Cyclin A Gene by the Architectural Transcription Factor HMGA2

ABSTRACT The HMGA2 protein belongs to the HMGA family of architectural transcription factors, which play an important role in chromatin organization. HMGA proteins are overexpressed in several experimental and human tumors and have been implicated in the process of neoplastic transformation. Hmga2 knockout results in the pygmy phenotype in mice and in a decreased growth rate of embryonic fibroblasts, thus indicating a role for HMGA2 in cell proliferation. Here we show that HMGA2 associates with the E1A-regulated transcriptional repressor p120E4F, interfering with p120E4F binding to the cyclin A promoter. Ectopic expression of HMGA2 results in the activation of the cyclin A promoter and induction of the endogenous cyclin A gene. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments show that HMGA2 associates with the cyclin A promoter only when the gene is transcriptionally activated. These data identify the cyclin A gene as a cellular target for HMGA2 and, for the first time, suggest a mechanism for HMGA2-dependent cell cycle regulation.
Electrothermal investigation on through silicon multi-walled carbon nanotube via interconnects

This paper presents hybrid analysis of through silicon multi-walled carbon nanotube vias. A set of equivalent lumped-element circuit models for two through silicon multi-walled carbon nanotube via (TS-MWCNTV) interconnects are proposed, with quantum effect treated appropriately. The methods for characterizing all frequency- and temperature-dependent RLCG parameters of a couple of TS-MWCNTVs are then given, including their effective capacitance, effective conductance, and characteristic impedance. Further, hybrid effects of frequency, as well as temperature on the conductance of open structure is examined. Also, the time delay of the TS-MWCNTV is studied.
Ricci identities in higher dimensions

We explore connections between geometrical properties of null congruences and the algebraic structure of the Weyl tensor in n > 4 spacetime dimensions. First, we present the full set of Ricci identities on a suitable ‘null’ frame, thus completing the extension of the Newman–Penrose formalism to higher dimensions. Then we specialize to geodetic null congruences and study specific consequences of the Sachs equations. These imply, for example, that Kundt spacetimes are of type II or more special (like for n = 4) and that for odd n a twisting geodetic WAND must also be shearing (in contrast to the case n = 4).
Enabling event tracing at leadership-class scale through I/O forwarding middleware

Event tracing is an important tool for understanding the performance of parallel applications. As concurrency increases in leadership-class computing systems, the quantity of performance log data can overload the parallel file system, perturbing the application being observed. In this work we present a solution for event tracing at leadership scales. We enhance the I/O forwarding system software to aggregate and reorganize log data prior to writing to the storage system, significantly reducing the burden on the underlying file system for this type of traffic. Furthermore, we augment the I/O forwarding system with a write buffering capability to limit the impact of artificial perturbations from log data accesses on traced applications. To validate the approach, we modify the Vampir tracing toolset to take advantage of this new capability and show that the approach increases the maximum traced application size by a factor of 5x to more than 200,000 processes.
The Montreal classification for Crohn's disease: clinical application to a Brazilian single-center cohort of 90 consecutive patients.

CONTEXT Crohn's disease presents very heterogeneous features from a clinical point of view, and classifying Crohn's disease patients in homogeneous subgroups in the light of genetic, molecular and clinical aspects is challenging. The Montreal Classification for Crohn's disease was proposed in 2005 as an effort to characterize Crohn's disease patients according to recent clinical and research advances in the field of inflammatory bowel disease. Since its proposition, the Montreal Classification needs an ample validation and application among different populations around the world. To date, there are no known studies applying the Montreal Classification to a Brazilian cohort of Crohn's disease patients. OBJECTIVES To apply the Montreal Classification to a Brazilian cohort of Crohn's disease patients at a referral center for inflammatory bowel disease in Northwestern São Paulo State, Brazil. METHODS We selected 90 consecutive well-characterized Crohn's disease patients assisted at Inflammatory Bowel Disease Outpatient Clinic between January 1992 and January 2007, with a minimum follow-up of 2 years; data concerning demographic characteristics, clinical onset of disease, age at diagnosis, time of disease, location and behavior of disease, presence of extraintestinal manifestations, familial occurrence, perianal involvement, treatment with biological drugs, and history of surgical treatment were evaluated. RESULTS Male patients were predominant (54%), with a mean age at diagnosis of 33 ± 14 years old, and a median followup of 5.5 years. Most of the patients were diagnosed between 17 and 40 years old (59%), and had disease located in terminal ileum 46%), with a nonstricturing, nonpenetrating behavior (71%). Time of disease was correlated with necessity of biological treatment, disease behavior, and surgical treatment (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS These study findings are consistent with results from other studies conducted among different populations, although a further multicentric study with a larger number of patients would be necessary to validate the Montreal Classification among Brazilian population.
Automatic and Semi-Automatic Document Selection for Technology-Assisted Review

Abstract In the TREC Total Recall Track (2015-2016), participating teams could employ either fully automatic or human-assisted ("semi-automatic") methods to select documents for relevance assessment by a simulated human reviewer. According to the TREC 2016 evaluation, the fully automatic baseline method achieved a recall-precision breakeven ("R-precision") score of 0.71, while the two semi-automatic efforts achieved scores of 0.67 and 0.51. In this work, we investigate the extent to which the observed effectiveness of the different methods may be confounded by chance, by inconsistent adherence to the Track guidelines, by selection bias in the evaluation method, or by discordant relevance assessments. We find no evidence that any of these factors could yield relative effectiveness scores inconsistent with the official TREC 2016 ranking.
Confluence of Depression and Acute Psychological Stress Among Patients With Stable Coronary Heart Disease: Effects on Myocardial Perfusion

Background Depression is prevalent in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and increases risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) recurrence and mortality despite optimal medical care. The pathways underlying this risk remain elusive. Psychological stress (PS) can provoke impairment in myocardial perfusion and trigger ACS. A confluence of acute PS with depression might reveal coronary vascular mechanisms of risk. We tested whether depression increased risk for impaired myocardial perfusion during acute PS among patients with stable CHD. Methods and Results Patients (N=146) completed the Beck Depression Inventory‐I (BDI‐I), a measure of depression linked to recurrent ACS and post‐ACS mortality, and underwent single‐photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging at rest and during acute PS. The likelihood of new/worsening impairment in myocardial perfusion from baseline to PS as a function of depression severity was tested. On the BDI‐I, 41 patients scored in the normal range, 48 in the high normal range, and 57 in the depressed range previously linked to CHD prognosis. A BDI‐I score in the depressed range was associated with a significantly greater likelihood of new/worsening impairment in myocardial perfusion from baseline to PS (odds ratio =2.89, 95% CI: 1.26 to 6.63, P=0.012). This remained significant in models controlling ACS recurrence/mortality risk factors and medications. There was no effect for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications. Conclusions Depressed patients with CHD are particularly susceptible to impairment in myocardial perfusion during PS. The confluence of PS with depression may contribute to a better understanding of the depression‐associated risk for ACS recurrence and mortality.
Research on Nonlinear Dynamics of Drive Mode in Z-Axis Silicon Microgyroscope

A novel drive method is proposed to increase the vibration amplitude of drive mode of silicon vibratory gyroscopes based on the nonlinear dynamics research made in this paper. A nonlinear dynamic equation, considering the nonlinear mechanical-elastic and electrostatic force, was firstly deduced according to the simplified structure schematic of drive mode. Then, experiments were made to characterize the nonlinear amplitude-frequency response characteristic as well as its dependence on drive voltage. Besides, by solving the nondimensional nonlinear dynamics using Matlab and Simulink, the influence of initial status of drive mode, that is, the displacement and the velocity, on the stable vibration amplitude was presented. The amplitude-frequency characteristic was also analyzed by simulation. The result of simulation shows good agreement with that of experiments. When nonlinearity is present in the amplitude-frequency characteristic, there is a wide flat region with larger amplitude than the peak amplitude obtained in the linear characteristic. Finally, a novel drive method was presented to excite the nonlinear vibration of large amplitude in the downwards-sweeping characteristic curve. It is numerically proved that this merit can be utilized to enlarge the drive mode’s vibration amplitude so as to enhance silicon gyroscopes’ performance.
Oral functional limitation among dentate adults.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of oral functional limitation in adults and to identify clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with that limitation. METHODS The Florida Dental Care Study is a longitudinal study of risk factors for changes in oral health. Subjects (n = 873) with at least one tooth who were 45 years old or older participated in a baseline in-person interview and dental examination. Subjects were queried about oral functional limitations. RESULTS Twenty-three percent of subjects reported difficulty chewing one or more foods using a five-item chewing index, and 10 percent reported difficulty speaking or pronouncing words because of problems with the mouth. The covariates in a multiple logistic regression identified as being significantly associated with chewing difficulty were fewer pairs of occluding anterior teeth, fewer pairs of occluding posterior teeth, more posterior teeth that are root tips, more anterior teeth that are mobile, reporting tooth pain, reporting bad breath, having but not wearing prosthetic appliances, reporting dry mouth, and being female. Having fewer anterior teeth, reporting a sore and/or broken denture, reporting unattractive teeth, and being black were significantly associated with speaking difficulty/difficulty pronouncing words because of problems with the teeth, mouth, or dentures. CONCLUSIONS The findings in this study suggest a significant prevalence of oral functional limitation in dentate adults. Certain clinical and sociodemographic factors were strongly and independently associated with its presence.
An essential role for Rac1 in endothelial cell function and vascular development

Numerous cell surface receptors, including tyrosine kinase and G protein‐coupled receptors, play critical roles in endothelial cell function and blood vessel development. These receptors share the ability of stimulating an intricate network of intracellular signaling pathways, including the activation of members of the Ras and Rho family of small GTPases. However, the contribution of these signaling molecules to the numerous biological activities performed by endothe lial cells is still not fully understood. Here, we have used a conditional Cre/Flox approach, enabling the deletion of the Raci gene in endothelial cells, to examine the role of the Rho‐related GTPase Rac1 in endothelial cell function and vascular development. Rac1 excision in primary endothelial cells in vitro re vealed that Rac1 plays a central role in endothelial cell migration, tubulogenesis, adhesion, and permeability in response to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P), which is likely due to the inability of Rac1‐deficient endothelial cells to form lamellipodial structures and focal adhesions, and to remodel their cell‐cell contacts. Importantly, endo thelial‐specific excision of Rac1 results in embryonic lethality in midgestation (around E9.5), and defective development of major vessels and complete lack of small branched vessels was readily observed in these endothelial Raci‐deficient embryos and their yolk sacs. These findings provide direct evidence that the activity of Rac1 in endothelial cells is essential for vascular development and suggest that Rac1 and its downstream targets may represent promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of numerous human diseases that involve aberrant neovascularization. — Tan, W. , Palmby, T. R. , Gavard, J., Amornphimoltham, P., Zheng, Y. , Gutkind, J. S. An essential role for Rac1 in endothelial cell function and vascular development. FASEB J. 22, 1829–1838 (2008)