Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Preschool Early Literacy Indicators

Assessment is at the center of a decision-making model within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. Assessments that can be used for universal screening and progress monitoring in early childhood RTI models are needed that are both psychometrically sound and appropriate to meet developmental needs of young children. The Preschool Early Literacy Indicators (PELI), an assessment tool developed for screening and for progress monitoring, was designed to incorporate psychometrically sound assessment practices within an authentic assessment format. The current study provides data on concurrent and predictive validity of the PELI as well as analyses leading to the development of preliminary benchmark goals on the PELI. The PELI demonstrates significant differences in performance by age and growth in early literacy and language skills across the preschool years. Correlations between the PELI and criterion measures of similar skills are moderate to strong and predictive probabilities with respect to outcome measures are moderate to strong.
Spoken word identification by native and nonnative speakers of English: effects of training, modality, context and phonetic environment

Several experiments explored the contribution of visual information (lip movements) to spoken word identification by Japanese and Korean learners of English as a second language (ESL) and native speakers (NSs) of English, and its interaction with sentence context, phonetic environment and, for ESL learners, perceptual training (involving / m ,l,p,f, } ,s/) using minimal pairs. Parallel tests (pre- and posttraining), applying the gating technique to videotaped stimuli, were given to the learners (presented audiovisually (AV) or audio-only (A-only) depending upon training group type). Stimuli were familiar, bisyllabic words beginning with the following visual categories: bilabial (/p/), labiodental (/f/), / m /, /l/, and nonlabials (/s,t,k/) combined with high, low and rounded vowels. Test (pretest-posttest), initial consonant-vowel (CV) sequence, modality of presentation (AV vs. A), and condition (context or excised word) were independent variables. Groups of NSs were presented with the same stimuli. NNS results revealed word identification was significantly earlier after perceptual training, in AV vs. A-only presentation, in context vs. excised word condition, and varied significantly with initial CV sequence. NS results also revealed significant effects of modality (earlier identification in AV vs. A-only), context, and initial CV sequence. Findings indicate the transfer of perceptual training from segment identification to the process of word identification in connected speech, and are consistent with a multiple-trace model of spoken language processing incorporating visual input.
Reinforcement Learning in Quasi-Continuous Time

Reinforcement learning (RL) is used here as a tool for control systems optimization. State and action spaces are assumed to be continuous. Time is assumed to be discrete, yet the discretization may be arbitrarily fine. Within the proposed algorithm, a piece of information that leads to a policy improvement, is inferred from an experiment that lasts for several consecutive steps, rather than from a single step, as in more traditional RL methods. Simulations reveal that the algorithm is able to optimize the control policies for plants for which it is very difficult to apply the traditional methods
Monitoring asthma in children

The goal of asthma treatment is to obtain clinical control and reduce future risks to the patient. To reach this goal in children with asthma, ongoing monitoring is essential. While all components of asthma, such as symptoms, lung function, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and inflammation, may exist in various combinations in different individuals, to date there is limited evidence on how to integrate these for optimal monitoring of children with asthma. The aims of this ERS Task Force were to describe the current practise and give an overview of the best available evidence on how to monitor children with asthma. 22 clinical and research experts reviewed the literature. A modified Delphi method and four Task Force meetings were used to reach a consensus. This statement summarises the literature on monitoring children with asthma. Available tools for monitoring children with asthma, such as clinical tools, lung function, bronchial responsiveness and inflammatory markers, are described as are the ways in which they may be used in children with asthma. Management-related issues, comorbidities and environmental factors are summarised. Despite considerable interest in monitoring asthma in children, for many aspects of monitoring asthma in children there is a substantial lack of evidence. ERS statement summarising and discussing the available literature on monitoring children with asthma http://ow.ly/H01NG
CERIST at INEX 2015: Social Book Search Track

In this paper, we describe our participation in th e INEX 2015 Social Book Search Suggestion Track (SBS). We have exploited in our experiments only the tags assigned by users to books provided f rom LibraryThing (LT). We have investigated the impact of the weight of each term of the topic in the re- trieval model using two methods. In the first meth od, we have used the TF-IQF formula to assign a weight to each term of the topi c. In the second method, we have used Rocchio algorithm to expand the query and calculate the weight of the tags assigned to the example books mentioned in the book search request. Parameters of our models have been tuned using the topics of INEX 2014 and tested on INEX 2015 Social Book Search track.
Low-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation is beneficial for enhancing synaptic plasticity in the aging brain

In the aging brain, cognitive function gradually declines and causes a progressive reduction in the structural and functional plasticity of the hippocampus. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is an emerging and novel neurological and psychiatric tool used to investigate the neurobiology of cognitive function. Recent studies have demonstrated that low-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (≤1 Hz) ameliorates synaptic plasticity and spatial cognitive deficits in learning-impaired mice. However, the mechanisms by which this treatment improves these deficits during normal aging are still unknown. Therefore, the current study investigated the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor signal pathway, synaptic protein markers, and spatial memory behavior in the hippocampus of normal aged mice. The study also investigated the downstream regulator, Fyn kinase, and the downstream effectors, synaptophysin and growth-associated protein 43 (both synaptic markers), to determine the possible mechanisms by which transcranial magnetic stimulation regulates cognitive capacity. Transcranial magnetic stimulation with low intensity (110% average resting motor threshold intensity, 1 Hz) increased mRNA and protein levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, tropomyosin receptor kinase B, and Fyn in the hippocampus of aged mice. The treatment also upregulated the mRNA and protein expression of synaptophysin and growth-associated protein 43 in the hippocampus of these mice. In conclusion, brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling may play an important role in sustaining and regulating structural synaptic plasticity induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation in the hippocampus of aging mice, and Fyn may be critical during this regulation. These responses may change the structural plasticity of the aging hippocampus, thereby improving cognitive function.
Motivating adolescents: high school teachers’ perceptions and classroom practices

This study investigated high school teachers’ perceptions of the motivational needs of their students and the strategies they used to address those needs. Participants were 96 teachers in 15 high schools in a Southwestern state in the USA. Data were collected via paper‐based questionnaires addressing teachers’ perceptions of: supportive classroom environment, students’ general motivation, causes of student lack of motivation, teachers’ self‐efficacy for motivating students, interpersonal style, and motivating strategies. Quantitative data were analyzed by correlation and multiple regressions. Teachers’ efficacy for diagnosing and intervening for students’ motivation, and their interpersonal motivating styles, predicted their strategy use. Both internal and external causal perceptions explained important parts of variance in teachers’ perceptions of students’ overall motivation. Strategies that teachers use, in turn, predicted the supportiveness of their classroom environments. Surprisingly, teachers’ perceptions of causes of motivation did not predict either environment or strategy selection. Implications for educational policy and classroom practice are discussed.
Dance music classification: A tempo-based approach

Recent research has studied the relevance of various features for automatic genre classification, showing the particular importance of tempo in dance music classification. We complement this work by considering a domainspecific learning methodology, where the computed tempo is used to select an expert classifier which has been specialised on its own tempo range. This enables the all-class learning task to be reduced to a set of twoand three-class learning tasks. Current results are around 70% classification accuracy (8 ballroom dance music classes, 698 instances, baseline 15.9%).
Photorespiration IsCrucial for DynamicResponse of Photosynthetic Metabolism and Stomatal Movement to Altered CO 2 Availability

The photorespiratory pathway or photorespiration is an essential process in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms, which can reduce the efficiency of photosynthetic carbon assimilation and is hence frequently considered as awasteful process. By comparing the response of thewild-type plants andmutants impaired in photorespiration to a shift in ambient CO2 concentrations, we demonstrate that photorespiration also plays a beneficial role during short-term acclimation to reduced CO2 availability. The wild-type plants respondedwith few differentially expressed genes, mostly involved in drought stress, which is likely a consequence of enhanced opening of stomata and concomitant water loss upon a shift toward low CO2. In contrast, mutants with impaired activity of photorespiratory enzymes were highly stressed and not able to adjust stomatal conductance to reduced external CO2 availability. The transcriptional response of mutant plants was congruent, indicating a general reprogramming to deal with the consequences of reduced CO2 availability, signaled by enhanced oxygenation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate and amplified by the artificially impaired photorespiratory metabolism. Central in this reprogramming was the pronounced reallocation of resources from growth processes to stress responses. Taken together, our results indicate that unrestricted photorespiratorymetabolism is a prerequisite for rapid physiological acclimation to a reduction in CO2 availability.
An Exploratory Study of the Connection of Mother's Age at Childbearing to Her Children's Delinquency in Four Data Sets

In response to recent findings of a connection between mother's age at her first child's birth and her children's delinquency, knowledge of the increasing number of early childbearing mothers, and policy recommendations to confront related issues, the present article reports on an exploratory analysis of four data sets to document and understand the association. Although in some subgroups mother's age is related to delinquency, the relationship is heavily conditioned by presence of the child's father. The indirect effects of mother's age through biological, family dynamic, family size and structure, and community-level variables are also examined. Results are discussed separately for different racial and ethnic groups when the data allow. Conclusions include both recommendations for future research and a discussion of delinquency prevention policy.
Blockchain technology innovations

Digital world has produced efficiencies, new innovative products, and close customer relationships globally by the effective use of mobile, IoT (Internet of Things), social media, analytics and cloud technology to generate models for better decisions. Blockchain is recently introduced and revolutionizing the digital world bringing a new perspective to security, resiliency and efficiency of systems. While initially popularized by Bitcoin, Blockchain is much more than a foundation for crypto currency. It offers a secure way to exchange any kind of good, service, or transaction. Industrial growth increasingly depends on trusted partnerships; but increasing regulation, cybercrime and fraud are inhibiting expansion. To address these challenges, Blockchain will enable more agile value chains, faster product innovations, closer customer relationships, and quicker integration with the IoT and cloud technology. Further Blockchain provides a lower cost of trade with a trusted contract monitored without intervention from third parties who may not add direct value. It facilitates smart contracts, engagements, and agreements with inherent, robust cyber security features. This paper is an effort to break the ground for presenting and demonstrating the use of Blockchain technology in multiple industrial applications. A healthcare industry application, Healthchain, is formalized and developed on the foundation of Blockchain using IBM Blockchain initiative. The concepts are transferable to a wide range of industries as finance, government and manufacturing where security, scalability and efficiency must meet.
Comparison of Operator – Fitted methods for Singularly Perturbed Advection – Diffusion – Reaction Problems

We compare classical methods for singular perturbation problems, such as El– Mistikawy and Werle scheme and its modifications, to exponential spline collocation schemes. We discuss subtle differences that exist in applying this method to reaction–diffusion problems and advection–diffusion problems. If the advection–diffusion–reaction problem is specified in such a way that two boundary internal layers exist, collocation method is incapable of capturing only one boundary layer, which happens when no reaction term is present. Thus the existing collocation scheme in which the approximate solution is a projection to the space piecewisely spanned by {1, x, exp (±px)} is inferior to the generalization of El–Mistikawy and Werle method proposed by Ramos. We show how to remedy this situation by considering projections to spaces locally spanned by {1, x, x, exp (px)}, where p > 0 is a tension parameter. Next, we exploit a unique feature of collocation methods, that is, the existence of special collocation points which yield better global convergence rates and double the convergence order at the knots. 1 Theory We compare some popular methods for solving a singularly perturbed boundary value problem − εu′′ (x) + a (x)u′ (x) + b (x) u (x) = f (x) , u (0) = α, u (1) = β, (1) where ε, a (x) > 0, ε << a (x) and b (x) ≥ 0. On one side is El–Mistikawy method, on the other a few collocation methods. Depending on the presence of advection or reaction term, there seems to be no unique answer as to the ‘best’ possible method in all the cases. As for El–Mistikawy method, a number of references exist, see [8] for more recent ones. This method
Dependence of tone perception on syllable perception

We tested the hypothesis that, given the consistency of tonesyllable alignment found in recent research, accuracy of tone perception is dependent on the accuracy of syllable perception. In two experiments, subjects either judged the number of syllables or identified the tones in nonsense sentences that were spectrally intact, low-pass filtered at 300 Hz or converted to sustained schwa carrying the original F0. It was found that removing spectral information affected not only subjects’ ability to judge the number of syllables in a sentence, but also their ability to identify the tones. The results thus confirm the dependence of tone perception on syllable perception. Index Terms: speech perception, tone perception, syllable perception, tone-syllable alignment
Combination of Farnesyltransferase and Akt Inhibitors Is Synergistic in Breast Cancer Cells and Causes Significant Breast Tumor Regression in ErbB2 Transgenic Mice

The Akt activation inhibitor triciribine and the farnesyltransferase inhibitor tipifarnib have modest to little activity in clinical trials when used as single agents. In this article, preclinical data show that the combination is more effective than single agents both in cultured cells and in vivo. Combination index data analysis shows that this combination is highly synergistic at inhibiting anchorage-dependent growth of breast cancer cells. This synergistic interaction is also observed with structurally unrelated inhibitors of Akt (MK-2206) and farnesyltransferase (FTI-2153). The triciribine/tipifarnib synergistic effects are seen with several cancer cell lines including those from breast, leukemia, multiple myeloma and lung tumors with different genetic alterations such as K-Ras, B-Raf, PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase), p53 and pRb mutations, PTEN, pRB and Ink4a deletions, and ErbB receptor overexpression. Furthermore, the combination is synergistic at inhibiting anchorage-independent growth and at inducing apoptosis in breast cancer cells. The combination is also more effective at inhibiting the Akt/mTOR/S6 kinase pathway. In an ErbB2-driven breast tumor transgenic mouse model, the combination, but not single agent, treatment with triciribine and tipifarnib induces significant breast tumor regression. Our findings warrant further investigation of the combination of farnesyltransferase and Akt inhibitors. Clin Cancer Res; 17(9); 2852–62. ©2011 AACR.
Signatures: A language extension for improving type abstraction and subtype polymorphism in C++

C++ uses inheritance as a substitute for subtype polymorphism. We give examples where this makes the type system too inflexible. We then describe a conservative language extension that allows a programmer to define an abstract type hierarchy independent of any implementation hierarchies, to retroactively abstract over an implementation, and to decouple subtyping from inheritance. This extension gives the user more of the flexibility of dynamic typing while retaining the efficiency and security of static typing. With default implementations and views flexible mechanisms are provided for implementing an abstract type by different concrete class types. We first show how the language extension can be implemented in a preprocessor to a C++ compiler, and then detail and analyse the efficiency of an implementation we directly incorporated in the GNU C++ compiler.
Restoration of central nervous system α‐N‐acetylglucosaminidase activity and therapeutic benefits in mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB mice by a single intracisternal recombinant adeno‐associated viral type 2 vector delivery

Finding efficient central nervous system (CNS) delivery approaches has been the major challenge facing therapeutic development for treating diseases with global neurological manifestation, such as mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) IIIB, a lysosomal storage disease, caused by autosomal recessive defect of α‐N‐acetylglucosaminidase (NaGlu). Previously, we developed an approach, intracisternal (i.c.) injection, to deliver recombinant adeno‐associated viral (rAAV) vector to the CNS of mice, leading to a widespread periventricular distribution of transduction.
The Extremely Metal-poor, Neutron Capture-rich Star CS 22892-052: A Comprehensive Abundance Analysis

High-resolution spectra obtained with three ground-based facilities and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have been combined to produce a new abundance analysis of CS 22892-052, an extremely metal-poor giant with large relative enhancements of neutron capture elements. A revised model stellar atmosphere has been derived with the aid of a large number of Fe peak transitions, including both neutral and ionized species of six elements. Several elements, including Mo, Lu, Au, Pt, and Pb, have been detected for the first time in CS 22892-052, and significant upper limits have been placed on the abundances of Ga, Ge, Cd, Sn, and U in this star. In total, abundance measurements or upper limits have been determined for 57 elements, far more than previously possible. New Be and Li detections in CS 22892-052 indicate that the abundances of both these elements are significantly depleted compared to unevolved main-sequence turnoff stars of similar metallicity. Abundance comparisons show an excellent agreement between the heaviest n-capture elements (Z ≥ 56) and scaled solar system r-process abundances, confirming earlier results for CS 22892-052 and other metal-poor stars. New theoretical r-process calculations also show good agreement with CS 22892-052 abundances and the solar r-process abundance components. The abundances of lighter elements (40 ≤ Z ≤ 50), however, deviate from the same scaled abundance curves that match the heavier elements, suggesting different synthesis conditions or sites for the low-mass and high-mass ends of the abundance distribution. The detection of Th and the upper limit on the U abundance together imply a lower limit of 10.4 Gyr on the age of CS 22892-052, quite consistent with the Th/Eu age estimate of 12.8± ≃ 3 Gyr. An average of several chronometric ratios yields an age 14.2± ≃ 3 Gyr.
Quality of Life and Social Inclusion

The concepts of quality of life, anomie or marginalisation and social capital are introduced in the context of the impact of the post-modernising forces of globalisation, urbanisation, and mass migration on societal structures. Empirical relationships between the three concepts were explored using data derived from a study undertaken in south east Queensland, Australia in 2003. On the basis of descriptive statistics and a path analysis using LISREL procedures it was shown that although the majority of people did not feel marginalised and reported good quality of life, reduced quality of life was associated with low prestige occupations mediated by marginalisation or anomie. In addition social capital was found to improve quality of life both directly and by ameliorating marginalisation.
The Complexity of Improperly Learning Large Margin Halfspaces

where 〈w,x〉 is the inner product between the vectors x and w. For the 0-1 transfer function, φ0−1(a) = sgn(a)+1 2 , H becomes the class of halfspaces. We allow any transfer functions that satisfy the following (μ, ) margin condition: max{|φ(a)− φ0−1(a)| : |a| > μ} ≤ . For example, the sigmoid function φsig(a) = 1 1+e−a/σ satisfies the (μ, ) condition if σ ≤ μ/(log(1/ − 1). For an illustration see Figure 1. An improper agnostic learning algorithm, A, receives as input a training set of m i.i. d. samples from D, and returns a classifier (not necessarily from H). The output classifier is a random variable and we denote it by A(m). We use err(A(m)) to denote the expected generalization error of the predictor returned by A, where expectation is with respect to the random choice of the training set. We denote by time(A,m) the expected runtime of the algorithm A when running on a training set of m examples.