Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does the use of Fibonacci numbers in planning poker affect effort estimates?

Background: The estimation technique Planning Poker is common in agile software development. The cards used to propose an estimate in Planning Poker do not include all numbers, but for example only the numbers 0, ½, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40 and 100. We denote this, somewhat inaccurately, a Fibonacci scale in this paper. In spite of the widespread use of the Fibonacci scale in agile estimation, we do not know much about how this scale influences the estimation process. Aim: Better understanding of the effect of going from a linear scale to a Fibonacci scale in effort estimation. Method: We conducted two empirical studies. In the first study, we gave computer science students the same estimation task. Half of the students estimated the task using the Fibonacci scale and the other half a linear scale. The second study included four estimation teams, each composed of four software professionals, estimating the effort to complete the same ten tasks. Two of the teams estimated the first five tasks using the Fibonacci scale and the last five using the linear scale. The two other teams used the scales in the opposite sequence. Results: We found a median decrease in the effort estimates of 60% (first study) and 26% (second study) when using a Fibonacci scale instead of the traditional linear scale. The scale difference in the effort estimates decreased as the developers' skill increased. Conclusion: The use of a Fibonacci scale, and possibly other non-linear scales, is likely to affect the effort estimates towards lower values compared to linear scales. A possible explanation for this scale-induced effect is that people tend to be biased towards toward the middle of the provided scale, especially when the uncertainty is substantial. The middle value is likely to be perceived as lower for the Fibonacci than for the line
Effects of maternal folic acid supplementation on airway remodeling and allergic airway disease development

Abstract Objective: Maternal folic acid supplementation has been recommended prior to and during the first trimester of pregnancy to reduce the risk of infant neural tube defects. However, an uncertain relationship between folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and development of childhood asthma exists. Recent data show a methyl donor-rich diet could increase the risk of developing allergic airway disease through DNA methylation and aberrant gene transcription. This study evaluated the effect of folic acid supplementation during pregnancy on airway remodeling and allergic airway disease vulnerability in a mouse asthma model. Methods: BALB/c mice were divided into four groups according to gestational folic acid supplementation and postnatal ovalbumin (OVA) exposure: Group 1 (whole pregnancy folic acid supplementation + OVA-exposed group), Group 2 (first gestational week folic acid supplementation + OVA-exposed group), Group 3 (no folic acid supplementation + OVA-exposed group), and Group 4 (control group). Offspring were sacrificed on day 45 for immunohistological and ultrastructural tests. Results: In OVA challenged groups, folic acid supplementation led to a thicker epithelial and subepithelial smooth muscle layer than in the unsupplemented group. Moreover, folic acid supplementation during whole pregnancy (Group 1) was associated with a thicker epithelial and subepithelial smooth muscle layer than folic acid supplementation during the first week of pregnancy (Group 2), suggesting a duration–response relationship. Electron microscopic imaging revealed that structural changes including the loss of epithelial integrity, thickening of basement membrane, and subepithelial fibrosis were more prominent in the folic acid supplementation groups. Conclusions: This study suggested that maternal folic acid supplementation during pregnancy affects airway remodeling and increases the allergic responses induced by ovalbumin challenge in offspring. In addition, the effect size increased as the duration and cumulative dose increased.
An improved heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistor (HEBT)

An N-Al/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As/n-GaAs heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistor (HEBT), grown by MBE, has been fabricated with improved performance. The Al/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As layer with higher valence-band offset Delta E/sub v/ offers better confinement of minority carriers (holes). A small offset voltage of about 80 mV and a high common-emitter current gain of 180 were measured for large-area devices. On the other hand, the adequate design of an n-GaAs emitter layer also plays an important role in device performance. The strongly knee-shaped characteristics and reachthrough effect were observed in those devices fabricated with 12 a thin n-GaAs emitter layer. <<ETX>>
Highcharts-based implementation of the micro video big data visualization system

Visualization of the micro video big data refers to the intuitive display of the obtained data on micro videos across the Internet for the purpose of helping users to understand the message in the data. This paper describes the implementation of a micro video big data visualization system in detail, which has four steps: determine the visualization objective, choose data based on the objective, display various charts using Highcharts, and design the details of the charts. Some pictures of the visualization results in this system are inserted to help the comprehension. Then some key technologies used in this system are listed to show the specific technical solution.
Preserved Implicit Knowledge of a Forgotten Childhood Language

Previous research suggests that a language learned during early childhood is completely forgotten when contact to that language is severed. In contrast with these findings, we report leftover traces of early language exposure in individuals in their adult years, despite a complete absence of explicit memory for the language. Specifically, native English individuals under age 40 selectively relearned subtle Hindi or Zulu sound contrasts that they once knew. However, individuals over 40 failed to show any relearning, and young control participants with no previous exposure to Hindi or Zulu showed no learning. This research highlights the lasting impact of early language experience in shaping speech perception, and the value of exposing children to foreign languages even if such exposure does not continue into adulthood.
The Geography of Fast Food Outlets: A Review

The availability of food high in fat, salt and sugar through Fast Food (FF) or takeaway outlets, is implicated in the causal pathway for the obesity epidemic. This review aims to summarise this body of research and highlight areas for future work. Thirty three studies were found that had assessed the geography of these outlets. Fourteen studies showed a positive association between availability of FF outlets and increasing deprivation. Another 13 studies also included overweight or obesity data and showed conflicting results between obesity/overweight and FF outlet availability. There is some evidence that FF availability is associated with lower fruit and vegetable intake. There is potential for land use policies to have an influence on the location of new FF outlets. Further research should incorporate good quality data on FF consumption, weight and physical activity.
Epitope mapping with synthetic peptides of 52‐kD SSA/Ro protein reveals heterogeneous antibody profiles in human autoimmune sera

The reactivity of autoantibodies present in the sera of 489 palicnts with Sjögren's syndrome (SS), systemic lupus crythematosus (SLE) and other autoimmune diseases was investigated by ELISA using recombinani 52‐kD SSA/Ro protein (rRo52) and 39 overlapping synthetic peptides representing the entire sequence of Ro52. We report that IgG antibodies reacting with rRo52 were present in the sera of a large number of patients with SS (67% of patients with primary SS and 46% of patients with SS associated with SLE), whereas they were less frequent (10‐25%) in SLE, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) and mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), and absent in scleroderma. Among the 39 peptides tested, live were recognized by sera from 30‐65% of patients with SS, namely peptides representing residues 2 11, 107 122, 107 126, 277 292 and 365 382. Patients with JCA had raised levels of IgG antibodies reacting with peptides 2 11 and 365 382, and 51% of patients with MCTD had raised levels of IgG antibodies reacting with peptide 365 382. None of the five peptides was recognized by more than 20% of sera from patients with SLE and RA. Interestingly, and of importance in the field of diagnostic tests based on peptides, the reactivity of antibodies to the Ro52 synthetic peptides varied greatly according to the origin of sera. Inhibition experiments using either patients' sera or antibodies induced in rabbits against Ro52 peptides showed that the four domains 2‐11. 107 122, 277 292 and 365 382 are accessible on the surface of the Ro52 protein. These regions may thus be involved in the induction of specific antibodies in autoimmune patients.
Application of Adaptive Network Fuzzy Inference System to Die Shape Optimal Design in Sheet Metal Bending Process

This paper combines adaptive network fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and finite element method (FEM) to study the die shape optimal design in sheet metal bending process. At first, the explicit dynamic FEM is used to simulate the sheet metal bending process. After the bending process, the springback is analyzed by using the implicit static FEM to establish the basic database for ANFIS. Then, the die shape optimal design is performed by ANFIS using this database in the sheet metal bending process. As a verification of this system, the L-type and V-type dies are designed for the experiments to prove the reliability of FEM analysis and ANFIS optimal design by comparing the punch load and stroke relationship, the deformation history, stress distribution, and the bending angle of workpiece after springback between numerical and experimental results. It shows that a good agreement is achieved from comparison between numerical and experimental results. From this investigation, ANFIS has proved to be a useful scheme for die shape optimal design in the metal forming category.
Automatic organization of online Swedish political discourse

Political content is continuously posted online in various textual forms. Some distinct channels in which political texts are frequently submitted have been identified. These include: 1) open parliament, (2) social media and (3) editorial media. In the study at hand, the aim has been to identify what is being discussed in the above-mentioned text channels in order to at some point in the future be able to compare what is being discussed over the different channels. It is a first step in a larger initiative to open up online political discourse in Sweden. To do this, topic modeling was performed using two methods: the stateof-the-art method Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and an experimental method called temporal χ2 topic modeling. Three corpora were collected and constructed from each data channel respectively. Topic modeling with LDA was performed on data from the Swedish parliament only as LDA proved to be inappropriate for these particular data channels. Topic modeling with temporal χ2 was performed successfully for all three data channels. However, formal evidence in the form of a standardized evaluation is lacking. Further, it is clear that further preprocessing of social and editorial media data is needed in order to get truly useful results. It is, for instance, necessary to extract texts that explicitly concerns politics. The evaluation approach is manual. Requirements of evaluations methods are, however, discussed as the traditional methodology is deemed insufficient.
Structural insights of Mycobacterium GTPase‐Obg and anti‐sigma‐F factor Usfx interaction

An essential protein for bacterial growth, GTPase‐Obg (Obg), is known to play an unknown but crucial role in stress response as its expression increases in Mycobacterium under stress conditions. It is well reported that Obg interacts with anti‐sigma‐F factor Usfx; however, a detailed analysis and structural characterization of their physical interaction remain undone. In view of above‐mentioned points, this study was conceptualized for performing binding analysis and structural characterization of Obg‐Usfx interaction. The binding studies were performed by surface plasmon resonance, while in silico docking analysis was done to identify crucial residues responsible for Obg‐Usfx interaction. Surface plasmon resonance results clearly suggest that N‐terminal and G domains of Obg mainly contribute to Usfx binding. Also, binding constants display strong affinity that was further evident by intermolecular hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions in the predicted complex. Strong interaction between Obg and Usfx supports the view that Obg plays an important role in stress response, essentially required for Mycobacterium survival. As concluded by various studies that Obg is crucial for Mycobacterium survival under stress, this structural information may help us in designing novel and potential inhibitors against resistant Mycobacterium strains.
Variability study for 3G and beyond mobile communications

Convolutional codes have been widely used in DS-CDMA systems for good performance and relatively low decoding complexity. In this article we, starting from the theoretical point, study the performance of convolutional codes in an environment where E/sub b//N/sub 0/ changes sinusoidally. We study four cases of this scenario. For each case we obtain some conclusions and give their analysis. In this article a very important characteristic, named additivity, is acquired.
An exploration of trunk reposition error in subjects with acute stroke: An observational design

Background & Objective: Trunk reposition error (TRE) is a component of trunk control, yet has not been reported in acute stroke. The purpose of this study was to quantify TRE in acute stroke and report this with related rehabilitation outcomes. Methods: Sixty subjects, 30 with acute stroke and 30 healthy controls, completed this study. Subjects with acute stroke were measured before and after an in-patient acute rehabilitation stay. Measures: TRE using an electromagnetic tracking device, Berg Balance Scale, Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke, and Functional Independence Measures. Pre-post measures were analyzed with paired t-tests. Between-group measures were analyzed with independent w-tests. Results: There were significant between group differences (acute stroke vs. controls) for all functional outcome measures (P < 0.001) and for three-dimensional TRE (P = 0.001). There were significant improvements in all functional outcome measures following an in-patient rehabilitation stay (P < 0.001). All measures of TRE reduced but did not achieve significance. Conclusion: TRE was not as severely impaired as anticipated and was variable based on plane of measure. Time in a rehabilitation setting produced significant improvements in functional outcomes but TRE improvements were not as robust. These results indicate a need for further investigation of the strength of the interrelationship between TRE and function.
The influence of second intermediate host dispersion pattern upon the transmission of cercariae of Echinoparyphium recurvatum (Digenea: Echinostomatidae)

SUMMARY Transmission of cercariae of the echinostome digenean Echinoparyphium recurvatum was observed in experimental populations of the second intermediate host snail Lymnaea peregra. Populations of 100 snails were distributed among plastic mesh cages in an infection arena to produce different patterns of host dispersion. Cercarial transmission was investigated in host populations showing three separate patterns of host dispersion; Ideal Regular, Random and Contagious (‘Clumped’). Levels of cercarial transmission in populations showing each type of dispersion pattern were found to be significantly different. The highest rate of cercarial transmission occurred in the contagiously dispersed host population, and the lowest in the randomly dispersed population. Analysis of results from the randomly dispersed population also showed that both the mean percentage prevalence of infection, and also the mean number of cysts recovered per snail, increased significantly with the number of snails per cage. The positive relationship between the mean number of cysts per snail and the number of snails per cage was found to be best described by an exponential function. Chemosensory location of L. peregra snail hosts by E. recurvatum cercariae may provide an explanation for the patterns of cercarial transmission observed.
The ages, masses and star formation rates of spectroscopically confirmed z ˜ 6 galaxies in CANDELS

We report the results of a study exploring the stellar populations of 13 luminous (L > 1.2L^*), spectroscopically confirmed, galaxies in the redshift interval 5.5 < z < 6.5, all with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3/infrared and Spitzer Infrared Array Camera imaging from the HST/Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Survey and Spitzer Extended Deep Survey. Based on fitting the observed photometry with galaxy spectral energy distribution (SED) templates covering a wide range of different star formation histories, including exponentially increasing star formation rates and a self-consistent treatment of Lyα emission, we find that the derived stellar masses lie within the range of 10^9< M_* < 10^(10) M_⊙ and are robust to within a factor of 2. In contrast, we confirm previous reports that the ages of the stellar populations are poorly constrained. Although the best-fitting models for 3/13 of the sample have ages of ≳300 Myr, the degeneracies introduced by dust extinction mean that only two of these objects actually require a ≳300 Myr old stellar population to reproduce the observed photometry. We also explore SED fitting with more general, two-component models (burst plus ongoing star formation), thereby relaxing the requirement that the current star formation rate and assembled stellar mass must be coupled, and allow for nebular line+continuum emission. On average, the inclusion of nebular emission leads to lower stellar mass estimates (median offset 0.18 dex), moderately higher specific star formation rates, and allows for a wider range of plausible stellar ages. However, based on our SED modelling, we find no strong evidence for extremely young ages in our sample (i.e. <50 Myr). Finally, considering all of the different star formation histories explored, we find that the median best-fitting ages are of the order of ≃200–300 Myr and that the objects with the tightest constraints indicate ages in the range of 50–200 Myr.
Mother’s Genome or Maternally-Inherited Genes Acting in the Fetus Influence Gestational Age in Familial Preterm Birth

Objective: While multiple lines of evidence suggest the importance of genetic contributors to risk of preterm birth, the nature of the genetic component has not been identified. We perform segregation analyses to identify the best fitting genetic model for gestational age, a quantitative proxy for preterm birth. Methods: Because either mother or infant can be considered the proband from a preterm delivery and there is evidence to suggest that genetic factors in either one or both may influence the trait, we performed segregation analysis for gestational age either attributed to the infant (infant’s gestational age), or the mother (by averaging the gestational ages at which her children were delivered), using 96 multiplex preterm families. Results: These data lend further support to a genetic component contributing to birth timing since sporadic (i.e. no familial resemblance) and nontransmission (i.e. environmental factors alone contribute to gestational age) models are strongly rejected. Analyses of gestational age attributed to the infant support a model in which mother’s genome and/or maternally-inherited genes acting in the fetus are largely responsible for birth timing, with a smaller contribution from the paternally-inherited alleles in the fetal genome. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that genetic influences on birth timing are important and likely complex.
Pain following stroke: A prospective study

Post‐stroke pain is common and affects the quality of life of stroke survivors, but the incidence and severity of headache, shoulder pain, other joint pain and central post‐stroke pain following stroke still remain unclear. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the incidence and intensity of these different types of post‐stroke pain.
TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE — A CASE-BASED APPROACH

We present a model of technological adaptation in response to a change in climate conditions. The main feature of the model is that new technologies are not just risky, but also ambiguous. Pessimistic agents are thus averse to adopting a new technology. Learning is induced by optimists, who are willing to try out technologies about which there is little evidence available. We show that both optimists and pessimists are crucial for a successful adaptation. While optimists provide the public good of information which gives pessimists an incentive to innovate, pessimists choose the new technology persistently in the long-run which increases the average returns for the society. Hence, the optimal share of optimists in the society is strictly positive. When the share of optimists in the society is too low, innovation is slow and the obtained steady-state is inefficient. We discuss two policies which can potentially alleviate this inefficiency: Subsidies and provision of additional information. We show that if precise and relevant information is available, pessimists would be willing to pay for it and consequently adopt the new technology. Hence, providing information might be a more efficient policy, which is both self-financing and results in better social outcomes.
Applications of Thermal Imaging in Agriculture—A Review

In thermal remote sensing the invisible radiation patterns of objects are converted into visible images and these images are called thermograms or thermal images. Thermal images can be acquired using portable, hand-held or thermal sensors that are coupled with optical systems mounted on an airplane or satellite. This technology is a non-invasive, non-contact and non-destructive technique used to determine thermal properties and features of any object of interest and therefore it can be used in many fields, where heat is generated or lost in space and time. Potential use of thermal remote sensing in agriculture includes nursery and greenhouse monitoring, irrigation scheduling, plants disease detection, estimating fruit yield, evaluating maturity of fruits and bruise detection in fruits and vegetables. This paper reviews the application of thermal imaging in agriculture and its potential use in various agricultural practices.
Representing Emotional Momentum within Expressive Internet Communication

This paper examines how the momentum of emotion can be modeled and reflected within expressive Internet communication systems. We describe a prototype real-time emotional communicator. A core component is the text-to-emotion extraction engine. The engine analyses the text that is input by users, extracts the emotion that is contained and outputs the parameters that are necessary to invoke an appropriate image expressing the emotion. The parameters include both the detected emotion and the intensity. The concept of 'Emotional Momentum' is incorporated in our engine to resolve ambiguity or conflicting emotional content that occur within individual sentences.