Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring the Bilingual Phonological Space: Early Bilinguals’ Discrimination of Coronal Stop Contrasts

It is well known that the way monolingual listeners discriminate speech sounds is strongly influenced by their native (L1) sound system. Moreover, such perceptual constraints are not limited to monolinguals: multiple studies have found evidence of language-specificity in bilingual speech perception. However, the question of whether bilinguals have simultaneous access to both of their phonologies during non-native contrast discrimination has not been systematically examined. Namely, very few studies of bilinguals have specifically examined cases where a non-native contrast pair straddles the boundary between two sound systems, with one sound corresponding to a sound in the L1, and the other to a sound in the second language (L2), but with neither the L1 nor the L2 containing both. The current study aimed to do so by comparing the ability of early bilinguals to discriminate non-native phonetic contrasts consisting of sounds that exist in either their L1 or L2, but not in both. A forced-choice perception task compared two listener groups—Spanish–English bilinguals and English monolinguals—on their perception of Nepali dental–alveolar stop contrasts. Results showed that despite displaying some sensitivity to phonetic differences within each contrast pair, the bilingual group was unable to discriminate such “cross-language contrasts” significantly better than the monolingual English control group.
Physical activity at work and cardiovascular disease risk: results from the MONICA Augsburg study.

In the MONICA Augsburg study the relationship between physical activity at work, cardiovascular risk factors, incidence of fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) and total mortality was investigated in employed men. The MONICA Augsburg baseline survey of 1984/85 was designed as a cross-sectional study with follow-up. Physical activity was determined in 45-64 year old men by interview (n = 1074, 83.6%) and by a 7-day activity diary (n = 797, 62.0%). Employed men were categorized into an active versus inactive group based on interview data on physical activity at work (PAW) which had been validated against the 7-day activity diary. When stratified by PAW, age-adjusted means of diastolic (DBP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and total-cholesterol (T-C) were lower and the age-adjusted mean of HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) was higher in active than in inactive men. A linear regression model controlling for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, and heart rate confirmed this relationship for physical activity at work; regression coefficients: DBP: beta = -2.38 (95% confidence interval [CI] : -3.85(-)-0.91); SBP: beta = -2.87 (95% CI : -5.22(-)-0.52); T-C: beta = -2.80 (95% CI : -9.31-3.71); HDL-C: beta = 3.48 (95% CI : 1.28-5.79). Survey participants were followed-up for a period of 5.8 years. The incidence density (per 1000 person-years) of fatal plus non-fatal MI was 6.8 for active men versus 5.9 for inactive men; the incidence density for total mortality was 11.2 versus 5.9, respectively. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Physicians’ career satisfaction, quality of care and patients’ trust: the role of community uninsurance

Abstract: There is evidence that health care providers located in communities with relatively large uninsured populations face financial difficulties because of low service demand and high levels of uncompensated care. Data on 4,920 physicians from the 2000–2001 Community Tracking Study Physician Survey and from 25,637 adults from the 2003 Community Tracking Study Household Survey were used to analyze whether the relative size of the local uninsured population is associated with the level of career satisfaction and the quality of care provided by physicians and to assess whether patient trust is associated with the level of community uninsurance. The results indicate that the proportion of uninsured adults in a given community is negatively related to physicians’ career satisfaction and the perceived quality of health care provided. Community uninsurance is also negatively related to patient trust in their doctor and positively related to whether insured patients believed that their doctor was influenced by rules from health insurance companies. Physicians in communities with relatively large uninsured populations may have lower career satisfaction and lower perceptions of the quality of care provided due to financial difficulties. Patients in these communities are also less likely to trust their physician.
Fully differential cross sections for the single ionization of He by C6 + ions

We present fully differential cross sections for the single ionization of He by C6 + ions. A time-dependent close-coupling approach is used to describe the two-electron wavefunction in the field of the projectile for a range of impact parameters, and a Fourier transform approach is used to extract fully differential cross sections for a specific momentum transfer. Our calculations are compared to the measurements of Schulz et al (2003 Nature 422 48) and we find very good agreement in the scattering plane and good qualitative agreement in the perpendicular plane. In particular, our calculations in the perpendicular plane find a similar ‘double-peak’ structure in the angular distributions to those seen experimentally. We also discuss the various checks made on our calculations by comparing to a one-electron time-dependent calculation.
Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition provides lasting protection against neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury*

Objective: To investigate whether inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2, a critical component of the inflammatory pathway, is neuroprotective in a neonatal rat model of cerebral hypoxia-ischemia. The development of brain inflammation largely contributes to neonatal brain injury that may lead to a lifetime of neurologic deficits. Design: Laboratory investigation. Setting: University research laboratory. Subjects: Postnatal day ten Sprague-Dawley rats. Interventions: Neonatal hypoxia-ischemia was induced by ligation of the right common carotid artery followed by 2 hrs of hypoxia (8% oxygen). The pups in treatment groups were administered 10 mg/kg (low dose) or 30 mg/kg (high dose) of a known selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor (NS398). Animals were euthanized at three time points: 72 hrs, 2 wks, or 6 wks. Inflammation outcomes were assessed at 72 hrs; brain damage was assessed at 2 wks and 6 wks along with other organs (heart, spleen). Detailed neurobehavioral examination was performed at 6 wks. Measurements and Main Results: Pharmacologic inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 markedly increased survivability within the first 72 hrs compared with untreated rats (100% vs. 72%). Low- and high-dose NS398 significantly attenuated the loss of brain and body weights observed after hypoxia-ischemia. Neurobehavioral outcomes were significantly improved in some parameters with low-dose treatment, whereas high-dose treatment consistently improved all neurologic deficits. Immunohistochemical results showed a marked decrease in macrophage, microglial, and neutrophil abundance in ipsilateral hemisphere of the NS398-treated group along with a reduction in interleukin-6 expression. Conclusions: Selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition protected neonatal rats against death, progression of brain injury, growth retardation, and neurobehavioral deficits after a hypoxic-ischemic insult.
A survey on IoT based road traffic surveillance and accident detection system (A smart way to handle traffic and concerned problems)

Road Traffic is one of the most vital problem in our hastily developing world. This paper presents of study of different aspects and issues related to the problem. This paper emphasizes on using prominent technology — Internet of Things (IoT) for developing smart system to monitor various parameters related to road traffic and using it for effective solution. The survey of the existing systems and concerned techniques related to the problem area are discussed. Different issues like vehicle detection, occlusion detection, lane projectile detection, accident detection and related methods to solve these issues are explored. We propose our “IoT based traffic monitoring and accident detection system” consisting of Raspberry pi, and pi camera as hardware which will use live video as input and process it for gathering information about the live traffic. The system generates information regarding the traffic such as number of vehicles, emergency accident situations, and improper projectile of vehicle. The generated information can be used to handle and divert the live traffic as needed to avoid the problems related to road traffic.
Conceptual modelling for configuration: A description logic-based approach

Representing objects and their interactions can be quite challenging when an application requires many complicated, interconnected objects that are restricted in how they can be instantiated. In this paper, we present our approach to conceptual modelling. We have used this approach with success in a number of applications, the largest of which is the PROSE family of configurators. PROSE was first deployed in 1990 and has been used to configure over 4 billion dollars worth of AT&T and Lucent telecommunications equipment. We will discuss our approach to conceptual modelling, which is based on knowledge representation, show how it meets our representation and reasoning needs, and then discuss the relative merits of the approach.2
The effect of bilateral carotid artery ligation upon the blood flow and the energy state of the rat brain.

The cerebral effects of bilateral carotid artery ligation were studied in ligthly anesthetized rats, either alone or combined with moderate reductions in the mean arterial blood pressure. The relative decreases in cerebral blood flow were estimated from the a-v differences for O2 and CO2 on the assumption of an unchanged cerebral metabolic rate. Ligation of the carotid arteries alone was found to decrease cerebral blood flow to about 50 % of normal, but to give no significant changes in the energy state of the tissue, as judged from the tissue contents of the ATP, ADP and AMP. When the cerebral blood flow was reduced further by means of an induced decrease in blood pressure, the energy state of the tissue was severely affected. At this point the cerebral venous Po2 was reduced from about 50 to about 30 mm Hg. Since pure hypoxemia with a reduction of venous Po2 to about 10 mm Hg can be tolerated without changes in the energy state of the tissue, it is concluded that ischemia may lead to a grossly inhomogenous reduction in the tissue perfusion.
Regulatory aspects on the use of fish embryos in environmental toxicology

Animal alternative tests are gaining serious consideration in an array of environmental sciences, particuarly as they relate to sound management of chemicals and wastewater discharges. The ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute and the European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) held an International Workshop on the Application of the Fish Embryo Test in March, 2008. This relatively young discipline is following advances in animal alternatives for human safety sciences, and it is advisable to develop a broad comparison of how animal alternative tests involving fish are viewed in a regulatory context over a wide array of authorities or advising bodies. These include OECD, Western Europe, North America, and Japan. This paper summarizes representative practices from these regions. Presently, the global regulatory environment has varying stances regarding the protection of fish for use as an experimental animal. Such differences have a long‐term potential to lead to a lack of harmony in approaches to fish toxicity testing, especially for chemicals in commerce across multiple geographic regions. Implementation of alternative methods and approaches will be most successful if accepted globally, including methods of fish toxicity testing. An important area for harmonization would be in the interpretation of protected and nonprotected life stages of fish. Use of fish embryos represent a promising alternative and allow bridging to more technically challenging alternatives with longer prospective timelines, including cell‐based assays, ecotoxicogenomics, and QSARs. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2010;6:484–491. © 2010 SETAC
Coordinated Host Responses during Pyroptosis: Caspase-1–Dependent Lysosome Exocytosis and Inflammatory Cytokine Maturation

Activation of caspase-1 leads to pyroptosis, a program of cell death characterized by cell lysis and inflammatory cytokine release. Caspase-1 activation triggered by multiple nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs; NLRC4, NLRP1b, or NLRP3) leads to loss of lysosomes via their fusion with the cell surface, or lysosome exocytosis. Active caspase-1 increased cellular membrane permeability and intracellular calcium levels, which facilitated lysosome exocytosis and release of host antimicrobial factors and microbial products. Lysosome exocytosis has been proposed to mediate secretion of IL-1β and IL-18; however, blocking lysosome exocytosis did not alter cytokine processing or release. These studies indicate two conserved secretion pathways are initiated by caspase-1, lysosome exocytosis, and a parallel pathway resulting in cytokine release, and both enhance the antimicrobial nature of pyroptosis.
Neurological manifestations in Wilson's disease: Report of 119 cases

We describe the neurological manifestations of 119 patients with WD (93 index cases and 26 affected family members) seen between 1963 and 2004. The mean age at symptoms onset was 19.6 years (range, 7–37 years). Medical records were reviewed for the patient's first neurological examination. The most frequent neurological manifestations observed were dysarthria (91%), gait disturbance (75%), risus sardonicus (72%), dystonia (69%), rigidity (66%), tremor (60%), and dysphagia (50%). Less frequent manifestations were chorea (16%) and athetosis (14%). Rare neurological presentations were seizures (4.2%), and pyramidal signs (3%). © 2006 Movement Disorder Society
Numerical analysis of an electro-thermal wind generator

This paper presents the analysis of an electrothermal wind generator for wind conversion systems able to transform the rotational mechanical energy both into electricity and heat by cogeneration. This new solution is a two in one machine that consists of a permanent magnet synchronous generator cooled by forced convection by a liquid thermal agent and a permanent magnet heater whose role is to raise the temperature of the liquid to imposed values. The complex structure of the studied machine and its associated phenomena make its analysis a complex task, difficult to be carried out analytically. That is why the study of the generator behavior and of its operation characteristics are done by finite element analysis using the software package Flux ®.
Vitamin D Compounds Are Bactericidal against Streptococcus mutans and Target the Bacitracin-Associated Efflux System

ABSTRACT Vitamin D analogs were identified as compounds that induced lysis of planktonic cultures of Streptococcus mutans in a high-throughput screen of FDA-approved drugs. Previous studies have demonstrated that certain derivatives of vitamin D possess lytic activity against other bacteria, though the mechanism has not yet been established. Through the use of a combinatorial approach, the vitamin D derivative doxercalciferol was shown to act synergistically with bacitracin, a polypeptide-type drug that is known to interfere with cell wall synthesis, suggesting that doxercalciferol may act in a bacitracin-related pathway. Innate resistance to bacitracin is attributed to efflux by a conserved ABC-type transporter, which in S. mutans is encoded by the mbrABCD operon. S. mutans possesses two characterized mechanisms of resistance to bacitracin, the ABC transporter, S. mutans bacitracin resistance (Mbr) cassette, consisting of MbrABCD, and the rhamnose-glucose polysaccharide (Rgp) system, RgpABCDEFGHI. Loss of function of the transporter in ΔmbrA and ΔmbrD mutants exacerbated the effect of the combination of doxercalciferol and bacitracin. Despite conservation of a transporter homologous to mbrABCD, the combination of doxercalciferol and bacitracin appeared to be synergistic only in streptococcal species. We conclude that vitamin D derivatives possess lytic activity against S. mutans and act through a mechanism dependent on the bacitracin resistance mechanism of MbrABCD.
An Experience of Fuzzy Linear Regression applied to Effort Estimation

SEKE Long Papers A Methodology for Scenario Development Giuseppe Della Penna, Benedetto Intrigila, Anna Rita Laurenzi and Sergio Orefice A Nonparametric Software Reliability Model Based on Kernel Estimator and Optimum Algorithm Han Fengyan, Qin Zheng and Wang Xin A Simulation-Based Game for Project Management Experiential Learning Alexandre Dantas, Márcio Barros and Cláudia Werner A UML-based Software Engineering Methodology for Agent Factory Rem Collier, Gregory O’Hare and Colm Rooney ADAMS: an Artefact-based Process Support System Andrea De Lucia, Fausto Fasano, Rita Francese and Genoveffa Tortora Agent Technology Portfolio Manager K. S. Barber, J. Ahn, N. Gujral, D. N. Lam and T. Graser AgentService Antonio Boccalatte, Andrea Gozzi, Alberto Grosso and Christian Vecchiola An Analytical Framework for Consistency Maintenance Mechanisms in Collaborative Editing Systems Liyin Xue, Mehmet Orgun and Kang Zhang An Experience of Fuzzy Linear Regression applied to Effort Estimation Gerardo Canfora, Luigi Cerulo and Luigi Troiano ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
A novel sample reduction method for support vector regression ased on memory mode

Aims to solving the problem of training speed and memory taking during traditional support vector regression (SVR) training for large scale sample sets, a method based on memory mode is proposed in this paper, named memory mode support vector regression (MM-SVR). By simulating the memory law of human with a forgetting factor and considering the importance of data to simulating actual physical process, the offline history data is sampled by utilizing the timeliness of the observation data. The sampled data is taken as the training set, on which the model was gained by support vector regression. The simulation tests are carried out on several benchmark datasets. The results show that MM-SVR has advantages compared to RS-SVR and original SVR on training speed and robustness.
Dichloroacetate stimulation of glucose oxidation improves recovery of ischemic rat hearts.

We have previously shown that high concentrations of fatty acids depress reperfusion recovery of ischemic rat hearts as a result of a fatty acid inhibition of glucose oxidation. In this study, we determined whether dichloroacetate, an activator of pyruvate dehydrogenase, could overcome fatty acid inhibition of glucose oxidation and thereby improve mechanical recovery of hearts reperfused after a period of transient global ischemia. Isolated working rat hearts, perfused with 11 mM glucose, 1.2 mM palmitate, and 500 microU/ml insulin, were subjected to a 30-min period of no flow ischemia, followed by a 30-min period of reperfusion. Under these conditions, control hearts recovered 37% of preischemic function. The addition of 1 mM dichloroacetate to the perfusate at reperfusion resulted in a significant improvement in recovery of mechanical function (to 73% of preischemic function). When dichloroacetate was added before the onset of ischemia, however, this protective effect was lost, and a significant increase in myocardial lactate accumulation during ischemia was observed. The effects of dichloroacetate on glucose oxidation rates in both nonischemic and reperfused ischemic hearts was determined by perfusing hearts with 11 mM [U-14C]glucose and 1.2 mM palmitate and quantitatively collecting 14CO2 produced by the heart. In nonischemic hearts, 1 mM dichloroacetate increased steady-state glucose oxidation rates from 298 +/- 69 to 1,223 +/- 135 nmol.g dry wt-1.min-1. The addition of dichloroacetate to hearts reperfused after a 25-min period of ischemia also increased glucose oxidation rates from (112 +/- 25 to 561 +/- 83 nmol.g dry wt-1.min-1). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A new framework for designing parallel algorithms on series parallel graphs

The authors propose a novel framework for designing efficient parallel algorithms on series parallel graphs. Recently, a novel approach for recognizing series parallel graphs was presented by D. Eppstein. Eppstein explored characterizations of the ear decomposition of series parallel graphs, which can be identified efficiently, in parallel. The authors extend Eppstein's results and show in a unified manner how to solve problems on series parallel graphs efficiently, in parallel, by finding a special ear decomposition of the graph. They demonstrate the utility of their novel framework by presenting O(log n) concurrent read exclusive write (CREW) parallel random access machine (PRAM) algorithms for the construction of a depth-first spanning tree, st-numbering, and a breadth-first spanning tree on series parallel graphs. <<ETX>>
A technique of three-level thresholding based on probability partition and fuzzy 3-partition

Thresholding is a commonly used technique in image segmentation. Selecting the correct thresholds is a critical issue. In this paper, the relationship between a probability partition (PP) and a fuzzy c-partition (FP) in thresholding is given. This relationship and the entropy approach are used to derive a thresholding technique to select the best fuzzy c-partition. The measure of the selection quality is the compatibility between the FP and the PP generated by the problem. An entropy function defined by the PP and FP is used to measure the compatibility. A necessary condition of the entropy function arriving at a maximum is derived. Based on this condition, an efficient algorithm for three-level thresholding is deduced. Experiments to verify the efficiency of the proposed method and comparison to some existing techniques are also presented. The experiment results show that our proposed method gives the best performance in three-level thresholding using fuzzy c-partition.
Cellular Distribution of Branched-chain Amino Acid Aminotransferase Isoenzymes Among Rat Brain Glial Cells in Culture

The first step in the catabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), reversible transamination, is catalyzed by one of the two isoforms of branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase (BCAT). The mitochondrial isoenzyme (BCATm) is widely distributed among tissues, whereas the cytosolic isoenzyme (BCATc) is restricted to only a few organs. Remarkably, BCATc is the prominent isoenzyme found in brain. The physiological significance of the subcellular compartmentation of BCAT is still not understood. To contribute to the elucidation of the cellular distribution of the two isoenzymes in brain, we used cultured rat glial cells in an immunocytochemical study to determine the pattern of BCAT isoenzyme expression by glial cells. Antiserum against BCATm generated a punctate staining pattern of astroglial cells, confirming the mitochondrial location of this isoenzyme. In contrast, the cytosol of galactocerebroside-expressing oligodendroglial cells and O2A progenitor cells displayed intense staining only for BCATc. In addition, subpopulations of astroglial cells exhibited BCATc immunoreactivity. The presence of BCATm in astrocytes is consistent with the known ability of these cells to oxidize BCAA. Furthermore, our results on BCATc provide support for the hypothesis that BCATs are also involved in nitrogen transfer from astrocytes to neurons.