Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forging a morphological system out of two dimensions: Agentivity and number

Abstract Languages have diverse strategies for marking agentivity and number. These strategies are negotiated to create combinatorial systems. We consider the emergence of these strategies by studying features of movement in a young sign language in Nicaragua (NSL). We compare two age cohorts of Nicaraguan signers (NSL1 and NSL2), adult homesigners in Nicaragua (deaf individuals creating a gestural system without linguistic input), signers of American and Italian Sign Languages (ASL and LIS), and hearing individuals asked to gesture silently. We find that all groups use movement axis and repetition to encode agentivity and number, suggesting that these properties are grounded in action experiences common to all participants. We find another feature – unpunctuated repetition – in the sign systems (ASL, LIS, NSL, Homesign) but not in silent gesture. Homesigners and NSL1 signers use the unpunctuated form, but limit its use to No-Agent contexts; NSL2 signers use the form across No-Agent and Agent contexts. A single individual can thus construct a marker for number without benefit of a linguistic community (homesign), but generalizing this form across agentive conditions requires an additional step. This step does not appear to be achieved when a linguistic community is first formed (NSL1), but requires transmission across generations of learners (NSL2).
Combined One-Way and Two-Way Shape Memory in a Glass-Forming Nematic Network

Past research in the field of shape memory polymers has led to significant advancements in the areas of so-called one-way and two-way (reversible) shape memory. While one-way shape memory polymers allow indefinite fixing of a temporary shape until triggered thermally to recover to an equilibrium shape, two-way shape memory polymers feature muscle-like contraction on heating and expansion on cooling under tensile load, the latter anomalous elongation occurring due to an ordering transition. Previously, reversible actuation has been reported for liquid crystalline elastomers featuring a monodomain (uniformly aligned) structure, suggesting that such alignment is required for actuation. In this work, we have prepared a glass-forming polydomain nematic network that combines reversible actuation associated with a polydomain−monodomain transition with lower temperature one-way shape memory centered at Tg. To test separability of these phenomena, distinct deformations were achieved and temporarily fixed by (1) co.
A model based approach to improve the performance of the geometric filtering speckle reduction algorithm

This paper presents the methods used to adapt the geometric filtering method for speckle reduction to ultrasound imaging. The geometric filtering method is an iterative algorithm for speckle reduction which was first applied to radar images obtained with well controlled axial and lateral resolution. The appearance of speckle in ultrasound images is directly related to the size of the point-spread-function which is known to vary through-out a single frame. In order to optimally apply the speckle reduction algorithm in ultrasound, the effects of transducer geometry, center frequency shifts, and beamforming geometry were modeled and used to resample either the raw or video data before speckle processing. As a result of this approach, less data needs to be processed and the number of iterations are reduced. Using commercially available signal processing hardware, speckle reduced ultrasound frames can be processed and displayed at rates approaching 2 per second. This improvement in throughput facilitates the clinical evaluation of the geometric filtering method for improving lesion detection and overall image interpretability.
Shrub (Prosopis velutina) encroachment in a semidesert grassland: spatial–temporal changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen pools

Recent trends of increasing woody vegetation in arid and semiarid ecosystems may contribute substantially to the North American C sink. There is considerable uncertainty, however, in the extent to which woody encroachment alters dryland soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) pools. To date, studies assessing SOC and TN response to woody plant proliferation have not explicitly assessed the variability caused by shrub age or size and subcanopy spatial gradients. These factors were quantified via spatially intensive soil sampling around Prosopis velutina shrubs in a semidesert grassland, using shrub size as a proxy for age. We found that bulk density increased with distance from the bole (P < 0.005) and decreased with increasing shrub size (P= 0.056), while both SOC and TN increased with shrub size and decreased with distance from the bole (P < 0.001 for both). Significant (and predictable) spatial variation in bulk density suggests that use of generic values would generate unreliable estimates of SOC and TN mass, and subcanopy SOC pools could be overestimated by nearly 30% if intercanopy bulk density values were applied to subcanopy sites. Predictive models based on field‐documented spatial patterns were used to generate integrated estimates of under‐shrub SOC and TN pools, and these were compared with results obtained by typical area‐weighting protocols based on point samples obtained next to the bole or at a specified distance from the bole. Values obtained using traditional area‐weighting approaches generally overestimated SOC pools relative to those obtained using the spatially integrated approach, the discrepancy increasing with increasing shrub size and proximity of the point sample to the bole. These discrepancies were observed at the individual plant scale and for landscapes populated by various shrub size classes. Results suggest that sampling aimed at quantifying shrub encroachment impacts on SOC and TN pools will require area‐weighting algorithms that simultaneously account for shrub size (age) and subcanopy spatial patterns.
Double‐strand break repair and homologous recombination in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The study of double‐strand break repair and homologous recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae meiosis has provided important information about the mechanisms involved. However, it has become clear that the resulting recombination models are only partially applicable to repair in mitotic cells, where crossover formation is suppressed. In recent years our understanding of double‐strand break repair and homologous recombination in Schizosaccharomyces pombe has increased significantly, and the identification of novel pathways and genes with homologues in higher eukaryotes has increased its value as a model organism for double‐strand break repair. In this review we will focus on the involvement of homologous recombination and repair in different aspects of genome stability in Sz. pombe meiosis, replication and telomere maintenance. We will also discuss anti‐recombination pathways (that suppress crossover formation), non‐homologous end‐joining, single‐strand annealing and factors that influence the choice and prevalence of the different repair pathways in Sz. pombe. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Clinical Interventions in Aging Dovepress Bone Cement Distribution in the Vertebral Body Affects Chances of Recompression after Percutaneous Vertebroplasty Treatment in Elderly Patients with Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fractures

hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms Objective: Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) is a surgical procedure that has been widely used to treat patients suffering from osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs). The procedure involves injection of bone cement into a fractured vertebra. In this study, we investigated whether the distribution of the cement in the vertebral body is related to the occurrence of recompression after surgery. Patients and methods: A total of 172 patients diagnosed with OVCF, from January 2008 to June 2013, were retrospectively reviewed. Fifty of these patients experienced recompres-sion after surgery during the follow-up period (recompression group), and 122 patients had no recompression observed during the follow-up period (control group). Statistical analysis was performed to compare clinical and operative parameters between these two groups. Results: Differences were found in bone cement distribution between the recompression group and control group (P=0.001). Patients with bone cement distributed around both upper and lower endplates had a significantly less incidence of recompression (4/50 patients), when compared to other patterns of cement distribution (eg, below upper endplate, above lower endplate, and in the middle of vertebral body). The logistic multiple regression analysis also indicated that patients with bone cement distributed around both the upper and lower endplates had a lower risk of recompression when compared to patients with bone cement distributed in the middle of vertebral body (odds ratio =0.223, P=0.003). Conclusion: We herein suggest that the control of bone cement distribution during surgery provides beneficial effects on reducing the risks of recompression after PVP treatment in patients with OVCF.
An evidence-based framework to culturally adapt cognitive behaviour therapy

Abstract Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in its current form might not be applicable in non-Western cultures. Differences between Western and non-Western cultures have been reported widely. Most psychotherapeutic interventions have been developed in the West and are underpinned by the values that might be specific only to Western culture. To adapt CBT, we need to understand whether the concepts associated with CBT may conflict with cultural beliefs, identifying barriers to the success of the therapy using the views of experts by experience, public and practitioners. This paper discusses the process, foci and framework of cultural adaptation of CBT. We describe an evidence-based framework for adapting CBT for individuals from non-Western cultures that will benefit clinicians who practise CBT and individuals from different cultural backgrounds.
Correlating Gene Expression Variation with cis-Regulatory Polymorphism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Identifying the nucleotides that cause gene expression variation is a critical step in dissecting the genetic basis of complex traits. Here, we focus on polymorphisms that are predicted to alter transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We assembled a confident set of transcription factor motifs using recent protein binding microarray and ChIP-chip data and used our collection of motifs to predict a comprehensive set of TFBSs across the S. cerevisiae genome. We used a population genomics analysis to show that our predictions are accurate and significantly improve on our previous annotation. Although predicting gene expression from sequence is thought to be difficult in general, we identified a subset of genes for which changes in predicted TFBSs correlate well with expression divergence between yeast strains. Our analysis thus demonstrates both the accuracy of our new TFBS predictions and the feasibility of using simple models of gene regulation to causally link differences in gene expression to variation at individual nucleotides.
Oligomerization and maturation of Na,K-ATPase: functional interaction of the cytoplasmic NH2 terminus of the beta subunit with the alpha subunit

Subunit assembly plays an essential role in the maturation of oligomeric proteins. In this study, we have characterized the main structural and functional consequences of the assembly of alpha and beta subunits of Na,K-ATPase. Xenopus oocytes injected with alpha and/or beta cRNA were treated with brefeldin A, which permitted the accumulation of individual subunits or alpha-beta complexes in the ER. Only alpha subunits that are associated with beta subunits become resistant to trypsin digestion and cellular degradation. Similarly, assembly with beta subunits is necessary and probably sufficient for the catalytic alpha subunit to acquire its main functional properties at the level of the ER, namely the ability to adopt different ligand- dependent conformations and to hydrolyze ATP in an Na(+)- and K(+)- dependent, ouabain-inhibitable fashion. Not only the alpha but also the beta subunit undergoes a structural change after assembly, which results in a global increase in its protease resistance. Furthermore, extensive and controlled proteolysis assays on wild-type and NH2- terminally modified beta subunits revealed a K(+)-dependent interaction of the cytoplasmic NH2 terminus of the beta subunit with the alpha subunit, which is likely to be involved in the modulation of the K(+)- activation of the Na,K-pump transport activity. Thus, we conclude that the ER assembly process not only establishes the basic structural interactions between individual subunits, which are required for the maturation of oligomeric proteins, but also distinct, functional interactions, which are involved in the regulation of functional properties of mature proteins.
Obesity Paradox and Recurrent Coronary Heart Disease in a Population-Based Study: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

Background Although current data shows a positive association between obesity and development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in general population, there is limited data on the important protective role of central or general obesity in patients with prevalent CHD or the “obesity paradox”, from this region. Objectives The objective of the present investigation was to describe the relationship between BMI categories and the recurrence of CHD in patients with a history of CHD using data from a large population-based study, the Tehran lipid and glucose study (TLGS). Patients and Methods The study was conducted on 440 adults, aged ≥ 30 years, with a history of CHD at baseline who attended the first (1999 - 2001) or second (2001 - 2003) phases of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study and had at least one year of follow-up until March 31, 2010. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association among various BMI groups and recurrent CHD incidence. Results During a median follow-up of 8.44 years, 169 new cases of CHD occurred (incidence density of: 54.53 per 1000 person-years). The incidence of recurrent CHD was higher in the normal BMI compared with overweight and obese categories (68.71, 47.56 and 54.46 per 1000 person-years, respectively). In multivariable models, using the forward stepwise selection approach, compared to the overweight group (0.48 95% CI, 0.30-0.80), the obese group (0.55 95% CI, 0.28-1.06) lost its significant protective effect. Conclusions Results of this study demonstrated an apparently protective effect for overweight in comparison with normal weight against long-term recurrent CHD in patients with history of CHD.
Experimental Study of Application Specific Source Coding for Wireless Sensor Networks

The energy bottleneck in Wireless Sensor Network(WSN) can be reduced by limiting communication overhead. Application specific source coding schemes for the sensor networks provide fewer bits to represent the same amount of information exploiting the redundancy present in the source model, network architecture and the physical process. This paper reports the performance of representative codes from various families of source coding schemes (lossless, lossy, constant bit-rate, variable bit-rate, distributed and joint encoding/decoding) in terms of energy consumed, bit-rate achieved, quantization-error/reconstruction-error, latency and complexity of encoder-decoder(codec). A reusable frame work for testing source codes is provided. Finally we propose a set of possible applications and suitable source codes in terms of these parameters.
Critical Review on Factors That Influence Continuous Engagement Towards CCBT

Substance abuse is an epidemic that spreads among adults, adolescents and even children in Malaysia. Substance abuse is categorized as a mental disorder, whereby, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an approach that provides face to face physiological therapy for patients could resolve this issue. Computerized Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CCBT) is a progression of information technology that is provided for patients encounter substance abuse. CCBT is a computerized therapy conducted at patient’s own pace. Ensuring patient’s continuous engagement towards CCBT becomes an issue. Patients that experience early gains, loss of interest and improvement symptom would sign up for alternative services that eventually causes disengagement and dropout from CCBT program. Interface design for CCBT is known as one of the important elements that effects patient’s engagement along CCBT program. Therefore, in this study, influential factors regarding CCBT’s interface design was investigated, whereby, five prominent models was reviewed. Content analysis methodology was employed to discover influential factors regarding CCBT’s interface design. Four influential factors was discovered namely engagement, dropout, culture and interface. These factors are known to ensure patient’s continuous engagement towards CCBT program. CCBT’s interface design plays a vital role in delivering the therapy program. Indirectly, CCBT’s interface design plays an important role to ensure patient’s continuous engagement till the completion of CCBT program. Therefore, these factors would guide researcher, service provider, developers and clinicians in designing engaging interface for CCBT.
Multi-State Time Delay Neural Networks for Continuous Speech Recognition

Alex Waibel Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 ahw@cs.cmu. edu We present the "Multi-State Time Delay Neural Network" (MS-TDNN) as an extension of the TDNN to robust word recognition. Unlike most other hybrid methods. the MS-TDNN embeds an alignment search procedure into the connectionist architecture. and allows for word level supervision. The resulting system has the ability to manage the sequential order of subword units. while optimizing for the recognizer performance. In this paper we present extensive new evaluations of this approach over speaker-dependent and speaker-independent connected alphabet.
Genomics information retrieval using a Bayesian model for learning and re-ranking

The use of large-scale experimental techniques and biomedical tools has increased the pace at which biologists produce useful information. This promotes us to propose a Bayesian model for learning and re-ranking to boost genomics information retrieval performance. We first describe a general model for discovering the property of each passage. Then, we examine a Bernoulli distribution as the prior distribution and provide an efficient way to obtain the training passages for parameter estimation, according to the characterizations of the Bernoulli distribution. Later, we evaluate our proposed model by conducting extensive experiments on the TREC 2007 and 2006 Genomics data sets. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed model for improving performance on two years' TREC Genomics data sets. Furthermore, the conclusions and future prospects are also discussed.
Scalar gravitational perturbations and quasinormal modes in the five-dimensional Schwarzschild black hole

We calculate the quasinormal modes (QNMs) for gravitational perturbations of the Schwarzschild black hole in the five dimensional (5D) spacetime with a continued fraction method. For all the types of perturbations (scalar-gravitational, vector-gravitational, and tensor-gravitational perturbations), the QNMs associated with l = 2, l = 3, and l = 4 are calculated. Our numerical results are summarized as follows: (i) The three types of gravitational perturbations associated with the same angular quantum number l have a different set of the quasinormal (QN) frequencies; (ii) There is no purely imaginary frequency mode; (iii) The three types of gravitational perturbations have the same asymptotic behavior of the QNMs in the limit of the large imaginary frequencies, which are given by ωTH−1→log 3+ 2πi(n+1/2) as n→∞, where ω, TH, and n are the oscillation frequency, the Hawking temperature of the black hole, and the mode number, respectively.
Effects of Direct Fuel Injection Strategies on Cycle-by-Cycle Variability in a Gasoline Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine: Sample Entropy Analysis

In this study we summarize and analyze experimental observations of cyclic variability in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion in a single-cylinder gasoline engine. The engine was configured with negative valve overlap (NVO) to trap residual gases from prior cycles and thus enable auto-ignition in successive cycles. Correlations were developed between different fuel injection strategies and cycle average combustion and work output profiles. Hypothesized physical mechanisms based on these correlations were then compared with trends in cycle-by-cycle predictability as revealed by sample entropy. The results of these comparisons help to clarify how fuel injection strategy can interact with prior cycle effects to affect combustion stability and so contribute to design control methods for HCCI engines.
Socioeconomic disparity in the diet quality of pregnant women in Northwest China.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Few studies have described the socioeconomic disparity of dietary quality in Northwest China. The present study aimed to evaluate the diet quality of pregnant women in Shaanxi province of Northwest China by using the Diet Balance Index for Pregnancy (DBI-P) and explored the relationships with socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional analysis of data from 7,630 women who were pregnant during 2012-2013 was performed. Dietary intake during the whole pregnancy was assessed by FFQ within 12 months (median, 3 months; 10th-90th percentile, 0-7 months) after delivery. Diet quality evaluated by the DBI-P was related to socioeconomic factors. RESULTS Most women had insufficient consumption of vegetables (72.27%), dairy (89.58%), meat (82.07%), fish and shrimp (92.23%), eggs (62.54%), and dietary variety (97.92%). 67.76% of women had excessive intake of grains, and 87.77% and 69.79% of participants had surplus consumption of edible oil and salt respectively. Women with higher education, occupation and household wealth index (HWI) consumed more vegetables, fruit, dairy, soybean and nuts, meat, fish and shrimp, eggs, edible oil, alcohol and dietary variety but less grains and salt. After adjusting for confounders, education, occupation and HWI were negatively associated with the level of inadequate dietary intake. Conversely, individuals with medium HWI had higher level of excessive dietary intake compared to low HWI groups. CONCLUSIONS The diet quality of pregnant women in Northwest China was associated with SES. Socioeconomic disparities in diet quality should be considered when planning nutrition interventions for pregnant women.
The Multiple Circular Sectors Structures for Phase Shifter Designs

Two phase shifters are proposed using a multiple circular sector structure. Advantages of the design include low insertion losses and small phase variations over a wide range of operating bandwidths. The design process follows a multiobjective optimization procedure that applies computational power for circuit tuning. Performance of the phase shifters are analyzed, after fabricating and measuring for verification. The phase shifter performances are compared with other existing phase shifter configurations in terms of insertion losses and phase variations.