Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reading and Writing Habits as a Predictor of Verbal Fluency in Elders

Introduction: Semantic and phonemic verbal fluency tasks are the most used verbal fluency versions to evaluate dementia patients, while unconstrained and action fluencies have been poorly investigated in aging. This study aimed to evaluate if the factors diagnosis, age, and reading and writing habits can predict the performance of four types of verbal fluency in healthy elderly (HE), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) participants. Method: Eighty participants were included in this study (21 mild AD, 32 MCI, and 27 HE). The participants performed a reading and writing habits questionnaire, neuropsychological evaluation, and semantic, phonemic, unconstrained, and action verbal fluency tasks. Diagnosis, age, and reading and writing habits were entered as predictors in a stepwise linear regression model for each of the four verbal fluency tasks. Results: The stepwise procedure eliminated age for all models as being nonsignificant. Unconstrained and semantic verbal fluency were better predicted by the diagnosis followed by reading and writing habits. On the other hand, phonemic and action verbal fluency were better predicted by reading and writing habits followed by diagnosis. Conclusion: Reading and writing habits contributed to the prediction of all verbal fluency tasks, highlighting their role in cognitive function. The sensitivity of these verbal fluency tasks to sociocultural and clinical factors should be considered in the neuropsychological assessment.
Automatic Classification of Protein Functions From the Literature

The process of annotation requires the work of human experts who, by reading the available literature and using their expert knowledge, are able to generate abstractions regarding the common function of genes and proteins. This process is extremely demanding and time consuming and usually has to be repeated many times (e.g. for every different clustering process applied to the same DNA array experiment). In addition, the pointers to the evidence used by the annotators must be recorded (the experimental evidence should be linked to the annotations). The GO ontology [2] has become a de facto standard that helps to solve some of these problems, providing fast access to the annotations of various functional characteristics (metabolic, chemistry, localization). However, a number of the requirements described above are still not addressed, including the need to keep pointers to the underlying information up to date and the need to provide reproducible evidence (e.g. why this group of sequences was assigned to that function). Furthermore, the annotation of functions at levels that differ from the ones represented in GO, or genomes not yet included, also remains to be solved. Statistical information extraction is a field with a long history that has only recently been applied to biology. One of the best-known applications has been integrated into PubMed to enhance the search functionality for Medline queries [21,22]. Special applications were dedicated to knowledge base construction [7,14], analysis of DNA microarray data [13,19] and improvements of the search capabilities in document collections [16].
Relationship between the Uncompensated Price Elasticity and the Income Elasticity of Demand under Conditions of Additive Preferences

Income and price elasticity of demand quantify the responsiveness of markets to changes in income and in prices, respectively. Under the assumptions of utility maximization and preference independence (additive preferences), mathematical relationships between income elasticity values and the uncompensated own and cross price elasticity of demand are here derived using the differential approach to demand analysis. Key parameters are: the elasticity of the marginal utility of income, and the average budget share. The proposed method can be used to forecast the direct and indirect impact of price changes and of financial instruments of policy using available estimates of the income elasticity of demand.
Can Recent Attacks Really Threaten Internet Availability ?

The incident was an attack mounted against the non-profit organisation Spamhaus [2], leading to noticeable delays for internet users mostly in the UK, Germany and other parts of Western Europe. Spamhaus, which is based in Geneva and London, contributes to the fight against spam by providing a service that enables operators of email servers to check if a sender’s email server is known to be sending unsolicited commercial email. Although no clear evidence exists, the attack on Spamhaus is generally attributed to a hosting provider who was flagged as a spam sender by Spamhaus.
Hyperkalaemia in a tetraplegic adolescent due to de novo sodium channel mutation.

Maintenance of potassium homeostasis is crucial for the survival of humans and other mammals. In general, potassium levels result from the relationship between potassium intake, urinary potassium excretion and the distribution of potassium between the intracellular and extracellular space. In healthy subjects, potassium excesses are primarily buffered by rapid cell uptake. In a second step, excessive serum potassium is then largely balanced via potassium excretion in the urine, mediated by the renal cortical collecting tubules. These cellular and urinary adaptations normally prevent significant potassium accumulation in the extracellular fluid. Hyperkalaemia is defined as a condition in which serum potassium levels exceed concentrations of 5.0–5.5 mmol/l. Nephrologists usually have to deal with hyperkalaemia on a daily basis and the causes thereof are indeed numerous. However, they can be assigned to four major categories: (i) excessive K+-intake and tissue necrosis, (ii) reduced renal K+-excretion, (iii) redistribution of internal K+ via K+shift and (iv) pseudohyperkalaemia. Hyperkalaemia primarily affects skeletal muscles and the heart, resulting in typical clinical symptoms such as weakness, paralysis and palpitations [1]. Depending on interindividual susceptibility and the extent of hyperkalaemia, classical ECG changes such as ‘peaked T waves’ or ‘broadened QRS’ can develop, and in extreme cases even culminate in sudden cardiac arrest and death [2]. Renal specialists are often consulted for help in managing hyperkalaemic patients, but in some cases, the ‘renal trace’ can be misleading in unravelling the true root cause of the problem. Here we report on an extremely rare cause of hyperkalaemia in a young patient who presented to the emer-
Evolutionary and competence‐based theories of the firm

This essay explores evolutionary and competence‐based theories of the firm. Evolutionary theories can be regarded as a subset of a wider class of theories, variously described as “capabilities”, “resource‐based”, or “competence‐based” theories of the firm. These contrast with a different set of contractarian theories, emanating largely from the work of Coase. It is argued that the contractarian theories of the firm misleadingly assume given individuals thus neglecting processes of individual learning and transformation. Similarly underestimated is importance of technology and the persistence of variety in firm structure and performance. The genesis of the alternative, competence‐based approach is outlined, including the important subset of “evolutionary” approaches of the Nelson‐Winter type. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relevance of the competence‐based approach to strategic management.
Single image de-haze based on a new dark channel estimation method

The image quality is effected dramatically by the weather conditions such as haze, fog and smoke. In surveillance or vehicle systems. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm to remove haze from a single image. A new dark channel estimation method is employed by subtracting three times variance from mean to approximate the minimum value, which is defined as the dark channel in a local area. To achieve anisotropic local mean and variance, a fast bilateral filter is introduced. Its complexity is a linear function of the size of the image, which makes real-time visibility restoration possible. Compared with existing algorithm based on dark channel prior, the proposed algorithm have better performance by reducing the halos introduced by large patches very well with less computational cost.
Voice2SQL: A Hybrid Intelligent System for the Recovery of Information from Databases by Means of Spoken Natural Language

In this article, it is proposed a model of recovery of information from a database through queries in Natural Language using the voice as input vector. This model incorporates a Hybrid Intelligent System based on Genetic Algorithms and a Self-Organizing Map of Kohonen (SOM) to recognize the present phonemes in a word through time, which allows us to remake up a word with speaker independence. Besides, it is proposed the use of a compiler with grammar of type 2 according to the Chomsky Hierarchy to support the syntactic and semantic structure in Spanish language. Our experiments suggest that the voice and Natural Language improve notably the Human-Computer interaction regarding with traditional methods, also that it is possible to achieve a more exact recognition of words by using neural networks SOM regarding to previous approaches as Hidden Markov Models (HMM).
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The study on database technologies, or more generally, the technologies of data and information management, is an important and active research eld. Recently, many exciting results have been reported. In this fast growing eld, Chinese researchers play more and more active roles. Research papers from Chinese scholars, both in China and abroad, appear in prestigious
Mostly-Static Program Partitioning for Dynamic Parallelization of Binary Executables

Azure is a run-time monitoring and dynamic compilation system that takes unmodified sequential binaries and improves their performance when running on off-the-shelf microprocessors. Among the techniques employed are dynamic vectorization and loop-level parallelization via control speculation and loop distribution across several threads. Azure is a purely software-based solution that requires no specific hardware support for speculative thread execution. Our prototype implementation of Azure is able to break even in most cases, i.e., the achieved speedup exceeds the cost of run-time monitoring and compilation, often by significant amounts. Key to this remarkable performance is an off-line preprocessing step that extracts a mostly correct control flow graph (CFG) from the binary program ahead of time. This statically obtained CFG is incomplete in that it may be missing some edges corresponding to computed branches. Azure has an efficient way of correctly handling these additional control flow edges at run-time. The availability of a mostly correct CFG enables us to statically partition a binary executable into single-entry multiple-exit regions and to identify potential parallelization candidates ahead of execution. Program regions that are not candidates for parallelization can thereby be excluded completely from run-time monitoring and dynamic recompilation. Azure’s extremely low overhead is a direct consequence of this design.
Plural Predication

My thesis consists of three self-contained but interconnected papers. In the first one, 'Word and Objects', I assume that it is possible to quantify over absolutely everything, and show that certain English sentences containing collective predicates resist paraphrase in first-order languages and even in first-order languages enriched with plural quantifiers. To capture such sentences I develop a language containing plural predicates. The introduction of plural predicates leads to an extension of Quine's criterion of ontological commitment. I argue that theories containing plural predicates can have plural ontological commitments in addition to singular ones. In this sense, I argue that the subject-matter of ontology is richer than one might have thought. Plural predicates turn out to be tremendously fruitful. For example, they provide us with natural formalizations for English plural definite descriptions and generalized quantifiers. They also allow us to state important set theoretic propositions, and give a formal semantics for second-order languages. Such a formal semantics is developed in the second paper, 'Toward a Theory of Second-Order Consequence', which is a collaboration with Gabriel Uzquiano. In the third paper, 'Frege's Unofficial Arithmetic', I consider an application of plural predicates to the philosophy of mathematics. By developing a suggestion of the later Frege, I show that any arithmetical predicate can be transformed into a plural predicate in such a way that the arithmetical predicate is true of the number of the Fs just in case the plural predicate is true of the Fs themselves. The transformation is important both because it can be put to use by nominalists about arithmetic and neo-Fregeans, and because it provides the foundations for an account of applied arithmetic. Thesis Supervisor: Vann McGee Title: Professor of Philosophy
An Efficient Transmission Strategy for the Multicarrier Multiuser MIMO Downlink

A new transmission strategy that consists of a spatial scheduling algorithm and two precoding algorithms is developed for multicarrier multiuser (MU) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The scheduling algorithm, which is called efficient multicarrier ProSched (EMC-ProSched), adopts a novel and effective scheduling metric for each user and can efficiently search for a suitable group of users to be served at the same time on the same frequency. Two precoding techniques are then designed to handle different antenna configurations. For the case where the number of transmit antennas at the base station (BS) is not smaller than the total number of receive antennas at the user terminals (UTs), the linear-precoding-based geometric mean decomposition (LP-GMD) algorithm is proposed. It suppresses the MU interference (MUI) and enables an effective implementation of the same modulation and coding scheme (MCS) on all spatial streams of each user. Consequently, smaller signaling overhead is required compared with the case where a different MCS is applied on each spatial stream. When the total number of receive antennas at the UTs exceeds the number of transmit antennas at the BS, we propose the low-complexity coordinated beamforming (LoCCoBF) algorithm to accomplish the goal of the MUI mitigation and to achieve a high capacity. A system-level simulator with a link-to-system interface is further developed under the framework of the IEEE 802.11ac standard to evaluate the performance of the proposed transmission strategy. The simulation results indicate that a promising performance can be achieved by employing the proposed transmission strategy.
Cell Cycle-Independent Phospho-Regulation of Fkh2 during Hyphal Growth Regulates Candida albicans Pathogenesis

The opportunistic human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, undergoes morphological and transcriptional adaptation in the switch from commensalism to pathogenicity. Although previous gene-knockout studies have identified many factors involved in this transformation, it remains unclear how these factors are regulated to coordinate the switch. Investigating morphogenetic control by post-translational phosphorylation has generated important regulatory insights into this process, especially focusing on coordinated control by the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28. Here we have identified the Fkh2 transcription factor as a regulatory target of both Cdc28 and the cell wall biosynthesis kinase Cbk1, in a role distinct from its conserved function in cell cycle progression. In stationary phase yeast cells 2D gel electrophoresis shows that there is a diverse pool of Fkh2 phospho-isoforms. For a short window on hyphal induction, far before START in the cell cycle, the phosphorylation profile is transformed before reverting to the yeast profile. This transformation does not occur when stationary phase cells are reinoculated into fresh medium supporting yeast growth. Mass spectrometry and mutational analyses identified residues phosphorylated by Cdc28 and Cbk1. Substitution of these residues with non-phosphorylatable alanine altered the yeast phosphorylation profile and abrogated the characteristic transformation to the hyphal profile. Transcript profiling of the phosphorylation site mutant revealed that the hyphal phosphorylation profile is required for the expression of genes involved in pathogenesis, host interaction and biofilm formation. We confirmed that these changes in gene expression resulted in corresponding defects in pathogenic processes. Furthermore, we identified that Fkh2 interacts with the chromatin modifier Pob3 in a phosphorylation-dependent manner, thereby providing a possible mechanism by which the phosphorylation of Fkh2 regulates its specificity. Thus, we have discovered a novel cell cycle-independent phospho-regulatory event that subverts a key component of the cell cycle machinery to a role in the switch from commensalism to pathogenicity.
Prevalence of risk factors for trachoma in a rural locality of north-western Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND In Ethiopia, the prevalence of blindness has been estimated to be 1.5%. According to a survey done in collaboration with WHO in 1981, the leading cause of blindness in Ethiopia was trachoma (42%) followed by cataract (29%). The problem is mainly seen in the rural areas of the country. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of trachoma in a rural locality of north-western Ethiopia. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SUBJECTS One thousand seven hundred and eighteen individuals participated in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Grades of trachoma--the WHO simplified method of clinical signs was used to determine the various grades of trachoma. RESULTS The overall prevalence rate of trachoma of the locality was 59.2% while the prevalence rate of active trachoma was found to be 52.4%. Higher frequency of trachoma was observed among females aged 15 years and above than males of the corresponding age group, and this finding was statistically significant (chi2-test, p < 0.001). Child care-taking among women, habits and frequency of face washing, presence of cooking places in living rooms and sharing of same rooms with animals have been found to be highly associated with trachoma (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Based on the results of this study, the following recommendations are made, among others: (i) the development of a system aimed at educating and convincing the people to maintain high personal and environmental hygiene and; (ii) the strengthening of the nearby health centres to incorporate activities like correction of lid deformities to prevent further loss of eye vision due to corneal damage are recommended.
Real-Time Direct Position Analysis of Parallel Spherical Wrists by Using Extra Sensors

The paper presents an algorithm for the real-time evaluation of the actual end-effector orientation of general parallel spherical wrists. Conceptually, the method relies on evidence that the pose of a rigid body is defined once the location of at least two linearly independent vectors attached to the body is known. The location of these vectors of the wrist end-effector is determined by the solution of the direct position analysis of some properly chosen kinematic chains (legs) of the manipulator. In order to accomplish this analysis, extra sensors, which measure suitable non-actuated variables of the chosen legs, need to be placed in addition to the ones normally embedded in the servomotors, i.e., the sensors which measure the actuated variables. From a mathematical point of view, the algorithm is built on the polar decomposition of a matrix and has inherent least square features. Thus, together with measurement redundancy, i.e., more sensors (extra sensors) than the mechanism degrees of freedom, the method also makes it possible to minimize the influence of both round-off and measurement errors on the estimation of the location of the wrist end-effector. The method is general but, in order to prove its effectiveness, without loss of generality it has been customized to the solution of the 3(UPS)-S fully parallel wrist architecture (where U, P and S are for universal, prismatic and spherical joint, respectively). Comparison of the proposed method, in both its general and specialized form, with others from the literature is provided. DOI: 10.1115/1.2114888
Computer Vision-based Wood Recognition System

Wood recognition is widely used in various areas and environments, e.g. construction industry, manufacturing, and ecology. The job is still being carried out mostly by wood identification experts until the present. Current implementations for wood recognition on computer systems are mainly desktop-based. Furthermore, they are not implemented using artificial intelligence techniques due to the variance between samples for a same species that could cause difficulties for obtaining accurate results. The paper studies the experimental results of the computer vision-based wood recognition using the Grey-level Co-occurrence Matrices (GLCM) and Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) technique. The GLCMs are generated to obtain five features: contrast, correlation, energy, entropy, and homogeneity, from the wood images. The two experiments give recognition rates of 72% and 60% respectively on 25 test images on five different wood species. The results show that the GLCM can extract similar features for the same species regardless of the orientation of the input image, and allows the MLP to classify the species of wood accurately.
Case study: e-commerce clickstream visualization

We have developed an interactive, scalable visualization tool for analyzing the behavior of users of a web site. Our system not only shows site topology and traffic flow, but by segmenting site traffic data based on user attributes, including demographic data and purchase history, we can present a more complete picture of web site usage. This can lead to a more focussed analysis that allows direct comparison between user segments, and ultimately a deeper understanding of how users interact with a site. The tool is designed for real world use, and we present a usage study of the tool by analyzing the data of a failed "dot-com".
Inclusive Education: Perspectives on Implementation and Practice From International Experts

Every child has the right to an education, including children with disabilities. Research findings from across the globe have shown the benefits of inclusive education, and mandates for providing accessible, inclusive education can be found in national policies and international agreements as well. This article explores the perspectives of 11 international experts on the state of inclusive education in countries spanning 5 continents. Experts participated in a focus group discussion at Inclusion International's 17th Annual World Congress 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Participants shared multifaceted factors impacting inclusive educational practices. Based on their experiences, participants also discussed strategies that were deemed effective or ineffective depending on varied contextual elements. Implications for policy, research, and practice are discussed.
Inflation Forecast Uncertainty

We study the inflation uncertainty reported by individual forecasters in the Survey of Professional Forecasters 1969-2001. Three popular measures of uncertainty built from survey data are analyzed in the context of models for forecasting and asset pricing, and improved estimation methods are suggested. Popular time series models are evaluated for their ability to reproduce survey measures of uncertainty. The results show that disagreement is a better proxy of inflation uncertainty than what previous literature has indicated, and that forecasters underestimate inflation uncertainty. We obtain similar results for output growth uncertainty.