Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Intonational Cues in the Perception of Declaratives and Absolute Interrogatives in Castilian Spanish

This study investigates the impact on speech perception of the four primary differences that have been observed in the intonation patterns of declaratives and absolute interrogatives in Castilian Spanish. By means of a gating experiment, stimuli of partial or complete utterances in which the F0 pattern was manipulated to contain all possible combinations of cues to sentence type were presented to listeners. For the partial utterances, listeners responded following each gate as to whether they perceived a declarative or an interrogative utterance. For complete utterances, listeners likewise responded following each gate as to the type of sentence perceived, but also rated the naturalness of the utterance. Results show that listeners achieve a high degree of accuracy in perceiving sentence type from the first intonational difference presented, that all cues to sentence type affect perception to at least some degree, that the medial F0 pattern is the strongest nonfinal intonational cue to sentence type, and that in spite of the strength of perception based on earlier cues, the final F0 movement has the strongest effect on perception, overriding all previous cues.
Shannon-kotel-nikov mappings in joint source-channel coding

This paper deals with lossy joint source-channel coding for transmitting memoryless sources over AWGN channels. The scheme is based on the geometrical interpretation of communication by Kotel'nikov and Shannon where amplitudecontinuous, time-discrete source samples are mapped directly onto the channel using curves or planes. The source and channel spaces can have different dimensions and thereby achieving either compression or error control, depending on whether the source bandwidth is smaller or larger than the channel bandwidth. We present a general theory for 1:N and M:1 dimension changing mappings, and provide two examples for a Gaussian source and channel where we optimize both a 2:1 bandwidth-reducing and a 1:2 bandwidth-expanding mapping. Both examples show high spectral efficiency and provide both graceful degradation and improvement for imperfect channel state information at the transmitter.
Energy Efficient Multi-Core Processing

This paper evaluates the present state of the art of energy-efficient embedded processor design techniques and demonstrates, how small, variable-architecture embedded processors may exploit a run-time minimal architectural synthesis technique to achieve greater energy and area efficiency whilst maintaining performance. The picoMIPS architecture is presented, inspired by the MIPS, as an example of a minimal and energy efficient processor. The picoMIPS is a variable architecture RISC microprocessor with an application-specific minimised instruction set. Each implementation will contain only the necessary datapath elements in order to maximise area efficiency. Due to the relationship between logic gate count and power consumption, energy efficiency is also maximised in the processor therefore the system is designed to perform a specific task in the most efficient processor-based form. The principles of the picoMIPS processor are illustrated with an example of the discrete cosine transform (DCT) and inverse DCT (IDCT) algorithms implemented in a multi-core context to demonstrate the concept of minimal architecture synthesis and how it can be used to produce an application specific, energy efficient processor.
Early detection of reversed diastolic umbilical flow: should we offer karyotyping?

In normal pregnancy, end‐diastolic flow appears in the umbilical artery around the 13th week of gestation, with a velocity which increases progressively with advancing gestation. The detection of reversed flow in the umbilical artery, the highest expression of an increase in placental vascular resistance, is extremely uncommon in the first half of gestation and, in three of the four cases reported in the literature, there were chromosomal abnormalities. We report a new case of reversed end‐diastolic flow in the umbilical artery in a 13‐week fetus with increased nuchal translucency thickness, megacystis and tachycardia. Cytogenetic analysis of chorionic villi (and amniocytes revealed trisomy 13. The findings provide further evidence for a possible association between reversed end‐diastolic flow in the umbilical artery and chromosomal abnormalities. However, the effectiveness of this potential marker in an unselected population requires further evaluation. Copyright © 1997 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Actor-Network Theory—The Market Test

It is often argued that ANT fails to offer a satisfactory theory of the actor which is allegedly endowed either with limitless power, or deprived of any room for manoeuvre at all. The aim of this paper is to show that the absence of a theory of the actor, when combined with the role attributed to non-humans in the description of action, is precisely one of the strengths of ANT that it is most important to preserve. This is because this combination makes it possible to explain the existence and the working of economic markets. Any particular market is the consequence of operations of disentanglement, framing, internalization and externalization. ANT makes it possible to explain these operations and the emergence of calculating agents. Homo economicus is neither a pure invention, nor an impoverished vision of a real person. It indeed exists, but is the consequence of a process in which economic science places an active role. The conclusion is that ANT has passed one of the most demanding tests: that of the market.
Fault-tolerant event region detection in wireless sensor networks using statistical hypothesis test

Most existing algorithms for fault-tolerant event region detection only assume that events are spatially correlated, but we argue that events are usually both spatially and temporally correlated. By examining the temporal correlation of sensor measurements, we propose a detection algorithm by applying statistical hypothesis test (SHT). SHT-based algorithm is more accurate in detecting event regions, and is more energy efficient since it avoids measurement exchanges. To improve the capability of fault recognition, we extend SHT-based algorithm by examining both spatial and temporal correlations of sensor measurements. The extended SHT-based algorithm can recognize almost all faults when sensor network is densely deployed.
Lindesmith on Addiction: A Critical History of a Classic Theory*

The evolution of Alfred Lindesmith's classic theory of addiction is analyzed as a product of the particular intellectual currents and controversies in and for which it was developed. These include the conflicts that pitted qualitative against quantitative sociology; the fledgling discipline of sociology against medicine, psychiatry, and psychology; and advocates of therapy for addicts against those who would simply punish them. By casting the meaningful experience of drug effects exclusively in terms of symbolically mediated mental representations of brute physiological sensations, Lindesmith's theory posits an epistemologically untenable dualism between mental and bodily perception that unnecessarily limits the explanatory scope of sociological research. As an alternative to this dualism, a praxiological approach to the meaning of drug-induced behavior and experience is proposed.
Mesonephric stromal cells differentiate into Leydig cells in the mouse fetal testis.

Circumstantial evidence has suggested that Sry expression probably occurs in pre-Sertoli cells, implying that they produce signals required for testis differentiation. From experiments involving gonad/mesonephros grafts it has been shown that, at 11.5 days postcoitum stromal cells from the mesonephros invade the male gonad. Although in the grafted testes, Leydig cells appeared among the stromal cells, in these studies their origin remained elusive. In the current study, we reconstructed urogenital ridges in organ culture by grafting morphologically undifferentiated male genital ridges from CD-1 embryos, to mesonephroi from ROSA26 transgenic embryos whose cells express the bacterial beta-galactosidase. With an improved technique for the detection of beta-gal enzyme activity in electronmicrographs, we studied cell migration and differentiation of mesonephric cells into the testis in reconstructed urogenital ridges with XY or XX mesonephroi. It was found that, in addition to differentiation of myoid and connective cells, some migratory mesonephric cells acquired ultrastructural features of steroidogenic Leydig cells. Several beta-gal positive cells differentiated as Leydig cells in gonads grafted with either male or female mesonephros. The results suggest that mesonephric cells responded to putative signal(s) produced in the male gonad and participate in morphogenesis and cell differentiation of the fetal testis.
Improving language identification robustness to highly channel-degraded speech through multiple system fusion

We describe a language identiﬁcation system developed for ro-bustess to noise conditions such as those encountered under the DARPA RATS program, which is focused on multi-channel audio collected in high noise conditions. Work presented here includes novel approaches to scoring iVectors, the introduction of several new acoustic and prosodic features for language identiﬁcation, and discriminative ﬁle selection approaches to score calibration. Further, we explore the use of Discrete Cosine Trans-forms (DCT) as a supplement to traditional context modeling with Shifted Delta Cepstrum (SDC) and fusion of multiple iVector systems based on Gaussian backends, neural networks, and adaptive Gaussian backend modeling.
Continuance Intention to use High Maintenance Information Systems: The Role of Perceived Maintenance Effort

Information Systems (IS) continued use theories have typically excluded a role for effort expectancy and similar constructs arguing that they do not impact the intentions of experienced users. This may not hold true for an emerging class of information systems that we refer to as High Maintenance Information Systems (HMIS). HMIS are a class of information systems that require users to expend an ongoing maintenance effort in order to keep the system up-to-date so they can continue to reap future benefits out of using the system. This ongoing maintenance effort is unlikely to significantly diminish as users gain further experience. The proposed study seeks to develop a theoretical model that explains the factors influencing individuals’ continued use of such systems taking into account the potential role of perceived maintenance effort. The proposed model will be validated using a survey design involving experienced Facebook users. Collected data will be analyzed using structural equation modeling and qualitative data analysis techniques.
Heterogeneity of causes for delinquency and criminality: Lifespan perspectives

Abstract This review of family, twin, and adoption studies on offender behaviors points to the importance of a genetic predisposition as a partial explanation for criminality in some populations. Twin and adoption studies show that criminality increases with the presence of criminality in biological relatives; the environmental effects of having a criminal adoptive parent also increase the risk of adoptee criminality. Delinquency is described developmentally as a fairly typical phase for many adolescents. Because of the high base rate for delinquency, any genetic predisposition for offense behaviors may be difficult to uncover in adolescence. Three groups are differentiated that may aid in this detection: continuous antisocials are delinquents who continue to be criminal as adults; transitory delinquents are delinquents but not criminals; and late bloomers are criminals but not delinquents.
Stem cell therapies for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa

Human epidermis is composed of a stratified squamous epithelium that provides a mechanical barrier against the external environment and which is renewed every 3–4 weeks by resident stem cells in the epidermis. However, in the inherited skin fragility disorder, recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), there is recurrent trauma‐induced subepidermal blistering that disrupts epidermal homeostasis and is likely to deplete the epidermal stem cell pool. This review article discusses the nature of epidermal stem cells and other stem cell populations in the skin, as well as other possible extracutaneous sources of stem cells, that might have physiological or therapeutic relevance to cell therapy approaches for RDEB. Strategies to identify, create and use cells with multipotent or pluripotent properties are explored and current clinical experience of stem cell therapy in RDEB is reviewed. There is currently no single optimal therapy for patients with RDEB, but cell therapy technologies are evolving and hold great potential for modifying disease severity and improving quality of life for people living with RDEB.
The tuberous sclerosis complex

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder that results from mutations in the TSC1 or TSC2 genes and is associated with hamartoma formation in multiple organ systems. The neurological manifestations of TSC are particularly challenging and include infantile spasms, intractable epilepsy, cognitive disabilities, and autism. Progress over the past 15 years has demonstrated that the TSC1 or TSC2 encoded proteins modulate cell function via the mTOR signaling cascade and serve as keystones in regulating cell growth and proliferation. The mTOR pathway provides an intersection for an intricate network of protein cascades that respond to cellular nutrition, energy levels, and growth‐factor stimulation. In the brain, TSC1 and TSC2 have been implicated in cell body size, dendritic arborization, axonal outgrowth and targeting, neuronal migration, cortical lamination, and spine formation. Antagonism of the mTOR pathway with rapamycin and related compounds may provide new therapeutic options for TSC patients.
Bottum-up tree acceptors

This paper deals with the formal derivation of an efficient tabulation algorithm for table driven bottom-up tree acceptors. Bottom-up tree acceptors are based on a notion of match sets. First we derive a naive acceptance algorithm using dynamic computation of match sets. Tabulation of match sets leads to an efficient acceptance algorithm, but tables may be so large that they can not be generated due to lack of space. Introduction of a convenient equivalence relation on match sets reduces this effect and improves the tabulation algorithm.
Factor Structure of the Chinese Virtues Questionnaire

Objectives: The present study examined the factorial invariance and functional equivalence of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) among the Chinese. Methods: A total of 839 undergraduate students completed the 240-item Simplified Chinese version of the VIA-IS online. Another 40 students participated in qualitative interviews to examine the meaning and function of the items in Chinese culture. Results: A total of 144 items were removed from the original version questionnaire (240-item) because of low item-loading and lack of cultural validity. A Chinese Virtues Questionnaire-96 (CVQ-96) in simplified Chinese containing 96 items (4 items per strength) was adopted. Three subscales (interpersonal, vitality, and cautiousness) were developed after exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Conclusion: A theoretically meaningful 3-factor model of virtue, comparable to some virtue structures proposed in previous studies conducted in Western countries, was obtained. The inventories being developed can facilitate positive social work assessment and intervention.
Localized sampling for hospital re-admission prediction with imbalanced sample distributions

Hospital re-admission refers to special medical events that a patient previously discharged from the hospital is readmitted within a short period of time (say 30 days). A re-admission not only downgrades the quality of living of the patient, it also adds significant financial burdens to the health care systems. To date, many systems exist to use computational approaches to predict the likelihood of a patient being readmitted in the future for medical decision assistance. When building predictive models for hospital re-admission prediction, one essential challenge is that sample distributions in the data are severely imbalanced where, typically, less than 10% of patients are likely going to be readmitted in a near future. A predictive model, without considering sample imbalance, will unlikely generate accurate results for prediction. To date, no existing re-admission model has explicitly addressed such data imbalance issues in their systems. In this paper, we consider hospital re-admission prediction with imbalanced sample distributions, and propose to use localized sampling approach to help build accurate predictive models. For localized sampling, we emphasize on samples which are difficult to classify, and allow the sampling process to bias to such instances. Because finding instances difficult to classify requires calculation of distance between instances, and the high dimensionality of Electronic Health Records (EHR) data makes the distance calculation highly ineffective, we propose to use latent topic embedding to reduce the sample from high dimensionality to a handful of low dimensional topic space for effective and accurate calculation of the distance between instances. By using localized sampling to build multiple versions of balanced datasets, we are able to train multiple predictive models and combine their results for prediction. Experiments and comparisons on data collected from several South Florida regional hospitals demonstrate the performance of our method.
Leader—Member Exchange as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Work Group Diversity and Team Performance

This study tests a moderator of the association between diversity and work group performance: leader—member exchange (LMX). The authors theorized performance effects associated with the differentiation and aggregate level of the dyadic LMX relationships in work groups and that the nature of these LMX effects would vary qualitatively as a function of work group diversity. The model was tested with a U.S. military operational simulation, including 224 high-ranking officers in 65 temporary work groups. Results indicate that LMX interacted with work group gender diversity, such that in more gender diverse groups LMX differentiation was positively associated with work group performance when aggregate LMX was high (above the median); among less gender diverse groups, LMX differentiation was not associated with performance when aggregate LMX was high, consistent with prior research. No effects of gender diversity were found among work groups reporting low aggregate LMX or with regard to group member functional background diversity.
Approach–Avoidance versus Dominance–Submissiveness: A Multilevel Neural Framework on How Testosterone Promotes Social Status

Approach–avoidance generally describes appetitive motivation and fear of punishment. In a social context approach motivation is, however, also expressed as social aggression and dominance. We therefore link approach–avoidance to dominance–submissiveness, and provide a neural framework that describes how the steroid hormone testosterone shifts reflexive as well as deliberate behaviors towards dominance and promotion of social status. Testosterone inhibits acute fear at the level of the basolateral amygdala and hypothalamus and promotes reactive dominance through upregulation of vasopressin gene expression in the central-medial amygdala. Finally, the hormone can, depending on social context and prenatal hormone exposure, promote both pro- and antisocial behaviors and decisions through its effects on prefrontal–amygdala interactions. All these effects of testosterone, however, serve to increase and maintain social status.
ESAT-6 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis Dissociates from Its Putative Chaperone CFP-10 under Acidic Conditions and Exhibits Membrane-Lysing Activity

ABSTRACT The 6-kDa early secreted antigenic target ESAT-6 and the 10-kDa culture filtrate protein CFP-10 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are secreted by the ESX-1 system into the host cell and thereby contribute to pathogenicity. Although different studies performed at the organismal and cellular levels have helped to explain ESX-1-associated phenomena, not much is known about how ESAT-6 and CFP-10 contribute to pathogenesis at the molecular level. In this study we describe the interaction of both proteins with lipid bilayers, using biologically relevant liposomal preparations containing dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol, and cholesterol. Using floatation gradient centrifugation, we demonstrate that ESAT-6 showed strong association with liposomes, and in particular with preparations containing DMPC and cholesterol, whereas the interaction of CFP-10 with membranes appeared to be weaker and less specific. Most importantly, binding to the biomembranes no longer occurred when the proteins were present as a 1:1 ESAT-6·CFP-10 complex. However, lowering of the pH resulted in dissociation of the protein complex and subsequent protein-liposome interaction. Finally, cryoelectron microscopy revealed that ESAT-6 destabilized and lysed liposomes, whereas CFP-10 did not. In conclusion, we propose that one of the main features of ESAT-6 in the infection process of M. tuberculosis is the interaction with biomembranes that occurs after dissociation from its putative chaperone CFP-10 under acidic conditions typically encountered in the phagosome.
Outpatients’ ratings of use and efficiency of emotion regulation strategies

100 outpatients diagnosed as anxious and 100 as depressed, and 418 non-clinical participants rated their use and perceived efficiency of each of ten strategies to become happy and 14 strategies to stop being angry, anxious, and sad. Findings suggested a general outpatient problem of regulating emotions at high intensity levels. Examples were that outpatients selected fewer strategies for happiness than non-clients, and rated lower user frequency and strategy efficiency for strategies both for happiness and negative emotions. Differences were, moreover, shown both for strategies which could be associated with psychiatric symptoms and for those which could not. Specific factors in emotion regulation were suggested by outpatients’ more frequent rating of avoidance, entertainment, and waiting for the emotion to pass to stop negative emotions, and by strategies which seemed to be associated with psychiatric diagnosis and emotion type. Thus, outpatients may also have problems related to their use of specific strategies for specific emotions.