Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceptual Categorization of DialectVariation in Spanish

Research studies on perception of dialect variation by naive listeners (e.g. Clopper and Pisoni, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c; Preston, 1993, 2002) have provided valuable information in the last years about how listeners categorize, group and judge different dialects. The so-called indexical properties of speech allow us to perceive not only the talker’s gender but also, where the talker is from, his ethnicity, age and even his socioeconomic status. These studies have provided the field of speech perception with new insights from disciplines like sociolinguistics, whose concentration is linguistic variation and change; showing the importance of the long ignored phonetic variability and bringing a new approach to speech perception. In this sense, the members of a speech community talk, judge and interpret in a similar way linguistic variables which let them distinguish its members. Talkers are judged as members or intruders of a dialect community depending on the speech characteristics they do or do not share. Thus, the study of the perceptual categorization of dialect variation permits us to learn more about how members of a speech community perceive, classify and distinguish their own dialect from different ones as well as which dialects they are able to distinguish as different or similar to their own. Little is known about categorical perception of dialect variation as well as the role of linguistic experience in the perception of Spanish dialects. Most of the previous studies about Spanish dialectology (Alvar, 1996; Canfield, 1981; Lipski, 1994) focus on description of linguistic features that are salient in different areas of the Spanish-speaking world. To our knowledge, there are few investigations analyzing dialectal perception in Spanish. Moreno Fernandez and Moreno Fernandez (1999) conducted the first study, which focuses on the perception of dialectal differences among speakers from Madrid. Alfaraz (2002) analyzed Cuban speaker’s attitudes toward other varieties of Spanish in the Florida area. Her analysis also provides information about the role of time of arrival (pre-revolution and post-revolution), race, and socioeconomic class in how Cubans evaluate their own varieties of Spanish. With this in mind, the present paper explores perceptual categorization of dialect variation in two groups of Spanish speakers from Latin America and Spain. Most recently, Boomershine (2006) investigated the perception of several phonological variables by Mexican and Puerto Rican listeners. With this pilot study we attempt to expand our knowledge with respect to how listeners perceptually categorize different Hispanic dialects, as well as to explore the role that linguistic experience and familiarity with a certain dialect play in this process.
A Novel Approach to IoT Security Based on Immunology

The security situation of the Internet of Things (IoT) is serious. IoT encounters security problems more than traditional computer networks does. The attributes of dispersity and mass of IoT require that approaches to IoT security should be dynamic. Inspired by immunology, a novel approach to IoT security is proposed in this paper. Traditional network security models are used for reference and special requests of IoT security are taken into account. A dynamic defense frame for IoT security is formed in the proposed approach. The links in the frame are correlated with relative data of IoT security. Performance in biological immunology is applied into some links to make the proposed approach be adaptive to IoT environment. The immunity-based antigen, self and detector in the real IoT environment are simulated. They are adopted to imitate the mechanisms which are used to recognize pathogens in biological immune systems. Simulation experiment results show that the proposed approach may provide a novel effective method to ensure IoT security.
Cartographic Considerations for Map-Like Interfaces to Digital Libraries

A number of user interface techniques have been put forward that implement a map metaphor to visualize abstract information. In this paper, some of the principles underlying these approaches are interpreted within a framework informed by geographic information science (GIScience). Recent advances in this research area have linked ideas about the nature of geographic information to cognitive schemata proposed by cognitive linguists. This paper draws on the arguments that have emerged from those efforts regarding the nature and usefulness of geographic metaphors. Particular projection techniques, like multidimensional scaling or self-organizing maps, are discussed with a focus on the geometric primitives that they employ. The creation of map-like interfaces is interpreted as a series of transformations leading to alternative visualizations whose relative merits remains to be investigated in future work. It is argued that information about the various transformations needs to be communicated to users if they are to effectively use map-like interfaces.
Novel security strategies for SRAM in powered-off state to resist physical attack

This paper presents two security strategies for resisting physical attack utilizing data remanence of SRAM in powered-off state. Secure circuits including power supply, power supply selector, powered-off detector, and erase or rewrite circuit are integrated into conventional SRAM to realize erase or rewrite operations and avoid being disassembled by attackers. Implemented with 0. 25µm HHNEC CMOS technology, two SRAMs exploiting different strategies show data remanence is successfully eliminated or altered with only 4% and 5% power increased respectively.
Development of A Packet Simulator for Performance Test of Information Security System

Development of information security system is brought by problem by the development of network environment, and the need of equipment for performance test, but performance test equipments are expensive and difficult to use. Therefore, we need an environment which can develop a performance test for an information security system. In this paper, the design and implementation of an APS(Attack Packet Simulator) extracts the attack information from Snort rule and creates an attack information in the Database using the extracted information. Stored information in the database creates and transmits the packets which are analyzed for comparing the results to other systems.
The controlled application of a strategy can have automatic effects: reply to Redington (2000)

The deliberate application of a strategy can have unintended discriminative effects. It is argued that these effects or influences on discriminative responding are the source of automatic influences and can be dissociated from controlled influences under appropriate circumstances. Such automatic influences are often latent in the interaction between the memory structures and the strategies that participants bring to bear in many implicit learning tasks.
Structural and Molecular Conservation of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 and Its Receptor Confers Selective Ligand-Receptor Interaction

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a major player in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. It acts on pancreatic beta cells to stimulate insulin secretion and on the brain to inhibit appetite. Thus, it may be a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity. Despite the physiological and clinical importance of GLP-1, molecular interaction with the GLP-1 receptor (GLP1R) is not well understood. Particularly, the specific amino acid residues within the transmembrane helices and extracellular loops of the receptor that may confer ligand-induced receptor activation have been poorly investigated. Amino acid sequence comparisons of GLP-1 and GLP1R with their orthologs and paralogs in vertebrates, combined with biochemical approaches, are useful to determine which amino acid residues in the peptide and the receptor confer selective ligand-receptor interaction. This article reviews how the molecular evolution of GLP-1 and GLP1R contributes to the selective interaction between this ligand-receptor pair, providing critical clues for the development of potent agonists for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and obesity.
Automated Visual Yield Estimation in Vineyards

We present a vision system that automatically predicts yield in vineyards accurately and with high resolution. Yield estimation traditionally requires tedious hand measurement, which is destructive, sparse in sampling, and inaccurate. Our method is efficient, high‐resolution, and it is the first such system evaluated in realistic experimentation over several years and hundreds of vines spread over several acres of different vineyards. Other existing research is limited to small test sets of 10 vines or less, or just isolated grape clusters, with tightly controlled image acquisition and with artificially induced yield distributions. The system incorporates cameras and illumination mounted on a vehicle driving through the vineyard. We process images by exploiting the three prominent visual cues of texture, color, and shape into a strong classifier that detects berries even when they are of similar color to the vine leaves. We introduce methods to maximize the spatial and the overall accuracy of the yield estimates by optimizing the relationship between image measurements and yield. Our experimentation is conducted over four growing seasons in several wine and table‐grape vineyards. These are the first such results from experimentation that is sufficiently sized for fair evaluation against true yield variation and real‐world imaging conditions from a moving vehicle. Analysis of the results demonstrates yield estimates that capture up to 75% of spatial yield variance and with an average error between 3% and 11% of total yield.
Design and evaluation of physical interactive games for taiwanese local dialect in elementary school teaching

Physical interactive games have been increasingly utilized to enhance learning. This paper aims to explore an innovative teaching with the aid of physical interactive games for local dialect curriculums in elementary school. Two games were designed for grade 3 students to learn basic characters and phonics of Taiwanese local dialect. The first game was designed with the story of a little girl visiting Taiwan town, i.e., Gukeng, focusing on listening lyrics and connecting the characters with the phonics. The second game was designed with a little boy watering coffee bean, emphasizing on recognizing characters and their respective phonics. The evaluation on the design and process of the games was used to code and analyze qualitative data from two focus groups with 6 students per group, two experts, and the instructor's observation. Aspects categorized for evaluation are Fantasy, Rule/ Goal, Sensory Stimuli, Challenge, Mystery and Control. Some positive advantages were discovered. Also, the evaluation on learning motivation was conducted through quantitative analysis based on Kelly's ARCS questionnaires. 31 students (14male, 17female) were analyzed. The average of the two games is 4.2 and 3.94 respectively, indicating learning motivation are consistently high. The result of this paper could act as an initial investigation for researchers interested in supporting local dialect instruction using physical interactive games.
The Impact of Writing Prompts on Learning During Ill-Structured Problem Solving

DIFRANCESCA, DANIELL. The Impact of Writing Prompts on Learning During IllStructured Problem Solving. (Under the direction of John L. Nietfeld). Ill-structured problem solving requires a variety of skills and strategies that K-12 students often lack due to limited exposure to these problems and a reliance on superficial problem-solving strategies (Greiff et al., 2013; Jonassen, 1997, 2000; Mayer & Wittrock, 2006). This study employed a computer-based problem-solving program called Solve It! , which scaffolds students through a general problem-solving process to identify and support solutions to ill-structured physics problems. Using a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, this study examined the impact of the prompt response and narrative writing tasks on seventh grade students’ (N = 117) physics content knowledge and problem-solving strategy acquisition while solving ill-structured problems in Solve It! Students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, which varied in the type of writing tasks students completed. Findings from this study revealed a significant increase in physics knowledge and problem-solving strategies across conditions. Due to the small sample size and several limitations with the study design, condition effects did not emerge. However, students in the narrative writing condition with low physics prior knowledge did benefit from the narrative writing task. Implications for this research include the use of computer-based environments to teach both content and problem-solving strategies simultaneously and the potential to use narrative writing tasks for learning.
Empirical Studies of Pair Programming for CS/SE Teaching in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review

The objective of this paper is to present the current evidence relative to the effectiveness of pair programming (PP) as a pedagogical tool in higher education CS/SE courses. We performed a systematic literature review (SLR) of empirical studies that investigated factors affecting the effectiveness of PP for CS/SE students and studies that measured the effectiveness of PP for CS/SE students. Seventy-four papers were used in our synthesis of evidence, and 14 compatibility factors that can potentially affect PP's effectiveness as a pedagogical tool were identified. Results showed that students' skill level was the factor that affected PP's effectiveness the most. The most common measure used to gauge PP's effectiveness was time spent on programming. In addition, students' satisfaction when using PP was overall higher than when working solo. Our meta-analyses showed that PP was effective in improving students' grades on assignments. Finally, in the studies that used quality as a measure of effectiveness, the number of test cases succeeded, academic performance, and expert opinion were the quality measures mostly applied. The results of this SLR show two clear gaps in this research field: 1) a lack of studies focusing on pair compatibility factors aimed at making PP an effective pedagogical tool and 2) a lack of studies investigating PP for software design/modeling tasks in conjunction with programming tasks.
Antibacterial Activity and Mechanism of Action of the Silver Ion in Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT The antibacterial effect and mechanism of action of a silver ion solution that was electrically generated were investigated for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli by analyzing the growth, morphology, and ultrastructure of the bacterial cells following treatment with the silver ion solution. Bacteria were exposed to the silver ion solution for various lengths of time, and the antibacterial effect of the solution was tested using the conventional plate count method and flow cytometric (FC) analysis. Reductions of more than 5 log10 CFU/ml of both S. aureus and E. coli bacteria were confirmed after 90 min of treatment with the silver ion solution. Significant reduction of S. aureus and E. coli cells was also observed by FC analysis; however, the reduction rate determined by FC analysis was less than that determined by the conventional plate count method. These differences may be attributed to the presence of bacteria in an active but nonculturable (ABNC) state after treatment with the silver ion solution. Transmission electron microscopy showed considerable changes in the bacterial cell membranes upon silver ion treatment, which might be the cause or consequence of cell death. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that silver ions may cause S. aureus and E. coli bacteria to reach an ABNC state and eventually die.
Tracking mobile users in wireless communications networks

Tracking strategies for mobile wireless networks are studied, assuming a cellular architecture where base stations interconnected by a wired network communicate with mobile units via wireless links. The cost of utilizing the wireless links for the actual tracking of mobile users is investigated. A tracking strategy in which a subset of all base stations is selected and designated as reporting centers is proposed. Mobile users transmit update messages only upon entering cells of reporting centers, while every search for a mobile user is restricted to the vicinity of the reporting center to which the user last reported. It is shown that for an arbitrary topology of the cellular network (represented by the interference graph), finding an optimal set of reporting centers is an NP-complete problem. Optimal and near-optimal solutions for important special cases of the interference graph are given. <<ETX>>
Therapeutic implication of molecular profiling in patients with non – small cell lung cancer

Traditional, 'one size fits all' approach to chemotherapy has reached efficacy plateau. The development of molecular biomarkers is crucial for improving efficacy of therapy in patients with NSCLC. We review prognostic and predictive value of molecular biomarkers with special overview on biomarker-driven personalized therapy of NSCLC. Main focus is this review is on significance of EGFR mutations and ALK – EML4 alterations on due to availability of targeted drugs against these specific aberrations.
Analysis of Acoustic Feature Extraction Algorithms in Noisy Environments

Acoustic feature extraction algorithms play a central role in many speech and music processing applications. However, noise usually prevents acoustic feature extraction algorithms from obtaining the correct information from speech and music signals. Thus, the robustness of acoustic feature extraction algorithms is an area worth studying. In this thesis, we consider two important acoustic features: pitch and speaking rate. For each acoustic feature, we introduce several classic and state-of-the-art feature extraction algorithms and evaluate the performance of each of them in noisy environments. We analyze the results and provide possible explanations why some feature extraction algorithms outperform the others in noisy environments.
How Confident Can We Be in Modelling Female Swimming Performance in Adolescence?

The purpose of this research was to determine the expected progression of adolescent female swimming performances using a longitudinal approach. The performances of 514 female swimmers (12–19 year olds) who participated in one or more FINA-regulated annual international schools’ swimming championships over an eight-year period were analysed. Quadratic functions for each of the seven individual events (50, 100, 200 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, 200 m individual medley) were determined using mixed linear models. The predicted threshold of peak performance ranged from 16.8 ± 0.2 (200 m individual medley) to 20.6 ± 0.1 (100 m butterfly) years of age, preceded by gradual rates of improvement (mean rate of 1.6% per year). However, following cross validation, only three events (100 m backstroke, 200 m individual medley and 200 m freestyle) produced reliable models. Identifying the factors that contribute to the progression of female performance in this transitory period of life remains challenging, not least since the onset of puberty is likely to have occurred prior to reaching 12 years of age, the minimum competition age for this championship.
A 366kS/s 400uW 0.0013mm2 frequency-to-digital converter based CMOS temperature sensor utilizing multiphase clock

The proposed temperature sensor is based on CMOS ring oscillators and a frequency-to-digital converter capable of simple and efficient temperature conversion to digital value. The proposed temperature sensor consumes 400uW at a conversion rate of 366kS/s and performs the fastest temperature-to-digital conversion among those introduced in previous work. The whole block occupies 0.0066 mm2 (0.0013 mm2 for temperature sensor). Four multiphase clocks were utilized to enhance the resolution of the sensor 8 times better. After one point calibration, the chip-tochip measurement spread was +2.748°C ∼ −2.899°C over the temperature range of −40°C to 110°C.
2 An Evaluation of Visualization Techniques

Today the use of visualization is becoming increasing more widespread as capabilities it offers are becoming recognised across a wider range of applications. There are many visualization packages available all offering their own bespoke techniques alongside traditional well-recognised techniques. This paper discusses some of the main, more common visualization techniques available and reviews various evaluations studies that have been carried out on the techniques. It was found that few evaluation studies do in fact exist and the ones that do are rather inconclusive. The paper shows there is a need for more evaluation studies to be carried out in order for existing techniques to be improved and to allow the field of visualization to move forward.
GeoMig: Online Multiple VM Live Migration

The Cloud computing paradigm enables innovative and disruptive services by allowing enterprises to lease computing, storage and network resources from physical infrastructure owners, to offer a persistently available service. This shift in infrastructure management responsibility has brought new revenue models and new challenges to Cloud providers. One of those challenges is to efficiently migrate multiple virtual machines (VMs) within the hosting infrastructure, since these migrations are often required to be "live", i.e., without noticeable service interruptions. In this paper we propose a geometric programming model and an online multi-VM live migration algorithm based on such model. The goal of the geometric program is to minimize the total migration time via optimal bit-rate assignments. By solving our geometric program we gained qualitative and quantitative insights into the design of efficient solutions for multi-VM live migrations. We found that transferring merely a few rounds of dirty memory pages are enough to significantly lower the total migration time. We also demonstrated that, under realistic settings, the proposed method converges sharply to an optimal bit-rate assignment, making our approach a viable solution for improving current live-migration implementations.
The Influence of Age, Sex, and Temperament on Spatial Learning in Domestic Dogs

Past research indicates that dog temperament and sex may influence spatial learning and memory. The current study assessed how sex and temperament affect spatial learning in male and female dogs, using an appetitive spatial learning task. It was expected that male dogs would complete the task with more proficiency than female dogs and dogs with an obedient temperament would complete the task with more proficiency than dogs with an aggressive, fearful, or excitable temperament. Findings indicate that male and female dogs appear to learn the task to the same degree. Further, dogs with an obedient or an aggressive temperament appearmoreaccurate in learning the task than dogs with a fearful temperament. The current research may better explain the role that temperament and sex have on spatial learning and memory and can help create a more applicable animal model of spatial learning.