Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Java Framework for Multilingual Definition and Hypernym Extraction

In this paper we present a demonstration of a multilingual generalization of Word-Class Lattices (WCLs), a supervised lattice-based model used to identify textual definitions and extract hypernyms from them. Lattices are learned from a dataset of automatically-annotated definitions from Wikipedia. We release a Java API for the programmatic use of multilingual WCLs in three languages (English, French and Italian), as well as a Web application for definition and hypernym extraction from user-provided sentences.
Prenatal exposure to maternal depression and cortisol influences infant temperament.

BACKGROUND Accumulating evidence indicates that prenatal maternal and fetal processes can have a lasting influence on infant and child development. Results from animal models indicate that prenatal exposure to maternal stress and stress hormones has lasting consequences for development of the offspring. Few prospective studies of human pregnancy have examined the consequences of prenatal exposure to stress and stress hormones. METHOD In this study the effects of prenatal maternal psychosocial (anxiety, depression, and perceived stress) and endocrine (cortisol) indicators of stress on infant temperament were examined in a sample of 247 full-term infants. Maternal salivary cortisol and psychological state were evaluated at 18-20, 24-26, and 30-32 weeks of gestation and at 2 months postpartum. Infant temperament was assessed with a measure of negative reactivity (the fear subscale of the Infant Temperament Questionnaire) at 2 months of age. RESULTS Elevated maternal cortisol at 30-32 weeks of gestation, but not earlier in pregnancy, was significantly associated with greater maternal report of infant negative reactivity. Prenatal maternal anxiety and depression additionally predicted infant temperament. The associations between maternal cortisol and maternal depression remained after controlling for postnatal maternal psychological state. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that prenatal exposure to maternal stress has consequences for the development of infant temperament.
Task-Level Data Model for Hardware Synthesis Based on Concurrent Collections

The ever-increasing design complexity of modern digital systems makes it necessary to develop electronic system-level (ESL) methodologies with automation and optimization in the higher abstraction level. How the concurrency is modeled in the application specification plays a significant role in ESL design frameworks. The state-of-art concurrent specification models are not suitable formodeling task-level concurrent behavior for the hardware synthesis design flow. Based on the concurrent collection (CnC) model, which provides the maximum freedom of task rescheduling, we propose task-level data model (TLDM), targeted at the task-level optimization in hardware synthesis for data processing applications. Polyhedral models are embedded in TLDM for concise expression of task instances, array accesses, and dependencies. Examples are shown to illustrate the advantages of our TLDM specification compared to other widely used concurrency specifications.
Bayesian network model to predict areas for sugarcane expansion in Brazilian Cerrado

The growing demand for ethanol has powered the shift of the sugarcane frontier into the Brazilian Cerrado, mainly in the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. Therefore, this study aims to propose Bayesian Network models for identifying potential areas for sugarcane expansion in Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul states. The models take into account constraint factors in relation to the sugarcane expansion such as topography, soil aptitude, climate conditions, and available infrastructures. Results showed that Bayesian Network models proposed in this study were able to represent the tendency of sugarcane expansion.
The modulation of visuospatial awareness in the human brain using transcranial magnetic stimulation

This thesis describes a series of studies, involving healthy subjects and a carefully selected stroke patient, in which the techniques of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Signal Detection Theory (SDT) were combined to explore processing in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and the phenomenon of unilateral spatial neglect: 1) A new SDT-based TMS 'hunting' technique was developed and then employed successfully over the right PPC. This revealed a cortical node which could be modulated with 'online' 10Hz-TMS to exert control over subjects' visuospatial perception. 2) By targeting this 'hotspot' and an equivalent area in the left PPC with disruptive 'cTBS' (continuous 'Theta Burst' simulation), neglect-like effects in the healthy brain could be induced and alleviated. These effects were quantified using a newly developed, fully balanced, bihemifield detection paradigm 3) By using TMS to map visuospatial function over healthy right PPC, the 'hotspot' could be enlarged after exposure to excitatory, intermittent TBS (iTBS). 4) cTBS was applied to the left PPC of a patient with a right sided stroke and visuospatial neglect. In doing this, neglect and its alleviation were described for the first time in fully balanced SDT terms. 5) The cerebellum was targeted in healthy subjects with 1Hz inhibitory TMS which induced a shift in their subjective midline for 'imaginary' but not 'real' space, as measured with number or physical line bisection respectively. These TBS studies lend support to Kinsbourne's hemispheric rivalry hypothesis and suggest that the extent of 'spatially eloquent' cortex in the right PPC can be increased. Both strategies could be useful in larger therapeutic studies of patients suffering from USN after right sided brain injury. The final study opens up an additional therapeutic target for patients with imaginal neglect and, for the first time, implicates the cerebellum in number line bisection.
A four-element Ultra Wideband (UWB) diversity antenna

Since the approval of Federal Communication Committee (FCC) [1], Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology has become the popular research topic in the domain of wireless communications. However, very low transmitted power is allowed to avoid the interference with other existing wireless standards, consequently it limits to attain high capacity or data transfer over long distances. Therefore, it is important to find out the solution for this bottleneck. On the other hand, Multi-Input MultiOutput (MIMO) technique has proved itself for providing high link-robustness and high capacity [2]. This technique employs more than one antenna on the both sides i.e., transmitter and receiver. MIMO systems exploit the diversity (spatial, polarization or pattern diversity) to increase the strength of the transmitted signals and therefore to improve the SNR. Using MIMO technique combined with UWB technology requires the antennas to be uncorrelated to achieve the requirements of high transmission speed and high channel capacity. Recently, lot of research has been started to integrate MIMO technique with UWB systems. In this context, a number of papers have been published in the literature [3–6]. However, four-element MIMO antenna for UWB applications is only presented in [5]. This proposed circular slot antenna with stepped ground operates only over the range of 2–6 GHz instead of complete UWB range i.e., 3.1–10.6 GHz. The discontinuities between the elements and the system ground planes are introduced to enhance the mutual isolations. In this paper, a four-element compact diversity antenna is presented that operates over the frequency range of 3.1–10.6 GHz. Further, it is very compact i.e., 80 × 80 mm2, fabricated on FR4 substrate.
A novel cooperative transmission scheme based on superposition coding and partial relaying

This paper considered the single relay system and proposed a novel repetition coding decode‐and‐forward (DF) cooperative transmission scheme on the basis of superposition coding and partial relaying. In the proposed scheme, the link disparity due to the geometry of the relay network is emphasized, and only a fraction of the information is transmitted in relay mode with the rest being transmitted directly, which benefits from the utility of superposition coding (SC) in broadcast situation. The proposed scheme is analyzed in two cases, one assumes full channel state information at the source (full CSIS), the other with only mean gain of each link known by the source (partial CSIS). For both cases, the optimal design of system parameters is considered. We investigate the achievable rate and expected rate performance for these two cases, respectively. The proposed schemed is well compared with conventional repetition coding DF, parallel coding DF, as well as another promising superposition coding relaying. It is concluded that, by designing protocols that orients to certain network geometry, better trade‐off between performance and complexity can be obtained. The analysis reveals that the gap between conventional repetition and parallel coding is largely mitigated by the proposed scheme, quite for the scenario that the relay locates relatively but not extremely closer to the source, at moderate SNR regime for both partial and full CSIS cases. The proposed scheme becomes more beneficial in severe path loss attenuation scenario. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among high school girls in Ghana

HIV/AIDS is recognized as a national priority health issue in Ghana. Consequently, the Ghana AIDS Commission and the National AIDS Control Programme were established, among other things, to enhance the knowledge and awareness on the nature, causes, effects and means of managing the spread of HIV/AIDS among populations at risk in Ghana. Through the efforts of these bodies and other stakeholders in health, several awareness creation and sensitization efforts have been targeted at teenage girls, a high risk group in Ghana. This study therefore assesses the knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among senior high school girls in their teens in Ghana using a sample of 260 female students of West African Senior High School. The data collected were analyzed and discussed under relevant themes and within the context of the literature. The study revealed that generally, senior high school girls were knowledgeable on the nature, modes of transmission, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. There were however some students who exhibited limited knowledge on some issues including the spiritual causes and treatment of HIV/AIDS, contacts and associations with infected persons, as well as determination of HIV infection from appearances rather than testing. The study also raised important concerns about the reluctance of senior high school girls to use condoms as a preventive measure and the need to reorient HIV/AIDS awareness interventions in Ghana.
On the Forcing Semantics for Monoidal t-norm Based Logic

MTL -algebras are algebraic structures for the Esteva-Godo monoidal t- norm based logic ( MTL ), a many-valued propositional calculus that formalizes the structure of the real interval (0,1), induced by a left-continuous t-norm. Given a com- plete MTL -algebra X, we define the weak forcing value |ϕ|X and the forcing value (ϕ)X, for any formula ϕ of MTL in X. We establish some arithmetical properties of |. |X and (.)X, and prove the equality (ϕ)X=� ϕ� X ,w here� ϕ� X is the truth value of ϕ in X.
Knowledge management initiatives in the United Arab Emirates: a baseline study

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to develop baseline data on knowledge management (KM) initiatives of business organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE is a rapidly growing economy in the Arabian Gulf region and it is timely to assess KM initiatives of UAE companies and the barriers and challenges they face in KM adoption and implementation.Design/methodology/approach – A survey research design was used to collect data on KM practices of a sample of companies based in the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.Findings – Importance of KM practices is gradually being recognized in UAE and several organizations have initiated a number of KM‐related programs. Most KM initiatives are focused on explicit knowledge, and companies are investing significant resources in building their ICT infrastructure. The study documents the importance of a companywide KM strategy, top management commitment, proactive HRM policies, and a supportive cultural environment as the critical success factors to advance KM.
Improved prediction for Web server delay control

Control methods are being used increasingly for uncertainty management and QoS in modern Web server systems. Previous approaches have suggested combined feedforward and feedback control strategies, using queuing theory for feedforward delay prediction. While queuing theory allows one to predict delay as a function of arrival and service rates, the prediction applies only to long-term averages, and is therefore insensitive to sudden load changes. Unfortunately, Internet load is very bursty, leaving room for predictor improvement. The main contribution of this paper is an extension of the combined feedforward/feedback framework in which the queuing model is replaced with a predictor that instead uses instantaneous measurements to predict future delays. The proposed strategy is evaluated in simulation and by experiments on an Apache Web server. It is shown that the approach performs better than the combined queuing model based feedforward and feedback control presented in earlier papers.
Geographic gossip: efficient aggregation for sensor networks

Gossip algorithms for aggregation have recently received significant attention for sensor network applications because of their simplicity and robustness in noisy and uncertain environments. However, gossip algorithms can waste significant energy by essentially passing around redundant information multiple times. For realistic sensor network model topologies like grids and random geometric graphs, the inefficiency of gossip schemes is caused by slow mixing times of random walks on those graphs. We propose and analyze an alternative gossiping scheme that exploits geographic information. By utilizing a simple resampling method, we can demonstrate substantial gains over previously proposed gossip protocols. In particular, for random geometric graphs, our algorithm computes the true average to accuracy 1/na using O(n1.5radic(logn)) radio transmissions, which reduces the energy consumption by a radic(n/logn) factor over standard gossip algorithms
A general approach to gradient based learning in multirate systems and neural networks

A large class of nonlinear dynamic adaptive systems, such as dynamic recurrent neural networks, can be very effectively represented by signal-flow-graphs. Using this method, complex systems are described as a general connection of many simple components, each of them implementing a simple one-input one-output transformation, as in an electrical circuit. Following an approach originally developed by Lee (1974) for continuous-time systems based on the concept of adjoint graph, a new algorithm to estimate the derivative of the output with respect to an internal parameter have been proposed in the literature for discrete-time systems. This paper extends further this approach to multirate digital systems, which have been widely used. The new method can be employed for gradient-based learning of general multirate circuits, such as the new "multirate" neural networks.
Psychosocial factors at work and sickness absence in the Gazel cohort: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether psychosocial factors at work are predictors of rates of sickness absence. METHODS: The study population consisted of middle aged men and women employed by the French national electricity and gas company (EDF-GDF) in various occupations and followed up since 1989 by annual self administered questionnaires and independent data obtained from the medical and personnel departments of EDF-GDF. The 1995 questionnaire provided information about three psychosocial work factors: psychological demands, decision latitude, and social support at work. Sick-ness absence data were provided by the company's social security department. The occurrence of spells and days of absence in the 12 months after completion of the 1995 questionnaire was studied. Potential confounding variables were age, smoking, alcohol, and marital status, assessed in the 1995 questionnaire, and educational level and occupation, assessed from data provided by the personnel department. This study was restricted to the 12,555 subjects of the initial cohort who were still working and answered the self administered questionnaire in 1995. RESULTS: Low levels of decision latitude were associated with more frequent and longer sickness absences among men and women. Low levels of social support at work increased the numbers of spells and days of absence among men only. These associations weakened after adjustment for potential confounding factors, but remained significant. CONCLUSION: The study indicates that psychosocial factors at work, especially decision latitude, are predictive of sickness absence.
Fractal mechanisms in the electrophysiology of the heart

Fractals are defined, and the fractal-like anatomy of the heart is described. The concept of the healthy heartbeat as a temporal fractal is examined at two specific levels of cardiac function: ventricular depolarization and heart rate regulation. It is suggested that complex fluctuations in healthy heart rate may be due in part to deterministic chaos in the neuroautonomic control system. Furthermore, perturbations of this control system, such as those seen in heart failure and in sudden cardiac death syndromes, may lead to a loss of complexity of heart rate dynamics. <<ETX>>
Lower troposphere refractivity bias in GPS occultation retrievals

[1] Analysis of atmospheric occultation data from the GPS Meteorology experiment has revealed that the refractivity retrievals in the lower troposphere were systematically smaller than those obtained with numerical weather prediction models. It has been suggested that the bias was due to a combination of atmospheric multipath, critical refraction, and receiver tracking errors. In this paper, we show that a similar bias exists in the CHAMP and SAC-C data and describe the characteristics of the bias based on over 6700 soundings from October 2001. Retrievals obtained using the recently introduced canonical transform method are shown to markedly reduce the refractivity bias; however, a significant bias still remains below 2 km altitude. To better understand the underlying causes of the bias, we perform an end-to-end simulation study that incorporates full-wave signal propagation and realistic receiver tracking effects using an ensemble of atmospheric profiles. We find that atmospheric ducting effects associated with the top of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) at 1–2 km altitude would cause retrieval errors at and below the PBL even in the absence of the receiver errors. Furthermore, current implementation of the receiver tracking algorithm based on an enhanced version of the phase-locked loop could introduce additional errors under the low signal-to-noise ratio conditions that are often encountered in the lower troposphere. The latter problem is expected to be resolved in the near future through the adoption of open-loop tracking and the removal of the navigation modulation from the GPS signal.
The Effects of Hearing Impairment and Aging on Spatial Processing

Objectives: Difficulty in understanding speech in background noise is frequently reported by hearing-impaired people despite well-fitted amplification. Understanding speech in the presence of background noise involves segregating the various auditory stimuli into distinct streams using cues such as pitch characteristics, spatial location of speakers, and contextual information. One possible cause of listening difficulties in noise is reduced spatial-processing ability. Previous attempts to investigate spatial processing in hearing-impaired people have often been confounded by inadequate stimulus audibility. The present research aimed to investigate the effects of hearing impairment and aging on spatial-processing ability. The effect of cognitive ability on spatial processing was also explored. In addition, the relationship between spatial-processing ability and self-report measures of listening difficulty was examined to investigate how much effect spatial-processing ability has in real-world situations. Design: Eighty participants aged between 7 and 89 years took part in the study. Participants’ hearing thresholds ranged from within normal limits to a moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss. All participants had English as their first language and no reported learning disabilities. The study sample included both hearing aid users and non–hearing aid users. Spatial-processing ability was assessed with a modified version of the Listening in Spatialized Noise-Sentences test (LiSN-S). The LiSN-S was modified to incorporate a prescribed gain amplifier that amplified the target and distracting stimulus according to the National Acoustic Laboratories-Revised Profound (NAL-RP) prescription. In addition, participants aged 18 years and above completed the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status examination and the Speech, Spatial and Qualities questionnaire. Participants aged under 18 years completed the Listening Inventory for Education questionnaire. Results: Spatial-processing ability, as measured by the spatial advantage measure of the LiSN-S, was negatively affected by hearing impairment. Aging was not significantly correlated with spatial-processing ability. No significant relationship was found between cognitive ability and spatial processing. Self-reported listening difficulty in children, as measured with the Listening Inventory for Education, and spatial-processing ability were not correlated. Self-reported listening difficulty in adults, as measured by the Speech, Spatial and Qualities questionnaire, was significantly correlated with spatial-processing ability. Conclusions: All hearing-impaired people will have a spatial processing deficit of some degree. This should be given due consideration when counseling patients in regard to realistic expectations of how they will perform in background noise. Further research is required into potential remediation for spatial-processing deficits and the cause of these deficits.
Endoscopic Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis and Staging of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) was compared to ultrasonography (US) and CT scan (CT) in order to evaluate its role in the diagnosis and the locoregional spread assessment of pancreatic cancer. Sixty-four patients suspected of pancreatic cancer were studied prospectively, and the results of imaging techniques were compared to histology and surgical exploration. There were 49 cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, 11 of pancreatitis, 2 of common bile duct carcinoma, 1 lymphoma and 1 hepatocellular carcinoma with peripancreatic metastatic lymph nodes. EUS was significantly more accurate (91%) than CT (66%) and US (64%) for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. EUS was able to image all 7 cancers less than 25 mm in diameter, US and CT only one. There were 4 false positives with EUS which were all cases of pseudotumorous pancreatitis. For detecting lymph node involvement, EUS was significantly more sensitive (62%) and accurate (74%) than US (8% and 37%) and CT (19% and 42%), respectively. Invaded lymph nodes adjacent to large tumors and micrometastatic involvement were responsible for this lack of sensitivity. EUS was significantly more sensitive (100%) than CT (71%) and US (17%) for detecting venous involvement. The specificity of EUS was lower (67%) because of duodenal bulb stenosis and large tumors. In conclusion, this prospective and comparative study confirms that EUS is an accurate tool for diagnosis and locoregional spread assessment of pancreatic cancer when performed in a reference center. EUS is of particular interest for small tumours. However, EUS does not enable differentiation of pseudotumorous pancreatitis from adenocarcinoma.