Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Object recognition: Attention to distinguishing features

The role of top-down processes in general, and of attention in particular, in object recognition is a controversial issue. The study of object recognition has focused mainly on bottom-up processes that analyse the visual input (Peissig & Tarr, 2007). Findings that object recognition is remarkably fast (Thorpe, Fize & Marlot, 1996), have been taken by some researchers as evidence that object recognition can occur largely with feedforward processing alone. Moreover, some studies demonstrated that object recognition can be accomplished in the near absence of attention (Li, VanRullen, Koch, & Perona, 2002). Some proposals, however, have challenged the ‘‘strictly bottom-up’’ view (Bar, 2003), suggesting top-down influences on the recognition process. A few studies suggested specifically that top-down attention is involved in object recognition (Evans & Treisman, 2005). The present work was motivated by a framework that treats object recognition as a process of discrimination between probable alternatives, in which bottom-up and top-down processes interact (iteratively when necessary), with attention playing a crucial role in this interaction. A series of experiments tested the basic hypothesis derived from this framework: In the course of object recognition attention is directed to distinguishing features* features that are diagnostic of object identity in a particular context (Experiments 1 3). As distinguishing features are not necessarily the most salient features, there may be competition between bottom-up (saliencebased) and top-down (goal-driven) influences on attention, resolved by a goal-driven bias towards task-relevant information (i.e., the distinguishing features) (Experiment 4). In all experiments, observers performed a recognition task of artificial fish, and differences in the allocation of attention to distinguishing and nondistinguishing features were examined using several methods, including primed-matching, visual probe, and spatial cueing.
A Demonstration of the Effects of Augmentative Communication on the Extreme Aggressive Behavior of a Child With Autism Within an Integrated Preschool Setting

Research in the area of behavior support has repeatedly demonstrated the positive effects of learning more effective and efficient communication on the challenging behaviors of individuals with developmental disabilities. More recently, augmentative and alternative communication strategies have been receiving increased attention as primary teaching goals for young children with autism. Use of picture exchange and choice-making opportunities has been reported to facilitate speech acquisition and/or result in increased communicative attempts across daily routines. The case study discussed in this article examines the effects of picture exchange on the severe aggressive behavior of a preschooler with autism who was at risk of losing his integrated school placement. Picture exchange was introduced within two play routines in the classroom. The effects of picture exchange on the student's aggression were evaluated within a multiple baseline design. Results indicated that the student's aggressive behavior was eliminated in a brief amount of time when picture exchanges were in place. These findings are discussed in terms of integrating augmentative communication into behavioral support planning and future research in this area.
Bullying: Elementary Teachers' Attitudes and Intervention Strategies

27 R has consistently documented that bullying behaviours are associated with serious shortand long-term outcomes for both victims and perpetrators. For example, Craig (1998) found that repeatedly victimised children are more likely to report internalising problems such as anxiety and depression. Bullying is also associated with peer rejection, early school dropout, involvement in crime, and adult psychopathology (Crick, 1995; Parker and Asher, 1987). Aggression and bullying in schools have become major concerns for educators. Classroom teachers face challenges to deal with a perpetrator and a victim, which means less time devoted to class work and instruction. Owing to the negative outcomes associated with bullying and victimisation, psychological and educational research continues to search for effective ways to address bullying behaviours. Proactive school-wide programmes have been proposed to prevent bullying behaviours (Olweus, 1991; Pepler et al., 1994; Smith and Sharp, 1994). These programmes are designed to promote systematic changes in school culture against bullying behaviours or school violence. The systematic approach reflects current conceptualisation of bullying as ‘an interaction that occurs between an individual bully and a victim and unfolds within a social ecological context’ (Atlas and Pepler, 1998, p. 86). However, less attention has been given to individual teachers’ responses to bullying behaviours. Given that teachers are the individuals most likely to handle a bullying incident (Smith and Sharp, 1994; Smith and Thompson, 1991), they play an important role in creating a positive school climate. Teachers’ responses should be carefully examined and teachers’ roles also should be considered in prevention and intervention of bullying behaviours. Teachers’ responses to bullying behaviours may influence future behaviours of both victims and perpetrators. Huesmann and Eron (1984) explain that bullying behaviours are reinforced when a bully successfully dominates a victim and does not experience negative consequences (i.e. punishments). That is, unless appropriate consequences are consistently and immediately given after each bullying episode, bullying behaviours have a greater chance of recurring in the future, especially when there is continuing success in Bullying
Improving vocational outcomes in first-episode psychosis by addressing cognitive impairments using Cognitive Adaptation Training.

BACKGROUND Cognitive Adaptation Training (CAT) uses compensatory strategies and environmental supports to support cognitive impairments and improve functioning. CAT may be useful for addressing vocational recovery in first-episode psychosis (FEP) because cognitive impairments are common and vocational recovery is a key goal of young people with FEP. OBJECTIVE To describe clinical observations and practice experience when delivering CAT with FEP clients and explore potential benefits via objective outcome measures for improving vocational outcomes. METHODS In this pilot study, five FEP participants received 9 months of CAT. Participant goals and functional needs and clinical observations were recorded. Formal measures of functioning, quality of life and motivation were independently administered pre- and post-intervention. RESULTS Vocational recovery (education, employment) was found to be a primary functional goal of FEP participants. Accordingly, CAT had a strong focus on vocational functioning, including functional domains required for successful work or educational outcomes, such as organization and planning, transportation and activities of daily living. Factors of clinical importance when delivering CAT with the FEP participants included cognitive heterogeneity, family involvement, flexibility in compensatory and environmental supports used, and experience of stigma. Improvements from baseline to post-intervention were observed on most measures, with the largest improvements seen in global functioning (including vocation), planning and organization, and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS CAT is an intervention that appears well suited to addressing vocational functioning in FEP, but larger controlled trials are needed.
The neoliberalisation of strategic spatial planning

Strategic spatial planning practices have recently taken a neoliberal turn in many northwestern European countries. This neoliberalisation of strategic spatial planning has materialised partly in governance reforms aiming to reduce or abolish strategic spatial planning at national and regional scales, and partly through the normalisation of neoliberal discourses in strategic spatial planning processes. This article analyses the complex relationship, partly of unease and partly of coevolution, between neoliberalism and strategic spatial planning. Furthermore, this article discusses the key challenges for strategic spatial planning in the face of neoliberalism and argues for a need to strengthen strategic spatial planning’s critical dimension.
The effects of text segmentation on children's reading comprehension∗

This study investigated two methods of segmenting text based upon phrase boundaries, in an attempt to make social studies textbooks more readable for elementary school children. A pausal phrase format, a syntactic phrase format, and a standard prose format were administered to 648 grade four and grade seven students. The results indicated that phrasing the passages for the participants improved their reading comprehension approximately one level. That is, poor readers reading phrased passages read as well as average readers normally do, and average readers reading phrased passages read almost as well as good readers normally read. There were no interactions with Text Segmentation, indicating that Text Segmentation is facilitative for all children when reading passages at or above grade level. Further research is necessary to evaluate the effects of teacher assistance on these findings, and the effects of Text Segmentation on reading very easy passages.
Biomechanics of Locked Plates and Screws

Objective: To review the biomechanical principles that guide fracture fixation with plates and screws; specifically to compare and contrast the function and roles of conventional unlocked plates to locked plates in fracture fixation. We review basic plate and screw function, discuss the design rationale for the new implants, and examine the biomechanical evidence that supports the use of such implants. Data Sources: Systematic review of the per reviewed English language orthopaedic literature listed on PubMed (National Library of Medicine online service). Study Selection: Papers selected for this review were drawn from peer review orthopaedic journals. All selected papers specifically discussed plate and screw biomechanics with regard to fracture fixation. PubMed search terms were: plates and screws, biomechanics, locked plates, PC-Fix, LISS, LCP, MIPO, and fracture fixation. Data Synthesis: The following topics are discussed: plate and screw function—neutralization plates and buttress plates, bridge plates; fracture stability—specifically how this effects gap strain and fracture union, conventional plate biomechanics, and locking plate biomechanics. Conclusions: Locked plates and conventional plates rely on completely different mechanical principles to provide fracture fixation and in so doing they provide different biological environments for healing. Locked plates may increasingly be indicated for indirect fracture reduction, diaphyseal/metaphyseal fractures in osteoporotic bone, bridging severely comminuted fractures, and the plating of fractures where anatomical constraints prevent plating on the tension side of the bone. Conventional plates may continue to be the fixation method of choice for periarticular fractures which demand perfect anatomical reduction and to certain types of nonunions which require increased stability for union.
Bridging the gap: Using cyber partnerships to connect with distant schools

Abstract Despite challenges of geographical distance, university‐school partnerships can flourish at a rural Research I institution through utilization of adapted traditional partnership activities and innovative video conference technologies. The 5‐year Collaborative Teacher Education Accountable to Children with High‐needs (CO‐TEACH) Project at Washington State University (WSU) contains many aspects, but at its center are partnerships with 31 high‐need schools. The distance between CO‐TEACH partner schools and WSU, however, requires using creative research and development approaches in order to augment, or at times bypass, traditional on‐site models. This article focuses on the development of an award‐winning cyber (video and e‐mail connections) mentoring project to carry out meaningful university/K‐12 collaborations at a distance. The article considers four critical factors that make the project a success, six barriers to effective implementation, and nine recommendations for project adaptation or replication.
Stability of the EasyOne ultrasonic spirometer for use in general practice

Objective and background: Spirometry is recommended for the diagnosis and management of chronic respiratory diseases in the community. Spirometer accuracy is critical, but few general practitioners meet the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) recommendation for daily calibration. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy and stability of a portable ultrasonic spirometer (EasyOne) that the manufacturer claims does not require regular calibration.
Understanding the Impact of Homelessness on Children

Focusing on the central aim of many published studies involving homeless children in the United States, this article summarizes findings on the effects of homelessness on children's mental health, health, developmental status, and academic achievement. Researchers have repeatedly documented that poverty is associated with higher rates of problems among both homeless and low-income housed groups of children in comparison to children in the broader population. Although the majority of studies have found homeless children to evidence greater problems than low-income housed children, results are inconsistent. Factors that may account for these discrepant findings are discussed, and recommendations for additional research are offered.
Novel pathophysiological role of classical chemotactic peptide receptors and their communications with chemokine receptors

The bacterial N-formylpeptides, such as N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLF), are some of the first identified and most potent chemoattractants for phagocytic leukocytes. Two fMLF receptors, the high affinity formyl peptide receptor (FPR) and its low affinity variant FPR-like 1 (FPRL1), belong to the seven-transmembrane, Gi protein-coupled receptor superfamily which also includes chemokine receptors. Despite their reaction with bacterial chemotactic peptides, the physiological role of these receptors in humans remains unclear. Our recent studies have identified novel exogenous as well as host-derived agonists for FPR and FPRL1. Furthermore, activation of these receptors by their agonists results in desensitization of the receptors for other chemoattractants, including two chemokine receptors, CCR5 and CXCR4, which serve as major co-receptors for HIV-1. These results suggest that FPR and FPRL1 may play important roles not only in host defense and immunological responses but also in the fine tuning of cell activation in the presence of multiple stimuli.
α‐Melanocyte‐stimulating hormone structure‐activity studies: Comparative analysis of melanotropic and CNS bioactivities

The structure‐activity relationships in vitro of α‐MSH (α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone, α‐melanotropin) analogs as determined on normal and transformed (melanoma cell) melanocyte bioassays are summarized. Specifically, the characterization of potent and metabolically stable melanotropic agonist analogs and a newly discovered antagonist of α‐MSH are highlighted. Comparison of these data versus the known structure‐activity relationships of α‐MSH related to CNS bioactivities suggests the existence of nonclassical α‐MSH receptor‐mediated pathways or, perhaps, a yet undefined endogenous neuropeptidergic pathway(s) having different selectivities for α‐MSH analogs. In summary, several of the α‐MSH analogs reported here may be useful molecular probes in future strategies aimed at the identification and systematic characterization of both peripheral and central α‐MSH receptors.
Audio visual speech recognition with multimodal recurrent neural networks

Studies on nowadays human-machine interface have demonstrated that visual information can enhance speech recognition accuracy especially in noisy environments. Deep learning has been widely used to tackle such audio visual speech recognition (AVSR) problem due to its astonishing achievements in both speech recognition and image recognition. Although existing deep learning models succeed to incorporate visual information into speech recognition, none of them simultaneously considers sequential characteristics of both audio and visual modalities. To overcome this deficiency, we proposed a multimodal recurrent neural network (multimodal RNN) model to take into account the sequential characteristics of both audio and visual modalities for AVSR. In particular, multimodal RNN includes three components, i.e., audio part, visual part, and fusion part, where the audio part and visual part capture the sequential characteristics of audio and visual modalities, respectively, and the fusion part combines the outputs of both modalities. Here we modelled the audio modality by using a LSTM RNN, and modelled the visual modality by using a convolutional neural network (CNN) plus a LSTM RNN, and combined both models by a multimodal layer in the fusion part. We validated the effectiveness of the proposed multimodal RNN model on a multi-speaker AVSR benchmark dataset termed AVletters. The experimental results show the performance improvements comparing to the known highest audio visual recognition accuracies on AVletters, and confirm the robustness of our multimodal RNN model.
Heterologous expression of archaeal selenoprotein genes directed by the SECIS element located in the 3′ non‐translated region

Previous in silico analysis of selenoprotein genes in Archaea revealed that the selenocysteine insertion (SECIS) motif necessary to recode UGA with selenocysteine was not adjacent to the UGA codon as is found in Bacteria. Rather, paralogous stem–loop structures are located in the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR), reminiscent of the situation in Eukarya. To assess the function of such putative SECIS elements, the Methanococcus jannaschii MJ0029 (fruA, which encodes the A subunit of the coenzyme F420‐reducing hydrogenase) mRNA was mapped in vivo and probed enzymatically in vitro. It was shown that the SECIS element is indeed transcribed as part of the respective mRNA and that its secondary structure corresponds to that predicted by RNA folding programs. Its ability to direct selenocysteine insertion in vivo was demonstrated by the heterologous expression of MJ0029 in Methanococcus maripaludis, resulting in the synthesis of an additional selenoprotein, as analysed by 75Se labelling. The selective advantage of moving the SECIS element in the untranslated region may confer the ability to insert more than one selenocysteine into a single polypeptide. Evidence for this assumption was provided by the finding that the M. maripaludis genome contains an open reading frame with two in frame TGA codons, followed by a stem–loop structure in the 3′ UTR of the mRNA that corresponds to the archaeal SECIS element.
MODELLING REAL TIME AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOLS USING ALGEBRAIC SPECIFICATION TECHNIQUES – THE CASE OF TESLA PROTOCOL

We present how to model real time authentication protocols with CafeOBJ algebraic specification language [1]. The protocols are specified as Timed Observational Transition Systems or TOTSs [2]. Based on this specification, we can verify desirable properties of the protocols through induction and/or case analysis, thanks to the CafeOBJ system and its support to the interactive theorem proving. The method we apply is a combination of [2] and [3]. As a case study we model TESLA protocol [4], which is used for the source authentication in multicast communication settings, and verify a safety property. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes informally the TESLA protocol while section 3 presents how to model it with CafeOBJ. Section 4 concludes the paper.
Religious tourist’s motivation for visiting religious sites

In today’s secular world, the relationship between tourists and their belief plays a major part in influencing individuals visiting religious sites. The visitation patterns of pilgrims depend on the strength of their religious beliefs. In current literature, very limited research is available that explores the understanding and motivation of visitation patterns of religious tourists. In this study, religious tourist’s motivations for visiting pilgrimage sites are explored. In particular, this study attempts to discuss, through ethnographic research, how Muslim visitors are attracted to religious sites and what they seek for themselves from such visitations.
Heart Rate Variability: a Follow-up in Elite Soccer Players Throughout the Season

Abstract Heart rate variability (HRV) can provide useful information on physiological adaptations to training, but its role is unknown in professional soccer. The aim of this study was to determine an HRV profile in professional soccer over a season. A total of 504 records were made of the heart beat signal throughout a season from 22 professional soccer players. HRV was recorded in a sitting position, early morning and fasting for a period of 10 min. Standard deviation 1 and 2 (SD1, SD2), standard deviation of normal to normal R-R intervals (SDNN), Root Mean Square of the Successive Differences (rMSSD), percentage of RR intervals > 50 ms (pNN50), Sample Entropy (SampEn), Stress Score (SS) and sympathetic/parasympathetic ratio (S/PS ratio) were calculated. SDNN, rMSSD, pNN50, SD1 and SD2 showed an identical behaviour throughout the season, with lower values in the pre-season and the end of the season. SS and S/PS ratio indicated a sympathetic stress alert in the same periods. A weekly recording of the HRV over a 10 min period that includes a Poincaré plot with SS and S/PS ratio and at least one variable of the time domain is a useful tool for the follow-up of the individual assimilation of weekly workloads, including the game.
Measurement Error in “Big Five Factors” Personality Assessment: Reliability Generalization across Studies and Measures

Meta-analysis was used to cumulate reliabilities of personality scale scores. A total of 848 coefficients of stability and 1,359 internal consistency reliabilities across the Big Five factors of personality were examined. The frequency-weighted mean coefficients of stability were . 75 (SD = .10, K = 221), . 76 (SD = .12, K = 176), . 71 (SD = .13, K = 139), . 69 (SD = .14, K = 119), and . 72 (SD = .13, K = 193) for Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, respectively. The corresponding internal consistency reliabilities were . 78 (SD = .11, K = 370), . 78 (SD = .09, K = 307), . 73 (SD = .12, K = 251), . 75 (SD = .11, K = 123), and . 78 (SD = .10, K = 307). Sample-size-weighted means also were computed. The dimension of personality being rated does not appear to strongly moderate either the internal consistency or the testretest reliabilities. Implications for personality assessment are discussed.