Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Children's Lexical and Sublexical Development While Learning to Read

Abstract A sample of 236 4- to 6-year-olds was tested on reading, spelling, vocabulary, short-term memory, visual discrimination, nonverbal intelligence, phonological processing, and fluency. The children were retested 1 year later. The 5-year-olds' reading quotients were predicted by their phonological processing and visual discrimination scores 1 year earlier. The 6-year-olds' reading quotients were predicted by their previous year's reading quotients, socioeconomic status, phonological processing, and nonword reading scores. The 7-year-olds' reading quotients were predicted by their previous year's reading quotients and nonword reading scores. Factors influencing the development of lexical and sublexical processes also were examined. At the initial stage, phonemic and pattern-recognition skills were influential for the lexical route, but, when formal teaching of reading began, there was a strong Matthew effect: Children already good at reading tended to do even better the following year. Similar factor.
Interpolative variable frame rate transmission of speech features for distributed speech recognition

In distributed speech recognition, vector quantization is used to reduce the number of bits for coding speech features at the user end in order to save energy for transmitting speech feature streams to remote recognizers and reduce data traffic congestion. We notice that the overall bit rate of the transmitted feature streams could be further reduced by not sending redundant frames that can be interpolated at the remote server from received frames. Interpolation introduces errors and may degrade speech recognition. This paper investigates the methods of selecting frames for transmission and the effect of interpolation on recognition. Experiments on a large vocabulary recognizer show that with spline interpolation, the overall frame rate for transmission can be reduced by about 50% with a relative increase in word error rate less than 5.2% for clean and noisy speech.
Functional Analysis of Gene Duplications in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Gene duplication can occur on two scales: whole-genome duplications (WGD) and smaller-scale duplications (SSD) involving individual genes or genomic segments. Duplication may result in functionally redundant genes or diverge in function through neofunctionalization or subfunctionalization. The effect of duplication scale on functional evolution has not yet been explored, probably due to the lack of global knowledge of protein function and different times of duplication events. To address this question, we used integrated Bayesian analysis of diverse functional genomic data to accurately evaluate the extent of functional similarity and divergence between paralogs on a global scale. We found that paralogs resulting from the whole-genome duplication are more likely to share interaction partners and biological functions than smaller-scale duplicates, independent of sequence similarity. In addition, WGD paralogs show lower frequency of essential genes and higher synthetic lethality rate, but instead diverge more in expression pattern and upstream regulatory region. Thus, our analysis demonstrates that WGD paralogs generally have similar compensatory functions but diverging expression patterns, suggesting a potential of distinct evolutionary scenarios for paralogs that arose through different duplication mechanisms. Furthermore, by identifying these functional disparities between the two types of duplicates, we reconcile previous disputes on the relationship between sequence divergence and expression divergence or essentiality.
The PicSOM Retrieval System: Description and Evaluations

We have developed an experimental system called PicSOM for retrieving images similar to a given set of reference images in large unannotated image databases. The technique is based on a hierarchical variant of the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) called the Tree Structured Self-Organizing Map (TS-SOM). Given a set of reference images, PicSOM is able to retrieve another set of images which are most similar to the given ones. Each TS-SOM is formed using a different image feature representation like color, texture, or shape. A new technique introduced in PicSOM facilitates automatic combination of the responses from multiple TS-SOMs and their hierarchical levels. This mechanism adapts to the user’ s preferences in selecting which images resemble each other. In this paper, a brief description of the system and a set of methods applicable to evaluating retrieval performance of image retrieval applications are presented.
Can Cultural Behavior have a Negative Impact on the Development of Visual Integration Pathways?

Optimal cognitive development and maturity depends on optimal auditory, visual and tactile-kinesthetic perception. It is therefore important that an infant should be actively involved and participate physically in the mastery of concrete objects during Piaget's sensorimotor stage. We postulate that cultural behavior such as Pêpa (carrying the baby on the mother's back) can have a negative impact on the development of visual integration pathways, as it prevents the child to crawl adequately or enough during the sensorimotor stage. We believe that crawling is essential for cross-modality integration and that higher mental functions may suffer as a result of the interruption of the links that are part of the structure of a complex functional system. We therefore suggest that the prolonged Pêpa activity may have detrimental effects on the development of the visual integration pathways. These pathways develop during the sensorimotor developmental stage. Since the effect of Pêpa will only become evident during a school readiness screening or scholastic performance assessment, useful tests and practical assessment devices are proposed that school psychologists could use.
German in Belgium: Linguistic Variation from a Contact Linguistic Point of View

In this paper the situation of the German minorities in Old and New Belgium is presented. Following some geographical notes, the process of federalisation and its repercussions for East Belgium are briefly described. A discussion of linguistic factors vis-à-vis these minorities located along the Germanic-Romance linguistic border then follows and will lead on to the central part of the article. For methodological reasons this is divided into one part dealing with external linguistic factors and one on internal linguistic factors. The paper concludes by focusing on issues that broadly characterise recent research on New and Old Belgium. To position the German minorities in Belgium in a broader context their analysis is preceded by a general and regional European perspective.
A New QIM-Based Watermarking Method Robust to Gain Attack

We propose a new watermarking method based on quantization index modulation. A concept of initial data loss is introduced in order to increase capacity of the watermarking channel under high intensity additive white Gaussian noise. According to the concept some samples in predefined positions are ignored even though this produces errors in the initial stage of watermark embedding. The proposed method also exploits a new form of distribution of quantized samples where samples that interpret “0” and “1” have differently shaped probability density functions. Compared to well-known watermarking schemes, this provides an increase of capacity under noise attack and introduces a distinctive feature. Two criteria are proposed that express the feature numerically. The criteria are utilized by a procedure for estimation of a gain factor after possible gain attack. Several state-of-the-art quantization-based watermarking methods were used for comparison on a set of natural grayscale images. The superiority of the proposed method has been confirmed for different types of popular attacks.
Modeling Short-Term Preferences in Time-Aware Recommender Systems

Recommender Systems suggest items that are likely to be the most interesting for users, based on the feedback, i.e. ratings, they provided on items already experienced in the past. Time-aware Recommender Systems (TARS) focus on temporal context of ratings in order to track the evolution of user preferences and to adapt suggestions accordingly. In fact, some people’s interests tend to persist for a long time, while others change more quickly, because they might be related to volatile information needs. In this paper, we focus on the problem of building an effective profile for short-term preferences. A simple approach is to learn the short-term model from the most recent ratings, discarding older data. It is based on the assumption that the more recent the data is, the more it contributes to find items the user will shortly be interested in. We propose an improvement of this classical model, which tracks the evolution of user interests by exploiting the content of the items, besides time information on ratings. When a new item-rating pair comes, the replacement of an older one is performed by taking into account both a decay function for user interests and content similarity between items, computed by distributional semantics models. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
For Better or Worse: Fundamentalists' Attitudes Toward Outgroups as a Function of Exposure to Authoritative Religious Texts

Fundamentalism not only predicts prejudice toward outgroups but also prosociality toward proximal targets and ingroups. Taking things a step further, we hypothesized that because fundamentalists tend to show submission to religious authority, their attitudes toward unknown targets and outgroups may vary significantly depending on the nature of the authoritative religious texts to which they are exposed. In three studies using hypothetical scenarios, the association between fundamentalism and prosocial attitudes (a) became negative after exposure to a violent biblical text (Study 1; unknown targets), (b) reversed from negative to positive after reading a prosocial biblical text (Study 2; negligent targets), and (c) became negative or positive following a violent versus prosocial biblical text (Study 3; atheist target). Additional results confirmed the uniqueness of fundamentalism compared to general religiosity, quest orientation, and authoritarianism, regarding such dependency upon religious authority. Findings also support the mediating roles of reported submissiveness to religious teachings and perceived symbolic threat.
Three-robot minimum-time optimal line formation

Multi-robot formation problem has received increasing attention due to its wide applications like surveillances. To illustrate a novel framework on optimal multi-robot formation given in our previous work, which aims to answer the long-term ignored fundamental problem of describing the formation and clarifying optimal formation rigorously in a mathematical manner, as a preliminary case study, two typical cases of the minimum-time line formation problem for three robots are investigated in this note. In this problem, different robots may move with different speeds and the three-robot team aims to row on a straight line with the minimum formation time. Mathematical results have been established with algebraic and geometric analysis, which are further verified by extensive experimental results.
Potential Species Distribution of Balsam Fir Based on the Integration of Biophysical Variables Derived with Remote Sensing and Process-Based Methods

Abstract: In this paper we present a framework for modelling potential species distribution (PSD) of balsam fir [bF; Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. ] as a function of landscape-level descriptions of: (i) growing degree days (GDD: a temperature related index), (ii) land-surface wetness, (iii) incident photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and (iv) tree habitat suitability. GDD and land-surface wetness are derived primarily from remote sensing data acquired with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra satellite. PAR is calculated with an existing spatial model of solar radiation. Raster-based calculations of habitat suitability and PSD are obtained by multiplying normalized values of species environmental-response functions (one for each environmental variable) parameterized for balsam fir. As a demonstration of the procedure, we apply the calculations to a high bF-content area in northwest New Brunswick, Canada, at 250-m resolution. Location of medium-to-high habitat suitability values (i.e., >0.50) and actual forests, with >50% bF, matched on average 92% of the time.
DNA modification by sulfur: analysis of the sequence recognition specificity surrounding the modification sites

The Dnd (DNA degradation) phenotype, reflecting a novel DNA modification by sulfur in Streptomyces lividans 1326, was strongly aggravated when one (dndB) of the five genes (dndABCDE) controlling it was mutated. Electrophoretic banding patterns of a plasmid (pHZ209), reflecting DNA degradation, displayed a clear change from a preferential modification site in strain 1326 to more random modifications in the mutant. Fourteen randomly modifiable sites on pHZ209 were localized, and each seemed to be able to be modified only once. Residues in a region (5′-c–cGGCCgccg-3′) including a highly conserved 4-bp central core (5′-GGCC-3′) in a well-documented preferential modification site were assessed for their necessity by site-directed mutagenesis. While the central core (GGCC) was found to be stringently required in 1326 and in the mutant, ‘gccg’ flanking its right could either abolish or reduce the modification frequency only in the mutant, and two separate nucleotides to the left had no dramatic effect. The lack of essentiality of DndB for S-modification suggests that it might only be required for enhancing or stabilizing the activity of a protein complex at the required preferential modification site, or resolving secondary structures flanking the modifiable site(s), known to constitute an obstacle for efficient modification.
The vestibulo‐ocular reflex during human saccadic eye movements.

Eye and head movements were recorded in normal humans during rapid refixations with the head still (saccades) or moving (gaze saccades) to determine if the vestibulo‐ocular reflex was operating at such times. Subjects made self‐electrooculogram for large saccades and with the eyecoil/magnetic field method for smaller movements. The putative function of the vestibulo‐ocular reflex during a gaze saccade is to adjust the movement of the eye for the movement of the head by adding the saccadic command and the vestibular signal. This action, referred to here as linear summation, would maintain gaze‐saccade accuracy by making gaze velocity (eye in space) independent of head velocity. It would also preserve the duration of the eye saccades of about 200 deg. When a subject increased his head velocity voluntarily, for example, from 420 to 805 deg/s, mean gaze velocity rose from 540 to 820 deg/s and duration dropped from 380 to 250 ms. Linear summation did not occur. By means of a yoke clenched in the teeth, the subject's head could be momentarily and unexpectedly slowed by collision of the yoke with a lead weight during a 180 deg gaze saccade. The perturbation decreased head velocity by about 150‐200 deg/s, decreased gaze velocity by about the same amount and did not change eye velocity (in the head); another indication that the vestibulo‐ocular reflex was not working. Nevertheless, gaze‐saccade duration was automatically increased so that the over‐all accuracy of the movement was not changed. Subjects made saccades between targets at +/‐ 20 deg without attempted head movements. Simultaneously the experimenter struck the yoke, clenched in the subject's teeth, with a rubber hammer. The hammer blow caused a transient head velocity of about 70 deg/s. Gaze velocity transiently rose or fell, depending on the direction of the blow, by similar amounts and a quantitative analysis suggested that the vestibulo‐ocular reflex was essentially absent. Again, duration was automatically altered so that saccade accuracy was not changed. Subjects looked back and forth between targets 20, 40 and 60 deg apart as their head turned through the straight ahead position, actively or passively, at velocities up to 600 deg/s (active) or 300 deg/s (passive). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
The Canadian Adverse Events Study: the incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada

Background: Research into adverse events (AEs) has highlighted the need to improve patient safety. AEs are unintended injuries or complications resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay that arise from health care management. We estimated the incidence of AEs among patients in Canadian acute care hospitals. Methods: We randomly selected 1 teaching, 1 large community and 2 small community hospitals in each of 5 provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia) and reviewed a random sample of charts for nonpsychiatric, nonobstetric adult patients in each hospital for the fiscal year 2000. Trained reviewers screened all eligible charts, and physicians reviewed the positively screened charts to identify AEs and determine their preventability. Results: At least 1 screening criterion was identified in 1527 (40.8%) of 3745 charts. The physician reviewers identified AEs in 255 of the charts. After adjustment for the sampling strategy, the AE rate was 7.5 per 100 hospital admissions (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.7– 9.3). Among the patients with AEs, events judged to be preventable occurred in 36.9% (95% CI 32.0%–41.8%) and death in 20.8% (95% CI 7.8%–33.8%). Physician reviewers estimated that 1521 additional hospital days were associated with AEs. Although men and women experienced equal rates of AEs, patients who had AEs were significantly older than those who did not (mean age [and standard deviation] 64.9 [16.7] v. 62.0 [18.4] years; p = 0.016). Interpretation: The overall incidence rate of AEs of 7.5% in our study suggests that, of the almost 2.5 million annual hospital admissions in Canada similar to the type studied, about 185 000 are associated with an AE and close to 70 000 of these are potentially preventable.
2-month mortality and functional status of critically ill adult patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To describe the 2-month mortality and functional status of adult patients receiving prolonged (at least 48 h) mechanical ventilation (MV), and to identify patient characteristics that are associated with 2-month mortality. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Four ICUs at a tertiary-care institution. PATIENTS Eight hundred seventeen patients who received prolonged MV. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Median age, sex distribution, and median Charlson comorbidity score of the 817 patients were 65 years, 45.8% women, and 1, respectively. The median scores on Katz Activities of Daily Living, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Deficits, and Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 surveys before hospitalization were 0, 1, and 50, respectively. Median APACHE (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation) III score and probability of hospital death for the cohort were 64 and 0.31, respectively. Median duration of MV was 9 days. Two-month mortality was 43%. Independent predictors of mortality at 2 months were age, comorbidities, and prehospital functional status. The adjusted odds of dying within 2 months increased 34% for each decade increase in age. Functional status deteriorated at 2 months compared to functional status prior to hospitalization, and 35% of the survivors were at risk for clinical depression. Among the 2-month survivors for whom the need for a caregiver was assessed, 78% had a caregiver. CONCLUSIONS Older age, in addition to functional status and comorbidities, was associated with increased mortality at 2 months. Functional status of survivors declined at 2 months.
Altered Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behaviors Following Near-Death Experiences

This study investigated the extent and types of altered beliefs, attitudes, and values of 53 subjects who reported having had a neardeath experience (NDE). A control group was composed of 27 individuals who reported having had similar life-threatening incidents but without a corresponding NDE. In addition, 45 significant others in the lives of the participants in these groups rated the extent and types of changes as a means of obtaining outside corroboration regarding the changes. The results indicated that the NDE group went through a significantly greater number of changes than persons who went through similar life-threatening situations but without having had a corresponding NDE. In addition, the extent and types of changes were mostly corroborated by significant others. Specific areas of change included increased concern for others, reduced death anxiety with a strengthened belief in an afterlife, increased transcendental experience, reduced interest in material possessions, increased self-worth, increased appreciation for natural phenomenon, and an enhanced awareness of paranormal phenomenon. Analysis of the depth of the experience indicated that the depth and the extent of change were positively correlated. Collectively, this information strongly suggests that it is the actual NDE itself, rather than some other factor such as merely being exposed to a life-threatening situation, that is crucial in facilitating change.
Mutual information-based selection of audiovisual affective features to predict instantaneous emotional state

Automatic prediction of continuous level emotional state requires selection of suitable affective features to develop a regression system based on supervised machine learning. This paper investigates the performance of low-level dynamic features for predicting two common dimensions of emotional state, namely, valence and arousal instantaneously. Low-complexity features are extracted from audio and visual modalities independently and fused in the feature level. Features with minimum redundancy and maximum relevancy are chosen by using the mutual information-based selection process. The performance of frame-by-frame prediction of emotional state using the moderate length features as proposed in this paper is evaluated on spontaneous and naturalistic human-human conversation of SEMAINE database. Experimental results show that the proposed features selected by mutual information can be used for instantaneous prediction of emotional state with an accuracy higher than traditional audio or visual features that are used for affective computation.