Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inference and Conversational Interaction. Pragmatic language disturbances related to stroke

Language use at a discourse level, or in conversational interaction, puts high demands on human cognition. Brain damage can often result in pragmatic language disturbances, even if different language functions taken separately seem to be intact. In this thesis, post-stroke pragmatic ability in inferencing and in conversational interaction is explored. The ability to make inferences for comprehension and its association with sustained attention and verbal working memory capacity are studied in two experimental group studies with 14 right-hemisphere-damaged (RHD) individuals, 14 left-hemisphere-damaged (LHD) individuals, and a control group consisting of 14 non-brain-damaged individuals, matched for age, sex, education and reading habits. Change in the ability to interact in conversation and the degree of negative impact of this change are also investigated in a group study, using a questionnaire distributed to the brain-damaged individuals and their conversational partners (CP). The impact of pragmatic language disturbances at the individual level is explored in four case studies where the quantitative and qualitative results of the experimental cognitive tasks and the questionnaire are supplemented by an analysis of video-recorded natural conversation. The key findings show that the groups have somewhat different patterns of results in the inference tasks. The LHD group primarily had trouble with tasks requiring an ability to revise inferences, and their results on those tasks tended to be associated with verbal working memory. The RHD group also had problems with tasks requiring the ability to revise inferences, but their results were associated with sustained attention. The RHD subjects also had problems making inferences about characters’ attitudes or motives but no associations were seen between results on these tasks and verbal working memory or sustained attention. It was found that the LHD individuals and their CP tended to report more post-stroke changes and negative impact of these changes in conversational interaction than the RHD subjects and their CP. However, several of the RHD subjects and their CP who did report changes perceived a high degree of negative impact of these changes. The LHD and RHD groups often reported similar pragmatic areas as being affected in conversation and this was observed in the video-recorded conversational interaction as well. It is inferred from the results that expressions of pragmatic disorders post-stroke may be subtle and expressed in ways that are not traditionally related to language disturbances. Furthermore, even subtle pragmatic language disorders have an impact on, and also depend on, the role of the conversational partner. The results are approached from a perspective in which pragmatic ability in association with brain damage is seen as the outcome of interaction between several different cognitive functions, personality and compensatory strategies in the brain-damaged individual as well as in his or her conversational partners.
Mechanisms of glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis in hematologic malignancies: updates

Purpose of review Glucocorticoids remain a central component of the therapeutic armamentarium for a broad spectrum of hematologic malignancies. There is an extensive body of evidence suggesting that the efficacy of glucocorticoids stems from their ability to mediate apoptosis in leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma cells. Recent findings Traditionally, glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis is divided into three stages: an initiation stage, which involves glucocorticoid receptor activation and glucocorticoid receptor-mediated gene regulation; a decision stage, which engages the prosurvival and proapoptotic factors at the mitochondrial level; and an execution stage, which implicates caspases and endonuclease activation. Recent discoveries have clarified many aspects of the apoptotic pathway, including activation of the caspases cascade and multicatalytic proteasome, suppression of prosurvival transcription factors such as AP-1, c-myc, nuclear factor-κB, as well as cross-talk between the T-cell receptor and cytokine signaling pathways. Summary This review focuses primarily on insights gained during recent years into the mechanism of the signaling pathways responsible for mediating glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis in hematologic malignancies. This information provides a scientific basis to explore synergistic approaches that may enhance glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis and may bypass mechanism of resistance.
Chiasmata Promote Monopolar Attachment of Sister Chromatids and Their Co-Segregation toward the Proper Pole during Meiosis I

The chiasma is a structure that forms between a pair of homologous chromosomes by crossover recombination and physically links the homologous chromosomes during meiosis. Chiasmata are essential for the attachment of the homologous chromosomes to opposite spindle poles (bipolar attachment) and their subsequent segregation to the opposite poles during meiosis I. However, the overall function of chiasmata during meiosis is not fully understood. Here, we show that chiasmata also play a crucial role in the attachment of sister chromatids to the same spindle pole and in their co-segregation during meiosis I in fission yeast. Analysis of cells lacking chiasmata and the cohesin protector Sgo1 showed that loss of chiasmata causes frequent bipolar attachment of sister chromatids during anaphase. Furthermore, high time-resolution analysis of centromere dynamics in various types of chiasmate and achiasmate cells, including those lacking the DNA replication checkpoint factor Mrc1 or the meiotic centromere protein Moa1, showed the following three outcomes: (i) during the pre-anaphase stage, the bipolar attachment of sister chromatids occurs irrespective of chiasma formation; (ii) the chiasma contributes to the elimination of the pre-anaphase bipolar attachment; and (iii) when the bipolar attachment remains during anaphase, the chiasmata generate a bias toward the proper pole during poleward chromosome pulling that results in appropriate chromosome segregation. Based on these results, we propose that chiasmata play a pivotal role in the selection of proper attachments and provide a backup mechanism that promotes correct chromosome segregation when improper attachments remain during anaphase I.
The Effects of Purchasing Skill Instruction for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of functional mathematics instruction, specifically purchasing skill instruction, for individuals with disabilities. Twenty-eight intervention studies were identified and reviewed. Because all studies employed single-subject research designs, a nonparametric procedure, the percentage of nonoverlapping data (PND), was used to estimate treatment effects. Results indicated a moderately positive effect for purchasing skill instruction (median PND = 87%). Maintenance (median PND = 100%) and generalization effects (median PND = 86%) revealed large and moderate effects, respectively. Further categorical comparisons indicated that variables such as participants' entry skills, money skill adaptations, type of purchase, error correction procedure, and instructional setting were related to the treatment effectiveness.
Improved Bioethanol Production Using Activated Carbon-treated Acid Hydrolysate from Corn Hull in Pachysolen tannophilus

To optimally convert corn hull, a byproduct from corn processing, into bioethanol using Pachysolen tannophlius, we investigated the optimal conditions for hydrolysis and removal of toxic substances in the hydrolysate via activated carbon treatment as well as the effects of this detoxification process on the kinetic parameters of bioethanol production. Maximum monosaccharide concentrations were obtained in hydrolysates in which 20 g of corn hull was hydrolyzed in 4% (v/v) H2SO4. Activated carbon treatment removed 92.3% of phenolic compounds from the hydrolysate. When untreated hydrolysate was used, the monosaccharides were not completely consumed, even at 480 h of culture. When activated carbon–treated hydrolysate was used, the monosaccharides were mostly consumed at 192 h of culture. In particular, when activated carbon-treated hydrolysate was used, bioethanol productivity (P) and specific bioethanol production rate (QP) were 2.4 times and 3.4 times greater, respectively, compared to untreated hydrolysate. This was due to sustained bioethanol production during the period of xylose/arabinose utilization, which occurred only when activated carbon-treated hydrolysate was used.
Multi hypotheses based object tracking in HCI environments

Gesture recogntion plays an important role in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). However, in most HCI systems the user is limited to use only one hand or two hands under optimal conditions. Challenges are for instance non-homogeneous backgrounds, hand-hand or hand-face overlapping or brightness modifications which will be met in real HCI scenarios. In this work, we propose a novel method that solves the ambiguities due to the hand overlap robustly based on multi-hypotheses object association. The results of tracking build the basis for further feature extraction and gesture recognition.
Towards the Liberal Model

Despite the current insecurity within the journalistic profession, there is still some common ground uniting news workers: a shared perception of the role of journalism in Western societies—a social agreement between journalists, media owners and audiences as to what is good journalism. Research has shown that this role rests heavily upon notions of journalists as watchdogs of democracy, and sometimes as pedagogues and interpreters of complex events. However, this role is not static in any sense; it changes along with the news industry and the surrounding society. The question is, how? This article addresses this question by examining the case of Swedish journalists. Empirical support is drawn from the Swedish Journalist Survey, which has been conducted on five occasions between 1989 and 2011, thus providing a unique opportunity to follow changes to a journalistic community over time. The results indicate the far-reaching adaptability of Swedish journalists to new conditions; a liberalization of ideals, such that ideals of objectivity and neutrality are strengthening at a rather quick pace. However, the results also show how they close ranks behind the watchdog ideal, which could be interpreted as an act of resistance.
Global Risk Classification Predicts the Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Significant Left Main Coronary Artery Disease Undergoing Coronary Bypass Surgery

Background: The use of combined SYNTAX score and EuroSCORE to predict two-year cardiac mortality in de-novo left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been discussed. Whether the combination of these two parameters could also predict the clinical outcomes in de-novo LMCA patients undergoing bypass surgery remains unknown.Method: From April 2003 to June 2008, 86 patients with de-novo LMCA disease undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) were studied. Patients were divided into three subgroups of global risk classification (GRC), low-risk group (n = 44), intermediate-risk group (n = 28), and high-risk group (n = 14) according to their SYNTAX score and EuroSCORE, The baseline characteristics were compared between different risk subgroups of GRC. The differences of clinical outcomes in terms of major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) between different risk subgroups of GRC were compared.Results: Compared with the low-risk group, the high-risk group showed a significantly higher proportion of myocardial infarction (50.0% vs. 18.2%), congestive heart failure (21.4% vs. 2.3%), and cardiogenic shock (7.1 % vs. 0.0%; p = 0.02), higher SYNTAX score (48.7 ± 5.6 vs. 27.5 ± 6.8; p ＜ 0.0 1), higher EuroSCORE (7.7±1.9 vs. 2.7 ± 1.5; p ＜ 0.0 1), a higher proportion of diabetes mellitus (85.7% vs. 43.2%; p = 0.02), prior stroke (28.6% vs. 4.6%; p = 0.03), and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (28.6% vs. 2.3%: p ＜ 0.01), and lower ejection fraction (50.8 ± 17.4 vs. 66.5 ± 14. 1, p ＜ 0.01). Using multivariable Cox-regression proportional regression with the forward conditional method, the global risk classification (GRC) predicted long-term cumulative MACCEs (p ＜ 0.01, HR 4.45, 95% CI: 2.48-7.99). The Kaplan-Meier Curve with log-rank test displayed significant differences of long-term MACCEs (p ＜ 0.01; χ^2= 39.08) between different subgroups of GRC.Conclusion: The new GRC system effectively predicts long-term MACCEs of de-novo LMCA disease patients undergoing CABG.
Effects of Age and Recovery Duration on Peak Power Output During Repeated Cycling Sprints

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of age and recovery duration on the time course of cycling peak power and blood lactate concentration ([La]) during repeated bouts of short-term high-intensity exercise. Eleven prepubescent boys (9.6 +/- 0.7 yr), nine pubescent boys (15.0 +/- 0.7 yr) and ten men (20.4 +/- 0.8 yr) performed ten consecutive 10 s cycling sprints separated by either 30 s (R30), 1 min (R1), or 5 min (R5) passive recovery intervals against a friction load corresponding to 50 % of their optimal force (50 % Ffopt). Peak power produced at 50 % Ffopt (PP50) was calculated at each sprint including the flywheel inertia of the bicycle. Arterialized capillary blood samples were collected at rest and during the sprint exercises to measure the time course of [La]. In the prepubescent boys, whatever recovery intervals, PP50 remained unchanged during the ten 10 s sprint exercises. In the pubescent boys, PP50 decreased significantly by 18.5 % (p < 0.001) with R30 and by 15.3 % (p < 0.01) with R1 from the first to the tenth sprint but remained unchanged with R5. In the men, PP50 decreased respectively by 28.5 % (p < 0.001) and 11.3 % (p < 0.01) with R30 and R1 and slightly diminished with R5. For each recovery interval, the increase in blood [La] over the ten sprints was significantly lower in the prepubescent boys compared with the pubescent boys and the men. To conclude, the prepubescent boys sustained their PP50 during the ten 10 s sprint exercises with only 30 s recovery intervals. In contrast, the pubescent boys and the men needed 5 min recovery intervals. It was suggested that the faster recovery of PP50 in the prepubescent boys was due to their lower muscle glycolytic activity and their higher muscle oxidative capacity allowing a faster resynthesis in phosphocreatine.
Dropout from physical activity interventions in people living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Physical activity (PA) interventions have been shown to improve the health of people living with HIV (PLWH), yet treatment dropout poses an important challenge. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the prevalence and predictors of treatment dropout in PA interventions in PLWH. Electronic databases were searched for records up to September 2016. Randomized control trials of PA interventions in PLWH reporting dropout rates were included. Random effects meta-analysis and meta-regression analyses were employed. In 36 studies involving 49 PA intervention arms, 1128 PLWH were included (mean age = 41.6 years; 79.3% male; 39% White). The trim and fill adjusted treatment dropout rate was 29.3% (95% CI = 24.5–34.7%). There was a significant lower dropout rate in resistance training interventions compared with aerobic (p = 0.003) PA interventions, in studies utilizing supervised interventions throughout the study period (p < 0.001), and in studies using adequately qualified professionals (p < 0.001). Exerciser/participant variables that moderated higher dropout rates were a lower percentage of male participants (β = 1.15, standard error (SE) = 0.49, z = 2.0, p = 0.048), a lower body mass index(BMI) (β = 0.14, SE = 0.06, z = 2.16, p = 0.03), and a lower cardiorespiratory fitness (β = 0.10, SE = 0.04, z = 2.7, p = 0.006). The dropout from PA interventions is much higher in PLWH than in many other populations with chronic morbidities. Qualified professionals (i.e., exercise physiologists, physical educators, or physical therapists) should be incorporated as key care providers in the multidisciplinary care of HIV/AIDS and should prescribe supervised PA for PLWH in order to enhance adherence and reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS. Special attention should be given men, those with a higher BMI, and those with a lower cardiorespiratory fitness.
Assessment as learning: examining a cycle of teaching, learning, and assessment of writing in the portfolio-based classroom

Assessment for learning has been extensively researched in the past two decades. However, its applications as a means of classroom-based assessment, especially for promoting teaching and learning of writing, have been underrepresented in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) portfolio settings. This paper aims to critically review the extent to which assessment as learning (AaL), used as an alternative to high-stakes assessment, can support writing instruction and student learning. Drawing upon the evidence from educational assessment and EFL writing, the paper argues that AaL, when advocated in classroom-based portfolios, can promote teacher competence in teaching writing, student motivation for learning, and text improvement. AaL hereby refers to students’ ongoing development of cognitive and metacognitive capacity in self-evaluating their writing ability within a portfolio-based environment. Implications regarding how AaL can be successfully utilized to facilitate the development of students’ language awareness, self-assessment skills, and self-reflection in EFL portfolio-based classrooms are discussed.
Electron Barrier Formation at the Organic‐Back Contact Interface is the First Step in Thermal Degradation of Polymer Solar Cells

Long‐term stability of polymer solar cells is determined by many factors, one of which is thermal stability. Although many thermal stability studies occur far beyond the operating temperature of a solar cell which is almost always less than 65 °C, thermal degradation is studied at temperatures that the solar cell would encounter in real‐world operating conditions. At these temperatures, movement of the polymer and fullerenes, along with adhesion of the polymer to the back contact, creates a barrier for electron extraction. The polymer barrier can be removed and the performance can be restored by peeling off the electrode and depositing a new one. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal a larger amount of polymer adhered to electrodes peeled from aged devices than electrodes peeled from fresh devices. The degradation caused by hole‐transporting polymer adhering to the electrode can be suppressed by using an inverted device where instead of electrons, holes are extracted at the back metal electrode. The problem can be ultimately eliminated by choosing a polymer with a high glass transition temperature.
Flexible and compressed workweek schedules: A meta-analysis of their effects on work-related criteria.

Meta-analytic techniques were used to estimate the effects of flexible and compressed workweek schedules on several work-related criteria (productivity/performance, job satisfaction, absenteeism, and satisfaction with work schedule). In general, the effects of both schedules were positive. However, the effects of both flextime and compressed workweek schedules were different across the outcome criteria (e.g., compressed workweek schedules did not significantly affect absenteeism). Thus, the level of positive impact associated with either schedule is dependent on the outcome criterion under consideration. Further, several variables were found to be moderators of flexible work schedules. For example, highly flexible flextime programs were less effective in comparison to less flexible programs, and the positive benefits of flextime schedules were found to diminish over time.
pREST: a REST-based protocol for pervasive systems

The convergence of embedded systems and wireless communication enables interconnection of electronic devices to render control and provide information to the user. Offices, apartments, and public spaces are or in the near future will be able to deliver information and services to their occupants ranging from instant Internet access to configuration and control in a context dependent, personalized way. Despite progressing internetworking and sophistication, we are still dealing with islands of functionality rather than the invisible computer envisioned by Mark Weiser. We believe that the spread and acceptance of smart environments will depend on common standards as well as a simple and flexible way to access data and devices and compose services from existing ones. A good example of such a system is the World Wide Web, whose success is mainly due to the simplicity with which all kinds of content can be published and referenced. We present an access protocol to bring the Web's simplicity and holistic view on data and services to pervasive systems. Our approach is based on the representational state transfer architectural style and emphasizes abstraction of data and services as resources, interoperation via self describing data and service orchestration with loosely typed components. A particular concern is to provide for functionality in the absence of proxy nodes or infrastructure services like directory servers.
Simulations multi-agents multi-niveaux : quatre patterns de conception (présentation courte)

Cet article introduit quatre patterns de conception, definis a partir de l'identification de "situation-types" minimales rencontrees dans la litterature et destines a systematiser et simplifier la conception de simulations multi-agents multi-niveaux. Ces simulations ont pour but de gerer des entites appartenant a des niveaux d'abstraction ou d'organisation differents mais couples. Pour chaque pattern, nous presentons des cas d'utilisation ainsi que les structures de donnees et algorithmes associes. A des fins de genericite, ces patterns font appel a une description unifiee des capacites d'action et d'evolution des agents. Nous proposons ainsi un cadre conceptuel et operationnel precis pour les concepteurs de simulations multi-niveaux.
To Vote Before Decide: A Logless One-Phase Commit Protocol for Highly-Available Datastores

Highly-available datastores are widely deployed for online applications. However, many online applications are not contented with the simple data access interface currently provided by highly-available datastores. Distributed transaction support is demanded by applications such as large-scale online payment used by Alipay or Paypal. Current solutions to distributed transaction can spend more than half of the whole transaction processing time in distributed commit. An efficient atomic commit protocol is highly desirable. This paper presents the HACommit protocol, a logless one-phase commit protocol for highly-available systems. HACommit has transaction participants vote for a commit before the client decides to commit or abort the transaction; in comparison, the state-of-the-art practice for distributed commit is to have the client decide before participants vote. The change enables the removal of both the participant logging and the coordinator logging steps in the distributed commit process; it also makes possible that, after the client initiates the transaction commit, the transaction data is visible to other transactions within one communication roundtrip time (i.e., one phase). In the evaluation with extensive experiments, HACommit outperforms recent atomic commit solutions for highly-available datastores under different workloads. In the best case, HACommit can commit in one fifth of the time 2PC does.