Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Diverse Information Sources to Retrieve Samples of Low Density Languages

Language samples are useful as an object of study for a diverse range of people. Samples of low-density languages in particular are often valuable in their own right, yet it is these samples which are most dicult to locate, especially in a vast repository of information such as the World Wide Web. We identify here some shortcomings to the more obvious approaches to locating such samples and present an alternative technique based on a search query using publicly available wordlists augmented with geospatial evidence, and show that the technique is successful for a number of languages.
Systems Management with Distributed Objects: Porting SNMP Agents to a CORBA Environment

The increasing acceptance of CORBA for implementing distributed applications yields the possibility of using this distributed object-oriented communication infrastruct ure for the management of these applications and the underlying systems as well. It is therefore import ant to supply CORBAcompliant agents which enable the management of these systems in an efficient manner. Currently, this is not the case: while no such CORBA-compliant management agents are available on the market, one can easily find a multitude of SNMP agents meeting these demands.Thus, establishing a methodology for obtaining the required CORBA-compliant managementagents from already existing modular SNMP agents is a necessary task. This paper describes a methodology for migrating already existing modular SNMP-agent code into the CORBA environment and describes its application to a concrete example, namely an agent for managing UNIX workstations. This agent has been developed by the MNM Team and is extensively used. Furthermore, it is sketched out how the transformation overhead can be minimized by the use of standardized translation algorithms and state-of-the-art software development tools.
Haemophilia & Exercise Project (HEP): The impact of 1‐year sports therapy programme on physical performance in adult haemophilia patients

Episodes of bleeding in people with haemophilia (PWH) are associated with reduced activity and limitations in physical performance. Within the scope of the ‘Haemophilia & Exercise Project’ (HEP) PWH were trained in a sports therapy programme. Aim of this study was to investigate subjective and objective physical performance in HEP‐participants after 1 year training. Physical performance of 48 adult PWH was compared before and after sports therapy subjectively (HEP‐Test‐Q) and objectively regarding mobility (range of motion), strength and coordination (one‐leg‐stand) and endurance (12‐min walk test). Sports therapy included an independent home training that had previously been trained in several collective sports camps. Forty‐three controls without haemophilia and without training were compared to PWH. Of 48 PWH, 13 performed a regular training (active PWH); 12 HEP‐participants were constantly passive (passive PWH). Twenty‐three PWH and 24 controls dropped out because of incomplete data. The activity level increased by 100% in active PWH and remained constant in passive PWH, and in controls (P ≤ 0.05). Only mobility of the right knee was significantly improved in active PWH (+5.8 ± 5.3°) compared to passive PWH (−1.3 ± 8.6°). The 12‐min walk test proved a longer walking distance for active PWH (+217 ± 199 m) compared to controls (−32 ± 217 m). Active PWH reported a better subjective physical performance in the HEP‐Test‐Q domains ‘strength & coordination’, ‘endurance’ and in the total score (+9.4 ± 13.8) compared to passive PWH (−5.3 ± 13.5) and controls (+3.7 ± 7.5). The ‘mobility’‐scale and one‐leg‐stand remained unchanged. Sports therapy increases the activity level and physical performance of PWH, whereby objective effects do not always correspond with subjective assessments.
CDM ESD protection design with initial-on concept in nanoscale CMOS process

Integrated circuits (ICs) have been fabricated with thinner gate oxides to achieve higher speed and lower power consumption in nanoscale CMOS processes. However, the charged-device-model (CDM) electrostatic discharge (ESD) events became more critical because of the thinner gate oxide in nanoscale CMOS transistors and the larger die size for the system-on-chip (SoC) applications. Thus, effective on-chip ESD protection design against CDM ESD stresses has become more challenging to be implemented. A novel on-chip ESD protection design against CDM ESD events was proposed in this work, and its performance has been verified by the silicon chip fabricated in 55-nm CMOS process.
Fast and Robust Object Tracking via Probability Continuous Outlier Model

This paper presents a novel visual tracking method based on linear representation. First, we present a novel probability continuous outlier model (PCOM) to depict the continuous outliers within the linear representation model. In the proposed model, the element of the noisy observation sample can be either represented by a principle component analysis subspace with small Guassian noise or treated as an arbitrary value with a uniform prior, in which a simple Markov random field model is adopted to exploit the spatial consistency information among outliers (or inliners). Then, we derive the objective function of the PCOM method from the perspective of probability theory. The objective function can be solved iteratively by using the outlier-free least squares and standard max-flow/min-cut steps. Finally, for visual tracking, we develop an effective observation likelihood function based on the proposed PCOM method and background information, and design a simple update scheme. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations demonstrate that our tracker achieves considerable performance in terms of both accuracy and speed.
A Framework for Semantic Recovery Strategies in Case of Process Activity Failures

During automated process execution semantic activity failures may frequently occur, e.g., when a vehicle transporting a container has a breakdown. So far there are no applicable solutions to overcome such exceptional situations. Often the only possibility is to cancel and roll back respective process instances what is not always possible and more often not desired. In this paper we contribute towards the system–assisted support of finding forward recovery solutions. Our framework is based on the facility to (automatically) perform dynamic changes of single process instances in order to deal with the exceptional situation. We identify and formalize factors which influence the kind of applicable recovery solutions. Then we show how to derive possible recovery solutions and how to evaluate their quality with respect to different constraints. All statements are illustrated by well–studied cases from different domains.
Comments on "Accuracy of Raman lidar water vapor calibration and its applicability to long-term measurements".

In a recent publication, Leblanc and McDermid [Appl. Opt. , 47, 5592 (2008)]APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.47. 005592 proposed a hybrid calibration technique for Raman water vapor lidar involving a tungsten lamp and radiosondes. Measurements made with the lidar telescope viewing the calibration lamp were used to stabilize the lidar calibration determined by comparison with radiosonde. The technique provided a significantly more stable calibration constant than radiosondes used alone. The technique involves the use of a calibration lamp in a fixed position in front of the lidar receiver aperture. We examine this configuration and find that such a configuration likely does not properly sample the full lidar system optical efficiency. While the technique is a useful addition to the use of radiosondes alone for lidar calibration, it is important to understand the scenarios under which it will not provide an accurate quantification of system optical efficiency changes. We offer examples of these scenarios. Scanning of the full telescope aperture with the calibration lamp can circumvent most of these limitations. Based on the work done to date, it seems likely that the use of multiple calibration lamps in different fixed positions in front of the telescope may provide sufficient redundancy for long-term calibration needs. Further full-aperture scanning experiments, performed over an extended period of time, are needed to determine a "best practice" for the use of multiple calibration lamps in the hybrid technique.
Parental Perspectives on Antismoking Discussions With Adolescents in Rural African American Households, May 2004-January 2005

Introduction The purpose of this study was to use qualitative interviews to examine antismoking discussions African American parents and adult family members have with adolescent children. This study is one of the first studies to examine the content of family discussions about not smoking among rural African American families from the perspective of parents and extended family members. Methods Interview topics included discussions with their children, how their children reacted to those discussions, expected and actual consequences for their children trying a cigarette, and perspectives on how best to keep their children from becoming cigarette smokers. A total of 72 African American households participated in the overall study, and 112 people were interviewed. Results Major themes that emerged included discussing the negative health and economic aspects of smoking and the influence of peer pressure. Likely consequences for trying a cigarette included talking to the child about the dangers of smoking and taking away privileges. Making cigarettes less accessible, continued discussions, leading by example, and not smoking around children were suggested as strategies to keep children from smoking. Conclusion This study provides insight into antismoking socialization efforts in rural African American families and confirms that African American families are actively engaged in keeping their children from smoking.
Fungal infection counters insecticide resistance in African malaria mosquitoes

The evolution of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes is threatening the effectiveness and sustainability of malaria control programs in various parts of the world. Through their unique mode of action, entomopathogenic fungi provide promising alternatives to chemical control. However, potential interactions between fungal infection and insecticide resistance, such as cross-resistance, have not been investigated. We show that insecticide-resistant Anopheles mosquitoes remain susceptible to infection with the fungus Beauveria bassiana. Four different mosquito strains with high resistance levels against pyrethroids, organochlorines, or carbamates were equally susceptible to B. bassiana infection as their baseline counterparts, showing significantly reduced mosquito survival. Moreover, fungal infection reduced the expression of resistance to the key public health insecticides permethrin and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Mosquitoes preinfected with B. bassiana or Metarhizium anisopliae showed a significant increase in mortality after insecticide exposure compared with uninfected control mosquitoes. Our results show a high potential utility of fungal biopesticides for complementing existing vector control measures and provide products for use in resistance management strategies.
Slow Wave Sleep Drives Inhibition of Pituitary‐AdrenalSecretion in Humans

During the first half of nocturnal sleep, the secretory response of the pituitary‐adrenal axis to either CRH or vasopressin (VP) administration is reduced. Two experiments were performed aiming (i) to investigate the impact of sleep on the response to a combined CRH/VP administration and (ii) to specify the onset of sleep associated pituitary‐adrenal suppression and its relation to specific sleep stages. In experiment I, we compared the effect of simultaneous administration of VP (0.5 IU i.v., within 6 min) and CRH (50 μg bolus i.v., in the third min of VP infusion) on the secretion of ACTH, cortisol and GH in healthy men during the first nocturnal epoch of slow wave sleep (SWS) and during nocturnal wakefulness. The increase of ACTH and cortisol concentrations after combined VP/CRH administration was distinctly higher during wakefulness than sleep (P<0.01). In experiment II, CRH (30 μg/h, after an initial bolus of 30 μg) was continuously infused in 7 healthy men on 2 nights. On one of the nights, the men were allowed to sleep (between 23.00 h and 05.00 h) after a 3‐h period of wakefulness, on the other night they stayed awake throughout the experiment. In both conditions, CRH enhanced ACTH/cortisol plasma levels. Compared with concentrations during continuous wakefulness, sleep and in particular SWS was associated with a suppression of ACTH/cortisol levels (P<0.05). The findings further support an inhibitory influence of early nocturnal sleep on pituitary‐adrenal activity. The effect appears to be strongest during SWS and is probably mediated via hypothalamic secretion of a release inhibiting factor of ACTH.
GPU-based Multi-Volume Rendering for the Visualization of Functional Brain Images

Nowadays, medical imaging procedures provide a great variety of data obtained with different modalities. To offer a deeper insight into this data the simultaneous visualization of these images, not regarding their source, must be provided. One example is the field of functional brain imaging, where the activation of brain regions during cognitive tasks is measured. This data has to be visualized whitin its anatomical context the brain in order to have an spatial impression of the position of the activation. To that end, multi-volume visualization must be supported. In this paper we describe a flexible framework for GPU-based multi-volume rendering, which provides a correct overlaying of an arbitrary number of volumes and allows the visual output for each volume to be controlled independently. We also present, a visualization tool specific for the rendering of functional brain images, we built on top of this framework. This tool includes different GPU-based volume rendering techniques, on the one hand for the interactive visual exploration of the data, and on the other hand for the generation of high-quality visual representations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our tool with data gathered from a cognitive study, in regard to performance and quality results.
Qualitative modelling of time series using self-organizing maps: application to animal science

In this work, a new methodology for modeling qualitative temporal processes, is proposed. In this development, two stages are considered. First, models are obtained and adapted fitting their free parameters according to the existing time series. Second, Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) are used to establish a clustering of the data using the parameters obtained in the first stage. This methodology is successfully applied to a problem of milk yield prediction in goat herds.
Postural correlates with painful situations

Background: Emotional context may play a crucial role in movement production. According to simulation theories, emotional states affect motor systems. The aim of this study was to compare postural responses assessed by posturography and electromyography when subjects were instructed to imagine themselves in a painful or a non-painful situation. Methods: Twenty-nine subjects (22.3 ± 3.7 years) participated in this study. While standing quietly on a posturographic platform, they were instructed to imagine themselves in a painful or non-painful situation. Displacement of the center of pressure (COP), leg muscle electromyographic activity, heart rate, and electrodermal activity were assessed in response to painful and non-painful situations. Results: The anteroposterior path was shorter (p < 0.05) when subjects imagined themselves in a painful situation (M = 148.0 ± 33.4 mm) compared to a non-painful situation (158.2 ± 38.7 mm). Higher tibialis anterior (TA) activity (RMS-TA = 3.38 ± 1.95% vs. 3.24 ± 1.85%; p < 0.001) and higher variability of soleus (SO) activity (variation coefficient of RMS-SO = 13.5 ± 16.2% vs. M = 9.0 ± 7.2%; p < 0.05) were also observed in painful compared to non-painful situations. No significant changes were observed for other physiological data. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that simulation of painful situations induces changes in postural control and leg muscle activation compared to non-painful situations, as increased stiffness was demonstrated in response to aversive pictures in accordance with previous results.
A chromatin binding site in the tail domain of nuclear lamins that interacts with core histones

Interaction of chromatin with the nuclear envelope and lamina is thought to help determine higher order chromosome organization in the interphase nucleus. Previous studies have shown that nuclear lamins bind chromatin directly. Here we have localized a chromatin binding site to the carboxyl-terminal tail domains of both A- and B-type mammalian lamins, and have characterized the biochemical properties of this binding in detail. Recombinant glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins containing the tail domains of mammalian lamins C, B1, and B2 were analyzed for their ability to associate with rat liver chromatin fragments immobilized on microtiter plate wells. We found that all three lamin tails specifically bind to chromatin with apparent KdS of 120-300 nM. By examining a series of deletion mutants, we have mapped the chromatin binding region of the lamin C tail to amino acids 396- 430, a segment immediately adjacent to the rod domain. Furthermore, by analysis of chromatin subfractions, we found that core histones constitute the principal chromatin binding component for the lamin C tail. Through cooperativity, this lamin-histone interaction could be involved in specifying the high avidity attachment of chromatin to the nuclear envelope in vivo.
A practically implementable and tractable delegation logic

We address the goal of making Delegation Logic (DL) into a practically implementable and tractable trust management system. DL (N. Li et al., 1999) is a logic based knowledge representation (i.e., language) for authorization in large scale, open, distributed systems. DL inferencing is computationally intractable and highly impractical to implement. We introduce a new version of Delegation Logic that remedies these difficulties. To achieve this, we impose a syntactic restriction and redefine the semantics somewhat. We show that, for this revised version of DL, inferencing is computationally tractable under the same commonly met restrictions for which Ordinary Logic Programs (OLP) inferencing is tractable (e.g., Datalog and bounded number of logical variables per rule). We give an implementation architecture for this version of DL; it uses a delegation compiler from DL to OLP and can modularly exploit a variety of existing OLP inference engines. As proof of concept, we have implemented a large expressive subset of this version of DL, using this architecture.
Structural and Functional Analysis of Sulfolobus solfataricus Y-Family DNA Polymerase Dpo4-Catalyzed Bypass of the Malondialdehyde−Deoxyguanosine Adduct†,‡

Oxidative stress can induce the formation of reactive electrophiles, such as DNA peroxidation products, e.g., base propenals, and lipid peroxidation products, e.g., malondialdehyde. Base propenals and malondialdehyde react with DNA to form adducts, including 3-(2′-deoxy-β-d-erythro-pentofuranosyl)pyrimido[1,2-α]purin-10(3H)-one (M1dG). When paired opposite cytosine in duplex DNA at physiological pH, M1dG undergoes ring opening to form N2-(3-oxo-1-propenyl)-dG (N2-OPdG). Previous work has shown that M1dG is mutagenic in bacteria and mammalian cells and that its mutagenicity in Escherichia coli is dependent on induction of the SOS response, indicating a role for translesion DNA polymerases in the bypass of M1dG. To probe the mechanism by which translesion polymerases bypass M1dG, kinetic and structural studies were conducted with a model Y-family DNA polymerase, Dpo4 from Sulfolobus solfataricus. The level of steady-state incorporation of dNTPs opposite M1dG was reduced 260−2900-fold and exhibited a preference for dATP incorporation. Liquid chromatography−tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the full-length extension products revealed a spectrum of products arising principally by incorporation of dC or dA opposite M1dG followed by partial or full-length extension. A greater proportion of −1 deletions were observed when dT was positioned 5′ of M1dG. Two crystal structures were determined, including a “type II” frameshift deletion complex and another complex with Dpo4 bound to a dC·M1dG pair located in the postinsertion context. Importantly, M1dG was in the ring-closed state in both structures, and in the structure with dC opposite M1dG, the dC residue moved out of the Dpo4 active site, into the minor groove. The results are consistent with the reported mutagenicity of M1dG and illustrate how the lesion may affect replication events.
Data-aided distorted constellation estimation and demodulation for 60 GHz mmWave WLAN

The nonlinear distortion caused by power amplifier (PA) nonlinearity distorts the constellation and degrades the bit error rate (BER) performance of 60 GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) wireless local area network (WLAN) easily, due to the huge bandwidth and high equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP), especially for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals. This paper aims at data-aided (DA) distorted constellation (DC) estimation and demodulation to resist PA nonlinearity. A maximum likelihood (ML) estimation algorithm is proposed, and the corresponding Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) are computed. Furthermore, we implement the demodulation based on the DC rather than the standard constellation (SC). Simulation results indicate that the means of the estimated parameters are unbiased and the mean square errors (MSEs) approach the CRLBs. Meanwhile, the proposed DC demodulation with PA nonlinearity achieves BER performance close to the ideal PA case, and evidently outperforms the traditional SC demodulation especially in the high-code-rate or uncoded case.
Associations between lower-limb muscle activation and knee flexion in post-stroke individuals: A study on the stance-to-swing phases of gait

Reduced knee flexion is a leading feature of post-stroke gait, but the causes have not been well understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the knee flexion and the lower-limb muscle activation within the stance-to-swing phases of gait cycle in the post-stroke hemiplegic patients. Ten stroke patients and 10 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects participated in the experiment. The lower-limb kinematic signals and the surface electromyography (sEMG) signals of the left and right rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF) and lateral gastrocnemius (GS) were recorded during walking. The angle range (AR) of knee flexion, the root mean square (RMS) and the mean frequency (MNF) of sEMG signals were calculated from the terminal stance (TSt) to the initial swing (ISw) phases of gait cycle. Stroke patients showed lower bilateral AR of knee flexion and lower RMS of GS on the paretic side, but higher MNF of RF on the non-paretic side compared with the controls. Within the stroke patients, significant differences were found between their paretic and non-paretic limbs in the AR of knee flexion, as well as in the RMS and MNF of GS (p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that the RMS of BF, MNF of BF and MNF of GS explained 82.1% of variations in AR of knee flexion on paretic side (r2 = 0.821). But the RMS and MNF of all the muscles (including the RF, GS and BF) could explain 65.6% of AR of knee flexion variations on the non-paretic side (r2 = 0.656), and 45.2% of variations for the healthy subjects (r2 = 0.452). The reduced knee flexion during gait was associated with altered magnitude and frequency of muscle contractions and with simplified muscle synergy in the post-stroke hemiplegic patients. Identifying the muscles that are responsible for knee stiffness may facilitate improvement of rehabilitation strategy for post-stroke gait.