Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MyWord: enhancing engagement, interaction and self-expression with minimally-verbal children on the autism spectrum through a personal audio-visual dictionary

Digital technologies to support children on the autism spectrum often offer predefined content for modelling, communicating and training. However, children may not relate to the content, and it may not match their own personal interests and motivations. This paper investigates the use of MyWord, an interest-based, child-led technology, as an exploratory probe. This audio-visual dictionary app supports a child to build their own personalised catalogue of favourite words, images and audio over time. We undertook a field study over two school terms in an autism-specific primary school with 12 minimally-verbal children aged 5 to 8 and their teachers and speech therapists. Findings indicate that creating dictionary entries involved processes of personal choice, representation of the self and interests, and dynamic action and play. Use of personally and contextually relevant words enhanced engagement, interaction and self-expression. We contribute a novel, flexible, interest-based technology, and reflections on its use in autism-specific school contexts. We highlight the importance of the child's lived experience and holistic child-led approaches to technology design.
Mechanism of Bias-Temperature Instability: Results from Positive Gate Stress

Hole trap generation under positive gate stressing of the ultra-thin oxynitride gate p-MOSFET is investigated. The experimental evidence is shown to be consistent with the hole trapping framework proposed for NBTI. Deep-level hole traps pinned by the Si-SiO2 conduction band discontinuity and the slow repassivation of Nit account for long-term device degradation. Generation of shallow hole traps is revealed via the increased Delta|V th| following a fast positive-negative-positive voltage ramp. The results offer potential insights into understanding the role of processing (e.g. plasma induced oxide damage) on the NBTI of the p-MOSFET.
Computing data cubes using exact sub-graph matching: the sequential MCG approach

In this paper, we present a novel full cube computation and representation approach, named MCG. In a data cube, each cuboid can be viewed as a set of sub-graphs. In general, redundant sub-graphs are quite common in a data cube, but their elimination is a hard problem as some previous cube approaches demonstrate. The MCG approach differentiates significantly from previous approaches since it efficiently eliminates all common sub-graphs from the entire cube, based on an exact sub-graph matching solution. We propose a matching function to guarantee one-to-one mapping between sub-graphs. The function is computed incrementally, in a top-down fashion, and its computation uses a minimal amount of information to generate unique results, regardless of whether we are using distributive, algebraic or holistic measures. MCG performance analysis demonstrates a similar runtime when compared to Star approach and very low memory consumption (94--98% reduction) when compared to a full cube representation.
SENSORIA: A New Simulation Platform for Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper considers the simulation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) using new approach. We present Sensoria, a fully fledged simulator for WSNs that has considerable differences to all other existing simulators. Sensoria is very powerful in simulating a range of small to large scale WSNs based on a simple and complete Graphical User Interface (GUI). Sensoria's GUI allows users to design various simulation scenarios and display the simulation results graphically with many formats. Sensoria is a component-based simulator and it can be easily reconfigured to adapt to different levels of simulation details and accuracy. We demonstrate the usage of Sensoria via studying many performance metrics of a set of simple and flat routing protocols that are customized by Sensoria. The paper concludes with evidence that, albeit being simple and ease-of-use, Sensoria proves to be efficient and effective tool for WSN research purposes.
Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model identification of Li-ion battery systems

The trend towards electrification of vehicles demands advanced battery management systems. The core of a BMS is an accurate model upon which the control and monitoring can be established. Accuracy and low-computational load are the two important factors that the applied model for online tasks have to possess. This paper presents a Takagi-Sugeo (T-S) fuzzy-modeling approach toward Lithium ion battery where SoC is estimated using the knowledge of voltage, current and temperature. By the virtue of multiple-model structure of T-S model, the nonlinearities of battery dynamics and corresponding parameters can be appropriately accounted for, while keeping the local models linear and easy-to-implement control/estimation algorithms.
Effects of clinical breakpoint changes in CLSI guidelines 2010/2011 and EUCAST guidelines 2011 on antibiotic susceptibility test reporting of Gram-negative bacilli.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of clinical breakpoint changes in CLSI 2010 and 2011 guidelines and EUCAST 2011 guidelines on antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) reports. METHODS In total, 3713 non-duplicate clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Acinetobacter baumannii were analysed. Inhibition zone diameters were determined for β-lactams, carbapenems, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. CLSI 2009-11 and EUCAST 2011 clinical breakpoints were applied. RESULTS Changes in resistance as defined per the guidelines affected individual species and drug classes differently. The cefepime resistance rate in Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae increased from 2.1% and 1.3% to 8.2% and 6.9%, respectively, applying CLSI 2009-11 versus EUCAST 2011 guidelines. Ertapenem resistance rates in E. cloacae increased from 2.6% with CLSI 2009 to 7.2% for CLSI 2010 and 2011, and to 10.1% when applying EUCAST 2011. Cefepime and meropenem resistance rates in P. aeruginosa increased from 12.2% and 20.6% to 19.8% and 27.7%, respectively, comparing CLSI 2009-11 with EUCAST 2011. Tobramycin and gentamicin resistance rates in A. baumannii increased from 15.9% and 25.4% to 34.9% and 44.4% applying CLSI 2009-11 versus EUCAST 2011. CONCLUSIONS Higher resistance rates reported due to breakpoint changes in CLSI and EUCAST guidelines will result in increasing numbers of Gram-negative bacilli reported as multidrug resistant. AST reports classifying amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefepime or carbapenem resistance will lead clinicians to use alternative agents. Upon implementation of the EUCAST guidelines, laboratories should be aware of the implications of modified drug susceptibility testing reports on antibiotic prescription policies.
VFT: A virtualization and fault tolerance approach for cloud computing

Fault tolerance in cloud computing is a grand challenge problem now a days. The main fault tolerance issues in cloud computing are detection and recovery. To combat with these problems, many fault tolerance techniques have been designed to reduce the faults. In this paper, we have proposed a Virtualization and Fault Tolerance (VFT) technique to reduce the service time and to increase the system availability. A Cloud Manager (CM) module and a Decision Maker (DM) are used in our scheme to manage the virtualization, load balancing and to handle the faults. In the first step virtualization and load balancing are done and in the second step fault tolerance is achieved by redundancy, checkpointing and fault handler. VFT is mainly designed to provide reactive fault tolerance. In our proposed approach a fault handler is included in the virtualization part. Fault handler blocks the unrecoverable faulty nodes along with their virtual nodes for future requests and removes the temporary software faults from the recoverable faulty nodes and makes them available for the future requests.
A Cross-layer Based Packet Scheduling Scheme for Multimedia Traffic in Satellite LTE Networks

This paper proposes a new cross-layer based packet scheduling scheme for multimedia traffic in satellite Long Term Evolution (LTE) network which adopts MIMO technology. The Satellite LTE air interface will provide global coverage and hence complement its terrestrial counterpart in the provision of mobile services (especially multimedia services) to users across the globe. A dynamic packet scheduling scheme is very important towards actualizing an effective utilization of the limited available resources in satellite LTE networks without compromise to the Quality of Service (QoS) demands of multimedia traffic. Hence, the need for an effective packet scheduling algorithm cannot be overemphasized. The aim of this paper is to propose a new scheduling algorithm tagged Cross-layer Based Queue-Aware (CBQA) Scheduler that will provide a good trade-off among QoS, fairness and throughput. The newly proposed scheduler is compared to existing ones through simulations and various performance indices have been used. A land mobile dual-polarized GEO satellite system has been considered for this work.
Unconventional training for neural network predictions of inter-residue contacts

The ab-initio prediction of protein three-dimensional structures (protein folding problem) from protein residue sequences is a problem that has involved a great deal of scientific investigation in the last decades, but the results obtained so far are not yet satisfactory. One of the most interesting sub problem related to protein folding is the prediction of residue-residue contact maps: a complete or partial knowledge of residue-residue contacts would greatly improve the protein folding recognition. At the state of the art, the most efficient methods for contact prediction are neural network based. One of the most basic contact predictor is CORNET. Despite ten years of investigation on this problem, the performances of CORNET are still comparable to the state of the art in contact prediction. In this paper we investigate three different approaches to improve the performances of CORNET, and in general of neural networks based predictors. In our tests we train the CORNET predictor on different classes of examples in order to understand if there are classes of contacts that can be better predicted with respect to the standard training. In particular, we restrict the training set according to specific residue features, building specialized predictors. The features highlighted are solvent accessibility, sequence separation and secondary structure. For each of these features we compare the resulting predictor with performances of the original CORNET, giving hints for the construction of better neural network predictors.
Origins and Evolution of MicroRNA Genes in Plant Species

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are among the most important regulatory elements of gene expression in animals and plants. However, their origin and evolutionary dynamics have not been studied systematically. In this paper, we identified putative miRNA genes in 11 plant species using the bioinformatic technique and examined their evolutionary changes. Our homology search indicated that no miRNA gene is currently shared between green algae and land plants. The number of miRNA genes has increased substantially in the land plant lineage, but after the divergence of eudicots and monocots, the number has changed in a lineage-specific manner. We found that miRNA genes have originated mainly by duplication of preexisting miRNA genes or protein-coding genes. Transposable elements also seem to have contributed to the generation of species-specific miRNA genes. The relative importance of these mechanisms in plants is quite different from that in Drosophila species, where the formation of hairpin structures in the genomes seems to be a major source of miRNA genes. This difference in the origin of miRNA genes between plants and Drosophila may be explained by the difference in the binding to target mRNAs between plants and animals. We also found that young miRNA genes are less conserved than old genes in plants as well as in Drosophila species. Yet, nearly half of the gene families in the ancestor of flowering plants have been lost in at least one species examined. This indicates that the repertoires of miRNA genes have changed more dynamically than previously thought during plant evolution.
Final rises in spontaneous Swedish computer-directed questions: incidence and function

Phrase-final intonation was analysed in a subcorpus of Swedish computer-directed question utterances with the objective of investigating the extent to which final rises occur in spontaneous questions, and also to see if such rises might have pragmatic functions over and beyond the signalling of interrogative mode. Final rises occurred in 22 percent of the utterances. Final rises occurred mostly in conjunction with final focal accent. Children exhibited the largest percentage of final rises (32%), with women second (27%) and men lowest (17%). These results are discussed in terms of Swedish question intonation and the pragmatic social function of rises in a biological account of intonation.
Prevalence of skin disease in rural Tanzania and factors influencing the choice of health care, modern or traditional.

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of skin disease in a rural Tanzanian community and to investigate the health-seeking behavior of this community. DESIGN The study was in 3 parts: (1) 120 heads of households were interviewed to determine the factors that influence the families' health-seeking behavior; (2) the 800 members of these families were examined for evidence of skin disease; and (3) a focus group discussion was held with influential members of the community to get a broader view of health-seeking behavior. SETTING A rural village in the southwestern area of Tanzania: Individuals were interviewed and examined in their own homes. RESULTS A total of 34.7% of 800 villagers had one or more skin diseases, the most common of which were tinea capitis, tinea corporis, scabies, acne, and eczema. Modern and traditional health facilities were equally used, but heads of the households older than 55 years who had never been to school and individuals who were not Christians favored traditional medicine. It was cheaper to go to a traditional healer, but modern medicine was thought to be more scientific. CONCLUSIONS Skin disease was a problem in this village and was perceived to be a problem by both individuals and the community. There is a need to assess the clinical and diagnostic skills of both modern and traditional health practitioners and to instigate a preventive health education program to eradicate the common infections and infestations.
The Efficacy and Safety of Ablative Fractional Resurfacing Using a 2,940-Nm Er:YAG Laser for Traumatic Scars in the Early Posttraumatic Period

Background Skin injuries, such as lacerations due to trauma, are relatively common, and patients are very concerned about the resulting scars. Recently, the use of ablative and non-ablative lasers based on the fractional approach has been used to treat scars. In this study, the authors demonstrated the efficacy and safety of ablative fractional resurfacing (AFR) for traumatic scars using a 2,940-nm erbium: yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) laser for traumatic scars after primary repair during the early posttraumatic period. Methods Twelve patients with fifteen scars were enrolled. All had a history of facial laceration and primary repair by suturing on the day of trauma. Laser therapy was initiated at least 4 weeks after the primary repair. Each patient was treated four times at 1-month intervals with a fractional ablative 2,940-nm Er:YAG laser using the same parameters. Post-treatment evaluations were performed 1 month after the fourth treatment session. Results All 12 patients completed the study. After ablative fractional laser treatment, all treated portions of the scars showed improvements, as demonstrated by the Vancouver Scar Scale and the overall cosmetic scale as evaluated by 10 independent physicians, 10 independent non-physicians, and the patients themselves. Conclusions This study shows that ablative fractional Er:YAG laser treatment of scars reduces scars fairly according to both objective results and patient satisfaction rates. The authors suggest that early scar treatment using AFR can be one adjuvant scar management method for improving the quality of life of patients with traumatic scars.
Pathophysiological Consequences of a Break in S1P1-Dependent Homeostasis of Vascular Permeability Revealed by S1P1 Competitive Antagonism

Rational Homeostasis of vascular barriers depends upon sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) signaling via the S1P1 receptor. Accordingly, S1P1 competitive antagonism is known to reduce vascular barrier integrity with still unclear pathophysiological consequences. This was explored in the present study using NIBR-0213, a potent and selective S1P1 competitive antagonist. Results NIBR-0213 was tolerated at the efficacious oral dose of 30 mg/kg BID in the rat adjuvant-induced arthritis (AiA) model, with no sign of labored breathing. However, it induced dose-dependent acute vascular pulmonary leakage and pleural effusion that fully resolved within 3–4 days, as evidenced by MRI monitoring. At the supra-maximal oral dose of 300 mg/kg QD, NIBR-0213 impaired lung function (with increased breathing rate and reduced tidal volume) within the first 24 hrs. Two weeks of NIBR-0213 oral dosing at 30, 100 and 300 mg/kg QD induced moderate pulmonary changes, characterized by alveolar wall thickening, macrophage accumulation, fibrosis, micro-hemorrhage, edema and necrosis. In addition to this picture of chronic inflammation, perivascular edema and myofiber degeneration observed in the heart were also indicative of vascular leakage and its consequences. Conclusions Overall, these observations suggest that, in the rat, the lung is the main target organ for the S1P1 competitive antagonism-induced acute vascular leakage, which appears first as transient and asymptomatic but could lead, upon chronic dosing, to lung remodeling with functional impairments. Hence, this not only raises the question of organ specificity in the homeostasis of vascular barriers, but also provides insight into the pre-clinical evaluation of a potential safety window for S1P1 competitive antagonists as drug candidates.
Sanfey-Emotion and Decision-Making Emotion , Decision-Making and the Brain

The burgeoning field of neuroeconomics integrates principles from the fields of psychology, economics, and neuroscience to understand the mechanisms underlying choice behavior. Initial explorations have highlighted evidence supporting a potential dissociation between a fast automatic system and a slow deliberative controlled system. This notion has received previous attention in the judgment and decision-making literature. Growing research in the role of emotion in decision-making has attempted to draw parallels to the automatic system, which scholars have even likened to an " irrational " system. This paper will discuss a theoretical framework for understanding the role of emotion in decision-making and evidence supporting the underlying neural substrates.
Optimum Extendible Prefix Codes

Suppose that we have L messages coded by a preflx code (over an alphabet M with m letters) having a minimum weighted length. The problem addressed in this paper is the following: How to flnd s codewords for new messages so that by leaving unchanged the codiflcation of the flrst L messages (by compatibility reasons), the resulting extended code is still preflx (overM) and has a minimum weighted length? To this aim we introduce the notion of optimum extendible preflx code and then, by modifying Hufiman's algorithm, we give an e-cient algorithm to construct the optimum extension of a non-complete preflx code, provided the initial code is optimal.
Genomic analyses detect Eurasian-lineage H10 and additional H14 influenza A viruses recovered from waterfowl in the Central United States

The accurate and timely characterization of influenza A viruses (IAV) from natural reservoirs is essential for responses to animal and public health threats. Differences between antigenic and genetic subtyping results for 161 IAV isolates recovered from migratory birds in the central United States during 2010–2011 delayed the recognition of four isolates of interest. Genomic sequencing identified the first reported Eurasian‐origin H10 subtype in North America and three additional H14 isolates showing divergence from previously reported H14 isolates. Genomic analyses revealed additional diversity among IAV isolates not detected by antigenic subtyping and provided further insight into interhemispheric spread of avian‐origin IAVs.
Validity of a food-frequency questionnaire for a large prospective cohort study in Bangladesh

We have developed a thirty-nine-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess the dietary consumption of 11 746 men and women in a prospective cohort study that evaluates the health effects of As from drinking water in Bangladesh. In order to validate the FFQ, two 7 d food diaries (FD) were completed for 189 randomly selected cohort participants in two different seasons of the year. Nutrient values were converted based on both the United States Department of Agriculture's National Nutrient Database and a food composition table for the Indian subcontinent. Pearson product-moment and Spearman non-parametric rank correlation coefficients comparing food and nutrient consumptions estimated from FFQ and 7 d FD were calculated based on log-transformed consumption values with or without adjustment for total energy and correction for within-individual variation. Correlations of macronutrients and common micronutrients including total fat, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, dietary fibre, Na, K, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, riboflavin, Mn, thiamin and Fe were moderately good, ranging from 0·30 to 0·76. However, correlations of other micronutrients were weak (<0·30). Large seasonal variations in intakes of retinol equivalents and vitamin C were observed. This analysis documents the degree of validity of the FFQ in measuring specific nutrient intakes in the study population. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to document the validity of a FFQ with the use of 7 d FD in a Bangladeshi population.