Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Older People and Social Participation: From Touch-Screens to Virtual Realities

Since the introduction of the modem internet, computers have assumed a key role in facilitating communication in the developed world. However, until recently many older people have struggled to use ICTs for communication and social participation. This began to change with the introduction of mass market touch-screen computers in 2007, and in just under a decade, the touch-screen has played a major role in addressing some of the technological barriers faced by older users. To highlight the contribution that touch-screens have made in encouraging older people to use ICTs for social participation, this paper presents four detailed cases from two research projects that used iPads with older people. The cases highlight the benefits of touchscreens and the ongoing challenges that prevent some older people from using the devices to their fullest potential. We then consider how emerging technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and virtual assistants, and social robotics, might begin to meet these challenges. Our aim is to stimulate discussion as to how these new technologies might usher in a new wave of social participation by older people.
Towards adaptive hierarchical scheduling of overloaded real-time systems

In a hierarchical scheduling framework, a resource can be shared among modules with different criticality levels. In our recently introduced adaptive hierarchical scheduling framework, modules receive a dynamic portion of the CPU during run-time. While providing temporal isolation is one of the main advantages of hierarchical scheduling, in an adaptive framework, for example when the CPU is overloaded, the higher priority modules can violate timing guarantees of the lower priority modules. However, the priorities of modules are assigned based on parameters other than the module criticality levels. For example the priority is often assigned according to periods and deadlines of tasks to increase the CPU utilization assuming static systems, i.e. modules parameters do not change during runtime. In an overload situation the high criticality modules should be superior to the low criticality modules in receiving resources. In this paper, extending our adaptive framework, we propose two techniques for controlling the CPU distribution among modules in an overload situation. We are taking another step towards having a complete adaptive hierarchical scheduling framework by incorporating an overload controller into our framework.
The Robust Running Ape: Unraveling the Deep Underpinnings of Coordinated Human Running Proficiency

In comparison to other mammals, humans are not especially strong, swift or supple. Nevertheless, despite these apparent physical limitations, we are among Natures most superbly well-adapted endurance runners. Paradoxically, however, notwithstanding this evolutionary-bestowed proficiency, running-related injuries, and Overuse syndromes in particular, are widely pervasive. The term ‘coordination’ is similarly ubiquitous within contemporary coaching, conditioning, and rehabilitation cultures. Various theoretical models of coordination exist within the academic literature. However, the specific neural and biological underpinnings of ‘running coordination,’ and the nature of their integration, remain poorly elaborated. Conventionally running is considered a mundane, readily mastered coordination skill. This illusion of coordinative simplicity, however, is founded upon a platform of immense neural and biological complexities. This extensive complexity presents extreme organizational difficulties yet, simultaneously, provides a multiplicity of viable pathways through which the computational and mechanical burden of running can be proficiently dispersed amongst expanded networks of conditioned neural and peripheral tissue collaborators. Learning to adequately harness this available complexity, however, is a painstakingly slowly emerging, practice-driven process, greatly facilitated by innate evolutionary organizing principles serving to constrain otherwise overwhelming complexity to manageable proportions. As we accumulate running experiences persistent plastic remodeling customizes networked neural connectivity and biological tissue properties to best fit our unique neural and architectural idiosyncrasies, and personal histories: thus neural and peripheral tissue plasticity embeds coordination habits. When, however, coordinative processes are compromised—under the integrated influence of fatigue and/or accumulative cycles of injury, overuse, misuse, and disuse—this spectrum of available ‘choice’ dysfunctionally contracts, and our capacity to safely disperse the mechanical ‘stress’ of running progressively diminishes. Now the running work burden falls increasingly on reduced populations of collaborating components. Accordingly our capacity to effectively manage, dissipate and accommodate running-imposed stress diminishes, and vulnerability to Overuse syndromes escalates. Awareness of the deep underpinnings of running coordination enhances conceptual clarity, thereby informing training and rehabilitation insights designed to offset the legacy of excessive or progressively accumulating exposure to running-imposed mechanical stress.
Impact of Macroeconomic News on Malaysian Bond Credit Spreads

This study investigates the impact of scheduled macroeconomics news on credit spreads of Malaysian bonds of various maturities and rating groups. Using daily spreads from August 2006 through October 2009, the impact of macroeconomic news announcements on the Malaysian bond credit spreads is evident in this study. The results of the analyses show that prior to the release of the macroeconomic information, the persistency of volatility is lower when compared to the persistency for the whole sample period of study. This low persistency remains even after the announcement has been made especially for the high-grade investment bonds. The announcements, however, cause substantial reactions in the moderate and lower rating bonds. This implies that the higher the risk premium the bond carries, the more it will be affected by the announcement of macroeconomic news.
Nutrition labels: a survey of use, understanding and preferences among ethnically diverse shoppers in New Zealand

Abstract Objective Effective nutrition labels are part of a supportive environment that encourages healthier food choices. The present study examined the use, understanding and preferences regarding nutrition labels among ethnically diverse shoppers in New Zealand. Design and setting A survey was carried out at twenty-five supermarkets in Auckland, New Zealand, between February and April 2007. Recruitment was stratified by ethnicity. Questions assessed nutrition label use, understanding of the mandatory Nutrition Information Panel (NIP), and preference for and understanding of four nutrition label formats: multiple traffic light (MTL), simple traffic light (STL), NIP and percentage of daily intake (%DI). Subjects In total 1525 shoppers completed the survey: 401 Maori, 347 Pacific, 372 Asian and 395 New Zealand European and Other ethnicities (ten did not state ethnicity). Results Reported use of nutrition labels (always, regularly, sometimes) ranged from 66 % to 87 % by ethnicity. There was little difference in ability to obtain information from the NIP according to ethnicity or income. However, there were marked ethnic differences in ability to use the NIP to determine if a food was healthy, with lesser differences by income. Of the four label formats tested, STL and MTL labels were best understood across all ethnic and income groups, and MTL labels were most frequently preferred. Conclusions There are clear ethnic and income disparities in ability to use the current mandatory food labels in New Zealand (NIP) to determine if foods are healthy. Conversely, MTL and STL label formats demonstrated high levels of understanding and acceptance across ethnic and income groups.
Intrinsic limits to predictability of abrupt regional climate change in IPCC SRES scenarios

We used an ensemble climate‐model experiment to explore the timing and nature of an abrupt regional climate change within the 21st century. In response to global warming a North‐Atlantic climate transition occurs, which affects climate over Greenland and northwestern Europe. For a high IPCC non‐mitigation emission scenario the transition has a high probability to occur before 2100. In a lower IPCC scenario the probability is lower and the transition threshold is approached more gradually. We found that close to the threshold the evolution of the system becomes sensitive to small perturbations. Consequently, natural climate fluctuations limit the predictability of the timing of crossing the transition threshold, and thus of the abrupt climate change, most strongly for the lower IPCC scenario. No transition is projected for a mitigation scenario, in which CO2‐equivalent concentrations are stabilized below the IPCC‐scenario range.
Predictive Data Mining for Highly Imbalanced Classification

The paper addresses some theoretical and practical aspects of data mining, focusing on predictive data mining, where two central types of prediction problems are discussed: classification and regression. Further accent is made on predictive data mining, where the time-stamped data greatly increase the dimensions and complexity of problem solving. The main goal is through processing of data (records from the past) to describe the underlying dynamics of the complex systems and predict its future. Traditional classification algorithms can be limited in their performance on highly imbalanced datasets. A popular stream of work for countering the problem of class imbalance has been application of a sundry of sampling strategies. In this work, we focus on the problem of class imbalance. We incorporate different "rebalance" heuristics.
In situ magnetoresistance measurements of a nanoconstricted nickel-iron film with in-plane configuration

A test element (TE) with an Ni-Fe point contact (PC) in planar configuration was fabricated using an etching process with a horizontal incidence ion beam. Successive in situ magnetoresistance (MR) measurements were carried out in the etching apparatus without breaking the vacuum to prevent the oxidation of the PC. The TE showed the MR ratio around 12%, which was much larger than an anisotropic MR ratio of the film. It showed low (high) resistance with a magnetic field direction of parallel (antiparallel) magnetic geometry of the pinned and free area.
Quantum dots in the GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs core-shell nanowires: Statistical occurrence as a function of the shell thickness

Quantum dots (QDs) embedded in nanowires represent one of the most promising technologies for applications in quantum photonics. Self-assembled bottom-up fabrication is attractive to overcome the technological challenges involved in a top-down approach, but it needs post-growth investigations in order to understand the self-organization process. We investigate the QD formation by self-segregation in AlxGa1−xAs shells as a function of thickness and cross-section morphology. By analysing light emission from several hundreds of emitters, we find that there is a certain thickness threshold for the observation of the QDs. The threshold becomes smaller if a thin AlAs layer is pre-deposited between the GaAs nanowire core and the AlxGa1−xAs shell. Our results evidence the development of the quantum emitters during the shell growth and provide more guidance for their use in quantum photonics.
Automatically Checking an Implementation against Its Formal Specification

We propose checking the execution of an abstract data type's imperative implementation against its algebraic specification. An explicit mapping from implementation states to abstract values is added to the imperative code. The form of specification allows mechanical checking of desirable properties such as consistency and completeness, particularly when operations are added incrementally to the data type. During unit testing, the specification serves as a test oracle. Any variance between computed and specified values is automatically detected. When the module is made part of some application, the checking can he removed, or may remain in place for further validating the implementation. The specification, executed by rewriting, can be thought of as itself an implementation with maximum design diversity, and the validation as a form of multiversion-programming comparison.
MAIN software for density averaging, model building, structure refinement and validation

MAIN is interactive software designed to interactively perform the complex tasks of macromolecular crystal structure determination and validation. The features of MAIN and its tools for electron-density map calculations, model building, refinement in real and reciprocal space, and validation exploiting noncrystallographic symmetry in single and multiple crystal forms are presented.
The Pothole Hydrology-Linked Systems Simulator (PHyLiSS)—Development and application of a systems model for prairie-pothole wetlands

The North American Prairie Pothole Region covers about 770,000 square kilometers of the United States and Canada (including parts of 5 States and 3 provinces: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta). The Laurentide Ice Sheet shaped the landscape of the region about 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. The retreat of the ice sheet left behind low-permeability glacial till and a landscape dotted with millions of depressions known today as prairie potholes. The wetlands that subsequently formed in these depressions, prairie-pothole wetlands, provide critical migratory-bird habitat and support dynamic aquatic communities. Extensive grasslands and productive agricultural systems surround these wetland ecosystems. In prairie-pothole wetlands, the compositions of plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate communities are highly dependent on hydrogeochemical conditions. Regional climate shifts between wet and dry periods affect the length of time that wetlands contain ponded surface water and the chemistry of that ponded water. Land-use change can exacerbate or reduce the effects of climate on wetland hydrology and water chemistry. A mechanistic understanding of the relation among climate, land use, hydrology, chemistry, and biota in prairie-pothole wetlands is needed to better understand the complex, and often interacting, effects of climate and land use on prairie-pothole wetland systems and to facilitate climate and land-use change adaptation efforts. The Pothole Hydrology-Linked Systems Simulator (PHyLiSS) model was developed to address this need. The model simulates water-surface elevation dynamics in prairie-pothole wetlands and quantifies changes in salinity. The PHyLiSS model is unique among other wetland models because it accommodates differing sizes and morphometries of wetland basins, is not dependent on a priori designations of wetland class, and allows for functional changes associated with dynamic shifts in ecohydrological states. The PHyLiSS model also has the capability to simulate wetland salinity, and potential future iterations will also simulate the effects of changing hydrology and geochemical conditions on biota. This report documents the development of the hydrological and geochemical components of the PHyLiSS model and provides example applications.
Cyanobacteria cause black staining of the National Museum of the American Indian Building, Washington, DC, USA

Microbial deterioration of stone is a widely recognised problem affecting monuments and buildings all over the world. In this paper, dark-coloured staining, putatively attributed to microorganisms, on areas of the National Museum of the American Indian Building, Washington, DC, USA, were studied. Observations by optical and electron microscopy of surfaces and cross sections of limestone indicated that biofilms, which penetrated up to a maximum depth of about 1 mm, were mainly composed of cyanobacteria, with the predominance of Gloeocapsa and Lyngbya. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that the microbial community also included eukaryotic algae (Trebouxiophyceae) and fungi (Ascomycota), along with a consortium of bacteria. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis showed the same elemental composition in stained and unstained areas of the samples, indicating that the discolouration was not due to abiotic chemical changes within the stone. The dark pigmentation of the stone was correlated with the high content of scytonemin, which was found in all samples.
Some remarks on parallel exponentiation (extended abstract)

We present a lower bound on parallel exponentiation in the model of weighted q-addition chains which neglects communication. We derive an algorithm which covers results of Kung [9] and von zur Gathen [13]. For an actual implementation the (fixed) number of processors and the communication delay have to be taken into account. We develop strategies for this scenario—inspired by the results on weighted q-addition chains—for parallel exponentiation using the BSP-model of Valiant [12]. The latter results are illustrated by implementations of different basis representations for finite fields.
Review of Hypothesis Alignment Algorithms for MT System Combination via Confusion Network Decoding

Confusion network decoding has proven to be one of the most successful approaches to machine translation system combination. The hypothesis alignment algorithm is a crucial part of building the confusion networks and many alternatives have been proposed in the literature. This paper describes a systematic comparison of five well known hypothesis alignment algorithms for MT system combination via confusion network decoding. Controlled experiments using identical pre-processing, decoding, and weight tuning methods on standard system combination evaluation sets are presented. Translation quality is assessed using case insensitive BLEU scores and bootstrapping is used to establish statistical significance of the score differences. All aligners yield significant BLEU score gains over the best individual system included in the combination. Incremental indirect hidden Markov model and a novel incremental inversion transduction grammar with flexible matching consistently yield the best translation quality, though keeping all things equal, the differences between aligners are relatively small.
Significance of selected morphological and histopathological parameters of colon tumors as prognostic factors of cancer spread.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The identification of prognostic factors of metastatic development is one of the most important issues in colorectal cancer (CRC) research. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of colon tumor characteristics, including location, circumferential location, histological type, and histological grade, as predictors of metastases. MATERIALS AND METHODS To identify potential predictors of CRC spread, we analyzed data of 191 patients who had undergone surgery for colon tumors. We searched for potential associations between the location in the right or left colon, circumferential location, histological type, and histological grade (G-parameter) of colon tumors and the incidence of lymph node and distal metastases. The analysis was based on Pearson's chi-square (χ2) test with a statistical significance of p<0.05. RESULTS Lymph node metastases were found in 100 patients, including 44 patients with synchronous liver metastases. Lymph node involvement was detected in 43 (52.4%) patients with right-sided and in 57 (52.3%) patients with left-sided tumors (p=0.984). Liver metastases were detected in 19 (23.17%) patients with right-sided colon tumors and in 25 (22.9%) patients with left-sided tumors (p=0.969). Lymph node and liver metastases were found in 60 (47.6%) and 24 (19.0%) patients with annular tumors, respectively (p=NS), and these were found on the mesenteric side in 75.0% (n=30) and 20.0% (n=8) patients (p=0.004) and on the antimesenteric side in 47.6% (n=10) and 48.0% (n=12) patients (p=0.044), respectively. CONCLUSION The circumferential location of primary colon tumors is a significant predictor of their metastatic potential. The mesenteric location of the tumor is predisposed to lymphatic spread, whereas the antimesenteric location predicts hematogenous spread.
Fumonisins, Trichothecenes and Zearalenone in Cereals

Fumonisins are phytotoxic mycotoxins which are synthesized by various species of the fungal genus Fusarium such as Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.) Nirenberg (ex F.moniliforme Sheldon) and Fusarium proliferatum. The trichothecene (TC) mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produce by species that belong to several fungal genera, especially Fusarium, Stachybotrys, Trichothecium, Trichoderma, Memnoniella and Myrothecium. Fusarium mycotoxins are widely dispersed in cereals and their products. Zearalenone (ZEA) is an estrogenic compound produced by Fusarium spp. such as F. graminearum and F. culmorum. Fumonisins, the TCs and ZEA are hazardous for human and animal health. Contamination with TCs causes a number of illnesses in human and animal such as decrease in food consumption (anorexia), depression or inhibition on immune system function and haematoxicity. The purpose of this paper is to give a review of the papers published on the field of fumonisin, TC and ZEA mycotoxins in cereals consumed in the world.
Optimized nanoscale composite behaviour in limpet teeth

Limpet teeth are striking examples of a biological fibrous nanocomposite consisting of goethite mineral within a polymeric chitin matrix. The mechanical function of limpet teeth is critically dependent on the efficient composite behaviour of goethite, formed as distinct discontinuous nanofibres, reinforcing the matrix. The mechanical properties of discrete volumes from a limpet tooth measured using atomic force microscopy indicate how the tooth structure can be approximated as a short fibre-reinforced composite. Short fibre composite analysis reveals how the goethite nanofibres have a length optimized for the transfer of stress from the matrix to fibre and highlight how this limpet tooth structure is efficient in a mechanical load-bearing function.
Modified Anonymity Model for Privacy Preserving Data Mining

Data Mining plays a vital role in today's information-oriented world where it has been widely applied in various organizations. The current trend is that organizations need to share data for mutual benefit. This has led to a lot of concern over privacy in the recent years. It has also raised a potential threat of revealing sensitive data of an individual when the data is released publicly. Various methods have been proposed to tackle the privacy preservation problem. But the recurring problem is information loss. The loss of sensitive information about certain individuals may affect the data quality and in extreme cases the data may become completely useless. In recent years Privacy preserving data mining has emerged as a key domain of research. One of the methods used for preserving privacy is k-anonymization. k-anonymity demands that every tuple in the dataset released be indistinguishably related to no fewer than k respondents. But the distribution preservation is not guaranteed. In this work a modified k-anonymity model is introduced where the privacy in a dataset is preserved while preserving the distribution also.
The GREYC translation memory for the IWSLT 2009 evaluation campaign

This year’s GREYC translation system is an improved translation memory that was designed from scratch to experiment with an approach whose goal is just to improve over the output of a standard translation memory by making heavy use of sub-sentential alignments in a restricted case of translation by analogy. The tracks the system participated in are all BTEC tracks: Arabic to English, Chinese to English, and Turkish to English.