Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Study on English Graded Teaching

In our school, students’ English foundations are in different levels. Facing this situation, if we continue to adopt the traditional teaching mode, in other words, unified class type, unified teaching schedule, the unchangeable teaching content, teaching materials and the teaching object, it will inevitably hinder the quality of English teaching. In order to improve the teaching quality, in line with the principle of education object, the English graded teaching arises at the historic moment. This study adopts the method of empirical analysis, the subjects are the total population of students from Grade 2015 and Grade 2016 in Wuchang Shouyi University (students from Grade 2015 use the traditional English teaching methods, students from Grade 2016 use the English graded teaching methods), T tests are carried out to compare the CET 4 overall score between two groups and analyze students’ performance in different sections: listening, reading, writing, and integrated test. The research results show that the effect of the graded teaching is obvious with data-analysis, in which the effect of the listening part is the best. In addition, the article also analyzes the reasons of the improvement and the existing problems, which would provide reference materials for other schools avoid detours, effectively implement English teaching reform faster and achieve good effect. This essay aims to make the college English teaching achieve good effect, all teachers and students can give full play to its subjectivity.
Quality of life and depression in schizophrenic

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess depressive symptoms, and to establish their influence on the subjective and objective quality of life (QOL) in schizophrenia patients. Material and methods: Seventy four subjects: 46 male and 28 female, aged 24.7±6.7 years, were enrolled for the study. World Health Organization of Life Instrument – Bref (WHOQOL-BREF), Social Functioning Scale (SFS) and Calgary depression scale for schizophrenia (cdss) were used. Results: Severity of depressive symptoms showed moderate correlation with objective and strong correlation with subjective measures of QOL. Conclusions: detection and appropriate treatment of depressive symptoms in schizophrenic patients may affect their functioning and perception of own health.
Pilot beam sequence design for channel estimation in millimeter-wave MIMO systems: A POMDP framework

In this paper, adaptive pilot beam sequence design for channel estimation in large millimeter-wave (mmWave) MIMO systems is considered. By exploiting the sparsity of mmWave MIMO channels with the virtual channel representation and imposing a Markovian random walk assumption on the physical movement of the line-of-sight (LOS) and reflection clusters, it is shown that the sparse channel estimation problem in large mmWave MIMO systems reduces to a sequential detection problem that finds the locations and values of the non-zero-valued bins in a two-dimensional rectangular grid, and the optimal adaptive pilot design problem can be cast into the framework of a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP). Under the POMDP framework, an optimal adaptive pilot beam sequence design method is obtained to maximize the accumulated transmission data rate for a given period of time. Numerical results are provided to validate our pilot signal design method and they show that the proposed method yields good performance.
Is post-truth another word for political spin or a radical departure from it? Evidence from behind the scenes in UK government communications: 1997–2015

The charge of political spin, as a biased and self-advantaging form of public communication practiced by media and political actors, is thought to have developed alongside 24/7 media during the 1990s. More recently, the critique of the political arts of persuasion has deepened with the more serious charge of post-truth. Here, facts are deemed as malleable and subservient to beliefs, and indeed, can be strategically deployed to serve beliefs. This article draws on data from in-depth interviews with media and political actors and the analysis of key documents to examine the charge of political spin as applied to government communications, taking the United Kingdom since 1997 as a case study. It considers whether post-truth is just another word for the same phenomenon or a radical departure from it. Both charges can be seen as outcomes of the increasing mediatization of politics whereby complex sociopolitical issues are simplified into narratives and slogans, election campaigning becomes an integral part of the everyday process of governing and political imperatives challenge the scope within government for the scrutiny of verifiable facts and truths. However, the stance taken by these charges in relation to evidence, and their acknowledgement of the role of accountability in public life and as part of the democratic process, are radically different. The article concludes that, far from being another word for ‘political spin’, ‘post-truth’ is a radical departure from it that signals a serious development: the crisis in public communication characterized by a growing public distrust in government and the democratic process.
Diversity and population-genetic properties of copy number variations and multicopy genes in cattle

The diversity and population genetics of copy number variation (CNV) in domesticated animals are not well understood. In this study, we analysed 75 genomes of major taurine and indicine cattle breeds (including Angus, Brahman, Gir, Holstein, Jersey, Limousin, Nelore, and Romagnola), sequenced to 11-fold coverage to identify 1,853 non-redundant CNV regions. Supported by high validation rates in array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and qPCR experiments, these CNV regions accounted for 3.1% (87.5 Mb) of the cattle reference genome, representing a significant increase over previous estimates of the area of the genome that is copy number variable (∼2%). Further population genetics and evolutionary genomics analyses based on these CNVs revealed the population structures of the cattle taurine and indicine breeds and uncovered potential diversely selected CNVs near important functional genes, including AOX1, ASZ1, GAT, GLYAT, and KRTAP9-1. Additionally, 121 CNV gene regions were found to be either breed specific or differentially variable across breeds, such as RICTOR in dairy breeds and PNPLA3 in beef breeds. In contrast, clusters of the PRP and PAG genes were found to be duplicated in all sequenced animals, suggesting that subfunctionalization, neofunctionalization, or overdominance play roles in diversifying those fertility-related genes. These CNV results provide a new glimpse into the diverse selection histories of cattle breeds and a basis for correlating structural variation with complex traits in the future.
Adaptive Sampling Using Support Vector Machines 2012 ANS Winter

proceedings. Since changes may be made before publication, this preprint should not be cited or reproduced without permission of the author. This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, or any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for any third party’s use, or the results of such use, of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use by such third party would not infringe privately owned rights. The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the United States Government or the sponsoring agency. INL/CON-12-26354 PREPRINT
A probabilistic inference of multiparty-conversation structure based on Markov-switching models of gaze patterns, head directions, and utterances

A novel probabilistic framework is proposed for inferring the structure of conversation in face-to-face multiparty communication, based on gaze patterns, head directions and the presence/absence of utterances. As the structure of conversation, this study focuses on the combination of participants and their participation roles. First, we assess the gaze patterns that frequently appear in conversations, and define typical types of conversation structure, called conversational regime, and hypothesize that the regime represents the high-level process that governs how people interact during conversations. Next, assuming that the regime changes over time exhibit Markov properties, we propose a probabilistic conversation model based on Markov-switching; the regime controls the dynamics of utterances and gaze patterns, which stochastically yield measurable head-direction changes. Furthermore, a Gibbs sampler is used to realize the Bayesian estimation of regime, gaze pattern, and model parameters from observed head directions and utterances. Experiments on four-person conversations confirm the effectiveness of the framework in identifying conversation structures.
Meteorological factors and aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage in Hong Kong

Although aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) accounts for only 3 to 4% of strokes, it forms a separate disease entity of great interest, due to its alarming mortality and discrete ‘window’ for intervention. Identification of triggering factors would be useful for understanding the pathophysiology underlying aneurysm rupture. A previous local study showed that the incidence of aneurysmal SAH in Hong Kong was similar to that reported elsewhere, other than in Finland and Japan,1 although with smaller aneurysm dimensions.2 Interest in the relationship between SAH and meteorological conditions has been revived in recent years.3-16 However, for Hong Kong and southern China no data were available in this respect. The authors nevertheless had the impression that abrupt daily changes in meteorological conditions was linked to the onset of aneurysmal SAH. With this in mind, we carried out the current study.
Influence of Sulfide and Temperature on Species Composition and Community Structure of Hot Spring Microbial Mats

ABSTRACT In solfataric fields in southwestern Iceland, neutral and sulfide-rich hot springs are characterized by thick bacterial mats at 60 to 80°C that are white or yellow from precipitated sulfur (sulfur mats). In low-sulfide hot springs in the same area, grey or pink streamers are formed at 80 to 90°C, and a Chloroflexusmat is formed at 65 to 70°C. We have studied the microbial diversity of one sulfur mat (high-sulfide) hot spring and oneChloroflexus mat (low-sulfide) hot spring by cloning and sequencing of small-subunit rRNA genes obtained by PCR amplification from mat DNA. Using 98% sequence identity as a cutoff value, a total of 14 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 5 archaeal OTUs were detected in the sulfur mat; 18 bacterial OTUs were detected in theChloroflexus mat. Although representatives of novel divisions were found, the majority of the sequences were >95% related to currently known sequences. The molecular diversity analysis showed that Chloroflexus was the dominant mat organism in the low-sulfide spring (1 mg liter−1) below 70°C, whereasAquificales were dominant in the high-sulfide spring (12 mg liter−1) at the same temperature. Comparison of the present data to published data indicated that there is a relationship between mat type and composition of Aquificales on the one hand and temperature and sulfide concentration on the other hand.
A Study of Ontology Construction: The Case of a Compliance Management Ontology

Ontology has been recognized, and prominently used, as tool to facilitate shared understanding (and knowledge sharing) in a particular domain. Ensuring that such an ontology is relevant to a particular domain, however, remains a challenging task to the ontology developer. Motivated by the lack of consistent holistic guidelines to assist development of ontologies that are industry-relevant, the goal of this chapter is to present such an approach. The presented approach is based on the synthesis of existing approaches and varied sources of academic and industry input. The approach follows a typical ontology development cycle and consists of incremental steps that need to be taken to assure industry-relevance of the ontology. To provide a thorough discussion of the approach, the authors utilize a previously completed ontology development project that followed the developed approach. The project was specifically aimed at developing an industry-relevant ontology for the compliance management domain and was based on three main inputs, namely, scholarly articles, industry expert/practitioner input and industry reports. Their experience indicates that the use of the ontology development approach promotes an ontology that is closely aligned with the needs of industry.
ADAPTIVE CONTROL IN THE PRESENCE OF SENSOR MEASURE OUTLIERS

Adaptive control of plants whose sensor measurements are corrupted by outliers is considered. Outliers are large deviations of the signal being measured, only occurring in a few percent of the observations. For adaptive controllers relying on an implicit Gaussian assumption, both the identification and the underlying control law are yielded by the minimization of quadratic losses. Therefore, although rare, outliers heavily degrade performance due to their large amplitude. This problem is tackled in this paper. Methods for outlier removal which are suitable for adaptive control applications are reviewed and illustrated through an application to position control in the ball and beam plant. 1
Antiplatelet Effect of Catechol Is Related to Inhibition of Cyclooxygenase, Reactive Oxygen Species, ERK/p38 Signaling and Thromboxane A2 Production

Catechol (benzenediol) is present in plant-derived products, such as vegetables, fruits, coffee, tea, wine, areca nut and cigarette smoke. Because platelet dysfunction is a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the anti-platelet and anti-inflammatory effect of catechol and its mechanisms. The effects of catechol on cyclooxygenase (COX) activity, arachidonic acid (AA)-induced aggregation, thromboxane B2 (TXB2) production, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/p38 phosphorylation were determined in rabbit platelets. In addition, its effect on IL-1β-induced prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production by fibroblasts was determined. The ex vivo effect of catechol on platelet aggregation was also measured. Catechol (5-25 µM) suppressed AA-induced platelet aggregation and inhibited TXB2 production at concentrations of 0.5–5 µM; however, it showed little cytotoxicity and did not alter U46619-induced platelet aggregation. Catechol (10–50 µM) suppressed COX-1 activity by 29–44% and COX-2 activity by 29–50%. It also inhibited IL-1β-induced PGE2 production, but not COX-2 expression of fibroblasts. Moreover, catechol (1–10 µM) attenuated AA-induced ROS production in platelets and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-induced ROS production in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Exposure of platelets to catechol decreased AA-induced ERK and p38 phosphorylation. Finally, intravenous administration of catechol (2.5–5 µmole/mouse) attenuated ex vivo AA-induced platelet aggregation. These results suggest that catechol exhibited anti-platelet and anti-inflammatory effects, which were mediated by inhibition of COX, ROS and TXA2 production as well as ERK/p38 phosphorylation. The anti-platelet effect of catechol was confirmed by ex vivo analysis. Exposure to catechol may affect platelet function and thus cardiovascular health.
The Valuation of Correlation-Dependent Credit Derivatives Using a Structural Model

In 1976 Black and Cox proposed a structural model where an obligor defaults when the value of its assets hits a certain barrier. In 2001 Zhou showed how the model can be extended to two obligors whose assets are correlated. In this paper we show how the model can be extended to a large number of different obligors. The correlations between the assets of the obligors are determined by one or more factors. We examine the dynamics for credit spreads implied by the model and explore how the model price tranches of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). We compare the model with the widely used Gaussian copula model of survival time and test how well the model fits market data on the prices of CDO tranches. We consider two extensions of the model. The first reflects empirical research showing that default correlations are positively dependent on default rates. The second reflects empirical research showing that recovery rates are negatively dependent on default rates.
Causal Inference Using Mediation Analysis or Instrumental Variables – Full Mediation in the Absence of Conditional Independence

Thomas Otter is Professor of Marketing at Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor-W. -AdornoPlatz 4, 60623 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Phone: +49 798 34 646, E-mail: otter@ marketing.uni-frankfurt.de. * Corresponding author Max J. Pachali is Ph.D. Student at the Graduate School of Economics, Finance, and Management, Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor-W. -Adorno-Platz 3, 60623 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Phone: +49 798 34 648, E-mail: max.pachali@ hof.uni-frankfurt.de. Stefan Mayer is Postdoctoral Researcher in the Marketing Department at Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor-W.Adorno-Platz 4, 60623 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Phone: +49 798 34 692, E-mail: smayer@wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de. Jan R. Landwehr is Professor of Marketing at Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor-W.Adorno-Platz 4, 60623 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Phone: +49 798 34 631, E-mail: landwehr@wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de. Causal Inference Using Mediation Analysis or Instrumental Variables – Full Mediation in the Absence of Conditional Independence
Requested Interface

: This paper introduces the Requested Interface pattern which describes ways to implement truly independent software components that can be plugged together as needed in order to make reuse more attractive than reimplementation. It encourages components to delegate subtasks to collaborating servers so that they can be adapted to a new context by simply exchanging those subtask servers. The delegating objects must specify minimal and abstract requested interfaces that describe the subtasks independently of existing server interfaces. An adaptation layer mediates between the requested interface of a client and the offered interface of a server implementing the subtask.
Metabolomics of Breast Cancer Using High-Resolution Magic Angle Spinning Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: Correlations with 18F-FDG Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography, Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging MRI

Purpose Our goal in this study was to find correlations between breast cancer metabolites and conventional quantitative imaging parameters using high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and to find breast cancer subgroups that show high correlations between metabolites and imaging parameters. Materials and methods Between August 2010 and December 2013, we included 53 female patients (mean age 49.6 years; age range 32–75 years) with a total of 53 breast lesions assessed by the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System. They were enrolled under the following criteria: breast lesions larger than 1 cm in diameter which 1) were suspicious for malignancy on mammography or ultrasound (US), 2) were pathologically confirmed to be breast cancer with US-guided core-needle biopsy (CNB) 3) underwent 3 Tesla MRI with dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), and 4) had an attainable immunohistochemistry profile from CNB. We acquired spectral data by HR-MAS MRS with CNB specimens and expressed the data as relative metabolite concentrations. We compared the metabolites with the signal enhancement ratio (SER), maximum standardized FDG uptake value (SUV max), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and histopathologic prognostic factors for correlation. We calculated Spearman correlations and performed a partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to further classify patient groups into subgroups to find correlation differences between HR-MAS spectroscopic values and conventional imaging parameters. Results In a multivariate analysis, the PLS-DA models built with HR-MAS MRS metabolic profiles showed visible discrimination between high and low SER, SUV, and ADC. In luminal subtype breast cancer, compared to all cases, high SER, ADV, and SUV were more closely clustered by visual assessment. Multiple metabolites were correlated with SER and SUV in all cases. Multiple metabolites showed correlations with SER and SUV in the ER positive, HER2 negative, and Ki-67 negative groups. Conclusion High levels of PC, choline, and glycine acquired from HR-MAS MRS using CNB specimens were noted in the high SER group via DCE MRI and the high SUV group via PET-CT, with significant correlations between choline and SER and between PC and SUV. Further studies should investigate whether HR-MAS MRS using CNB specimens can provide similar or more prognostic information than conventional quantitative imaging parameters.
The role of sex worker clients in transmission of HIV in Cambodia

The study investigated whether clients of sex workers are a bridge for transmission of HIV to the general population of Cambodia. We interviewed and collected blood from 468 clients attending 30 randomly selected brothels in three provinces of Cambodia. The levels of HIV knowledge and condom use, and prevalence of HIV (9.2%) were high. Almost 40% of those interviewed had sex with women other than sex workers (wives, girlfriends, etc.), but rarely used condoms. Sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates were high, but most sought treatment from pharmacies. HIV infection was correlated with a history of STD, having had an HIV test, not living with one's wife, a high level of HIV/AIDS knowledge, and condom slippage/breakage. Clients are a major bridge for HIV transmission from sex workers. Current condom promotion programmes need to target non-sex worker intercourse. More effective, acceptable STD-control strategies need to be implemented and evaluated.